General Dynamics Ajax

The Ajax, formerly known as the Scout SV (Specialist Vehicle), is a group of armoured fighting vehicles developed by General Dynamics UK for the British Army. It has suffered serious development and production difficulties, but finally began to enter service in 2025. As of November 2025, Ajax's entry into service has been halted as a result of numerous cases of soldiers falling ill while using the vehicle. The Ajax is a development of the ASCOD 2 armoured fighting vehicles used by the Spanish Armed Forces and Austrian Armed Forces. The vehicles were originally developed by Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug and Santa Bárbara Sistemas in the early 1990s. Both companies were purchased by General Dynamics in the early 2000s. In 2010, General Dynamics UK was selected as the winner of the Future Rapid Effect System contract with the ASCOD 2 Common Base Platform, beating BAE Systems' CV90 proposal. The Ajax vehicles are to be procured in a number of variants, initially planned to be in blocks, with the first vehicles initially planned to be delivered in 2017. Countless delays meant that as of January 2020, initial operating capability was expected in July 2020. Trials were halted over excessive noise and vibration in November 2020. Limited trials subsequently resumed in October 2022. Deliveries of production Ajax vehicles to frontline British Army units began in January 2025, some eight years behind the original schedule, with the first unit of vehicles achieving operational status in November of that year. Full operating capability is expected between October 2028 and September 2029, when the delivery and conversion training has been completed. However, in December 2025, training with the vehicle was suspended pending further investigations, after reports of illness amongst crews participating in an exercise. The British Army resumed Ajax armoured vehicle trials as of April 2026.