• Defence Notes

  Dubai Airshow 2011: Google Earth assists Pakistan Air Force in border operations

  13th November 2011

  The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was forced to use Google Earth to plan its early missions against militants fighting in the border regions with Afghanistan. …

• Naval Warfare

  Boeing to develop new jet mission computer

  11th November 2011

  Boeing will collaboratively develop a new mission computer for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler following a contract awarded by the US Navy. According …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman network selected for US Army evaluation

  11th November 2011

  A wireless network developed by Northrop Grumman has been selected by the US Army to participate in the second Network Integration Evaluation (NIE), underway at …

• Military Logistics

  ATK's Eagle Industries wins USMC contract

  11th November 2011

  ATK’s Eagle Industries has been awarded a $24.9 million contract from Marine Corps Systems Command to produce the US Marine Corps' new standard-issue pack. This …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ball Aerospace wins USAF UAV data exploitation contract

  11th November 2011

  Ball Aerospace has announced the receipt of contracts worth $17 million from the US Air Force (USAF) for the development and integration of enhanced operational …

• Digital Battlespace

  MILCOM 2011: Militaries fail to appreciate Cosite restrictions

  11th November 2011

  Armed forces around the world are failing to recognise constrictions associated with platform carriage of multiple antennae, communications specialist Pole Zero has warned. Speaking to …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  General Dynamics to develop countermine UUV

  10th November 2011

  General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems (GD AIS) has been awarded an $86.7 million contract by the US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command for the design …

• Defence Helicopter

  Pratt & Whitney's F135 propulsion system successfully tested

  10th November 2011

  The F-35B Lightning II has completed a three-week sea trial conducted aboard the USS Wasp, flying under the power of Pratt & Whitney's F135 propulsion …

• Naval Warfare

  Boeing to supply additional P-8A Poseidon aircraft

  10th November 2011

  Boeing has received a $1.7 billion low-rate initial production (LRIP) award from the US Navy to supply an additional seven P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Apache controls Gray Eagle UAV

  10th November 2011

  An AH-64D Apache Block III attack helicopter has controlled an MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAV during flight using the Longbow Unmanned Aerial Systems Tactical Common Data …

• Digital Battlespace

  MILCOM 2011: USMC pushes ahead with HADR capabilities

  10th November 2011

  The US Marine Corps (USMC) is planning to extend its communications capabilities for expeditionary operations after being designated lead service by the Department of Defense …

• Digital Battlespace

  MILCOM 2011: Seamless SATCOM 'Holy Grail' for C4I industry

  10th November 2011

  Providing seamless satellite communications (SATCOM) for fixed-wing aircraft as they fly around the world is the next 'Holy Grail' for air forces, communications specialists have …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon's One Force successfully demonstrated

  10th November 2011

  Raytheon’s One Force communications solution has been successfully utilised during a recent US Army exercise at Fort Benning, Ga. According to a Raytheon company statement …

• Defence Helicopter

  Wildcat puts to sea

  10th November 2011

  The AgustaWestland AW159 Lynx Wildcat has landed on a ship at sea for the first time. The landing on 7 November marks the beginning of …

• Military Logistics

  LM gears up microgrid capabilities

  10th November 2011

  Lockheed Martin is getting ready for three demonstrations of its Intelligent Microgrid capabilities that the company has been developing to address some of the power …

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 ...