• Digital Battlespace

  Africa SATCOMs restricted

  6th November 2015

  African nations have a fundamental issue with ground infrastructure that is holding the region back from full SATCOM capabilities. While SATCOMs, commercial or military, can offer …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop demos Freedom 550 gateway radio

  6th November 2015

  Northrop Grumman has demonstrated the capabilities of its Freedom 550 gateway radio terminal during an Open Mission Systems (OMS) flight trial led by Lockheed Martin, …

• Military Logistics

  LikeAbird releases UV smart battery manager

  5th November 2015

  LikeAbird has introduced a new off-the-shelf smart battery pack manager called QSBMS for unmanned air, land and sea systems, the company announced on 4 November. …

• Naval Warfare

  BIMCO seeks standardised piracy reports

  5th November 2015

  Shipowners organisation the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) is set to unveil a new reporting code designed to eliminate inconsistencies that currently produce significant …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky completes PDR for VH-92A

  5th November 2015

  Sikorsky Aircraft has completed the preliminary design review (PDR) for the VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement programme, it was announced on 4 November.  According to the …

• Naval Warfare

  Saab strengthens Polish industry ties

  5th November 2015

  Saab has made moves to increase cooperation with Poland's naval industry, signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Naval Shipyard of Gdynia, Poland. Saab announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New team for firefighting demo

  5th November 2015

  Lockheed Martin has switched its unmanned firefighting team around as the K-MAX optionally-piloted vehicle and Stalker UAS line up to conduct a combined capability demonstration …

• Military Logistics

  Northrop Grumman delivers IAMD shelters

  5th November 2015

  Northrop Grumman has delivered four prototype enhanced engagement operations centre shelters to the US Army for the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS).  …

• Digital Battlespace

  Canada expands Arctic satellites

  5th November 2015

  Canada is expecting to release a Request for Proposal (RfP) in June 2016 for its Tactical Narrowband SATCOM (TNS) requirement. The requirement is for an Arctic …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed's Sikorsky acquisition imminent

  5th November 2015

  Lockheed Martin has received the final regulatory approval required to close its acquisition of Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies, Lockheed Martin announced on 3 November.  …

• Defence Helicopter

  D&S 2015: Transworld upgrading Thai helicopters

  5th November 2015

  Transworld Aviation (Thailand) is currently upgrading helicopters for the Thai military, with a new agreement to do the same for Royal Thai Police helicopters also …

• Land Warfare

  D&S 2015: Ukraine conflict hits Thai exports

  5th November 2015

  Exports from Ukraine to Thailand are being delayed and a new agreement will amend the delivery schedule. Ukrspecexport, Ukraine’s state agency responsible for military imports …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Italy looks to weaponise MQ-9s

  5th November 2015

  The US government is considering a request from Italy for equipment to weaponise its MQ-9 Reapers under a foreign military sale (FMS), the Defense Security …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  D&S 2015: The rise of Falcon-V

  5th November 2015

  The VTOL-capable Falcon-V UAV completed a demonstration flight in October for Thailand’s Royal Irrigation Department for use in an aerial mapping capacity, following on from …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Watchkeeper crash probe begins

  4th November 2015

  The UK's Defence Safety Authority (DSA) has begun an inquiry into the crash landing of a WK450 Watchkeeper UAV on 2 November. The British Army confirmed to …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  PC-21 (Project Air 5428) [Australia]

  The new PTS, including aircraft, flight training simulators and learning environments is being acquired from a single capability contractor, Team 21, which consists of Lockheed ...

• Transport, Transport/tanker aircraft

  Project Air 7404 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement Australia is thinking ahead to an enlarged transport fleet to replace the current C-130Js. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was the second ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A (Project Air 6000 Phase 2A/B) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took delivery of 18 F-35A aircraft as of March 2020 and the remaining aircraft are expected to ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton (5-6) [Australia]

  Background Four Contracted Units In the summer of 2020, Northrop Grumman announced that the Australian Government provided $333 million for three MQ-4C Tritons and associated GCS. ...

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

  Medium Range Air Defence [Australia]

  Background Faced with a growing threat from China and a vast land and sea territory to protect, Australia is seeking to establish a medium-range ground-based ...

• Patrol boats

  Evolved Cape Class (13-14) [Australia]

  Programme Background Austal was awarded a contract to build six 'Evolved'Cape-class patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 1 May 2020 (see separate ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) [Australia]

  Background Older Efforts On 23 April 2021, the US State Department's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) approval announcement revealed that Australia had requested to buy up ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Project Air 7003 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The Royal Australian Air Force has been without a UAS capability since the Heron was withdrawn in mid-2017. According to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, ...

