Thales’ Acusonic shot detection system will be fitted to the British Army’s new Ajax armoured fighting vehicle family, a U.K. Ministry of Defence release said.
Thales U.K. signed the £3.7 million contract with General Dynamics Land Systems-U.K. for the installation of the sensors, the Thursday, March 15 release said.
Each Ajax vehicle will be fitted with three U.K.-manufactured Acusonic sensors, giving the crew a 360-degree threat-detection capability, and 735 Acusonic systems are now on order.
The sensing system is based on Thales’ sonar technology which is used on ships and submarines around the globe. It is designed to accurately detect and report the direction of incoming enemy fire, giving the vehicle’s crew critical situational awareness to react.
The six variants in the £4.5 billion Ajax programme – Athena, Ajax, Ares, Apollo, Atlas and Argus – are due to come into service in 2020.
Thales U.K. was earlier selected to supply the primary sighting system by General Dynamics Land Systems-U.K., and the secondary sighting system by Lockheed Martin U.K., which is responsible for the design and manufacture of the turret.
XPI Simulation, a Thales company specialising in training and simulation solutions will also provide the driver simulators for the Ajax program.