• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Roke radar integrated into Skeldar UAV

  20th November 2012

  Roke Manor Research has announced that its Miniature Radar Altimeter (MRA) has been successfully integrated into Saab’s Skeldar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Type 2 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Alion awarded US NSWC contract

  16th November 2012

  Alion Science and Technology has announced that it has been awarded a contract by the US Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ground based sense and avoid capabilities evaluated

  16th November 2012

  Raytheon has announced that as part of its work with the US Air Force (USAF) to integrate unmanned aerial Systems (UAS) into the US National …

• Defence Notes

  Saab extends UK defence presence

  15th November 2012

  Saab plans to extend its presence in the UK by heading its European and Middle Eastern business in London as of 1 January 2013. This …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-47B UCAS successfully operated by CDU

  15th November 2012

  Northrop Grumman has taken a first critical step toward demonstrating that the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator can be manoeuvred safely and wirelessly …

• Naval Warfare

  Boeing advances F/A-18E, F-15E training simulation

  15th November 2012

  Boeing is working on a three-year contract with the US Air Force Research Laboratory to adapt innovative training technologies for the F-15E Eagle and the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Airshow China 2012: Avicopter displays concept rotorcraft

  15th November 2012

  Chinese helicopter manufacturer Avicopter gave a glimpse into its level of ambition this week with the unveiling of three high-speed rotorcraft designs at Airshow China. …

• Military Logistics

  Lockheed Martin to upgrade US Navy C-130T avionics

  14th November 2012

  Lockheed Martin will carry out work to upgrade the avionics and software on multiple US Navy C-130T aircraft under a contract announced on 14 November. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Airshow China 2012: Chinese attack helicopters shown for the first time

  13th November 2012

  Two secretive Chinese attack helicopter designs were shown to the public for the first time with the opening of Airshow China in Zhuhai. Both the …

• Military Logistics

  Saudi Arabia seeks C-130J-30, KC-130J aircraft

  13th November 2012

  Saudi Arabia is seeking to buy C-130J-30 and KC-130J aircraft from the US government in a foreign military sale (FMS) at an estimated cost of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  BAE Systems QF-4 programme milestone reached

  12th November 2012

  BAE Systems has announced the successful conversion of its 300th F-4 Phantom fighter jet into an unmanned flying drone for the US Air Force (USAF). …

• Defence Helicopter

  SAIC wins US Army helicopter simulator contract

  12th November 2012

  Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) will provide the US Army with 11 additional integrated crew member simulators for CH-47 and UH-60 helicopters under a contract …

• Land Warfare

  US Army approves new-production Patriot

  12th November 2012

  Raytheon has announced that the US Army has given its final stamp of approval to the new-production Patriot Air and Missile Defense System following the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Italian NH90 Afghan deployment hampered by teething problems

  8th November 2012

  The Italian NH90 helicopter detachment to Afghanistan has been initially hampered by problems such as windshield cracks and the poor availability of spares, it has …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ADS-B tracking system demonstrated in UAV flight test

  8th November 2012

  Sagetech has announced that a joint flight demonstration has been carried out between manned aircraft and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with the FAA NextGen …

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

  According to the US FY2021 budget document, Turkey's removal from the JSF program and transition to the alternate supply chain sources may challenge to achieve ...

• 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 ...