• Air Warfare

  US State Department approves $1.9 billion Black Hawk sales for Sweden and Austria

  30th May 2024

  Foreign Military Sales (FMS) have been approved for 12 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to both Sweden and Austria. The announcements follow the approval of 12 to Brazil on 24 May, Greece signing for the procurement 35 of the helicopters in April and FMS approval to Croatia for eight aircraft in January.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Why lawmakers want the US Army to have a Drone Corps

  30th May 2024

  Despite opposition from the service’s leadership, the proposal to have a separate UAV and C-UAV branch has advanced in the House of Representatives.

• Naval Warfare

  How adverse weather conditions affect autonomous USV navigation

  14th June 2024

  Significant advancements and ongoing challenges in the development of autonomous navigation for uncrewed systems have highlighted the complex interplay between human oversight and technological capability.

• Land Warfare

  John Cockerill Defense provides more firepower to M113A3

  25th June 2024

  A Cockerill Protected Weapon Station added to a M113A3, as demonstrated at Eurosatory 2024, will enhance the APC’s firepower while optimised turret controls will improve operations in urban environments.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Revolutionising Warfare: The Rapid Rise and Future of UGVs (Analysis)

  17th June 2024

  The uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) market is advancing rapidly due to technological growth and geopolitical shifts. Increased investment and evolving defence priorities are driving interest in UGVs, although political, technological, and production challenges must be addressed for full market potential.

• Digital Battlespace

  Seizing the Future: The Imperative for Militaries to Master AI and Forge Strategic Alliances

  16th August 2024

  The current pace of innovation demands a new strategy for success, focusing on developing technology to meet specific defence goals and ensuring collaborative efforts.

• Air Warfare

  Four companies chosen for COTS, dual-use air-launched system

  5th June 2024

  An enterprise test vehicle (ETV) will use dual-use and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology to develop an air-launched multi-purpose system with an emphasis on modularity.

• Defence Notes

  US companies implement diverse strategies to enhance supply chain

  20th May 2024

  The conflicts in Ukraine and Israel have been driving the US defence industry toward increasing production of platforms and systems.

• Digital Battlespace

  How SOF teams can operate in disconnected and limited bandwidth environments

  28th May 2024

  Advanced, improved solutions have been enabling special operators to perform missions in isolated, remote locations across the globe.

• Naval Warfare

  USNS John Lewis to return to active service following PSA

  3rd June 2024

  First-in-class Military Sealift Command (MSC) vessel set for return to service following a PSA carried out by Vigor at Swan Island.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy places small boat order worth up to $290 million

  17th May 2024

  The Metal Shark 40 Defiant, a 40-foot, welded-aluminium pilothouse monohull patrol boat, features ballistic protection and can be armed with a range of remotely operated and crew-served weapons systems. The ReconCraft 40ft patrol boat is similar and offers waterjet, outboard and inboard/outboard propulsion.

• Land Warfare

  Northrop Grumman partners with Hanwha Defense Australia to add Bushmaster gun to Redback IFV

  5th June 2024

  First unveiled in scale model in 2018, the AS21 Redback is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) selected for the Australian Army's Land 400 Phase 3. It has been based on the K21 IFV hull used by the South Korean Army.

• Land Warfare

  Lockheed Martin awarded $756 million for long-range hypersonic weapon

  20th May 2024

  Lockheed Martin delivered equipment for the first Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LTHW) battery, referred to as Dark Eagle, to US soldiers in 2021. The system has been designed to deliver additional capability for the nation’s ground-based hypersonic weapon system.

• Air Warfare

  US Navy’s plan to replace fleet of MH60s moves forward

  16th May 2024

  The US Navy’s Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike) has been an effort to recapitalise Sikorsky MH-60R/S naval helicopters which have an out-of-service date in the late-2030s.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Competition opens to supply thousands of UAS to Ukraine

  4th June 2024

  On 15 February it was announced that the UK and Latvia would jointly lead a capability coalition, which will see thousands of UAS supplied to Ukraine, including first-person view (FPV) UAS.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow-On [USA]

  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, ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (US Army) (Batch 1) [USA]

  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 branches ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-60M Black Hawk (Second Contract) [Croatia]

  Programme Background Western Technology With the help of the US, Croatia has attempted to improve its military technology, replacing Soviet equipment, such as the Mi-8/Mi-17. ...

