• Defence Notes

  MBDA, Romarm sign MoU

  29th August 2017

  MBDA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Romanian defence group Romarm and its subsidiary Electromecanica Ploiesti to define and present a proposal for …

• Special Operations

  AUSA 2017: SOCOM gets new vehicle camouflage

  10th October 2017

  US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has started to receive deliveries of a new camouflage system for its lightweight ground vehicles.  The new system is being …

• Defence Helicopter

  First upgraded Brazilian Super Lynx flies

  4th October 2017

  Leonardo has successfully conducted the maiden flight of the first modernised Brazilian Navy Super Lynx Mk21B helicopter at its Yeovil facility, on 28th September 2017. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Guimbal lays out lofty autonomous ambitions

  11th October 2017

  The VSR700, an autonomous military helicopter jointly developed by Hélicoptères Guimbal and Airbus Helicopters, is gathering momentum towards certification.Derived from Guimbal’s successful light helicopter, the …

• Naval Warfare

  MSPO 2017: Shipbuilders continue to position for Orka programme

  7th September 2017

  European manufacturers continue to jostle for Poland’s ongoing Orka programme, which will see a new class of three submarines constructed for the Polish Navy. The …

• Special Operations

  Pacific 2017: Tempting Australia with SDVs

  3rd October 2017

  Australia is looking forward to obtaining 12 new Future Submarines from Naval Group’s design studio under its Sea 1000 programme, but one French company is …

• Defence Helicopter

  AAF receives first UH-60 Black Hawks

  3rd October 2017

  The Afghan Air Force (AAF) has received its first two UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters at Kandahar Airfield, the US Air Force announced on 26 …

• Digital Battlespace

  AUSA 2017: US Army to field C-UAS radar

  10th October 2017

  The US Army’s AN/TPQ-53 radar used to detect and locate enemy in-direct fire is expected to be ready for fielding with an expanded counter-UAS capability …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2017: Tank killing Rosomaks unveiled

  6th September 2017

  Two new prototype variants of the Polish Army’s Rosomak vehicle are on display at this year’s MSPO, with both demonstrating a potential future requirement from …

• Land Warfare

  Latvia receives first Austrian howitzers

  2nd October 2017

  Latvia has received its first examples of second-hand M109 self-propelled howitzers from Austria, as part of an agreement signed between the two countries in April. …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG FRC arrives in Hawaii

  2nd October 2017

  The US Coast Guard's (USCG's) new Sentinel class cutter Oliver Berry has arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, the US Pacific Command announced on 25 September. The …

• Naval Warfare

  DSEI 2017: New shipbuilding strategy to avoid past mistakes

  6th September 2017

  The UK’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS), announced on 6 September, is aiming to overcome mistakes made in previous naval programmes and reverse the reductions in …

• Naval Warfare

  Pacific 2017: Pacific Patrol Boat production gathers steam

  5th October 2017

  Good progress is being made on the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPR-B) programme, with the first vessel slated for Papua New Guinea on schedule for …

• Digital Battlespace

  AN/SPY-6(V) radar in multiple target test

  28th September 2017

  Raytheon’s AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar has acquired and tracked multiple threat-representative targets simultaneously during its third dedicated flight test at the US Navy’s …

• Military Logistics

  Support for Royal Navy as cuts beckon

  6th October 2017

  The unveiling of a fleet-wide £1 billion common support model (CSM) for the UK Royal Navy this week has come at a time when questions …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT (1-9) [NATO]

  Programme Background Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT Follow-On (NATO)

  Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that the EDA ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawks [Norway]

  Programme Background NH90 NFH cancellation  The Norwegian government announced the termination of the NH90 NFH helicopter contract for 14 NH90s with NHIndustries in June 2022. Seahawk Acquisition ...

• Tanks

  New MBT [Romania]

  Programme Background Requirement The Romanian Army's MBT fleet is composed of T-55 variants that are due to be retired in the mid-2020s. Although Romania's TR-85 ...

• Tanks

  M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 [Romania]

  Programme Background Requirement The Romanian Army's MBT fleet is composed of T-55 variants that are due to be retired in the mid-2020s. Although Romania's TR-85 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) - (Greece)

  Programme Background EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded ...

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

  UAV Tactical Level [Norway]

  Programme Background Request for Information (RfI) In September 2022, the Norwegian Defence Material Agency (NDMA) launched a request for information in preparation for a possible ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) - (Italy)

  Programme Background EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded ...

• 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 ...

• Tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Bidders and Suppliers The Leopard 2A8, the latest in the Leopard family, was selected by the Royal Dutch Army as per announcements in ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 [Kuwait]

  Background Contract Award On 18 January 2023, Baykar announced signing a $370 million export contract with Kuwait for the Bayraktar TB2. According to the announcement, ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [France]

  Programme Background Requirements The European Patrol Corvette (EPC) is one of the new PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation on Defence and Security) projects. PESCO was established ...

• AEW&C

  Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (1-6) [NATO]

  Programme Background NATO’s E-3A AWACS fleet is set to retire in 2035, after 50 years of service. To plan for the required follow-on capability, NATO's ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirements The 2021-2023 Documento Programmatico Pluriennale (DPP) - a multi-year defence planning document from the Italian MoD - includes a plan to acquire eight "Patrol Ships", ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: air defence radar

  APIS

  APIS is a passive high-resolution primary radar system developed by Indra. It is the first passive system in the world capable of offering images using ...

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  AE50R

  The AE50R is an aviation gasoline single rotary engine with an output of 40.4kW. The engine is certified according to European Aviation Safety Agency Part ...

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

  LOTUS

  The LOTUS, Low Observable Tactical Unnamed System, is a tactical UAV especially designed for border patrol ISR operations.  The development of the project is funded by ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  Mistral 3

  The Mistral 3 is the latest member of the Mistral family of very short-range surface-to-air missiles. It entered service in 2018 and has been chosen ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2H

  Safran Helicopter Engines received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) engine type certification for its Arriel 2H engine, installed in the Avicopter AC312E, in April 2018. ...

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

  AR5

  First announced in October 2012, the AR5 is a MALE UAS designed for SAR, surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The AR5 can be flown manually or commanded ...

• Trainer

  Gabriel-TP

  Gabriel-TP is a low-wing, two-seat tandem trainer aircraft aimed at both military and civilian customers. It is certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in ...

• Air: NVGs

  PNL-3M Orlik

  PNL-3M are high-performance, lightweight, passive stereoscopic NVGs for helicopter crew members. Certification by European Aviation Safety Agency also enables civilian use. The device can be ...

• Loitering munitions

  Akeron RCH 170

  Unveiled in April 2025, the Akeron RCH 170 is a fixed-wing loitering munition from MBDA. Similar in design to the Switchblade 300, the catapult launched system ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  Standard 3

  Jointly developed by ATR and Thales, The Standard 3 avionics suite has been specifically designed for ATR-600 aircraft. It offers the pilot user-friendly interface, along ...

• Loitering munitions

  Akeron RCX 50

  Unveiled in April 2025, the Akeron RCX 50 is a rotary-wing loitering munition from MBDA.  According to reports, the RCX 50 is designed to support ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  DroneGun

  DroneGun enables controlled management of an adversarial UAS, causing no damage to the UAV or surrounding area. It either forces the drone to perform a ...

• Military - USVs

  NOMARS

  The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to develop a first-of-its-kind large uncrewed surface vessel.

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  Trident 100TD2

  The Trident 100TD2 is a compression-ignition engine that is capable of operating on various types of heavy fuel. It is claimed to offer up to ...

• 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 ...