• Digital Battlespace

  Analysis: US Cyber Command matures steadily

  14th September 2017

  On 18 August President Trump announced the elevation of the status of the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) to that of a unified combatant command. 

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Armed AV500W flies as new designs surprise

  18th September 2017

  Last month the AV500W rotary-winged UAV from the AVIC Helicopter Research and Development Institute in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province performed its maiden flight and conducted a …

• Land Warfare

  Northrop receives full-rate JCREW production contract

  14th September 2017

  Northrop Grumman has received a $57.7 million contract from the US Navy for full-rate production of the Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MSPO 2017: Watching brief for Thales in Polish UAS programme

  7th September 2017

  Patience is the name of the game for Thales as it awaits a final decision by Poland’s government for the provision of the Watchkeeper X …

• Defence Helicopter

  Pakistan receives Mi-35M quartet

  29th August 2017

  The Pakistan Army Aviation Corps has received four Mil Mi-35M attack helicopters, the Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO) confirmed in late August. A statement issued …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2017: Polish T-72 upgrades on display

  6th September 2017

  Polish manufacturer Bumar-Łabędy is using this year’s MSPO exhibition to showcase two upgrade solutions for the Soviet-era T-72 main battle tank; one low-cost refresh and …

• Digital Battlespace

  Rockwell Collins demos new communication link

  19th September 2017

  Rockwell Collins has demonstrated a new directional communication link with longer range and anti-jamming capability for smaller applications such as UAS, radar systems and satellite …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2017: The future of Polish MBT fleet

  5th September 2017

  Poland plans to upgrade its soviet-era tanks and acquire additional second-hand Leopard 2s while awaiting the introduction of the new generation MBT. According to the …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2017: Shoulder-launched weapons ready to fire

  6th September 2017

  With the Polish Army still utilising a sizeable stock of legacy rocket-propelled grenades (RPG-7s) that are diminishing in capability, there is now a search underway …

• Digital Battlespace

  USCG patrol boat gets Safran’s BlueNaute system

  18th September 2017

  Safran Electronics and Defense's BlueNaute inertial navigation system has been installed on the first of a number of vessels for the US Coast Guard (USCG), …

• Training

  L-15 trainer advances worldwide

  13th September 2017

  The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is now operating the tandem-seat JL-10 trainer, which is also known as the L-15 Falcon under its export nomenclature, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DSEI 2017: Harris reveals robot technology (video)

  14th September 2017

  At DSEI 2017 the UK’s Ministry of Defence awarded Harris Corporation a contract worth up to £55 million (US$70 million) to provide its T7 Robotic …

• Defence Notes

  MSPO 2017: Israeli companies seek Polish growth

  5th September 2017

  Poland’s ambitious plans to spend billions of dollars modernising its armed forces has unsurprisingly garnered attention from some of the industry’s leading defence contractors, not …

• Defence Helicopter

  Varley USA delivers initial H-60 toolkits

  25th August 2017

  Varley USA has delivered new H-60 Bridge Tool Kits to the US Army, US Army National Guard and US Coast Guard, the company announced on …

• Defence Helicopter

  Aviakon modernises Russian helicopters

  1st September 2017

  Ukroboronprom's Aviakon has completed the modernisation of Russian-made Mi-24 helicopters with domestic equipment for the Ukraine armed forces, Ukroboronprom announced on 29 August. The new …

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 ...