• Digital Battlespace

  PacStar solutions for US Army SFAB comms

  15th October 2018

  PacStar will provide its tactical network baseband solution for six US Army Security Forces Assistance Brigades (SFAB) under a $20 million contract announced on 9 …

• Special Operations

  GD-OTS delivers A-GMV 1.1 vehicles to US Army

  17th October 2018

  General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has delivered the first Army-Ground Mobility Vehicles (A-GMV 1.1) to the US Army, the company announced on 10 October. …

• Defence Notes

  Two Koreas agree to remove some border guard posts

  26th October 2018

  The two Koreas on Friday agreed to each remove 11 guard posts along the heavily-fortified border next month with a goal to possibly remove all …

• Land Warfare

  Excalibur upgrade complete

  15th October 2018

  Raytheon and the US Army have completed the upgrade of Excalibur precision-guided projectile, the company announced on 9 October.   The Excalibur Shaped Trajectory (EST) …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Army tests Spider networked munition system

  17th October 2018

  The US Army’s 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is testing an upgrade to the Spider munition system used to defend perimeters and support offensive ambushes …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed Martin’s LRDR achieves technical milestone

  22nd October 2018

  Lockheed Martin’s Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) has completed a closed loop satellite track with tactical hardware and software, the company announced on 16 October.The …

• Defence Notes

  Koreas and UN Command begin talks on demilitarising border

  16th October 2018

  The two Koreas and the US-led United Nations Command began talks Tuesday on demilitarising a section of the heavily fortified border dividing the peninsula, as …

• Land Warfare

  India to upgrade M-46 howitzers

  1st November 2018

  As India looks to standardise its artillery pieces the MoD has signed a contract for the transformation of 300 M-46 towed howitzers. The state-owned Ordnance Factory …

• Defence Helicopter

  MH-139 upsets the pack to claim UH-1N Huey replacement win

  24th September 2018

  The Boeing-Leonardo MH-139 has beaten off industry competition from Sikorsky and the Sierra Nevada Corporation to claim a $2.4 billion US Air Force UH-1N Huey …

• Defence Notes

  US defence chief Mattis says Trump is '100 percent' with him

  16th October 2018

  US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trump has assured him of his full support, one day after Trump appeared to cast doubt over …

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems demonstrates XTS Guard 5

  22nd October 2018

  BAE Systems has demonstrated the ability of its XTS Guard 5 to provide US intelligence organisations with access to geospatial imagery and data from its …

• Special Operations

  Gender gap closed for UK special forces

  26th October 2018

  Women are now eligible to attempt the UK’s Joint Selection course which is designed to identify personnel suitable for service with the Special Air Service …

• Digital Battlespace

  Kratos waveforms for Harris’ HH-VDL radios

  19th October 2018

  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ subsidiary Kratos RT Logic has licensed its common data link (CDL) waveforms to Harris Corporation for use in Harris’ nanoSVDL …

• Defence Notes

  Endless trucks to dirty laundry: NATO exercises big in every way

  23rd October 2018

  NATO's biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, dubbed Trident Juncture 18, take place in Norway from October 25 to November 7 …

• Digital Battlespace

  NCI to modernise US Army HSMCCs

  10th October 2018

  NCI Information Systems has received a $22 million contract to modernise US Army Home Station Mission Command Centers (HSMCCs) at nine sites across the US …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  BQM-177A [US Navy]

  Background Previous Purchases The BQM-177A was designed for the USN and has been in service with the USN for many years. Indeed, in August 2022, Shephard reported ...

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

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

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (India)

  Programme Background On 25 February 2020, a letter of acceptance for 24 MH-60Rs, worth approximately $2.12 billion, was signed by India and the US in Delhi. ...

• 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 - fixed-wing, 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. ...

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 ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  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 - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  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 ...

• Heavy machine guns

  M2HB

  US Ordnance is one of two US M2HB heavy machine gun manufacturers which has received multi-year contracts to supply weapons to the US DoD. The ...