• Military UAS - mini

  RQ-11 Raven (US Army)

  Programme Background The AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven began to be deployed by the US Army in 2004 and was selected as its sole small UAS in ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Lower Tier Air and Missile Defence Sensor [US]

  Background The US Army's Lower Tier Air and Missile Defence Sensor (LTAMDS) is being acquired from US-based Raytheon.  The United States Army is the primary customer ...

• Main battle tanks

  Decisive Lethality Platform [USA]

  Background The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in October 2018, ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (USAF) (Batch 1) [USA]

  Baclground 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 ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Medium Range Intercept Capability [US]

  Background The US Marine Corps' Medium Range Intercept Capability (MRIC) is a new medium-range air defence capability developed from the Israeli Tamir surface-to-air missile and Iron ...

• Maritime patrol

  P-8A Poseidon [UK]

  Background In July 2016, the UK government announced that it had ordered nine aircraft for service with the RAF. Under this frame, in January 2019, ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Surplus M2A2 ODS Bradley IFV (Greece)

  Programme Background The Greek Army has a long-standing need for new tracked IFVs to replace more than 200 legacy M113 tracked APCs in service with ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-60M Black Hawk Add-on [Lithuania]

  Programme Background On 6 June 2020, the US State Department announced that it had approved a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of six UH-60M Black Hawk ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker DVH (March 2026) [US]

  Background The US Army has been operating the Stryker since 2002. The Stryker DVH is an upgraded variant that has additional armour on its underside ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (USMC) (Batch 1) [USA]

  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 branches ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker DVH (September 2026) [US]

  Background The US Army has been operating the Stryker since 2002. The Stryker DVH is an upgraded variant that has additional armour on its underside ...

• 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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. 

• Data links

  GNOMAD US Domestic

  The US domestic version of GNOMAD (see separate entry) is a ruggedised system comprising a satellite antenna and baseband modular chassis that can be installed ...

• 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 ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Indirect Fire Protection Capability [US]

  Leidos' Indirect Fire Protection Capability has been selected to provide medium-range Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) to sit between SHORAD and the high-end Patriot. 

• 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 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  Leonidas High-Powered Microwave DEW

  Leonardo's US-based subsidiary Epirus has received funding from both the US and Singapore to develop its Leonidas High-Powered Microwave (HPM) directed-energy weapon (DEW).

• 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.

• 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 ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  Lockheed Martin Next Generation Short Range Interceptor

  US-based Lockheed Martin is competing for the US Army's Next Generation Short Range Interceptor (NGSRI) programme with its QuadStar missile.  The programme aims to replace ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  RG33

  BAE Systems RG33 is a family of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles available in both 4x4 and 6x6. The medium-weight class of BAE Systems MRAP ...

• Military - USVs

  Voyager

  Voyager is an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) built by US-based Saildrone. Voyager has been used by the US Navy (USN) and is one of three ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-119 (TH-73A Thrasher )

  The US Navy announced on 13 January 2020 that Leonardo had been awarded a US$176.5 million contract for the production of 32 TH-119 helicopters in ...

• Frigates

  Oliver Hazard Perry Class

  The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates (FFG) were initially designed for the US Navy in the mid-1970s as cost-efficient surface combatants. The robust design has ...

• Self-propelled guns

  SIGMA

  The SIGMA is the latest self-propelled howitzer (SPH) developed by Elbit America and Oshkosh Defense. Produced entirely in the US, the SIGMA is intended to ...

• Land: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  AN/PLT-5 Thor-II

  Sierra Nevada Corporations’s (SNC's) AN/PLT-5 Thor-II Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) system is designed to equip CIED teams and is used throughout the US armed ...