• Air Warfare

  Project Kuiper’s LEO network pioneers Space-as-a-Service

  15th September 2025

  The Kuiper Network enables organizations to buy, rather than build, applications that serve mission needs at mission speed.

• Air Warfare

  Expanded focus – unleashing the potential of commercial SATCOM for defence

  17th June 2025

  In conversation... Intelsat's Ray Lindenmayer talks to Shephard's Gerrard Cowan about the new capabilities advanced commercial SATCOM technologies can provide for military customers, and how industry and government can best work together to achieve maximum effect in orbit.

• Digital Battlespace

  Australia looks towards space with force restructure, investment and training

  15th July 2025

  Australia is looking to improve its presence in space with a focus on communications and creating a dedicated segment of its defence forces committed to the domain.

• 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.

• Defence Notes

  NATO experiments with solutions to integrate networks, AI and uncrewed systems

  2nd December 2025

  During the latest edition of the NATO DiBaX, the alliance tested multiple capabilities to inform requirements for future efforts.

• Defence Notes

  Amazon Project Kuiper emphasises user-friendly solutions for multi-domain connectivity (Studio)

  12th September 2025

  At DSEI 2025, Shephard's Alix Valenti spoke to Project Kuiper's Rich Pang about the importance of enabling seamless communication between allied forces such as NATO members in challenging operational environments.

• Air Warfare

  Why is the US far behind Russia and China in the space warfare domain?

  21st April 2025

  While Beijing and Moscow have been working on anti-satellite weapons at an accelerated speed, Washington still does not have capabilities to defeat them, with one US legislator describing the situation as “the Cuban Missile Crisis in space”.

• Defence Notes

  Amazon Project Kuiper offers network-centric approach to sovereignty of space systems (Studio)

  12th September 2025

  Shephard's Alix Valenti interviewed Project Kuiper's Don Brown at DSEI 2025, discussing the company's innovative approach to sovereignty of space communications systems, which focuses on being able to control the network rather than ownership of satellite constellations.

• Digital Battlespace

  US Space Force’s next-generation missile warning system moves forward with $500 million in new contracts

  7th May 2025

  Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) satellites are intended to provide early warning of missile launches from any location worldwide and new ground stations will result in expanded coverage of critical missile warning.

• Defence Notes

  Launch of Gilat Defense targets DoD market

  24th March 2025

  The communications company Gilat launched its new Gilat Defense division at the Satellite 2025 expo, with future solutions aimed at US military customers.

• Defence Notes

  Forging strong partnerships for warfighting communications in space (Studio)

  29th October 2025

  Mike Moran, Director of US Government Business at Amazon Project Kuiper Government Solutions, highlighted the evolution of space as a critical warfighting domain at the Defence in Space Conference (DISC) 2025, held this week in London.

• Defence Notes

  Resilience, adaptiveness and collaboration vital for success in space (Studio)

  5th November 2025

  Speakers at the Defence In Space Conference (DISC) 2025 highlighted the critical and evolving role of space in national security, defence and the global economy.

• Defence Notes

  Amazon Project Kuiper teams up with GRC to offer governments unprecedented capabilities (Studio)

  12th September 2025

  At DSEI 2025, Amazon Project Kuiper's Don Brown and GRC's Steve Slater talked to Shephard's Alix Valenti about how their partnership can offer unique capabilities in defence SATCOM to government customers, with a focus on assurance, security and choice.

• Land Warfare

  Australia embraces quantum technology for precise navigation and targeting

  15th April 2025

  A new project is aiming to deliver a ground-to-satellite optical quantum link, which would allow much more precise battle planning.

• Air Warfare

  NATO needs to plug its drone gap to meet modern warfare requirements

  28th October 2025

  Despite shared goals, NATO’s counter-uncrewed aerial system efforts remain fragmented, with parallel initiatives lacking a unified doctrine or integrated deployment strategy.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Loitering munitions

  Medium-Range Loitering Munition with LEO Satellite Data Link [South Korea]

  Background New Project In April 2025, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) announced a new project titled “Development of Medium-Range ...

