• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUSA 2018: Centaur clears hurdles with more details revealed

  9th October 2018

  Endeavor Robotics unveiled its Centaur medium UGV at AUSA in Washington DC on 8 October, after delivering early test units of the platforms to the …

• Digital Battlespace

  Euronaval 2018: Sea Giraffe stretches capability to include hypersonic threat detection

  23rd October 2018

  As western navies come face to face with the threats posed by next-generation anti-ship missile technologies, Saab has chosen Euronaval 2018 to launch a new …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2018: Show preview (video)

  4th October 2018

  As AUSA gets set to begin in Washington DC, Shephard discuss the various modernisation strands the US Army are prioritising and how the service will likely concentrate …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2018: US Army downselects for Sub-Compact Weapon programme

  2nd October 2018

  Six contractors have been selected to provide the US Army with sub-compact weapon (SCW) prototypes for testing, as the service looks to acquire a new …

• Defence Notes

  Boeing profits surge after tax settlement

  24th October 2018

  Boeing's profits surged in Q3 after a favorable US tax settlement, and the company raised some key annual projections on Wednesday as its order book …

• Training

  Boeing, Saab crack on with T-X phase one

  24th October 2018

  Saab has received an order from prime contractor Boeing for the US Air Force’s new T-X Advanced Pilot Training Aircraft programme.Boeing and Saab were selected …

• Digital Battlespace

  Airbus confident AI will dominate the future of air power

  7th November 2018

  Artificial intelligence (AI) and greater interoperability of airborne and ground based systems will soon dictate the way in which future air combat programmes unfold. That’s …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  RQ-21A Blackjack flies in Hawaii

  24th October 2018

  The US Marine Corps’ Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 has conducted its first flight of the RQ-21A Blackjack UAS at Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe …

• Land Warfare

  Bahrain requests rockets, missiles from US

  3rd October 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of rockets and missiles to Bahrain, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency …

• Land Warfare

  Syria issues pardon for army deserters

  9th October 2018

  Syria's President Bashar al-Assad issued a general amnesty Tuesday for army deserters and those who have avoided compulsory military service during the country's seven-year civil …

• Defence Helicopter

  MDHI to deliver six MD 530Fs to Kenya

  2nd October 2018

  MD Helicopters (MDHI) has received a second order to deliver six armed MD 530F Cayuse Warrior helicopters for the Kenya Defence Force, the company announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  Afghan Air Force struggling to operate MD 530 fleet

  26th October 2018

  Afghanistan's air force is still consistently reliant on contractor intervention ‘to perform the majority of maintenance and sustainment activities’ on MD 530 light attack helicopters, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Alion to support US Navy UUVs

  23rd October 2018

  Alion Science and Technology will support the US Navy’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Family of Systems (FoS) under a new contract announced on 17 October. …

• Naval Warfare

  Indo Defence 2018: Indonesian Coast Guard positioning its patrols

  31st October 2018

  With 81,000km of coastline to monitor, as well as territorial tensions in the South China Sea, it is fair to say that the Indonesian Coast …

• Defence Helicopter

  NAVAIR calls for industry's help on CH-53K supply issue

  2nd November 2018

  The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to issue an industry-wide solicitation to address and overcome supply problems associated with thin wall casting of 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) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• 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 ...

• 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 - 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 - 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, 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 ...