• Naval Warfare

  US Marines commander at Japan base sacked

  5th June 2018

  The Commanding Officer at a US Marine base on the Japanese island of Okinawa has been fired over a ‘loss of trust,’ the US Marines …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop installs enhanced JTAGS in Japan

  24th May 2018

  Northrop Grumman and the US Army have deployed enhanced Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTAGS) capabilities in Japan to improve missile defence and battlespace awareness. JTAGS …

• Naval Warfare

  US to continue FONOP drumbeat in South China Sea

  30th May 2018

  Whilst on a flight to Hawaii on 29 May for a Pacific Command (PACOM) change-of-command ceremony, US Defence Secretary James Mattis commented to media on US …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG accepts delivery of 29th FRC

  13th June 2018

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) received its 29th Fast Response Cutter (FRC), Forrest Rednour, in Key West, Florida, on 7 June. The 154ft FRC will …

• Land Warfare

  Barys 8x8 enters final field testing

  29th May 2018

  Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering's new Barys 8x8 IFV has almost completed testing and could enter service with the Kazakhstan army in the next few years.  Shephard has …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2018: US SOF examines platform needs to compete in a conventional war

  23rd May 2018

  US special forces will need new platforms with additional survivability to withstand a conventional conflict with Russia or China. US Army Gen Raymond Thomas, the commander of …

• Defence Notes

  Thai junta seeks $10 billion in new security budget

  7th June 2018

  The Thai junta is seeking a new $10 billion defence and security budget, in what may be its final opportunity to allocate funds to the …

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2018: Talking tanks and more (video)

  10th June 2018

  Ahead of Eurosatory 2018 the Shephard Media team take a look at some of the equipment present at the outdoor display.  Grant Turnbull, land warfare …

• Military Logistics

  Protonex receives fuel cell orders

  8th June 2018

  Protonex has received purchase orders from the US Navy to deliver 13 fuel cell propulsion systems for UAS platforms, the company announced on 4 June. …

• Defence Notes

  US sanctions will not impact India-Russia defence ties

  5th June 2018

  India's Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on 5 June that US sanctions on Russia military exports would not impact long-standing ties between New Delhi and …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2018: AeroVironment receives Switchblade for USMC

  22nd May 2018

  The US Army has awarded AeroVironment a procurement contract for its Switchblade Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS). At SOFIC 2018, the company announced that …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop to supply EHF XDR payloads

  13th June 2018

  Northrop Grumman has received a $429 million contract from the US Air Force to provide two Extremely High Frequency eXtended Data Rate (EHF XDR) payloads …

• Defence Helicopter

  India seeks item support for AH-64E Apaches

  14th June 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of items in support of a proposed direct commercial sale of …

• Digital Battlespace

  New equipment for Indian armed forces

  30th May 2018

  India’s Defence Acquisition Council has approved the procurement of equipment worth more than $1.02 billion for the Indian armed forces, the Indian MoD announced on …

• Military Logistics

  QinetiQ agrees EMALS contract

  7th June 2018

  QinetiQ North America (QNA) has agreed a contract to deliver control hardware and software for the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and the Advanced Arresting …

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) [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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• 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 - 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

  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 - 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 ...