• Digital Battlespace

  General Dynamics DMRs receive software upgrades

  5th February 2015

  General Dynamics has been upgrading its Digital Modular Radios (DMRs) with high-frequency dynamic routing software, the company announced on 4 February. This upgrade will turn …

• Digital Battlespace

  US budget: Key space programmes overhauled

  5th February 2015

  As the space domain becomes increasingly contested and adversaries beef up their space capabilities, the US military wants to accelerate space-based surveillance programmes and also …

• Military Logistics

  GE to support F110, F101, F108 engines

  5th February 2015

  GE Aviation has won a five-year contract from the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for the support of F110, F101 and F118 engines, the company …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky begins S-97 Raider ground tests

  5th February 2015

  Sikorsky Aircraft has begun bladed ground testing for its S-97 Raider armed reconnaissance rotorcraft, the company announced on 4 February. This marks a major milestone …

• Defence Notes

  Virtual training to avert readiness crisis

  5th February 2015

  Increased use of virtual training will assist the US military avert a readiness crisis as well as reduce costs by an estimated $1.7 billion over …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop to begin South Korea Global Hawk production

  5th February 2015

  Northrop Grumman will start production of RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for the South Korean Air Force, the company announced on 2 February. …

• Land Warfare

  GE to provide subsystems for Scout SV

  5th February 2015

  GE Intelligent Platforms has secured an order for various computing subsystems for the British Army Scout Specialist Vehicle (SV) platforms, the company announced on 3 …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Black Hawks to get Thales i-FMS200

  5th February 2015

  Northrop Grumman has selected Thales to supply its i-FMS200 flight management software for the US Army's UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters, the latter announced on 4 …

• Land Warfare

  US budget: land systems stabilise

  4th February 2015

  After years of ups and downs the ground procurement budget for the US military has achieved some stability. The US Army, which will receive the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing signs support contract for US aircraft

  4th February 2015

  Boeing signed the second phase of a contract for providing support for 11 aircraft with the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), the company announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Budget: Spending decline on major UAS ends

  4th February 2015

  The FY 2016 budget request shows that the decline in spending on major unmanned aerial systems may have come to a halt. The proposed budget …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Budget: Fielding date of UCLASS pushed to 2023

  4th February 2015

  The US Navy’s carrier-based UAV programme has been given an extra three years for development, according to a navy budget official at the briefing of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Vietnam grounds veteran UH-1 fleet

  4th February 2015

  The Vietnamese military grounded its entire Bell UH-1 Iroquois fleet after the crash of an example on 28 January. The craft had taken off from …

• Naval Warfare

  Northrop to deliver two LCS mission packages

  3rd February 2015

  The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to deliver two additional Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mission packages, the company announced on 2 February. …

• Defence Helicopter

  US budget: Army dares Congress to blink first

  3rd February 2015

  The US Army has placed itself firmly on a collision course with Congress over its controversial aviation restructure initiative (ARI). Essentially making the argument that …

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 ...