• Naval Warfare

  SAS 2015: New LCACs ramp up

  14th April 2015

  The first new Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vessels built under the US Navy’s Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) programme are set to be delivered. Speaking at …

• Naval Warfare

  SAS 2015: Expeditionary Mk VI patrol boats advance

  14th April 2015

  The US Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) is expected to take delivery of the first two of ten Mk IV patrol boats later this year. …

• Naval Warfare

  SAS 2015: Eastern scores high for USCG cutter

  14th April 2015

  Eastern Shipbuilding is displaying a model of its Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) at Sea-Air-Space 2015 that is being used to compete for the US Coast …

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon, Kongsberg team up for Naval Strike Missile

  14th April 2015

  Raytheon and Kongsberg have formed a teaming agreement for the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), as announced on 9 April. The agreement is the second step …

• Naval Warfare

  SAS 2015: US Navy moves on LCS mission packages

  14th April 2015

  Development of the mission packages (MPs) for the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is speeding up with a busy two years coming up. Speaking …

• Land Warfare

  FLIR gets second DR SKO production order

  14th April 2015

  FLIR Systems has received the second full-rate production order to support the US Department of Defense's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Dismounted Reconnaissance Sets, Kits, and …

• Land Warfare

  First LRIP M109A7 howitzer delivered

  13th April 2015

  The first M109A7 155mm self-propelled howitzer was delivered to the US Army on 9 April that represented the beginning of Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP). Formerly …

• Military Logistics

  USS America completes final contractor trials

  13th April 2015

  The US Navy's USS America (LHA 6) amphibious assault ship completed its final contractor trials earlier in April. During the post-delivery trials, the ship and …

• Defence Helicopter

  GA-ASI's Gen 3 HEL system evaluated

  13th April 2015

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' (GA ASI) Gen 3 High Energy Laser (HEL) system has undergone beam quality and power evaluations, the company announced on 8 …

• Land Warfare

  DRS announces new US, Canadian contracts

  13th April 2015

  DRS Technologies has been awarded three contracts to provide equipment to US Navy vessels and submarines and the Canadian Army. The company signed a $100 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Egypt requests Hellfire II missiles

  13th April 2015

  The US State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale of AGM-114K/R3 Hellfire II missiles to Egypt, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced …

• Military Logistics

  Australia orders two extra C-17 airlifters

  13th April 2015

  Australia has formally signed a contract for two of the four Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft it requested in October 2014, according to an …

• Naval Warfare

  USCGC James completes builder's sea trials

  10th April 2015

  USCGC James, the fifth Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC) of the US Coast Guard, has completed builder's sea trials, as announced by Huntington Ingalls on …

• Military Logistics

  US Army uses IBM Hybrid Cloud for logistics

  10th April 2015

  The US Army is using the IBM Hybrid Cloud to power its Logistics Support Activity (LOGSA) logistics system, IBM announced on 8 April. The new …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army receives 100th AH-64E Apache

  10th April 2015

  The US Army has reached a significant milestone in its AH-64E Apache helicopter programme, having taken delivery of the 100th aircraft in late March. The …

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 ...