• Land Warfare

  Lockheed Martin lands US Army US$9.8 billion Patriot contract

  4th September 2025

  The contract will be used to produce 1,970 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3 MSE) interceptors and hardware.

• Land Warfare

  Textron unveils a smaller, low-cost variant of the Ripsaw family of UGVs

  29th April 2026

  Ripsaw M1 has been designed to support the US Marine Corps’ littoral missions by carrying diverse types of payloads and performing multiple missions. Shephard spoke with Textron to find out more.

• Air Warfare

  Teal Drones delivers first Black Widows as parent company reports six-month loss

  19th August 2025

  In July 2025 Teal Drones was awarded Tranche 2 of the US Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) programme for a small uncrewed aerial system (sUAS).

• Land Warfare

  Canada looking to expedite purchase of armoured fighting vehicle and a new tank

  26th January 2026

  Canada is improving its Leopard main battle tank fleet but before this is fully completed, it is expected to begin looking for new vehicles.

• Defence Notes

  Is the US magazine of air defence interceptors deep enough to sustain a long campaign against Iran?

  4th March 2026

  The Pentagon spent a considerable number of THAAD and SM-3 rounds to defend against Iranian missiles in 2025 and has not fully replenished its reserves.

• Land Warfare

  UK agrees parallel development and production process for British Army Challenger 3

  23rd January 2026

  In a bid to accelerate delivery of the British Army’s Challenger 3 main battle tank, which has just carried out its first crewed firings with the latest Rheinmetall 120mm L55A1 smoothbore gun, the UK has opted for an unconventional approach.

• Land Warfare

  Australia’s revised defence investment plan: what it means for land warfare

  17th April 2026

  Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment Program have been adjusted from the 2024 version to promote greater military and industrial self-reliance, taking lessons learned from ongoing conflicts and looking to reinforce the industrial base.

• Land Warfare

  Mack Defense receives new contract as push to refresh trucks continues

  13th August 2025

  Mack Defense’s M917A3 Heavy Dump Truck (HDT) builds on a commercial vehicle but comes off a dedicated production line. The deal follows previous orders, including orders for Oshkosh’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, along with other logistics and forward-deployed trucks worldwide.

• Land Warfare

  Czech government developing a plan for air defence beyond 2030 alongside NATO integration

  24th October 2025

  The Czech Armed Forces is set to receive four Israeli-made SPYDER long-range missile defence systems, the first of which was delivered earlier this year. They will be a key part of the country’s multilayered air defence system.

• Land Warfare

  Lithuanian 1st Division to achieve initial operating capability in 2026

  9th December 2025

  Lithuania is one of the countries stepping up its defences in the face of the war in Ukraine with a particular focus on its neighbour and Russian ally Belarus, which has been making incursions into Lithuania’s airspace with balloons and drones.

• Land Warfare

  Sweden seeks US HIMARS missile system to expand long-range strike capability

  13th March 2026

  The proposed $920 million deal would provide Sweden with a step up from its existing tube artillery and align the country with other northern European nations that have selected the HIMARS platform.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing to build Apache AH-64E attack helicopters for Poland, Egypt and Kuwait

  27th November 2025

  The $4.7 billion international order for the three countries will see production conclude around May 2032.

• Land Warfare

  JLTV A2 cleared for first export as AM General awaits US Army plans

  12th August 2025

  The AM General’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) A2 is in low-rate initial production (LRIP) as testing of first vehicles continues. Canada is set to become the first export customer and the likely order will mark an important step for the company as it awaits the outcome of the US Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) which has argued for cuts to JLTV.

• Air Warfare

  October Drone Digest: Growing desire for CCAs and new VTOL technology unveiled

  30th October 2025

  During October 2025, several countries and organisations signalled their intention to acquire loyal wingman uncrewed aircraft systems — designated by the US Air Force as Collaborative Combat Aircraft — or to study the capability further, while various new uncrewed helicopters were showcased.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2025: Mack Defense bets on commercial technology to get US military contracts

  13th October 2025

  The company is currently involved in the US Army Common Tactical Truck and the US Marine Corps Medium Tactical Truck programmes.

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 ...