• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia: Australia’s first naval shipbuilding plan launched

  18th May 2017

  Australia published its first ever Naval Shipbuilding Plan on 16 May detailing the programmes and infrastructure investment required to keep the Royal Australian Navy as …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2017: Marine Corps spotlights SUAS growth

  12th May 2017

  The United States Marine Corps is predicting a continuing expansion of 'Group 1' small UAS systems across service elements.Speaking at this week's AUVSI Xponential event …

• Defence Notes

  IMDEX Asia: Saab looks to Asia-Pacific market for Swordfish

  12th May 2017

  Saab, which has been attempting to bait several Asia-Pacific air forces with its Swordfish maritime patrol aircraft, has sharpened its offering.One improvement confirmed by the …

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia: Philippines receives second LPD

  12th May 2017

  The Philippine Navy (PN) held a welcome ceremony for the second of its two Strategic Sealift Vessels (SSV) on 10 May. However, the commissioning of …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2017: SOCOM seeks small SATCOM terminals

  10th May 2017

  US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has released a draft Request for Proposals (RfP) for the smallest form factor variant in its next-generation Satellite Deployable Node- …

• Training

  ITEC 2017: AWES update for British Army

  9th May 2017

  Cubic Global Defense has provided details of its Area Weapons Effects Simulator (AWES) component contract, following on from Saab Training Systems' announcement that they had …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2017: Rifle optics continue to advance

  8th May 2017

  Technology advances and decreasing costs means that most infantry units today have adopted rifle optics for their individual weapons, following in the footsteps of the …

• Land Warfare

  Israel to replace howitzers

  5th May 2017

  The IDF is about to replace its longstanding arsenal of M109 howitzers with a new 155 mm/52 calibre self-propelled gun. After a lengthy testing of …

• Digital Battlespace

  NATO looks to protect C-17 fleet

  5th May 2017

  The NATO Support and Procurement Agency is looking to equip its C-17 aircraft with Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) systems under a foreign military sale …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon fires up EW for Australia

  4th May 2017

  Fresh from a successful test demonstrating a single-ship geolocation capability, Raytheon is promoting its upgraded AN/ALR-69A(V) aircraft radar warning receiver (RWR) to export markets such …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Navy’s EASR completes PDR

  2nd May 2017

  The Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) under development for the US Navy's aircraft carriers and amphibious warfare ships has completed its preliminary design review (PDR), …

• Military Logistics

  US Navy works on P-8A aerial refuelling

  2nd May 2017

  The US Air Force (USAF) has carried out the first operational aerial refuelling of the navy's P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft with its KC-135 tanker.Establishing …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2017: Triton talks in commercial X-band

  2nd May 2017

  Commercial satellite operator XTAR has been selected by the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) to support X-band satellite bandwidth for the MQ-4C Triton.The blanket …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2017: Qinetiq Titan enters the arena

  2nd May 2017

  QinetiQ North America will be showcasing its latest development at this year's AUVSI, the Titan hybrid UGV.The company, partnered with Milrem, initially unveiled the technology …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2017: Autonomous sales steady for Northrop

  2nd May 2017

  Northrop Grumman reported a slight increase in sales of its autonomous systems in its first quarter financial results, released at the end of April 2017.Despite …

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 ...