WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED by GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS– UK AJAX: Recent Developments

(AJA0031) WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS– UK AJAX: recent developments

Executive Summary

What are the cost implications for the programme?

Ajax is delivered by General Dynamics Land System–UK (GDLS-UK) under a fixed price contract of £4.62bn (excluding VAT) for the defined contract requirements.

How will the current concerns impact on the Army’s force structure envisaged in the Defence White Paper?

While we work diligently to address concerns referenced in the question, we are confident we will be able to implement any appropriate actions. GDLS-UK continues to deliver the 589 Ajax vehicles across six variants to meet the British Army’s full requirement, of which the 25 vehicles required to meet the Initial Operating Capability (IOC) have already been delivered to the British Army. A further 91 Ajax vehicles are built and awaiting delivery, with more than 270 hulls and 60 turrets built to date.

Whether the current concerns mean that the Ajax programme should be ended and alternative options sought?

The British Army has identified Ajax as critical to its modernisation, providing a transformational capability for battlefield reconnaissance. GDLS-UK is proud to support the British Army on this critical program.

Ajax is developed in the UK to meet more than 1,000 requirements and provides the highest levels of survivability, lethality and mobility, along with the most modern and capable sensor suite and digital systems. Extensive trials and testing is highly progressed and provides the evidence that demonstrates the full capability: Ajax has completed over 60,000km of design proving trials and fired over 4,400 rounds of the CT40 cannon. Progressive training is underway for British Army crews using the advanced training simulators delivered to British Army training centres.

No other vehicle is available at this level of maturity to meet this requirement.

Recent media accounts have disparaged the performance of Ajax. These accounts are without foundation in fact, and the actual performance data refute them. GDLS-UK is confident in its Ajax design, and continues to complete the full certification process to evidence its capabilities as part of the demonstration activity.

GDLS–UK places the highest priority on the health and safety, general wellbeing and protection of its employees, contractors and customers, and takes seriously the health concerns raised by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in regards to noise and vibration. GDLS–UK is working closely with the MoD and partners to understand the root causes of the concerns on noise and vibration, and GDLS–UK is taking the necessary measures to ensure the reported issues are addressed.

What has been the impact of the current concerns on General Dynamics, the connected supply chain and the workforce?

The program supports a team of dedicated men and women across a broad spectrum of trades and locations. GDLS– UK has 800 personnel based at Merthyr Tydfil and Oakdale, and is supported by its UK-based suppliers with a further 3,300 direct jobs. This Ajax team continue to work towards the full completion of the Ajax programme.

Registered Office: 21 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DY. Registered in England and Wales No: 1911653, ISO9001 Registered Company. OFFICIAL WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS–UK AJAX: recent developments

Introduction to GDLS–UK

About General Dynamics UK

General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited (GDUK) works in partnership with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) providing some of the Nation’s primary land capabilities including, amongst others, Bowman, the British Armed Forces tactical communications programme, and Ajax, the replacement for the British Army’s reconnaissance vehicle fleet. The Company also delivers avionics equipment used in rotary and fixed wing platforms for UK and international customers.

The Company is a UK-based Private Limited Company (Ltd), established in the UK since 1962, and celebrates its 20th anniversary in Wales this year.

General Dynamics United Kingdom (General Dynamics UK) has two primary lines of business:  General Dynamics Land Systems–UK*  General Dynamics Mission Systems–UK.

General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, USA.

*About General Dynamics Land Systems–UK

The Ajax Programme is delivered by General Dynamics Land Systems–UK (GDLS–UK), which is primarily based in South Wales at Merthyr Tydfil and Oakdale. It is part of the General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) business unit within the General Dynamics Corporation, which has a long pedigree and worldwide experience in delivering tracked and wheeled military vehicles. GDLS delivers, amongst others, the Abrams main battle tank, LAV (Light Armoured Vehicle) and Stryker 8x8 Family of Vehicles, and the Cougar Mine Resistant Ambush–Protected (MRAP) Family of Vehicles. In UK, GDLS-UK designed and delivered 400 Foxhound light protected patrol vehicles, currently in service with the British Army.

For reference:

- ‘Ajax’ refers to the Programme - ‘AJAX’ refers to the turreted reconnaissance variant, one of 6 variants within the programme.

