• Training

  TH-119 performs successful first flight

  3rd January 2019

  Leonardo has successfully completed the initial flight test of the TH-119 IFR single engine training helicopter at its Philadelphia plant. The test flight included an …

• Digital Battlespace

  Russia deploys a combat laser system

  9th January 2019

  The Russian MoD has revealed that on 1 December 2018 the so-called combat-experimental alert duty deployed its first ground-based combat laser system. Known as the …

• Military Logistics

  BAE to modernise USS Shoup

  4th January 2019

  BAE Systems has received a $78.8 million contract for the maintenance and modernisation of the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Shoup, the company …

• Digital Battlespace

  Japan to establish Space Monitoring Unit in 2022

  10th December 2018

  Japan’s MoD will establish a Space Monitoring Unit within the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in FY2022, its mission to track space debris and hostile …

• Land Warfare

  Lockheed receives contract for PAC-3 missiles

  3rd January 2019

  Lockheed Martin has received a $1.8 billion contract in December for the production and delivery of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement …

• Digital Battlespace

  USAF launches first GPS III satellite

  4th January 2019

  The US Air Force launched the first GPS III satellite, Vespucci, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on 23 December. The Lockheed Martin-built …

• Training

  L3 receives F-16 training contract

  31st December 2018

  L3 Technologies has been selected by the US Air Force as the prime contractor for the F-16 Simulator Training Program (STP), the company announced on …

• Naval Warfare

  China 'needs three aircraft carriers' says naval expert

  9th January 2019

  China needs ‘at least three aircraft carriers’ to protect its extensive coastline and its interests abroad, a senior Chinese naval expert said Wednesday.  ‘Our country …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon to support SPY-6 radar integration

  3rd January 2019

  Raytheon received a $114 million contract in December to provide integration and production support for the AN/SPY-6(V) air and missile defence radar. The contract also …

• Digital Battlespace

  AOC 2018: Pentagon creates entity to promote artificial intelligence

  28th November 2018

  The US Department of Defense (DoD) has stood up a new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) to spur the rapid development and fielding of new …

• Digital Battlespace

  AOC 2018: US military eyes small, distributed EW systems

  29th November 2018

  The US Department of Defense (DoD) wants to develop small, distributed electronic warfare (EW) platforms that can safely operate closer to contested areas than large, …

• Military Logistics

  USAF breaks ground on new fire station

  4th January 2019

  The US Air Force's 812th Civil Engineer Squadron broke ground on a new 41,408sq ft fire station on the flightline at Edwards Air Force Base in …

• Digital Battlespace

  Harris awarded wideband SATCOM support work

  2nd January 2019

  Harris Corporation received a $218 million follow-on contract from the US Army in December to continue providing mission-essential wideband satellite communications support. Under the Wideband …

• Naval Warfare

  HII to build additional NSCs for USCG

  4th January 2019

  Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division received contracts in December to build additional National Security Cutters (NSC) for the US Coast Guard. The contract …

• Defence Helicopter

  Japan delays Osprey introduction due to local resistance

  5th December 2018

  The Japanese MoD is delaying delivery of its first MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors because of opposition from local citizenry where the aircraft were supposed to be …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Military Aid - $300 Million On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine to "bolster Urkaine's capacity ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165 Special Ops HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HHMWV, or Humvee, has been in US service since 1983. The M1165A1B3 is a special operations variant of the platform.  In 2015, the US ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (16 March 2022 & 13 April 2022) On 16 March 2022, President Biden announced $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine through ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank [US]

  Programme Background As IAI stated in a 19 January 2023 press release, it had been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Irregular Warfare Technical Support ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE [Kosovo]

  Background Contract Award On 21 January 2022, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that AeroVironment had been awarded an $11.01 million firm-fixed contract for Puma ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background On 24 February 2023, the US DoD announced that the Biden Administration had released an additional aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1152A1B2/M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million Presidential Drawdown security ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS): Switchblade [US]

  Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a ceiling $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide “an ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE [Estonia]

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  KC-46A (3-6) [Japan]

  On 30 October 2020, the US DoD announced that it awarded a $342 million contract to Boeing for two Japanese KC-46A tanker aircraft. Work will be performed ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  ACV-30 PRTV [USA]

  Background The Armoured Combat Vehicle (ACV) programme is intended to provide a replacement for the USMC's fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicle 7 (AAV7) tracked vehicles. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  XQ-58A Valkyrie [USMC]

  Programme Background Contract Award On 30 December 2022, the US DoD announced that it had awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems a $15.52 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Pistols

  M9

  M9 is the US DoD designation for the military-specification 9mm Beretta 92FS, selected in 1985 to replace the 45cal M1911A1 in US service. Sales to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Igla/SA-18

  The 9K38 Igla (US DoD designation SA-18, NATO reporting name Grouse ) IR-homing MANPADS was developed by KBM and entered service in 1983 to meet the requirements ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank

  Point Blank Weapon System is a hand-launched electro-optical VTOL-capable loitering munition developed by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI has been awarded a contract by the US ...

• Military UAS - small

  ScanEagle 3

  Insitu unveiled the ScanEagle 3 at the Xponential exhibition in Denver in May 2018. The platform has twice the payload capacity of its ScanEagle predecessor ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  BAT-850

  Pathfinder's BAT-850 VSAT is a carbon fibre, tri-band terminal with auto-acquisition capability. Suitable for flyaway (case-based) and vehicle-mounted applications, it is in service with the ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  URC-300

  The URC-300 is a software-defined radio designed for line-of-sight, ground-to-air communications in particular. Introduced in 2020, it adheres to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards as well ...

• Air: aerial targets

  BQM-177A/i

  The BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT) was designed for the USN, and the BQM-177i is the export variant. The BQM-177 provides realistic threat emulation for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Banshee Tactical Radio

  Developed by Fenix Group, the Banshee Tactical Radio (BTR) is a communications system that uses 4G/LTE connectivity to provide secure mesh networking capability on the ...

• Crew-served grenade launchers

  Striker 40/MK47

  General Dynamics is systems integrator for the Striker 40 (MK47 AGL in US service). The complete system comprises the weapon, AN/PWG-1 Lightweight Video Sight and ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  AN/ARC-231 Skyfire

  The AN/ARC-231 Skyfire is an airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM system. This system supports US DoD requirements for airborne, multi-band, multi-mission, secure anti-jam voice, data ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  CLWS

  Developed by Boeing, Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS or CLaWS) is a medium-range, low-power laser C-UAS system. According to the reports, the CLWS prototype has ...

• Weapon sights for day use

  CompM4/M4s

  The US DoD has bought over one million Aimpoint sights since 1997. The US Army is now fielding the CompM4s as the latest version of ...

• Data links, Land: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  QNT-200

  The Collins QNT-200 is a dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) designed for size, weight and power-constrained platforms. Using IP-based mesh networks, it offers high-bandwidth mobile networking ...