• Defence Notes

  MDM 2018: Bell highlights its MUX design

  27th September 2018

  Bell utilised this week’s Modern Day Marine to highlight its offering for the emerging Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial Systems Expeditionary (MUX) programme.  …

• Naval Warfare

  Thales introduces new ASW acoustic capability

  2nd October 2018

  Thales is currently developing a new acoustic sonobouy, the Sono-Flash, which will be showcased for the first time at Euronaval in Paris In October. As …

• Digital Battlespace

  General Dynamics releases updated MUOS waveform for DMR

  21st September 2018

  General Dynamics Mission Systems has successfully completed testing and released the updated Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) WFv3.1.5 waveform for the US Navy's software defined …

• Military Logistics

  GAO highlights DoD planning deficiencies

  20th August 2018

  The US has not yet incorporated leading practices of a strategic management planning framework in Department of Defense (DoD) retrograde and reset guidance. That deficiency, …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy orders more Independence-class ships

  21st September 2018

  Austal has received construction contracts from the US Navy to build two additional Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), the company announced on 18 September. These …

• Naval Warfare

  UK requests Phalanx upgrade kits

  25th September 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of MK 15 Phalanx upgrade kits to the UK, the Defense …

• Defence Notes

  MDM 2018: Marine Corps calls for industry support

  26th September 2018

  During the Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) ‘Report to Industry’ at this week’s Modern Day Marine, Col Michael Manning, portfolio manager for Ground Combat Element …

• Military Logistics

  Serco to continue to CIWS support

  18th September 2018

  Serco has received an IDIQ contract to continue providing installation support for close-in weapons systems (CIWS) on US Navy, US Army and US Coast Guard …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG receives seventh NSC

  26th September 2018

  The US Coast Guard received its seventh National Security Cutter (NSC), Kimball, in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 19 September. Kimball is scheduled for commissioning at its …

• Digital Battlespace

  Harris receives AN/PRC-163 radio orders

  26th September 2018

  Harris Corporation has received orders to supply 1,540 AN/PRC-163 two-channel handheld radios and related equipment and services as part of the US Army’s leader radio …

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems signs GaN agreement

  21st September 2018

  BAE Systems and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have signed a cooperative agreement for Phase 1 of a technical effort to transition gallium …

• Defence Notes

  US coalition to block North Korean oil

  20th September 2018

  A US government effort to build a multinational coalition to monitor North Korean violations of fuel smuggling appears to be gaining steam. The Trump administration, …

• Defence Notes

  Washington set to replace US military commander in South Korea

  17th September 2018

  Washington is set to replace the commander of US forces in South Korea amid a rapid diplomatic thaw on the peninsula, even as denuclearisation of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Apache and Chinook boost for Netherlands

  18th September 2018

  Two of the main Dutch rotary programmes - the Boeing AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook - have been bolstered by a set of contracts which …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Air Force KC-135R gets RTIC system

  20th September 2018

  Rockwell Collins has been selected to improve the communications capabilities of the US Air Force’s KC-135R fleet with the implementation of a Real Time Information …

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 ...