The UK Royal Army has taken delivery of the first six Ares troop-carrying reconnaissance vehicles, which were delivered to the Household Cavalry Regiment at Bulford, Wiltshire.
Ares, and the other variants in the Ajax family of armored vehicles, will replace the Army’s combat vehicle reconnaissance (tracked) (CVR(T)) vehicles which have been the mainstay of armored reconnaissance for almost fifty years.
CVR(T) has proved itself on the battlefield in the Falklands and the in the deserts of the Middle East, but now requires a replacement to maintain the Army’s position as a top tier performer and to match the needs of the twenty-first century.
The Ajax family consists of Ares a troop-carrying reconnaissance vehicle, Ajax armed with a 40mm cannon, support variants Apollo and Atlas, a command and control variant Athena, and an engineer variant – Argus.
Ares is being built by General Dynamics in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales.
“Ajax will allow us to manage battlespace information faster from a modern digitized platform, with increased lethality through the new 40mm cannon,” Colonel Justin Kingsford, the Ajax program director said.
“Better mobility, alongside enhanced protection levels and increased reliability underline the transformational nature of the capability. A comprehensive simulated training suite supports this fleet and ensures we invest fully in our crews to get the very best of this capability.”
Ares is air-transportable in C-17A Globemaster III and A400M Atlas aircraft.
