The Department has once again made fundamental mistakes in its planning and management of a major equipment programme. Ajax’s design is based on a pre-existing vehicle, but the Department’s 1,200 capability requirements meant that, in effect, it was developed from scratch. However, the Department and General Dynamics did not fully understand the complexity and challenges of this hybrid approach and did not manage design changes effectively. The Department says it has reviewed its approach to ...

The Department has once again made fundamental mistakes in its planning and management of a major equipment programme. Ajax’s design is based on a pre-existing vehicle, but the Department’s 1,200 capability requirements meant that, in effect, it was developed from scratch. However, the Department and General Dynamics did not fully understand the complexity and challenges of this hybrid approach and did not manage design changes effectively. The Department says it has reviewed its approach to requirement setting and now only approves programmes with a reasonable number of requirements, such as the 150 to 200 for the purchase of Boxer armoured Type: conclusion | Number: 2 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: agree an aligned suite of internal performance measures which will help the department to hold the OfS to account better. 2.5 The OfS already consults the sector on its activity, including regular meetings with sector bodies, organising events for the sector