• Land Warfare

  US Army to double investments in Patriot and Stinger modifications

  13th January 2025

  Congress authorised more than $505 million for the acquisition and improvement of Patriot and Stinger missile systems.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing gets another boost with 36 Apaches approved for South Korea amid flurry of FMS deals

  20th August 2024

  The approval of four Foreign Military Sale (FMS) requests this week follows the green light for the sale to Israel of 50 F-15IA multi-role fighter aircraft and mid-life update kits for the country’s existing F-15s and other equipment in deals worth $20 billion.

• Naval Warfare

  Singapore to add two more submarines to fleet as it hikes defence spending

  3rd March 2025

  Singapore’s army and navy look set to benefit from increases in the country’s defence budget, with submarines and IFVs on the shopping list.

• Land Warfare

  UK confirms launch of Joint Programme Office to support Poland’s air defence project

  21st January 2025

  The establishment of the office, which will be based in Bristol, UK, will work to support NAREW, Poland's Ground Based Air Defence Programme.

• Air Warfare

  The Philippines prepares for high-end fighter operations

  24th September 2024

  The Southeast Asian country’s air force is broadening the warfighting mission sets of its FA-50PH by shifting focus towards offensive counter air, defensive counter air and ground attack missions.

• Land Warfare

  Challenger 3 programme promises capability upgrade as first delivery milestone approaches

  23rd August 2024

  The British Army’s Challenger 3 main battle tank (MBT) will replace existing Challenger 2s with a smaller but more capable fleet of vehicles with improved protection and notably a 120mm L55A1 smoothbore gun firing an Enhanced Kinetic Energy round. The programme is advancing rapidly with several hurdles cleared in the past year.

• Air Warfare

  Poland broadens commercial defence channels with South Korea through sales of Warmate drones

  9th September 2024

  The sale was welcomed by South Korea, which advocated ongoing mutual commercial support.

• Naval Warfare

  Saab relaunches third upgraded Gotland-class submarine

  14th February 2025

  More than 20 of the central systems in HMS Halland were replaced as part of the upgrade, including sensors and command systems.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Strategic overview: The Ukraine conflict’s robotic armies

  12th September 2024

  Kiev and Moscow have been competing over who can better harness the ongoing revolution in military affairs caused by AI-controlled and human-operated robots and drones.

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2025: Shifting sands – the Middle East’s defence landscape in flux (video)

  13th February 2025

  As Western influence wanes, Middle Eastern countries are leveraging defence modernisation to assert regional dominance, while global players such as China and Turkey seize new market opportunities. Sam Hart, Senior Land Analyst at Shephard Group, offers insights into how these developments are reshaping the region’s defence landscape.

• Naval Warfare

  US Coast Guard acquires icebreaker, and gets approval for Polar cutter

  26th December 2024

  The investment will help the US move towards its prescribed Arctic requirement.

• Land Warfare

  Estonian Army receives first 50 of 230 light armoured vehicles

  12th March 2025

  The armoured vehicles are fitted with 12.7mm heavy machine guns and came off the production line with specific Estonian requirements. Only the communications subsystems and some other minor equipment were added to vehicles in Estonia.

• Naval Warfare

  MBDA and Safran unveil the latest versions of the SIMBAD-RC and NGDS launchers

  25th October 2024

  With navies facing the growing threats of swarms of UAVs and fast attack craft/USVs, the two French companies have been developing reloadable-at-sea systems capable of firing multiple ammunitions.

• Naval Warfare

  NAVDEX 2025: First of UAE Navy’s four Falaj-3 OPVs commissioned

  21st February 2025

  The vessels were first discussed a full ten years before the commissioning ceremony, and three more are due within the next three years.

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon to build more SM-6 Block IA missiles for US Navy under $333 million contract

  14th January 2025

  The Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) is a surface-to-air supersonic missile in service with the US Navy (USN), launched from cruisers and destroyers, capable of engaging crewed and uncrewed aircraft and land-attack or anti-ship cruise missiles in flight.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Land 400 Phase 3 (Logistics, Ammunition Carrier and Mortar Carrier Variants) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Land 400 Phase 3 (Amphibious Vehicles) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

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

  Drone40 (Ukraine Aid) [Australia]

  Programme Background In August 2022, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a think tank, held a podcast with Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, in which ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel - Medium (Project Land 8710 Phase 1A) [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirements Australia has set out requirements for a fleet of up to 18 Littoral Manoeuvre Vessels - Medium (LMV-M) with the release of ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams [Poland]

  Programme Background Requirement Since the early 2010s Poland wanted to upgrade its Soviet-era tank fleet due to modernisation requirements, the need to increase interoperability with NATO ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Land 400 Phase 2 - Boxer CRV [Australia]

  Programme Background History The Land 400 Phase 2 programme will procure a replacement for the ASLAV, a derivative of the General Dynamics Land Systems Light Armoured Vehicle ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A4 [Czech Republic]

  Programme Background  The Czech Republic currently operates a small fleet of T-72s, which, while undergoing upgrades and life extension programmes, are increasingly obsolete. In October ...

