• Defence Notes

  Key words missing from US-North Korea summit statement

  12th June 2018

  Two key words were conspicuous by their absence from the joint statement signed by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un …

• Military Logistics

  Robotic Research gets autonomy kits contract

  14th June 2018

  Robotic Research has received a three-year, $49.7 million contract from the US Army to provide autonomy kits for large convoy resupply vehicles as part of …

• Defence Notes

  Tariff talks not denting military relations with US allies

  12th June 2018

  Ongoing tensions between America and its closest allies over tariffs and other issues have not soured military-to-military relationships, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on …

• Land Warfare

  Colt progresses on Canada's new GPMG

  22nd June 2018

  Colt Canada is in the process of finalising production and testing of low-rate versions of the C6A1 FLEX for the Canadian Army’s replacement General Purpose …

• Training

  FAAC to modernise Combat Convoy Simulators

  19th June 2018

  Arotech's FAAC has received a contract to modernise the US Marine Corps’ (USMC) Combat Convoy Simulators (CCS). The contract is worth up to $28.9 million …

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2018: Humvee evolves to NXT 360

  12th June 2018

  US manufacturer AM General, makers of the ubiquitous High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV - or Humvee), has unveiled an updated design for the vehicle …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Eurosatory 2018: Customer supply unaffected by Hirth acquisition, says UMS Skeldar

  15th June 2018

  The supply of unmanned systems engines by Hirth Motors to its customers will continue assured a senior official from UMS Skeldar, which in May acquired …

• Training

  BAE Systems to develop CONTEXTS software

  18th June 2018

  BAE Systems will develop software for DARPA that will aid military planners to understand and address the complex dynamics that drive conflicts around the world. …

• Naval Warfare

  Aerojet Rocketdyne awarded torpedo work

  15th June 2018

  Aerojet Rocketdyne has received a $2.6 million Phase I contract from the Office of Naval Research to develop a prototype torpedo propulsion system under its …

• Land Warfare

  Chinese arms deliveries to Africa put on hold

  15th June 2018

  France, Britain and the US on 14 June 2018 put a hold on a request from the Central African Republic (CAR) for UN Security Council …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Bridger receives on-call UAS contract

  12th June 2018

  Bridger Aerospace has received a contract from the US Department of Interior (DOI) to supply unmanned service support for wildland fire management on a 'call …

• Military Logistics

  US Army looks to fill another boot gap

  12th June 2018

  In the wake of the identification of several ‘boot gaps’ in both US Army and US Marine Corps combat environments, as well as the ongoing …

• Military Logistics

  KC-46 Pegasus returns to Edwards AFB

  18th June 2018

  The US Air Force’s (USAF) KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling aircraft has arrived at Edwards Air Force Base for further flight testing. The flight tests will …

• Land Warfare

  Raytheon to continue TOW production

  15th June 2018

  Raytheon has received a $129.9 million contract modification from the US Army to continue production of the TOW weapon system, the company announced on 12 …

• Digital Battlespace

  Opinion: Chinese espionage and ‘loose chips sink ships’

  13th June 2018

  China has done it again. As Beijing prosecutes a relentless campaign of cyberespionage against the US, this past week news broke of a major security …

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 ...