• Digital Battlespace

  MUOS-4 set for launch

  14th August 2015

  Lockheed Martin’s fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite for the US Navy, MUOS-4, has been encapsulated in its launch vehicle ahead of its launch …

• Digital Battlespace

  DRS earns three naval contracts

  14th August 2015

  DRS Technologies has been awarded three contracts for programmes serving a range of Royal Australian Navy and US Navy ships, the company announced on 10 …

• Digital Battlespace

  DLS receives US MIDS-LVT order

  14th August 2015

  Data Link Solutions (DLS) has been awarded a contract by the US Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command to supply Multifunctional Information Distribution System …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army extends Apache sensors

  14th August 2015

  Lockheed Martin has been awarded a Lot 4 follow-on contract by the US Army to continue Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) production for the AH-64E …

• Defence Helicopter

  Ukraine looks to updated Hueys

  13th August 2015

  Ukraine is in discussions with a group of US investors to set up a domestic facility for the remanufacture of Bell UH-1 utility helicopters for …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon bags comms testing deal

  13th August 2015

  Raytheon has been awarded a contract for the certification and testing of an upgrade to the AN/ARC-231 Multi-Mode Communications System by the US Army, the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Taiwan unveils Reaper lookalike

  13th August 2015

  The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) unveiled a Reaper lookalike MALE UAV on the opening day of the Taipei Aerospace & Defence Technology …

• Naval Warfare

  BAE to upgrade Mk 45 naval guns

  13th August 2015

  BAE Systems has been awarded a contract by the US Navy to overhaul and upgrade Mk 45 naval gun systems on the US Navy Destroyer …

• Military Logistics

  US extends Raytheon JPALS programme

  13th August 2015

  Raytheon’s Engineering, Manufacturing and Development contract on the Joint Precision Approach Landing Systems (JPALS) programme has been extended by the US Navy, the company announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  First Gen III F-35 HMDS delivered

  13th August 2015

  Rockwell Collins has delivered the first Gen III F-35 Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) for the F-35 programme ahead of its introduction to the fleet …

• Defence Helicopter

  Puma helicopters get protective covers

  13th August 2015

  Air Covers has been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide protective covers for Puma Mk2 helicopters, the company announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  USAF does a u-turn on Huey replacement

  12th August 2015

  The US Air Force (USAF) has made a major u-turn with its plans to replace its UH-1N Iroquois after announcing it will be holding an …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Global Hawk demonstrates new CMMS

  12th August 2015

  Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated new unmanned aircraft system (UAS) mission management control features with the RQ-4 Global Hawk, the company announced on 11 August. …

• Naval Warfare

  US mulls Aegis sale to Japan

  11th August 2015

  The US state department has approved a potential foreign military sale to Japan for the DDG 7 and 8 AEGIS Combat System, Underwater Weapon System …

• Naval Warfare

  White hulls staking their claim

  11th August 2015

  The strategic battle for influence and control in the South China Sea has highlighted capability gaps among many nations, particularly in maritime patrol and coast …

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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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

  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 ...