• Air Warfare

  Paris Air Show 2025: Airbus Helicopters unveils new crewed-uncrewed teaming solution

  12th June 2025

  The solution, named HTeaming, has already been tested in flight with a Spanish Navy H135 helicopter and an Airbus Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system (UAS).

• Defence Notes

  Malaysia’s defence budget sets out major procurement goals for 2026

  16th October 2025

  The country has allocated RM21.70 billion for defence spending next year, with some major procurements set to be initiated across the country’s army, navy and air force.

• Naval Warfare

  Maritime defence in the Mediterranean faces challenges from vulnerable land power

  24th December 2025

  As an indispensable energy crossroads, the Mediterranean is at serious risk from grey zone disruption. As navies increasingly employ AI data centres, what happens when cutting-edge defence technologies rely on the very infrastructure most susceptible to hybrid tactics?

• Naval Warfare

  Thales to support UK Royal Navy fleet communications for next 10 years

  12th February 2025

  A new deal gives Thales discretionary powers on equipment replacement in the UK Royal Navy (RN) for a decade, saving an estimated £30 million.

• Naval Warfare

  How will the Canadian Coast Guard’s transfer to the DND umbrella affect its capabilities?

  4th December 2025

  By joining the defence department, the coast guard will need to acquire new solutions and adapt its in-service capabilities to ensure interoperability with the Canadian Armed Forces.

• Naval Warfare

  Singapore to upgrade Super Rapid 76mm guns with Strales system

  12th May 2025

  A total of 28 active surface ships will receive the upgrades to their weaponry to help them combat the growing threat from UAVs.

• Naval Warfare

  UK Royal Navy begins training with autonomous mine counter measures vessel

  17th March 2025

  The uncrewed surface vessel (USV) is the first of four autonomous mine vessels the UK Royal Navy (RN) will deploy this year.

• Naval Warfare

  French Navy frigates to align with Hellenic Navy after Aster missile enhancement

  6th November 2025

  The FDI frigates will have an enhanced warfare capability that matches the configuration of ships ordered by Greece.

• Land Warfare

  Europe’s next-generation tank crawls forward and adopts a proven process

  5th May 2025

  The Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) is ambitious and is using a procurement system which has had some success in the continent’s aircraft purchasing processes with a separate company established and subsystems identified.

• Defence Notes

  Rheinmetall sales up by almost a quarter on wave of German spending

  8th August 2025

  Germany’s Rheinmetall released its 1H 2025 results on 7 August, continuing the strong growth of recent years. A particular highlight of the result’s presentation was the Skyranger air defence system for which the company is predicting sales of about US$8.2 billion from the German Government before the end of the year.

• Naval Warfare

  As Indonesia doubles up its order, who else is looking at the Arrowhead 140 frigate design?

  28th January 2026

  The adaptable design of Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 frigate, already selected by the UK Royal Navy and Poland, has led to more orders from Indonesia while other countries continue to weigh it up.

• Naval Warfare

  Beyond GPS: How LEO satellites are changing the game in naval navigation

  10th October 2025

  Satellite navigation is increasingly critical for global maritime defence, and Low Earth Orbit satellites are rapidly overtaking the traditional and more widely used Medium Earth Orbit option as they are less susceptible to jamming or spoofing.

• Air Warfare

  Paris Air Show 2025: Aarok to be offered to India

  18th June 2025

  Turgis Gaillard and Bharat Forge have signed an MoU to offer the Aarok, produced in India, to the Indian Ministry of Defence. The UAV could satisfy the country’s desire for an indigenous MALE UAV, offering an alternative to the TAPAS BH-201 that has had a rocky development.

• Defence Notes

  Defence companies continue to ride procurement wave

  1st August 2025

  Vehicle and technology companies are reporting substantial growth compared to the first half of 2024. Italy’s Fincantieri saw revenues jump 24% for the first half of the year compared to 2024 and Thales up 6.8% for the same period. General Dynamics reported second quarter revenue growth of 8.9% for the second quarter compared to last year and MilDef reported organic order intake growth of 58%.

• Land Warfare

  Thales adds DigitalCrew to panoramic gimbal for new generation tracking and identification

  30th January 2025

  Thales Panoramic Above Armour Gimbal (PAAG) is in service as a mast mounted system on German Boxer Joint Fire Support Teams (Heavy) armoured vehicles. DigitalCrew has been designed to take full advantage of PAAG’s six sensors.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• ISR/special mission

  Strategic Intelligence Aircraft [France]

  Programme Background In February 2018, the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, announced that the strategic intelligence aircraft program CUGE Universal EW Capability began ...

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

  Flexible Tactical Uncrewed Air System (FTUAS) [UK]

  Background Tender Notice & Timeline On 25 May 2021, the MoD published a tender notice for the urgent acquisition of a UAS and ancillaries under a ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Land 121 Phase 4 (Hawkei PMV-L)

  Programme Background Three suppliers were originally down-selected to meet the Land 121 Phase 4 requirement: Thales Australia, General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and Force Protection ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Su-30SM Armenia

  The Su-30SM is upgraded variant of Su-30MKI. Its capabilities include Bars-R radar, RVV-SV medium-range air-to-air missile, Thales SMD55S/VEN-3022 or Russian IKSh-1M avionics replacing Elbit SU967 head-up display, LINS-1000RS inertial ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Mini Intelligence Drone System (SMDR) [France]

  Background Requirement The French Army identified a need for a new tactical UAS to replace the Drac, which entered service in 2008. The Mini Reconnaissance ...

