• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Five uncrewed developments that defined the domain in 2022

  27th December 2022

  Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the most significant developments in the world of uncrewed systems have stemmed from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

• Air Warfare

  RAF boss hopes for a return to a five-aircraft E-7 buy

  6th February 2023

  While the RAF may hope to return to its original plan for a five-strong E-7 AEW fleet, the service will still have to wait until 2024 to receive its first aircraft.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Rheinmetall expands UGV range with new Mission Master CTX

  11th January 2023

  Rheinmetall's new 4x4 uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) is intended for armed and unarmed missions with swappable payload modules.

• Air Warfare

  How the US Army’s FLRAA decision can affect other helicopter programmes

  14th December 2022

  Following the award of the US Army’s largest helicopter procurement in decades to the Bell V-280, questions remain as to what this means for the US's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft competition and helicopter procurement elsewhere.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Lithuania acquires Switchblade 600

  27th December 2022

  The country announced a €45 million ($48 million) agreement with the US Government for the purchase of Switchblade 600 unmanned weapon systems.

• Land Warfare

  Italian Navy orders amphibious armoured personnel carriers

  16th January 2023

  IDV is to supply 36 8x8 Amphibious Armoured Vehicle personnel carriers to the Italian Navy's San Marco Naval Brigade.

• Naval Warfare

  Type 31 programme moves forward with new steel cutting

  25th January 2023

  Steel cutting marks the formal beginning of construction of the second Type 31 frigate, HMS Active.

• Defence Notes

  US FY2023 defence budget emphasises investments in modernisation and procurements

  23rd December 2022

  US Congress approved a bill nearly $3.4 billion higher than the amount requested by the Pentagon.

• Air Warfare

  Raytheon gets set for US rocket cargo missions

  18th January 2023

  Under the US Air Force's 2030 Science & Technology Strategy, Raytheon will develop rocket cargo mission planning and C2 systems.

• Training

  US Navy expands Trident submarine training facilities

  13th January 2023

  A new facility will include a missile control centre team trainer and Naval Sea Systems Command weapon handling system team trainer for the Ohio-class submarine.

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2022: Hadean, British Army to showcase CTTP pathfinder progress

  21st November 2022

  The pathfinder agreement between the British Army and Hadean sought to transfer large portions of land-based physical training into a single synthetic environment. If the progress achieved is significant, this could be a big victory for distributed computing technologies in the defence sector.

• Air Warfare

  Regional F-35 sustainment facility to boost operational resilience in Indo-Pacific region

  15th January 2023

  Lockheed Martin has ensured more efficient sustainment of F-35 fighters thanks to a new warehouse in Australia.

• Land Warfare

  Why Russia has lost over three times as many ground vehicles as Ukraine

  23rd November 2022

  A total of 7,629 Russian land systems have been destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured by Ukraine, according to open-source figures, representing 78.6% of losses in the conflict.

• Air Warfare

  Brazil becomes first 4th gen plus jet operator in South America

  21st December 2022

  Brazil became the first South American country to operate a fourth-generation-plus advanced combat jet by inaugurating its first Gripens.

• Defence Notes

  Asia makes waves in the global defence market (Opinion)

  15th December 2022

  Asian defence manufacturers are really starting to make themselves felt, with products being exported to new customers such as NATO and Five Eyes nations.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-2 (Japan)

  Programme Background The UH-2 is a Japanese militarised version of Bell’s civilian 412EPX, with the two OEMs cooperating on this particular programme. The Acquisition, Technology ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-2 Forecast (Japan)

  Programme Background The UH-2 is a Japanese militarised version of Bell’s civilian 412EPX, with the two OEMs cooperating on this particular programme. The Acquisition, Technology ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 [Croatia]

  Programme Background Contract Award As reported by Shephard in November 2024, Croatia's government approved the purchase of six Bayraktar TB2 drones, a training package in Türkiye, a command-and-control centre, ...

• Trainer

  T-6C [Thailand]

  Programme Background The contract is for 12 Beechcraft T-6C Texan II advanced military training aircraft, ground-based training systems for pilots and maintenance professionals, a mission ...

• ISR/special mission

  ISTAR Aircraft (South Korea)

  Programme Background South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration stated that Seoul is planning to procure additional aircraft to minimize potential surveillance gaps amid growing security ...

