• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New comms payload for Wasp aerostat

  21st October 2016

  Drone Aviation will integrate a new communications sensor into the US Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Wasp aerostats under a contract announced on 19 October. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US CBP flight software includes ATLC

  21st October 2016

  The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has integrated General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ (GA-ASI’s) Automatic Take-off and Landing Capability (ATLC) system …

• Defence Helicopter

  BAE Systems signs new APKWS contract

  21st October 2016

  BAE Systems has received a three-year $130 million IDIQ contract to keep the US Navy supplied with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rockets, …

• Military Logistics

  Raytheon receives JPALS contract

  21st October 2016

  Raytheon will complete development of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) under a $255 million contract from the US Navy announced on 19 October. …

• Naval Warfare

  Euronaval 2016: Spotlight on smaller naval sonars

  21st October 2016

  The ability for smaller warships and patrol vessels to have the ability to conduct meaningful sub-surface scanning was thrown into the spotlight during Euronaval, as …

• Digital Battlespace

  Upgraded navigation for German frigates

  21st October 2016

  France's iXblue has been selected to provide its Marins M3 and Netans N3 systems to the German Navy to upgrade two F122 Bremen-class frigates and four …

• Training

  MCAT falls to Kratos

  21st October 2016

  Kratos Defense and Security has been awarded a $54 million contract to provide the US Marine Corps with five Marine Common Aircrew Trainers (MCAT). The …

• Naval Warfare

  Austal bags LCS post-shakedown contract

  20th October 2016

  Austal will carry out work on the Post Shakedown Availability phase for Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Gabrielle Giffords under a contract from the US …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Aerosonde HQ small footprint, big travels

  20th October 2016

  Textron Systems has demonstrated its Aerosonde hybrid quad (HQ) SUAS variant in front of existing and prospective customers from the military and commercial sectors. The …

• Land Warfare

  US Army reveals JLTV designators

  20th October 2016

  The US Army has provided official numeric designators for the vehicle variants of the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The JLTV programme has been developed …

• Digital Battlespace

  Roke, DSTL working on AI for maritime systems

  20th October 2016

  Roke Manor Research is set to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) software into a maritime combat system demonstrator sponsored by the UK’s Defence Science and Technology …

• Defence Notes

  Analysis: Mexican defence industry

  20th October 2016

  Mexico has been developing and producing its own weapon systems since the early 20th century and went through phases of building its own aircraft, armoured …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  China explores military UGV designs

  20th October 2016

  A special UGV trial, named Conquer Obstacle 2016, was recently held in China, the PLA Daily has publicised.  The aim of the unmanned ground system challenge was to …

• Land Warfare

  Jumping in the Leopard pool

  20th October 2016

  The Netherlands signed an agreement with Germany on 13 October to combine some of their Leopard 2 main battle tank forces. It will also transfer …

• Training

  CAE details training contracts

  19th October 2016

  CAE has been awarded defence contracts worth over CAD$100 million for training and support services to military customers, it announced on 18 October. Under two …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Background Required Quantity Although the US Army first envisioned a requirement for 132 MQ-1C Gray Eagles, the US Army's Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) was increased ...

• Main battle tanks

  NGCV: DLP

  Programme Background Requirement The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in ...

• AGMV 1.1

  Programme Background The US Army has been seeking a lightweight, air-droppable, high mobility vehicle since as early as 2014, when it initiated its Ultra Light ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV [USA]

  Programme Background Platform Development The US Army initiated the AMPV programme to acquire a replacement for several variants of the M113 tracked APC, which has ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [US Army]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was intended to ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract [US Army]

  Programme Background As of January 2021, the US DoD had signed 15 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) [USA]

  Programme Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. As part of this all Infantry ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow On

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) [US Army]

  Background First Contract In June 2011, the US awarded AeroVironment a $4.9 million series-production contract for the loitering munition, satisfying the US Army's Lethal Miniature ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) [Tranche 1] / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) (USA)

  Programme Background The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the Battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Switchblade 300 (USA)

  Programme Background AeroVironment has been providing the Switchblade 300 loitering munition to the US Army under the long-standing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) programme ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Group 4/5 UAV [US Army]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) On 5 June 2024, the American DoD published an RfI with an original response date of 19 July 2024. The ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  US Army Maneuver Support Vessel Light (MSVL)

  Programme BackgroundThe Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) or MSV(L) contract was awarded by the US Army to Vigor in 2017 and are being built to replace ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army AVCATT PDSS

  L3Harris Technologies is the prime contractor for the US Army’s Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT) Post Deployment Software Support (PDSS) programme. L3Harris Technologies is ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army Flight School XXI OFT/RCTD

  L3Harris Technologies is a major subcontractor to CSC on the US Army’s Flight School XXI (FSXXI) programme. L3Harris Technologies has built or is under contract ...

• Maritime patrol

  US-2

  The ShinMaywa US-2 is an amphibious short take-off and landing aircraft used primarily by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) for SAR. 

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  OH-58 Kiowa

  The single-engine OH-58 Kiowa, derived from the Bell 206, entered US Army service in 1969 as a light observation helicopter. More than 2,200 were built for ...

• Towed guns

  M198

  The US Army developed the M198 155mm towed howitzer from 1969 to replace the M114 155mm howitzer. From 1978, 1,600 weapons were built by Rock ...

• Towed mortars

  M120/M120A1

  The M120/M120A1 120 mm Towed Mortar System is a US-built version of the Soltam K6 mortar that was accepted into US Army service in 1990.

• Light tanks

  M10 Booker

  The US Army awarded General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) a contract worth US$1.14 billion to supply 96 light tanks under the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) ...

• JPT

  Designed for military applications, the Joint Platform Tablet (JPT) features a rugged design, including a military-grade aluminium case, dual-core processor, 128GB removable hard drive and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72A/B Lakota

  In 2006, the US Army selected a version of the medium-sized, twin-engine H145, designated the UH-72A Lakota,  to meet its requirement for a new Light ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  M1150 ABV

  The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  RQ-7 Shadow 200

  The Shadow 200, designated RQ-7B by the US Army, is flown by the army brigade combat teams and combat aviation brigades along with the UAV ...

• REBS

  The Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) is a 13m dry-gap bridge. It was designed by GDELS to meet a US Army requirement to provide a ...

• Land: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III

  Sierra Nevada’s AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III is the standard Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) manpack system in service with the US Army and US Marine Corps (USMC). ...

• DSB

  WFEL was selected in 1996 to develop the M18 Dry Support Bridge (DSB) for the US Army. The company designed, manufactured and integrated the DSB ...

• Individual grenade launchers

  M320 GLM

  The M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) is a further development of the HK AG36 (see separate entry) to meet a US Army requirement. The M320 ...