• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon 2017: Team Reaper forms in Australia

  28th February 2017

  Team Reaper Australia, led by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI), was formally launched on 28 February, the opening day of the Avalon Air Show …

• Training

  Avalon 2017: JP 9711 moves forward

  28th February 2017

  The Australian Department of Defence's Joint Project 9711 Defence Core Simulation Capability Project has taken a step forward with submissions from industry in response to …

• Defence Notes

  Taiwan running out of time and men

  28th February 2017

  A new RAND report estimated that Taiwan's intelligence community would have four weeks to prepare for a Chinese invasion. The report, 'Transformation of Taiwan's Reserve …

• Training

  Scott AFB using C-130H Hercules FuT

  27th February 2017

  A new ground aeromedical evacuation (AE) fuselage trainer (FuT) has entered service at US Scott Air Force Base, putting into use a C-130H Hercules aircraft …

• Land Warfare

  Amphibious vehicles arriving for USMC

  27th February 2017

  The US Marine Corp's Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV 1.1) programme is gathering pace as more vehicles are delivered for testing.On 21 February it took delivery …

• Military Logistics

  UK to upgrade Scottish military bases

  27th February 2017

  Scottish military bases will be upgraded under a £1.7 billion funding package announced by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 24 February.A number of …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop, USMC complete IIE for G/ATOR

  27th February 2017

  Northrop Grumman and the US Marine Corps successfully completed an initial integration event (IIE) in November 2016 for the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system, …

• Defence Notes

  Tokyo defence report annoys China

  25th February 2017

  A new Japanese think tank report on Taiwan's defence and the Chinese military threat has received a thumbs down by Beijing for not respecting the …

• Training

  Meggitt details ISMT progress

  24th February 2017

  Meggitt Training Systems has completed the final inspection and physical configuration audit of the US Marine Corps' (USMC's) Small Arms Trainer, the company announced on …

• Military Logistics

  US Army ammo management system updated

  23rd February 2017

  The Standard Army Ammunition System (SAAS) used by the US Army is being updated to enhance capability, cyber-attack resistance and usability, the army announced on …

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2017: Nimr gets UAE vehicle order boost

  23rd February 2017

  The UAE Land Forces has ordered thousands of vehicles from their domestic manufacturer, Nimr, it was announced at IDEX.Although the value of the contract was …

• Training

  KC-135 simulator authorised for DTCN

  23rd February 2017

  CAE USA has received Authorization to Operate (ATO) the KC-135 operational flight trainer (OFT) on the US Air Force's Distributed Training Center Network (DTCN), CAE …

• Special Operations

  IDEX 2017: UAE eyes additional Archangels

  23rd February 2017

  After successful deployment to Yemen and other regional hotspots, the United Arab Emirates is expected to place even more orders for the US-built Iomax 'Archangel' …

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2017: GD bids for UAE 4x4

  23rd February 2017

  The UAE Presidential Guard is in the early stages of looking for a new 4x4 for their three units and General Dynamics' OTS division is …

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2017: Cluster bombs removed from US missiles

  22nd February 2017

  Progress towards removing cluster munitions from the US Army's long-range MGM-140 Tactical Missile System (TACMS) is a step closer. Lockheed Martin announced at IDEX that …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million Presidential Drawdown security ...

• 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 - 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. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  XQ-58A Valkyrie [USMC]

  Programme Background Contract Award On 30 December 2022, the US DoD announced that it had awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems a $15.52 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to ...

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 ...

• 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

  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

  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 - 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 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  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 ...

• 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 ...