Sponsored by TEK Military Seating Limited
http://www.tekmilitaryseating.co.uk/
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
19 Feb 26. Ajax, clean bill of health. On February 19thnthe Government announced Defence Grants of £250m for the Regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. GDUL will bid for the Welsh £250m. BATTLESPACE believes this will be used to fund the Aquila Armoured Personnel Carrier to replace Warrior. At the same meeting National Armaments Director Rupert Pierce announced that the Army can proceed with certain training and developments activities of the Ajax as well as that that the Ajax programme has been cleared to proceed with a revised and enhanced Training Programme and the addition of automatic track tensioners on every vehicle.
11 Feb 26. Kodiak AI lands Marine Corps deal to add driverless tech to ROGUE Fires platform. Last year Forterra was also awarded a contract to integrate its autonomy stack, dubbed AutoDrive, into the JLTVs for the ROGUE Fires program. The Marine Corps today awarded autonomous trucking company Kodiak AI a contract to integrate its AI-powered autonomous driving system into Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) for the service’s Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires platform.
“By integrating the Kodiak Driver into the ROGUE-Fires platform, Kodiak is enabling the U.S. Marine Corps to understand how autonomous operations can extend reach, improve operational tempo, and reduce risk to Marines while executing high-end expeditionary missions,” the company wrote in a statement today.
The ROGUE Fires platform consists of mounting the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — a ground-based anti-ship missile launcher with two Naval Strike Missiles — onto the JLTV chassis.
“The Kodiak Driver is a powerful dual-use capability that leverages physical AI to strengthen defense readiness through scalable and adaptive applications in order to keep Marines out of harm’s way,” Kodiak AI Founder and CEO Don Burnette said in today’s release.
“We have extensively tested our autonomous system in our prior efforts with the military and believe this work with the Marine Corps allows us to further showcase how Kodiak’s technology performs in unstructured and unmapped environments,” he continued.
Kodiak’s announcement comes after Forterra, another autonomy company specializing in “driverless technology,” was awarded a contract in January 2025 to integrate its autonomy stack, dubbed AutoDrive, into the JLTVs for the ROGUE Fires platform. (Oshkosh Defense is currently on contract to provide the JLTVs).
“Fielding self-driving ground autonomy on ROGUE-Fires is crucial to the Marines’ modernization plans and Forterra is proud to partner with Oshkosh Defense on a system that will reduce casualties and improve our warfighters’ ability to fight and win,” Christian Seifert, head of Robotic Missile Systems at Forterra, said in a company statement at the time of the award.
Kodiak declined to comment on the value of the ROGUE contract, but Breaking Defense previously reported that the Marines invested $30m into putting autonomous navigation into the ROGUE Fires platform through Forterra’s AutoDrive system. Further, Congress shelled out $59 m for “autonomy kits” for the program for fiscal 2026, $30m more than what the Pentagon’s 2026 budget request laid out.
Prior to today’s announcement, Kodiak was also awarded a contract in 2022 for the Army’s first shot at its Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program, for which the company said it received $30 m. The RCV program has since been cancelled and revamped — for a second time — by the Army as the service attempts to find less expensive solutions, capping the per-unit cost at $650,000.
(Source: Breaking Defense.com)
18 Feb 26. BAE Systems completes successful trials of ATLAS UGV. The trials support ongoing development of a modular autonomous land system for main battle tanks and reconnaissance vehicles. BAE Systems has completed a series of successful trials for its Autonomous Tactical Light Armour System (ATLAS) Uncrewed Ground Vehicle (UGV).
These tests form part of the company’s ongoing efforts to develop modular autonomous land systems that support main battle tank and combat reconnaissance vehicle capabilities.
The ATLAS Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV), first introduced at Land Forces in September 2024, has undergone extensive testing across various levels of autonomy.
These include remote teleoperation, waypoint-based navigation, and full sense and avoid autonomy. The company describes the platform as a fully functional prototype demonstrator.
The ATLAS CCV is an eight-wheel drive vehicle with a weight of 10 tonnes. Its design allows for future upgrades to accommodate new technologies and evolving operational requirements.
BAE Systems has equipped the platform’s command and control system with low-probability-of-intercept communications to facilitate integrated missions involving both crewed and uncrewed vehicles.
The vehicle supports several autonomous operation modes, such as teleoperation, “follow me” with obstacle avoidance, waypoint navigation with obstacle avoidance, and goal-oriented mission planning.
Multiple payload ATLAS CCV configurations are possible, according to the manufacturer. In its assault setup, the vehicle features the VANTAGE medium calibre turret system, described by BAE Systems as new, lightweight, and highly automated for use on uncrewed vehicles.
The VANTAGE turret incorporates the company’s passive Multi-Spectral Automatic Target Detection, Tracking and Classification System (ATTCS), which enables higher levels of automated operation.
This technology aims to reduce operator workload, enable control of multiple vehicles by one operator, lower detection risk, and decrease target engagement time.
In June last year, BAE Systems Australia conducted live test firing of the VANTAGE automated turret system developed for use on the ATLAS CCV.
BAE Systems Australia defence delivery managing director Andrew Gresham said: “In just sixteen months, we have gone from launching ATLAS at Land Forces to operating a fully functional prototype demonstrator.
“ATLAS has been developed to give soldiers the advantage on the modern battlefield. This has resulted in an autonomous platform that will deliver the dull, dirty and dangerous tasks expected in a combat environment. (Source: army-technology.com)
17 Feb 26. No pause in Ajax production while investigations are ongoing. Ajax manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems UK says production will persist despite reported defects.
