• Defence Notes

  Air Power 2017: UK F-35 training takes off

  11th July 2017

  Preparations for the F-35B Lightning II's arrival to the UK continue apace with the announcement on 5 July that 207 Squadron will be training future Royal Air …

• Training

  Qinetiq to upgrade UK MoD Hebrides radars

  6th July 2017

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Qinetiq have announced a joint invest of £16.8m for two new BAE Systems tracking radars at MoD Hebrides, Qinetiq announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  Finland, Bittium TAC WIN agreement

  10th July 2017

  Bittium and the Finish defence forces are set to sign a framework agreement for the delivery of Bittium Tactical Wireless IP Network (TAC WIN) products …

• Defence Notes

  Northrop wins US Navy torpedo arrays contract

  11th July 2017

  Northrop Grumman has received a contract worth $9.6 million from the US Navy to produce 45 Transducer Array/Nose Shell Assemblies for the MK 48 heavyweight torpedo, …

• Military Logistics

  F-35A OBISC opened at RAAF Williamtown

  10th July 2017

  The Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) first F-35A Joint Strike Fighter facilities have opened at RAAF Base Williamtown, the Australian Department of Defence announced on …

• Land Warfare

  Portugal clears way for small arms refresh

  12th June 2017

  The Portuguese Ministry of National Defense has authorised the country’s army to acquire small arms and associated sights, equipment and services, through the NATO Support …

• Special Operations

  Flyer 60 evaluated by Special Operations

  7th July 2017

  The US Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command is evaluating the General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) Flyer 60 as an additional option for ‘fly …

• Naval Warfare

  Saab to upgrade Swedish corvettes

  5th July 2017

  The Swedish Defence Material Administration has awarded Saab a contract worth $147.93 million to modify and upgrade the Swedish Marine’s Gävle class corvettes, the company announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  Diminished returns for UK equipment

  7th July 2017

  A reduction in platform numbers is a recurring theme in the UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations publication, with the headline loss being a 37% …

• Defence Helicopter

  Austria opts for Acehawk avionics

  8th June 2017

  Global Aviation Solutions (GAS) announced on 1 June that it will provide its Acehawk avionics systems for nine Austrian S-70A-42 Black Hawk helicopters. The contract, which …

• Military Logistics

  Zaragoza to permanently host ETAC

  22nd May 2017

  Zaragoza in Spain will officially become the home of the European Air Transport Fleet (EATF) programme on 8 June, with transfer of the project from the …

• Training

  Exercise Fire Blade 2017 concludes

  25th May 2017

  The European Defence Agency's (EDA's) exercise Fire Blade 2017, hosted by the Hungarian defence forces, has concluded, the agency announced on 22 May. Conducted at Papa Airbase …

• Defence Helicopter

  Brazilian Navy receives CSAR H225M

  10th July 2017

  Helibras, a local operation of Airbus Helicopters, recently handed over the first of three H225M helicopters in CSAR configuration to the Brazilian Navy. The aircraft, …

• Defence Helicopter

  Korea’s final Wildcats bare operational claws

  6th July 2017

  The final four of South Korea’s eight Leonardo AW159 Wildcat naval helicopters were formally declared operational on 5 July. The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) …

• Military Logistics

  Rotational units ‘new norm’ for US Army NIEs

  14th July 2017

  One significant aspect of the US Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 17.2, now underway on the desert ranges of Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands …

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 ...