During World War II, German tank crews traveled to the factory where they were building the new Tiger 1 tank. It was a complex vehicle so having the crews see how it was being assembled also helped them to understand what kind of maintenance they would need once deployed to the fronts.
@@lalec1417 we will see if these become "Famous" for their mechanical failings and weak design aspects.. They look like they would just get stuck in mud like any other Heavy Rolling Cannon
@@jamjardj1974 it isn't a US company though. GD just bought two UK defence companies and put their name on it. It is a UK lead and assembled project. There aren't any Americans on the design team or in the UK leadership or the program. It is the same way with BAE North America which is all US companies that BAE bought and they get no input from the parent company.
Looks to have been worth the wait and much of the Software had been updated while issues were sorted out. The Scorpion Family were really loved, but as far back as Operation Granby in 1991 it had been sidelined as a reconnaissance vehicle as there was no room to update the basic systems. They were used mainly as patrol and security vehicles since then.
I'm one of those working on the railways through the Cardiff Valley Lines: along with the Heads of the Valleys road system, the WG is building the infrastructure to bring in more companies like this
@NeilFH You might not go looking for war, but war comes looking for you '.. Josef Stalin ' That's so true even in your day to day life. You will just be going along minding your own business and out of the blue a crazy person disrespects you for no fathomable reason and causes you to get into loads of trouble and stress.
Q. With SO FEW been built why was the Warrior upgrade cancelled? The numbers of Ajax, and derivatives, are a fraction of the number of vehicles needed. This is Treasury taking over again and MOD Civil Servants messing up again. I thought that David Cameron was the only PM worse than BoJo the Clown but our Rishi Sunak is the pits! British Army left with "stale crumbs" yet again. Still insufficient F-35s for a single carrier even with RAF aircraft. First Tranche of Typhoons need replacing but no orders for replacements. So few MBTs and less than 150 to be ordered.
"why is western military equipment so expensive that we can only afford to order it in tiny quantities?" >man slowly screwing bolts onto a wheel with a ratchet wrench "no idea mate"
Yes, as if there are no powered tools to do the job much quicker, reminds me of local tunnel builders using explosives and taking 15 years to build a tunnel, that could be built in two years with a Tunnel Bore Machine!
General Dynamics started as a merger between Electric Boat submarine manufacturer in Groton, Connecticut and Canadair aircraft manufacturer out of Canadian Vickers plant in Montreal Quebec.and designed and built the F-111 fighter and the F-16...while working with Grumman and Northrop. Then in the 1970s went into land and marine systems. It is the 5th largest defence contractor in the world now, and Fortune 100 ranked it as the 94th company on its list in 2022.
Indeed....they're also the cretins that have messed up this programme, made a disaster of the Bowman programme and are currently making an even bigger disaster with the Morpheus programme.... They're possibly the most incompetent defence contractor on earth...
Anyone looking to seriously get into a trade should jump at the chance to work in such a plant. Lots of valuble skills and professional habbits to pick up, that will serve you well in the future.
1:37 Nothing screams productivity like hand cranking 80 bolts just for the drive sprockets. Alternative title: How to milk it and turn a 5 minute job into an hour
As a Welshman I can say with my hand on my heart ..... Dont tell the soldiers that their APC was made in Merthyr. Although they might figure it out when they find empty stella cans and burned tin foil in the footwells....
that is a tiny factory but not like it needs to be big they are only building 589 vehicles that's nothing just shows how far the UK has fell as a power and the vehicle design isn't even British and so is General Dynamics
Supposed to start service in 2017 now latest date 2025, billions spent on this yet to be fully tested IFV. There’s a lot of faith riding on this , should have bought a load of CV-90s if anything to ensure our armed forces has current capability and keep GD on their toes to deliver. Not the first overrun overspent defence procurement but you would think the lessons have been learnt by now? Unless it’s a got to be made in Britain criteria?
The Ajax was subject to Parliamentary enquiry if I remember correctly. How have all the (massive) problems suddenly gone away? And why is Forces News doing such a push to say that the vehicle is now OK? But hey, a magic glue vending machine, what's not to like?!
They overcame the NVH problem through a brilliant solution. Instead of fixing the problem, they decided that noise-cancelling headphones were a cheaper alternative. And no, I'm not joking.
