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- This is Jaroslaw Adamowski with Defense News.
I'm here today at the DSEI show in London
with Scott Milne from General Dynamics Land Systems UK,
and we are here to talk about the new Ajax variant,
the IFV version of the vehicle,
and what it brings to the table
in terms of new features and capabilities.
Scott, could you please tell me
what are the main features of the Ajax IFV version?
- Okay, absolutely,
so Ajax IFV is the missing variant from the Ajax family.
So we've delivered 147 vehicles of Ajax
into the British Army,
and now we're looking to the future,
and we've developed the Ajax IFV,
which is what we're looking at today.
So the Ajax IFV,
the main changes and the improvement,
different features compared to the current family,
is the IFV is designed around the crew, the dismounts.
So the vehicle can accommodate eight dismounts
with a crew of three.
So that's a driver, a commander, and a gunner.
We've changed the rear door.
It's a ramp door
to enable easy ingress and egress from the vehicle.
And we've integrated a remote turret.
So it's a turret from Lockheed Martin,
which is based on the current Ajax turret design.
It's a repackaging of existing proven mature LRUs
to enable rapid development
to get to production-ready capability.
So the turret system integrates the CT40 cannon systems
and the cased telescope ammunition
from the BA Systems and Nexer or KNDS.
And we have integrated also
a modular integrated protection system.
So they're being developed in the UK,
which is the Iron Fist effector
and the Trophy sensors.
We've taken the latest generation
of sighting system from Telus.
We've got a panoramic sights,
which gives us full 360-degree capability,
similar to what the current Ajax has,
but it's a more modern sensor, TI.
We're leveraging the electronic architecture
from the existing Ajax design.
So Ajax is the most digitally advanced armored vehicle
in the world today.
And we've leveraged that into the areas Ajax IFV.
The only difference you'll see
when you look inside is the gunner
and commander are located in the hull
rather than the turrets.
But we're reusing the same equipment.
The benefits of Ajax are ported across
without any change to develop of the vehicle.
So the survivability solution,
of which we've mine blast tested Ajax many times,
and in every blast, the soldier has survived
or the instrumented test survived.
That survivability solution is ported across to this design.
So yesterday was the unveiling,
and we've had a huge interest from export customers
and domestic also.
So it's something I look forward to bringing to the market.
Built here in South Wales in our factory in Merthyr Tydfil.
- You mentioned that there are different export markets
that you are exploring.
Could you give a few examples
of the potential foreign destinations
in which you are interested,
countries in Europe and beyond?
- So I think an addressable market
for the infantry fighting vehicle
is quite significant today.
For example, Poland is a customer very interested in growing
and are continuing a relationship with,
and that's an area we're active in.
To other regions, Estonia.
We have ASCOD already in Latvia,
so, yeah, it's a buying market.
- And in terms of survivability,
which is very important
for defense ministries across Europe,
are you also planning to continue
to work on improving the capabilities of this variant,
basing this on the experiences of militaries
in conflicts in different parts of the world,
including the war in Ukraine?
- Absolutely, so the Ajax design
has got growth designed in from the start,
and I was always acutely aware
that the threat is ever changing.
So the armor design, the armor system,
is as fully modular in design.
So as the threat changes,
we can change the armor
without changing the base architecture of the vehicle.
Obviously, we're focusing on the active protection systems
as the current step,
but the changing the passive protection system
is easy to do with the Ajax vehicle architecture.
- Thank you very much, Scott.
- Okay, thank you.
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