• Defence Notes

  Ukraine launches joint military drills with NATO

  3rd September 2018

  Ukraine on 3 September launched joint military exercises with the US and a string of other NATO countries as tensions with Russia remain high over …

• Military Logistics

  US Army orders news CAADS system

  3rd September 2018

  The US Army has awarded a contract for the delivery of more than 948 Caster Assisted A-Series Delivery System (CAADS) units to enhance airborne operations …

• Digital Battlespace

  RADA receives new radar orders

  7th September 2018

  RADA Electronic Industries has received $3.5 million in radar orders from a US military customer, the company announced on 3 September. The orders comprise recurring …

• Digital Battlespace

  Systel partners with Holmwood Highgate

  6th September 2018

  Systel has partnered with Queensland-based Holmwood Highgate to support Australian military requirements with next-generation rugged computing solutions, the company announced on 4 September. Holmwood Highgate …

• Digital Battlespace

  US military investing $2 billion in 'next generation' AI

  10th September 2018

  The Pentagon's research wing said on 7 September that it was investing $2 billion to develop a new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) with ‘human-like …

• Defence Notes

  Taiwan pyrotechnics sale raises question mark

  4th September 2018

  A $62 million contract for hand-held signal flares is raising questions in Taiwan defence circles. Security Signals Inc, based in Cordova, Tennessee, won a firm-fixed-price …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2018: Polish ammo under precision testing

  5th September 2018

  Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) is in the early stages of integrating its Precision Guided Kit (PGK) onto a Polish-made 155mm round. To date the …

• Digital Battlespace

  Kratos to support NSWCDD radar systems division

  6th September 2018

  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’ Advanced Naval Weapon Systems has received a $67.5 million contract to provide engineering and technical support services to the US …

• Naval Warfare

  MSPO 2018: BAE moves closer to APKWS land and sea integration

  5th September 2018

  BAE Systems is pressing forward with plans for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System to equip ground and naval operators, after finding success in the rotary and combat …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG transfers decommissioned cutter to Sri Lanka

  6th September 2018

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) transferred the decommissioned high endurance cutter, the former USCG Sherman, to the Sri Lankan Navy at a ceremony in Honolulu …

• Digital Battlespace

  L3 acquires Azimuth Security and Linchpin Labs

  4th September 2018

  L3 Technologies has completed the acquisition of Azimuth Security and Linchpin Labs, the company announced on 31 August. The acquired companies will operate under L3’s …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Mesmer C-UAS integrates onto Bushmaster

  13th September 2018

  EPE, Thales Australia and Department 13 signed an MoU at Land Forces 2018 related to integration of the Mesmer C-UAS system aboard Bushmaster protected mobility …

• Defence Notes

  Mattis says 'no decision' on future South Korea drills

  30th August 2018

  US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis insisted on 29 August that ‘no decisions’ had been made about suspending additional military exercises with South Korea, one day …

• Defence Helicopter

  Land Forces 2018: Australia outlines helicopter plans till 2040

  4th September 2018

  One topic at the CASG 3rd Army Aviation Symposium, hosted at Land Forces 2018 in Adelaide, was a session on Australian Army plans for helicopters, …

• Digital Battlespace

  UK Sentinel aircraft hits milestone

  5th September 2018

  The Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Sentinel surveillance aircraft has achieved over 30,000 operational flying hours over ten years of service supporting deployments ranging from international …

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 ...