• Military Logistics

  Second KC-46A Tanker assembly begins

  23rd August 2013

  Assembly of the second KC-46A aerial refuelling tanker for the US Air Force (USAF) has begun, with Boeing workers loading the aircraft’s wing spar into …

• Land Warfare

  More Commandos for Colombia

  23rd August 2013

  The Colombian Army (COLAR) will receive 28 new Commando Advanced APCs fitted with .50 cal turrets from Textron Marine & Land Systems in a deal …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman awarded BAMS-D contract modification

  23rd August 2013

  The US Department of Defence (DoD) has announced it will exercise an option to an existing cost-plus-fixed-fee contract previously awarded to Northrop Grumman. The modification, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UCLASS air vehicle contracts awarded

  22nd August 2013

  Four Preliminary Design Review (PDR) contracts have been awarded by the US Navy for the Unmanned Carrier Launch Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) air vehicle …

• Digital Battlespace

  Omniglobe Solutions awarded NATO AGS sub-contract

  22nd August 2013

  Omniglobe Solutions will provide its software-based Internal Communication and Recording system for the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) programme. The company was awarded a contract …

• Defence Helicopter

  NASA advances helicopter survivability

  22nd August 2013

  NASA plans to drop a CH-46 Sea Knight fuselage from 30 feet to test improved seat belts and crash-worthy seats as part of a wider …

• Land Warfare

  H&K to receive enabling order for UK infantry weapons

  21st August 2013

  The UK MoD is expecting to award NSAF Ltd – the UK division of Heckler & Koch – an open supply contract for the procurement …

• Military Logistics

  New C-130J Super Hercules for Little Rock AFB

  21st August 2013

  The US Air Force has received its newest C-130J Hercules, with the first of five aircraft designated for delivery to Little Rock Air Force Base …

• Defence Helicopter

  US general defends Afghan Mi-17 capability

  21st August 2013

  The Pentagon’s ongoing investment in Russian-built Mi-17 transport helicopters for the Afghan Air Force (AAF) is beginning to pay off, according to one US general …

• Land Warfare

  AI3 programme completes further flight testing

  21st August 2013

  The US Army’s Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative (AI3) programme has reached a new milestone, with Raytheon successfully intercepting and destroying a low quadrant elevation (QE) …

• Land Warfare

  UK’s protected mobility fleet conversion to be completed by mid-2016

  21st August 2013

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced a competition for a £40-60 million contract to convert its protected mobility vehicles to fit into Force …

• Land Warfare

  UK cancels £1.2 million worth of arms exports to Egypt

  21st August 2013

  The UK has withdrawn export licences for £1.2 million worth of military equipment due to be exported to Egypt following the current chaos in the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman: Euro Hawk still alive

  20th August 2013

  Northrop Grumman's president for aerospace systems, Tom Vice, has reaffirmed his company’s hopes to revive Germany’s flailing Euro Hawk programme. Addressing a press conference in Washington …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Navy orders Mercury Systems' DRFM jammers

  20th August 2013

  Mercury Defense Systems will supply advanced Digital RF Memory (DRFM) jammers to the US Navy under a $2.3 million contract announced on 19 August. The …

• Digital Battlespace

  New upgraded version of SPEED software released

  19th August 2013

  A new version of the Systems Planning, Engineering and Evaluation Device (SPEED) software developed by Northrop Grumman for the US Marine Corps has been released …

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 ...