• Military Logistics

  US Marine Corps looks to ‘un-man’ the tactical load

  9th November 2018

  The United States Marine Corps Rapid Capabilities Office (MCRCO) is investigating unmanned logistics vehicle technologies that could displace the physical load currently carried by infantry …

• Digital Battlespace

  PacStar solutions for US Army SFAB comms

  15th October 2018

  PacStar will provide its tactical network baseband solution for six US Army Security Forces Assistance Brigades (SFAB) under a $20 million contract announced on 9 …

• Special Operations

  Policymakers look to SOF future

  3rd November 2018

  US policymakers will be provided with the opportunity to question the future role of Special Operations Forces as part of a series of legislative reviews …

• Digital Battlespace

  India initiates search for thermal imagers

  26th October 2018

  The Indian Army is on the hunt for thousands of handheld thermal imagers for utilisation as day/night surveillance devices, with an RfI released to industry …

• Naval Warfare

  Damen delivers last of four OPVs Tunisia

  16th November 2018

  The last of four Damen built OPVs for the Tunisian Navy - Sophonisbe (P613) - has reached Tunisia, arriving at Bizerte anchorage on 15 November, …

• Defence Notes

  Japan develops new weapon technologies such as railguns

  18th November 2018

  The Japanese MoD’s import of expensive American weapons such as Aegis Ashore, F-35As, MV-22B Ospreys and AAV7s is squeezing the budget for procurement and R&D; …

• Defence Notes

  Zhuhai Air Show 2018: J-10B and J-20 steal the show

  6th November 2018

  Chinese fighters took pride of place during the opening ceremony at Zhuhai Air Show 2018, with both a J-10B  (pictured) fitted with thrust vector control …

• Naval Warfare

  Ballistic reaction to faulty boomer welds prompts fixes

  8th November 2018

  BWX Technologies is improving its welding and inspection processes to prevent a recurrence of the defects it found in several missile tubes it made for …

• Land Warfare

  Excalibur upgrade complete

  15th October 2018

  Raytheon and the US Army have completed the upgrade of Excalibur precision-guided projectile, the company announced on 9 October.   The Excalibur Shaped Trajectory (EST) …

• Defence Helicopter

  Power of the purse equals power to platforms

  25th October 2018

  In September, the US Congress passed an $854 billion spending bill that has ramped up military funding and this is likely to increase the finances …

• Digital Battlespace

  DARPA eyes low-earth orbit for Blackjack programme

  6th November 2018

  The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking a range of proposals for a new programme that will build a constellation of small, …

• Military Logistics

  Trident Juncture tests NATO’s logistics model

  30th October 2018

  NATO’s Trident Juncture 18 in Norway marks the first use of the alliance’s Joint Logistics Support Group (JLSG) in a live exercise, bringing a range …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Kratos opens new production facility

  9th November 2018

  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has opened a new unmanned aircraft production facility in the Will Rogers Business Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The new …

• Land Warfare

  Testing of new Stinger fuze complete

  16th October 2018

  The US Army has completed qualification testing for a new proximity fuze that enhances the Stinger missile, Raytheon announced on 9 October. Stinger recently underwent …

• Digital Battlespace

  L3 Technologies to demo NGJ-LB

  6th November 2018

  L3 Technologies has been selected to demonstrate existing technologies for the US Navy’s Next Generation Jammer Low Band (NGJ-LB), which will fly on the E/A-18G …

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.