• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon receives contract to produce MALD missiles

  3rd August 2018

  Raytheon has received a $96.1 million contract from the US Air Force (USAF) to produce 250 Miniature Air-Launched Decoys (MALD) missiles, the company announced on …

• Digital Battlespace

  CTS participates in CyberQuest 2018

  2nd August 2018

  Chemring Technology Solutions (CTS) recently participated in CyberQuest 2018, a sequence of advanced technology experiments led by the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence, the …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army reveals plans for next Black Hawk procurement

  2nd August 2018

  The US Army Contracting Command has detailed its plans for acquiring ‘up to 510’ UH/HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, with a production contract to be eventually …

• Special Operations

  USASOC looks to expanded convoy training

  7th August 2018

  In the aftermath of the 4 October 2017 convoy attack that resulted in the deaths of four American special operators and four partner Nigerien Soldiers, …

• Military Logistics

  EPF Burlington completes acceptance trials

  8th August 2018

  The US Navy’s tenth Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessel Burlington has successfully completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico, NAVSEA announced on 3 August. …

• Special Operations

  Kuwait requests Hellfire missiles from US

  2nd August 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of 300 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and related equipment to Kuwait, the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ManTech receives UAS systems technical support contract

  7th August 2018

  ManTech has received a four-year $45 million task order from the US Air Force Installation Contracting Agency to provide technical upgrades for next generation UAS …

• Defence Helicopter

  German heavy-lift tender under scrutiny

  16th August 2018

  The German Federal Ministry of Defence (MoD) has insisted that its heavy-lift helicopter tender schedule remains unchanged, despite reports that the programme could be delayed …

• Military Logistics

  AFRL experiments with artificial silk for body armour

  8th August 2018

  The US Air Force (USAF) Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Purdue University are experimenting to develop a functional fibre that can be woven into sizeable, flexible …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy’s USS Charleston completes acceptance trials

  3rd August 2018

  The US Navy’s Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Charleston has successfully completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico, NAVSEA announced on 31 July. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CACI to provide C-UAS technology support

  7th August 2018

  CACI International has received a $48.5 million single-award, IDIQ contract from the US Navy to support the deployment of counter UAS capabilities, the company announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  Japan to spend billions on missile defence system

  30th July 2018

  Japan said on 30 July that it would spend around $4.2 billion over the next 30 years on installing and operating US radar systems to …

• Naval Warfare

  Insight: China owns South China Sea

  30th July 2018

  The US appears to have lost the South China Sea permanently to China due to a failure by Washington to check China’s long-term strategy of  …

• Defence Notes

  Sweden and Finland say Russia has 'false' defence information

  3rd August 2018

  Sweden and Finland, both non-NATO countries, have called Russia's recent comments on their defence cooperation with the Western alliance ‘false’ amid simmering tensions in the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Latvia requests UH-60M Black Hawks

  7th August 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related equipment to Latvia, the …

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 ...