• Submarines: nuclear/attack

  Second Hand SSNs [Australia]

  Programme Background Timeline In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock ...

• Main battle tanks

  Viatura Blindada de Combate-Carro de Combate (VBC-CC) [Brazil]

  Programme Background Several key technical requirements have been outlined by the Brazilian MoD. Among the most important are that the platform should weigh less than ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock move, will not ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock move, will not ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  HIMARS (Batch 2) [Australia]

  Programme background Prior to selecting HIMARS in January 2023, Australia did not operate an MLRS system. However, the effectiveness of Ukrainian HIMARS convinced the Australian government ...

• Military - USVs

  Bluebottle USV (16-55) [Australia]

  Programme Background Timeline The RAN purchased a number of the 6.8m-long Bluebottles, including five under an A$4.9 million ($3.3 million) contract signed in November 2022. ...

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master (RPV Sprial 2) [UK]

  Background First announced in April 2017 and referred to in early MOD documents as the ‘last mile resupply’ initiative, the British Army is reportedly evaluating ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A1 Abrams (Ukraine Aid) [Australia]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Australia has been amongst the various Western allies providing Ukraine with military aid. Prior ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Carl-Gustaf M3

  The Carl-Gustaf M3 is the third generation of the 84mm shoulder-fired recoilless antitank gun, first fielded by the Swedish Army in 1946. Since then, it ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120mm KE DM63 / DM53 A1 Tank Ammunition

  The 120mm kinetic energy tank ammunition is manufactured by Rheinmetall. There are several variations of the ammunition, including the DM63, which can be fired from ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120MM HEAT-TP F1A

  Franco-German KNDS-Nexter produce the 120mm High-Explosive Anti-Tank Training-Purpose F1A (HEAT-TP F1A) round to enable reduced-cost training for Main Battle Tank crews. 

• Main battle tanks

  M1/M1A1 Abrams

  The 105mm-armed M1 Abrams tracked MBT was introduced into US Army service in 1980 as a replacement for the 105mm-armed M60 MBT. In April 1991, ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120mm PELE Tank Ammunition

  The 120mm Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE) tank ammunition is an inert round produced by Rheinmetall. It is suitable for use against semi-hard targets ...

• Light mortars

  60mm Mortar Ammunition

  US-based LD Systems' 60mm Mortar ammunition fulfils the NATO standard for lightweight mortar ammunition.

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  120mm L55A1

  The 120mm L55A1 is a smoothbore high-pressure gun based on the L55 tank gun. The L55A1 has been qualified and in service since 2019. It ...

• Naval: RF/IR/acoustic decoys

  Nulka

  The Nulka is an active anti-ship missile decoy originally conceived in Australia, and developed under a joint Australian-US programme. BAE Systems Australia is prime contractor, while ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  120mm L55 Tank Gun

  The 120mm L55 is a smoothbore tank gun produced by Rheinmetall. It is designed for use on the Leopard main battle tank, to which it ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 SEPv3

  The M1A2 System Enhancement Package 3 (M1A2 SEPv3, also known as M1A2C) is the latest production-standard variant of the Abrams MBT. Designed primarily to address ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP)

  The M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP) is a 120mm tank round developed by Northrop Grumman Defence Systems. Various customers, including Bahrain, Israel, and the US, use the tank ...

• Unguided Medium Calibre Ammunition

  Next Generation Combat Vehicle Ammunition

  The Next Generation Combat Vehicle Ammunition (NGVA) is a family of ammunition being developed by the US Army's Armaments Center and manufactured by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  CVTESS

  Saab's Combat Vehicle Tactical Engagement Simulation System (CVTESS) is a laser-based simulator which supports every version of the Abrams Main Battle Tank and the Bradley ...

• Submarines: nuclear/attack

  SSN AUKUS

  The SSN-AUKUS will be the submarine design resulting from the AUKUS trilateral pact between Australia, the US and the UK. Expected to incorporate technology from ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Spike LR2

  The Spike LR2 (also known as NT-S) is Rafael's fifth-generation anti-tank guided missile system. It is a long-range, multi-purpose, multi-platform weapon designed for infantry, armored ...