• Defence Notes

  NATO chief hails Korea meet as 'encouraging' first step

  27th April 2018

  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed te historic summit between the leaders of North and South Korea as ‘encouraging’, but warned of more challenges ahead. In …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2018: It's all about the arms for Aquanaut

  2nd May 2018

  US technology start-up Houston Mechatronics will from June begin open water testing of its new 'Transformer-style' underwater ROV which travels to an inspection site as …

• Training

  QinetiQ to buy EIS Aircraft Group

  27th April 2018

  QinetiQ Group has entered into an agreement to acquire EIS Aircraft Operations, which is currently part of the EIS Aircraft Group, QinetiQ announced on 24 …

• Military Logistics

  Marine Corps seeks lighter machine gun ammo

  1st May 2018

  The US Marine Corps is exploring industry capabilities to provide a new lightweight .50 Caliber cartridge that will offer weight savings over currently fielded cartridges.The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Trump administration attacks Chinese drone ‘knock-offs’

  19th April 2018

  The Trump administration is seeking to combat expanding Chinese influence in the international drone market with new export rules which will allow US companies to …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army seeks EC145 certification solution

  19th April 2018

  The US Army has released a source notice seeking out industry players capable of equipping the Airbus H145 helicopter with a technical data package to …

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon wins Barracuda system contract

  25th April 2018

  Raytheon has received an $83 million contract to design, test and deploy the Barracuda mine neutralisation system for the US Naval Sea Systems Command, the …

• Naval Warfare

  Deadline looms for NZ P-8 purchase

  23rd April 2018

  The deadline for a decision on whether the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) can order the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is approaching. New Zealand …

• Special Operations

  Naval Special Warfare looks to marine radars

  24th April 2018

  The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) is calling for maritime craft radar demonstrations as part of the “Stiletto” Maritime Demonstration Platform.This comes just …

• Military Logistics

  US Army seeks wireless power transfer

  20th April 2018

  With individual soldier power requirements presenting a growing logistics burden for dismounted combat operations, US Army planners are exploring ways to reduce the physical demands …

• Defence Notes

  Trump hopes to see whole Korean peninsula live together

  19th April 2018

  US President Donald Trump voiced hope on 18 April that North and South Korea, technically still at war, can pave the way to a lasting …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Cyberhawk to digitise construction of major project in US

  20th April 2018

  As part of a three-year contract, Cyberhawk will provide its visual asset management software to an oil and gas operator during the construction of a …

• Military Logistics

  HII wins DDG 51 follow yard services contract

  19th April 2018

  The US Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipbuilding division a $27 million contract for follow yard services for the navy’s USS Arleigh Burke …

• Digital Battlespace

  AUSA Global: Army cultivating EW and cyber skills in Asia-Pacific

  27th March 2018

  The US Army is standing up a multi-domain, prototyping task force in the Asia-Pacific region to hone EW and cyber skills. During a 26 March …

• Defence Helicopter

  Quad A 2018: BAE wins missile warning contract

  26th April 2018

  BAE Systems has secured a contract worth up to $97.9 million to develop a missile warning system that will protect US Army aviation pilots and …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million Presidential Drawdown security ...

• 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 - 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. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  XQ-58A Valkyrie [USMC]

  Programme Background Contract Award On 30 December 2022, the US DoD announced that it had awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems a $15.52 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to ...

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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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

  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 - 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 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  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 ...

• Data links, Land: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  QNT-200

  The Collins QNT-200 is a dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) designed for size, weight and power-constrained platforms. Using IP-based mesh networks, it offers high-bandwidth mobile networking ...