• Defence Notes

  Japanese exporters slowly gear up

  1st December 2015

  Japanese defence manufacturers are slowly appearing on the international stage as companies take advantage of a loosening of the country’s tight regulations regarding military sales. …

• Military Logistics

  C295W flies in Antarctica

  1st December 2015

  An Airbus Defence and Space (D&S) C295W aircraft has undertaken flight demonstrations to Antarctica for the first time as part of its tour of South …

• Digital Battlespace

  DST and Aselsan to form JV

  1st December 2015

  Taqnia Defense and Security Technologies (DST) has signed an agreement with Aselsan for the formation of a joint venture company in Saudi Arabia, Aselsan announced …

• Military Logistics

  Final LLCs delivered to Australian navy

  30th November 2015

  The final batch of Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) Landing Craft (LLC) have been delivered to the Australian Department of Defence by Navantia, the company announced …

• Training

  Iraqi NCOs graduate from TG Taji

  30th November 2015

  Australia and New Zealand’s Task Group Taji (TG Taji) military complex has trained another 230 Iraqi soldiers through the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) academy, the Australia …

• Defence Helicopter

  FZ275LGR rocket in test firing

  27th November 2015

  The 70mm laser-guidance rocket being developed by Thales subsidiary Forges de Zeebrugge (FZ) has completed a successful test firing campaign, the company announced on 27 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  German Heron UAS hits operational milestone

  27th November 2015

  The Heron UAS operated Airbus Defence and Space and the German Air Force in Afghanistan has reached an operational milestone having chalked up 25,000 flight …

• Defence Helicopter

  Russian Helicopters delivers Mi-8AMTSh-VA

  27th November 2015

  Russian Helicopters' Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant has delivered the first Mi-8AMTSh-VA helicopter to the Russian Defence Ministry’s Arctic groupings, the company announced on 25 November.  The …

• Defence Helicopter

  Indonesian president flies AgustaWestland

  27th November 2015

  Indonesia’s military has chosen AgustaWestland to supply three VVIP helicopters to help transport the country’s president, vice-president and state officials. The platform being procured by …

• Naval Warfare

  Barak-8 in successful test

  27th November 2015

  The Barak-8 air and missile defence system has successfully intercepted a target during testing onboard an Israel Navy corvette, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on …

• Land Warfare

  Danish armour modernisation accelerates

  27th November 2015

  A contract for the 8x8 Piranha 5 vehicle selected by the Danish Army for its APC requirement is due to be signed by the end …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky views India for manufacture

  26th November 2015

  Aiming at more strategic tie-ups between OEMs and Indian manufacturers under its Make in India mantra, India’s Ministry of Defence is in the process of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Elbit lands Hermes deal

  26th November 2015

  The Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) has awarded the contract for the supply of Hermes 900 heavy fuel engine (HFE) …

• Training

  SCS to support UK JFC training

  26th November 2015

  SCS has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to provide training and exercise support to Joint Forces Command (JFC). The contract, worth …

• Land Warfare

  Ajax assembly comes to Merthyr

  26th November 2015

  The site for the assembly, integration and testing (AIT) for the Ajax family of reconnaissance vehicles (formerly Scout SV) for the British Army has been …

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 ...