Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of design flaws in the Ajax armoured fighting vehicles, what is the timetable for delivery of the Ajax Armoured Vehicle programme; and what assessment they have made of whether the programme will be delivered (1) on time, and (2) in budget.

The current forecast Initial Operating Capability, or IOC, is 30 June 2021, with a 50% confidence, and a 90% confidence for September 2021. To be clear the Department will not take the programme into IOC until we are confident that we have achieved what we need to achieve at this stage of the vehicle’s development.

The contract with General Dynamics Land Systems UK is a firm price contract to deliver the requirement in a set budget.