• Defence Notes

  Paris Air Show: New sting planned for Hornet

  13th June 2017

  Boeing is looking to take its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block III, based on the heritage of a 1970s platform, decades into the future with a …

• Digital Battlespace

  Paris Air Show: Upgraded Rafale set for trials

  13th June 2017

  The French Air Force is on track to carry out qualification trials of the new ‘F3R’ standard Dassault Rafale next year, which will include testing …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop radars for USAF F-16s

  12th June 2017

  Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) has been selected by the US Air Force as the active electronically scanned array (AESA) for its …

• Digital Battlespace

  Thales rolls out truck-mounted BMD radar

  5th June 2017

  Thales is in discussions with the French military about a possible truck-mounted variant of its Sea Fire radar system.It could be utilised for missions including ballistic …

• Digital Battlespace

  Airborne pay-as-you-go ISR on offer

  2nd June 2017

  Thales has announced it will integrate its Searchmaster 400 radar on a Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 turboprop as part of a cooperation agreement with Canadian …

• Digital Battlespace

  EW Europe: SMART-L MM radar family expanded

  30th May 2017

  Dutch radar specialists Thales Nederland has unveiled a land-based, mobile tactical variant of its new SMART-L MM long-range multi-mission radar system. The new radar designated …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman demos HAMMR

  29th May 2017

  Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated its Highly Adaptable Multi-Mission Radar (HAMMR) during the US Army’s counter-rocket, artillery and mortar test at Yuma Proving Ground earlier this …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Commonality key for USN

  24th May 2017

  The US Navy could be using a common control system (CCS) for its unmanned assets as early as the mid-2020s. Speaking at an Unmanned Systems …

• Defence Notes

  Future F-35 production numbers released

  19th May 2017

  A new document released by the US Department of the Navy reveals further specifics of future Lockheed Martin F-35 multirole fighter aircraft production lots and confirms …

• Digital Battlespace

  Thales Nederland details radar advancements

  19th May 2017

  Thales Nederland is currently undertaking testing activity of an initial three SMART-L MM 3D long-range multi-mission radars for air and space surveillance and ballistic missile …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2017: NSW Expands Surface Mobility

  18th May 2017

  US Naval Special Warfare (NSW) elements are expanding the size of their surface mobility platform fleet. The fleet changes were included in an update presented …

• Defence Notes

  Boeing promotes more striking Eagle

  18th May 2017

  Boeing believes it has prospects and contracts for its F-15 Strike Eagle aircraft up until at least 2019 and likely beyond 2022. The company has …

• Digital Battlespace

  IAI installs ALPHA radar on Israeli vessel

  17th May 2017

  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has successfully installed an Advanced Lightweight Phased Array (ALPHA) ELM-2258 radar system on the Israeli Navy's Saar 4.5 missile offshore patrol …

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia: Austal up-guns LCS to frigate standard

  17th May 2017

  A new model of a trimaran vessel from Austal USA is on display that could be one of the designs on offer for the US …

• Training

  ITEC 2017: ATAC gets USN contract

  13th May 2017

  The growing emphasis on the provision of red air adversary/aggressor services seems to have no bounds. With major programmes now running in the US, Canada …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Background Requirement history In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey (Navy and Marine Corps) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement According to USN FY2023 Budget Estimate documentation, the V-22 programme provides an aircraft to meet the amphibious and vertical assault needs of ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-8C Fire Scout (USA)

  Programme Background Timeline According to the Naval Air Systems Command, having first ordered the MQ-8B in 2009, the UAV has become a pillar of the ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Mobile Short Range Radar [Austria]

  Background As part of its efforts to modernise its ground-based air defence (GBAD) network, Austria is seeking to acquire 14 mobile short-range radar systems. According ...

