• Defence Notes

  Jordan buys APKWS

  8th May 2014

  The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) has been sold to Jordan under a Foreign Military Sales agreement worth more than $5.5 million. Dave Harold, …

• Defence Helicopter

  CH-53K King Stallion helicopter rolled out

  8th May 2014

  A roll-out ceremony for the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter was held by Sikorsky in Florida on 5 May. During the unveiling ceremony, Gen Amos, Commandant …

• Digital Battlespace

  General Dynamics delivers TAC-MAAS to USSOCOM

  7th May 2014

  General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has announced that it has delivered nine TAC-MAAS processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) systems to the US Special Operations Command …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MQ-8C Fire Scout prepares for ship-board testing

  7th May 2014

  The MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is set to undergo testing to ensure it can safely operate within intense electromagnetic environments in preparation …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A: Sensors next step to address brownout threat

  7th May 2014

  The US Army is edging closer to a sensor-based solution to the lasting problem of landing helicopters in degraded visual environments (DVE) such as brownout …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A: US Army considers endgame for Kiowas

  7th May 2014

  The US Army is now considering possible options for its OH-58 Kiowa Warrior Scout and TH-67 training helicopters being divested as part of its aviation …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Navy takes delivery of 100th EA-18G Growler

  6th May 2014

  The US Navy’s EA-18G Growler programme has reached an important milestone, with the navy taking delivery of its 100th EA-18G Growler from Boeing. A ceremony …

• Military Logistics

  Cubic details new simulation and training contracts

  6th May 2014

  Cubic has announced that it has received two separate contracts for its simulation and training solutions from US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and an unnamed government …

• Land Warfare

  Colombian LAVs delivered

  6th May 2014

  The Colombian Army (COLAR) took delivery of an initial batch of 11 GDLS-C LAV-III armoured personnel carriers in mid-April, it has emerged. COLAR will use …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A: Bell looks towards the future of vertical lift

  6th May 2014

  Bell Helicopter is bracing itself for some potentially difficult years as the company looks to offset declining US military revenue with increased international sales. The …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A: Echo model Apache deploys to Afghanistan

  5th May 2014

  The AH-64E Apache attack helicopter has made its operational debut in Afghanistan with the 1-229th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, the army has confirmed. The battalion was …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed Martin awarded Lot 9 M-TADS/PNVS contract

  5th May 2014

  Lockheed Martin will produce and deliver 17 Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) systems to the US Army under a $80.6 million …

• Defence Helicopter

  TALON LGR receives air worthiness certification

  5th May 2014

  Raytheon’s TALON Laser-Guided Rocket (LGR) has been cleared for installation on the Apache AH-64D/E Attack helicopter, following the completion of the air worthiness release (AWR) …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A: AVX confident about JMR/FVL

  5th May 2014

  AVX Aircraft has revealed more details about the Coaxial Compound Helicopter (CCH) it is developing for the US Department of Defense’s Joint Multirole (JMR) next-generation …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A: First armed 407s delivered to UAE

  5th May 2014

  The UAE’s fledgling Joint Aviation Command (JAC) has taken delivery of its first two 407MRH light attack helicopters modified by NorthStar Aviation, it has been …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A Joint Strike Fighter - USAF

  Background The programme’s early competitive phase included three different airframe designs. Boeing submitted one design, Lockheed Martin submitted another, and McDonnell Douglas submitted a third ...

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  BQM-177A [US Navy]

  Background Previous Purchases The BQM-177A was designed for the USN and has been in service with the USN for many years. Indeed, in August 2022, Shephard reported ...

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown (21 April 2022) Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (India)

  Programme Background On 25 February 2020, a letter of acceptance for 24 MH-60Rs, worth approximately $2.12 billion, was signed by India and the US in Delhi. ...

• 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 - fixed-wing, 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 ...

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 ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  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 - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  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 ...

• Heavy machine guns

  M2HB

  US Ordnance is one of two US M2HB heavy machine gun manufacturers which has received multi-year contracts to supply weapons to the US DoD. The ...