Großbritannien: Aufklärungspanzer AJAX

Wehrtechnik & Rüstung, Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik
theoderich
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Re: Großbritannien: Aufklärungspanzer AJAX

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Ajax Update

Volume 714: debated on Thursday 19 May 2022


https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2 ... 532BD88345
theoderich
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Act now to prepare our nation’s defences (28. Juli 2022)

https://committees.parliament.uk/commit ... -defences/



Auch bereits ein Museumsstück:

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theoderich
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Re: Großbritannien: Aufklärungspanzer AJAX

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26 Ajax delivered even though they may never enter service (24. Oktober 2022)

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/26-ajax ... r-service/


D-Day for British Army's ill-fated Ajax tank: Plans for first new armoured vehicle in a generation could be SCRAPPED this week as MoD makes decision on whether to press ahead with 'disastrous' £5.5bn rollout (18. Oktober 2022)

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Questions over whether the Government will scrap a disastrous project to build the British Army's new £5.5bn fleet of armoured vehicles will finally be answered this week, MailOnline can reveal.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has vowed to make a statement about the ill-fated Ajax programme, which has faced years in limbo due to technical faults, in a matter of days.

The deadly new armoured vehicle was intended to give the Army a new lethal punch on the battlefield. But prototypes vibrated so violently and were so loud that they damaged the hearing of hundreds of troops who have tested them.

Military top brass had initially hoped the first batch of the fleet would enter service in 2017. But the technical woes have forced the project to be delayed by years, plunging Ajax into defence procurement purgatory.

So far about £3.2billion of taxpayers' cash has been pumped into the scheme - which has failed to put a single one of the promised 589 tanks into service.

Speculation over the future of the problem-plagued military programme intensified this week amid swirling rumours the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could trigger a raft of swingeing cuts within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to plug a £60billion black hole in the Government's finances caused by his predecessors disastrous 'mini-Budget'.

Now, in a formal response to a parliamentary question by former Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois, Mr Wallace admitted he will finally clarify what will happen with the gaffe-stricken military scheme.

'I intend to provide the House with an update on Ajax by way of a written ministerial statement this week,' the former Army officer said.

The news has been welcomed by Mr Francois, who sits on the House of Commons' influential Defence Committee.

Speaking to MailOnline, the Tory MP said: 'The Defence Secretary has now committed to formally updating Parliament on the long-running Ajax saga by the end of this week. This is a golden opportunity for the MoD to finally "put up or shut up" on Ajax and either tell us precisely how they intend to fix it – or scrap it once and for all.'
The latest development in the sorry saga comes a day after MailOnline revealed there was a growing clamour in Westminster over the future of costly defence scheme.

Several plans understood to be on the table, which include the MoD holding out and waiting for Ajax's defects to be fixed.

That idea faces its own hurdles, with claims there could be a legal battle between Government and Ajax developers General Dynamics over the poor quality of the military kit - despite a defence minister insisting last week the Government was continuing 'to work with' the American firm to fix defects.

But there is talk, too, of a 'plan B', with one source in Westminster claiming military chiefs were now looking at whether or not to cut their losses and scrap the project.

But on Monday, the Chancellor warned 'there will be more difficult decisions to be made on both tax and spending'.

Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons' powerful public accounts committee - which scrutinises Government spending - said 'hard-nosed decisions' must now urgently be taken.

She told MailOnline: 'This is getting beyond a joke. This is putting off the capability that our troops need on the ground and with a land war in Europe, it is a very stark reminder this is a real threat, and we need that capability.

'There needs to be some very hard-nosed decisions... The last time [the MoD] tried to balance the books, they shelved everything. They put lots of things back.'

John Healey, Shadow Defence Secretary, branded the Ajax debacle the 'biggest defence procurement failure of the past decade'.

Demanding the government reveals what its plans were, Mr Healey said: 'It is high time ministers made a decision on whether to scrap or stick with Ajax

'Dragging out the indecision leaves future Army plans in limbo. Ministers are failing British troops and British taxpayers.'

Robert Clark, director of defence and security at the think-tank Civitas, has been following the Ajax saga for years.

When asked by MailOnline whether the costly scheme should now be axed, the armed forces veteran said: 'Yes absolutely.'

He believes the government should cut its losses, having spent billions of pounds on the glitch-plagued vehicle with nothing to show for it, and pump cash back into other military programmes.

'There would still remain £2billion from [the] original Ajax and Infantry Fighting Vehicle budget after Ajax is scrapped.

'So [the Government] could either use that as MoD's contribution to departmental cuts, which are now inevitably coming under Jeremy Hunt, or hopefully use that to purchase more Boxers with a refitted 40mm gun to undertake similar role of the Ajax,' he added.

Over the weekend, however, the Chancellor said government departments, including the MoD, would need to find 'more efficiencies than they were planning' as part of future cuts.
But personnel apart, why did the government choose General Dynamics (UK) in the first place?

The firm was chosen to provide 589 armoured vehicles to the Army. Ajax is the company’s biggest project and the UK government is its biggest client. In 2018, the company reported a total operating profit of £89.1 million from a turnover of £736 million — of which £509 million was revenue directly generated by Ajax.

