• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Airbus and Hauts-de-France target air deliveries

  24th June 2019

  On 17 June, Airbus signed a framework partnership agreement with the Hauts-de-France region to assess the economic development potential of UAS deliveries on a regional …

• Defence Helicopter

  Paris Air Show: H160M mock up demonstrates payload options (video)

  18th June 2019

  Nearing the end of a complex journey from civil platform development to delivery of a military variant to the French Armed Forces, the Airbus H160M …

• Naval Warfare

  India buys and sells torpedoes

  19th July 2019

  India delivered a batch of Shyena advanced lightweight torpedoes to Myanmar in early July, about the same time that the Indian Navy (IN) began looking …

• Defence Helicopter

  AAR to support RNLAF Chinooks

  16th July 2019

  AAR will support the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) CH-47 Chinook fleet under a contract announced on 9 July.The contract will see AAR perform maintenance, …

• Training

  Indra contracted for French MRTT simulator

  25th June 2019

  Indra has been contracted by Airbus Defence & Space to deliver a simulator for the French Air Force’s A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet.  The …

• Defence Notes

  Two crucial areas continue to dominate UK defence exports

  30th July 2019

  Despite political shifts in UK defence, including a series of defence ministers in recent years and differing defence industrial priorities, one constant is the UK’s …

• Land Warfare

  KRAS receives Barak-8 order

  15th July 2019

  Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems India (KRAS) has received a $100 million contract for Barak-8 surface-to-air missile kits from Rafael.The order will see 1,000 missile kits …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Paris Air Show: Airbus eyes up maiden VSR700 prototype flight

  10th June 2019

  Airbus is building towards its first flight of the VSR700 rotary-wing TUAS prototype this year - an occasion that will see the vehicle tested without a …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Leonardo reveals plan to absorb AWHero development

  4th July 2019

  Leonardo’s board of directors has approved a plan for the company to absorb its unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing Sistemi Dinamici subsidiary into the main business …

• Military Logistics

  Paris Air Show: DIRCM for Germany's A400M fleet

  21st June 2019

  Airbus Defence and Space will supply Directed Infrared Counter Measure (DIRCM) systems for Germany's A400M aircraft under a contract from Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr …

• Defence Helicopter

  Safran extends engine support commitments in Thailand

  3rd July 2019

  Safran Helicopter Engines and Thai Aviation Industries (TAI) have signed an agreement to extend their support for helicopter engines used by the Royal Thai Armed …

• Digital Battlespace

  Airbus advances SMART MRTT connectivity

  14th June 2019

  Airbus has carried out a flight demonstration of a connected airborne battlespace scenario using an A330 MRTT aircraft. Carried out as part of the development …

• Defence Notes

  India set to purchase additional Su-30MKI fighters

  17th July 2019

  According to Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, the nation’s arms export control body, India is set to purchase 18 more Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighters …

• Defence Helicopter

  China aims to fill gaps with a naval Z-20

  5th July 2019

  An image that appeared on the Chinese Internet last week depicted a full-sized mock-up of a Z-20 helicopter sitting on the stern of a People’s …

• Training

  Korean CAA certifies Entrol's AW109 sim

  3rd July 2019

  The Korean civil aviation authority has officially certified Entrol’s H19/AW109 flight training device (FTD) Level 5 simulator purchased by Helikorea.This FTD is the first Entrol …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M - France

  Programme Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M [Ireland]

  Programme Background On 30 December 2024 Ireland announced a contract with Airbus for four new H145M helicopters to replace the Air Corps existing fleet of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System - AHTS (TH-57 Replacement)

  Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single engine 407GXi. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters

  The three maritime operations helicopters will be used for logistics and personnel transport, alongside transportation of PASKAL naval special forces in operations in the area. ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  SW4 Puszczyk Replacement [Poland]

  Programme Background  In 2002, Poland order 47 SW4 training helicopters from Italian manufacturer Leonardo; as of Spring 2025, the Ministry of Defence is looking to ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia

