For the 40-mm CTAS automatic cannon with telescopic ammunition, seven types of capsule ignition CTA ammunition have been developed or are in development. The ammunition qualification by the French Armaments Directorate and the British Department of Defense was carried out in stages. At the first stage of Wave 1A, an armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber tracer projectile (BOPS-T) and a practical tracer were qualified. The first consists of an assembly of a pallet with a leading part (230 grams) and a sub-shell - a feathered swept core (320 grams). The assembled projectile is fired at a speed of more than 1500 m / s and is capable of penetrating more than 140 mm of rolled uniform armor at a distance of 1500 meters. The second projectile has an initial velocity of 1000 m / s and in terms of ballistics it corresponds to not yet qualified universal high-explosive fragmentation projectiles (antipersonnel / to destroy the material part).
In accordance with the Wave IB stage, a universal high-explosive fragmentation projectile with a tracer head fuse (GPR-PD-T) will be qualified, and at the Wave 2 stage, a universal air detonation tracer (GPR-AB-T) and a practical tracer with a reduced range (TPRR- T). The GPR-PD-T and GPR-AB-T shells weighing 980 grams, in fact, are the same shell, but different fuses. The first one simply detonates instantly when it meets a target, and the second has three detonation modes: shock, shock with a delay, and air blast. Both projectiles are capable of penetrating 15 mm of rolled armor or a concrete wall with a thickness of 210 mm in impact mode, the second projectile in air blasting mode creates a lethal area of more than 125 m2. TPRR-T is lighter (730 grams) and faster (> 1000 m / s), but has reduced wear (less propellant mass), has a shorter range of 6500 meters; this cheaper practical ballistic projectile up to a distance of 1,500 meters corresponds to the GPR-PD-T and GPR-AB-T projectiles. Reducing the range is achieved through a combination of less mass (hence, more aerodynamic drag) and rotation, the destabilizing system is several cutouts extending from the nose along most of the hull (photo below, right-most projectile).
And, finally, another type promoted on the market is the AZV-T air detonation projectile, tracer, to combat air targets, it has a mass of 1400 grams and a low muzzle velocity (900 m / s). The projectile is designed to combat UAVs, helicopters and slow-flying aircraft. The projectile fuse has two modes: shock and delayed action (a variant of the fuse installed in the GPR-AB-T); this cluster projectile is loaded with a small expelling charge and 200 cylindrical tungsten alloy elements. The striking elements work on the same principle as in the AHEAD (Advanced Hit Efficiency and Destruction) projectile developed by Oerlikon, are released in front of the target and disintegrate due to a combination of charge and rotation. They form an expanding cone that strikes the target due to a combination of velocity (the initial velocity of the elements is close to the velocity of the projectile during an explosion) and the density of the cloud.
Another type, the state of development of which is still unknown, is a practical tracer projectile, which corresponds to BOPS in ballistics.
Systems, sensors, equipment of new machines
The Ajax variant, described as the future eyes and ears of the British army, uses a number of advanced technologies to provide a deployable all-weather ISTAR (intelligence gathering, surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance) platform.
Speaking at the Future Armored Vehicle Situational Awareness conference in March 2016, Lt. Col. Mark Cornell of the British Department of Defense said that following Operation Herrick, the military expects global connectivity, data and visibility services, seamless data exchange between platforms as well as intuitive and simple tactical communications equipment.
The Ajax family reflects the adaptation of an information-centric approach to modernizing command, control and communications systems, with the platform at the center of collecting and distributing information, allowing for the rapid dissemination, processing and presentation of data.
The functional system integrated into the Ajax armored vehicle uses open standards and supports a scalable architecture, the implementation of which increases flexibility and interoperability and saves money in future upgrades and changes in the combat purpose of the vehicle.
The Ajax platform concept aligns with the General (Standard) Vehicle Architecture (GVA) for British Defense Standard 23-09, which promotes a common approach to vehicle configuration and defines vehicle design and development standards. The GVA is based on agreed open standards that underpin electronic architecture standards, human-machine interfaces, video generation and transmission standards, power system standards, mechanical systems standards, and systems condition and use monitoring complexes.
