• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed to produce more M-DSA kits

  4th October 2016

  Lockheed Martin will produce additional Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) upgrade kits and spares for US Army Apache helicopters under a $49.3 million contract announced …

• Military Logistics

  HMS Westminster completes refit

  5th October 2016

  The Royal Navy’s Type 23 Frigate HMS Westminster has completed an extensive refit programme at Portsmouth Naval Base, BAE Systems announced on 3 October. A …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Schiebel, Diehl Defence renew S-100 agreement

  27th September 2016

  Schiebel has renewed its teaming agreement with German company Diehl Defence for the marketing of the Camcopter S-100 within the German market, the company announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  Thailand orders additional H225Ms

  5th October 2016

  Airbus Helicopters will deliver a further two H225M Caracal (EC725) multi-role utility helicopters to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) under an order announced on …

• Defence Helicopter

  ADAS 2016: Leonardo's model pitch (video)

  1st October 2016

  Shephard talks to Lorenzo Pariani, head of region South East Asia with Leonardo about the helicopter models they are displaying at the ADAS exhibition in …

• Defence Notes

  ADAS 2016: Saab targets fighter programme

  28th September 2016

  Magnus Hagman, the Gripen campaign director at Saab, talks to Shephard about the aircraft being put forward for the Philippine Multi-Role Fighter programme and the importance of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UK MoD, ASV sign licencing deal

  30th September 2016

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and ASV Global have entered into a licencing agreement under which the company will use its Advanced Unmanned Surface …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ECA Group working on SWARMs project

  8th September 2016

  ECA Group is working on the Smart and Networking Underwater Robots in Cooperation Meshes (SWARMs) project and will lead work on three different packages, the …

• Defence Helicopter

  31st MEU aviators soar in Philippines

  10th October 2016

  Much is being written about maritime tensions in the South China Sea, but for pilots of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) of the USMC …

• Defence Notes

  LRSAM in successful flight tests

  26th September 2016

  The Long Range Surface to Air Missile System (LRSAM) in development for the for Indian Navy has been successfully flight tested from the Interim Test …

• Training

  Australia flies EC-135T2 helicopter

  27th September 2016

  The Australian Defence Force has flown for the first time a new EC-135 T2 twin-engine helicopter acquired as part of its Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) …

• Defence Helicopter

  H215 delivered to Spanish Air Force

  4th October 2016

  Less than four months after purchase negotiations, Airbus Helicopters has delivered a H215 to the Spanish Air Force. The aircraft will be used for SAR …

• Defence Notes

  ADAS 2016: Thales eyes land and naval sector (video)

  28th September 2016

  Benoit Nalin, Philippines country director at Thales, talks to Shephard about the systems the company is offering in the land and naval sector and those on …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2016: L-3 brings the light

  4th October 2016

  Demands from military users across Africa, South America and the Middle East have led to L-3 Wescam’s development and launch of its new MX-8 multi-sensor …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2016: AMRAAM ER flight tests sign of things to come

  7th October 2016

  Raytheon, in conjunction with Kongsberg, has recently completed first flight testing of a new AMRAAM Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER) missile.  The firing test was conducted at …

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 ...