  Programme Background PTDI is assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung.  The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to Indonesian Army on 29 December 2020 ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Kondor Naval Helicopters (Poland)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Polish MoD announced its requirement to purchase up to eight naval helicopters to replace in-service SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters. Polish ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Army First Batch

  HT-29 Caiman GSPAs (NH90 TTH) will be assembled at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Albacete and will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service. Even though ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101 [Poland]

  According to the media reports, Airbus couldn't provide a competitive offer for the programme due to the offset requirements.  The deliveries were to be completed ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-X [Japan]

  There is no mention of the AH-X in the 2019-2023 Medium Term Defence Plan, so it is possible that the requirement has quietly been postponed. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H135 (UK)

  Programme BackgroundAirbus Helicopters UK announced on 2 February 2022 that it has won an order to provide five additional H135 twin-engine helicopters for the MoD. The ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T-India-Air Force

  An official contract announcement is expected during the Aero India 2021 exhibition in Bangalore, although negotiations have dragged on for more than five years and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M (Contracted) [Germany]

  Programme Background Previous Usage The German Armed Forces ordered 15 H145M helicopters, with the initial two delivered in December 2015, for the Kommando Spezialkräfte. These ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Naval Utility Helicopters (India)

  Programme Background The program will witness the formation of a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and another local or foreign manufacturer. In June ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - light/training

  H145

  The light, twin-engine EC145 began as an initiative to increase the cabin size of the BK 117 C1 aircraft, involving Kawasaki of Japan and Airbus ...

• Military helicopters - light/training, Military helicopters - multirole

  H135M

  The H135M (formerly known as the EC635 and also designated as H135) is a light utility variant of the EC135 twin-engine, multipurpose 3t helicopter. In ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M

  The H145M (formerly known as the EC645 T2) is the military version of the H145 medium-sized (3.7t) helicopter (covered in a separate entry). It is ...

• Model 301 Fire Attack

  The Model 301 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters AS365-series helicopters.

• Model 316 Fire Attack

  The Model 316 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters H225 and AS332 L-series helicopters.

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H175M

  The Airbus H175M is the military variant of the H175, a seven-tonne class aircraft powered by twin PT6C 67E engines. The civilian variants produced by Airbus ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Helionix

  The Helionix digital avionics suite was developed from the need for a more powerful avionics system with greater functions and computing capacity, alongside a user-friendly interface. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H215M

  The H215M (formerly the AS532 ALe) is the most recent addition to the Cougar family.  It is a medium-weight (9t-class), twin-engine helicopter, combining the AS532's ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M

  The medium-weight, 11t-class H225M (formerly known as the EC725) is the latest military Super Puma/Cougar family member.  Technical features include a modular design of mechanical ...

• AC67 Airbus Helicopters H135 interior

  Bucher has developed the AC67 medical interior for the Airbus Helicopters H135 in cooperation with ADAC Luftrettung.The lightweight, modular design features a floor with integrated ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2+/2D

  Unveiled in 2011, the Arriel 2+ is an upgrade of the Arriel 2 and is intended for single- and twin-engine helicopters. It incorporates a new ...

• Helicopter engines

  LTS101

  The LTS101 was first certified in 1975. Since then, over 2,100 engines have been delivered to customers worldwide, logging over 11 million service hours. The ...

• EO/IR systems

  Viviane

  Viviane is an out-of-production gyro-stabilised night and adverse weather observation system with missile sight.  Manufactured by Safran, it was fitted to French Army Gazelles. It contained a ...

• Air: mission management systems

  APM 2000

  The current generation of autopilots is the APM 2000 family, fitted on major worldwide platforms. The APM 2000 is based on an integrated digital computer. ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  EWR-99

  Dassault is not traditionally associated with electronic warfare subsystems, instead being equated with the manufacture of combat aircraft and business jets. Nonetheless, the company did, ...