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Tank troubles

Tin basher

Knackered Old ****
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It gets worse for the British Armies new toy! The Army's crisis-hit £3.5billion armoured vehicle programme may be abandoned, a defence mininster admitted yesterday. Jeremy Quin told MP's he could not promise the Ajax would ever be used because troops have suffered hearing loss, back spasms and joint pains.


"Conservative former defence minister Mark Francois said the Ajax programme showed that MoD procurement was 'completely broken'. He described the vehicle as a 'steaming heap of institutional incompetence."

Looks like it's rapidly becoming a steaming heap of something.
 

Barch

Grim Reaper 2016
1000+ Posts
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Lets buy a dog - too expensive.

Buy a cat and modify it to be a dog.

Funnily enough the modified animal still goes meow and chases mice.
 

SAXAVORDIAN

Sergeant
652
46
28
Hang on seeing this tank plays mary ell with the occupiers inside. Not being cruel here but as our American cousins left behind enough military equipment in Afghanistan. Could we not dump sorry donate our contribution i.e. the said tanks too. Can you imagine after a few hours of the Taliban squaddies in pain. ;)
 

Tin basher

Knackered Old ****
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If possible it gets worse! Now there are potentially 300+ plus squaddies who could sue for damage and career shortening issues.

" The Ministry of Defence could be forced to pay the huge bills if troops can prove they have lost out on lengthy careers. A staggering 310 soldiers have been urged to seek medical attention after testing the vehicles."

 

SAXAVORDIAN

Sergeant
652
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28
If possible it gets worse! Now there are potentially 300+ plus squaddies who could sue for damage and career shortening issues.

" The Ministry of Defence could be forced to pay the huge bills if troops can prove they have lost out on lengthy careers. A staggering 310 soldiers have been urged to seek medical attention after testing the vehicles."

Offer still stand, parachute the tanks into Afghanistan in the dead of night and let the Taliban suffer. ;)
 

Oldstacker

Warrant Officer
1000+ Posts
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I happen to know someone who was very senior in the project until a couple of years ago and is now in a * post. Although he is a nice enough guy, lets just say it is no surprise to me that his current organisation is being piecemeal sliced away from under him and distributed elsewhere....
 

Entropy

Sergeant
609
8
18
Having been in a PT as a blue suit, the procurement process is flawed and also the requirement process is also flawed. All set out out by senior officers and politicians, not what is actually required. by the troops on the ground.

Buying the platform is the cheap part, the support contract is where the money is, Nimrod is a prime example when it was shut down before it even got off the ground (so to speak).
That's exactly how it works. Flew a large pivoted tractor unit out to the secret base in the Indian Ocean where MH 370 is kept. The tractor unit was FREE but you had to have 5 years of service and maintenance from the provider.
 

Cornish_Pikey

Sergeant
614
151
43
This model is spreading into civvy street.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/39158...-hack-their-own-tractors-just-to-make-repairs


Subscriptions to unlock a smaller turning circle on a Merc, farmers hacking thier own equipment to keep us fed at a reasonable cost.

Computers, bane of the modern world.
 

busby1971

Super Moderator
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Lots of small subscription business models out there, they all add up at the end of the day.

Just reminded me to cancel my free months now tv boost membership that came with my discounted sports deal before they take the first months fee.
 

Barch

Grim Reaper 2016
1000+ Posts
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This model is spreading into civvy street.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/39158...-hack-their-own-tractors-just-to-make-repairs


Subscriptions to unlock a smaller turning circle on a Merc, farmers hacking thier own equipment to keep us fed at a reasonable cost.

Computers, bane of the modern world.

Was talking to a couple of truck drivers today about the tractor units that they are using, both have 1 year old units with every gizmo going.

They hate the bloody things especially the rear view cameras instead of mirrors. The problem that they have is once they set the rear view cameras they can't be adjusted once the vehicle is moving and unlike conventional mirrors you can't adjust the view by moving your body / head.
 

Entropy

Sergeant
609
8
18
This model is spreading into civvy street.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/39158...-hack-their-own-tractors-just-to-make-repairs


Subscriptions to unlock a smaller turning circle on a Merc, farmers hacking thier own equipment to keep us fed at a reasonable cost.

Computers, bane of the modern world.
Its the same with the Tesla model S. Two range options, charged at different prices but identical car with the range controlled by software. When there was a hurricane in Florida, Tesla remotely and temporarily updated all the lower range models to the higher range so as to allow everyone to escape.
 

Cornish_Pikey

Sergeant
614
151
43
As consumers we are being mugged off. Software controlled downgrading identical technologies.

Time to buy a second hand lightweight land rover. Spares will be available forever and no software except the roof.
 

Tin basher

Knackered Old ****
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It's not getting better for the Ajax and yet the project continues and money is still being thrown at the thing.


"Labour branded it 'the biggest defence procurement failure of the past decade"

"Conservative former defence minister Mark Francois suggested the Russians 'must be wetting themselves laughing' about the issues surrounding Ajax"

"Andrew Murrison, said the findings are 'truly shocking' and added: 'The Ajax programme wins the competition, from a very long list, as the poster boy of defence procurement disasters"
 

Tin basher

Knackered Old ****
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Scrap it or just keeping throwing money at it? Debate now in progress. This is turning into one of the biggest procurment clusters F's ever

"The government must either scrap or fix a troubled modern armoured vehicle programme - or risk compromising national security, a report has said. A review of the Ajax project by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) concluded a "litany of failures" had led to the years-long delays. So far no operational vehicles have been delivered, despite the 12-year-old project already costing over £3bn.
The new reconnaissance vehicle was supposed to enter service in 2017."

" Since the contract was signed in 2014, the project has delivered 26 reconnaissance vehicles out of a promised 589 vehicles - which can only be used for training.........As of December 2021, more than 300 military personnel may have been harmed by excessive vibration and noise"


 

Tin basher

Knackered Old ****
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Seems the "scrap it " side of the argument is winning despite eye watering sums of money being thrown at the Ajax tank cluster project.


"one source in Westminster claiming military chiefs were now looking at whether or not to cut their losses and scrap the project"
 
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