• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop Grumman's Hunter Reaches 75,000 Flight Hours Operational Milestone

  15th May 2009

  Northrop Grumman Corporation's Hunter Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), in use with the US Army since 1996, recently surpassed 75,000 flight hours in service, 50,000 of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australia plans new A$403 million helicopter fleet sustainment spend

  15th May 2009

  The Australian Defence Material Organisation is forecasting combined sustainment costs of $A403 million (US$304 million) during FY2009-2010 for the Australian defence forces Eurocopter Tiger and …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Budget increase for Australian JP129 programme

  15th May 2009

  Australia has bolstered funding for its revised Joint Project 129 tactical unmanned air system (UAS) requirement with this week’s Federal budget increasing allocations to the …

• Defence Helicopter

  DCMA Approves Bell Helicopter EVMS Certification

  15th May 2009

  Bell Helicopter announced that its Earned Value Management System has been approved by the Defence Contract Management Agency. “Approval of our certification is the culmination …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop looks to post FCS Fire Scout future

  13th May 2009

  Northrop Grumman has revealed to Unmanned Vehicles plans to manufacture a second 'white tail' company-owned Fire Scout UAV to support company marketing activities both in …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Administration 'Loss of Trust' in Corporates Will Hit Defence Says Boeing IDS VP Raymond; But Rolling Plan Should See Them Through

  13th May 2009

  Speaking to press at Boeing’s Titusville facility, FL, on the day of the last shuttle mission tasked with maintaining the Hubble telescope, Chris Raymond, Boeing’s …

• Defence Helicopter

  Kiowa Warrior gains firepower

  11th May 2009

  The Army's Avenger air defense system is not part of the firefight these days in overseas contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But its machine …

• Defence Helicopter

  Pilots applaud the UH-72A Lakota

  11th May 2009

  Amid the impressive collection of Army airpower on display at the 2009 Army Aviation Association of America convention in Nashville, Tennessee, it was the EADS …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AAI Shadow Unmanned Aircraft Systems Reach 400,000 Total Flight Hours

  11th May 2009

  AAI Corporation announced today that its Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS) have exceeded 400,000 flight hours. In service with the US Army, Army National …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australian FMS records reveal major helicopter spares buy

  11th May 2009

  The Australian Department of Defence has spent at least A$96.43 million on spares and operational upgrades for its United States-sourced military helicopters since the start …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  French army tests new Sagem tactical terminal for direct reception of images from UAV systems

  11th May 2009

  The French army’s 61st Artillery Regiment recently field tested the new ERS-RVT terminal designed by Sagem, a SAFRAN Group company, for tactical data exchange and …

• Defence Helicopter

  Industry calls for advanced funding/thinking for R&D plus S&T; but government stance already makes this unlikely

  10th May 2009

  Philip Dunford, VP and GM Rotorcraft Systems, Boeing, voiced a warning during the Acquisition Round Table professional session at the AAAA conference last week that …

• Defence Helicopter

  More Ospreys Will Deploy With Marine Unit, General Says

  8th May 2009

  After three successful combat deployments over more than 19 consecutive months, Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys will begin a global deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Quad-A 2009: US developing SUAV chemical / biological sensor payloads

  7th May 2009

  Under the auspices of the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Small UAV Laboratory (SUAV Lab), government researchers are developing new chemical and …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  L-3 to Develop Unmanned Aerial System Technology for US Air Force

  7th May 2009

  L-3 Geneva Aerospace announced today that it was one of multiple awardees on the United States Air Force Small Unmanned Aerial System (SUAS) Research and …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Military Aid - $300 Million On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine to "bolster Urkaine's capacity ...

• MPVs - 4x4, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract (US Navy) [US]

  As of November 2020, the US DoD had signed 14 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all branches of ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (16 March 2022 & 13 April 2022) On 16 March 2022, President Biden announced $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine through ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A Joint Strike Fighter - USAF

  According to the US FY2021 budget document, Turkey's removal from the JSF program and transition to the alternate supply chain sources may challenge to achieve ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE (Kosovo)

  Programme Background On 21 January 2022, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that AeroVironment had been awarded an $11.01 million firm-fixed contract for Puma LE. ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35B STOVL - US Navy

  The JSF programme will develop and field a family of aircraft that meets the needs of the US DoD and US allies with the F-35A ...

• MPVs - 4x4, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract [US Air Force]

  As of November 2020, the US DoD had signed 14 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all branches of ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank [US]

  Programme Background As IAI stated in a 19 January 2023 press release, it had been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Irregular Warfare Technical Support ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  BQM-177A [US Navy]

  Background Previous Purchases The BQM-177A was designed for the USN and has been in service with the USN for many years. Indeed, in August 2022, Shephard reported ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS) [US Army]

  Programme Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide "an ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35C Carrier Variant

  The US Navy is planning to order 130 F-35Cs between FY2026 and FY2030 under the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The purchase is estimated be ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (21 April 2022) Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background On 24 February 2023, the US DoD announced that the Biden Administration had released an additional aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (India)

  Programme Background On 25 February 2020, a letter of acceptance for 24 MH-60Rs, worth approximately $2.12 billion, was signed by India and the US in Delhi. ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Pistols

  M9

  M9 is the US DoD designation for the military-specification 9mm Beretta 92FS, selected in 1985 to replace the 45cal M1911A1 in US service. Sales to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Igla/SA-18

  The 9K38 Igla (US DoD designation SA-18, NATO reporting name Grouse ) IR-homing MANPADS was developed by KBM and entered service in 1983 to meet the requirements ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank

  Point Blank Weapon System is a hand-launched electro-optical VTOL-capable loitering munition developed by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI has been awarded a contract by the US ...

• Air: aerial targets, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  BQM-177A/i

  The BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT) was designed for the USN, and the BQM-177i is the export variant. The BQM-177 provides realistic threat emulation for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  BAT-850

  Pathfinder's BAT-850 VSAT is a carbon fibre, tri-band terminal with auto-acquisition capability. Suitable for flyaway (case-based) and vehicle-mounted applications, it is in service with the ...

• Autonomous GPADS

  Airborne Systems has developed a family of smart systems ranging in payload capacity from 90-4,536kg. Utilising the technology developed and used in ram-air canopies, Guided ...

• Crew-served grenade launchers

  Striker 40/MK47

  General Dynamics is systems integrator for the Striker 40 (MK47 AGL in US service). The complete system comprises the weapon, AN/PWG-1 Lightweight Video Sight and ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  URC-300

  The URC-300 is a software-defined radio designed for line-of-sight, ground-to-air communications in particular. Introduced in 2020, it adheres to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards as well ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  ScanEagle 3

  Insitu unveiled the ScanEagle 3 at the Xponential exhibition in Denver in May 2018. The platform has twice the payload capacity of its ScanEagle predecessor ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Banshee Tactical Radio

  Developed by Fenix Group, the Banshee Tactical Radio (BTR) is a communications system that uses 4G/LTE connectivity to provide secure mesh networking capability on the ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  AN/ARC-231 Skyfire

  The AN/ARC-231 Skyfire is an airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM system. This system supports US DoD requirements for airborne, multi-band, multi-mission, secure anti-jam voice, data ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  CLWS

  Developed by Boeing, Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS or CLaWS) is a medium-range, low-power laser C-UAS system. According to the reports, the CLWS prototype has ...

• Data links, Land: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  QNT-200

  The Collins QNT-200 is a dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) designed for size, weight and power-constrained platforms. Using IP-based mesh networks, it offers high-bandwidth mobile networking ...