• Defence Notes

  UK economic emergency sets stage for strong words and hollow actions on defence

  29th September 2022

  Much as UK Prime Minister Liz Truss wants to project strong British power on the global stage, investment in much-needed capabilities is jeopardised by the fragile economic situation.

• Land Warfare

  Lockheed Martin exploring opportunity to perform M270 recapitalisation and sustainment work in UK

  9th September 2022

  Shephard has learned that Lockheed Martin is exploring opportunities to perform recapitalisation work on British Army's M270 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) at Ampthill under plans being assessed and pending US DoD and UK MoD approval.

• Land Warfare

  UK joins allies in providing air defence capability to Ukraine

  14th October 2022

  New air-to-air and surface-to-air systems pledged to Ukraine by the West will help to protect its key cities and infrastructure, but Kyiv will need more to be fully protected from the ongoing missile attacks, expert says.

• Naval Warfare

  Danish firm opens doors to more modular ship design

  31st October 2022

  The Cubedin joint venture can trace its roots to the Stanflex concept introduced by the Royal Danish Navy in the late 1980s.

• Training

  T-45 Goshawk grounding puts more stress on US Navy pilot pipeline

  25th October 2022

  The US Navy has been forced to ground its fleet of T-45C Goshawks again after issues were detected with engine fan blades. This is the third major problem with the trainer jets that impacts the fighter pilot training pipeline for the navy and marine corps.

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2022: Hanwha Defense wants cooperation, not competition with Polish industry

  8th September 2022

  Hanwha Defense pledges to work closely with Polish partner PGZ after the two companies signed a new MoU during MSPO 2022.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UK to accelerate heavy lift UAS technology development

  15th August 2022

  The UK has released new details about how it intends on examining heavy lift class UAS platforms and technologies.

• Land Warfare

  British Army’s Icarus programme reaches new phase

  3rd October 2022

  With an investment boost of £15 million, the British Army will continue to develop future capabilities for a modular, flexible active protection system (APS).

• Air Warfare

  Russia turns to creative solutions to fill UAV capability gaps

  24th October 2022

  Deals with Iran and using regional government funds to bypass traditional defence procurement channels are some of the ways Russia is trying to fill its qualitative and quantitative drone capability gaps.

• Air Warfare

  B-21 still makes ‘good progress’ towards possible first flight this year

  16th September 2022

  The USAF says the B-21 Raider bomber — currently in the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase — is on track for initial deliveries in the mid-2020s.

• Air Warfare

  India inducts first Fierce light attack helicopters

  3rd October 2022

  A 'mere' 18 years after the platform was conceived by HAL, India's military has inducted its first examples of the Light Combat Helicopter.

• Land Warfare

  Adaptability – A Battlefield Advantage (sponsored)

  8th September 2022

  Near peer conflict, political instability and rapidly accelerating technology make for a conflict environment that is characterised by unpredictability.

• Naval Warfare

  Euronaval 2022: BAE Systems details Adaptable Strike Frigate design with Type 32 and exports in mind

  18th October 2022

  BAE Systems is bringing its Adaptable Strike Frigate to market at Euronaval in Paris, offering a solution for the UK's Type 32 requirement and export opportunities.

• Digital Battlespace

  MAPS Gen II rolls into production to harden US Army vehicles against jamming and spoofing

  13th September 2022

  Collins Aerospace has received a deal to supply the US Army with production Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System Gen II units.

• Land Warfare

  Brazil releases RfI to procure 36 self-propelled howitzers

  29th August 2022

  The Brazilian Army intends to proceed with efforts to find a solution suitable for its requirement of 155mm wheeled artillery platforms.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Invincible Class (Type 218SG) (5-6) [Singapore]

  In March 2025, the Singapore Ministry of Defence (Mindef) announced it would acquire two more submarines to complement its four Type 218SG Invincible-class submarines. Speaking to ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Invincible Class (Type 218SG) (5-6) [Singapore]

  In March 2025, the Singapore Ministry of Defence (Mindef) announced it would acquire two more submarines to complement its four Type 218SG Invincible-class submarines. Speaking to ...

• Loitering munitions

  Small-Sized Suicide Drones [South Korea]

  Programme Background Drone Ambition As reported by Shephard, South Korea has ambitions to possess a large arsenal of drones. In May 2024, the presidential office ...

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

  Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply System (JTAARS) / Medium ULS-A [USA]

  Background US Marine ULS-A programmes The US Marines are seeking a family of Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A), which will provide logistics and ground units with their ...

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

  Switch V2 [India]

  Background Emergency Procurements In June 2025, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the signing of 13 contracts under the Emergency Procurement (EP) mechanism. The procurements, ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Type 707 (1-2) [Germany]

  Programme Background Requirements The German Navy approved an acquisition to start replacing the two ageing Rhön-class (Type 704) class single-hulled tankers, which were constructed in the ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  Wolf 2 [Germany]

  Programme Background The Wolf 2 was designed by Mercedes-Benz to replace the German Bundeswehr's ageing fleet of Wolf utility vehicles. The Bundeswehr is currently replacing its ...

