• Air Warfare

  General Atomics claims fully autonomous AI-piloted flight with Avenger MQ-20A

  20th September 2022

  General Atomics claims that the latest Avenger MQ-20A test flight demonstrated capabilities in the race to operationalise autonomy for collaborative combat aircraft.

• Naval Warfare

  Germany fires shipboard laser weapon for the first time

  28th October 2022

  Navies across the globe are looking to lasers to help defend their ships from aerial threats, and Germany is no exception.

• Defence Notes

  How new Portuguese defence doctrine will impact future procurement

  27th November 2022

  The Portuguese MoD is working on updated versions of its National Defence Strategic Concept and Military Programming Law. The new documents will define the country’s priorities and shape future acquisition and modernisation programmes.

• Land Warfare

  Teledyne FLIR seeks more US attention for Stormcaster-DX

  19th October 2022

  The Stormcaster-DX laser target designator can provide precision fires to the lowest tactical level in addition to enabling faster decisions.

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon advances development of a solution for the US Army’s TITAN programme

  25th October 2022

  Raytheon has reached the second stage of the TITAN prototyping phase and is working on software development to gather information from multiple sensors.

• Land Warfare

  New Zealand issues RfP for light and medium tactical vehicles

  4th November 2022

  New Zealand has is moving ahead as momentum gathers for a replacement of its nearly 20-year-old Pinzgauer tactical vehicle fleet.

• Training

  Lockheed Martin to deliver C-130J weapon system trainer for New Zealand

  3rd October 2022

  New Zealand has inched closer to becoming a member of the C-130J team. The US DoD contract awarded to Lockheed Martin will see the building and delivery of weapons system trainer devices to New Zealand.

• Training

  Inzpire to join BAE's single synthetic environment training programme

  9th November 2022

  Inzpire is the latest partner to join BAE Systems' multi-domain project which is set to enhance virtual, immersive military training by using real-world mission data and tactics.

• Air Warfare

  BAE Systems to enhance F-16 maintenance cybersecurity

  13th October 2022

  The BAE Systems-produced Viper Memory Loader Verifier II maintenance capability supports over 100 onboard systems that enhances the F-16's cybersecurity.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Air Force admits more work needed on acceptance of AI-piloted aircraft

  12th October 2022

  While the USAF and industry push the boundaries on autonomous aircraft, the air force has still not fully defined what it wants and how the reliability of these next-generation aircraft will be proven.

• Air Warfare

  Netherlands receives first upgraded Apache E model

  26th October 2022

  Upgrading the Royal Netherlands Air Force Apaches to the AH-64E V6 model will increase the fleet's attack power, versatility and situational awareness.

• Land Warfare

  Why Russia has lost over three times as many ground vehicles as Ukraine

  23rd November 2022

  A total of 7,629 Russian land systems have been destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured by Ukraine, according to open-source figures, representing 78.6% of losses in the conflict.

• Air Warfare

  Turkish F-16 endeavours impaired by Democrats' US Senate control

  15th November 2022

  The Turkish president was confident a Republican-controlled Senate would deliver the country's coveted F-16 deal. With a Democratic Senate confirmed after mid-term elections, Ankara's position to up its fighter jet game seems as doubtful as ever.

• Naval Warfare

  Everything you need to know about France's FDI frigate

  3rd November 2022

  France's first Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention (FDI) ship, Amiral Ronarc'h, is the first of eight being built at Naval Group's Lorient shipyard for the French and Greek navies.

• Air Warfare

  General Atomics modernises Gray Eagle for multidomain operations

  13th October 2022

  The new Gray Eagle 25M is based on a Modular Open Systems Approach.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE [Germany]

  Programme Background The Germany navy had an urgent requirement for three UAS required for reconnaissance and identification in maritime operations. A platform was required that ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 1 [US]

  Programme Background Announcement & Requirement In late August 2023, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks announced the Replicator programme, an effort to galvanise an industry which ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 (Qatar)

  Programme Background In 2018 at DIMDEX, it was revealed that Qatar had bought six Bayraktar TB2 UAVs from Turkey. The deal also included three ground control stations, ...

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

  Multidomian Micro Drones [USSOCOM]

  Background Special Notice On 14 November 2024, a Special Notice was released that informed the industry that the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was looking for ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Thor [Israel]

  Background Various Contracts On 3 December 2024, the Israeli Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced it had purchased “advanced drones and autonomous systems” from Elbit Systems in various ...

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

  Group 4/5 UAV [US Army]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) On 5 June 2024, the American DoD published an RfI with an original response date of 19 July 2024. The ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

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

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

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

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-15SA Saudi Arabia

  The aircraft deal includes 170 APG-63(v)3 AESA radar sets, 193 F-110-GE-129 Improved Performance Engines, 100 M61 Vulcan Cannons, 338 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems amongst ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Loitering munitions

  Artemis [US]

  Background Origin Artemis began in 2024 due to the US European Command and Indo-Pacific Command's demand for UAVs that met the following requirements. As part ...

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

  Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) (Tranche 2) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  Programme Background The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Freya

  An easy-to-use system which requires minimal training, Freya can be operated in difficult situations and weather conditions, including strong winds and mountainous areas. A tracker ...

• Data links

  CLIP

  Common Link Integration Processing (CLIP) is a software product that performs data transformation and processes protocols for dissimilar communications formats. It meets requirements for common ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  X-MADIS

  The eXpeditionary Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (X-MADIS) is a portable, fully integrated C-UAS system for fixed-site, mobile and on-the-move operations.  Combining four all-threat air ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM202U

  The CM202U is a field-proven gyro-stabilised imaging system for counter small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) operations and ground ISR applications.  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, it includes high-definition ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Dronekiller

  The IXI Dronekiller is a handheld C-UAS device that employs software-defined radio technology to detect and affect Class 1 and Class 2 UAS devices without ...

• Loitering munitions

  Revenger

  The Revenger is a loitering munition developed by SRB Aerial Systems.  Not much is known about the platform; however, at IDEX 2023, two units were ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Pitbull C-UAS Jammer

  In June 2018, MyDefence launched the Pitbull wearable C-UAS solution, which utilises smart jamming to defeat enemy drones. Pitbull was developed to have a minimal ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  ADRIAN

  ADRIAN is a family of Counter-UAS solutions manufactured by ELT Group. The family is designed to intercept and neutralise mini and micro-UAS and includes versions ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  SkyTracker

  SkyTracker is a technology suite that detects, identifies, tracks and mitigates UAS threats. The system provides continuous 24h automated monitoring in all weather conditions. The ...

• EO/IR systems

  miniVUX-SYS

  The RIEGL miniVUX-SYS is a lightweight laser scanning system designed for integration with UAS/RPAS platforms. Manufactured by RIEGL, it features a miniVUX-series LiDAR sensor (e.g., ...