The accounts for that year were signed by another former senior Army officer, Lieutenant General Andrew Figgures. He became a director of General Dynamics (UK) after retiring from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

Here we come to the second issue in the decision-making process.

According to defence sources, the Ajax’s problems can be traced to the Army’s insistence on having the company’s armoured vehicle rather than BAe’s CV90.

In contrast to the Ajax, the CV90 has been introduced into service with armies across the world.

A source told the Mail the MoD wanted to ‘punish’ BAE for the failure of the MRA4 Nimrod programme — the ministry ordered 21 ‘maritime reconnaissance and attack’ aircraft from BAe but after delays and hitches the programme was scrapped with losses exceeding £4billion.

‘Anyone but BAe’, was the mantra. And when the choice of Ajax was challenged by the MoD’s procurement scrutiny committee, the Army ‘blustered it through’, according to sources.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -Ajax.html

Sehr witzig zu sehen, wie nach zehn Jahren alle möglichen Journalisten und Blogger Texte publizieren, in denen behauptet wird, wenn man doch den CV90 gewählt hätte, wäre alles problemlos gelaufen und zeitgerecht geliefert worden ...
theoderich
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Re: Großbritannien: Aufklärungspanzer AJAX

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Ajax armoured vehicle project back on track, says defence secretary
The Army's "troubled" programme to build the new Ajax armoured vehicle "has turned a corner" according to the defence secretary.

Ben Wallace said he was confident recent fixes had put the project back on track after a series of embarrassing setbacks and delays.
Initial trials were plagued with problems, including excessive noise and vibration. Some of those testing the vehicle complained of hearing loss and others suffered injuries like white finger - a numbness linked to the use of heavy machinery.

More than 300 individuals taking part in trials had to be assessed for hearing loss, with some found to be suffering longer term damage.

Trials have had to be halted twice and the MoD said at the time it could not determine a realistic timescale for the introduction of Ajax.
But this week, Mr Wallace said the MoD, the Army and the main contractor, General Dynamics UK, had been working hard to resolve the issues.

He hailed the progress on a visit to the British army's Bovington Camp military base in Dorset.

After going for a drive in one of the vehicles, he told the BBC: "It's performing very well and I'm confident we've turned the corner. We've done the remedies."
The fixes include remounting hand controls to avoid excessive vibration and a redesign of seat mountings and cushions.

Noise has been reduced thanks to dual-layer hearing protection for soldiers operating the vehicle, with an inner ear piece for communication covered by noise-cancelling headphones.
Some 414 hulls have already been built and 116 turrets are ready to be fitted once trials are completed.

The final stage of trials is expected to last for 18 months but it could be another two years before Ajax finally enters service with the Army.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64763195



theoderich
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Re: Großbritannien: Aufklärungspanzer AJAX

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Ajax Payments Update
Statement made on 20 March 2023

The MOD have developed with General Dynamics a revised schedule for the delivery of vehicles that is, subject to contract amendment, robust, realistic, and achievable. Revised key delivery milestones set a meaningful Initial Operating Capability of a trained and deployable squadron. This is scheduled to be achieved between July and December 2025. Full Operating Capability will be met when the Army has trained and converted forces to the Ajax platform to deliver Armoured Cavalry capability to the Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade and its two Armoured Brigade Combat Teams. This is scheduled to be achieved between October 2028 and September 2029.

The ability to deliver against this new schedule has been extensively scrutinised and assured within the department and externally. A recent review by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority concluded the programme’s successful delivery is feasible, re-grading the Ajax programme from Red to Amber.
https://questions-statements.parliament ... 20/hcws652





Insight – Lessons learned
Lessons learned: Resetting major programmes
Date: 17 Mar 2023
A reset can increase the overall programme risk

The changes made during the contract reset for the Ajax programme increased the delivery risks. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) agreed that its contractor, General Dynamic Land System UK (GDLS-UK), would deliver the vehicles in ‘capability drops’, with each drop adding capabilities. However, the introduction of four capability drops across six variants increased the interface, dependencies and hand-offs between MoD and GDLS-UK. It also made the programme schedule more complex, with vehicles from early capability drops having to be upgraded. The multiple build standards introduced by this approach also made achieving safety cases more complex.
https://www.nao.org.uk/insights/lessons ... rogrammes/


theoderich
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Defence Equipment & Support Annual Report and Accounts 2021 to 2022
The Army 21-month variation was primarily attributed to the Ajax noise and vibration issues; work continues to resolve these issues. Testing is now underway to verify the effectiveness of modifications proposed by General Dynamics to mitigate the noise and vibration issues to a safe and acceptable level. Until a suitable suite of design modifications has been identified, tested, and demonstrated, it is not possible to determine a realistic timescale for the introduction of Ajax vehicles into operational service with the Army.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... 21-to-2022
theoderich
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Re: Großbritannien: Aufklärungspanzer AJAX

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AJAX is put through its paces at Kirkcudbright Ranges in Scotland. The vehicle which is yet to enter service is in the final stages of testing before being handed over to Service use.
https://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/Home/ ... 2023-06-08

