• Defence Helicopter

  Apache to fire Brimstone this year

  17th March 2016

  The first firing of a Brimstone missile from a Boeing AH-64E Apache is planned for later this year as part of a feasibility study funded …

• Digital Battlespace

  AUSA Global: US Army looks to nanosats

  17th March 2016

  One of the emerging space technologies drawing significant attention from US Army strategic and tactical planners involves the application of miniaturised satellites dubbed ‘nanosats’. Speaking …

• Land Warfare

  US Army taps GE for vehicle electronics

  17th March 2016

  GE Aviation will develop and demonstrate silicon carbide-based power electronics capable of supporting high-voltage ground vehicle electrical power architectures under a $2.1 million contract from …

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon to offer LRPF solution

  17th March 2016

  Raytheon announced on 16 March that it will offer a new missile design to meet the US Army’s Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) requirement. Raytheon will …

• Naval Warfare

  Canada invests in naval weapon systems

  17th March 2016

  The Canadian government has announced funding for new naval remote weapons stations (RWS) from Raytheon Canada for installation on the Royal Canadian Navy's future Queenston-class …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA Global: US Army outlines Stryker lethality upgrade

  17th March 2016

  The US Army has unveiled the design for the new 30mm Stryker Lethality Upgrade, which includes an unmanned remote turret and 30mm cannon. At the …

• Defence Notes

  General Atomics tests railgun projectile

  17th March 2016

  General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has conducted testing of hypersonic projectiles with prototype components for its Guidance Electronics Unit (GEU) at the US Army Dugway …

• Defence Helicopter

  Finmeccanica painting a new future

  17th March 2016

  Finmeccanica will be rebranding under the name 'Leonardo', it was announced on 16 March, as the company reported a net profit of €527 million for …

• Digital Battlespace

  Cubic to supply personnel locator components

  16th March 2016

  Cubic Global Defense (CGD) will supply key components for the AN/ARS-6 (V-12) Personnel Locator Systems (PLS) used by the US Department of Defense under a …

• Defence Helicopter

  Second CH-53K joins test programme

  16th March 2016

  Sikorsky’s second CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter has joined the flight test programme and completed its first flight, it was announced on 14 March. …

• Naval Warfare

  Brazil certifies cargo hook kits

  16th March 2016

  Brazil's aviation regulatory agency, ANAC, has certified Onboard Systems' cargo hook kits for the Robinson R66 turboshaft-powered helicopter, the company announced on 13 March. The …

• Military Logistics

  AUSA Global: Army outlines APS modernisation

  16th March 2016

  The US Army has outlined changes to its Army Prepositioned Stock (APS) programme during the AUSA Global Force exposition, in Huntsville, Alabama, on 15 March. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Wave Glider tackles illegal fishing

  16th March 2016

  The ocean is becoming more automated as Liquid Robotics’ Wave Glider, an unmanned ocean robot, embarks on a mission to tackle illegal fishing around the …

• Military Logistics

  Saudi Arabia gets two KC-130Js

  16th March 2016

  Lockheed Martin has delivered two KC-130J Super Hercules aerial refuelling aircraft to Saudi Arabia, it announced on 14 March. The aircraft will be operated by …

• Defence Helicopter

  HAL’s LCH prototype fires rockets

  15th March 2016

  A HAL Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) in TD-3 weaponised configuration has successfully fired 70mm rockets in testing, HAL announced on 14 March.  This marks the latest milestone in …

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 ...