The defense ministry must fix or cancel its problematic Ajax armored vehicle program this year or risk compromising national security, an influential parliamentary committee said.
The Ajax program, designed to provide state-of-the-art reconnaissance equipment for the military, has been running for 12 years and costs 3.2 billion pounds, but so far it has not been able to deliver a single deployable vehicle.
Originally scheduled for commissioning in 2017, Ajax has been repeatedly postponed due to what the House of Commons Public Accounts Commission (PAC) described as a “set of damages”, including noise and vibration problems that injured soldiers testing Vehicles.
In a report released Friday, the PAC said the defense ministry still did not know when Ajax would be operational or whether noise and vibration problems could even be fixed two years after they were first raised.
The PAC said the program’s management was “insufficient from the start” and the MoD “once again made fundamental mistakes” in planning and managing a major equipment program. As a result, the committee warned that the Ministry of Defense was “failing to deliver” the vehicles the army needs “to better protect the nation and fulfill NATO’s commitments.”
PAC President Meg Hillier said: “Enough is enough – the Ministry of Defense must fix or fail this program, before more risk to our national security and more billions of taxpayers’ money wasted. These recurring failures are burdening older capabilities that are overdue for replacement and directly threaten the security of our troops and their ability to defend the nation and fulfill NATO’s commitments. “
The defense ministry said any delay would not lead to additional costs for the taxpayer due to the nature of the contract, adding that no additional payments would be made to the manufacturer, General Dynamics, until the department was “satisfied with the program’s future trajectory”.
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The PAC report says the delay in the Ajax program has forced the military to make “operational compromises”, including extending the use of the Warrior armored vehicle, which went into service in 1987.
Although the military is “cautiously optimistic” that Ajax could enter service by 2030, the PAC warned that any further delay would increase the risk of missing even that target, and called on the defense ministry to explore alternatives if the treaty with General Dynamics disintegrates.
The Ministry of Defense has a fixed-price contract with General Dynamics worth £ 5.5 billion for 589 Ajax armored vehicles, but so far only 26 have been delivered and can only be used for training purposes.
The PAC said it doubted the program could be implemented under existing arrangements. The commission said it expected a decision on whether to continue with Ajax or cancel the program entirely by the end of the year.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said: “The United Kingdom is contributing more than its requirements for strength and preparedness levels required by NATO. The Minister of Defense is clear that Ajax is a problematic program. We agree with many of the committee’s recommendations and are actively taking steps to correct them.
“Our fixed price contract means that any delay will no longer cost the taxpayer. General Dynamics has not received any payments under the contract in 2021 and 2022. No additional payments will be made until we are satisfied with the future trajectory of the program. “
General Dynamics was asked to comment.
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