DSEI 2025: Lockheed Martin unveils uncrewed turret for UK

Lockheed Martin UK unveiled an uncrewed turret integrated onto the hull of a General-Dynamics Land UK Ajax armoured fighting vehicle on September 9, during the DSEI UK 2025 exhibition in London. 

The turret builds upon the company’s work and investment in the turret for the UK’s Warrior Capability Sustainment programme (WCSP) and Ajax, and is designed to demonstrate the type of capability that the UK could procure for an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), if such a requirement emerged, Alex King, Business Development Lead for Complex Systems explained in an exclusive interview with Calibre Defence.

“With the uncrewed turret, we are building on the investment that the UK government has made in WCSP and Ajax, and trying to channel it into a brand new product to address the UK requirements, as well as export it to the rest of the world,” Alex explained. 

The requirement he is referring to is the capability gap left by the cancellation of the WSCP project in 2021 and the anticipated retirement of the entire fleet by 2030. This will leave the British Army’s Armoured Brigade Combat Teams without an infantry fighting vehicle, and reliant upon the Ajax reconnaissance vehicles and Challenger 3 for fire support. The Boxer fleet is expected to provide armoured mobility. 

Without a turreted platform, the armoured infantry will have to adjust their tactics and approaches to combat. A Warrior could be driven right up to an enemy trench and provide fire support with its 30 mm cannon as soldiers clambered out of the back to carry on an offensive, for example. Boxer has no similar capability and likely a lower level of off-road mobility than a tracked platform. 

The collaboration with General Dynamics would position the two companies well should the British Army decide to reinstate a tracked IFV.  At present, the new turret is in a fireable configuration, armed with the CT40 cased telescoped weapon system from CTAI.  “As the requirement firms up, then the testing and integration will be progressed,” Alex said, adding that, “a lot of Lockheed Martin investment has gone into this project, supporting and re-establishing the domestic supply chain yet further.” 

Drawing its heritage from the WCSP, the turret is an entirely sovereign design and will be built at the company’s factory in Ampthill, which also produces turrets for the Ajax reconnaissance vehicle. This is arguably an important element of the design. Armoured vehicle engineering is a difficult skill set that can be easily lost without sustained support and investment. Maintaining and nourishing a sovereign capability to design and build turrets would be very valuable for the UK, and difficult to replace if lost. 

“It is platform, weapon, and system agnostic,” Alex continued. “So, if the customer wants to fit the same sights as Ajax, they can. If they want to set it up for air defence, they can. We’ve listened to the MoD and the government through the Strategic Defence Review, and we believe that this turret meets their goals and requirements,” he said. 

Lockheed’s turret production is one of the few aspects of the Ajax procurement that has remained on schedule. At the time of this interview, the company had produced 221 turrets and was in the process of upgrading some of the earlier turrets that had been delivered. The production time per turret has reduced by 72% since production started. And as part of the company-wide 1RX digital transformation, the Ampthill factory now puts digital engineering at the heart of everything it designs and builds, meaning it is a very capable site for the UK’s defence ecosystem. “We’re often regarded as the crown jewels outside of Lockheed Martin’s American sites,” Alex proudly told me.

Uncrewed Turret export opportunities

“We wanted to find ways to take the investment that the UK government and taxpayer have already made, and turn it into further opportunities, so we are offering our Uncrewed Turret for export,” Alex said. 

“We became aware of a potential requirement for hundreds of turrets in the Saudi land forces and Saudi Arabian National Guard…and we are quite far along in that process now. We will be demonstrating the turret at the World Defense Show (WDS) next year,” Alex added, referring to one of the many export campaigns that are under way. “That will be prototype number 2, it will look different – it’s a lot more jagged/angular – an update to the design as we progress through the design phases,” he went on to explain. 

The campaign has been supported by UK Defence & Security Exports (UKDSE), a part of the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) responsible for promoting and facilitating the export of British defence and security products and services. “They have helped with meetings in Saudi Arabia and engagements with the decision-makers there.” 

“The plan is to export from the UK production line originally and train a company called ERAF to build, integrate and test the turrets in Saudi Arabia.” That training and development of a production capability will help to meet the company’s offset agreement for the sale of air defence systems, which Alex feels will put them in a strong position. 

If the contract is fully realised as planned, this could be a good win for the UK and especially the Treasury. The Labour Government has tied its goals for growth to spending on defence, and sees the industry as a driver of growth. In the past, some programmes like the Eurofighter Typhoon have been measured in terms of the tax returns and revenue growth realised through exports. So, securing a large export order early on in a project would help the UK government take the decision to procure a similar capability for its own forces. 

Calibre comment

It is worth noting that if Warrior is retired without a tracked replacement, the UK will be one of only four countries in Europe without a tracked IFV. France, Belgium, and Ireland all operate entirely wheeled vehicle fleets with the exception of the Leclerc main battle tank in French service. There is a lot of debate around the differences between wheels and tracks when it comes to off-road mobility, but most empirical evidence shows that at an equal weight, tracks are better on soft soil and snow. Some wheeled platforms can perform marginally better on sand, but the differences are minimal. And, wheeled vehicles are generally faster and more fuel-efficient on roads, although those differences are reduced when composite rubber tracks are used. 

Conventional wisdom would hold that if the British Army wants to retain the ability to conduct aggressive, combined arms manoeuvre against a peer opponent, it will need a vehicle that can access as much terrain as possible carrying at least a section of mechanised riflemen. It should be well-protected, and importantly well-armed. The CT40 weapon system certainly addresses the latter aspect, and the protection of the Ajax hull, if it were selected, likely meets the former. Technologically, if the requirement for an IFV does emerge, and if it is for a tracked vehicle, Lockheed Martin UK with the uncrewed turret, and General Dynamics Land Systems UK would be in a good place to meet the requirement with the Ajax.

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on September 9, 2025. Credit for the lead image is Calibre Defence and shows the new turret upon its launch.