• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Blue Bear opens 5G-enabled UAS test facility

  1st April 2019

  Blue Bear has opened its 5G-enabled beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight test facility in Bedfordshire, UK, the company announced on 26 March. The …

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX Asia 2019: RAAF's Poseidon story continues with Japan deployment

  11th May 2019

  The Asia-Pacific region, with its geographical variety and rapidly developing military seascape, continues to see strong demand for maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft in order …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  C-Astral launches Bramor mSX UAS

  2nd April 2019

  C-Astral Aerospace has launched a new remote sensing UAS equipped with Micasense’s Altum sensor, the company announced on 26 March. The new long endurance BVLOS-enabled …

• Digital Battlespace

  Switzerland orders Thales’ image intel

  15th April 2019

  Thales has received a contract from the Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement to supply an IMINT/GEOINT image intelligence system for the Swiss armed forces, …

• Digital Battlespace

  CMS to support New Zealand’s NEA programme

  22nd April 2019

  Cubic Mission Solutions has received a contract from the New Zealand Ministry of Defence to deliver C2 capabilities for the New Zealand Army's land forces …

• Digital Battlespace

  Indonesia signs radar MoU with Thales

  26th April 2019

  PT Len, a state-owned Indonesian electronics company, signed an MoU with Thales on 24 April on the topic of radar development suitable for use by …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UK Coastguard to step up unmanned integration efforts

  3rd April 2019

  The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is set to begin a drone trial ‘in the coming weeks’ as part of plans to evaluate and …

• Digital Battlespace

  Additional E-2D aircraft for US Navy

  17th April 2019

  Northrop Grumman has received a contract modification to deliver 24 additional E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to the US Navy, the company announced on 11 April. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Thales technology for Jamaican coastal surveillance

  11th April 2019

  Thales has been selected by the Jamaican Defense Force to provide a coastal surveillance system based around its Coast Watcher 100 radar, the company announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  New radar for USMC Blackjacks

  12th April 2019

  Utah based company Imsar will supply its NSP-5 radar system to the Blackjack Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which is currently operated by the US Navy …

• Digital Battlespace

  UK launches C-UAS competition

  15th April 2019

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced the launch of a £2 million competition for proposals to develop a range of solutions to mitigate …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Flirtey receives approval for BVLOS UAS deliveries

  14th March 2019

  Flirtey, in partnership with the City of Reno, has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct UAS delivery flights beyond visual line-of-sight …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Unmanned Systems Asia 2019: Lockheed targeting Asia with Indago

  8th April 2019

  Lockheed Martin is targeting further growth in Asia for its Indago 3 UAS, having recently sold two of the systems to the Singapore Ministry of …

• Naval Warfare

  RAAF receives latest P-8A Poseidon

  11th April 2019

  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has received its newest P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, the Australian Department of Defence announced on 9 April. The …

• Digital Battlespace

  Ultra Electronics awarded NGSSR work

  9th April 2019

  Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems has received a $27.98 million contract for the development and production of the US Navy’s Next Generation Surface Search Radar (NGSSR) …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• ISR/special mission

  C-208B ISR [Tunisia]

  Programme Background Requirement The acquisition of the C-208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft is part of Tunisia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its ISR capabilities in response ...

• Military UAS - mini

  U&C reconnaissance drones [US Army]

  Methodology PGO The programme has been assigned a PGO of 100%, as a contract has been awarded. Unit cost It has not been clarified what ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER ISR [Kuwait]

  Programme Background In February 2018, the US State Department has approved an estimated $259m potential foreign military sale of King Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ...

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

  Long-Endurance UAV [US AFRICOM]

  Programme Background Ageing MQ-9A Reapers In November 2022, Shephard reported that GA-ASI would continue supporting contractor SMX with its MQ-9A after winning a $2.3 billion task ...

• Military UAS - small

  Black Hornet 3 PRS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army operated approximately 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS between 2013 and 2017, when the decision was made to retire ...

• ISR/special mission

  Shadow R1 [UK]

  Background The RAF is moving forward with an ambitious plan to transform its intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) force to enable greater interoperability ...

