• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Afghanistan forces to gain additional ScanEagles

  26th July 2017

  Additional ScanEagle UAS will be heading to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) following a $19.6 million award from the US Department of Defence. The new …

• Military Logistics

  KC-10 Extenders successfully refuel C-17s

  24th July 2017

  Three US Air Force (USAF) KC-10 Extenders have refuelled five C-17 Globemaster III aircraft carrying over 300 coalition paratroopers across the Pacific Ocean, the USAF …

• Digital Battlespace

  Leonardo DRS wins MFoCS orders

  24th July 2017

  Leonardo DRS has received orders to supply its Mounted Family of Computer Systems (MFoCS) to the US Army, the company announced on 20 July. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ADF signs Wasp AE contract

  28th July 2017

  AeroVironment has formally signed contracts to deliver its Wasp AE UAS to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), the company announced on 25 July. AeroVironment will …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US demos robotic aviation refuelling system

  25th July 2017

  The US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) recently demonstrated initial capabilities of an unmanned air refuelling system to limit helicopters' …

• Naval Warfare

  Mixed results for Philippine maritime surveillance

  25th July 2017

  The Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) second quest to acquire a pair of maritime patrol aircraft met with failure on 21 July when all contenders were …

• Special Operations

  SOCOM identifies experimentation opportunities

  2nd August 2017

  USSOCOM released a public notice on 25 July outlining its next planned round of Technical Experimentation (TE) activities. The semi-annual TE ‘events’ are one of …

• Naval Warfare

  HMAS Canberra and Adelaide to leave dry dock

  30th June 2017

  The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has provided an update on HMA Ships Adelaide and Canberra, which are due to complete their maintenance period after …

• Training

  CAE wins defence contracts worth C$175 million

  20th July 2017

  CAE has been awarded defence contracts worth more than $175 million to provide simulation products, training services and in-service support for the US and Canadian …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG in budgetary dilemma

  26th July 2017

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) continues to lack a clear fleet modernisation plan and it remains unclear if the service can afford all the new …

• Special Operations

  Special forces trigger Latin American exercise

  19th July 2017

  Special Forces from across Latin America started the annual Fuerzas Comando competition in Paraguay on 18 July as they seek to improve doctrine, concepts of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Advances in Chinese ocean gliders are overhyped

  1st August 2017

  Chinese press recently reported on a new expedition of domestically-made glider autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). According to multiple reports, the research vessel Kexue simultaneously deployed 12 …

• Digital Battlespace

  India reissues SIGINT aircraft request

  31st July 2017

  India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) released an RfI in late July to procure five twin-engine aircraft for signal intelligence (SIGINT) and communication jamming (COMJAM) roles …

• Defence Notes

  Upgunned ESG concept exercised in Talisman Saber

  21st July 2017

  Exercise Talisman Saber 2017, held in Australia this month, provided the US Navy (USN) with the opportunity to put its latent upgunned Expeditionary Strike Group …

• Digital Battlespace

  Garmin G1000 NXi for Cessna Caravans

  26th July 2017

  Textron Aviation has introduced the Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck to new production Cessna Grand Caravan EX and Cessna Caravan aircraft, the company announced …

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 ...