• Defence Notes

  Moldovan military relies on partnerships for modernisation

  14th September 2021

  With little new modern equipment on the cards, Moldova's military is being forced to reply on training and international cooperation to improve its capability.

• Defence Notes

  DSEI 2021: Magtec electrifies British Army vehicles

  15th September 2021

  Magtec is supporting the British Army’s hybrid military vehicle assessment programme.

• Air Warfare

  USMC buys two previously leased Reapers

  21st October 2021

  Marine Corps used a ‘try before you buy’ approach with a pair of MQ-9A Reapers.

• Land Warfare

  Spain to take early delivery of first VCR 8x8 Dragons

  8th October 2021

  Head of the Spanish Army’s Logistic Support Command claims that the Tess Defence consortium will make the vehicles available ahead of schedule.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2021: Skylock offers counter-UAS solutions to US market

  12th October 2021

  A multi-layer counter-UAS system called 'The Robot' uses a combination of radar, RF detection, EO/IR and jamming for protection of bases and vessels.

• Air Warfare

  Lockheed Martin continues development of ARTS V-2

  18th October 2021

  Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract modification for the continued development of ARTS V-2, which is intended to train US pilots.

• Defence Notes

  Asia-Pacific experiences a missile frenzy (Opinion)

  19th September 2021

  There has been a flurry of activity in the missile realm, with the Asia-Pacific region set to bristle even more with these dangerous weapons.

• Air Warfare

  Korean UAVs rise to the fore at Seoul ADEX

  21st October 2021

  South Korea is one of the leading innovators in UAVs in Asia, with different concepts on display at Seoul ADEX 2021.

• Training

  US Army highlights major low-cost drone threat

  1st September 2021

  The US Army is teaching soldiers how to deal with low-cost drones on the battlefield.

• Training

  Son of ASDOT rises from the ashes

  4th November 2021

  With the demise of ASDOT nearly three years ago, the UK MoD is looking to fill some live air training gaps with its Operational Readiness Training Aerial Support Service requirement. Is the winner already home and hosed?

• Land Warfare

  India orders Arjun Mk IA tanks

  24th September 2021

  After much dilly-dallying, India has ordered its second batch of Arjun tanks.

• Defence Helicopter

  New Chinook engine offers advantages for future operations (Studio)

  13th September 2021

  A new engine for the CH-47 Chinook will significantly increase the capabilities of the helicopter, allowing it to meet future operational needs head on.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2021: Bushmaster XM913 to equip OMFV tender winner

  13th October 2021

  At AUSA 2021, Shephard spoke to Northrop Grumman about its 50mm XM913 chain gun.

• Defence Notes

  India disbands unwieldy OFB

  4th October 2021

  India's public sector undertakings are inefficient and out of date. The government has moved to address this.

• Land Warfare

  Nexter ramps up vehicle production under Scorpion programme

  6th October 2021

  Nexter expects to deliver an initial 20 Jaguar EBRC 6x6 vehicles to the French Army this year, followed by the first Serval VBMR multirole 4x4s in 2022.

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) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• 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 ...

• 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 - 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 - 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, 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 ...

• 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). ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...