• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CTTSO embraces counter-drone capabilities

  7th April 2020

  Reporting to the US Assistant Secretary of Defense Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict (ASD SO/LIC), the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) is tasked with identifying and developing …

• Special Operations

  Dutch lift lid on Takuba plans

  7th May 2020

  The Netherlands’ Special Operations Command (NLD SOCOM) has disclosed to Shephard its planned contribution to Task Force Takuba - a European Combined Joint Special Operations …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Orbital UAV and Northrop Grumman launch new partnership

  23rd April 2020

  Australia-based Orbital UAV on 23 April announced that it is teaming up with Northrop Grumman to develop a new hybrid UAV propulsion system. The system …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment unveils Quantix Recon

  24th April 2020

  AeroVironment on 23 April launched a military variant of its Quantix crop-surveying UAV. Quantix Recon is a fully-automated hybrid VTOL UAS, designed to deliver high-resolution …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Army programme blends cyber with traditional EW

  3rd May 2020

  Lockheed Martin is set to expand its work on the US Army’s Multi-Function Electronic Warfare Air Large (MFEW-AL) programme, with the aim of combining EW …

• Digital Battlespace

  Huneed Technologies delivers MILDS AN/AAR-60 to KAI

  22nd April 2020

  Hensoldt’s South Korean partner, Huneed Technologies, has delivered eight MILDS AN/AAR-60 to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). The missile warning system will be integrated into KAI’s …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  FlyEye may join battle against COVID-19

  22nd April 2020

  Polish company WB Group is offering its FlyEye 3.0 miniature UAS to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The offer was made last …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Loyal Wingman takes up position

  5th May 2020

  Boeing has handed over the first prototype of a Loyal Wingman large multirole UAV to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), with the first flight expected …

• Air Warfare

  Chadian Su-25 accidentally fires missile at airbase

  20th April 2020

  A Chadian Air Force Su-25 (NATO: Frogfoot) aircraft accidentally fired a missile at Base Aérienne Kossei in Ndjamena, Chad. The missile narrowly missed a French …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-61A made to wait for first recoverable flight test

  8th April 2020

  Dynetics has revealed that the reshaping of flight test activities at the US Army’s Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, has led to a delay of a …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Russia accepts Orion MALE UAV

  27th April 2020

  The Russian MoD has completed the acceptance process for the Orion MALE UAV, according to Nikolay Dolzhenkov, chief designer at St Petersburg-based manufacturer Kronstadt Group. …

• Air Warfare

  USMC adjusts its air power priorities

  4th May 2020

  In issuing the Force Design 2030 report into the future direction of the USMC, the corps is attempting to steer the course of its development, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Laser-based technology seeks to plug C-UAS gap in border security

  19th March 2020

  Recent Israeli media reports indicate that the Light Blade (Lahav-Or) counter-UAS (C-UAS) system, developed by startup company OptiDefense, showed impressive results in field trials against …

• Land Warfare

  Czechs buy thousands of small arms

  9th April 2020

  The Czech MoD has announced its intention to procure more than 39,000 assault rifles and pistols for its armed forces. A spokesperson for the ministry …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Coyote Block 2 UAV killer on target for IOC and sales

  17th March 2020

  Raytheon expects to begin full-rate production of Coyote Block 2 (pictured), a counter-UAS (C-UAS) UAV which is used with the Howler C-UAS system, in 2020. …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

• 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 ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

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

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

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

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Programme Background In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is Leonardo’s C-band AESA radar designed for detecting, classifying, and tracking small, high-maneuvering targets. It’s designed for various applications, including counter-UAS, ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Air: helicopter radar, Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AirMaster-C

  The AirMaster-C is a two-dimensional, AESA, airborne surveillance radar manufactured by Thales. It is marketed as a lightweight surveillance radar designed to be fitted to ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Land: air defence radar

  iMOTR

  The Innovative Multiple-Object Tracking Radar (iMOTR) system has been designed to provide military test ranges with more accurate time, space and position information for several ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...