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

  KUS-FT (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirement The ROKA had identified a need for tactical UAVs that can be employed at the divisional level to carry out ISTAR missions ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M [Taiwan]

  Programme Background China's Aggression Taiwan's national defence policy revolves around defending itself from a possible invasion by China. In Early 2025, the Taipei Times elaborated ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  KUS-FS (ROKA) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Inception The Aerospace Division of Korean Air (KAL-ASD) commenced developing the MUAV in 2008 in response to a ROKAF requirement for a MALE ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  KUS-FS (ROKAF) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Inception The Aerospace Division of Korean Air (KAL-ASD) commenced developing the MUAV in 2008 in response to a ROKAF requirement for a MALE UAV ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirments Seoul required UAS assets to help monitor its neighbour to the north and, increasingly, Chinese activities in waters and in the air near ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (Japan)

  Programme Background Selection & Contract AwardIn 2015, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan to ...

• Loitering munitions

  Long Range One-way Platforms [US]

  Solicitation In October 2024, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) released a solicitation for long-range, one-way platforms. The DIU noted recent conflicts highlighted the asymmetric impact of low-cost, ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Swiss Air 2030 - Combat Aircraft

  Programme Background Switzerland began the latest phase of flight and ground tests on 8 April 2019. In June 2019, Saab announced that the company’s in-development ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Eurodrone (Forecast) [Czechia]

  Programme Background Eurodrone Programme For context, the European MALE RPAS, or Eurodrone, is a quad-nation effort from some of Europe's most prominent defence manufacturers to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Eurodrone (Forecast) [Japan]

  Programme Background Japan's Application The Letter of Approval (LOA) for observer status in the programme was presented to the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, Hidenao Yanagi, by Joachim ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: COMINT and ELINT systems

  GenCOM Defense Ground

  GenCOM Defense Ground provides an automatic multi-layered situational awareness picture to the decision-maker, based on external signal data (metadata) gathered in real time. Integrating with ...

• Major networking projects

  DCGS

  The Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) is the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office plan for the integrated architecture of all ground and surface computing and communications ...

• 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 ...

• Land: air defence radar

  KRONOS Power Shield Land

  This system is an L-band digital AESA anti-TBM radar. It is the land-based version of the naval KRONOS Power Shield, also known as KRONOS Ground ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  AMRAAM-ER

  The AIM-120 AMRAAM-ER is essentially an upgraded version of the AIM-120 AMRAAM tailored for extended range and enhanced performance in ground-based air defense systems like ...

• Short Range Missile Defence Systems: 0 to 20 km range

  Initial Maneuver - SHORAD

  Unveiled at AUSA 2019, Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) is a multipurpose platform, based on the Stryker IFV, which moves and maneuvers in ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  Type 87

  The Type 87 is a 6x6 armoured reconnaissance vehicle developed by the now defunct Defense Division of Komatsu to meet the specific requirements of the ...

• AEW&C

  P600 AEW&C

  In June 2019, Embraer and IAI/Elta signed a cooperation agreement aimed at developing an AEW&C; aircraft based on the business jet Praetor 600, namely the ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AMDWS

  AMDWS (Air and Missile Defense Work Station), is a collaborative battlespace awareness information management system developed by Northrop Grumman to meet the requirements of the ...

• Parvus DuraCOR 312

  The Parvus DuraCOR 312 is an Ultra-Small Form Factor (USFF) modular mission computer unveiled by Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions in November 2016. The DuraCOR 312 is ...

• Long-range Video and Data Downlinks

  BMS airborne and ground-based equipment enables long-range, real-time HD video and broadband data links. Products include cockpit control panels, airborne antennas, real-time encoders, compact high-power ...

• Land: battle management systems

  FAAD/C-RAM C2

  The Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) Command and Control (C2) system was developed by Northrop Grumman to provide command and control (C2) for the US Army ...

• Data links

  Universal Link System

  Developed by Scytalys, the Universal Link System (ULS) is a modular, scalable multi data link processor. It supports all NATO and US standard data links ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  MIM-72 Chaparral

  The MIM-72 Chaparral is a short-range, low-altitude, surface-to-air missile produced for the M48 Chaparral fire unit. It was produced as a replacement for the cancelled MIM-46 Mauler ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-67

  The AN/APG-67 is a multi-mode, pulse-Doppler X-band radar designed for the Northrop F-20 Tigershark. It provides both air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities, including look-up/look-down detection, tracking, ...