• Land Warfare

  Land Forces 2016: Land 400 – opportunity knocks

  8th September 2016

  The biggest acquisition programmes currently under way for the Australian Army fall under the Land 400 umbrella for new armoured vehicles, and these offer great …

• Training

  MSPO 2016: Polish M-346 delivery imminent

  8th September 2016

  The first Leonardo M-346 jet trainer aircraft is wrapping up development and is expected to be delivered to the Polish Air Force in November, according …

• Military Logistics

  Malays support USMC Herc

  8th August 2016

  A Malaysian company has completed the overhaul of a first Lockheed Martin KC-130J Hercules aircraft on behalf of the USMC stationed in Japan. The aircraft …

• Land Warfare

  Land Forces 2016: Supacat gobbles up Kiwi contest

  5th September 2016

  Supacat has scored again in Australasia, this time winning a contract from the New Zealand Ministry of Defence for special forces vehicles. New Zealand chose …

• Defence Helicopter

  India to upgrade dilapidated Ka-28s

  2nd August 2016

  India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract with Rosoboronexport on 29 July to upgrade ten of its Kamov Ka-28 helicopters, of which only four …

• Defence Notes

  China moves to master aero engines

  31st August 2016

  China has set up the Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) to administer all of China’s aircraft engine development and production efforts in both the …

• Land Warfare

  Land Forces 2016: Hawkei slithers toward service

  6th September 2016

  A Thales Hawkei fitted with a Kongsberg Protector remote-controlled weapon station (RWS) appeared at Land Forces 2016, perhaps a signal that is a weapon option …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MSPO 2016: Thales hopeful for Polish Watchkeeper

  30th August 2016

  Thales remains confident its Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be successful in the Polish market, as the country reassesses its plans to procure a …

• Defence Helicopter

  MSPO 2016: Chile selects S-70i Black Hawk

  7th September 2016

  Chile has become the sixth customer for the Polish-built S-70i Black Hawk, selecting the helicopter for a six aircraft order, manufacturer Sikorsky has revealed. The …

• Naval Warfare

  HII signs new contracts

  1st September 2016

  Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been awarded an $88.2 million fixed-price contract by the US Coast Guard (USCG) for the purchase of …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG commissions 18th FRC

  30th August 2016

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) has commissioned its 18th fast response cutter (FRC), USCGC Joseph Tezanos, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it was announced on …

• Training

  Argentina requests T-6C+ FMS

  4th August 2016

  The US State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale (FMS) of Beechcraft T-6C+ Texan military flight training aircraft to Argentina, the US Defense …

• Naval Warfare

  BAE Systems details RAN design work

  2nd September 2016

  BAE Systems has released details on the work it will carry out to refine its Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS) design for the Royal Australian Navy …

• Land Warfare

  Saudi Arabia requests more M1A2S

  10th August 2016

  Saudi Arabia is looking to boost its fleet of M1A2S main battle tanks (MBTs), and replace at least 20 destroyed in combat, the US State …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australian Chinook flies in cold weather

  30th August 2016

  The Royal Australian Navy has been conducting cold weather aspects of the first-of-class flight trials of the Boeing Chinook CH-47F twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter, …

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 ...