• Special Operations

  NSW looks to Shark Marine's Navigator

  19th July 2017

  US Naval Special Warfare Command is planning the procurement of underwater navigation systems from Ontario-based Shark Marine Technologies to meet special operations requirements, a recent solicitation has …

• Defence Notes

  Air Power 2017: USAF relearning peer capabilities

  14th July 2017

  The US Air Force is having to relearn capabilities required for operations against peer or near-peer opposition following extended operations over Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. …

• Land Warfare

  Lockheed to continue to LRPF Phase 2

  11th July 2017

  Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $73.8 million contract for Phase 2 of the US Army’s Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) programme, the company announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Robins AFB completes Global Hawk work

  10th July 2017

  Refurbishment work on the RQ-4 Global Hawk high altitude long endurance UAS at US Air Force Robins Air Force Base (AFB) has been completed, the air force announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CH-5 ready for series production

  18th July 2017

  The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) flew its first serial production version of the CH-5 UAV on 14 July, the flight occurring in …

• Digital Battlespace

  Air Power 2017: AWACS upgrades questioned (video)

  12th July 2017

  Billions of pounds allocated to upgrading the Royal Air Force’s ageing fleet of E-3D Sentry aircraft could be better spent purchasing a more advanced off-the-shelf …

• Land Warfare

  Romania seeks Patriot air defence system

  13th July 2017

  Romania is seeking to buy the Patriot air defence system from the US government under the foreign military sale programme, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency …

• Naval Warfare

  Air Power 2017: UK MPA squadrons announced

  13th July 2017

  The reformation of 120 Squadron and 201 Squadron, RAF, will see the first P-8 Poseidon MPAs operated from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray to protect the …

• Military Logistics

  Rockwell Collins wins USAF KC-10 repair contract

  12th July 2017

  Rockwell Collins has been selected by L-3 Communications to support the repair of parts on the US Air Force's KC-10 aircraft, the company announced on 10 July.The contract …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Philippines expecting ScanEagles

  5th July 2017

  The Philippines is expecting a delivery of additional Insitu ScanEagle tactical UAVs later this year, although the acquisition still needs to pass through various agencies …

• Special Operations

  Flyer 60 evaluated by Special Operations

  7th July 2017

  The US Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command is evaluating the General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) Flyer 60 as an additional option for ‘fly …

• Digital Battlespace

  RAAF EA-18G Growler fleet complete

  12th July 2017

  The full fleet of Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft is now complete at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, the Australian Department of …

• Training

  USMC trials tech in Talisman Saber

  19th July 2017

  The involvement of the USMC’s 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in Exercise Talisman Saber 2017 in Australia was punctuated by experimentation with new equipment under …

• Training

  Lockheed, Saab win army training simulation contract

  12th July 2017

  Lockheed Martin has won a US Army contract worth $288 million to modernise its live vehicle training capabilities, the company announced on 10 July. Lockheed …

• Military Logistics

  China preps ‘logistics base’ in Djibouti

  13th July 2017

  Chinese ships and troops departed the port of Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province on 11 July, destined for a new so-called ‘logistics facility’ that Beijing is currently …

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 ...