• Naval Warfare

  Euronaval 2018: 'Light' boom as Type 31e passes PQQ

  25th October 2018

  Numerous shipbuilders and designers showcased a range of light multirole frigates and corvettes at this year’s Euronaval in Paris as demand for such platforms increases. …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG orders seven OTH-IV cutter boats

  15th October 2018

  The US Coast Guard has issued two delivery orders, worth a combined total of approximately $2.74 million, to SAFE Boats International for the supply of …

• Military Logistics

  AUSA 2018: BAE Systems offers glimpse at possible M88A3

  12th October 2018

  BAE Systems unveiled a concept design for a possible 'A3' upgrade to the M88A2 Hercules recovery vehicle at this year's AUSA event in Washington DC.  The …

• Training

  NFTC training device upgrades

  18th October 2018

  Originally signed in May 1998, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme has been highly successful and is likely …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australia retires the Kiowa

  19th October 2018

  The Australian Army formally retired the Bell 206B-1 Kiowa on 18 October, a date that also marked the 50th anniversary of the service’s Aviation Corps. …

• Naval Warfare

  South Korea begins naval event without Japan after Rising Sun flag row

  10th October 2018

  South Korea on Wednesday kicked off an international fleet review involving 13 nations, after Japan bowed out in protest at Seoul's demand it remove a …

• Training

  KC-46 simulators gear up at Pease

  17th October 2018

  Installation of the US Air Force’s new KC-46 simulators is nearing completion at Pease Air National Guard Base, the air force announced on 11 October. …

• Land Warfare

  Raytheon to improve US Army’s TOW missile

  10th October 2018

  Raytheon has received a $21 million contract from the US Army to develop a new propulsion system for its TOW missile, the company announced on …

• Military Logistics

  AG600 makes its first water flight

  22nd October 2018

  The AG600 amphibian aircraft from the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company (CAIGA) performed its first official water take-off and landing in Jingmen, Hubei Province …

• Digital Battlespace

  AUSA 2018: US Army looks to beef up drone defences with Q-53

  10th October 2018

  The US Army is set to take on several modified AN/TPQ-53 counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) radars from Lockheed Martin that will have an expanded …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2018: Options open for NGCV, but smaller may be better

  9th October 2018

  The US Army is accelerating the timelines for its Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) programme to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and initial requirements seem …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Iran says it has carried out 700 drone attacks in Syria

  17th October 2018

  Iran's Revolutionary Guards have carried out 700 drone strikes against forces of the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria, its aerospace chief told conservative news …

• Naval Warfare

  ​Taiwan submarine programme builds momentum

  11th October 2018

  Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) programme is now cracking on after almost two decades of inertia. However, the effort has raised eyebrows in media and …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2018: General Dynamics swoops in with 50mm-equipped Griffin

  8th October 2018

  General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has unveiled its new Griffin III technology demonstrator, which the company is hoping will help the US Army inform future …

• Defence Helicopter

  Taiwan wants more localised Apache maintenance

  12th October 2018

  The Republic of China Army (ROCA) operates 29 AH-64E Apache Guardians, but the military is seeking ways of reducing a burgeoning maintenance bill, one that …

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 ...