Ajax's modular open architecture enables faster update cycles across computing, touchscreen, and electronic systems, allowing for improved continuity of new systems and regular spiraling capabilities as new technologies become available. The modularity of the Ajax platform allows you to quickly reconfigure it as new symmetric and asymmetric threats emerge and evolve.
The architecture includes a central data bus that provides the transmission of video and audio data and messages, while the electronic architecture allows the integration of input and output information from various equipment, such as sensors, weapon actuators, crew displays, communication systems and internal / external gateways.
After the issuance of the initial contract, General Dynamics entered into an agreement with Thales for the supply of sighting systems and situational awareness systems.
The main sighting system installed on the Ajax vehicle is the Thales ORION stabilized independent panoramic sight, which provides the vehicle commander with all-round observation and target identification regardless of the turret orientation. The stabilized system allows you to drive and lock targets on the move.
The ORION system includes the Catherine-MP (Mega-Pixel) thermal imager from Thales Optronics, equipped with a Gen 3 microbolometer. The Catherine-MP can be selected with a medium wave or long wave receiver. The receiver in the mid-wave infrared region of the spectrum is sensitive in the spectral range of 3-5 microns and has a pixel pitch of 15 microns and a matrix of 640 x 512 format, while the receiver in the long-wave (near) infrared region of the spectrum operates in the range of 8-12 microns and has a pixel pitch 20 microns.
The ORION also includes an eye-safe laser rangefinder, two high-definition color cameras and a gigabit Ethernet (GigE, 1 Gbps LAN) interface for communication and communication. The system is compliant with the British GVA standard and uses open standards for digital video transmission, subsystem interconnection, interoperability and video transcoding.
The Thales kit includes a two-axis stabilized DNGST3 modular gunner's sight. The DNGST3 sight provides detection and acquisition of targets on the move, day and night. Its modularity lies in the fact that for it you can choose either a medium-wave or long-wave thermal imager and plus a high-resolution sensor with either a narrow or a wide field of view. The DNGST3 also includes a laser rangefinder and has GigE and video interfaces for communicating with the fire control system (FCS).
The Thales contract includes the supply of on-site video cameras, which are used for round-the-clock surveillance and identification of threats in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle through a combination of uncooled thermal imagers and daytime cameras.
Surveillance systems from the British company Kent Periscopes are installed on the Ajax platform. The system includes periscopic prism devices and a commander's auxiliary sight, designed specifically for installation in the Ajax tower. Two periscopes are also installed on the body of the Ajax platform, including one on the driver's hatch.
Esterline supplies ruggedized Codis TX displays used to display platform parameter information and data from sensor systems. Designed for tough environments, Codis touchscreen displays are NVIS compliant, have LED backlighting for high-light operation, and have DVI, RGB, USB and serial interfaces. The delivery set includes a display for the Codis TX-335S tower, used to display information about the parameters of the gun control system, system metadata and logistic information. The Codis TX-321S driver's three-piece display is used to present a 120 ° front view, as well as display images from the front and rear cameras with a choice of day or night channel. The heart of the system is the Codis VPU-101 video processing unit, which is used to process and transcode input information from various systems of the Ajax platform and distribute it to displays and data storage servers.
The Ajax sensor kit includes detectors from Smiths Detection, designed to alert the crew of a chemical attack or the presence of persistent chemicals. LCD 3.3 does not require calibration or routine maintenance; it detects general toxicity, nerve agents, blistering agents, asphyxiation, and a user-selected set of toxic industrial chemicals. LCD 3.3 has an automatic input module that allows you to work with detectors of the LCD system in remote or automatic mode. The power supply system of the machine ensures the operation of LCD 3.3. The system is suitable for use both inside and outside the platform and is certified to meet the safety requirements of the environmental standards MIL-STD-810G, MIL-STD-461F and MIL-STD-1275.
