• Defence Notes

  US strengthens regional posture with munitions, ships and fighter jets in response to Hamas attack on Israel

  9th October 2023

  The swift deployment of munitions and the mobilisation of ships and fighter jets in response to the Hamas attack on Israel raise concerns about potential broader regional involvement.

• Training

  US marines and sailors engage in advanced training during Kuwait bilateral exercise

  11th October 2023

  The training focuses on sustaining and enhancing military capabilities, emphasising bilateral collaboration and sharing of tactics between US and Kuwaiti forces.

• Land Warfare

  How Europe is enhancing AFV survivability to counter new and old threats

  23rd December 2023

  A growing number of NATO countries are planning to upgrade their fleets of tracked and wheeled armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) to improve their survivability against emerging battlefield threats.

• Naval Warfare

  Bourgainville LHA launched but future of US Navy amphibious ship procurement remains uncertain

  13th October 2023

  The third America-class Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) ship, Bourgainville (LHA 08), has been launched by Huntington Industries Ingalls (HII) shipyard but this progress comes against the backdrop of a dispute about amphibious ships within Congress and the US defence establishment.

• Air Warfare

  RTX awarded $7 million DoD funding for GhostEye MR radar development

  31st August 2023

  Raytheon has been awarded $7 million to advance the development and assessment of the GhostEye medium-range (MR) radar, enhancing air defence capabilities with its 360° surveillance and fire control sensor.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2023: Ajax finally makes delivery progress with over 40 vehicles deployed

  12th September 2023

  General Dynamics Land Systems UK (GDLS UK) has now delivered 143 members of the British Army's Ajax family of vehicles (FOV), with 44 are already deployed by the field army and another 30 nearing completion.

• Air Warfare

  Dubai Airshow 2023: EDGE Group acquires majority stake in Swiss VTOL company

  6th November 2023

  The announcement came ahead of Dubai Airshow 2023 where EDGE will showcase ANAVIA's VTOL solutions brought into its portfolio through the acquisition of a majority shareholding in the Swiss company.

• Training

  NATO exercise sharpens explosive defeating skills in the face of increasing threats

  13th October 2023

  The exercise took place on land and in the marine environment using EOD UGVs, submarine AUVs and special diving equipment to improve and sharpen the skills of participants.

• Land Warfare

  Turkish Army makes rapid move to acquire new wheeled SP howitzer

  6th September 2023

  The Turkish Army will enhance its firepower with the Arpan Howitzer 155, a new wheeled sefl-propelled artillery system designed to complement the existing tracked Firtina.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing’s Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft to replace NATO’s AWACS by 2031

  15th November 2023

  Australia, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US already operate or have ordered Boeing 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2023: Babcock beefs up Land Cruisers as British Army Land Rover replacement programme looms

  14th September 2023

  Babcock has unveiled a militarised version of the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 which retains the chassis, drive train, engine and other systems but features a modified body more suited to a soldier's height range of 4’8” to 6’6” including kit and helmet.

• Air Warfare

  US approves Spain's $2.8 billion Patriot purchase

  6th October 2023

  Spain set to add four Patriot Configuration-3+ Modernized Fire Unit to its armoury, along with four AN/MPQ-65 radar sets and four AN/MSQ-132 engagement control stations.

• Land Warfare

  Russian Army to boost wheeled artillery forces with series of major contracts

  4th September 2023

  During the Army-2023 event in August, a series of major contracts were inked between the Burevestnik company and the Russian Ministry of Defence, aimed at pushing new wheeled artillery systems into service.

• Defence Notes

  US to increase investment in deterrence in the Indo-Pacific theatre

  18th August 2023

  The Senate Committee on Appropriations recently proposed an additional $534 million above the $9.1 billion requested in Pentagon’s FY2024 budget proposal to be invested in military capacities in the region.

• Defence Helicopter

  Indonesia signs MoU for S-70M Black Hawks

  4th September 2023

  The Indonesian military has turned its sights on S-70M Black Hawk helicopters, with the service never having bought platforms from Sikorsky before.

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) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• 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 - 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

  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 - 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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). ...

• 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 ...