• Defence Notes

  Farnborough 2018: First RAF P-8A Poseidon delivery confirmed

  17th July 2018

  The RAF’s first of nine Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft will be delivered to the service in November 2019, with its second aircraft following …

• Land Warfare

  Leonardo DRS down-selected for IM-SHORAD programme

  3rd July 2018

  Leonardo DRS' mission equipment package has been down-selected by the US Army for the Initial Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) programme, the company announced on …

• Naval Warfare

  Lockheed Martin to begin production of MMSC

  25th July 2018

  Lockheed Martin has received an Undefinitised Contract Action (UCA) contract from the US government for the production of multi-mission surface combatant (MMSC) for Saudi Arabia. …

• Training

  Raytheon receives US Army ETSC contract

  25th June 2018

  Raytheon's Intelligence, Information and Services business has been selected by the US Army Contracting Command as one of the contractors for the Enterprise Training Services …

• Defence Helicopter

  JAGM achieves milestone C decision

  3rd July 2018

  Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) system has successfully passed its Defense Acquisition Board review and achieved milestone C, the company announced on 27 June. …

• Training

  First test flights of Mi-28UB

  10th July 2018

  The Russian Army Aviation has successfully completed the first test flights of the new Mi-28UB combat training helicopter, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced on …

• Land Warfare

  Lockheed receives ATACMS missile contract

  28th June 2018

  Lockheed Martin has received a $364 million production contract for Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles for the US Army and foreign military sales, the …

• Defence Notes

  Two pilots killed in Vietnam military plane crash

  26th July 2018

  Two pilots were killed in Vietnam on 26 July when their training jet crashed into thick jungle in heavy rains, police told AFP from the …

• Land Warfare

  Russia orders 'experimental batch' of Kurganets-25

  16th July 2018

  The Russian MoD has placed an initial order for the Kurganets-25 tracked armoured vehicle, likely for experimentation trials by front-line army units. This was disclosed in …

• Military Logistics

  Lithuanian, NSPA sign infrastructure development project contract

  27th July 2018

  The Lithuanian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) have signed a contract on infrastructure development projects for the Lithuanian …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  GA-ASI concludes testing of HDD for MQ-25

  24th July 2018

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has concluded performance testing of arresting hook Hold Down Damper (HDD) for its proposed MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling aircraft for …

• Land Warfare

  Amid technical challenges, US Army could shake up APS effort

  26th June 2018

  The US Army may have given the Trophy active protection system (APS) the green light to proceed but the service looks to be on the …

• Defence Helicopter

  South Korea issues naval helicopter requirement

  11th July 2018

  On 14 June the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced the launch of its search for a second batch of naval helicopters – 12 in …

• Special Operations

  USSOCOM identifies “capability needs”

  30th July 2018

  The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has disclosed a list of “capability needs” to be considered at the 2018 Special Operations Forces Warrior Industry Collaboration …

• Defence Notes

  Zimbabwe army vows neutrality in election

  4th July 2018

  Zimbabwe's military vowed on 4 July to stay neutral in upcoming elections, dismissing suggestions it would deploy service personnel to influence national polls scheduled for …

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 ...

• 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). ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...