• Loitering munitions

  Long Range One-way Platforms [US]

  Solicitation In October 2024, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) released a solicitation for long-range, one-way platforms. The DIU noted recent conflicts highlighted the asymmetric impact of low-cost, ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  DTIF GUARD (Ireland)

  Programme Background The Problem As stated by the project's website, Ireland is the "softest target in EU for smugglers" due to its 3171km of coastline, ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Seeker 400 - First Batch (UAE)

  Programme Background The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far back ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Arctic Frigates Procurement/Thetis Class Replacement (4-5) [Denmark]

  In January 2025, Denmark announced the acquisition of "three new Arctic ships, additional long-range drones with advanced image acquisition capacity" and "satellite capacity" worth over ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Arctic Frigates Procurement/Thetis Class Replacement (4-5) [Denmark]

  In January 2025, Denmark announced the acquisition of "three new Arctic ships, additional long-range drones with advanced image acquisition capacity" and "satellite capacity" worth over ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Arctic Frigates Procurement/Thetis Class Replacement (1-3) [Denmark]

  On 18 August 2022, the Danish MoD announced a plan to invest up to $5.5 billion to replace a large number of platforms of the ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Arctic Frigates Procurement/Thetis Class Replacement (1-3) [Denmark]

  On 18 August 2022, the Danish MoD announced a plan to invest up to $5.5 billion to replace a large number of platforms of the ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Micro UAV [Argentina]

  Programme Background Tender The EA and MoD in April 2021 announced Public Tender 0090/2021 (UOC: 84/135), which saw the General Directorate of Material begin the process ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  NH90 NFH-Italy

  Programme Background  The Italian Navy has taken delivery of its first NH90 NFH helicopter in Full Operational Capability (or Step B) configuration in November 2013. ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  CH-4 (First Batch) [Pakistan]

  Programme Background First Batch According to the Pakistan Exim Trade Info website, five aircraft were delivered to the country on 15 January 2021. According to a ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  CH-4 (Second Batch) [Pakistan]

  Programme Background First Batch According to the Pakistan Exim Trade Info website, five aircraft were delivered to the country on 15 January 2021. According to ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  HH-60W - Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH)

  According to the FY2021 Base funding, the HH-60W helicopter unit cost is $43.2 million. The HH-60W will be capable of employment day or night, in ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 [Pakistan]

  Programme Background Requirement Following a 2019 skirmish with India, Pakistan placed newfound importance on EW and ISR, primarily due to the significant advantage gained during that ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Wing Loong II (Pakistan)

  Programme Background Negotiations On 6 October 2018, the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) announced it would acquire 48 Wing Loong II UAVs in a social media post. ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Space: radar systems

  RISAT-1

  Radar Satellite-1 (RISAT-1) is a microwave remote-sensing satellite carrying an SAR payload operating in C band (5.35GHz), which enables imaging of surface features during both ...

• Naval: Radio and SATCOM

  OceanTRx 4MIL

  The OceanTRx 4MIL is a ruggedised maritime SATCOM solution featuring simultaneous multi-band communication and advanced antenna management capabilities.  It was introduced at the Euronaval 2022 ...

• Major networking projects

  Skynet 6 SATCOM

  Skynet 6 is designed to replace Skynet 5. The PFI contract for Skynet 5,  held by Paradigm Secure Communications and Airbus DS, ends in 2022. As ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Osprey u8 HGL

  Launched in 2023, Kymeta Osprey u8 HGL is a hybrid Geostationary/Low-Earth Orbit terminal that provides satellite communications on the move. Notably, it can be mounted ...

• Naval: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT)

  Orbit's Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) is a family of stabilised VSAT systems suitable for installation on smaller vessels and airborne platforms including uncrewed vehicles. 

• Military Satellites - ISR

  Radarsat-2

  Owned and operated by MDA, Radarsat-2 was launched in late 2007 as a follow-on radar satellite to Canada’s Radarsat-1. The satellite's resolution ranges from a ...

• 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 ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MONDO Satellite Terminal

  The Multi Orbit Network, Dual Operation (MONDO) Satellite Terminal is a developmental SATCOM solution that provides continuous communication links on GEO, LEO and MEO networks. ...

• Military Satellites - ISR

  Helios

  The Helios system consists of the Helios 2A and Helios 2B satellites, the latter of which was launched in December 2009, five years after Helios ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Multi-Orbit Tactical Terminal

  Intelsat Multi-Orbit Tactical Terminal (MOTT) is a ruggedised terminal with a low-profile design. The vehicle-mountable terminal features an electronically steered array antenna, edge computing capabilities ...

• Data links

  GSNC

  Global Secure Network Connection (GSNC) provides a global data communications solution for military aircraft, including bomber, refuelling and transport aircraft. The GSNC system uses Iridium ...

• Space: radar systems

  ESA Sentinel-1

  Sentinel-1 is a planned constellation of four satellites with two already in orbit and two on order. They carry a payload of a C-band SAR ...

• Space: radar systems

  NISAR

  The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is a joint programme between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to build and launch an observation ...

• Space: radar systems

  TerraSAR-X and ​TanDEM-X

  TerraSAR-X and the more advanced TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for digital elevation measurement) are designed to operate closely together to generate an accurate 3D image of ...

• Military Satellites - ISR

  KH-11

  The first of 16 KH-11 satellites was launched in 1976, and five remain in service, with the latest launch believed to have been in August ...