• Defence Notes

  Effective C-sUAS demands agile mindset

  12th January 2021

  A new strategy from the DoD describes how the US armed forces can mitigate or defeat the risks posed by small drones to personnel, facilities and assets. Whereas previous strategies followed a piecemeal or service-specific approach, this time the DoD looked at the challenges confronting the whole department.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Russia plans airborne surveillance radar on rotary-wing UAV

  30th December 2020

  Rostec subsidiary also delivers helicopter UAVs as target drones for Russian Aerospace Forces.

• Air Warfare

  Northrop Grumman brings home the BACN

  25th January 2021

  R&D, integration, operations and sustainment of US airborne communications gateway capability included in latest $3.6 billion deal.

• Defence Notes

  Sweden offers Finland Gripen development partnership for HX

  16th February 2021

  The Swedish MoD has revealed a new offer to Finland, which it hopes will help to land a lucrative HX fighter contract.

• Digital Battlespace

  R&S secure comms equip Brazilian E-99Ms

  18th January 2021

  Brazilian AEW&C aircraft are being modernised with secure software-defined radios.

• Naval Warfare

  Finally! OPVs with Robust Military Grade ISR Capabilities (sponsored)

  7th January 2021

  "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." — Albert Einstein …

• Defence Notes

  Finland calls for HX best and final offers

  29th January 2021

  Competitors involved in the Finnish HX fighter acquisition programme have been issued with best and final offer requests, ahead of a contract award for one lucky manufacturer before the end of 2021.

• Air Warfare

  Enhancements keep Warthog tusks sharp

  4th February 2021

  Times have changed, new threats have emerged and capabilities have evolved – but the A-10 endures with an upgrade under way.

• Defence Helicopter

  Israel enhances Seahawk sensors and weapons suite

  27th January 2021

  SH-60Fs are expected to operate from Sa’ar 6 corvettes with Elta ELM-family maritime radar and other classified sensors, as well as Spike missile variants.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Type-X makes progress in mobility tests

  7th January 2021

  Robotic combat vehicle is designed to support mechanised units equipped with IFVs.

• Naval Warfare

  USN receives HELIOS laser system for tests ahead of integration onto Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

  12th January 2021

  The USN has received the HELIOS laser system and will test the capability at Surface Combat Systems Center Wallops Island over the next several months.

• Defence Notes

  With few alternatives, Myanmar signs up for Russian kit

  28th January 2021

  In spite of arms embargoes from the likes of the EU and US, Myanmar is still able to find a willing seller in the shape of Russia.

• Land Warfare

  Thai army chooses light howitzers from France

  14th January 2021

  The new light howitzer from France was chosen due to its automatic direction-finding and fire control systems.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  WJ-700 flies, as other Chinese UCAVs fight

  20th January 2021

  A new Chinese UAV/UCAV has taken to the skies for the first time. Meanwhile, other Chinese models are being used extensively in combat in the Middle East and North Africa.

• Military Logistics

  Danes and Norwegians pick Marshall for C-130J-30 maintenance

  22nd December 2020

  Seven-year MRO deal covers combined fleet of eight Super Hercules aircraft.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

• ISR/special mission

  MC-27J - Algeria

  Programme Background Algeria has a long standing ISR aircraft requirement to support its Beech 1900 fleet comprised of six aircraft. The new ISR fleet is ...

• 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 ...

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

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

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

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• 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 ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

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

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is Leonardo’s C-band AESA radar designed for detecting, classifying, and tracking small, high-maneuvering targets. It’s designed for various applications, including counter-UAS, ...

• 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 ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Air: helicopter radar, Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AirMaster-C

  The AirMaster-C is a two-dimensional, AESA, airborne surveillance radar manufactured by Thales. It is marketed as a lightweight surveillance radar designed to be fitted to ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Land: air defence radar

  iMOTR

  The Innovative Multiple-Object Tracking Radar (iMOTR) system has been designed to provide military test ranges with more accurate time, space and position information for several ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

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

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...