• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Paris Air Show: Security instability creates new UAV markets

  18th June 2015

  Textron Systems is exploring new opportunities in the western and eastern European UAV markets following instability created as a result of the conflict in the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell V-280 Valor assembly begins

  17th June 2015

  Bell Helicopter announced the start of major assembly work on the fuselage of the Bell V-280 Valor tilt-rotor aircraft on 15 June, with Spirit AeroSystems …

• Defence Helicopter

  Denmark approves investments by Seahawk

  17th June 2015

  The Danish Business Authority (DBA) has approved an initial phase of investment by four US companies providing nine MH-60R Seahawk naval helicopters to the Danish …

• Defence Notes

  Paris Air Show: Textron unleashes the Wolverine (video)

  17th June 2015

  Textron Aviation is displaying its Beechcraft AT-6 light attack and reconnaissance aircraft, which has recently been rebranded as the ‘Wolverine’, at this year’s Paris Air …

• Military Logistics

  US Navy gets new Mobile Landing Platform

  16th June 2015

  General Dynamics NASSCO delivered the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) USNS Lewis B. Puller, configured as an Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), to the US Navy …

• Defence Helicopter

  Paris Air Show: TAI eyes export sales

  15th June 2015

  After a period of rapid expansion since 2005, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is entering a new phase and believes the appearance of its equipment with …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Paris Air Show: Mexico introduces UAV tech

  15th June 2015

  Mexico-based company, Drone Tech UAV, is looking forward to completing the test flight programme of its new UAV, the AV-1 Albatross, it was discovered at …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army extends Boeing deal

  15th June 2015

  The US Army Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD) awarded a five-year contract to extend its partnership with Boeing that supports the overhaul of complex parts …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon demonstrates GPS OCX

  15th June 2015

  Raytheon has demonstrated its Global Positioning System Operational Control System's (GPS OCX) next-generation advanced capabilities for the US Department of Defense, the company announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Engility supports first UAV aerial refuelling

  15th June 2015

  Engility teamed with the US Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstration programme to support the recent first aerial refuelling of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) X-47B, …

• Digital Battlespace

  Saab bags datalink order

  15th June 2015

  Saab has won an order worth $14.54 million for datalink systems from an unnamed customer, the company announced on 12 June. The order was placed …

• Defence Helicopter

  Paris Air Show: Costs hamper heli ops

  15th June 2015

  While rotorcraft are ‘utterly essential’ to modern military operations, vulnerability, range and cost issues continue to hamper their utility, according to one senior British Army …

• Land Warfare

  Phantom MRAP seen in Thailand

  15th June 2015

  The Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC) recently concluded a three-month trial of a new MRAP vehicle in southern Thailand, it has emerged.  The prototype, named …

• Defence Notes

  USAF gets 1,000th CMBRE

  15th June 2015

  Orbital ATK delivered the 1,000th Common Munitions BIT Reprogramming Equipment (CMBRE) to the US Air Force (USAF), it announced on 10 June. The CMBRE is …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Chapman launches UAV pilot school

  12th June 2015

  Chapman Aerospace has launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilot training school at its base in California, following authorisation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) …

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 ...