• Defence Notes

  Gulf temperatures reduce WR-21 output

  25th June 2015

  The high temperatures in the Arabian Gulf have resulted in increasing wear and reductions in power generation for the UK Royal Navy’s T45 destroyers when …

• Digital Battlespace

  US warns China on cyberattacks

  24th June 2015

  The US has asked China that they should both agree to behave in the proper manner in cyberspace. Following the data breach at the US Office of …

• Military Logistics

  General Atomics bags EMALS, AAG order

  24th June 2015

  General Atomics will produce Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) for the future aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), …

• Defence Notes

  Poland joins NATO’s 2% club

  24th June 2015

  Poland’s defence spending has reached above the 2% benchmark according to a NATO report, amid general reductions by many other European alliance members. The NATO …

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon bags P-8A radar order

  24th June 2015

  Raytheon has been awarded a $153 million multi-year contract by the US Navy to produce 53 overland, littoral and maritime surveillance radars for the navy's P-8A …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Up to 69 TSP sensors planned for US Army

  24th June 2015

  Up to 69 Tactical Signals Intelligence Payload (TSP) sensors, manufactured by BAE Systems, could finally be delivered to the US Army for use in their …

• Land Warfare

  GA-EMS tests railgun projectiles

  24th June 2015

  General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has successfully tested railgun projectiles with on-board electronics at the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, the company announced on …

• Military Logistics

  HII bags carrier modernisation order

  24th June 2015

  The Newport News Shipbuilding division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has received a US Navy contract for modernisation and nuclear propulsion work on the USS …

• Defence Helicopter

  Spirit delivers third King Stallion fuselage

  22nd June 2015

  Spirit AeroSystems has delivered the third fuselage of the CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter to prime contractor Sikorsky, the company announced on 19 June. With …

• Defence Helicopter

  Airbus Helicopters to get Pro Line Fusion

  22nd June 2015

  Airbus Helicopters, Rockwell Collins, and Vector Aerospace have signed an agreement to develop and market the Pro Line Fusion avionics solution to upgrade Airbus Helicopters …

• Naval Warfare

  Malaysia responds to pirates and China

  22nd June 2015

  The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) shadowed a hijacked oil tanker in the South China Sea, before a group of …

• Digital Battlespace

  SPAWAR awards MIDS JTRS contract

  22nd June 2015

  The US Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) has awarded a contract to Data Link Solutions (DLS) to provide Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint …

• Defence Notes

  Paris Air Show: SDB II exports planned for 2018 (video)

  22nd June 2015

  Raytheon will look to begin exports of its Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) in 2018, with company officials indicating that F-35 operators will be …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Cobham, GA-ASI sign support deal

  18th June 2015

  Cobham Aviation Services has teamed up with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) to create an affiliation that covers whole life support for the latter's products …

• Military Logistics

  RAAF KC-30A refuels E-7A Wedgetail

  18th June 2015

  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has completed aerial refuelling trials between the E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and KC-30A multi-role tanker …

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 ...