• Transport

  C-130 Replacement [Greece]

  Programme Background Requirement The existing C-130 fleet of the Hellenic Air Force has faced operational readiness issues, with only one or two airframes in service at ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  F-5E/F Adversary Trainer US Navy

  The F-5N is a single seat, dual engine supersonic land based fighter. It is designed to a service life of 9000 flight hours. The aircraft ...

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Second LHD [Turkey]

  Programme Background Timeline On 29 October 2023, during the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, Turkish President Recep Erdogan stated that the Navy is ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F (Australia)

  Programme Background The government of Australia has requested to buy four CH-47F cargo helicopters with unique modifications: eight T55-GA-714A aircraft turbine engines, five AN/AAR-57 common ...

• OPVs

  58m OPV Procurement [Guyana]

  Programme Background Timeline In April 2024, OCEA announced the signing of a Letter of Intent (loI) with the Guyana Defence Force for the procurement of an ...

• Loitering munitions

  Nagastra-1 (Second Batch) [India]

  Background Emergency Procurements In June 2025, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the signing of 13 contracts under the Emergency Procurement (EP) mechanism. The procurements, which ...

• AEW&C

  E-7 Wedgetail (737) - UK

  Programme Background Seeking to replace its six ageing Boeing E-3 Sentry AEW&C;, the British Royal Air Force awarded Boeing a £1.89 billion contract in 2019 covering the ...

• Corvettes

  Ada Class Corvettes (1-2) [Ukraine]

  Programme Background Timeline In October 2020, the MoD of Ukraine and the President of the Turkish Defence Industries signed a memorandum of understanding. This outlined ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Guided munitions

  LG-155

  Unveiled for the first time at Saha Expo 2024, the LG-155 is a 155 mm artillery round developed by Roketsan. This laser-guided projectile is engineered ...

• Deployable/static missile systems

  Oerlikon Laser Gun

  Rheinmetall showcased the applications for its High Energy Laser (HEL) guns for the first time at IDEX 2015 in Abu Dhabi. The Oerlikon Laser Gun ...

• Light machine guns

  LSAT LMG

  Textron Systems Unmanned Systems is developing and maturing a Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT) family of weapons and ammunition with the US Army that fires ...

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

  Attritable Multirotor First Person View (AM-FPV)

  Unveiled in May 2025, the Attritable Multirotor First Person View (AM-FPV) is a low-cost, rapidly deployable platform for strike and ISR missions, inspired by battlefield lessons from ...

• Land: COMINT and ELINT systems

  MEWS

  The Modular Electronic Warfare System (MEWS) is a land COMINT sensor that was jointly developed by L3 TRL and Qinetiq. Utilising L3 TRL compact receiver ...

• Land: fire control systems

  Oerlikon Skymaster

  Oerlikon Skymaster is the command and control unit of Rheinmetall's Skynex air defence system. The Skymaster is intended to support tactical and operational level air ...

• Land: air defence radar

  X-TAR 3D

  The X-Band Tactical Acquisition Radar 3D (X-TAR 3D) air surveillance and acquisition radar is the newest member of Rheinmetall’s X-TAR family. The fully coherent phased-array ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lumberjack

  The Lumberjack is a one-way attack drone from  Northrop Grumman. The company describes it as a force multiplier.  The drone follows an open systems architecture, ...

• Land: COMINT and ELINT systems

  Smartscan- MEWS

  MEWS (Modular Electronic Warfare System) is a software-driven spectrum surveillance system covering two megahertz to three gigahertz. It is designed to detect, collect and geolocate ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  CM32/33/34 Yunpao

  The CM32 Yunpao (Cloud Leopard) family of 8x8 armoured vehicles has been developed to meet the requirements of the Republic of China Army to replace ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  SBTS

  The Shore-Based Sonar Training System (SBTS), launched in 2016, incorporates technology from the Model 997 Hull/Bow-Mounted Sonar Model 980 ALOFTS system to help support sonar ...

• Subsystems: visual

  Apogée 7

  Apogée 7 is an integrated COTS-based image generation system. It provides functions enhancing overall fixed- or rotary-wing simulation efficiency, image quality and supports large-area realistic ...

• Land: handheld NV devices

  NVS 7 Binocular Series

  Based on the NVS 7-3AG NVG, the NVS 7 Binocular Series uses Gen III auto-gated NV technology and is suitable for defence, marine and SAR ...

• Land: handheld NV devices

  Jaguar

  MKU's Jaguar 14 monoculars and Jaguar 7 binoculars have Gen III technology with military-grade Schott lenses. An automatic bright light cut-off sensor provides protection from ...

• Subsystems: visual

  FL33 series

  FL33 series projectors use LED illumination technology with a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours. Designed for 24/7 operation without need for changing lamps, the ...