• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Australian Shadow nears full operational capability

  25th February 2013

  An ‘Australianised’ variant of the Shadow 200 unmanned air system (UAS) should achieve full operating capability by the end of this year. Speaking at the …

• Defence Notes

  AUSA Winter: US Army plans force transition

  25th February 2013

  The US Army plans to reduce its Active Component (AC) from 570,000 to 490,000 personnel by 2017, retain the strength of the Army National Guard …

• Defence Notes

  AUSA Winter: Army outlines potential budget impact on NIE process

  25th February 2013

  Service panelists speaking at this week’s Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Winter Symposium and Exposition in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, outlined potential impacts of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Triton set to make first flight this year

  25th February 2013

  Northrop Grumman’s Triton MQ-4C will fly for the first time before the middle of 2013, and two system development and demonstration (SDD) platforms will likely …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Australian Army chief calls for unmanned technology use reassessment

  25th February 2013

  There is no foreseeable alternative to close combat, and the issue of unmanned platforms in symmetric warfare needs to be addressed according to the Chief …

• Land Warfare

  Navistar Defense receives Afghan vehicle order

  22nd February 2013

  Navistar Defense will retrofit 205 armoured cabs onto Navistar Medium Tactical Vehicles (MTV) designated for service with the Afghan National Security Forces. The company received …

• Land Warfare

  US Army becomes 'army of preparation'

  22nd February 2013

  After 12 years of conducting counter insurgency and stability operations in Afghanistan and Iraq the US Army will shift its focus in the future to …

• Military Logistics

  Dewey Electronics to expand military generator offerings

  22nd February 2013

  Dewey Electronics has announced that it will be expanding its military generator product lines with the acquisition of certain assets, rights of manufacture and intellectual …

• Defence Helicopter

  German CH-53 Mission Tactical Workstation operational debut

  22nd February 2013

  It has emerged that the German air force has recently commenced operations with the Mission Tactical Workstation from ESG Elektroniksystem & Logistik on board its …

• Land Warfare

  GDELS, FSDS team for Danish APC-R programme

  21st February 2013

  General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) has teamed with Falck Schmidt Defence Systems (FSDS) for the Danish Armored Personnel Carriers Replacement (APC-R) programme. The companies …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MX-25 EO/IR imaging system evaluated by US Army

  21st February 2013

  L-3 Wescam has announced that the MX-25 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging system has been evaluated by the US Army’s Persistent Threat and Detection System (PTDS) Communications-Electronics …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SMSS successfully operated via satellite control

  20th February 2013

  Lockheed Martin has successfully demonstrated the ability for the Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) to be operated via satellite at a distance of more than …

• Land Warfare

  Excalibur Ib enters low-rate initial production

  20th February 2013

  Raytheon’s Increment Ib precision-guided projectile has entered low-rate initial production (LRIP) under a US Army contract announced on 20 February. The contract for the production …

• Digital Battlespace

  Malaysian MoD receives new C2 system

  20th February 2013

  ThalesRaytheonSystems has announced that it has provided the Malaysian Ministry of Defence (MoD) with an enhanced national command and control (C2) system under the Malaysian …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Integrator Block 2 UAV completes first flight

  20th February 2013

  Insitu has successfully completed the first flight of the Block 2 version of the Integrator unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The latest technology release of the …

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 ...