• Defence Notes

  Combat air set to play the fall guy in UK defence review

  6th March 2020

  As high-profile budget difficulties tie the UK government to making tough, long-term procurement decisions across air, land and sea domains, the RAF’s combat air plans …

• Defence Notes

  Taiwan, an island nation under siege

  20th March 2020

  Few countries are more bullied or ostracised than Taiwan. Whether it is militarily, diplomatically or internationally, China has successfully forced Taiwan into the far-flung outer …

• Defence Notes

  Flight tests are central for US in hypersonic arms race

  18th March 2020

  The US military is preparing a crucial flight test of a hypersonic weapon this spring, as part of a ramped-up campaign to develop and field …

• Digital Battlespace

  Babcock to give better reception in New Zealand

  5th March 2020

  The New Zealand MoD announced on 3 March that Babcock NZ Limited has been awarded a contract to overhaul the military’s HF radio network. The …

• Land Warfare

  India’s small-arms shopping spree slowly revs up

  28th February 2020

  The Indian Army is edging closer in its quest for modern infantry small arms to replace an ageing inventory of more than 40 weapon types. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Bittium to continue ESSOR porting for Finland

  18th February 2020

  Bittium will continue porting the European European Secure Software-defined Radio (ESSOR) programme’s Operational Capability 1 (OC1) wideband waveform to the Bittium Tough SDR radio for …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell not conceding defeat on Israeli V-22 deal

  28th February 2020

  Manufacturer Bell-Boeing will continue to push for an export order of the V-22 Osprey from Israel despite political uncertainty and funding shortages casting major doubts over …

• Digital Battlespace

  Australia mulls one replacement Growler

  26th February 2020

  The Australian government is still seeking compensation for the loss of one EA-18G Growler EW aircraft after a 2018 accident. Meanwhile, the Department of Defence is …

• Defence Helicopter

  Kuwait suspends H225M deliveries pending investigation

  14th February 2020

  The Kuwait MoD has decided to stop receiving further deliveries of the Airbus H225M Caracal heavy-lift helicopter, following the discovery of technical faults on two …

• Defence Notes

  Industry at odds on Canada’s Future Fighter delay

  28th February 2020

  Two of the three industry competitors involved in Canada’s Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP) have said they did not ask decision-makers for an RfP submission …

• Naval Warfare

  Pakistan bulks up with Romania-built corvettes

  18th February 2020

  The Pakistan Navy (PN) is enhancing its maritime protection and strategic projection capabilities, having formally accepted and commissioned the first of two new Yarmook-class multirole …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Singapore Airshow 2020: Schiebel explores ASW innovations

  11th February 2020

  Austrian company Schiebel is exploring anti-submarine warfare (ASW) roles among potential new applications for its Camcopter S-100 UAV platform. Neil Hunter, director of business development …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Singapore Airshow 2020: ROKAF stands up Global Hawk unit

  5th February 2020

  The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) established a new reconnaissance squadron in late 2019, to coincide with the arrival of the country’s first RQ-4B …

• Land Warfare

  Russia puts tank fleet modernisation into a higher gear

  21st February 2020

  Russia intends to increase the proportion of modern MBTs and other armoured vehicles in its army’s inventory from 50% to 70% by 2027, according to …

• Naval Warfare

  Murky waters for future European Med maritime mission

  28th February 2020

  With just over a month remaining on the mandate of Operation Sophia, the European maritime security and humanitarian assistance mission to the Mediterranean, doubts persist …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• ISR/special mission

  Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (1-3) [Germany]

  Programme Background Requirement The Pegasus (Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System) project aims to fulfil a SIGINT capability which has been missing in the German Armed ...

• Fighter - electronic warfare

  Jamming and Escort Electronic Attack Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

  Programme Background According to earlier reports, Berlin had earlier decided to procure 15 EA-18G Growlers over the Eurofighter Typhoon ECR concept, which is expected to be ...

• ISR/special mission

  Stand-off Jammer Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

  Programme Background These large stand-off aircraft will be equipped with various EW systems capable of operating from a safe distance from the mission target. A400M ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Tornado Replacement (F-35A) [Germany]

  Programme Background In March 2020, it emerged that the German government was considering  30 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to replace 45 nuclear-capable Tornados, although contracts have yet ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 (Pre-War) [Ukraine Army]

  Programme Background The Ukraine Army purchased 12 TB2 units in January 2019 for a reported $69 million. The units were reportedly delivered from June 2019 ...

• Patrol boats

  UNPAV - Angelo Cabrini Class

  The Angelo Cabrini class consists of two high-speed multipurpose patrol boats (UNPAV) intended for the Italian Navy special forces. The vessels were built by Intermarine, ...

