To say I'm "
a little anal" about tracking weapons programs over decades in some cases, might be seen as an understatement to some out here.
But it's what I do to the best of my abilities, and this brings me now to the troubled
AJAX/ARIES (ARIES is now as of last Summer being evaluated for the same issues to a somewhat lesser degree of severity.) Programs.
My first ref. was one of the last published before the
end of the last year 2021. To fully understand what's going on with AJAX/ARIES and as it will turn out, a realistic look beyond Oct. 2021 when it was written. To compare
AJAX to the
NIMROD and other failed programs doesn't bode well for the future.
I further agree
MOD made a
serious error in dropping the
WARRIOR CSP (In game as the WARRIOR "W"CSP UNIT 276.) upgrade program that would've made that platform viable
until 2035 or 2040. It was cheaper, already started w/a couple of
PROTOTYPES on a very reliable platform. That money invested went to waste with the rest I understand going to the
AJAX/ARIES program and the additional funding not helping to resolve their issues.
Quotes:
" Press reports
this morning suggesting that even though,
due to safety concerns in relation to vibration and noise, Army testing of Ajax was halted a year ago, GD UK was still able to
book a £75m profit on Ajax IFV last year which hardly helps. Neither does the knowledge that
subsequently came to light of just
how much of the capability is being built in Spain for onward assembly, complete with problems, into GD’s purpose-built plant in Wales."
https://battle-updates.com/ajax-infa...ce%20%28NAO%29.
The next is from
March 2022 after the afore mentioned (
Ref. 1)
NOA released their report. As a "
note" I quote from refs in the order they appear in the articles.
Quotes:
" The National Audit Office (NAO) warned there was a risk that troubles with the project "
might prove insurmountable".
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson said it would "
not accept a vehicle that is not fit for purpose".
"
" As of
December 2021, more than 300 personnel may have been harmed by vibration and noise during testing, which has led to the
significant delays.
"
" Its report (
Mine-NOA) found that the
MoD itself
has no confidence in its own target for Ajax to be fully operational by April 2025.
It also warned that
it could take until the end of 2022 to find a solution, because the MoD and the manufacturer
disagree on the safety of Ajax.
Meg Hillier, who
chairs the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee, said the NAO report "
reads like a checklist for major project failure where almost everything that can go wrong, did go wrong".
The
MP said: "
Ajax has now joined the sorry pantheon of government projects which have gone off the tracks. "
"Ajax was supposed to be ready in
2017 but has already been
pushed back twice.
"
Labour's Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MP, Gerald Jones, said the
NAO report "
makes for very grim reading".
They would further state,
" This damning report shows that the
Ministry of Defence has not
just let down staff, but
also our armed forces who are in great need of vital new armoured fighting vehicles.
"
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-60693070
(Note additional links at bottom of the article.)
My
final thoughts: Based on tracking this program for at least ten years now, when you have
serious in fighting occurring between
MOD and the in this case GD on the direction of the program with both being at fault as I've reported
beyond the current safety concerns, modifying which side you load the breach from etc. when the
French left theirs
unmodified and all things are working properly who do you think is meeting their
FOC goals first?
And now the Gov't's involved and not happy about the delays, cost over runs, the wasted taxpayer's money (I think they elect those same MP's.
) and safety of the troops.
This "toxic" soup is not a good mix and at a minimum I see MAJOR delays and feel NOW more than in the past, this program has a real chance of meeting the same fate as the NIMROD.
What we need to consider is that the
WARRIOR CSP UNIT 276 be pushed back to
JAN 2024 START. This will give the
Gov't and MOD more than enough time to determine whether to restart the
WARRIOR CSP and IF THEY MAKE A DESCISION THIS YEAR to have it fielded by that date. The program was in a "
mature state" when cancelled with field testing of the
PROTOTYPES already have started. If anything, the
MOD completed field testing and maybe reduced the number of the
upgraded units to act as a "
stop gap" while the
AJAX issues got resolved. Also,
WARRIOR CSP UNIT 276 was to get an
armor/ERA(?) upgrade as well.
AJAX UNIT 602 before I go further, I feel it necessary to state that I
REALLY like this piece of equipment. We have it working with the resources we had at the time and since (As we've pushed it back more times by one or two then the program itself was delayed and I believe we made some "tweaks" also along the way.) it's certainly as
one of the best I feel we've done.
That being said, I feel at this point that to move the
START to JAN 2025 is
being generous.
ARES UNIT 908 the current
START is off the mark, but it "
got lost" in the
AJAX issue. I'm more optimistic about this unit even though
late last summer it got "
dragged" into the same safety evaluation as the AJAX as reports to a
somewhat lesser degree were happening to the crews on that platform as well. I think a new date
START OF JAN/JUN 2023 is doable for ARES providing nothing more arises from the evaluations. remember
ARES is in IOC with ONLY 14 units as of last fall.
https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-eve...d-to-the-army/
https://armyrecognition.com/defense_...ax_family.html
https://news.sky.com/story/army-paus...cerns-12323587
(ONLY 14 units with IOC PLANNED for late summer last year.)
That's the best I can do for now.
Regards,
Pat
