• Air Warfare

  Switzerland faces procurement shake-up with reduced F-35 buy and five-year Patriot delays

  9th March 2026

  The reduction in the number of planned F-35A aircraft from 36 to 30 by the Swiss government comes due to budget constraints, with no firm plans to fill the gap despite “negative consequences”.

• Naval Warfare

  Frigates and submarines anchor Brazilian naval modernisation worth US$5.52 billion

  26th May 2026

  Shipbuilding programmes established over the past decade are setting Brazil's course towards having one of the most modern navies in the region.

• Land Warfare

  Predicted air defence spending boom opens doors to Indian industry

  3rd April 2026

  Recent conflicts have created a surge in interceptor demand worldwide while exposing potential supply chain challenges, positioning India as a cost-effective partner and scalable supplier.

• Naval Warfare

  Chinese icebreaker sailing in the US Arctic mobilises the US Coast Guard’s assets

  29th July 2025

  The growing presence of Beijing’s vessels in the Arctic has been challenging the US, while the Coast Guard still struggles with ageing platforms and delayed acquisition programmes.

• Air Warfare

  FIA 2026: Anduril pitches Thunder as force multiplier for Boeing’s AH-64 Apache

  20th July 2026

  Anduril has revealed Thunder, an autonomous tiltrotor rotorcraft designed as a loyal wingman for the Boeing Apache attack helicopter, ahead of Farnborough International Airshow 2026.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: Allison aims to future-proof Europe’s AFVs with transmission tech

  14th June 2026

  Allison has brought two of its latest automatic transmissions for military vehicles to Eurosatory 2026, the 4040MX for tracked armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) and the 4000 series for wheeled AFVs.

• Naval Warfare

  Australia signs US$2.8 billion ship deal with Austal but puts pressure on company to deliver

  20th February 2026

  The A$4 billion Landing Craft Heavy contract for Austal follows on from a A$1 billion deal in December for Landing Craft Medium ships, but the Australian government has made it clear that a contract for Mogami frigates is reliant on the success of these two contracts.

• Air Warfare

  March drone digest: Long-range, low-cost loitering munitions are changing warfare economics

  1st April 2026

  The effective use of the Shahed-136 in the Iran war has highlighted the need for countries to acquire a domestically produced, low-cost, long-range loitering munition, with the US, Turkey and European nations all at various stages of developing a similar capability.

• Defence Notes

  Why small guns have been critical to layered CUAS architectures

  5th February 2026

  Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.

• Air Warfare

  Dormant helicopter programmes in Africa and Asia present opportunities

  31st March 2026

  Growing capability gaps caused by ageing Soviet-era platforms in Africa and Asia are creating opportunities, as disrupted supply chains and sanctions open the door for Western manufacturers to expand into these markets.

• Land Warfare

  US Marine Corps provides US$900 million for prototypes as vehicle refresh motors on

  10th April 2026

  General Dynamics Land Systems and Textron Systems are competing to replace the US Marine Corps’ fleet of light armoured vehicles. The companies have been awarded contracts to provide prototypes of three different vehicle variants.

• Naval Warfare

  Pentagon requests industry support to address issues with low-cost undersea effectors

  22nd July 2025

  The US Pentagon Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) will award OTAs for small and medium affordable uncrewed underwater vehicles. Companies can submit their solution until 24 July.

• Naval Warfare

  Spain’s F100 upgrade mirrors Aegis modernisation paths in allied navies

  2nd February 2026

  The Spanish Navy’s Alvaro de Bazan-class of air defence frigates will receive the latest Aegis Weapon System technology among other modernisations to extend the service life to 2045.

• Naval Warfare

  What capabilities are being tested under AUKUS Pillar 2?

  23rd February 2026

  Collaboration on AUKUS Pillar 2 extends beyond the core trilateral agreement, presenting global opportunities for companies with advanced technologies.

