• Defence Notes

  New arms for Taiwan

  22nd December 2015

  The $1.83 billion arms sale to Taiwan announced by the US on 16 December will probably be the last such package from the Obama administration …

• Defence Notes

  PLA plans core restructuring

  22nd December 2015

  China's President Xi Jinping has launched an ambitious restructuring of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with the force to be progressively reformed by 2020. A …

• Land Warfare

  Lithuania requests Javelin FMS

  21st December 2015

  The US state department is considering a potential foreign military sale (FMS) to Lithuania for Javelin missiles and command launch units, related equipment and support, …

• Land Warfare

  Nexter set for ammo boom

  21st December 2015

  Nexter Group’s newly enlarged ammunition business is expected to achieve sales of nearly €750m in 2015, a 50% increase from last year. Officials disclosed their results …

• Military Logistics

  BAE Systems wins ship maintenance work

  18th December 2015

  The US Navy has awarded a contract to BAE Systems to perform overhaul and maintenance services on the USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11), a Lewis …

• Land Warfare

  Boxer beats rivals in Lithuania

  18th December 2015

  The Lithuanian Ministry of Defence (MoD) is currently in negotiations with German consortium ARTEC for the proposed purchase of 8x8 Boxer infantry fighting vehicles. If …

• Defence Helicopter

  M-TADS/PNVS systems for India

  18th December 2015

  Lockheed Martin has been awarded a foreign military sale contract from the US Army to provide Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) …

• Defence Helicopter

  AW101 on hold for Indonesia, for now

  18th December 2015

  Catering to domestic concerns, Indonesia’s president has overturned a decision by the national air force (TNI-AU) to acquire three AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for VVIP use. …

• Defence Notes

  Philippines boosts defence spending

  18th December 2015

  The Philippine Congress gave the Department of National Defence (DND) a shot in the arm with a 9.2% increase for the 2016 defence budget. The …

• Land Warfare

  Indonesia’s Badak opens fires

  17th December 2015

  The Badak (‘Rhino’) 6x6 armoured fighting vehicle from Pindad, first revealed at Indo Defence in November 2014, is undergoing certification by Indonesia’s military authorities. The …

• Digital Battlespace

  Elbit announces C-MUSIC order

  17th December 2015

  Elbit Systems will supply multi-spectral infrared countermeasures to an unnamed customer in the Asia-Pacific region under a two-year $26.5 million contract announced on 16 December. …

• Military Logistics

  HII supports US Navy’s San Antonio class

  17th December 2015

  Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division will provide life-cycle engineering and support services for the US Navy's USS San Antonio (LPD 17) class of …

• Land Warfare

  GDLS wins Abrams upgrade contract

  17th December 2015

  General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a contract by the US Army to upgrade M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) Version 2 (v2) Abrams tanks to the …

• Digital Battlespace

  Navigation contract goes to Northrop

  16th December 2015

  Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract by the US Navy to develop the replacement inertial navigation system (INS-R) deployed on navy combat and support …

• Land Warfare

  Oshkosh resumes JLTV work

  16th December 2015

  The US Army has lifted the ‘stop work order’ and has directed Oshkosh Defense to resume the work on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) …

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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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). ...

• 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 ...