• Land Warfare

  British Army inches closer to new multi-role vehicles

  11th April 2018

  The UK’s Multi-Role Vehicle Protected (MRV-P) has moved forward as the British government is set to finalise negotiations with the US DoD. MRV-P is divided …

• Special Operations

  SOFEX 2018: Oshkosh touts S-ATV to international market

  9th May 2018

  Having tested its Special Purpose All Terrain Vehicle (S-ATV) in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, Oshkosh is now showcasing the vehicle to the international market …

• Defence Notes

  US-backed Kurdish fighters resume anti-IS ops

  8th May 2018

  A US-backed Kurdish-led alliance in the week started 7 May launched a new offensive against holdouts from the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, an …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2018: Orbital ATK targets gunship precision

  17th May 2018

  Attempting to expand on its current position on selected US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) gunship platforms, Orbital ATK is conducting some internally funded …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2018: SOF increasingly rely on soft power

  16th May 2018

  Global special operations forces are becoming increasingly reliant on ‘soft power’ to increase their relevance and mission success across the contemporary operating environment (COE), the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SOFEX 2018: Opportunities in the air for UAV exports to Middle East

  7th May 2018

  As the Trump administration looks to looks to open up the export restrictions concerning unmanned technologies, one company that could see gains, especially in the …

• Special Operations

  SOFEX 2018: Light all-terrain vehicles take the stage

  10th May 2018

  While the Jordanian armed forces already operate a fleet of MRZR 4s (pictured) light all-terrain vehicles, Polaris is keen to push its portfolio of other …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Shots fired from ground robot in live testing

  11th May 2018

  Rheinmetall Canada has confirmed it has conducted successful live firings from its weaponised 8x8 UGV. Live firing tests were conducted in Canada in the fourth quarter …

• Digital Battlespace

  GDIT receives USAF cloud services contract

  11th May 2018

  General Dynamics Information Technology has received a $9 million sole-source contract from the US Air Force (USAF) for Cloud Hosted Enterprise Services (CHES), the company …

• Training

  ITEC 2018: A new approach to visual systems?

  15th May 2018

  Although US-based RSi Visual Systems mainly concentrates on supplying visual systems to the commercial airline sector, a newly announced programme in April could also have …

• Defence Notes

  China rejects US military claims of laser attacks on pilots

  4th May 2018

  China on 4 May rejected US allegations that Chinese nationals shone military-grade lasers at American pilots in Djibouti, dismissing the claims as ‘inconsistent with facts’. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Qatar to receive AH-64E APKWS rockets

  14th April 2018

  In a deal approved by the US State Separtment, Qatar is set to weaponise its Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ScanEagle 3 could push price point down for original platform

  18th May 2018

  Just two weeks after unveiling its ITAR-free ScanEagle 3 design at Xponential in Denver, Insitu made its first public flight of the new UAV at …

• Defence Notes

  US commandos help Saudis against Yemen rebels

  4th May 2018

  A team of elite US Green Beret commandos were deployed to the Saudi border of Yemen in 2017 to help find and destroy Huthi rebel …

• Defence Notes

  Xi unleashes PLA on Taiwan

  8th May 2018

  China’s military and intelligence services have significantly ramped up efforts to undermine the self-ruled island of Taiwan. These strategies have much to teach regional neighbours …

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 ...