UK restarts payments for troubled £5.5bn Ajax armoured vehicle programme
Payments towards the £5.5bn cost of the Army's new Ajax armoured vehicles will resume, a minister has announced.
Defence procurement minister Alex Chalk said on Monday the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will hand over £480 million this month after halting payments to General Dynamics more than two years ago.
Ajax is part of the £41bn investment in British Army equipment and support over the next decade which, according to the MOD, will deliver "critical modernisation to address the threats of today and the future".
The defence procurement minister was providing a further update on the Ajax equipment project being delivered as part of the Armoured Cavalry programme in a written ministerial statement to Parliament.
According to the statement, the MOD project still aims to build 589 of the state-of-the-art vehicles despite the programme running for nearly 13 years without yet providing a single deployable vehicle.
Originally intended to enter service in 2017, Ajax has been repeatedly delayed, with problems including noise and vibration issues which meant soldiers being medically discharged from service because of hearing loss during trials.
Mr Chalk, in the statement, shared that the MOD "openly acknowledged the problems previously faced by the Ajax programme" and provided details on its progress.
"Alongside General Dynamics, the Ministry of Defence has successfully completed User Validations Trials to validate the design modifications which have addressed the noise and vibration concerns, allowing the commencement of programmed Reliability Growth Trials on 31 January," he said.
The minister highlighted that the Reliability Growth Trials, "a standard part of the acquisition process for military equipment of this nature", are "progressing well".
First Ajax vehicles to be ready for use from July 2025
Mr Chalk said there is now a "revised schedule" for the delivery of the Ajax vehicles.
He said: "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.
"This is scheduled to be achieved between July and December 2025."
The full operating capability will not be for a considerable time after that.
"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," Mr Chalk said.
"This is scheduled to be achieved between October 2028 and September 2029."
Resuming contract payments
Mr Chalk reiterated that the MOD "remains clear it will only accept vehicles that comply with General Dynamics' contractual obligations".
The MOD has withheld its payments, not making one since December 2020.
"Given the satisfactory progress against the programme, the department will resume payments this month, starting with a payment of £480m. This is approximately half of what has been held back since December 2020."
The statement added: "Future payments will be made against the new schedule and its milestones, conditional on the delivery of compliant and deployable Ajax vehicles and continued progress of remaining trials activity.
"We have a robust firm price contract for the delivery of 589 vehicles, which will ensure that General Dynamics are incentivised to deliver against agreed outcomes. As such, the whole programme remains within its originally approved budget."
Ajax 'turning a corner'
Mr Chalk concluded by saying that the Ajax programme is "turning a corner".
However, he did highlight that "this does not remove the need for the department to identify and learn lessons".
"We have always been clear that we will not shy away from taking action to change the culture and processes across defence, as necessary," he said.
Also noted was that the finalised report from Clive Sheldon KC on the Ajax Lessons Learned Review will be published "as soon as practicable".
Responding to Mr Chalk's statement on the Ajax armoured vehicle project, Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey said: "The Conservatives are shelling out billions more of taxpayers' money on a project which is already six years late and won't fully deliver until the end of this decade.
"The Defence Secretary has made Ajax central to the future of the Army and the UK's ability to fulfil our Nato obligations, yet after 13 years and £4bn investment, the Army has still not got a single deployable vehicle.
"It is clear the Government can't deliver value for public money or the equipment our forces need to fight. Ministers are failing British taxpayers and British troops," he added.
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