OFFICIAL WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS–UK AJAX: recent developments

Ajax Programme Update

1. Ajax is a transformational capability for the British Army, and is a key enabler of its modernisation plans. In replacing the ageing CVR(T) family, it provides a manned battlefield reconnaissance capability equipped with the latest state-of-the-art sensors, hosted on a fully-digital, scalable and adaptable open Electronic Architecture. This capability becomes part of the integrated battlespace alongside legacy and future systems. Ajax provides the crew with an operating environment that has exceptional levels of protection against an extensive range of battlefield threats, along with high-levels of lethality from the powerful 40mm cannon, and enhanced mobility for access across the battlefield. The full Ajax capability includes advanced training and simulation systems for all aspects of Ajax operations, providing an enhanced training environment which delivers approximately 80% of the user training objectives with the final 20% being confirmed on the real platform.

2. General Dynamics is fully-committed to the Ajax programme, and has made significant investments in South Wales and across the UK supply community to deliver Ajax, recognising the importance and urgency in contributing to British Army modernisation. In designing and delivering this capability, GDLS–UK is drawing upon the strength and depth of Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) expertise from across GDLS worldwide. The Ajax programme currently supports more than 4,100 direct jobs and a significant number of indirect jobs across the UK with more than 230 UK-based suppliers in the supply chain, including 800 personnel at the GDLS–UK sites in South Wales.

Current Status

3. Following extensive design and development activity since contract award in 2010, the Ajax Family of Vehicles is currently in full production. Deliveries to the British Army are in progress, and training systems have been delivered and are in use. The current status is summarised as follows:

Production and Deliveries

4. As of 01 July 2021, the Ajax Programme has completed the build of 271 armoured hulls and 60 turrets. All six variants are in full production and 116 vehicles have been fully built and are delivered, or in the handover process. All the 25 vehicles to meet IOC fleet have already been delivered and been accepted by the British Army, including 12 AJAX variants equipped with the 40mm cannon, which were successfully live fired by the British Army as part of the acceptance process.

Training and Simulation Systems

5. GDLS–UK has delivered all training products for IOC, comprising Desktop Trainers, Crew Turret Trainers, Small Arms Drill Trainers, Enhanced Procedural Drivers Trainers and Full-Motion Driver Training Simulators. These advanced training systems and simulators have been installed at the first two British Army training sites at Bovington and Upavon, and are enabling progressive training for British Army crews from the Household Cavalry Regiment in preparation for IOC. Additionally, GDLS-UK has delivered a variety of training courses and training materials to prepare British Army training staff and users.

Logistic Support

6. GDLS–UK is providing logistic support to the British Army for the fielded vehicles, with Field Service Engineers deployed. The logistic support includes relevant Interactive Electronic Technical Publications (IETP), spares, and full integration with the British Army’s fleet management and logistic systems. The logistic support continues to grow in conjunction with the vehicle deliveries.

OFFICIAL WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS–UK AJAX: recent developments

Demonstration and Trials

7. Development, demonstration and trials continue within the programme in line with the contract. Design and related safety approvals are complete for the first batch of Ajax (Capability Drop 1) across all six variants. The Drop 1 vehicles deliver the capability as defined, satisfying in excess of 1000 requirements, and are supported by design and trials evidence from sub-system testing, bench testing and ultimately prototype and production vehicles, including:

 Over 60,000km of trials, including full mobility trials  Live firing, including over 4,400 rounds of 40mm cannon  More than 70 Battlefield Missions (BFM)  Mineblast testing  Specialist testing such as survivability, climatic signature, environmental, power, security, EMC, ISTAR (sensors), and Human Factors.

8. Demonstration activity for planned and agreed Capability Drop 3 is well advanced, with the design complete and further verification trials in progress. Reliability Growth Trials commenced in 2020 and are due for completion in 2022, although currently paused due to the limitations on British Army crews.

