Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
In the early 2000s the British Ministry of Defense took another stab at designing a scout vehicle and this project morphed into the Future Rapid Effects program (FRES). The parameters were hampered by the UK’s perplexing STRIKE doctrine. The resulting requirements that fueled FRES looked on paper to have created an impossible vehicle. The resulting winner for FRES was the General Dynamics Scout SV series, one of which is Ajax.
By this point, the utter stupidity of STRIKE was apparent, however, very senior officers had their careers tied up in the success of at least some of it and the Scout SV series was therefore pushed forward. Due to the lack of Army-controlled vehicle design systems, the project ran into several failures such as the Spanish manufacturers making the two sides of the vehicle’s hull of different lengths. And because they were not using even such basic tools as jigs, no two parts were of the same dimensions.
These problems were not discovered on site as the final assembly was conducted in Wales. Even after several hundred components had been delivered, only a handful of vehicles were able to be completed. These problem, along with and many more, resulted in multiple over-spends and delays, and made Scout SV tied up in politics, which compounded the delays even further.
Eventually, the politicians demanded that the project be gripped, and with a replacement of one very senior officer, who had been in part responsible, the project was gotten back on track with the estimated operational date of 2024-2025.
While expensive, the vehicle is a lot larger than your usual scout vehicle, however, it is phenomenally well protected and armed and has a list of sensors with capabilities beyond belief. That means it is a very welcome addition to the UK’s AFV fleet.
In the early 2000s the British Ministry of Defense took another stab at designing a scout vehicle and this project morphed into the Future Rapid Effects program (FRES). The parameters were hampered by the UK’s perplexing STRIKE doctrine. The resulting requirements that fueled FRES looked on paper to have created an impossible vehicle. The resulting winner for FRES was the General Dynamics Scout SV series, one of which is Ajax.
By this point, the utter stupidity of STRIKE was apparent, however, very senior officers had their careers tied up in the success of at least some of it and the Scout SV series was therefore pushed forward. Due to the lack of Army-controlled vehicle design systems, the project ran into several failures such as the Spanish manufacturers making the two sides of the vehicle’s hull of different lengths. And because they were not using even such basic tools as jigs, no two parts were of the same dimensions.
These problems were not discovered on site as the final assembly was conducted in Wales. Even after several hundred components had been delivered, only a handful of vehicles were able to be completed. These problem, along with and many more, resulted in multiple over-spends and delays, and made Scout SV tied up in politics, which compounded the delays even further.
Eventually, the politicians demanded that the project be gripped, and with a replacement of one very senior officer, who had been in part responsible, the project was gotten back on track with the estimated operational date of 2024-2025.
While expensive, the vehicle is a lot larger than your usual scout vehicle, however, it is phenomenally well protected and armed and has a list of sensors with capabilities beyond belief. That means it is a very welcome addition to the UK’s AFV fleet.