• OPVs

  Arafura Class (Project SEA 1180) (1-6) [Australia]

  Programme Background Australia's new class of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), the Arafura-class, will replace the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) fleet of Armidale and Cape-class patrol ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-28 Ghost Bat [Australia]

  Background Goal As stated by the Head of Air Force Capability, Air Vice-Marshal Robert Denney, in March 2022, the Ghost Bat will be an "operational system ...

• Loitering munitions

  Mission Talon Strike [Australia]

  Background Request for Tender (RFT) On 19 May 2025, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA), an agency aimed at streamlining defence invocation for the Australian Defence ...

• Military UAS - small

  VTOL UAV [New Zealand]

  Background Defence Capability Plan (DCP) In April 2025, the New Zealand government published the DCP, a document that is essentially a blueprint for what procurements ...

• Trainer

  Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirements The RAAF is seeking a future solution that provides a ‘relevant, adaptable, affordable and safe LIFTS out to 2050’ for training pilots ...

• Military UAS - small

  DEF129 (Tactical UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background Programme Announcement The Australian Army announced the Project Land 129 Phase 3 programme in 2017. This announcement led to the release of an industry ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Harpii Szpon (Loyal Wingman) [Poland]

  Background Market Evaluation On 6 November 2023, speaking at the IQPC International Fighter Conference (IFC) 2023 in Madrid, Major General Cezary Wiśniewski, the Deputy General Commander of the ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: Integrated Defensive Systems

  Air-5416 Project Echidna

  Air-5416 Project Echidna was an initiative launched in 2001 by BAE Systems for the Australian DoD. Its goal was to overhaul the self protection systems ...

• Trainer

  King Air trainer

  Textron / Beechcraft King Air trainers are a family twin-engine aircraft based on King Air 90, 100, 200 and 350 utility aircraft. The King Air ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Australian Defence Force MRH90 Training

  As prime contractor for the ADF's MRH90 training programme, CAE has provided two MRH90 full-flight mission simulators (FFMS), training facilities and engineering and support services. ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  RAAF Hawk Mk 127 FMS

  Under subcontract to BAE Systems, CAE is designing and manufacturing three Hawk Mk 127 full-mission simulators (FMS) for the Royal Australian Air Force that will ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Wanderer

  The Wanderer is a low-altitude, low-cost, long-endurance UAV produced in-house by the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Jericho Disruptive Innovation Group and the Australian Government's Defense Science ...

• Light attack

  Hawk 200

  The Hawk 200 is a single-seat light attack iteration of the Hawk 100 (see separate entry) and Advanced Jet Trainer or AJT (see separate entry). ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-28A Ghost Bat

  The MQ-28A Ghost Bat is a loyal wingman-type, Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), MALE fixed-wing drone being developed by Boeing Defence Australia. Its development began in ...

• Military - USVs

  Bluebottle

  Bluebottle is a persistent, autonomous, uncrewed surface vessel from Ocius Technology in service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). In ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  Predator Mission Trainer (PMT)

  The CAE Predator Mission Trainer (PMT) is an integrated platform that combines the features of CAE's UAS mission trainer with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator-specific ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 604

  Bombardier Challenger CL-604 MPAs are in service with the Royal Danish Air Force and the Korea Coast Guard. The first of three Danish aircraft entered ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Phantom 4 (Series)

  Designed for aerial photograph applications by DJI, the Phantom 4 series of UAVs includes the Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Phantom 4 Advanced ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  Hawkei

  Thales Australia developed the 4x4 Hawkei for the Australian Army's Land 121 Phase 4 Protected Mobility Vehicle – Light (PMV-L) project.  The prototype was unveiled in ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  AN/ALR-2001

  BAE Systems’ AN/ALR-2001 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) is thought to be based on Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Elta Systems division’s EL/M-8382 ESM. The AN/ALR-2001 is ...

• Air-to-surface missiles

  AGM-88E AARGM

  The AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) is a supersonic, medium-range, air-launched tactical missile compatible with US and allied strike aircraft. Designed to upgrade the AGM-88 ...

• Military UAS - mini

  M Solar-X

  First revealed in August 2020, in February 2024, at its symposium, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) showcased the M Solar-X. This solar-powered fixed-wing drone was ...