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

  Nauru 1000C [Brazil]

  Programme Background The Logistics Command (COLOG) of the Brazilian Army purchased three Nauru 1000C UAVs, training, 36-month interested logistics support, two EO/MWIR XSIS 222A gimbals, two ...

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

  WanderB or ThunderB [Colombia]

  Programme Background Expodefensa 2019 During Colombia's Expodefensa 2019 exhibition, BlueBird Aero Systems displayed its ThunderB VTOL small UAV. Reportedly, the Colombian Army requested information on ...

• Ateş Armoured Border Security Vehicle

  The Ateş is equipped with several sensors developed by Aselsan including the Acar ground detection radar,  FalconEye EO system on an extendable mast, and Seda ...

• Amphibious assault ships

  TCG Anadolu LHD [Turkey]

  Programme Background TCG Anadolu is a Multipurpose Assault Ship (LHD) built by Sedef in Tuzla for the Turkish Navy. The vessel, which is the single ...

• Anaconda

  Four variants of the Anaconda were purchased by the RNMC: general support; patrol; command; and training. In addition to 46 vehicles, the contract also included ...

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

  Anka-S (Saudi Arabia)

  Programme Background Desired Procurement Saudi Arabia has reportedly been in negotiations to procure six Anka UAVs since 2013. It has not been disclosed which Anka ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  MiSu 6X6 PMPVs [Finland]

  In June 2019, Protolab announced that the first of the four PMPVs had been delivered to the FDF. According to a company spokesman, deliveries of ...

• Destroyers

  Hobart Class (Sea 4000)

  Programme Background The Hobart-class consists of three air warfare destroyers (AWDs) for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ships replaced the Adelaide-class frigates. Built by a ...

• Military UAS - small

  Penguin C (Latvia)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Latvian MoD signed an agreement with Latvian companies UAV Factory and Atlas Aerospace to procure UAVs for the LNAF. Under ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Naval: COMINT and ELINT systems

  SEWS-DV

  The Shipborne EW Suite (SEWS-DV) combines the C-Pearl-DV ESM and Digital Shark ECM subsystems. SEWS-DV is based on digital receivers and digital technique generators, designed ...

• Naval: COMINT and ELINT systems

  Naval RESM-CESM

  Rohde and Schwarz Radar Electronic Support Measures (RESM) and Communications Electronic Support Measures (CESM) are passive electromagnetic sensor systems. It monitors and performs direction finding ...

• Frigates

  HCX-19

  The HCX-19 concept vessel was first revealed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) at MADEX 2019, standing for Hyundai Combatant eXperimental 2019. It was created to ...

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

  Odysseus

  The Aurora Flight Sciences Odysseus fixed-wing UAV is a solar-powered, pseudo-satellite platform, which is designed to remain on station in the stratosphere for months at ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  Super Swift

  The Super Swift series by ST Engineering is designed for homeland security as a range of ultra-high speed, fast patrol boats first revealed in May ...

• Naval guns

  Gökdeniz

  Gökdeniz, also known as Korkut-D, is a 35mm Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) developed by Turkish Aselsan. It was unveiled for the first time at IDEF ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Aselsan 9681 V/UHF

  Aselsan 9681 V/UHF is a software-defined radio with frequency hopping and encryption capabilities. Designed for air platforms, it has been in service with the Turkish ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  Piccolo Elite

  Produced by Collins Aerospace, the Piccolo Elite is an autopilot architecture solution for advanced UAS applications. Unveiled in 2019, it is provided in five configurations ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  ADVENT

  Havelsan ADVENT is a naval combat management system (CMS) that focuses on fleet-wide communications, building on Havelsan's previous experience providing CMS capability to surface vessels. ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Su-57

  The Su-57, previously known also as the T-50, is a fifth-generation single-seat stealth multirole fighter developed under the Russian PAK FA (Future Air Complex for ...

• Laser-directed energy weapons

  Megawatt-Scale LDEW (nLIGHT)

  nLIGHT's megawatt-scale laser weapon is currently under development as a part of the United States High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI). The high-energy laser (HEL) has ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPX

  The Bell 412EPX is a utility helicopter manufactured by Subaru. This platform improves upon the UH-1J/412-series helicopters. It has enhanced safety, performance, visibility, maintainability and ...

• Searcher

  Searcher is a fixed-wing low- and medium-altitude UAV manufactured by Elytron Aeronautica. The tandem-wing UAV is designed long-endurance reconnaissance missions and was unveiled in May ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Ajban 447A

  The Ajban 447A is a seven-crew military tactical vehicle featuring a configurable armoured cabin designed for different missions, including tactical response, border patrol, reconnaissance, COIN ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  GJ-11 Sharp Sword

  The Hongdu Aviation Industry Group (HAIG) developed the GJ-11 Sharp Sword, a stealth reconnaissance and strike UAS.  First displayed during an October 2019 parade, evidence ...