• Digital Battlespace

  AOC 2018: US Army explores integrated tactical network concept

  23rd November 2018

  One of the potential capabilities evaluated at the recent US Army Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 18.2, held from 1-12 November at Fort Bliss, Texas, was …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Japan secures Global Hawks and eyes Avengers

  21st November 2018

  Tokyo has committed money as part of its order of three RQ-4 Global Hawk HALE UAVs, with the US DoD announcing on 19 November an …

• Defence Notes

  Upcoming PESCO projects highlight EW and unmanned technology

  21st November 2018

  Recent updates to the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects, programmes that multiple countries work on together, place a strong emphasis on both unmanned systems and …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Belgium looks to follow UK with SkyGuardian

  19th November 2018

  Belgium looks to be following the UK in the procurement of the General Atomics (GA-ASI) MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAV, after the announcement on 19 November that …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Indo Defence 2018: Turkey looks east for first Anka export

  9th November 2018

  Turkish Aerospace made a statement at this year’s Indo Defence with a full scale model of its Anka UAV on display. The company is pursuing …

• Digital Battlespace

  UK awards F-ADAPT contract to Thales

  1st November 2018

  The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to Thales UK to modernise the British Army and Royal Marines’ very short-range air defence capability. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Australia selects MQ-9 Reaper

  16th November 2018

  The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper has been selected for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) under Project Air 7003 Phase 1, Minister …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop awarded USCYBERCOM contract

  5th November 2018

  Northrop Grumman has received a contract worth $54.62 million from the US Air Force to serve as Unified Platform systems coordinator for the US Cyber …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Falco EVO flies with upgrade package

  31st October 2018

  Leonardo has completed a series of successful test flights of its Falco EVO RPAS in Bulgaria. The flight was carried out to validate a package …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AN/ZPY-4 radar contract for Fire Scout

  30th October 2018

  Telephonics has received a contract to supply its AN/ZPY-4 maritime and overland surveillance radar system for use on the US Navy's MQ-8B Fire Scout UAS, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Commercial UAV Expo 2018: PrecisionHawk expands BVLOS capability

  4th October 2018

  Beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations was a hot topic at this year’s Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas and is the next step …

• Digital Battlespace

  DARPA eyes low-earth orbit for Blackjack programme

  6th November 2018

  The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking a range of proposals for a new programme that will build a constellation of small, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AWHero’s communications trials with Wildcat

  29th October 2018

  Leonardo has disclosed efforts to extend the communications range and manned/unmanned teaming capabilities of the AWHero VTOL UAS, a company official has said. Addressing delegates …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Redesigned Bluefin-9 UUV launched

  30th October 2018

  General Dynamics Mission Systems has released the new re-engineered Bluefin-9 UUV, the company announced on 23 October. The vehicle combines high navigational accuracy, enhanced sonar …

• Naval Warfare

  Indo Defence 2018: HAL to upgrade Indian Coast Guard Dorniers

  31st October 2018

  India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the green light for a mid-life upgrade of 17 of the country’s Dornier 228 twin-turboprop utility aircraft, following …

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 ...