@@randommadness1021 Without grease sprocket bolts seize and you have to heat with gas or cut nuts off with angle grinder . Spent 4 hours heating and using 1" impact gun on CR2 final drive bolts (the big ones not sprocket ones )rusted in which should be greased . They are torqued to 1700 NM and 2100 NM if using the flanged headed T2 bolts !
The soldier on the ground is and will always be the preferred method of reconnaissance. Unless they can be carried by a drone then they need these metal boxes to get places. Guessing you knew that already as you serve in a recce unit though…
@@jarraandyftm The soldier on the ground has a limited view, restricted by the topography and how fast he can move ( movement attracts attention). If you haven’t noticed, both sides in Ukraine are using drones for recce. You’re obsolete.
At 3:10 "But why have it in a machine where you swipe your card to get it?" Sorry but the answer, 'so they can track when it's in or out of date', does not answer the question. They could just as well leave a bunch of in-date supplies in a box. No need to swipe a card - just grab and go. Truth be told (assumption), the supplies were disappearing so they had to ID who was using the stuff (illegitimately).
@@Cous1nJack I've been randomly searched for less before when just working basic warehouse jobs. It's without question that these guys get searched all the time.
".....being put together..." - exactly, an Assembly Plant with assembly based upon dubious quality Spanish hulls that may well have been the cause of the variable problems. I don't suppose the hulls were correctly QA'd at this ex-fork lift plant. The CV90 would have been manufactured (not assembled) at the Armstrong Works in North East of England by a highly experienced work force and in a plant with decades and decades of armoured vehicle construction. Sorry, but this report is a rather cheesy piece of low-end 'propaganda'.
I remember the Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan, Samaritan, etc. programme being a major success, with one major criticism: too small due to political demands for cheapness. It's taken decades to realise, but here we are again, just, each one is a bit bigger, so it can carry something a bit more tasty. Tentatively hopeful the political dimension is accurate this time, and we can sell a simple version to our allies, for example. Or even everyone in Europe. What an idea... let's hope the political dimension doesn't block that enormous window of opportunity.
"with one major criticism: too small due to political demands for cheapness. " They weren't small to be cheap, in fact their compactness made them more expensive... They were small so that they were airportable...
Are we really crowing about this? An absolute shambles from the very start. Way behind delivery date & well over budget (to the detriment of taxpayers). The vehicle is a monster (in size) as well. Meanwhile a big US defence giant nods approvingly at the profit. Heads should roll, but won't. Politicians, procurement & senior army decision makers. There's so much better out there.
Yea the hull is produced in Spain. The turret is produced in Germany. The 40mm main gun is made in France. The engine is made in Germany. The FCS is made in France by Thales. It would be more accurate to just say that the vehicle is "assembled" in Wales.
Nuts and screws do not fail, if below their stress limit. Rivets are good, too. Welding, not bad, even though it has its problems. Glues? Loctite? My boots, my camping tent and equivalent things, that's the domain for glues.
You don't much about adhesives then, amongst others things I imagine. Take a look at any modern car, adhesives used extensively throughout the vehicle, same for electrical installation, mechanical engineering, shipping, the list goes on.
@@luciussander8217 - - Maybe that is why the cars made today do not last as the old cars used to last. OK, take it easy, it is not only because of that. LOL
A national disgrace to waste so much money. No wonder its costing so much, tightening nuts and bolts with a ratchet and spanner, where is the automation?
what? how is this self sufficient, almost every part is produced by a different country and we just slap the parts together. Literally nothing about this is self sufficient at all!
@@edwinmorris1635 general dynamics are a US company. the CV90 option would have been bae / sweedish. also cheaper. also could have had more of them. also does not make people go deaf who drive in the thing.
1:40 Why is he doing all that manually? Why not use a "rattle gun" (set to less than 500Nm) to do the initial tightening and then the special gun to apply the correct torque?
Think reallllyyyy reallyyy hard on what the key points of an interview are..... now go listen to a rattle gun and i think maybe... just maybe you will come up with an answer for your question.
