A Defence Committee inquiry has been launched to examine the procurement and use of AVFs and ask whether more must be done to ensure the Army’s ability to deploy its armoured division.
This inquiry will seek to understand how the Army plans on employing their AVFs in future operations. Additionally, it will examine the procurement of AVFs, including how much has been spent procuring AVFs over the last 20 years and how many vehicles have been acquired.
The inquiry will investigate which capabilities have been scrapped in the face of spiralling costs in its core armoured vehicles and which key gaps are emerging with the Army’s armoured vehicle capability.
Also on the agenda will be the issue of whether the Army is currently on track to be able to field the Strike Brigades and armoured division in line with the recommendations of the 2015 SDSR, and how flexible the army can be in adapting its current armoured vehicle plans to the results of the Integrated Review.
The Committee will consider whether the Army will be able to match the potential threat posed by peer adversaries by 2025 and ask whether the UK would benefit from a land vehicles industrial strategy and what sovereign capability for the design and production of armoured vehicles does the UK retain.
Additionally, the inquiry will examine the successes and failures of current programmes such as the Warrior CSP and Ajax, and ask what lessons were learned from the previous Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) programme.
Chair of the Defence Committee, Tobias Ellwood MP, said: “Armoured Fighting Vehicles are a critical tool in the Army’s arsenal, yet for years many have voiced concerns around the current fleets ability to contend with newer, contemporary models and match rapid advancements in military technology.
“Unfortunately, the MoD’s attempts to address the issue have repeatedly met with bumps in the road, from overspending and underdelivering, to the stagnation of programmes designed to enhance or replace outmoded vehicles. The Government has been playing catch up, and this inquiry will attempt to understand the ongoing barriers to modernisation.
“Modernising must be a priority for the MoD. Deploying an ageing fleet leaves personnel vulnerable- the consequences of which may prove lethal. This inquiry will attempt to gauge the current capabilities of the Army’s Armoured Fighting Vehicles and establish whether the fleet is fit for purpose.”
| image © Crown copyright |
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Post written by: Matt Brown
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