• Defence Helicopter

  Malaysia falls back in love with MD 530G

  11th March 2020

  Malaysia will take delivery of six MD 530G helicopters from the end of 2020, following a decision by the then Pakatan Harapan government, before its …

• Defence Notes

  NATO membership brings new dawn for North Macedonia

  22nd April 2020

  On 27 March, North Macedonia became the 30th member of NATO after Spain became the final country to ratify the treaty accepting the small Balkan nation. In …

• Land Warfare

  Funding challenges confront main UK land programmes

  9th March 2020

  The British Army is facing a huge challenge as it modernises its armoured vehicle fleet in the next decade.  The UK National Audit Office's (NAO) …

• Air Warfare

  Bahrain signs new Raytheon Patriot System deal

  9th March 2020

  Raytheon will provide the Kingdom of Bahrain with Patriot air and missile defence systems as part of a new $551 million contract. The company confirmed …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  HORIBA MIRA and QinetiQ to supply Dstl with UGVs

  16th March 2020

  The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has awarded HORIBA MIRA and QinetiQ two contracts worth £5 million ($6.1 million) to develop unmanned ground vehicles …

• Air Warfare

  US orders 78 new F-35 combat aircraft

  1st April 2020

  USN Naval Air Systems Command has placed an order worth $4.7 billion for 78 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from Lockheed Martin. The fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, firm-fixed-price …

• Land Warfare

  US Army orders additional 155mm Bonus munitions

  3rd March 2020

  The US Army ordered an undisclosed number of additional 155mm Bonus munitions through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The munitions will be delivered …

• Defence Notes

  Sweden to get new Saab firefighting aircraft

  7th April 2020

  The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) has ordered two Air Tractor AT-802 F firefighting aircraft from service provider Saab. The order will enable Sweden to …

• Land Warfare

  Doubt shrouds Czech IFV procurement programme

  2nd April 2020

  The Czech Republic might delay or even cancel its programme to procure 210 new IFVs, which the country’s armed forces require urgently if they are to …

• Land Warfare

  Lockheed Martin to supply more GMLRS

  2nd March 2020

  US Army Contracting Command has awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.14 billion contract modification to produce Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), the DoD announced on 27 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing unveils its US Army FARA design

  3rd March 2020

  Boeing revealed its prototype design for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) which will gradually replace the retired Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. The …

• Special Operations

  German SF set for new rifle but Bundeswehr must wait

  9th March 2020

  Deliveries of the new HK416 rifle (pictured) to German SF are expected to start this month as the Bundeswehr ponders the replacement of its main …

• Training

  COVID-19 hits training and simulation

  30th March 2020

  With ITEC 2020 now postponed until 1-3 September and companies in the defence and aerospace sector having called a halt to employee travel, COVID-19 is …

• Digital Battlespace

  Waveform translation simplifies special forces communications

  3rd April 2020

  Joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) have numerous tools at their disposal to communicate with aircraft overhead providing close air support (CAS). In recent years, US …

• Land Warfare

  Indian Army seeks 8x8 armoured vehicles

  17th March 2020

  Just two weeks are left for Indian vendors to submit responses to an Indian Army requirement for nearly 200 8x8 armoured vehicles. The ‘Buy Indian’ …

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 ...

• 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 ...