According to a picture released on the Twitter account of Household Cavalry on September 25, 2020, the Household Cavalry regiment of the British took delivery of the first Ares, the APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) variant in the AJAX tracked armored family to replace the old Scimitar CVRT, light tracked reconnaissance armored vehicle.
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The Ajax ARES new tracked armored reconnaissance vehicle (in the center) will replace the old CVRT Scimitar light reconnaissance armored vehicle in service with the British army. (Picture source Twitter account Household Cavalry)
The Household Cavalry (HCav) is made up of the two most senior regiments of the British Army, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). These regiments are divided between the Armoured Regiment stationed at Kiwi Barracks in Wiltshire and the ceremonial mounted unit, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, garrisoned at Hyde Park Barracks (Knightsbridge Barracks) in London. The Household Cavalry is part of the Household Division and is the Queen's official bodyguard.
The AJAX is a family of tracked armored vehicles being developed by General Dynamics UK for the British Army to replace the British Army's Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) family of vehicles, which have been in service from 1971.
In 2010, General Dynamics UK was selected as the winner of the Future Rapid Effect System contract with the ASCOD Common Base Platform. The Ajax is a development of the ASCOD armored fighting vehicle used by the Spanish and Austrian armed forces.
On 3 September 2014, the British Government ordered 589 Scout SV vehicles, totaling a cost of £3.5 billion. The order includes six variants, Ajax (turreted, reconnaissance and strike), Ares (reconnaissance and Armored Personnel Carrier), Argus (engineer reconnaissance), Athena (command and control), Atlas (equipment support recovery), and Apollo (equipment repair).
The ARES is the reconnaissance variant in the Ajax family. The vehicle has a crew of two including a driver and commander, the rear part of the vehicle can accommodate four infantrymen. The roof of the vehicle is fitted with a Remote Weapon Station armed with a 12.7mm machine gun.
