• Naval Warfare

  Australian P-8A makes maiden flight

  27th May 2016

  The first Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon aircraft has successfully completed its maiden flight, the Australian Department of Defence announced on 25 May. The aircraft …

• Land Warfare

  Leopard finds home in Indonesia

  27th May 2016

  The first eight Leopard 2 RI main battle tanks (MBT) reached Indonesian shores in May. With ‘RI’ denoting the Republic of Indonesia, these vehicles taken …

• Digital Battlespace

  GDMS delivers Manpack radios

  26th May 2016

  General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) has delivered 30 new two-channel digital Manpack networking radios to the US Army for evaluation, marking the first deliveries under …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DRS, Roboteam team for CRS-I

  26th May 2016

  DRS Technologies and Roboteam have signed a strategic teaming agreement covering the development of a solution for the US Army's Common Robotic System – Individual …

• Defence Notes

  US lifts Vietnam arms embargo

  26th May 2016

  The first order of business during US President Barack Obama’s state visit to Vietnam was to lift a long-standing arms embargo on lethal weapons on …

• Land Warfare

  SOFIC 2016: Blood supply for SOF

  25th May 2016

  Pelican BioThermal has secured its first significant military orders for its Golden Medic field blood transport container. According to Adam Tetz, director of marketing for …

• Defence Helicopter

  US extends AAR's Afghan flight ops

  25th May 2016

  The US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) has issued an extension on an existing contract with the AAR's Airlift Group subsidiary for rotary-wing flight services in Afghanistan, …

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon delivers Railgun containers

  25th May 2016

  Raytheon has started deliveries of pulse power containers for the US Navy Railgun programme, it announced on 23 May. The containers have multiple pulsed power …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy accepts USS Zumwalt

  24th May 2016

  The US Navy has accepted the delivery of the future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), a guided missile destroyer and the lead ship of the Zumwalt …

• Land Warfare

  Thales thermal cameras for Indian T90s

  24th May 2016

  Thales has been awarded a contract from Beltech to provide its Catherine thermal imaging cameras for installation in Indian T90 main battle tanks (MBTs), it …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US CTTSO evaluating Tether Eye

  24th May 2016

  The US Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) is evaluating AeroVironment's new Tether Eye UAS for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and security applications, the company …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG commissions 17th cutter

  24th May 2016

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) has commissioned USCG cutter Donald Horsley, the 17th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) or Sentinel-class cutter, it announced on 20 May. …

• Defence Helicopter

  SOFIC 2016: USSOCOM's ‘circle of love’

  24th May 2016

  USSOCOM officials have outlined the command’s materiel acquisition philosophy, with one procurement chief dubbing the approach ‘the SOCOM acquisition circle of love’. The comments came at …

• Naval Warfare

  Austal delivers RNOV Al Mubshir

  24th May 2016

  Austal has delivered the RNOV Al Mubshir High Speed Support Vessel (HSSV) to the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO), it announced on 20 May. This …

• Defence Helicopter

  Laos to refurbish Hips

  24th May 2016

  Much mystery surrounds the state of Laos’ small military helicopter fleet, but a little clarity emerged from a recent deal inked by Russian Helicopters. This …

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 ...

• 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 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 ...

• 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 ...