• Land Warfare

  Test of US-Japanese missile interceptor fails again

  31st January 2018

  A test of a missile interceptor failed in Hawaii on 31 January, a US defence official said, marking the second such unsuccessful attempt in less …

• Military Logistics

  US Army ‘Reboots’ for Jungle Operations

  10th January 2018

  Against a backdrop of the recent jungle boot selection by US Special Operations Command and jungle boot testing by the United States Marine Corps, the …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army pushes forward with Lakota

  10th January 2018

  The US Army is progressing with plans to buy up to 35 new Airbus UH-72A Lakota aircraft for pilot training.  The move comes after legal …

• Defence Notes

  Norway's wealth fund excludes nine groups from portfolio

  16th January 2018

  Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has excluded nine groups, including the UK's military equipment maker BAE Systems, from its portfolio based …

• Defence Helicopter

  ​US Navy increases Saudi MH-60R support

  1st February 2018

  The USN has awarded Sikorsky a modified $19 million contract to support the service’s Saudi Arabia MH-60R Seahawk FMS work. A recent US Department of …

• Land Warfare

  Nioa to supply towed howitzer ammo

  24th January 2018

  Nioa has received a $100 million contract to supply 155mm lightweight towed howitzer ammunition to the Australian Army. The company will supply the high-performance Rheinmetall …

• Digital Battlespace

  UK to launch new radar against 'severe' Russian threat

  27th January 2018

  Britain's defence minister Gavin Williamson said a new radar off Scotland's Shetland Islands would help tackle the 'severe and real' threat from Moscow. In a …

• Defence Notes

  Singapore Airshow 2018: Aircraft on display (video)

  31st January 2018

  The Shephard team will be out in full force at Singapore Air Show 2018. In this latest video we take a look at some of the aircraft …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Stryke receives contract from US Army

  9th January 2018

  Stryke Industries has received a contract to apply the ScenGen artificial intelligence engine to the US Army's UAS fleet, the company announced on 4 January. …

• Special Operations

  Iraqi SOF adjust for future operations

  29th January 2018

  Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) will consider the future training and materiel requirements of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) following the eradication of the self-proclaimed …

• Defence Notes

  US aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam

  25th January 2018

  A US aircraft carrier will port in Vietnam in March, military officials said on 25 January. The announcement came as US defence secretary Jim Mattis …

• Defence Helicopter

  Columbia Helicopters consolidate airlift support

  6th February 2018

  Columbia Helicopters has received a modified contract from the US Transportation Command for rotary-wing airlift support. The work will be performed in Afghanistan and focus …

• Defence Notes

  Russia accused of spying on UK's infrastructure

  26th January 2018

  Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has accused Russia of spying on its critical infrastructure as part of possible plans to create ‘total chaos’ in the …

• Naval Warfare

  ADECS 2018: Might Asia’s submarine fleet shrink rather than grow?

  30th January 2018

  The conventional wisdom being propounded is that the size of Asia-Pacific’s combined submarine fleet will increase greatly, perhaps up to 350 boats by 2030. However, …

• Training

  China invited to participate in US-led naval exercise

  25th January 2018

  China has been invited to participate in a major US-led naval exercise, Chinese officials said on 25 January. The Chinese military took part in the …

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 ...