• Naval Warfare

  Metal Shark nets another navy contract

  2nd October 2017

  Gravois Aluminium Boats, through its Louisiana-based Metal Shark subsidiary, has been awarded a near $30 million contract for construction of up to 50 patrol boats …

• Military Logistics

  Army arsenal spotlights capability upgrade

  27th October 2017

  A recent $41.7 million investment in the Watervliet Arsenal manufacturing centre has positioned the arsenal to better support the emerging readiness needs of US and foreign …

• Naval Warfare

  HC-27J APO receives final C-27J Spartan

  26th October 2017

  The HC-27J Asset Project Office (APO) has received the US Coast Guard’s (USCG) 14th and final C-27J Spartan surveillance aircraft following regeneration from storage.The 14 …

• Naval Warfare

  KA350ER enhancement kit demo'd

  31st October 2017

  Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has successfully demonstrated the King Air 350 Extended Range (KA350ER) Mission Enhancement Kit in Huntsville, Alabama, the company announced on 26 …

• Naval Warfare

  Pirate attacks persist in West Africa

  27th October 2017

  As 2017 draws to a close, the threat of pirate attacks in the waters of West Africa continues to affect civil and commercial operators. Just …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Knifefish UUV completes contractor trials

  30th October 2017

  General Dynamics Mission Systems has completed contractor trials for the US Navy’s Knifefish mine countermeasure (MCM) UUV programme, the company announced on 26 October. Knifefish …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Learning the lessons of Gulf defence procurement

  17th November 2017

  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced at the Dubai Air Show that it is keen to acquire the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This is the …

• Land Warfare

  Textron deliveries boost ANA mobile strike force

  3rd November 2017

  Textron Systems will deliver a further 55 Mobile Strike Force Vehicles (MSFV) to the Afghan National Army (ANA) in 2018 boosting their existing capabilities. The company …

• Digital Battlespace

  MILCOM 2017: USMC seeks industry help for comms gap

  25th October 2017

  The US Marine Corps (USMC) needs industry’s help bridging communication gaps and preparing its deployed marines for austere environments. The USMC's director C4 and chief information …

• Training

  USAF orders six more A-29s for Afghanistan

  30th October 2017

  The US Air Force (USAF) has placed an order for six additional A-29 Super Tucano aircraft for the Afghan Air Force, it was announced on …

• Military Logistics

  DARPA grapples with UUV logistical challenges

  2nd November 2017

  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is eyeing ways to mitigate logistical challenges associated with sustaining, deploying and repairing unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and unmanned …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed to upgrade IRST21

  23rd October 2017

  Lockheed Martin has received two contracts from Boeing to upgrade the Infrared Search and Track 21 (IRST21) sensor system used on the US Navy's F/A-18E/F …

• Naval Warfare

  D&S 2017: C-Guard to protect Philippine frigates

  1st November 2017

  Denmark-based Terma Group will equip the Philippine Navy’s future frigates with its C-Guard decoy launchers, which will assist in the protection of the strategic assets. …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2017: All eyes on Cayuse Warriors next home

  2nd October 2017

  With 30 MD Helicopters MD 530F Cayuse Warriors earmarked to be in Kabul by next year, further aircraft are expected to be delivered to other …

• Military Logistics

  Leidos to support Afghan aircraft fleets

  27th October 2017

  Leidos has received an Afghanistan Contractor Logistics Support contract worth up to $728 million from the US Army to support the Afghanistan Air Force (AAF) and …

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 ...