• 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 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Indian Army loiters with intent

  17th March 2020

  The Indian Army released a global RfI on 6 March for approximately 100 man-portable loitering munitions that possess a line-of-sight range of at least 15km. …

• Training

  Draken takes on supersonic training role for USAF

  31st March 2020

  Draken International has begun supersonic radar-equipped F1M missions to support combat training of USAF pilots at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Modernised Mirage F1Ms are being used …

• Air Warfare

  South Korea to benefit from F-16 upgrades via FMS

  31st March 2020

  The US State Department has approved a potential FMS for an upgrade to Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-16 Block 32 aircraft with Mode …

• Naval Warfare

  Captain of US aircraft carrier pleads for COVID-19 action

  1st April 2020

  The captain of the Nimitz-class USS Theodore Roosevelt has written to US Navy leaders demanding extra resources and assistance to deal with an onboard outbreak …

• Land Warfare

  Spanish Army procures small arms for SF and snipers

  9th March 2020

  The Spanish Army expects this year to receive new rifles, machine guns, submachine guns and shotguns for snipers and troops in its Special Operations Command …

• Land Warfare

  Upgraded Msta-S arrives with 49th Combined Arms Army

  16th March 2020

  Artillery batteries in the 49th Combined Arms Army in Russia's Southern Military District have received new 152mm 2S19M2 Msta-S self-propelled howitzers.According to a 16 March statement from …

• Land Warfare

  India sees the light with Negev machine guns

  20th March 2020

  Delhi has signed an INR8.8 billion ($116.7 million) contract with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) for thousands of light machine guns, it was announced on 19 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing to oversee UK Apache’s post-production services

  10th March 2020

  Boeing has secured a $191.85 million cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract to provide post-production services for the UK’s AH-64E Apache helicopter fleet. This will include maintenance …

• 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

  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 …

• 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 …

• 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 …

• 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

  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) …

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) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• 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 - 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

  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 - 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 ...