AJAX Scout SV General Dynamics

Reconnaissance tracked armored vehicle with 40mm cannon - United Kingdom

Ajax reconnaissance ISTAR tracked armored vehicle General Dynamics United Kingdom British army 925 001

Description

The AJAX, formerly known as the Scout SV (Specialist Vehicle), is a program for the British Army to provide a new generation of light-tracked reconnaissance armored vehicles family. The Scout SV program is led by the Company General Dynamics UK with the goal to replace the CVRT (light armored vehicle) fleet of the British Army and to be the British Army's Tracked Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance. The Ajax is a development of the ASCOD armored fighting vehicle used by the Spanish and Austrian armed forces. The AJAX variant will be the medium-weight core of the British Army’s deployable all-weather intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability. In June 2014, at the DVD (Defence Vehicle Dynamics) exhibition which was held in Millbrook (United Kingdom), General Dynamics unveiled the first pre-production prototype SCOUT Specialist Vehicle in Reconnaissance variant PMRS (Protected Mobility Recce Support). Each SCOUT SV platform variant will be a highly agile, tracked, medium-weight armored fighting vehicle, providing British troops with state-of-the-art protection. AJAX SCOUT SV vehicles are developed upon a highly adaptable and capable Common Base Platform, maximizing commonality in mobility, electronic architecture, and survivability that ensure the British Army has a family of world-class platforms. Scout SV provides commanders with a survivable and capable GMMR (Ground Mounted Manned Reconnaissance) platform, which gives them the flexibility to perform a range of roles across the spectrum of conflict. SCOUT's primary role is to provide accurate and timely information to support decision-making at all levels. It integrates a range of leading-edge technologies to provide an optimized survivable, lethal and agile ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) platform. At DSEI 2015, the International Defense Exhibition in London (UK), the Scout SV received its new official name, the AJAX. Under a contract awarded late in 2014, General Dynamics UK will build a total of 589 Scout SVs for the British army, with deliveries running from 2017 through to 2024. There will be parallel trials and production. The training establishment and first squadron will be equipped by mid-2019 to allow conversion to begin with a brigade ready to deploy from the end of 2020. In September 2018 at the DVD defense exhibition in Millbrook United Kingdom, General Dynamics displayed four variants of the AJAX program including the AJAX intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) vehicle, APOLLO used to tow battlefield damaged vehicles and lift heavy sub-assemblies, ATLAS tracked Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV) and ARES formerly called PMRS Protected Mobility Reconnaissance vehicle, used to deliver and support specialist troops across the battlefield. General Dynamics Land Systems–UK demonstrated the capabilities of the AJAX Family of Tracked Armored Vehicles at Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI), in September 2019. In April 2021, GDELS announced that the live-fire trials with the Ajax 40mm turret took place in Lulworth in February 2021. In September 2023, the British army conducted its first military exercise with the Ajax reconnaissance armored vehicle. On January 21, 2024, British soldiers from the Household Cavalry of the British Army Royal Armoured Corps successfully tested the new AJAX reconnaissance tracked armored vehicle under the extreme cold conditions of Sweden.

Ajax General Dynamics variants:

- ARES / Scout SV - PMRS: Protected Mobility Recce Support
- Apollo / Scout SV - Repair: Repair armored vehicle
- Atlas / Scout SV - Recovery: Armoured recovery vehicle
- ARGUS / Scout SV - Engineer: Armoured engineer vehicle
- ATHENA - Scout SV - command post: Command post armored vehicle


