• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Another year of instability amid Middle Eastern power plays

  22nd January 2020

  The new decade has opened, quite literally, with a bang. The drone strike by the US military on 3 January to kill the head of …

• Military Logistics

  Boeing to support US military aviation platforms

  19th December 2019

  Boeing has been awarded an $835.7 contract modification for aircraft support, the US Department of Defense announced on 16 December. The modification exercises the five-year …

• Naval Warfare

  USN pushes against fleet readiness problems

  30th January 2020

  With the USN spending a considerable amount on modernising and increasing the size of its fleet, one notable takeaway from the Surface Navy Association annual …

• Digital Battlespace

  Dstl working on CIRCE project

  22nd January 2020

  A joint mission to launch miniature sensors that will advance space weather measurement and modelling capabilities is being carried out by the Defence Science and …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed Martin to upgrade AN/ALQ-217 ESM system

  20th January 2020

  Lockheed Martin is to upgrade the US Navy’s AN/ALQ-217 Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. The work will be carried …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon awarded USAF comms terminals work

  17th January 2020

  Raytheon has received a contract action from the US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center for the force element terminal (FET) development effort. The $442.2 …

• Defence Helicopter

  US DoD awards M-TADS/PNVS support contract modification

  18th December 2019

  Lockheed Martin has received a $64.7 million contract modification for Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) support, the US Department of …

• Digital Battlespace

  Australia details Land 1771 Tranche 1 investment

  6th January 2020

  The Australian government has detailed plans to invest $150 million in the Australian Army’s next-generation geospatial support capability. Forming part of the Land 1771 Tranche …

• Military Logistics

  Rheinmetall to modernise more Buffalo vehicles

  3rd January 2020

  Rheinmetall will modernise a further 21 Buffalo armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) for the Royal Netherlands Army under an order announced on 19 December for the …

• Training

  Dignitas Technologies awarded training systems support

  10th January 2020

  Dignitas Technologies has received an IDIQ contract from the US Naval Air Warfare Center to provide total life cycle support for US Navy training systems. …

• Land Warfare

  AM General receives HMMWV reset work

  17th December 2019

  The US Army has awarded AM General a contract to upgrade M998 vehicles for Jordan, the US Department of Defense announced on 13 December. Under …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman to develop SPOC radio terminal

  13th January 2020

  Northrop Grumman will develop and demonstrate a Software Programmable Open Mission Systems (OMS) Compliant (SPOC) radio terminal for the US Air Force under a contract …

• Air Warfare

  Testbed aircraft key to Israel’s enhanced F-35

  28th January 2020

  As the introduction of Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-35 Adir fighter aircraft begins to gather pace, the pending arrival of a testbed aircraft will spur …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Upgraded Heron given longer legs

  29th January 2020

  In an expansion of its unmanned portfolio, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) plans to unveil a new member of the Heron UAV family at the Singapore Airshow …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Army invests in Gray Eagle ER capabilities

  13th December 2019

  The US Army has awarded multiple contracts to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) to upgrade the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range's (GE ER) capabilities and …

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 ...