• Defence Notes

  Mattis: US should maintain support to Saudis in Yemen

  16th March 2018

  US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has asked the US Congress not to interfere with America's role in the war in Yemen, where it is supporting …

• Defence Helicopter

  Seven US personnel killed in Iraq helicopter crash: official

  16th March 2018

  Seven US military personnel were killed when the helicopter carrying them crashed during a routine transport mission in western Iraq, a US Department of Defense …

• Defence Notes

  Putin pledges to reduce Russia military spending

  19th March 2018

  President Vladimir Putin has said on that Russia would cut its military spending, a day after he won a presidential election with a landslide.  'We …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MUM-TX ready for fielding on Apache Echo models

  2nd March 2018

  Enhanced manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities are set to be deployed by the US Army as soon as 2020 with the fielding of its AH-64E Apache …

• Defence Notes

  US military aircraft crashes in west Iraq

  16th March 2018

  A US military aircraft has crashed in western Iraq with American personnel aboard, the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group said on …

• Defence Notes

  Colombia government and ELN rebels to resume peace talks

  15th March 2018

  The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) will resume peace talks on 15 March in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, both parties said. Colombian …

• Naval Warfare

  LCS coastal mine reconnaissance module tested

  20th March 2018

  The US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules (MM) programme has completed developmental testing of the coastal mine reconnaissance (CMR) mission module onboard USS …

• Land Warfare

  Boxer scores KO in Australian competition

  14th March 2018

  Rheinmetall’s Boxer has come out on top of BAE Systems’ Patria AMV35 in a bitter fight to win a lucrative contract for 225 Combat Reconnaissance …

• Defence Notes

  South Korea, US to scale down military drills

  16th March 2018

  South Korea and the US will scale down and shorten annual joint military exercises in light of a diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang, a report said …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  KIGAM orders Aquabotix’s Hybrid AUV

  19th March 2018

  UUV Aquabotix will supply a Hybrid autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), the company announced on 14 …

• Defence Notes

  China to build 'world's fastest' wind tunnel

  20th March 2018

  China has announced it is building the world's fastest wind tunnel to develop a new generation of super-fast airplanes, but it could also be used …

• Digital Battlespace

  Latvia to test new TPS-77 MRR radar

  13th March 2018

  The Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF) will finalise the delivery of the first TPS-77 Multi-Role Radar (MRR) by testing the system’s air surveillance capabilities, the …

• Special Operations

  AUSA Global: Profense unveils 5.56mm minigun

  28th March 2018

  Profense LLC has used this week’s AUSA Global Force exhibition and symposium to unveil its PF556 minigun, a new model system that fires linked 5.56x45mm …

• Defence Notes

  NATO expels seven Russian diplomats

  27th March 2018

  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on 27 March that the alliance was expelling seven Russian diplomats to show that Moscow faces ‘costs and consequences’ over …

• Digital Battlespace

  Taiwan struggling against Chinese cyber warriors

  21st March 2018

  Taiwan has instituted new organisations and efforts to stem the cyber tide of Chinese hacker mischief against its military and government entities, but more training …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Background Required Quantity Although the US Army first envisioned a requirement for 132 MQ-1C Gray Eagles, the US Army's Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) was increased ...

• Main battle tanks

  NGCV: DLP

  Programme Background Requirement The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in ...

• AGMV 1.1

  Programme Background The US Army has been seeking a lightweight, air-droppable, high mobility vehicle since as early as 2014, when it initiated its Ultra Light ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV [USA]

  Programme Background Platform Development The US Army initiated the AMPV programme to acquire a replacement for several variants of the M113 tracked APC, which has ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [US Army]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was intended to ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract [US Army]

  Programme Background As of January 2021, the US DoD had signed 15 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) [USA]

  Programme Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. As part of this all Infantry ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow On

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) [US Army]

  Background First Contract In June 2011, the US awarded AeroVironment a $4.9 million series-production contract for the loitering munition, satisfying the US Army's Lethal Miniature ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) [Tranche 1] / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) (USA)

  Programme Background The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the Battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Switchblade 300 (USA)

  Programme Background AeroVironment has been providing the Switchblade 300 loitering munition to the US Army under the long-standing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) programme ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Group 4/5 UAV [US Army]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) On 5 June 2024, the American DoD published an RfI with an original response date of 19 July 2024. The ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  US Army Maneuver Support Vessel Light (MSVL)

  Programme BackgroundThe Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) or MSV(L) contract was awarded by the US Army to Vigor in 2017 and are being built to replace ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army AVCATT PDSS

  L3Harris Technologies is the prime contractor for the US Army’s Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT) Post Deployment Software Support (PDSS) programme. L3Harris Technologies is ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army Flight School XXI OFT/RCTD

  L3Harris Technologies is a major subcontractor to CSC on the US Army’s Flight School XXI (FSXXI) programme. L3Harris Technologies has built or is under contract ...

• Maritime patrol

  US-2

  The ShinMaywa US-2 is an amphibious short take-off and landing aircraft used primarily by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) for SAR. 

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  OH-58 Kiowa

  The single-engine OH-58 Kiowa, derived from the Bell 206, entered US Army service in 1969 as a light observation helicopter. More than 2,200 were built for ...

• Towed guns

  M198

  The US Army developed the M198 155mm towed howitzer from 1969 to replace the M114 155mm howitzer. From 1978, 1,600 weapons were built by Rock ...

• Towed mortars

  M120/M120A1

  The M120/M120A1 120 mm Towed Mortar System is a US-built version of the Soltam K6 mortar that was accepted into US Army service in 1990.

• Light tanks

  M10 Booker

  The US Army awarded General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) a contract worth US$1.14 billion to supply 96 light tanks under the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) ...

• JPT

  Designed for military applications, the Joint Platform Tablet (JPT) features a rugged design, including a military-grade aluminium case, dual-core processor, 128GB removable hard drive and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72A/B Lakota

  In 2006, the US Army selected a version of the medium-sized, twin-engine H145, designated the UH-72A Lakota,  to meet its requirement for a new Light ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  M1150 ABV

  The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  RQ-7 Shadow 200

  The Shadow 200, designated RQ-7B by the US Army, is flown by the army brigade combat teams and combat aviation brigades along with the UAV ...

• REBS

  The Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) is a 13m dry-gap bridge. It was designed by GDELS to meet a US Army requirement to provide a ...

• DSB

  WFEL was selected in 1996 to develop the M18 Dry Support Bridge (DSB) for the US Army. The company designed, manufactured and integrated the DSB ...

• Land: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III

  Sierra Nevada’s AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III is the standard Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) manpack system in service with the US Army and US Marine Corps (USMC). ...

• Individual grenade launchers

  M320 GLM

  The M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) is a further development of the HK AG36 (see separate entry) to meet a US Army requirement. The M320 ...