The Ajax machine is equipped with a protection complex from Elbit Systems, which includes laser warning receivers, missile attack warning sensors and an infrared jammer. The E-LAWS Laser Warning System provides detection, classification and localization of the laser beam source, including rangefinders, target designators and IR illuminators. The claimed spectral range of the system varies from 0.5 to 1.6 microns. The E-LAWS includes a sensor that is mounted on the roof of the tower to provide all-angle coverage. Survivability solutions also include the VIRCM IR countermeasures system. The low-signature VIRCM system provides protection against a variety of semi-automatic line-of-sight missiles.
Ajax turret multispectral smoke screens aim and fire automatically, creating a visible and infrared smoke screen and allowing the vehicle to stealthily maneuver.
The next-generation MORPHEUS tactical information management system is also integrated into the Ajax platform, designed to replace the outdated Bowman C systems from BAT and BISA. MORPHEUS is part of the so-called MODAF architecture framework (MoD Architecture Framework), developed for defense planning and the search for commercial solutions in the field of mobile communications and data processing that could be used for military tasks.
MORPHEUS provides an extensible, modular, open architecture that enables the wider use of off-the-shelf, plug-and-play, commercial and military grade components for low-cost technology upgrades. In addition, work is underway to provide dismounted soldiers with the capabilities of an airborne situational awareness system using the MORPHEUS system.
Kongsberg has signed a contract with General Dynamics for the supply of a Kongsberg PROTECTOR remotely controlled weapon station (RWM). This DBM can accept small and medium caliber weapons and is suitable for installation on all platform options. When set to the Ajax variant, it is installed instead of the main ORION sight.
In the summer of 2016, GDLS-UK and Lockheed Martin UK, with the support of CTAI, conducted complex live fires from the Kongsberg PROTECTOR DBM. For these tests, a tower version of the Ares Ajax family was taken; the shooting was carried out from universal and heavy machine guns, grenade launchers and smoke grenade launchers.
Although the base armor level of the Ajax hull has not been announced, it is presumably not inferior to the level of turret defense, but most likely surpasses it. The internal layout of the vehicle (both ASCOD and Ajax; recall that Ajax is based on the ASCOD platform) means that the power unit located in front and the fuel tanks installed on the sides give additional protection to some crew members from armor-piercing and cumulative shells … The anti-splinters of the Ajax vehicle are the same as on the ASCOD platform, which reduces the scattering angle of the splinters in the event of armor penetration.
Judging by the available photo and video frames, the Ajax platform is equipped with wide removable armor elements / panels, which in the basic configuration cover the body from its roof to the top of the side screens. In order to increase protection, these panels can be extended, like the side skirts, up to the wheel axle. These panels can be filled with various protection systems, for example, composite armor, spaced armor, perforated screens, non-explosive reactive armor, electrical armor, or a combination thereof. For design reasons, the installation of dynamic protection units, apparently, is not provided.
Almost nothing is known about ASCOD and Ajax mine protection, although for the first of these platforms the level of protection is declared to be high, very likely not less than Level 3 (8-kg mine under any part of the hull or tracks), but rather Level 4 (like Level 3 only a mine weighing 10 kg). The level of protection against IEDs (high-explosive, fragmentation and type "shock core") is unknown.
A new solution aimed at increasing the survivability of the Ajax platform was the integration of a special mobile camouflage system Saab Barracuda MCS (mobile camouflage system), which has already been purchased by Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. While MCS, designed for installation on Ajax platforms, used the same basic technologies as in other similar systems, it is specially adapted to the requirements of the British army. “Each operator can determine which requirements he really thinks are important, which is why the systems of different armies differ in configuration. There are also differences in the generations of camouflage systems, as the materials that we can use in our systems are constantly being developed, because we strive to obtain better performance than the previous generation. The system evolves depending on the direction of technology development,”said Mr. Alund, a representative of Saab Barracuda, in an interview last year.
The configuration designed for Ajax is aimed at aligning with British Army doctrine - where the vehicle will deploy and the threats it will face. Alund added that "first of all, there should be a configuration for the forest, but at least there are two more configurations for this machine, aimed at countering possible threats."