Schedule and Cost

9. In recognition of the critical nature of the Ajax Programme for the UK, GDLS-UK continued all activity on the programme, including production, during the COVID-19 pandemic, applying the full-range of health and safety measures to provide a safe working environment. However these measures, along with the impact of COVID-19 on employees and on MoD’s ability to support the programme, resulted in a significant and ongoing reduction in efficiency and productivity since March 2020. This impact applied to production activities, as well as wider programme activity including the delivery of training systems, trials on MoD and other sites, and routine programme interactions with the MoD. In consequence, the programme is behind schedule, which has impacted both IOC and the full delivery plan. GDLS-UK has now developed a revised production plan to restore this schedule loss so far as is possible, and is currently forecasting the final completion of vehicle deliveries in 2025 and working with the MoD to incorporate these vehicle deliveries into the overall revised full operating capability (FOC) schedule.

10. Ajax is a fixed price contract for the defined contract requirements covering Demonstration, vehicle Production, training systems, and in-service support, £4.62bn (excluding VAT). All payments received to date since the Demonstration contract awarded in 2010 and the Production contract awarded in 2014 have been directly related to achievement of the sequential milestone deliverables once approved by MoD, as set out in the contract, to a total of £2.65bn (excluding VAT) as at 01 July 2021.

Current Concerns – Recent Media Claims

11. Actual performance data refute recent incorrect media stories regarding the claimed shortfalls in the performance of Ajax. The Ajax Family of Vehicles has been designed to meet all system requirements, and evidence from an extensive range of tests and trials has demonstrated this performance across all functional areas including survivability, mobility, lethality and ISTAR in all defined battlefield conditions. GDLS–UK is confident in its design and is continuing the full validation and verification process to certify its demonstrated capabilities.

12. In reference to some particular false and misleading claims in the media:

 Ajax can safely operate across its full speed range, up to the maximum speed of 70kph. Speed restrictions were introduced by the British Army as a control measure for British Army crews as they gained experience on the vehicles.  AJAX can fire on the move, with a fully dual axis stabilised cannon and coaxial weapon. AJAX is in the process of formally certifying its full capability across all firing modes as part of demonstration activity.

OFFICIAL WRITTEN EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS LAND SYSTEMS–UK AJAX: recent developments

 Ajax vehicles meet the demanding mobility performance required, and can successfully operate across all terrain conditions and obstacles, including steps and reverse step climb over 75cm.  The MoD’s communications system, including antennae, have been fitted to optimise the full performance of the C4I system, with antennae sited in accordance with MoD requirements. All radio antenna emit non- ionising radiation and the MoD has control measures and procedures in place to limit any exposure to such radiation.

Current Concerns - Noise and Vibration

13. Following recent reports of health issues associated with noise and vibration concerns amongst British Army crews, GDLS–UK is working closely with the MoD to fully investigate these reports and identify and address potential causes. GDLS-UK take the British Army crew reports seriously and prioritise the health and health and safety, general wellbeing and protection of its employees, contractors and customers. GDLS-UK is committed to working with the MoD to investigate the causes and remedies. This includes working jointly with the MoD and Millbrook, which are undertaking independent vibration trials, in support of a rigorous root cause analysis process.

14. The control and mitigation of noise and vibration on the Ajax Armoured Fighting Vehicle has been a core part of the design process from the start of the development programme. Design features have been considered and included at every stage, and across key subsystems, to minimise noise and vibration consistent with our application of these design principles across the GDLS portfolio of similar armoured vehicles. Extensive and continuous trials and testing has informed this process and a number of design improvements have been made during development to reduce noise and vibration.

15. In addition to supporting MoD with independent testing of ARES and AJAX vehicles at Millbrook GDLS-UK is also carrying out assessment and trials of additional treatments to reduce vibration exposure at critical areas identified by British Army crews, such as the Tactical Commander’s hand controllers, for implementation into production standard vehicles. General Dynamics has assigned experts from across the organisation to support the analysis of noise and vibration sources and assess any further appropriate measures.

Next Steps

16. GDLS-UK continues to deliver across all aspects of the programme: final demonstration of the Capability Drop 3 design, full-rate production, delivery of training systems and all logistics support.

17. The immediate focus is to work jointly with the British Army and MoD to identify and resolve the issues on noise and vibration, in order to enable British Army training to recommence on the Ajax vehicles in preparation for IOC. We are confident this programme can be delivered successfully.

GDLSUKHCDC00013July2021 13 July 2021

OFFICIAL