@@JimCarneryou two are cracked, an attack on UK soil would be a declaration of war on NATO, y'know that 31 nation alliance... not to mention we are one of only 9 nations with Nuclear weapons... just who exactly is itching to pick a fight with a massive Nuclear powered alliance? 😂😂
tightening the bolts with a ratchet? give that poor man an impact. probably 10X ( a guess ) faster. especially considering how long and many bolts he has to tighten. yabba dabba do.
This should be also taken up with drone manufacture , the new soldier trained from manufacture to end use . The process and modding required in EW systems and counters requires almost portable manufacturing workshops , with 3d printing technology and AI systems heavily reducing the workshop area , robot warfare will have to be countered , lest these ajax become just high cost coffins ? In shore line defence and military front line pilots will need to be trained in large numbers either way.
Does it have any form of anti drone protection? If not it will be cannon fodder in short order. As for quality control, who seriously allows any vehicle out for test that can do serious injury to the crew. GD are cr@p, they laughed at the defence select committee when they were asked about the failings. In my opinion, its yet another example of government corruption.
About time we got some decent equipment, our troops should be protected as much as possible when on active duty, I remember the pigs we had in the seventies nothing like these bad boys.
WTF. No wonder it takes so long to procure equipment for our services. Hand tightening nuts and bolts with spanners on an assembly line.? Just hope Putin can wait another 20 years before he declares war, we may have them built by then.
Using soo many loctite is a joke especially in Army vehicles. This is tech from 15 to 20 years ago. Not even the chinese use glues for bolts connections because it normal heat condition the glue transforms to crystal forms and thus the bolts loosening much faster. This is only a solution for unexperienced new graduated low level Engineers. Ask a pro before you make produce something or even getter ask the Turkish army manufacturing companies on how to make it right!
A huge transfer of U.K. tax money to an American company. No surprise the costs have been astronomical! It is not good value for money. If the Ukrainian conflict illustrates anything, its numbers that count. Simpler builds in quantity.
Numbers count? Cobblers. Russia has the numbers, but are they counting? No is the answer. It's quality over quantity that matters. Already seeing this in Ukraine with western armour.
@@sentien13 length CR2 8.3 m hull or 13.5 with gun x width 4.2 m x height 2.49 m. Ajax length 7.62 m x width 3.35 m x height 3.35 m . It is not small lol
@@sentien13 length CR2 8.3 m hull or 13.5 with gun x width 4.2 m x height 2.49 m. Ajax length 7.62 m x width 3.35 m x height 3.35 m . It is not small lol
Why don't you tell everyone where they are built, that sounds like a great idea.. So you think there is absolutely no chance of a war with Russia? That's reassuring..
@airhabairhab why are you so arrogant? Pompous. I can see comments you leave on other posts. Were you Green Slime? Doubt they'd have you. I have already said they know. But this shows workers identities, the inside of factory and more, for very little real gain. We are engaged in a global conflict.
The name (like car names) must be known or unintelligible in many languages, if you want to sell them overseas. The Greek hero Ajax, is well known over much of the world. Like Hercules, or the word Typhoon, etc. Chinook, similarly.
Vending machine for stock rotation? Nah... this is to stop people taking them home - scan it use it take it home results in management chat. We had the same in the Army - PX24 anyone?
BRB, just getting some Glue out of the vending machine.... Imagine building stuff at these speeds during the great wars, man alive have a word with the Japanese and do some modernisation
Tim-“How proud are you that Loctite have a vending machine on the factory floor?”- “arrrh …theres nothing better than having a good old sniff before work “said Dai ‘the spanner‘
This guy is always starting off with the now oh so lame statement...... ‘I’ve been given special permission’ in fact he goes a step higher with ‘very special permission’. You’re still not very good, no matter what your hyped up permission status.
Ooooo there there Timmy, don’t ‘throw a track now’. And you couldn’t help yourself but let me know again, you got special permission. I would hazard a guess that every program with the military involved, you have to have permission. And you are grossly misleading your viewers, using the word ‘built’ knowing that most will be duped into believing the Ajax was made in the UK. When you know full well that it is ASSEMBLED in the UK, with parts being ‘BUILT’ in several other countries. So how’s about telling the whole truth in future, that’s what irked me.
Isolation mounts for seats and driver controls , extra thick comfy cushions and noise cancelling headsets , think rubber tracks would not be squeezed out of fixed price budget without causing a loss !