Alund noted that after asymmetric hostilities, such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq, the British army shifted its focus to conflicts with an equal rival and the MCS system for the Ajax platform is precisely aimed at this. “The configuration we developed for Ajax is designed to deal with the most sophisticated threats. Therefore, it will give Ajax a very good chance to deal with threats of any level … This is by far the most advanced system we have created."
MCS camouflage provides multispectral protection in the visible, thermal, infrared and radio frequency spectra. “The series-connected panel system consists of several layers of material that are treated or coated with a variety of paints, pigments and coatings that work well in their respective parts of the electromagnetic spectrum,” explained Alund.
The original ASCOD platform has a torsion bar suspension. However, the Ajax project was finalized, a new suspension system was proposed for it, combining torsion shafts and hydraulic shock absorbers, which increase the driving performance and stability of the weapon system when driving over rough terrain. Also, following the results of the competition, the British company Cook Defense Systems received a contract for the supply of tracks for a new platform.
Ajax family machines are equipped with a compact power unit consisting of a 600 kW MTU V8 199TE21 diesel engine combined with a Renk 2S6B automatic transmission. MTU, part of Rolls-Royce Power Systems, was awarded an Ajax contract in May 2015 to supply 589 engines to GDUK from 2016 to 2022 for a total of € 80 million. This engine is a further development of the 530 kW MTU V8 199 TE20 model currently being manufactured for the ARTEC Boxer MRAV (a joint venture between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH and Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Nederland B. V.). Other engines of the MTU 199 series are installed on Austrian ULAN and Spanish Pizarro vehicles, which are also based on the ASCOD chassis. The 199 series engine, in turn, is based on the Mercedes-Benz OM 500 truck engine, adapted by MTU for military applications. Ajax platforms are equipped with a modified air intake system and a two-stage impulse air filter.
Ajax will be the first British Army platform to be powered by an MTU engine, despite historically favoring local suppliers such as Jaguar and Perkins (now a Caterpillar division). In the case of additional developments and purchases in the field of armored vehicles, including the planned Mechanized Infantry Vehicle (MIV) 8x8 armored personnel carrier, MTU will "bite off" another piece of the market by saving on uniformity if the MIV platform is selected and the 199 series engine is installed on it.
In the Ajax project, the absence of a large-caliber gun mount is noticeable, although earlier something similar should have been implemented in the SCOUT SV Direct Fire version, on which it was planned to install a 120-mm smoothbore cannon. In the Ajax family, there is only one variant with more or less good anti-armored vehicle capabilities. This is actually the Ajax version itself, armed with a 40-mm cannon, plus the dismounting crews of the Javelin ATGM to help it, so an ATGM launcher installed on the vehicle would be highly desirable.
One solution could rely on the development of General Dynamics Land Systems, aimed at meeting the needs of the United States for a new light tank, today known as the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF).
At the AUSA 2016 conference in Washington, the company showed the Griffin demonstration platform: the ASCOD-2 chassis based on the Ajax project with a light three-man turret installed based on the IVI1A2 SEPv2 tank turret. This demonstration model was equipped with the XM36S 120mm smoothbore cannon, which is a clothed modified version of the M256 cannon currently found on all M1 Abrams tanks.
Such a vehicle will fit well into an assault brigade, since it will have a more effective cannon (compared to the L30A1 rifled cannon of the Challenger 2 tank) on a medium-weight chassis that will have a good level of uniformity with the Ajax fleet.
In the context of the concept of an adaptable and deployable assault brigade, such a platform can provide this formation with the necessary staff firepower.
Another highly desirable development could be the installation of an ATGM, either as an additional weapon system on an existing vehicle, for example Ajax, or on a new specialized platform, as was planned at one time for the FRES SV FR (O) variant.
As an illustrative example, we can cite Germany, which successfully integrated the rocket of the Israeli company Rafae Spike-LR, installing a launcher on the turret of its new Puma infantry fighting vehicle at the later stages of development, despite the fact that this was not an initial requirement. Such an additional system will significantly increase the combat capabilities of the platform, for which the British army would be very grateful.
The first part of the article:
Ajax Discovery: Learn more about the newest family of British combat vehicles. Part 1