Technical Data

Armament
The AJAX Scout SV is fitted with a two-man turret developed by Lockheed Martin UK, armed with a 40mm automatic cannon from the Company CTA International and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. The CTAI 40 turret consists of the 40mm cannon, Ammunition Handling Systems (AHS), the CTAS (Cased Telescoped Armament System) Controller, Gun Control Equipment, the gun mounting, and 40mm ammunition. The 40mm cannon is integrated into a revolutionary, user-defined, fightable turret. Where the operation dictates, a fully stabilized Remote Weapons Station can be fitted to the turret instead of the Primary Sight. The 40mm cannon can fire different types of ammunition as the Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot - Tracer (APFSDS-T), Target Practice - Tracer (TP-T), Target Practice Reduced Range - Tracer (TPRR-T), General Purpose Round Point Detonating - Tracer (GPR-PD-T), GPR-AB-T General Purpose Round - Airburst - Tracer and GPR-AB-T Anti-Aerial Airburst-Tracer. The turret is electronically controlled and controls azimuth and elevation, ballistic computer software, and can control the use of ammunition. The weapon system can fire in a single shot, burst, and automatic fire up to 180 rds/min. A bank of eight electrically operated smoke grenade launchers is mounted on either side of the turret firing forwards. Primary and secondary sights of the turret are integrated with a sensor processor unit which, combined with the sights’ stabilization systems, enables the vehicle’s turret to be rapidly traversed onto the target while on the move, providing an unsurpassed hunter-killer capability for vehicles in this class. Both sights have fully digital video outputs, in accordance with the UK Ministry of Defence’s new vetronics infrastructure for video over Ethernet (VIVOE) standard, facilitating connection into the vehicles’ electronic architecture for onward distribution.
Design and protection
The Ajax has a crew of three including a driver, commander, and gunner. The hull and the turret of the AJAX provide ballistic protection up to STANAG 4569 Level 4 all around against the firing of weapons 14.5mm caliber. The turret is mounted in the center of the hull with the commander and gunner, and the driver position is located at the front left of the hull with the powerpack on its right. The fuel tanks are mounted on the sides of the vehicle to give additional protection to the crew against kinetic energy and shaped-charge weapons. Spall liners are also fitted on the floor of the vehicle to stop projectiles and small fragments and to reduce the damage inside the vehicle if hit by an overmatched threat. There is no public information about the mine protection of the AJAX, but according to some military information, the vehicle is protected up to Level 3 STANAG 4569 (8 kg of mine blast under the hull and tracks). The vehicle also offers protection against IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blasts, fragmentation, and Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFP). To increase protection the AJAX can be fitted with additional armor boxes or panels that can be mounted at the front and on the side of the hull as well as on the turret. The AJAX Scout SV has much higher survivability against a wide range of modern and evolving threats, enabled by all-around modular protection (including Mastiff levels of blast protection), acoustic detection, powerful far-target thermal sights, and local situational awareness sensors. AJAX Scout SV will provide the land environment with the only protected vehicle that has real growth potential. The hull and power train growth are designed for a 25% increase in weight, and there is 100% growth capacity in sub-system electrical power and data throughput, all built-in at the outset. The open scalable 'security accredited' electronic architecture will enable upgrades to be integrated with relative ease through life.
Mobility
The AJAX Scout SV is motorized with a 600kW MTU Diesel engine coupled to an automatic transmission. The torsion bar suspension on each side consists of seven dual rubber-tired road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front and idler at the rear. The vehicle can run at a maximum road speed of 70 km with a maximum cruising range of 500 km. The AJAX Scout SV is able to negotiate slopes up to 60%, natural and engineered trenches of 2.5 m maximum, and vertical obstacles of 0.75 m.
Accessories
Standard equipment of AJAX Scout SV includes a mobile camouflage system, fire detection system, electronic countermeasure system, day/night vision and CBRN (Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) protection system manufactured by Smith Detection able to alert the crew in case of a chemical attack or the existence of persistent chemical agents. Day and night vision of AJAX includes an LSA (Local Situational Awareness) system providing a combination of cameras and thermal imagers covering the whole spectrum of imagery needs and a full panoramic view of the situation. This vision system is used for close surveillance, threat detection, and even for driving and reversing. The vehicle is also fitted with laser warning receivers, missile warning sensors, and an IR jammer from the Israeli Company Elbit Systems. The laser warning system will provide the detection, categorization and localization of laser sources including laser rangefinders, designators, and IR illuminators. The AJAX onboard equipment also includes a high-definition color TV camera for daylight use, a long-range day optical channel, and MORPHEUS next generation of C4 tactical system. A sophisticated, nearly packaged, Electronic Architecture, makes it the first fully digitized land platform that is able to seamlessly integrate both current and future open system ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) and communication products. The vehicle is fitted with primary and secondary sight. Thales UK has been selected by General Dynamics UK to supply the primary and secondary sighting systems for Scout, the reconnaissance variant of SV (specialist vehicle). The ORION's primary sight is mainly for the use of the vehicle’s commander. It enables the commander to maintain a 360° view of his surroundings, has a thermal imager to identify targets, and has a wide-area search-and-detect capability that automatically detects and tracks potential targets from their thermal signature, alerting the crew to their presence. The primary sight also includes provision for an optional laser target designator (LTD), and the AJAX Scout SV demonstration phase will mark the first use of a vehicle-mounted, under-armor LTD by the British Army. The Thales sighting systems also incorporate a DNGST3 dual-axis stabilized modular gunnery sighting system that provides target detection and engagement on the move for day and night operations. The secondary sight is for the gunner and gives him the ability to detect and identify targets at extended ranges and accurately engage targets at the full range of the main armament.

Specifications

Armament Armor
One 40mm automatic cannon, one 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, and one remote weapon station armed with a 7.62mm machine gun Modular armor 
Country users Weight
First pre-production prototype 38,000 kg
Designer Country Speed
United Kingdom 70 km/h
Accessories Range
Laser warning system, panoramic sight, electronic countermeasure system, auxiliary power unit, fire detection system, digital fire control system, automatic video tracker, mobile camouflage system, NBC detection system 500 km
Crew Dimensions
3 Length: 7.6 m; Width: 3.33 m; Height: 2.98 m

Details View

Ajax reconnaissance ISTAR tracked armored vehicle General Dynamics line drawing blueprint 925 001
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