• Land Warfare

  Texelis outlines 6x6 Celeris and ongoing work on 8x8 variant at Eurosatory

  19th June 2024

  Texelis and Nexter, a KNDS company, manufacture the Serval 4x4 lightweight multi-role armoured vehicle together but Texelis has started selling the rolling chassis of the vehicle as a separate system.

• Naval Warfare

  RIMPAC 2024 brings more navies together than ever before for biennial warfare exercise

  17th July 2024

  RIMPAC 2024 offered 29 national navies opportunities to train together for combat readiness in multiple domains, including underwater.

• Naval Warfare

  Exail selected to enhance navigation capabilities of the French Navy’s OPV

  6th September 2024

  Naval Group has selected the high-tech industrial group to provide its Phins Inertial Navigation Systems and Netans Data Distribution Units to French OPVs.

• Naval Warfare

  Three CB90 patrol boats delivered to Ukraine

  1st July 2024

  Combatboat (Stridsbåt) 90 (CB90) is a class of small, rapid attack boats designed for raiding and inshore/nearshore coastal protection operations or deploying up to 20 troops and equipment.

• Air Warfare

  UK MoD and Hypersonix commit to hypersonic missile deal

  16th July 2024

  Australia’s Hypersonix Launch Systems has signed a deal with the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) to help the UK develop hypersonic missiles for the Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF) initiative.

• Air Warfare

  US Army cancels FARA helicopter programmes to fund UAS and Black Hawk procurement

  9th February 2024

  The cancellation of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) has reflected a shift in focus towards uncrewed systems in response to evolving battlefield dynamics and lessons learned from recent conflicts.

• Naval Warfare

  Norway upgrades Ula-class submarines once more before 212CD rollout

  24th September 2024

  The 212CD submarine progress is on schedule to be delivered in the first half of the 2030s, but Norway has invested in upgrading its Ula-class boats until their replacements are ready.

• Air Warfare

  General Atomics’ MQ-9B passes full-scale second lifetime fatigue test

  15th October 2024

  The MQ-9B is General Atomics' most advanced remotely piloted aircraft. The fatigue test was the second of three lifetimes of testing for the aircraft, the equivalent of 80,000 hours.

• Land Warfare

  Raytheon and Rafael to expand Iron Dome missile production

  23rd February 2024

  Rafael developed Iron Dome to provide a dual-role system which could be used for C-RAM and very-short-range air defence. Since 2011, Iron Dome has served as the lowest layer of the multi-layered Israeli air and missile defence network.

• Land Warfare

  The UK’s directed energy counter-unmanned weapon could see service in 2026

  23rd September 2024

  The Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (RFDEW), a joint effort by the UK’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), has been designed to detect, track and engage a range of threats across land, air and sea.

• Land Warfare

  Kongsberg receives $141 million to develop supersonic missile

  10th July 2024

  Tyrfing, the name of a magic sword in Norse mythology, is a supersonic strike missile designed to operate alongside Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile.

• Air Warfare

  Why Embraer’s C-390 Millennium’s star is on the rise

  9th January 2025

  The medium airlift aircraft is swiftly becoming the top pick for an array of countries wishing to enhance their tactical transport capabilities.

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon wins $677 million radar order

  12th June 2024

  Raytheon’s Air and Missile Defence Radar (AMDR), now officially designated as AN/SPY-6(V), will be purchased by the US Navy to equip the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers the service has been procuring under its Flight III initiative.

• Defence Notes

  NATO countries outline strategies to accelerate defence industrial production

  15th July 2024

  During the Washington Summit, member states also agreed to improve manufacturing capacities across the alliance and continue investing in joint projects with Ukraine.

• Air Warfare

  What is wrong with the US Armed Force’s rotary-wing aviation fleet?

  28th February 2024

  Following more than two months of operational stand down of CV-22 Ospreys, two separate crashes of AH-64D Apaches have forced the US Army National Guard to ground its entire helicopter fleet.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Programme 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 ...

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

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [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 intended to ...

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

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV (USA)

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

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

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

  Programme Background Contracted Units As covered in a separate programme entry, the US Army first procured AeroVironment's Switchblade 300 over a decade ago, beginning the service's ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Loitering Munitions [Switzerland]

  Programme Background Announcement In a February 2023 interview with Swiss news outlet CH-Media, Swiss army chief Thomas Süssli stated that the country was considering acquiring loitering ...

• Loitering munitions

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

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

• 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 ...

• 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) ...

• 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.

• 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 ...

• Infrastructure - bridges

  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 ...

• Infrastructure - bridges

  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 ...