• Military Logistics

  USS Nimitz enters post-maintenance trials

  7th October 2016

  The US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) has entered sea trials after a 20-month Extended Planned Incremental Availability maintenance period at the Puget …

• Digital Battlespace

  USMC orders nine more G/ATORs

  9th September 2016

  Northrop Grumman has received an order from the US Marine Corps (USMC) for another nine AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) low rate initial production (LRIP) …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2016: Oshkosh showcases 30mm weapon on JLTV (video)

  3rd October 2016

  Oshkosh is showing the JLTV at AUSA in Washington DC equipped with a 30mm calibre weapon system instead of the CROWS system it has been …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Navy contracts MQ-4C Triton production

  28th September 2016

  Northrop Grumman will produce three LRIP Lot 1 MQ-4C Triton aircraft following a fixed price contract modification by US Naval Air Systems Command. In an …

• Digital Battlespace

  AUSA 2016: Front line networks realised

  6th October 2016

  PacStar has been selected to provide ruggedised routers, switches and servers for the US Army’s forward area networking programme. With smaller-sized forces using more sophisticated …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2016: GD and Boeing embark on laser quest

  5th October 2016

  General Dynamics Land Systems is displaying a Stryker MEHEL 2.0 vehicle that is fitted with a 5kW laser from Boeing. The plan is to offer …

• Land Warfare

  US Army exercises JLTV option

  28th September 2016

  The US Army has exercised an option for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) programme with Oshkosh Defense, placing an order for $42 million, it …

• Defence Notes

  Analysis: Mexican defence industry

  20th October 2016

  Mexico has been developing and producing its own weapon systems since the early 20th century and went through phases of building its own aircraft, armoured …

• Land Warfare

  Constellium armour for US Army's CVP

  30th September 2016

  Constellium has received a contract from the US Army's Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to supply its KEIKOR 2139 blast-protective alloy, the company announced …

• Training

  Farewell QF-4, hello QF-16

  29th September 2016

  The re-use of redundant fighter aircraft to act as full-scale aerial targets (FSAT) has a certain symmetry with the hunter becoming the hunted. In August, …

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems logs FWS-I production order

  7th October 2016

  BAE Systems is set to begin producing the new Family of Weapon Sights-Individual (FWS-I) thermal weapon sight under a $13.5 million low rate initial production …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed to produce more M-DSA kits

  4th October 2016

  Lockheed Martin will produce additional Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) upgrade kits and spares for US Army Apache helicopters under a $49.3 million contract announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  WIN-T Increment 2 capabilities enter testing

  6th October 2016

  Two Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 capabilities have begun test and evaluation processes at US Army installations, General Dynamics Mission Systems announced on 3 …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2016: New modular sniper rifle debuts

  3rd October 2016

  Austrian-based firearms design and manufacturing company Ritter & Stark is launching its SX-1 Modular Tactical Rifle (MTR).  A subsidiary of HPP Precision Products, the company …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2016: Abrams prototype testing underway

  4th October 2016

  Prototypes of the upgraded variants of the Abrams main tank are being tested by the US Army and General Dynamics Land Systems is looking forward …

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, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract (US Navy) [US]

  As of November 2020, the US DoD had signed 14 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all branches of ...

• 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A Joint Strike Fighter - USAF

  According to the US FY2021 budget document, Turkey's removal from the JSF program and transition to the alternate supply chain sources may challenge to achieve ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE (Kosovo)

  Programme Background 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 LE. ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35B STOVL - US Navy

  The JSF programme will develop and field a family of aircraft that meets the needs of the US DoD and US allies with the F-35A ...

• MPVs - 4x4, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract [US Air Force]

  As of November 2020, the US DoD had signed 14 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all branches of ...

• 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

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS) [US Army]

  Programme Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide "an ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35C Carrier Variant

  The US Navy is planning to order 130 F-35Cs between FY2026 and FY2030 under the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The purchase is estimated be ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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. ...

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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• Autonomous GPADS

  Airborne Systems has developed a family of smart systems ranging in payload capacity from 90-4,536kg. Utilising the technology developed and used in ram-air canopies, Guided ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Data links, Land: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  QNT-200

  The Collins QNT-200 is a dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) designed for size, weight and power-constrained platforms. Using IP-based mesh networks, it offers high-bandwidth mobile networking ...