• Digital Battlespace

  NGJ-MB in power generation flight test

  29th October 2019

  Raytheon has carried out the first power generation flight test of the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band, the company announced on 28 October. Test data gathered …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed Martin to develop Sentinel A4 radar

  30th September 2019

  Lockheed Martin will develop the Sentinel A4 radar system under a $281 million contract awarded by the US Army.  Sentinel A4 is a high-performance modification …

• Naval Warfare

  USS Indianapolis commissioned

  28th October 2019

  The US Navy has commissioned its 17th Littoral Combat Ship, USS Indianapolis, into service in Burns Harbor, Indiana. USS Indianapolis is the navy’s ninth Freedom-variant …

• Defence Notes

  Podcast: Analysing People’s Liberation Army armaments, talking helicopters with Leonardo and assessing the Somali piracy threat

  11th October 2019

  Welcome to Episode 38 of The Weekly Defence Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. Sign up to an early email alert of future podcasts here.

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems to develop new Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy

  29th October 2019

  BAE Systems will develop and demonstrate a next-generation, dual band Fiber-Optic Towed Decoy (FOTD) for the US Navy under a $36.7 million contract announced on …

• Digital Battlespace

  AOC 2019: USAF in a jam

  23rd October 2019

  It is 30 years since the US Air Force (USAF) retired its General Dynamics EF-111A Raven electronic warfare aircraft. Is it time that the air …

• Digital Battlespace

  CACI awarded US Army task order

  27th September 2019

  CACI International has been awarded a four-year plus task order worth up to $197 million to support the US Army Fixed Wing Project Office’s special …

• Military Logistics

  BMT to offer Caimen 90 landing craft to ADF

  14th October 2019

  BMT will offer the Caimen 90 Landing Craft for the Australian Army’s Land 8710 programme, the company announced on 10 October.  Land 8710 Phase One …

• Defence Notes

  USAF to merge aircraft maintenance systems

  24th October 2019

  The US Air Force has elected to merge a number of similar aircraft maintenance information technology systems into a single system to be developed and …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lithuania eyes UH-60M Black Hawks

  18th October 2019

  The Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence has announced that it will procure UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to replace its Mi-8 fleet. Six of the type …

• Land Warfare

  ADEX 2019: Hyundai Wia debuts new 81mm mortar

  17th October 2019

  South Korean weapon manufacturer Hyundai Wia unveiled a new 81mm mortar at Seoul ADEX 2019, one that will be adopted by the Republic of Korea …

• Land Warfare

  Raytheon delivers C-UAS laser system to USAF

  23rd October 2019

  Raytheon has delivered a high-energy laser counter-UAS system to the US Air Force, the company announced on 22 October.The system is now set for an …

• Defence Helicopter

  China’s Z-20 gets its first public airings

  23rd October 2019

  The Z-20 helicopter manufactured by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group – but clearly copied from the Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk – has enjoyed a flurry …

• Defence Notes

  $700 billion to be spent on military fixed-wing aircraft over next decade

  24th October 2019

  The fixed-wing military aircraft market will be worth nearly $700 billion over the next ten years, according to a soon to be released analysis by …

• Naval Warfare

  InTop LLRAM demonstration completed

  29th October 2019

  Northrop Grumman completed a critical test in the development of the Integrated Topside (InTop) Low-Level Resource Allocation Manager (LLRAM) programme in partnership with the US …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (US Army) (Batch 1) [USA]

  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 branches ...

• Main battle tanks

  Decisive Lethality Platform [USA]

  Background The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in October 2018, ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker DVH (March 2026) [US]

  Background The US Army has been operating the Stryker since 2002. The Stryker DVH is an upgraded variant that has additional armour on its underside ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker DVH (September 2026) [US]

  Background The US Army has been operating the Stryker since 2002. The Stryker DVH is an upgraded variant that has additional armour on its underside ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV [US]

  Background Platform development The US Army initiated the AMPV programme to acquire a replacement for several variants of the M113 tracked APC, which has been ...

• 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 - 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 Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary ...

• Hybrid effector systems

  M-SHORAD Increment 3 [USA]

  Background The US Army is upgrading its maneuver short-range air defense system (M-SHORAD). Under the overal programme, there are three increments. Increment 1 vehicles are ...

• 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 UAS - micro

  eBee Vision [US]

  Background Multiple orders In November 2025, the US Army acquired three eBee Vision systems to enhance training operations at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Germany. A ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) (Batch 2) [USA]

  Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative, the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. The development of the Sergeant ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) [Tranche 1] / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) (USA)

  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 organic, ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) [USA]

  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 Brigade ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Lower Tier Air and Missile Defence Sensor [US]

  Background The US Army's Lower Tier Air and Missile Defence Sensor (LTAMDS) is being acquired from US-based Raytheon.  The United States Army is the primary customer ...

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) ...

• 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 ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV)

  BAE Systems' Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) was developed in response to a US Army requirement for a platform to replace the ageing M113 APCs in ...

• 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). ...

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M821A3 High Explosive Mortar Round

  The M821A3 High Explosive Mortar Round is an 81mm mortar round manufactured by Day & Zimmerman for the US Army.

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M933A1 High Explosive Mortar Round

  The M933A1 High Explosive Mortar Round is a 120mm mortar round manufactured by Day & Zimmermann for the US Army.

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M934A1 High Explosive Mortar Round

  The M934A1 High Explosive Mortar Round is a 120mm mortar round produced by Day & Zimmermann for the US Army.

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M930 Illumination Mortar Round

  The M930 Illumination Mortar Round is a 120mm mortar round manufactured by Island Pyrochemical Industries for the US Army.