• Defence Notes

  Aegis undergoes MMW tests

  4th August 2015

  The US Navy, Lockheed Martin and Missile Defense Agency's Aegis Combat System has successfully taken part in Multi-mission Warfare (MMW) tests aboard the destroyer vessel …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  USMC orders 75 SUGV robots

  4th August 2015

  iRobot has been awarded a contract to deliver 75 Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) systems to the US Marine Corps (USMC), the company announced on 3 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed eyes UAS for JAGM

  4th August 2015

  With Lockheed Martin moving the Joint Air-Ground Missile (JAGM) into production under a new Pentagon contract, the company is looking at future integration onto unmanned …

• Digital Battlespace

  MADL combat ready for USMC

  4th August 2015

  Northrop Grumman's Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) waveform has been proven combat-ready, with the US Marine Corps (USMC) declaring initial operating capability (IOC) for the …

• Digital Battlespace

  ViaSat to encrypt Scout

  4th August 2015

  Data transfer and storage in the British Army’s new Scout SV reconnaissance vehicle will be protected by ViaSat encryption. The company has secured a £3.8 …

• Defence Helicopter

  FVL development in focus

  4th August 2015

  The US Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator project is leading two initiatives to speed up the development …

• Digital Battlespace

  AEHF satellite network now live

  3rd August 2015

  The Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite network has gone live in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, Lockheed Martin announced on 31 July. It …

• Digital Battlespace

  Ruag receivers for SARah satellites

  3rd August 2015

  Ruag Space has been commissioned by OHB System to supply navigation receivers for the two reflector satellites in the SARah radar reconnaissance system, the company announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Insitu to build Blackjacks for US forces

  3rd August 2015

  Insitu has been awarded a contract to build six RQ-21A Blackjack UAS for the US Marine Corps (USMC) and US Navy, the company announced on …

• Land Warfare

  Malaysia replaces SAM

  3rd August 2015

  Malaysia is replacing its Starburst very short-range air defence system (VSHORADS), which has been used to defend military bases, with an offering from Thales UK. …

• Military Logistics

  Switzerland orders Mabey Delta Bridge

  31st July 2015

  The Swiss Federal Ministry of Defence's procurement arm has ordered a 90m long single-span Delta Bridge from Mabey Bridge, the company announced on 30 July. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ferra bags Triton UAS supplier contract

  31st July 2015

  Ferra Engineering has been awarded the first Australian supplier contract for the initial production lot of the US Navy's MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS), …

• Digital Battlespace

  US military buys RADA MHR

  31st July 2015

  The US military has acquired a Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR) system from RADA Electronic Industries for testing and evaluation, the company announced on 28 July. …

• Digital Battlespace

  First Aussie Growler presented

  31st July 2015

  Boeing and the US Navy have presented the first EA-18G Growler electronic warfare (EW) aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the company announced …

• Land Warfare

  Romania aims for 2% defence spend

  31st July 2015

  A plan for modernization of Romania’s national army from 2015-2027 has been given the green light. It is expected that this will see defence spending …

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 ...