• Training

  PACAF orders Aerotech training systems

  28th August 2018

  Arotech’s MILO Range Theater 180 training system has been ordered by the US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), Arotech announced on 27 August. The equipment is …

• Defence Notes

  China and Thailand military ties grow

  3rd September 2018

  When the Thai military took power in Bangkok in May 2014, China took full advantage of downgraded Western ties by cosying up with Thailand’s former …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Schiebel establishes SPL in Australia

  4th September 2018

  Schiebel has established Schiebel Pacific (SPL) in Australia to provide the region with a permanent sales and logistics hub, the company announced on 3 September. …

• Naval Warfare

  Government watchdog agency punches holes in new USCG icebreaker programme

  5th September 2018

  US Coast Guard and US Navy leaders should re-evaluate the cost and development schedule for new Heavy Polar Icebreakers (HPIB), according to the government's watchdog …

• Naval Warfare

  HMS Bangor returns to home port

  4th September 2018

  The Royal Navy’s mine hunter HMS Bangor has returned to its home port of HM Naval Base Clyde on 31 August following a three-year deployment …

• Naval Warfare

  John F Kennedy construction progressing

  4th September 2018

  Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division has completed 50 percent construction of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F Kennedy (CVN 79), the …

• Defence Notes

  Mattis rejects proposal to replace US troops in Afghanistan with private contractors

  29th August 2018

  US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis shot down a proposal to outsource military personal's role in Afghanistan to private contractors.  In a rare joint appearance in …

• Digital Battlespace

  CPI receives modified purchase orders for NGJ-MB

  3rd September 2018

  CPI Aerostructures has received modified purchase orders totalling $12.5 million from Raytheon related to the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the US Navy’s …

• Military Logistics

  McKean to support US Army watercraft

  29th August 2018

  McKean Defense Group has received a technical systems support contract from the US Army Watercraft System Product Directorate, the company announced on 27 August. The …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG Waesche structurally enhanced

  5th September 2018

  Structural enhancement work on the US Coast Guard’s second National Security Cutter (NSC), USCG Waesche,  has been completed at Vigor Marine’s Seattle shipyard. The vessel …

• Digital Battlespace

  Free flight demo of MALD-X completed

  29th August 2018

  The US Department of Defense has completed a series of free flight demonstrations of the Miniature Air Launch Decoy-X (MALD-X) missile.MALD-X is a new version …

• Military Logistics

  Naval forces seek wall-breaking rocket launcher

  30th August 2018

  US Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS) is seeking industry information on the manufacture of a potential rocket and launcher system capable …

• Land Warfare

  US Army prepares for 2nd Security Force deployment

  30th August 2018

  When the US Army's 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) deploys, the brigade will need to be better prepared to help their partner's operate commonly …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy accepts USS Sioux City, USS Wichita

  28th August 2018

  The US Navy has accepted delivery of two Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), the future USS Sioux City and USS Wichita. Sioux City and Wichita …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Army looking to 'rebuild' EW capabilities

  29th August 2018

  Gleaning lessons learned from Russian military activities in Ukraine and Syria, the US Army's top civilian is calling for the service to 'rebuild' its Electronic …

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 ...