• Military UAS - small

  RQ-21A Blackjack / STUASLO - Replacement Units (USN)

  Programme Background Joint USN and USMC Procurment The RQ-21 Blackjack, or STUALSO, was a combined United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) programme ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• Military UAS - small

  RQ-21A Blackjack / STUASLO - Replacement Units (USMC)

  Programme Background Joint USN and USMC Procurment The RQ-21 Blackjack, or STUALSO, was a combined United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) programme ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (US Navy) (Batch 2) [US]

  Background According to the FY2021 budget request, the USN funded three JLTVs in FY2018, eight in FY2019, 19 in FY2020 and 25 in FY2021. In ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  LCAC 100 Class (SSC) [USN]

  Background Timeline The major role of the SSC will be deployment from landing ships in support of USN and USMC operations and the transport of ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (US Navy) (Batch 1) [USA]

  Background As of November 2020, the US DoD had signed 14 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all branches ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  AD(X) Destroyer Tenders [USN]

  Programme Background At Surface Navy 2026, General Dynamics NASSCO unveiled an internally developed concept, pitching a AD(X) Destroyer Tender to the USN. The destroyer tender ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) (TH-57 Replacement)

  Programme Background Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Blackwing (Second Batch) [USA]

  Programme BackgroundFirst Batch The Blackwing originated from a 2013 initiative to develop a low-cost submarine-launched UAS for the US Navy. Following successful tests with the ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  AN/SPY-3

  The AN/SPY-3 is a multifunction naval radar developed and manufactured by Raytheon. Its intended uses include horizon and surface search, navigation, periscope detection, discrimination, and ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  MQ-8C Fire Scout

  The MQ-8C is a newer version of the Fire Scout and is based on a Bell 407 commercial helicopter. It offers a greater range, endurance ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-79

  The AN/APG-79 is an agile beam radar with a solid-state digital array that scans at nearly the speed of light, enabling detection and tracking of ...

• Fighter - multirole, Fighter - naval

  F-35C

  The F-35C Lightning II, also known as the F-35 carrier variant (CV), is a fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft in carrier configuration. It has larger wings and ...

• Fighter - electronic warfare

  EA-18G Growler

  The EA-18G Growler is a variant in the F/A-18 family of aircraft that combines the F/A-18F Super Hornet platform with a sophisticated electronic warfare suite. It ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  AN/SPY-6(V)1 (AMDR)

  Raytheon's Air and Missile Defence Radar (AMDR), now officially designated as AN/SPY-6(V)1 is a three-dimensional AESA naval surveillance radar designed to simultaneously defend against ballistic missiles, hypersonic ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  Raven ES-05

  The Raven ES-05 is an AESA fire-control radar developed by Leonardo in close collaboration with Saab for the Gripen E/F. It features a repositionable AESA ...

• Military - UUVs

  Snakehead LDUUV

  The Snakehead Large Displacement Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (LDUUV) is a US Navy (USN) Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV) designed to be launched from submarine Dry Dock Shelters ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-63(V)2

  The AN/APG-63(V)2 is a significant radar upgrade for the U.S. Air Force F-15C aircraft. This upgrade replaces the mechanically-scanned antenna (MSA) with an AESA antenna,  ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  Grifo E

  The Grifo-E is an advanced fire-control radar developed by Leonardo, featuring Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology for enhanced situational awareness. It employs Active Electronically Scanned ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  Vixen-1000E

  The Vixen 1000E is an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar designed for fighter and interceptor aircraft, incorporating a roll-repositionable antenna with a ±100º field ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  MQ-8B Fire Scout

  The MQ-8B Fire Scout is a rotary-wing UAV that provides situational awareness and precision targeting support for the US Armed Forces. The MQ-8B Fire Scout, ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 TD

  IAR-99 TD is an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft based on the IAR-99. It is being developed jointly by the Romanian National Institute for ...

• EO/IR systems

  Wescam MX-20

  The Wescam MX-20 EO/IR is an imaging system from L3 Harris, designed for high-altitude, long-range persistent surveillance and reconnaissance missions from crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The MX-20HD was a ...