• Defence Notes

  USMC trains Senegal forces

  7th July 2015

  A team of around ten US Marine Corps (USMC) soldiers, sailors and coastguardsmen are currently undertaking the training of Senegalese Companie Fusilier de Marine Commandos …

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems, Saab Australia sign MoU

  7th July 2015

  BAE Systems and Saab Australia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) as part of BAE System's bid for a major Australian combat vehicle programme on …

• Military Logistics

  HMAS Canberra completes first assessment

  6th July 2015

  The Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) HMAS Canberra landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship has completed the first of several training and assessment periods, the RAN announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  GPS III satellite competition heats up

  6th July 2015

  The big fight between prime contractors for the US Air Force’s follow-on GPS III satellite contract is taking shape. Thermal vacuum testing is due to …

• Land Warfare

  Oshkosh wins US Army FMTV order

  6th July 2015

  Oshkosh Defense has received an order from the US Army to manufacture and deliver 698 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) trucks from 2016, the …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed Martin tests EW pod

  6th July 2015

  Lockheed Martin has announced that it has been testing a new electronic warfare (EW) pod in its advanced anechoic chamber, as it looks to expands it …

• Digital Battlespace

  Vencore Labs receives DARPA contract

  6th July 2015

  Vencore Labs, the applied research organisation of Vencore, has been awarded a contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the second …

• Military Logistics

  RoK picks Airbus MRTT

  3rd July 2015

  South Korea has chosen the A330-200 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) for its air force’s aerial refuelling requirement. The Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) procurement agency …

• Military Logistics

  US develops maintenance for Afghanistan

  2nd July 2015

  There is a significant opportunity coming up for industry with the support effort for Afghan Army military vehicles. Afghanistan’s ‘National Maintenance Strategy’ is set to …

• Land Warfare

  USMC to modernise squads

  2nd July 2015

  US Marine Corps (USMC) officials have described future efforts to optimise the combat effectiveness of the base 'Squad' formation, reflecting on lessons learned more than …

• Naval Warfare

  USS Jackson completes acceptance trials

  2nd July 2015

  The US Navy's future USS Jackson Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has completed sea acceptance trials, the Naval Sea Systems Command announced on 30 June. The …

• Naval Warfare

  Poseidon poised for future customers

  2nd July 2015

  Boeing has been awarded a near $359 million not-to-exceed modification to a previously awarded contract for the P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) the Pentagon announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  EA-6B Prowler retires from service

  2nd July 2015

  The US Navy's EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft has retired from service as the force transitions to the EA-18G Growler fleet, with its retirement commemorated …

• Military Logistics

  AAR to support Afghan C-130H fleet

  2nd July 2015

  AAR has won a five-year Complete Logistics Support (CLS) contract from the US Air Force to support the Afghan Air Force's C-130H aircraft fleet, the …

• Military Logistics

  Australia dismantles DMO

  2nd July 2015

  In a major but long-expected move, Australia disbanded the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) on 1 July, handing procurement and sustainment for Australian Defence Force equipment …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Military Aid - $300 Million On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine to "bolster Urkaine's capacity ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165 Special Ops HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HHMWV, or Humvee, has been in US service since 1983. The M1165A1B3 is a special operations variant of the platform.  In 2015, the US ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (16 March 2022 & 13 April 2022) On 16 March 2022, President Biden announced $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine through ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank [US]

  Programme Background As IAI stated in a 19 January 2023 press release, it had been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Irregular Warfare Technical Support ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE [Kosovo]

  Background Contract Award On 21 January 2022, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that AeroVironment had been awarded an $11.01 million firm-fixed contract for Puma ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background On 24 February 2023, the US DoD announced that the Biden Administration had released an additional aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1152A1B2/M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million Presidential Drawdown security ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS): Switchblade [US]

  Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a ceiling $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide “an ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE [Estonia]

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  KC-46A (3-6) [Japan]

  On 30 October 2020, the US DoD announced that it awarded a $342 million contract to Boeing for two Japanese KC-46A tanker aircraft. Work will be performed ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  ACV-30 PRTV [USA]

  Background The Armoured Combat Vehicle (ACV) programme is intended to provide a replacement for the USMC's fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicle 7 (AAV7) tracked vehicles. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  XQ-58A Valkyrie [USMC]

  Programme Background Contract Award On 30 December 2022, the US DoD announced that it had awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems a $15.52 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Pistols

  M9

  M9 is the US DoD designation for the military-specification 9mm Beretta 92FS, selected in 1985 to replace the 45cal M1911A1 in US service. Sales to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Igla/SA-18

  The 9K38 Igla (US DoD designation SA-18, NATO reporting name Grouse ) IR-homing MANPADS was developed by KBM and entered service in 1983 to meet the requirements ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank

  Point Blank Weapon System is a hand-launched electro-optical VTOL-capable loitering munition developed by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI has been awarded a contract by the US ...

• Military UAS - small

  ScanEagle 3

  Insitu unveiled the ScanEagle 3 at the Xponential exhibition in Denver in May 2018. The platform has twice the payload capacity of its ScanEagle predecessor ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  BAT-850

  Pathfinder's BAT-850 VSAT is a carbon fibre, tri-band terminal with auto-acquisition capability. Suitable for flyaway (case-based) and vehicle-mounted applications, it is in service with the ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  URC-300

  The URC-300 is a software-defined radio designed for line-of-sight, ground-to-air communications in particular. Introduced in 2020, it adheres to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards as well ...

• Air: aerial targets

  BQM-177A/i

  The BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT) was designed for the USN, and the BQM-177i is the export variant. The BQM-177 provides realistic threat emulation for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Banshee Tactical Radio

  Developed by Fenix Group, the Banshee Tactical Radio (BTR) is a communications system that uses 4G/LTE connectivity to provide secure mesh networking capability on the ...

• Crew-served grenade launchers

  Striker 40/MK47

  General Dynamics is systems integrator for the Striker 40 (MK47 AGL in US service). The complete system comprises the weapon, AN/PWG-1 Lightweight Video Sight and ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  AN/ARC-231 Skyfire

  The AN/ARC-231 Skyfire is an airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM system. This system supports US DoD requirements for airborne, multi-band, multi-mission, secure anti-jam voice, data ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  CLWS

  Developed by Boeing, Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS or CLaWS) is a medium-range, low-power laser C-UAS system. According to the reports, the CLWS prototype has ...

• Weapon sights for day use

  CompM4/M4s

  The US DoD has bought over one million Aimpoint sights since 1997. The US Army is now fielding the CompM4s as the latest version of ...

• Data links, Land: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  QNT-200

  The Collins QNT-200 is a dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) designed for size, weight and power-constrained platforms. Using IP-based mesh networks, it offers high-bandwidth mobile networking ...