• Defence Notes

  AIM-9X fired from MML

  27th August 2015

  Raytheon and the US Army have successfully test fired an AIM-9X Block II missile from the Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-I (IFPC 2-I) Block …

• Digital Battlespace

  Helinet deploys downlink for Suffolk police

  27th August 2015

  Helinet Technologies has deployed a customised microwave downlink solution for the aviation section of the Suffolk County Police Department in the state of New York, …

• Digital Battlespace

  KC-10 Extender programme milestone

  27th August 2015

  The US Air Force (USAF) received the 150th KC-10 Extender aerial refuelling tanker aircraft from a Northrop Grumman maintenance depot, the company announced on 26 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AECOM wins NSWC support order

  27th August 2015

  AECOM has been awarded a task order to provide support services for the US Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren division, the company announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Mincham signs Triton supplier contract

  27th August 2015

  Mincham Aviation has been awarded the second Australian supplier contract from North Grumman for the low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot of the US Navy's MQ-4C …

• Land Warfare

  Philippine M4 rifle woes

  27th August 2015

  Initial deliveries of a new rifle to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have been found to be defective. This has delayed their distribution …

• Military Logistics

  Trimble introduces ZX5 UAS

  27th August 2015

  Trimble has introduced a new ZX5 multirotor unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for capturing geo-referenced photo and video data for inspection, agriculture and mapping applications. The …

• Military Logistics

  Australia tests parachute delivery

  27th August 2015

  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Australian Army boosted their parachute capabilities in the last month. The official Air Force newspaper announced that the two …

• Land Warfare

  India’s medium tank won’t clash with Arjun

  27th August 2015

  The Indian defence minister, Manhoar Parrikar, has stated that Indian Army requirements for a medium tank are not in conflict with the Arjun Main Battle …

• Military Logistics

  Canadian navy, USCG train together

  26th August 2015

  Crew from the Royal Canadian Navy and US Coast Guard (USCG) have trained together in a recent joint training exercise to improve the inter-operability of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Jenoptik generator controllers for CH-53Es

  26th August 2015

  Jenoptik Defense & Civil Systems has been awarded a series production contract from the US Navy to supply generator controllers for CH-53E heavy-lift transport helicopters, …

• Land Warfare

  Prototype AAVs to survive-up

  26th August 2015

  Improvements to the survivability of the USMC Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAVP7A1) armoured personnel carriers are taking shape. Designated as the AAV Survivability Upgrade Programme it …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MQ-8C beats previous endurance record

  26th August 2015

  The US Navy and Northrop Grumman have demonstrated endurance capabilities with the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, the company announced on 25 August. The MQ-8C …

• Land Warfare

  And the JLTV winner is… Oshkosh

  26th August 2015

  After what seems like forever, the US Army has finally selected a vendor for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) programme. Oshkosh Defense has beaten …

• Land Warfare

  Hungary to raise defence bar

  26th August 2015

  Hungary plans to significantly increase military spending over the next several years.  Viktor Orban, prime-minister of Hungary has stated that this is not due to …

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 ...