• Defence Helicopter

  V-280 Valor achieves 280kt cruise speed

  30th January 2019

  Bell Helicopter’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor achieved a cruise speed of 280kt on 23 January at the company’s Flight Research Center in Arlington, Texas, following a …

• Naval Warfare

  West 2019: US Navy looks to bring back Harpoons

  14th February 2019

  Although decommissioned for more than a decade, the US Navy is looking to bring back its remaining Harpoon anti-ship missiles to serve as gap bridges …

• Defence Notes

  BAE Systems posts improving annual profits

  21st February 2019

  BAE Systems, the British maker of military equipment, announced on 21 February 2019 that annual net profit jumped by a fifth, despite a slowdown in …

• Land Warfare

  Komatsu withdraws from AFV production in Japan

  24th February 2019

  Komatsu has decided to withdraw from the business of developing vehicles for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). According to Komatsu, it is too hard …

• Naval Warfare

  Iran launches 'cruise missile capable' submarine

  18th February 2019

  On 17 February 2019, Iran launched a new locally-made submarine capable of firing cruise missiles, state TV said, in the country's latest show of military …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New US Navy Fire Scouts first to have lightweight fuel cells

  12th February 2019

  The US Navy has contracted Northrop Grumman for the provision of five additional MQ-8C Fire Scout VTOL UAVs, which will be the first delivered with …

• Military Logistics

  Improved CRL capability for B-52 tested

  20th February 2019

  The US Air Force (USAF) tested an upgrade to the B-52 Stratofortress and the Conventional Rotary Launcher (CRL) on 11 February. The CRL is a …

• Defence Notes

  Europeans $100 billion short of NATO spending pledge, says study

  15th February 2019

  Europe would need to boost defence spending by more than $100 billion to hit the NATO spending pledge that has stirred much anger by US …

• Special Operations

  Japanese SOF observe “Flintlock”

  18th February 2019

  Japanese special operations forces are set to further expand their international exposure by observing the latest iteration of the “Flintlock” training exercise in West Africa. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Industry braced for make or break ITEP decision

  24th January 2019

  The US Army is expected to issue an ITEP Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract, as early as the week commencing 28 January, with industry …

• Military Logistics

  KBRwyle to continue BOSS services in Djibouti, Bahrain

  15th February 2019

  KBRwyle has received two contract modifications to continue providing base operating support services (BOSS) to the US Navy in Djibouti and Bahrain, KBR announced on …

• Digital Battlespace

  Russian Army receives Artek systems

  1st February 2019

  The Russian Army’s 41st Combined Arms Army stationed in the Altai Territory of the Central Military District has received three upgraded Artek radio communications stations, …

• Naval Warfare

  West 2019: US Navy focuses on agility

  14th February 2019

  In the opening keynote address to West 2019, being held this week in San Diego, California, ADM John Richardson, US Navy chief of naval operations …

• Naval Warfare

  UK to deploy P8 Poseidon in Arctic

  20th February 2019

  The Royal Air Force’s (RAF) P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will be deployed in the Arctic to counter Russian submarine activity, the UK Ministry of …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy’s Large Surface Combatant to reflect DDG-1000 lessons

  20th February 2019

  The US Navy’s future Large Surface Combatant (LSC) will draw heavily on lessons learned from its tiny fleet of ‘extraordinarily expensive’ but cutting-edge DDG 1000 …

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 ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker DVH [USA]

  Background The US Army has been operating the Stryker since 2002. The Stryker DVH is an upgraded variant that has additional armour on its underside ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (US Army) (Batch 1) [USA]

  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 branches ...

• 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 ...

• Main battle tanks

  Decisive Lethality Platform [USA]

  Background The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in October 2018, ...

• Military UAS - micro

  eBee Vision [US]

  Background Multiple orders In November 2025, the US Army acquired three eBee Vision systems to enhance training operations at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Germany. A ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV [USA]

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

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) (Batch 2) [USA]

  Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative, the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. The development of the Sergeant ...

• 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]

  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 Brigade ...

• Self-propelled guns

  Mobile Tactical Cannon [USA]

  Background The US Army began using the M777 in 1995. Since then, it has served as a field artillery piece providing fire support for American ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow-On [USA]

  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, ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

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 ...

• 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. 

• 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 ...

• 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) ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M821A3 High Explosive Mortar Round

  The M821A3 High Explosive Mortar Round is an 81mm mortar round manufactured by Day & Zimmerman for the US Army.

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M933A1 High Explosive Mortar Round

  The M933A1 High Explosive Mortar Round is a 120mm mortar round manufactured by Day & Zimmermann for the US Army.

• Unguided Mortar Ammunition

  M934A1 High Explosive Mortar Round

  The M934A1 High Explosive Mortar Round is a 120mm mortar round produced by Day & Zimmermann for the US Army.