• Defence Notes

  DSEI 2017: Esterline launches new hearing protection

  12th September 2017

  Defence and aerospace technology company Esterline has launched its new hearing protection headset for the first time at DSEI 2017. The headset, which is known …

• Training

  DSEI 2017: Marathon lets new training robot loose

  13th September 2017

  Australian-based company Marathon Targets has detailed the latest member of its autonomous robotic target range at DSEI. The T10 is a scaled-down version of the …

• Naval Warfare

  Indian Navy gets hands on first Scorpene, only five years late

  27th September 2017

  The first of six Scorpene diesel-electric submarines being licence-built for the Indian Navy (IN) by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) was delivered on 21 September. …

• Military Logistics

  Rheinmetall protected cabs for crane vehicles

  20th September 2017

  Rheinmetall has received an order from Liebherr-Werk Ehingen for protected driver’s cabs and crane cabs for a new generation of crane vehicles being built for …

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems awarded NAWCAD contract

  8th September 2017

  BAE Systems has received a $76 million contract from the US Navy to help develop communications and electronics systems for the Naval Air Warfare Center …

• Land Warfare

  US Army orders sixth JLTV batch

  5th September 2017

  Oshkosh Defense will deliver additional Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) to the US Army under an order announced on 1 September. The order, valued at …

• Special Operations

  DSEI 2017: New parachute safety system unveiled

  12th September 2017

  Airborne Systems North America has unveiled a next-generation safety solution for airborne and special operations forces at DSEI 2017 in London. The company, which designs …

• Digital Battlespace

  Curtiss-Wright to provide VDS winch system

  26th September 2017

  Curtiss-Wright has been selected by Raytheon to provide its winch system technology to deploy the new Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) being developed for the US …

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2017: Army Land Ceptor configuration unveiled

  18th September 2017

  The British Army’s new air defence system, Land Ceptor, was on display at this year's DSEI exhibition ahead of first deliveries expected in the first …

• Land Warfare

  New 4x4 vehicle project with military potential launched

  25th September 2017

  An initiative being put forward by a billionaire petrochemical businessman to build thousands of 4x4 offroad vehicles in the UK could also have applications for …

• Special Operations

  DSEI 2017: USMC special ops look for new UAS

  14th September 2017

  The US Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) will be looking to trial a group two UAV in the near future, Shephard  has learnt. MARSOC …

• Land Warfare

  Konstrukta to produce Mjölner barrels

  18th September 2017

  BAE Systems has contracted Slovakia-based Konstrukta-Defence to produce barrels for the Swedish Army’s Mjölner mortar system. Konstrukta will manufacture 84 120mm barrels to be modified …

• Defence Helicopter

  Z-19 sprouts radar and set to achieve exports

  15th September 2017

  For the first time the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) publicly exhibited an example of its Z-19 attack helicopter fitted with a mast-mounted millimeter wave radar, …

• Training

  Indra’s EC135 FFS certified

  15th September 2017

  Indra’s EC135 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) developed for the Spanish Army has obtained certification, the company announced on 11 September. The CS-FSTD(H) level D certification …

• Training

  Australia completes MH-60R CMT tests

  27th September 2017

  The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has completed the factory acceptance tests (FAT) on its MH-60R Composite Maintenance Trainer (CMT) at CAE USA’s Tampa factory in …

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 ...

• 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). ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...