• Land Warfare

  Oshkosh submits Robotic Combat Vehicle proposal

  22nd May 2023

  Oshkosh has submitted its response to the US Army’s request for prototype proposals for the platform prototype design and build phase of its Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) programme.

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems lands three-year US Army contract for precision weapons R&D

  19th May 2023

  BAE Systems has been awarded a further $72.5 million R&D contract to work on long-range cannon-fired guided munitions for the US Army.

• Defence Notes

  Amentum to provide ground support for US Navy hypersonic development

  25th May 2023

  The US Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Strategic Systems Hardware Division (GXW) has awarded Amentum a five-year contract with a potential value of $70 million.  …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Marine Corps enhances tactical comms with L3Harris radio contracts

  22nd May 2023

  The US Marine Corps is acquiring further L3Harris Falcon IV tactical radios under two new contracts.

• Defence Notes

  What will future military drones look like?

  22nd June 2023

  Industry and armed forces have been working on the development of faster, more lethal, sophisticated and mass-producible UAVs.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Anduril to use Dive-LD AUV in undersea infrastructure mission

  7th April 2023

  The defence disruptor sees autonomous vehicles playing a pivotal role in the defence of undersea critical national infrastructure.

• Defence Notes

  SOF Week 2023: USSOCOM chief highlights special forces lessons learned from Ukraine relationship

  15th May 2023

  USSOCOM Commander Gen Bryan P Fenton has highlighted the importance of relationship-building between US SOF and their Ukrainian counterparts since 2014.

• Training

  US Army to use customised QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+ target for training

  18th May 2023

  QinetiQ's MQM-185B target, based on the Banshee Jet 80+, aims to provide the US Army with hyper-realistic training capabilities.

• Training

  Oman-led naval exercise with France, UK, US concludes

  12th May 2023

  Exercise Khunjar Hadd focused on mine countermeasures, explosive ordnance disposal, maritime interdiction, and other combined naval operations.

• Land Warfare

  Insight: Why the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle is making a clean sweep of Nordic markets

  19th September 2023

  Shephard Defence Insight explores the evolution of BAE Systems Hägglunds’ CV90 IFV from its inception in the late 1980s to the latest CV90 MkIV, detailing the order history and upgrade packages of its ten European customers.

• Air Warfare

  General Atomics to provide launch systems for next Ford-class aircraft carrier

  12th June 2023

  General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) will provide production, manufacturing, engineering, programme management, logistics support and information assurance as well as launch and arrestor system shipsets for the USS Doris Miller.

• Defence Notes

  How the Chinese balloon incident will impact future US air threat detection

  16th March 2023

  Although the Pentagon claims that current systems can detect this type of threat, it has confirmed that measures will be taken in order to maintain the US's edge over its adversaries.

• Air Warfare

  Malaysian Army leases Black Hawk helicopters

  7th June 2023

  Malaysia is leasing a quartet of Black Hawks, giving the army its first taste of operating the American-built helicopter.

• Air Warfare

  Saab debuts deployable digital tower to support dispersed operations

  16th June 2023

  Saab has debuted a new modular quick-to-deploy digital tower for deployable air traffic control management.

• Land Warfare

  GM Defense, Black Sage partner up to add drone defences to military vehicles

  2nd June 2023

  GM Defense has partnered with Black Sage Technologies to develop an integrated counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) capability for tactical military vehicles.

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

  M1165 Special Ops HMMWV [USA]

  Programme Background The HHMWV or Humvee has been in US service since 1983. The M1165A1B3 is a special operations variant of the platform.  In 2015, the ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• 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 ...

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

  Puma LE [Kosovo]

  Background Contract Award 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 ...

• 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 ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1152A1B2/M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Programme Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the ...

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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...