• Training

  ITEC 2017: QuantaDyn merges new technologies

  18th May 2017

  US company QuantaDyn, specialists in the provision of Joint Terminal Attack Controller training systems, has been exhibiting at ITEC 2017 in Rotterdam and has brought …

• Land Warfare

  US approves $2 billion arms sale to UAE

  15th May 2017

  The US State Department has approved a $2 billion arms sale to the UAE. Approved on 11 May, the deal includes 60 Patriot Advanced Capability …

• Defence Notes

  US, Latvia sign defence procurement agreement

  15th May 2017

  The governments of Latvia and the US have signed a reciprocal defence procurement agreement to provide businesses in both countries with equal access to procurements …

• Defence Helicopter

  HeliRussia 2017: Russian Helicopters reduced order book

  27th May 2017

  Last year has proven to be a difficult year for Russian Helicopters’ business. The state-controlled umbrella holding company which controls Russia’s two design bureaus – …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2017: The week in Tampa (video)

  19th May 2017

  Over the last few days, the Shephard team has had several opportunities to speak to top officials from US Special Operations Command, as well as leading figures …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2017: NSW Expands Surface Mobility

  18th May 2017

  US Naval Special Warfare (NSW) elements are expanding the size of their surface mobility platform fleet. The fleet changes were included in an update presented …

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia: iXblue offers autonomous navigation capabilities

  18th May 2017

  France-based iXBlue promoted its Marins series of naval inertial navigation systems at IMDEX Asia. Guillaume Dandrieux, naval business development manager, highlighted the company’s M7 as its …

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia: A26 sub goes vertical

  17th May 2017

  Sweden’s Saab is displaying a model of its A26 conventional submarine (SSK) fitted with vertical launch missile tubes at IMDEX Asia. This version of the …

• Training

  Orbital ATK receives training ammo orders

  17th May 2017

  Orbital ATK has received contracts worth $53 million from the US Army to manufacture and deliver large calibre training ammunition, the company announced on 15 …

• Training

  ITEC 2017: UFA sims accredited by US Army

  15th May 2017

  The US Army's Directorate of Simulation has accredited its UFA Inc ATCoach and ATTower air traffic control (ATC) simulators at Martindale AHP in San Antonio, …

• Digital Battlespace

  RFP released for COBRA DANE radar support

  18th May 2017

  The US Air Force is seeking a contractor for sustainment of the COBRA DANE radar system at Shemya, Alaska, with a request for proposal released for …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2017: SOF prepares for DroneWERX

  17th May 2017

  US Special Operations Command hopes to expand on the success of its SOFWERX ecosystem in a collaborative effort focused on commercially available remote control technologies.According …

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia: Austal up-guns LCS to frigate standard

  17th May 2017

  A new model of a trimaran vessel from Austal USA is on display that could be one of the designs on offer for the US …

• Training

  ITEC 2017: USAF aeromedical on motion

  16th May 2017

  CAE has confirmed that the C-130 Aeromedical Evacuation Training System (AETS) for the US Air Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base is now on-motion, fully …

• Military Logistics

  US Navy names EPF 9

  15th May 2017

  The US Navy's newest Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel has been named USNS City of Bismarck at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, the US Department of Defense …

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 ...