The Defence Secretary has today announced a £3.7 million deal to
equip the Army’s next generation armoured vehicle with the latest
in automated threat warning systems.
Thales UK has signed a contract with General Dynamics Land
Systems–UK for the installation of its Acusonic sensor, a
vehicle-mounted acoustic shot detection system, on the £4.5
billion Ajax family of armoured fighting vehicles.
The Ajax Shot Detection System will be manufactured at Thales in
Templecombe in Somerset, which employs more than 700 people in
highly-skilled manufacturing and technical roles.
Designed to accurately sense and report the direction of incoming
enemy fire, the system will give the vehicle’s crew the critical
situational awareness to react to the threat. Its innovative
sensing system is based on Thales’s world-class sonar technology
that provides the ‘ears’ for ships and submarines around the
world.
Each Ajax will be fitted with three Acusonic sensors, giving the
crew a 360-degree threat-detection capability.
Defence Secretary, , said: > I am pleased
to announce today that we will be spending almost £4million with
Thales and General Dynamics Land Systems-UK to deliver the Ajax
Shot Detection System, which can sense enemy gunfire and protect
troops using our next generation armoured vehicles.
Under the terms of the contract, 735 Acusonic systems are now on
order for integration onto Ajax. Thales is already on contract to
supply the primary and secondary sighting systems on the vehicle.
The six variants in the Ajax programme – Athena, Ajax, Ares,
Apollo, Atlas and Argus - are due to come into service in 2020,
providing a full suite of medium armoured vehicles and
capabilities.
They will be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the British Army on the
battlefields of the future. The new vehicle will give the army
enhanced intelligence, surveillance, protection, target
acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities.
Major General Colin McLean, Director Land Equipment for Defence,
Equipment and Support, the government’s procurement agency, said:
Ajax will deliver a step-change in versatility, agility and
protection for our soldiers. Integrating this new sensor on to
our family of Ajax vehicles, which will provide critical
situational awareness, is another innovation we are investing
in to ensure that British soldiers have the very best equipment
to maintain their competitive advantage on the battlefields of
today and the future.
Ends
Notes for editors
· General Dynamics Land Systems–UK, as the prime contractor for
Ajax, was awarded the contract to provide the Ajax family of
armoured vehicles in 2014.
· Thales UK has already been selected by General Dynamics Land
Systems–UK to supply the primary sighting system for Ajax, and by
Lockheed Martin UK, the sub-contractor responsible for the design
and manufacture of Ajax turret, for the secondary sighting
system.
