• Defence Notes

  What's new in the updated version of the US Marines Force Design 2030

  9th June 2023

  The most recent Force Design 2030 document introduces adjustments in terms of capabilities, doctrine, structure and training focusing on improving readiness.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Leidos to manage US Navy uncrewed surface vessels under $95 million deal

  22nd August 2023

  Leidos has won a $95 million contract from the USN to manage and maintain the Overlord and Medium USVs, an effort which will accelerate the integration of autonomous vessel capabilities.

• Land Warfare

  Senate wants $532 million boost for modernising US Abrams tank fleet

  1st August 2023

  The extra funds will enable the upgrading of 53 tanks on top of the 34 included in the US Army's FY2024 budget request.

• Air Warfare

  US seeks to approve F-16 sale to Argentina to trump Chinese JF-17 offer

  10th August 2023

  Argentina is evaluating choices including second-hand F-16 fighters from Denmark and Chengdu JF-17 Thunder Block III fighters offered by China. The potential deals come as the South American country seeks to replace its outdated aircraft, navigating obstacles such as arms embargoes, international partnerships and geopolitical considerations.

• Land Warfare

  L3Harris T7™ and T4™: Unrivaled EOD Capability Meets Proven Reliability

  11th September 2023

  All over the globe, unprecedented world events are increasingly introducing new, evolving sources of conflict and complex threats into the modern battlefield.

• Digital Battlespace

  US awards $1.5 billion in deals for Transport Layer satellites

  22nd August 2023

  The US Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin contracts to build and operate the Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) - Beta satellite constellation which will provide global communications access and encrypted connectivity.

• Defence Notes

  Indian defence purchases from Russia are in trouble

  30th August 2023

  Fearing sanctions, India needs to find an alternative mechanism as it continues to buy defence equipment from Russia.

• Air Warfare

  Leidos and L3Harris partner on US Army ISR aircraft for ATHENA-S

  27th July 2023

  Leidos and L3Harris Technologies announced on 26 July they are teaming up for the US Army’s Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne – Signals Intelligence (ATHENA-S) proposal.

• Land Warfare

  US approves sale of Assault Amphibious Vehicles to Romania

  28th July 2023

  The US State Department has approved the possible sale of 16 Assault Amphibious Vehicles and related equipment to Romania, enhancing Romania's defence capabilities and the NATO alliance.

• Naval Warfare

  DSEI 2023: Has the Royal Navy cut back its support vessel fleet too far?

  11th September 2023

  This second in Shephard’s three-part series examining the state of the UK RN analyses the fleet of support ships. These important vessels sustain naval forces at sea for long durations and at vast distances, but cuts to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's fleet have left crucial ships retired or sold, prompting concerns for future missions.

• Land Warfare

  Elbit America to deliver gunner hand stations for Bradley fighting vehicles

  3rd August 2023

  Elbit America has secured a delivery order for gunner hand stations for the Bradley IFVs, part of contract placed in 2020.

• 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.

• Land Warfare

  Oshkosh Defense receives $201 million order for FMTV A2 vehicles

  4th August 2023

  Oshkosh Defense has been awarded a $201 million contract for additional Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles A2 (FMTV A2) from the US Army, taking the total number of ordered platforms to 2,000.

• Training

  Gaming the System: Project OdySSEy’s Synthetic Training Revolution (Studio)

  7th September 2023

  In the rapidly evolving, data-driven future environment, BAE Systems is leading the integration of game-changing systems that are revolutionising how military forces train. Project OdySSEy is bringing together simulation, supercomputing, data analytics and augmented reality to revolutionise the future of military training.

• Land Warfare

  Australia embarks upon a massive restructure of army

  3rd October 2023

  In response to strategic circumstances, the Australian Army is in for a massive overhaul and redistribution of units and equipment.

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]

  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 US ...

• 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 ...

• 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

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  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 million ...

• 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]

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

• 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. ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS): Switchblade [US]

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

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

  Puma 2 AE [Estonia]

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  KC-46A (3-6) [Japan]

  On 30 October 2020, the US DoD announced that it awarded a $342 million contract to Boeing for two Japanese KC-46A tanker aircraft. Work will be performed ...

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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Weapon sights for day use

  CompM4/M4s

  The US DoD has bought over one million Aimpoint sights since 1997. The US Army is now fielding the CompM4s as the latest version of ...

• Heavy machine guns

  M2HB

  US Ordnance is one of two US M2HB heavy machine gun manufacturers which has received multi-year contracts to supply weapons to the US DoD. The ...