• Naval Warfare

  A400M trial demonstrates airborne deployment of uncrewed surface vessel

  31st July 2026

  Kraken Technology Group’s A400M airdrop of a K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessel points to a new way for navies to insert USVs into contested waters, bypassing ports and motherships.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  Puma 3 AE (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Military Aid - $300 Million On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine to "bolster Urkaine's capacity ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165 Special Ops HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HHMWV, or Humvee, has been in US service since 1983. The M1165A1B3 is a special operations variant of the platform.  In 2015, the US ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (16 March 2022 & 13 April 2022) On 16 March 2022, President Biden announced $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine through ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank [US]

  Programme Background As IAI stated in a 19 January 2023 press release, it had been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Irregular Warfare Technical Support ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  BQM-177A [US Navy]

  Background Previous Purchases The BQM-177A was designed for the USN and has been in service with the USN for many years. Indeed, in August 2022, Shephard reported ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown (21 April 2022) Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million ...

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

  Puma LE [Kosovo]

  Background Contract Award On 21 January 2022, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that AeroVironment had been awarded an $11.01 million firm-fixed contract for Puma ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background On 24 February 2023, the US DoD announced that the Biden Administration had released an additional aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1152A1B2/M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (India)

  Programme Background On 25 February 2020, a letter of acceptance for 24 MH-60Rs, worth approximately $2.12 billion, was signed by India and the US in Delhi. ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS): Switchblade [US]

  Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a ceiling $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide “an ...

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

  Puma 2 AE [Estonia]

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  KC-46A (3-6) [Japan]

  On 30 October 2020, the US DoD announced that it awarded a $342 million contract to Boeing for two Japanese KC-46A tanker aircraft. Work will be performed ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Pistols

  M9

  M9 is the US DoD designation for the military-specification 9mm Beretta 92FS, selected in 1985 to replace the 45cal M1911A1 in US service. Sales to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Igla/SA-18

  The 9K38 Igla (US DoD designation SA-18, NATO reporting name Grouse ) IR-homing MANPADS was developed by KBM and entered service in 1983 to meet the requirements ...

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

  ScanEagle 3

  Insitu unveiled the ScanEagle 3 at the Xponential exhibition in Denver in May 2018. The platform has twice the payload capacity of its ScanEagle predecessor ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank

  Point Blank Weapon System is a hand-launched electro-optical VTOL-capable loitering munition developed by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI has been awarded a contract by the US ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  BAT-850

  Pathfinder's BAT-850 VSAT is a carbon fibre, tri-band terminal with auto-acquisition capability. Suitable for flyaway (case-based) and vehicle-mounted applications, it is in service with the ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  URC-300

  The URC-300 is a software-defined radio designed for line-of-sight, ground-to-air communications in particular. Introduced in 2020, it adheres to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards as well ...

• Air: aerial targets, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  BQM-177A/i

  The BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT) was designed for the USN, and the BQM-177i is the export variant. The BQM-177 provides realistic threat emulation for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Banshee Tactical Radio

  Developed by Fenix Group, the Banshee Tactical Radio (BTR) is a communications system that uses 4G/LTE connectivity to provide secure mesh networking capability on the ...

• Crew-served grenade launchers

  Striker 40/MK47

  General Dynamics is systems integrator for the Striker 40 (MK47 AGL in US service). The complete system comprises the weapon, AN/PWG-1 Lightweight Video Sight and ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  AN/ARC-231 Skyfire

  The AN/ARC-231 Skyfire is an airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM system. This system supports US DoD requirements for airborne, multi-band, multi-mission, secure anti-jam voice, data ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

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

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  CLWS

  Developed by Boeing, Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS or CLaWS) is a medium-range, low-power laser C-UAS system. According to the reports, the CLWS prototype has ...

• Weapon sights for day use

  CompM4/M4s

  The US DoD has bought over one million Aimpoint sights since 1997. The US Army is now fielding the CompM4s as the latest version of ...

• Heavy machine guns

  M2HB

  US Ordnance is one of two US M2HB heavy machine gun manufacturers which has received multi-year contracts to supply weapons to the US DoD. The ...