The British Army received the first Ares armoured vehicles from General Dynamics Land Systems–UK.

Last week, the first six vehicles were delivered to the Household Cavalry Regiment at Bulford, Wiltshire, according to a recent service news release.

Named for the ancient Greek god of war, Ares delivers a step-change in the British Army’s battlefield capability. Ares, and the other variants in the Ajax family of armoured vehicles, will replace the Army’s Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) vehicles which have been the mainstay of armoured reconnaissance for almost fifty years.

Ajax family is the next-generation of Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFV). Fully-digital and fully-integrated, it enables to soldier to ‘See First, Decide First, Act First’ on the modern battlefield.

The Ajax family consists of Ares a troop-carrying reconnaissance vehicle, Ajax armed with a formidable 40mm cannon, support variants Apollo and Atlas, a command and control variant Athena, and an engineer variant – Argus.

Ares, part of the Ajax family of armoured vehicles, is being built by General Dynamics in Merthyr Tydfil, bringing hundreds of jobs and wider opportunities to Wales. The vehicles will give the Army’s Armoured Infantry and Strike Brigades a critical advantage over any likely opponent, through a combination of the latest technology, exemplary levels of crew protection, and, of course, our world-class professional soldiers.

Colonel Justin Kingsford, the Ajax Programme Director said: ‘This is an exciting moment for the Army. The delivery of ARES this week is an important step on our journey to give the Army an amazing state of the art, world beating Armoured Fighting Vehicle’

Describing the vehicle in greater depth, he went on to say:

‘Ajax will allow us to manage battlespace information faster from a modern digitised platform, with increased lethality through the new 40mm cannon. 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.’