• Digital Battlespace

  Avalon 2015: Australian Wedgetail fully operational by mid-year

  25th February 2015

  Full operating capability (FOC) is expected to be declared for the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Wedgetail E-7A airborne early warning and control aircraft before …

• Land Warfare

  Australia releases RfT for combat reconnaissance vehicles

  25th February 2015

  Australia released its long-awaited request for tender (RfT) on 19 February for 225 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) for the Australian Army under Land 400 Phase …

• Defence Helicopter

  IDEX 2015: DCI expands training offer

  25th February 2015

  The recently appointed CEO of the French training services enterprise DCI, Jean-Michel Palagos, has ambitious plans for the business and has set an annual growth …

• Military Logistics

  RuBee system takes part in pilot programme

  25th February 2015

  Lockheed Martin is hopeful that its new weapons maintenance system, developed with Visible Assets, will be expanded into a full programme following a pilot programme …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  RAAF trains aircrew on US Air Force MQ-9 UAS

  25th February 2015

  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has started training aircrew and support staff on US Air Force (USAF) MQ-9 Reaper UAS operations in the US, …

• Military Logistics

  IDEX 2015 (video): RUBB advances in Middle East

  25th February 2015

  Andrew Know, the sales manager at Rubb Military Buildings, talks to Tim Fish, editor of Military Logistics International at the IDEX 2015 exhibition in Abu …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  IDEX 2015: Aerosonde wins oil and gas work

  25th February 2015

  Textron Systems has revealed that it has at least two customers in the Middle East for its Aerosonde M4.7 UAS, which is being used in …

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2015: FNSS designing two ATGM vehicles

  25th February 2015

  FNSS has begun conceptual design and technical feasibility work on wheeled and tracked anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) carrier vehicles for the Turkish Army, the company has revealed. …

• Military Logistics

  RAAF to start C-27J Spartan flight training

  24th February 2015

  Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airborne flight training on the Alenia C-27J Spartan airlift aircraft is set to begin shortly in Texas, US, the Australian …

• Land Warfare

  General Dynamics to continue US Army LT2 work

  24th February 2015

  General Dynamics will continue to manage the US Army's Live Training Transformation (LT2) product line, the company announced on 23 February. A team led by …

• Land Warfare

  Ukraine to get 50 modified armoured vehicles

  24th February 2015

  Ukraine's state-owned defence firm Ukroboronprom will overhaul and manufacture 50 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV-1) for the Ukraine military, the company announced on 20 February. The …

• Land Warfare

  Rockwell Collins JFO/JITAC simulators for Australia

  24th February 2015

  Rockwell Collins will provide the latest-generation Joint Fires Observer (JFO)/Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) simulator to the Australian Army, the company announced on 24 February. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Worldwide Aeros starts producing 40E 'Sky Dragon'

  24th February 2015

  Worldwide Aeros has completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) and started production of its 40E 'Sky Dragon' lighter-than-air (LTA) airship, the company announced on 20 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon 2015: Rocket firings planned for Fire Scout

  24th February 2015

  Northrop Grumman plans to do a test firing of an Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) from the new version of its Fire Scout rotary …

• Digital Battlespace

  Blighter B400 radars for Middle East air base

  24th February 2015

  Blighter Surveillance Systems' B400 Series PESA e-scan Doppler radars have been selected for installation at a strategic Middle East air base, the company announced on …

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 ...