• Military Logistics

  Boeing gets $2.8 billion for KC-46As

  19th August 2016

  Days after the KC-46A tanker achieved Milestone C, Boeing has been awarded $2.8 billion by the US Air Force (USAF) for low-rate initial production of …

• Naval Warfare

  UK shops lead P-8A parts

  19th August 2016

  Construction of the UK’s planned fleet of nine P-8A MPAs moved a step closer following the award of a $68 million contract modification to Boeing …

• Digital Battlespace

  ViaSat introduces KG-142 encryptor

  18th August 2016

  ViaSat has expanded its ‘edge to cloud’ network encryption portfolio with the introduction of the KG-142 encryptor, the company announced on 16 August. The KG-142 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Predator B UAS in missile tracking test

  18th August 2016

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has carried out a missile tracking test using the Predator B UAS under a contract with the Missile Defense Agency …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Hell Bay 4 third phase awarded

  18th August 2016

  Qinetiq has been selected to provide the UK component of a multinational demonstration of unmanned vehicles under a contract with the UK's Defence Science and …

• Military Logistics

  KC-46A Pegasus achieves Milestone C

  18th August 2016

  The US Department of Defense has given Milestone C approval to the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus programme, signaling that the aircraft is ready to enter into …

• Digital Battlespace

  iGov to modify M1145 HMMWVs

  18th August 2016

  iGov will modify M1145 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) for the US Air Force under a $52.5 million order announced on 16 August. Under …

• Military Logistics

  RAAF pushes MRTT’s envelope

  18th August 2016

  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has expanded use of its Airbus KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), carrying out its first boom refuelling of combat …

• Land Warfare

  PAC-3 MSE interceptor achieves IOC

  17th August 2016

  The US Army has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor, Lockheed Martin announced on 16 August. The PAC-3 MSE uses …

• Training

  Lockheed opens Advanced Pilot Training facility

  17th August 2016

  Lockheed Martin has opened an Advanced Pilot Training facility in Greenville, South Carolina, as part of its bid for the US Air Force’s Advanced Pilot …

• Digital Battlespace

  Airborne info sharing tests start

  17th August 2016

  Simulation testing is set to begin for DARPA’s Dynamic Network Adaptation for Mission Optimization (DyNAMO) project for new airborne information sharing system to allow the …

• Digital Battlespace

  ARNG gets Ecliptus cameras

  17th August 2016

  Aviation Specialties Unlimited (ASU) has delivered 21 customised Ecliptus night vision video cameras to the US Army National Guard, the company announced on 15 August. …

• Military Logistics

  USAF receives new MC-130J

  17th August 2016

  Lockheed Martin has delivered an MC-130J Commando II aircraft to the US Air Force on 11 August, the company announced on 15 August. The aircraft …

• Naval Warfare

  Vietnam buttresses SCS presence

  17th August 2016

  News emerged last week that Vietnam had deployed mobile rocket launchers on some of its occupied islets in the Spratly chain in the South China …

• Training

  Asian win for Aircrew Training

  16th August 2016

  As more and more flight training is being undertaken in the virtual domain, there is a fear that flight simulators can create an environment 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 ...