Policy paper
The Ajax Lessons Learned Review

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ned-review




Oral statement to Parliament
Ministerial statement on Ajax Lessons Learned Review

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ ... ned-review
theoderich
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theoderich hat geschrieben: Mo 20. Mär 2023, 17:00Insight – Lessons learned
Lessons learned: Resetting major programmes
Date: 17 Mar 2023
A reset can increase the overall programme risk

The changes made during the contract reset for the Ajax programme increased the delivery risks. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) agreed that its contractor, General Dynamic Land System UK (GDLS-UK), would deliver the vehicles in ‘capability drops’, with each drop adding capabilities. However, the introduction of four capability drops across six variants increased the interface, dependencies and hand-offs between MoD and GDLS-UK. It also made the programme schedule more complex, with vehicles from early capability drops having to be upgraded. The multiple build standards introduced by this approach also made achieving safety cases more complex.
https://www.nao.org.uk/insights/lessons ... rogrammes/


Capability Drops

The Capability Drop approach lets the British Army train and develop its knowledge and experience of the Ajax family of vehicles as early as possible. Incremental increases to the vehicle’s performance will see all Ajax vehicles upgraded to the final Capability Drop 4 standard, which is its Full Operating Capability.

Capability Drop 1

These vehicles are designed to enable early conversion and the development of standard operating procedures. These vehicles are not intended for operational deployments.

Capability Drop 2

These vehicles offer reduced signature, enhanced survivability, and some further system enhancements to the Local Situation Awareness System beyond the Capability Drop 1 vehicles. These vehicles aren’t intended for delivery to the Field Army at all, and should be upgraded to Capability Drop 3 before then being delivered.

Capability Drop 3

The first operationally deployable Ajax vehicles, with enhancements to armour, the weapon system, communications, mobility and signature reduction.

Capability Drop 4

These vehicles will incorporate modifications from lessons learnt during trials to assure the full reliability requirements of the British Army have been met. All vehicles manufactured to the earlier Capability Drop standards will be retrofitted (upgraded) to this Capability Drop, which represents the Full Operating Capability.
theoderich
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DSEI 2023: Ajax finally makes delivery progress with over 40 vehicles deployed
General Dynamics Land Systems UK (GDLS UK) has now delivered 143 members of the British Army's Ajax family of vehicles (FOV), with 44 are already deployed by the field army and another 30 nearing completion.
This delivery schedule has had to be rebalanced due to problems with early production vehicles in a number of key areas, which according to GDLS have now been addressed to the satisfaction of the end user.

Production is now expected to be completed by 2028 and GDLS UK will deliver the programme-defined contract requirements within the agreed firm price.
The first production vehicles came from the General Dynamics European Land Systems – Santa Barbara Sistemas (GDELS – SBS) facility in Spain but production is now well under way at the GDLS UK Oakdale site in South Wales.

In addition to the Ajax reconnaissance vehicle, which is the replacement for the Scimitar, first deployed as far back as 1973, other members of the family have all been delivered including the Apollo Engineer Support, Argus Engineer Reconnaissance and Athena Command and Control variants.
Now that the Ajax FOV is in quantity production and service with the British Army export efforts are ongoing to existing users of the Scorpion FOV as well as potentially new customers.

Some observers however believe that with typical gross vehicle weight (GVW) of around 40t, this is too heavy for a reconnaissance vehicle. This GVW was however demanded by the end user to ensure a high level of survivability on an increasing complex battlefield.
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/land ... -deployed/


Fischer Panda UK Secures Major Defence Contract
Fischer Panda UK has secured a major contract with a global aerospace and defence company to equip the latest commission of AJAX military fighting vehicles with ultra quiet generator systems. This is one of the highest value contracts that Fischer Panda UK has secured, worth over £10million.

The British Army’s future, advanced armoured fleet of AJAX vehicles will be fitted with Panda AGT 8000 PVM-NE 24v (28v) generators. These units have been developed and built to meet the military standards and specification required for this project utilising variable speed DC generators that have the ability to operate in extreme temperature ranges between -46°C to +50°C.

Fischer Panda UK entered a joint development phase to produce an APU that would fit within the already specified space whilst also meeting very low running noise requirements.
The development phase for the units took several years and the project had to overcome supply chain challenges due to the pandemic. Developing a new generator to production standard in such a short time is testament to Fischer Panda UK’s production factory’s advanced expertise. In total, four prototypes were built with minor adjustments and improvements made to each one until a production standard was reached. The AJAX vehicle itself is currently in the Demonstration and Manufacture phase following successful Noise and Vibration trials which took place in autumn 2022.
https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/saltwater ... ct-3272380
Zuletzt geändert von theoderich am So 1. Okt 2023, 23:37, insgesamt 3-mal geändert.
theoderich
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Exercise Iron Titan

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The Royal Lancers with AJAX Armoured Fighting Vehicle (left) and ARES Troop Carriage Armoured Fighting Vehicle (right) on Ex-Iron Titan on Salisbury Plain Trains Area (SPTA).
https://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/Home/ ... on%20Titan

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