• Military Logistics

  DRS wins DDG-51 Ships energy storage module contract

  7th April 2014

  DRS Technologies will design, build and supply Energy Storage Modules (ESM) to the US Navy for the DDG 51 class ships. The modules will provide …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Navy orders five more MQ-8C Fire Scout UAVs

  7th April 2014

  The US Navy has placed an order with Northrop Grumman for five additional MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The company was awarded a …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Global Hawk demos expanded SATCOM capability

  4th April 2014

  A US Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has demonstrated its ability to use an additional Satellite Communications (SATCOM) link to improve …

• Defence Helicopter

  Kaman reaches H-60 cockpit delivery milestone

  3rd April 2014

  Kaman Aerosystems has reached a new milestone on the H-60 helicopter cockpit programme, having delivered the 1,000th cockpit to Sikorsky for integration into a UH-60M …

• Naval Warfare

  Philippines advances frigate project

  2nd April 2014

  Following Chinese claims on maritime territory in the South China Sea and the increasing occurrence of incursions by Chinese fishing vessels in the region, the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Kratos to upgrade CH-47F Chinook Avionics Trainers

  2nd April 2014

  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has been awarded a contract to upgrade CH-47F Chinook Avionics Trainers (CAT) in use at the US Army's 128th Aviation …

• Defence Helicopter

  VXX presidential helicopter advances

  2nd April 2014

  The US VXX Presidential helicopter acquisition programme was slated to commence system development in March, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office …

• Land Warfare

  Improved exits for US Marine Corps Cougar vehicles

  1st April 2014

  General Dynamics Land Systems - Force Protection is to deliver new egress upgrade kits to the US Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico for the …

• Military Logistics

  Rolls-Royce wins KC-130J engine support

  1st April 2014

  Rolls-Royce will support engines onboard the US Marines Corps’ fleet of KC-130J air-to-air refuelling tankers under a contract announced on 31 March. The one-year $50 …

• Land Warfare

  Quantico Tactical receives US $10 billion IDIQ contract

  1st April 2014

  Quantico Tactical will provide a range of special operational equipment to the US military under a five-year $10 billion IDIQ contract awarded by the Defense …

• Defence Notes

  European defence cooperation still falling short

  31st March 2014

  While the pooling and sharing of defence capabilities is still regarded as the way forward, many obstacles to its voluntary implementation remain, participants at the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Qatar announces $24 billion in defence contracts

  28th March 2014

  The Qatar Armed Forces has awarded an estimated $24 billion in defence contracts for the purchase of tanks, helicopters, missiles and other weapons, it was …

• Military Logistics

  DRS wins USAF cargo loader support contract

  28th March 2014

  DRS Technologies will perform work to support the US Air Force’s 60K Tunner Aircraft Cargo Loader under a new contract announced on 27 March. The …

• Defence Helicopter

  FIDAE: Surplus Chinooks may head for South America

  27th March 2014

  A significant portion of the 80 CH-47D helicopters that are being designated as surplus by the US Army are being targeting at South America, according …

• Land Warfare

  FIDAE: Polaris markets ultralight ATV

  26th March 2014

  Polaris Defense is displaying its MRZR-2 all-terrain vehicle at the FIDAE exhibition from 25-30 March. A spokesman from the company told Shephard that there are …

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 ...