• Naval Warfare

  Vietnam receives six patrol boats from US

  29th March 2018

  The US delivered six patrol boats and equipment worth a combined $20 million to Vietnam, the US Embassy in Hanoi said on 29 March, as …

• Military Logistics

  KC-46 gets fuel on-load certification

  6th April 2018

  Boeing’s KC-46 tanker programme has completed its required Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) fuel on-load testing, the company announced on 4 April. The certification was achieved …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG Sentinel class continues to grow

  4th April 2018

  The US Coast Guard has received its latest fast response cutter (FRC), Nathan Bruckenthal, in Key West, Florida, on 29 March.This is the 28th FRC …

• Special Operations

  DSA 2018: Testing times ahead for Malaysian SOF vehicles

  16th April 2018

  The competition is hotting up for new special operations vehicles for special forces and airborne units of the Malaysian Army, with a quartet of companies …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Sea-Air-Space 2018: Riptide to test compact UUV for DARPA

  9th April 2018

  Riptide Autonomous Solutions will begin sea testing a new version of its deep rated UUV as part of a DARPA phase II Small Business Innovation …

• Land Warfare

  DSA 2018: PLA fields integrated rifle/grenade launcher

  11th April 2018

  The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has fielded on a limited basis the QTS-11 individual integrated combat system. The new weapon, in the hands of a …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell Helicopter awarded H-1 work

  30th March 2018

  Bell Helicopter has been awarded a delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for engineering and logistics in support of the US Navy’s …

• Special Operations

  USSOCOM seeks aviation maintenance collaboration

  11th April 2018

  USSOCOM is seeking industry collaboration in the modernization of its aviation maintenance capabilities.  Interest in a possible collaborative effort was outlined in a 10 April …

• Special Operations

  DSA 2018: Philippines activates unified SOF command

  11th April 2018

  The Armed Forces of the Philippines stood up a new integrated joint command, called the AFP Special Operations Command (AFPSOCOM), on 6 April. Putting them …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Thales, NASA partner on UAS traffic management

  2nd April 2018

  Thales will support NASA's UAS traffic management (UTM) activity under an agreement announced on 27 March. This agreement will allow Thales to engage with NASA …

• Land Warfare

  Turkey's M60T upgrade nears conclusion

  12th April 2018

  The Turkish Land Forces is set to complete the modernisation of its M60T ‘Fırat’ main battle tank fleet next month, officials have disclosed. Speaking at …

• Military Logistics

  Study underway to examine US mobility requirements

  1st April 2018

  United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), together with the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation organisation within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, have begun a …

• Military Logistics

  USAF tests fire trucks in cold weather

  5th April 2018

  The US Air Force’s (USAF) fire service has tested the discharge systems of firefighting agents on the force's fire trucks, the USAF announced on 3 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Sea-Air-Space 2018: Manned-unmanned aircraft integration underway

  10th April 2018

  Integration testing between the US Navy's manned P-8A Poseidon aircraft and its MQ-4C Triton UAS is underway with plans to ramp up efforts in the …

• Training

  UASF testing SPYDR device

  4th April 2018

  The US Air Force (USAF) Life Cycle Management Center’s Agile Combat Support Directorate has awarded a contract to Spotlight Labs for testing of the company’s …

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 ...