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UK's Ajax fighting vehicle arrives – years late and still sending crew to hospital. Continuous track of long awaited AFV hits the ground ... and the terrain is pretty bumpy. The British Army just received its first new armored fighting vehicle (AFV) for nearly three decades, but it is years late, hit by rising costs, is still reportedly injuring its crew, and there are questions about whether it remains relevant in the age of drone warfare.  Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has finally declared initial operating capability (IOC) of Ajax, a tracked reconnaissance vehicle for the army's Armoured Brigade Combat (BCT) and Artillery Fire Support Teams. Ajax resembles a small tank, although in reality it is a beast of a machine that weighs in at 38 metric tons, completely dwarfing the vehicles it is designed to replace, such as the FV107 Scimitar, introduced into service in the 1970s, which weighs less than 12 metric tons, as can be seen in this image. That disparity in size can perhaps be explained by changes in technology in the intervening years. Ajax features a battery of modern sensors and computerized systems, plus updated armor and protection designed to safeguard the crew. It also has upgraded weapons, including a 40 mm cannon that can fire different types of ammunition such as high explosive or armor piercing rounds. Confusingly, Ajax is also the name for the overarching program, which makes up six different variants based on the same chassis. Ares will be an armored personnel carrier, Athena is a command vehicle, Argus is the engineering version, Atlas is a recovery vehicle, and Apollo a repair unit. There will be a total of 589 vehicles, 245 of which will be the Ajax version. Above and below: AJAX Armoured Fighting Vehicle being tested at the Armoured Trials and Development Unit (ATDU) facility at Bovington. Copyright: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024 - click to enlarge Late to the party Ajax is perhaps best known for the bumpy road it has traversed to get into service. It is based on an existing design, ASCOD 2, which the MoD chose for development in 2010 by a UK division of US defense biz General Dynamics. The first vehicles were due to be delivered in 2017, and IOC planned for 2020, meaning it is at least five years late. In a press briefing, UK junior Defence Minister Luke Pollard acknowledged repeated missed deadlines in 2017, 2020, and 2021. In 2020, trials of prototypes were halted because of excessive noise and vibration, said to be bad enough that army personnel suffered hearing damage. A government report blamed build quality issues, concluding that: "GDUK has designed and built what MoD maintains is thus far a vehicle which is not fit for purpose and does not meet the contracted specification." A House of Commons Committee report published in 2022 noted that although Ajax was based on a pre-existing vehicle, the MoD stipulated 1,200 capability requirements which meant that, in effect, it had to be developed from scratch. The report slated both the MoD and General Dynamics, and said they "did not fully understand the complexity and challenges of this hybrid approach and did not manage the subsequent design changes effectively." As of last year, over £4 billion ($5.2 billion) of the program's budgeted £5.5 billion ($7.2 billion) contract value had been spent, with just 44 of the vehicles being delivered. Reports have suggested that the overall cost of the program is likely to be higher, in the region of £6.3 billion ($8.3 billion). Injuries and drone attacks Despite declaring  initial operating capability of Ajax, it appears that army personnel were still being sent to hospital because of noise and vibration issues as recently as this summer, according to Sky News, which suggests that the problems have not really gone away. There are also questions about whether vehicles such as Ajax are vulnerable to drone attacks, of the kind seen against tanks in Ukraine's battles against Russia's invasion. Development of Ajax began long before the war in that country started, but you might expect the MoD to have taken lessons from the conflict. Yet a recent report revealed that airburst ammunition, considered to be more effective against aerial threats, would not be procured for Ajax's 40 mm gun. However, it appears that the army itself is happy with its new asset. In a supplied remark, Captain John Hutton of the Household Cavalry Regiment said that Ajax is a step change from the previous generation of AFVs for its crew. "The control mechanism, the responsiveness of the vehicle and the situational awareness granted to a driver is unlike anything I have driven before. This gives the driver unparalleled awareness of their surroundings and far greater ease in controlling the vehicle across ground; 360 vision, previously the monopoly of the commander in the turret, is now granted to all crew positions." It is understood that 165 Ajax have so far been delivered to the army, with the rest to follow.