• Defence Helicopter

  Power up: PLA fields upgraded Z-10 attack helicopters

  19th February 2020

  A picture that appeared on the Chinese Internet on 8 February has revealed that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has introduced an upgraded variant of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  RAAF’s unmanned plans face double jeopardy

  28th February 2020

  Beads of sweat may be appearing on the brows of top RAAF officials and bean-counters, given the news that the USN is suspending acquisition of …

• Training

  VT MAK updates VR software

  11th March 2020

  MAK Technologies (also known as VT MAK) has released two new software updates for its VR-Forces and VR-Engage products, after the company won two major contracts. VR-Forces is a …

• Training

  Exercise Cope North under way in Guam

  26th February 2020

  The Royal Australian Air Force has deployed aircraft to take part in Exercise Cope North in Guam. Thirteen aircraft in total - 11 F/A-18A/B Classic …

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems gets another ACV contract

  27th February 2020

  BAE Systems has been awarded a $113.5 million contract by the US Marine Corps to provide 26 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV). The contract brings the …

• Defence Notes

  Esper urges ROK to increase defence spending

  25th February 2020

  Mark Esper, US Secretary of Defence has urged his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo to contribute more to his nation’s own security. He reiterated Washington’s …

• Defence Notes

  RAF warns of data loss dangers

  26th February 2020

  Senior leadership of the RAF have raised fears of data loss from accelerated data transfer techniques, but expect that key airborne C2 procurement decisions will …

• Training

  T-7A in-flight engine shut-down test success

  28th February 2020

  Boeing has carried out testing to ensure the T-7A trainer aircraft can recover from emergency in-flight engine shut down. The testing was carried out from …

• Defence Notes

  COVID-19 will deliver lasting ramifications

  19th March 2020

  The COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, dominating global news cycles and completely reshaping how nations are governed. Across the world, lockdowns, transport bans …

• Naval Warfare

  BAE Systems wins USN contract for AEGIS services

  3rd March 2020

  BAE Systems was awarded a $188.2m contract to provide the US Navy with system engineering, integration and testing services for the AEGIS Weapons and Combat …

• Defence Helicopter

  UK Apache crews prepare for Exercise Defender Europe 20

  14th February 2020

  UK Apache, Wildcat and Chinook helicopters are preparing to take part in Exercise Defender Europe 20 in Germany and Poland in the spring. Apaches of …

• Military Logistics

  Kratos to provide transporters for GBSD programme

  27th February 2020

  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will support the US Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) programme under a contract announced on 26 February. The …

• Naval Warfare

  First SM-2 from restarted production line tested

  27th February 2020

  The first SM-2 surface-to-air missile from Raytheon’s restarted production line has been tested by the company and the US Navy. During the test, the SM-2 …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army orders Apache retrofit kits

  29th January 2020

  Boeing has received funding from the US Army for retrofit kits and software development for the Apache attack helicopter, the US Department of Defense announced …

• Defence Notes

  F-35 programme passes milestone but coronavirus casts a shadow

  5th March 2020

  USAF General Eric Fick, programme executive officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office confirmed that the 500th aircraft was delivered on 1 March. …

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 ...