• Digital Battlespace

  DRS awarded RAN communications system contract

  25th March 2014

  DRS Technologies will supply the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ANZAC-Class frigates with communications systems under a new contract announced on 25 March. The systems will …

• Land Warfare

  Selex ES wins Italian Army Future Soldier contracts

  25th March 2014

  Selex ES has signed two new contracts with the Italian Army to supply SWave Software Defined Radio (SDR) portable terminals and Tactical Mobility Night Vision …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Watchkeeper deployment to Afghanistan ‘unlikely’

  25th March 2014

  The British Army’s WK450 Watchkeeper is unlikely to be deployed to Afghanistan due to ‘significant delays’ to the programme, the UK House of Commons Defence …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Triton completes initial envelope expansion testing

  24th March 2014

  The MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) under development by Northrop Grumman for the US Navy has completed its initial envelope expansion test programme, with …

• Digital Battlespace

  New P-8A operational flight trainers for US Navy

  21st March 2014

  In addition to new simulation system orders announced on 20 March, CAE has received a new order from Boeing and the US Navy to supply …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Brimstone integration on Reaper success, MBDA says

  21st March 2014

  MBDA has revealed details about the integration of the Dual-Mode Brimstone munition on board a UK Royal Air Force (RAF) MQ-9 Reaper UAV following a …

• Naval Warfare

  Rheinmetall successfully demo’s MASS with Elta NavGuard

  21st March 2014

  Rheinmetall announced on 21 March that in cooperation with the German armed forces and IAI Elta it had successfully tested the Multi Ammunition Softkill System …

• Land Warfare

  GD-OTS confirms submission for ULCV

  21st March 2014

  The Flyer Gen III vehicle from General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) is being put forward for the US Army’s new Ultra Light Combat …

• Land Warfare

  New Afghan MSFV orders on hold

  21st March 2014

  Plans for additional Commando Select armoured vehicles for the Afghan National Army (ANA) are being put on hold until a bi-lateral US-Afghanistan security agreement is …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Global Hawk Block 40 UAV delivered to USAF

  20th March 2014

  A second Global Hawk Block 40 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) ordered under Northrop Grumman’s Lot 10 contract has been delivered to the US Air Force …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Navy to study MH-53E engine fire risk

  20th March 2014

  The US Navy plans to award Sikorsky a contract to study ways to ‘reduce or eliminate’ the risk of engine-fires on its MH-53E Sea Dragon …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Army to increase Gray Eagle flight hours

  19th March 2014

  The US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS will be subject to a surge in flight hours upon its return from operations in Afghanistan to maintain …

• Defence Notes

  China becomes fourth-largest arms exporter

  18th March 2014

  China has become the world’s fourth largest weapons exporter amid continued growth in international arms sales, according to a new study by Sweden-based think-tank SIPRI.  …

• Defence Helicopter

  Russia stages helicopter exercises near Ukraine border

  18th March 2014

  The Russian army started a new round of military exercises close to the border with Ukraine on 17 March. Held at a training center in …

• Military Logistics

  First KC-130J Tanker delivered to USMC Reserve

  18th March 2014

  The US Marine Corps Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234 (VMGR-234) stationed at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, has taken delivery of …

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) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• 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 ...

• 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 - 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 - 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, 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 ...