• Land Warfare

  PT Pindad hands over first Harimau tanks to Indonesian Army

  11th March 2024

  The Indonesian National Armed Forces received 52 vehicles during a ceremony in Jakarta including Pandur IIs, Anoa APCs, and Maung and Komodo light tactical vehicles.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force plan to retire 1,000 aircraft leads Congress to raise national security concerns

  16th April 2024

  The US Air Force has planned to retire more than 1,000 helicopters and AEW&C, combat, ISR, transport and training aircraft that have been in service for more than 30 years.

• Training

  How generative AI can improve military training

  3rd January 2024

  Using generative AI for military training can provide advantages such as analysing adversaries' behaviour and predicting their strategies.

• Air Warfare

  US ponders weapons sales to Israel as UK faces calls to halt exports

  4th April 2024

  Amid calls for restraint in arms sales, the US has been reviewing an $18 billion deal with Israel, including F-15 fighters and air-to-air missiles. The UK has also been facing pressure to cease exports over potential violations of international law in the Gaza conflict.

• Air Warfare

  NH90 helicopter Block 1 upgrade launched

  14th June 2024

  Developed as a multinational programme, the European NH90 was designed to meet NATO requirements for multirole capability from a common helicopter.

• Naval Warfare

  Tomahawk missiles and optronics axed from Royal Australian Navy Collins submarine upgrade

  5th June 2024

  Australia’s Collins-class consists of six submarines commissioned between 1996 and 2003 based on the Type 471 design from Swedish shipbuilder Kockums. New nuclear-powered submarines will replace the Collins-class in the 2030s.

• Air Warfare

  Doodle Labs expands use of its radios on UAV systems

  19th April 2024

  Mesh Rider is a SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) optimised mesh radio designed for uncrewed systems and supports six frequency bands in a single transceiver and AES-256 encryption. It was developed in cooperation with the US Defense Innovation Unit.

• Training

  US marines and sailors arrive in Australia for new MRF-Darwin rotation

  2nd April 2024

  About 2,000 US marines and sailors will participate in the defence exercise with Australian forces in the Northern Territory. The current MRF-D 24.3 rotation will conclude in October and last for six months.

• Land Warfare

  Rheinmetall to manufacture ammunition in Lithuania

  4th June 2024

  Rheinmetall has contracts or framework agreements worth billions to make munitions and has been building a new ammunition factory in Lower Saxony in Germany. It has also begun the production of artillery shells in Queensland, Australia and has establishing a vehicle joint venture in Ukraine. The new Lithuanian factory has marked another expansion for the company.

• Air Warfare

  L3Harris to upgrade USAF’s B-52H bomber cockpits

  7th June 2024

  The Boeing B-52H is the final model of the Stratofortress heavy bomber. More than 100 were built with 58 remaining in service plus 18 in reserve.

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems introduces gun-hardened GPS receiver for artillery, missiles and unmanned systems

  4th June 2024

  The A-PNT device will feature anti-jamming technology and will be manufactured at BAE Systems’ Cedar Rapids facility.

• Air Warfare

  Philippines receives two T129 ATAK helicopters from Turkey

  22nd May 2024

  The T129 ATAK fleet deal between the Philippines and Turkey were part of the Horizon 2 phase of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Modernisation Program.

• Naval Warfare

  Elbit wins first order for export version of Crossbow unmanned turret

  8th May 2024

  At DSEI 2023 Elbit Systems unveiled a lightweight export model of its Crossbow 120mm mortar system being developed for the Israel Defense Forces.

• Air Warfare

  How the Israeli Defense Forces overcame Iran’s attack

  15th April 2024

  Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel utilised numerous weapon systems, which Israel – with the cooperation of the US, UK, France and Jordan – was able to confront.

• Air Warfare

  Raytheon expands air missile production and announces successful use of StormBreaker from F-35C

  23rd July 2024

  Raytheon has been pushing its production line to meet demand for missiles. At the same time, the Farnborough International Airshow exhibitor has been trying to ensure there are no weak links in its supply chain and increase its depth of suppliers.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Programme 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 ...

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

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [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 intended to ...

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

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV (USA)

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

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

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

  Programme Background Contracted Units As covered in a separate programme entry, the US Army first procured AeroVironment's Switchblade 300 over a decade ago, beginning the service's ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Loitering Munitions [Switzerland]

  Programme Background Announcement In a February 2023 interview with Swiss news outlet CH-Media, Swiss army chief Thomas Süssli stated that the country was considering acquiring loitering ...

• Loitering munitions

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

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

• 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 ...

• 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) ...

• 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.

• 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 ...

• Infrastructure - bridges

  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). ...

• Infrastructure - bridges

  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 ...