• Pegaz Special Operations Vehicles

  Programme BackgroundRequirementThe Polish MoD has a long-standing requirement to procure a new 4x4 tactical vehicle to replace the M1165A1 HMMWVs and Oshkosh M-ATVs currently in ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  LAV Replacement [Japan]

  Programme Background The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) received 1,937 Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) from Komatsu between 2001 and ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  Jaguar Medium Common Armoured Vehicle Platform [Belgium]

  Programme Background In its Strategic Vision for Defence document published in June 2016, the Belgian MoD outlined its aspirations for equipping five motorised manoeuvre battalions ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6, MPVs - 4x4

  Multi-Role Vehicle (Protected) Package 2

  Programme Background The MRV-P platforms will replace a diverse fleet of 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles purchased during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby helping to ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  VBCI (Qatar)

  Programme Background The VBCI-2 was selected in preference to a competing offer comprising Patria's AMV 8x8 equipped with a Lockheed Martin turret. However, at the ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G Lebanon

  The Armed MD 530G Scout Attack Helicopter features next-generation all-glass cockpit that includes: two Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 6” x 9” LCD primary displays, Tek Fusion ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  VBMR Griffon (Batch 1) [Belgium]

  Programme Background In its Strategic Vision for Defence document published in June 2016, the Belgian MoD outlined its aspirations for equipping five motorised manoeuvre battalions ...

• Frigates

  Joint Future Surface Combatant - FSC (3) [Belgium]

  Programme Background Timeline In June 2018, both Belgium and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the joint procurement of at least four ...

• Frigates

  MKS 180 Programme (1-4) [Germany]

  Programme Background Timeline The MKS 180 frigate programme for the Federal German Navy reflects the desire for the German government to become more engaged on ...

• Maritime patrol

  MAWS/PATMAR [France]

  Programme Background In 2017, Germany and France announced that they would be working towards developing an MPA to replace their current fleets in service. The ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Transponders and IFF

  Thales TSX-3500

  Thales TSX 3500 Family includes the TSA & TSB 3520 - Naval IFF Interrogators and Combined Interrogator Transponder, which provide medium and long-range information on ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  SquadNet Soldier Radio

  Thales SquadNet Soldier Radio is compact radio with a simplified screen designed for dismounted troops. It has built-in Bluetooth and GPS functionality, as well as ...

• Naval: Radio and SATCOM

  SURFSAT-L

  Produced by Thales, SURFSAT-L is a SATCOM terminal designed for medium to large surface vessels. According to the manufacturer, it is designed to achieve a ...

• Frigates

  SIGMA 115115HN

  Dutch shipbuilder Damen has designed a new multi-mission frigate as part of the Sigma class known as the Sigma 11515. As with all Sigma-class designs, ...

• EO/IR systems

  TALIOS

  The TArgeting Long-range Identification Optronic System (TALIOS) is a targeting pod from Thales.  It is equipped with top-down and bottom-up datalinks and can scan a large area, identify ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  NH90

  As part of the Helisim consortium based in Marignane, Thales has supplied an NH90 simulator for use by French and foreign military forces. Helisim also ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  Live Training Solutions

  Thales offers live training solutions for land and combined forces around the world. Thales Combat Training Centres are available for open and urban battlefields, and ...

• Service Provision

  Thales supports armed forces in peacetime and during operations, providing ab initio, operational conversion, continuation, upgrade and refresher training, through to mission rehearsal in preparation ...

• Air: transport/tanker simulators

  A330 Voyager MRTT Training Services

  Through AirTanker Services, a JV between Thales, Airbus Group, Cobham, Rolls-Royce and Babcock, Thales provides and maintains training services for the RAF’s Future Strategic Tanker ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar, Air: UAS radar

  Searchmaster

  The Searchmaster is an airborne multi-role surveillance radar manufactured by Thales. The Searchmaster is suitable for MALE (medium altitude, long endurance) UAVs, medium-tonnage or heavy-lift ...

• Data links

  Link Y Mk2

  Thales Link Y Mk2 is used to securely exchange tactical data and orders via a self-managing, adaptive radio network between multiple military platforms. Designed for ...

• Land: battle management systems

  SILVER

  Developed by Indra Systemas, SILVER is a land management system designed specifically for vehicular applications. Based on a modular system that can run on COTS ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  NS50

  The NS50 is a four-dimensional surveillance radar produced by Thales. It is designed to provide simultaneous air and surface target detection and tracking, and fire ...

• Loitering munitions

  Munition Télé-Opérée – Longue Portée (MTO-LP)

  At the Paris Air Show 2025, Thales and Boreal announced they had partnered to develop the Munition Télé-Opérée – Longue Portée (MTO-LP), a long-range loitering ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  Smart-S Mk 2

  The Smart-S Mk2 is a three-dimensional naval air and surface surveillance radar manufactured by Aselsan and Thales. The transmit and receive modules are produced by ...