• ISR/special mission

  Baekdu-II [South Korea]

  Programme Background This ISR aircraft programme, which first appeared on the 2020-24 Mid-Term Defense Acquisition Plan, comprises four Baekdu-II aircraft. These will add to two ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  ISR Civilian-Made UAVs [Taiwan]

  Background Civilian-made, Military-specification As reported by Shephard in April 2025, to accelerate the acquisition process and urgently build a larger UAV inventory, Taipei is enlisting the private ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  SW-4

  The SW-4 is aimed at the basic and advanced pilot training, troop transport and ISR missions. Its Polish designation is Puszczyk. The SW-4s are based ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  A-29 Super Tucano Afghanistan

  Media reports suggest that with the hourly cost of $1000, the A-29 is a successful platform for counter-insurgency missions. Its operational capability from unprepared airstrips, ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  In April 2026, AeroVironment (AV) and Shield AI announced that they had been selected to compete for a US$800 million task order to provide Contractor-Owned, ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  In April 2026, AeroVironment (AV) and Shield AI announced that they had been selected to compete for a US$800 million task order to provide Contractor-Owned, ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Multi-Mission Aircraft (1-14) [Canada]

  The objective of the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft project is to equip the Canadian Armed Forces with a long-range manned Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) and ...

• Data links

  Data links | Multi-Mission Aircraft (1-14) [Canada]

  The objective of the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft project is to equip the Canadian Armed Forces with a long-range manned Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4) and ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Zeus

  The Zeus is an Argentine tactical-class UAV from Aerotec, in partnership with its Polish technology partner, Ekolot Aerospace & Defense (EAD). The aircraft is modular and ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Silent Falcon

  The Silent Falcon is a solar-electric sUAS with long-endurance capabilities for extended-range missions. The UAS can be used for commercial and military applications. The entire ...

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

  Jackal

  The Jackal is a small UAV manufactured by FLY BVLOS, Flyby Technology and Maxwell Innovations. The system features a plug-and-play system, meaning new equipment and technologies can be ...

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

  Delta

  The Delta is a UAV with a VTOL capability before rotating and operating as a conventional fixed-wing aircraft when airborne.  Manufactured by Fly BVLOS, Nigeria was expected ...

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

  Indago

  Indago is a small quadrotor UAV with VTOL. It is equipped with a large-screen handset and is marketed as 'whisper-quiet' with a noise level of ...

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

  Canary

  Volatus Aerospace has stated that its civilian Canary rotary-wing cargo-carrying UAV can be adapted for military use in last-mile resupply operations.  Payloads are housed internally ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Ageon ISR

  Ageon ISR is a multi-INT C2/PED solution supporting cross-domain collection, ingestion, processing, exploitation and dissemination from tactical units to the global enterprise and cloud. Ageon ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AIMS-ISR

  AIMS-ISR is a software package used to process the video footage and data gathered from the cameras and other sensors fitted to airborne, ground-based and ...

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

  ENVOY

  The ENVOY is a multi-mission rotary-wing UAV with a tandem-rotor design and a payload carrying capacity of 180kg. General Dynamics renamed the system ENVOY in mid-2025.  ...

• Air: UAS radar

  EchoFlight

  The Echoflight radar by Echodyne is a Lightweight Metamaterials ESA (MESA®), a Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) 4D radar designed for mid-sized UAVs flying below the visual line of sight (BVLOS) ...

• UAS: communication systems

  muLTElink

  Produced by uAvionix, the muLTElink is a multiple-link airborne radio system designed for uncrewed platforms in particular. It combines C-Band, LTE, ISM and Viasat L-Band communications, ...

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

  DrN-15 (series)

  The DrN-15 is a hexacopter mini-UAV from ST Engineering. The platform is highly customizable and can carry various payloads depending on a user's requirements.  All DrN ...

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

  Nauru 500C

  The Nauru 500C ISR is a VTOL-capable small fixed-wing UAV from Xmobots. Designed for ISR missions, the UAV features XSIS-EO and XSIS-EOLWIR stabilised sensors. The UAV features ...

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

  Outlaw SeaHunter

  Outlaw UAVs are used by military and research agencies for training, testing, data collection and system development. In the 114-137kg maximum take-off weight class, SeaHunter ...

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

  Viper 1000C

  The Viper 1000C is a fixed-wing MALE UAS. Designed to carry EO/IR sensors over vast distances, it can be employed in a wide variety of ...