• Special Operations

  India moves toward Special Operations Division

  14th November 2018

  The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has moved a step closer towards the establishment of a dedicated joint Special Operations Division (SOD), defense sources have …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy explores offensive weapons for amphibious ships

  13th November 2018

  The US Navy is considering equipping its amphibious ships with offensive weapons to increase their utility in future conflicts. The topic is ‘in hot debate,’ …

• Defence Notes

  US fighter jet crashes off Japan's Okinawa, crew rescued

  12th November 2018

  A US navy fighter jet crashed into the sea off Japan's southern island of Okinawa on 12 November and its two crew members were rescued …

• Naval Warfare

  Irish DoD receives fourth OPV

  17th October 2018

  The Irish Department of Defence (DoD) has received the fourth new offshore patrol vessel for the Irish Naval Service, the DoD announced on 11 October. …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: The Venezuelan conundrum

  19th November 2018

  Once one of the most vibrant economies in the world, Venezuela in more recent times has suffered from prolonged periods of political and financial instability, …

• Military Logistics

  Schottel to propel US Navy tugs

  12th November 2018

  Schottel will supply rudderpropellers for four yard tugs being built for the US Navy by Dakota Creek Industries. Each ASD tug will be equipped with …

• Military Logistics

  Saudi coalition halts refueling deal with US for Yemen war

  13th November 2018

  A refuelling arrangement between the United States and the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen was ended on 10 November, halting a key part of Washington's …

• Military Logistics

  US Navy christens USNS Puerto Rico

  13th November 2018

  The US Navy christened its newest Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel, USNS Puerto Rico (T-EPF 11), on 10 November at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, …

• Defence Helicopter

  Rockwell Collins to support CH-47F avionics

  13th November 2018

  Rockwell Collins has received a contract to support operational readiness of avionics on the US Army’s CH-47F Chinook helicopter fleet, the company announced on 8 …

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2018: B-1B Lancer success for ASI

  20th November 2018

  Florida-based Aero Simulation Inc (ASI) has been selected to support the 35 flight and maintenance training devices as part of the B-1B Lancer training systems …

• Defence Notes

  North and South Korea begin destroying border guard posts

  12th November 2018

  The two Koreas began destroying 20 guard posts along their heavily-fortified frontier 11 November under a plan to reduce tensions on the border. Under an …

• Military Logistics

  New Okinawa governor plans US tour to raise military base issues

  9th November 2018

  The newly elected governor of Japan's Okinawa said on 9 November that he will take the island's long-running concerns about US military bases there directly …

• Land Warfare

  ForceShield enters service in Malaysia

  16th November 2018

  The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) has completed full system acceptance of its new ForceShield ground-based air defence system, Thales announced on 14 November. The next …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  British Army begins Autonomous Warrior exercise

  19th November 2018

  The British Army is carrying out a four-week Autonomous Warrior land exercise to test a range of prototype UAS and UGVs. The exercise intends to …

• Defence Notes

  'No plans' for new US missiles in Europe despite treaty pullout

  9th November 2018

  The US has ‘no plans’ to deploy new missiles to Europe, a senior official said on 8 November, despite announcing it will pull out of a …

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 ...