• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2017: SAIC partnership to compete for MPF contract

  8th October 2017

  Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has announced it will develop combat vehicle prototypes to meet the US Army’s Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) requirement. The announcement on 5 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Singapore’s Apaches celebrate 15 years

  12th October 2017

  Fifteen years after their rollout in 2002, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) AH-64D Apache Longbows are still innovating and picking up new capabilities …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2017: Army looks to expedite APS fielding

  10th October 2017

  US Army leaders have revealed their intention to speed up the acquisition of active protection systems for the M1A2 Abrams tank, with the service now …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2017: Industry gears up for SHORAD requirement

  9th October 2017

  US Army leaders in search of a new short-range air defence (SHORAD) system might be a little spoilt for choice at this year’s AUSA, as …

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2017: T-REX makes an entrance into C-UAS

  13th September 2017

  Orbital ATK has unveiled its Tactical Robotic Exterminator (T-REX) counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) concept at DSEI in London. The T-REX concept, displayed in a scale-model …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2017: Army modernisation proves lucrative for BAE

  6th October 2017

  As prime contractor for several vehicle modernisation programmes with the US Army, BAE Systems is expected to see a significant ramp up in work over …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2017: US Army vehicle budget 'deeply stretched'

  4th October 2017

  With the US Army running a 1980s-vintage amoured vehicle fleet, the service is concentrating efforts on major upgrades as well as how platforms such as …

• Naval Warfare

  Lockheed Martin and Austal secure LCS contracts

  9th October 2017

  Lockheed Martin and Austal USA have been awarded contract modifications to build additional littoral combat ships (LCS) for the US Navy. The value of both …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Christmas comes early for Endeavor with MTRS Inc II award

  3rd October 2017

  The US military is getting its Christmas shopping for unmanned systems finished early this year with a spate of contracts having been awarded in recent …

• Training

  Lockheed T-50A completes 100 flights

  6th October 2017

  Lockheed Martin has successfully completed the 100th flight of the T-50A aircraft at its Greenville facility in South Carolina, the company announced on 4 October. …

• Land Warfare

  Indonesia to certify Kaplan medium tank

  10th October 2017

  The Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) publicly displayed a prototype of the Kaplan medium tank for the first time at a 72nd anniversary parade of the armed …

• Digital Battlespace

  FLIR books surveillance systems contract

  5th October 2017

  FLIR Systems has received an order worth $74.7 million to deliver TacFLIR surveillance cameras in support of the US Army's EO/IR-Force Protection (FP) programme, the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Silent Falcon cleared by Transport Canada

  10th October 2017

  Silent Falcon UAS Technologies' solar-electric, fixed-wing Silent Falcon UAS has been added to Transport Canada’s (TC) list of compliant Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This allows the …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2017: Army ramps up overmatch capabilities (video)

  6th October 2017

  As the US Army looks to retain its overmatch capabilities with various new vehicle programmes ad modernisations, Shephard looks at some of the key developments for the …

• Land Warfare

  US Army orders M781E1 training cartridges

  5th October 2017

  General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) has received a $17 million contract from the US Army for production of the 40mm M781E1 Low Velocity …

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 ...