- Production of Ajax will continue unchanged despite defects reported by training crews in November 2025
- General Dynamics Land Systems UK will continue to meet its contractual requirements with the British Army as they wait on the findings of ongoing investigations launched on 22 January 2026
- There are currently three separate investigations into the UK’s troublesome medium weight armoured fighting vehicle, none of which have concluded at the time of writing
There will be no pause in the production of Ajax armoured fighting vehicles despite excessive noise and vibration issues afflicting training crews.
A spokesperson for General Dynamics Land Systems UK (GDLS UK) – the primary contractor since 2010 – told Army Technology that the company continues to produce Ajax vehicles at its facility in Merthyr Tyfil, about 23 miles north of Cardiff, while “we await the findings of the independent investigations”.
So far, the contractor has delivered 185 vehicles of 589 ordered by the UK government. It takes approximately 16 weeks to build just one vehicle.
Ajax units currently in production have not deviated from design specifications established prior to the problems reported on 22 November 2025 during a routine training exercise, which effected 30 soldiers operating the vehicles (25 of whom have returned to duty).
Currently, three separate safety investigations are ongoing exploring the UK’s troublesome medium weight armoured fighting vehicle, none of which have concluded at the time of writing.
The Defence Accident Investigation Branch and the Army safety investigation will determine technical findings while a ministerial led review assesses how the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has implemented the actions of previous reviews. (Source: army-technology.com)
18 Feb 26. Rheinmetall has received the green light from the Italian government to start production at a plant on the island of Sardinia, the German defence company said late on Tuesday. The Financial Times reported on the approval earlier on Tuesday. Stay up to date on the key companies, data, and decisions in the ESG world with the Reuters Sustainable Finance newsletter. Sign up here. The company welcomed the decision of the Italian government, which confirmed that the plant complies with environmental guidelines, Rheinmetall told Reuters.
“The production is planned to start shortly to sustain the demand of several EU, NATO and allied countries.”
Rheinmetall has a strong presence in Italy. Together with the Italian group Leonardo (LDOF.MI) the company builds tanks, among other ordnance. It has invested around 50m euros ($59m) in the Domusnovas site in the south of Sardinia, where the group intends to manufacture large quantities of explosives and guided missiles for NATO countries. ($1 = 0.8448 euros) (Source: Reuters)
17 Feb 26. Following on from the Market Interest Day on 15th January 2026, the LMV Project Team has issued an initial RFI to gather further insights from Industry.
Preliminary Market Engagement Notice, Abbey Wood, Bristol 17 February 2026: [extracts]
A[n] update has been made within the engagement process description regarding further Market Engagement occuring [sic] as part of the LMV project.
Description
This is a calling notice for the Land Mobility Programme Team (LMP) team Early Market Engagement (EME) for the Light Mobility Vehicle Project (LMV). The purpose of this engagement is to engage with industry about the current requirement, explore key challenges and opportunities, and gain a clearer understanding of current market capabilities and offerings which may be relevant to how we deliver this requirement in the future. LMV is expected to deliver multiple options including delivery of a wheeled utility platform to modernise capability in roles currently filled by Land Rover and Pinzgauer with a Common Based Platform delivering warfighting roles across the Joint Force.
Total value (estimated) ¤ £750,000,000 excluding VAT
Contract dates (estimated) ¤ 30 April 2027 to 30 April 2033
Engagement deadline ¤ 3 March 2026
UPDATE 17/02/2026
Following on from the Market Interest Day on 15th January 2026, the LMV Project Team has issued an initial Request for Information (RFI) to gather further insights from Industry. We welcome input from all industry partners either individually or as part of a group. A return to all or part of this RFI is requested before 17:00 on Tuesday 3rd March 2026.
Editor’s Comment: As the UK Defence Procurement sloth lumbers on one has to wonder if the organisation’s primary goal is:
- replacing badly needed vehicles which have long been out of production and for which many spares are difficult or impossible to source at sensible prices, or
- amassing more mountains of paperwork to make sourcing replacements even more difficult than it need be while keeping the jobs of seat-polishers secure for even longer
Even the Spanish MoD, who it is said sometimes use the word mañana where others might use urgent, have not only replaced their 1990s vintage light mobility vehicle fleets but they have also managed to seek, trial and procure replacements for the batch of vehicles that replaced many of these! The way UK MoD is going it looks like the, predominantly 1997/8 vintage, Land Rover Defender utility vehicle fleet may end up seeing 35 years of service rather than the planned 15 years originally forecast.
(Source: joint-forces.com)
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
TEK Military Seating Limited
TEK Military Seating Limited is a UK based designer and manufacturer of ProTEK military vehicle seating which offer the highest standards of safety and protection. The ProTEK brand is well respected across the globe for its robust construction, innovative design, built in modularity and cost effectiveness. Our superior products are supported by our experienced team who endeavor to offer unrivalled service to our customers from enquiry, through design and acceptance, to through life support.
From its inception ProTEK seats have been designed around a family of innovative seat frames onto which tested and certified modules can be fitted to create a bespoke solution for the user. These include Blast protection to Stanag 4569 standards, vibration reduction, head and body protection, seat risers and turntables, fore & aft adjustment, and seat back rake along with viable seat dimensions without the need for additional tooling costs.
Contact: Paul Fleming
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–