• Defence Helicopter

  West 2019: Marines highlight MV-22B enhancements

  18th February 2019

  The United States Marine Corps aviation community utilised last week’s West 2019 gathering in San Diego, California to highlight some of the new software and …

• Defence Notes

  Raytheon’s JPALS flies in desert demo for US military

  23rd January 2019

  Raytheon’s Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) has been demonstrated to US services in Yuma, Arizona on 16 January, Shephard has learnt. The trial flight …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing offered relief on CH-47F Block II

  11th January 2019

  Boeing has been issued with a new IDIQ low rate initial production notice by the US Army, which could see the service buy up to …

• Land Warfare

  GDLS to upgrade more Abrams for US Army

  10th January 2019

  General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) has received a $714 million delivery order from the US Army to upgrade an additional 174 M1A1 Abrams main battle …

• Naval Warfare

  ADECS 2019: Led by China, Asian submarines grow more capable

  30th January 2019

  The capability of Asia’s submarine fleet is currently increasing, even if the total number of hulls ‘will taper off within a few years’. This was …

• Defence Helicopter

  IDEX 2019: Helicopter issues hamper Jordanian air force

  13th February 2019

  According to the Royal Jordanian Air Force’s (RJAF) Brig Gen Pilot, Adham Belal Asendar, the service’s helicopters do not currently have weapons integrated with surveillance …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon to repair AN/APY-10 radar system

  7th February 2019

  Raytheon has received a $7.12 million order for the repair of the AN/APY-10 radar system used on the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft, the company announced …

• Training

  Afghan Air Force facing UH-60 training and recruitment headache

  5th February 2019

  A report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has made clear that the country's UH-60 Black Hawk programme is beset by pilot …

• Digital Battlespace

  SRC demos AN/TPQ-49 radar capabilities

  24th January 2019

  SRC has announced that it successfully demonstrated the ability of its AN/TPQ-49 radar to conduct counter-UAS and air surveillance missions in September for the Australian …

• Naval Warfare

  AMSC to deliver SPS for Fort Lauderdale

  6th February 2019

  AMSC has received a contract to deliver a high temperature superconductor (HTS) based ship protection system (SPS) to be installed on the US Navy’s future …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG receives Benjamin Bottoms

  7th February 2019

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) received its 32nd Fast Response Cutter (FRC), Benjamin Bottoms, in Key West, Florida, on 8 January. Benjamin Bottoms will be …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MyDefence unveils C-UAS solution

  15th February 2019

  An uplift in demand to protect critical national infrastructure (CNI) following the shutdown of major UK airports in December and January due to rogue ‘drone’ …

• Defence Helicopter

  USAF’s new rescue helicopter hits a snag

  6th February 2019

  The USAF’s future HH-60W CRH has encountered a host of technical glitches in its development phase, causing a long delay in its first flight, according …

• Digital Battlespace

  KBRwyle wins spot on ITES-3 contract

  9th January 2019

  KBRwyle’s Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT) has been awarded a place on the $12.1 billion US Army Information Technology Enterprise Solutions-3 services contract, KBR announced on …

• Special Operations

  First look: Sig Sauer reveals new Suppressed Upper Receiver Group (video)

  4th February 2019

  At the recent SHOT Show in Las Vegas, NV, Sig Sauer displayed its new Suppressed Upper Receiver Group (SURG). Shephard obtained exclusive video footage of the new system. The …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Background Required Quantity Although the US Army first envisioned a requirement for 132 MQ-1C Gray Eagles, the US Army's Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) was increased ...

• Main battle tanks

  NGCV: DLP

  Programme Background Requirement The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in ...

• AGMV 1.1

  Programme Background The US Army has been seeking a lightweight, air-droppable, high mobility vehicle since as early as 2014, when it initiated its Ultra Light ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV [USA]

  Programme Background Platform Development The US Army initiated the AMPV programme to acquire a replacement for several variants of the M113 tracked APC, which has ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract [US Army]

  Programme Background As of January 2021, the US DoD had signed 15 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [US Army]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was intended to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) [USA]

  Programme Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. As part of this all Infantry ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow On

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) [US Army]

  Background First Contract In June 2011, the US awarded AeroVironment a $4.9 million series-production contract for the loitering munition, satisfying the US Army's Lethal Miniature ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) [Tranche 1] / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) (USA)

  Programme Background The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the Battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Switchblade 300 (USA)

  Programme Background AeroVironment has been providing the Switchblade 300 loitering munition to the US Army under the long-standing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) programme ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Group 4/5 UAV [US Army]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) On 5 June 2024, the American DoD published an RfI with an original response date of 19 July 2024. The ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  US Army Maneuver Support Vessel Light (MSVL)

  Programme BackgroundThe Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) or MSV(L) contract was awarded by the US Army to Vigor in 2017 and are being built to replace ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army AVCATT PDSS

  L3Harris Technologies is the prime contractor for the US Army’s Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT) Post Deployment Software Support (PDSS) programme. L3Harris Technologies is ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army Flight School XXI OFT/RCTD

  L3Harris Technologies is a major subcontractor to CSC on the US Army’s Flight School XXI (FSXXI) programme. L3Harris Technologies has built or is under contract ...

• Maritime patrol

  US-2

  The ShinMaywa US-2 is an amphibious short take-off and landing aircraft used primarily by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) for SAR. 

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  OH-58 Kiowa

  The single-engine OH-58 Kiowa, derived from the Bell 206, entered US Army service in 1969 as a light observation helicopter. More than 2,200 were built for ...

• Towed guns

  M198

  The US Army developed the M198 155mm towed howitzer from 1969 to replace the M114 155mm howitzer. From 1978, 1,600 weapons were built by Rock ...

• Towed mortars

  M120/M120A1

  The M120/M120A1 120 mm Towed Mortar System is a US-built version of the Soltam K6 mortar that was accepted into US Army service in 1990.

• Light tanks

  M10 Booker

  The US Army awarded General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) a contract worth US$1.14 billion to supply 96 light tanks under the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) ...

• JPT

  Designed for military applications, the Joint Platform Tablet (JPT) features a rugged design, including a military-grade aluminium case, dual-core processor, 128GB removable hard drive and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72A/B Lakota

  In 2006, the US Army selected a version of the medium-sized, twin-engine H145, designated the UH-72A Lakota,  to meet its requirement for a new Light ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  M1150 ABV

  The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  RQ-7 Shadow 200

  The Shadow 200, designated RQ-7B by the US Army, is flown by the army brigade combat teams and combat aviation brigades along with the UAV ...

• REBS

  The Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) is a 13m dry-gap bridge. It was designed by GDELS to meet a US Army requirement to provide a ...

• DSB

  WFEL was selected in 1996 to develop the M18 Dry Support Bridge (DSB) for the US Army. The company designed, manufactured and integrated the DSB ...

• Land: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III

  Sierra Nevada’s AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III is the standard Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) manpack system in service with the US Army and US Marine Corps (USMC). ...

• Individual grenade launchers

  M320 GLM

  The M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) is a further development of the HK AG36 (see separate entry) to meet a US Army requirement. The M320 ...