• Air Warfare

  A welcome observer? Workshare wrangles loom as Belgium joins SCAF future fighter effort

  12th September 2023

  Of the three major Western next-generation fighter programmes, the (arguably) French-led SCAF has received the least attention in English-speaking media. As Belgium gains observer status on the programme, what will this mean for the workshare arrangements between France, Germany and Spain?

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing to produce 21 more Apache helicopters for US Army and international customer

  24th July 2023

  Boeing has received a contract modification to produce an additional 21 AH-64E Apache helicopters for the US Army and an international customer, bringing the total to 205.

• Naval Warfare

  Romania cancels Gowind corvette buy, but needs swift new solution for Black Sea security

  22nd August 2023

  The Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MoND) has confirmed that plans to acquire four Gowind 2500 corvettes from French shipbuilder Naval Group have been cancelled.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy Approves Service Life Extension for 4 Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyers

  4th August 2023

  The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Surface Warfare Division (N96) recently approved the service life extension of four Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers.

• Training

  Tunisia receives four US Textron T-6C trainer aircraft

  25th July 2023

  The US has handed over four of eight Textron T-6C Texan II trainer aircraft to the Tunisian Air Force.

• Air Warfare

  US Navy's next-generation high-speed missile might not be hypersonic

  8th August 2023

  Concepts for new missiles for the US Navy (USN) are being finalised under the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Weapon (HALO) programme.

• Air Warfare

  Australia receives its first UH-60M Black Hawks

  8th August 2023

  Sikorsky has been extremely rapid in delivering Black Hawks to Australia, with the first two already handed over.

• Land Warfare

  USMC experiments with Mission Master UGVs in Australia

  6th August 2023

  The USMC trialled Mission Master UGVs during the recent Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 in Australia.

• Training

  US Air Force awards option 5 on T-1A trainer upgrade contract

  7th August 2023

  The USAF has awarded the next option on a T-1A Jayhawk upgrade contract to aircraft modification and support service provider Field Aerospace.

• Defence Notes

  How Brazil will invest over $10 billion in new defence programmes

  6th September 2023

  A special fund of $10 billion will cover Brazil's acquisition of combat vehicles, aircraft and helicopters, building new warships and submarines and modernisation of legacy systems.

• Land Warfare

  Fibrotex develops mobile camouflage systems for US clients

  19th July 2023

  Fibrotex’s camouflage triad will be complete with the development of mobile camouflage systems.

• Digital Battlespace

  How Next-Generation Optical Systems Are Transforming Multi-Domain Operations (Studio)

  13th September 2023

  Optical solutions are crucial for effective situational awareness. As militaries prepare for the joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) future, Raytheon ELCAN is embracing innovation in digital engineering, material science and beyond to ensure its customers thrive in the data-driven battlespace.

• Naval Warfare

  US declares IOC for special operations mini-sub

  25th July 2023

  Lockheed Martin's Dry Combat Submersible (DCS) achieves Initial Operational Capability with US Special Operations Command. This vehicle enables covert underwater missions, transforming undersea warfare for special operators.

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman delivers components for Arctic satellite broadband mission

  8th August 2023

  Northrop Grumman has delivered major components and begun pre-launch preparations for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM), a crucial effort in delivering protected satellite communications to the challenging northern polar region.

• Land Warfare

  UVision's Hero-120 loitering munition demonstrated for Arctic combat

  9th August 2023

  UVision's Hero-120 loitering munition has been shown to potential customers as suitable for winter Arctic conditions in a series of demonstrations recently completed.

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 ...