• Training

  Australia wants new simulators for M1A2 Abrams

  21st June 2020

  Australia is seeking to improve its training capabilities as the army prepares to upgrade its existing M1A1 AIM Abrams MBTs to M1A2 configuration. The Capability and …

• Defence Notes

  Japan decides to set Aegis Ashore adrift

  18th June 2020

  Defence Minister Taro Kono suddenly announced on 15 June that Japan would discontinue its acquisition of Aegis Ashore. Boosters falling onto residential areas, after separating …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Reaper demonstrates three ATLC improvements

  26th June 2020

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has demonstrated three expanded automatic takeoff and landing capability (ATLC) enhancements for the MQ-9A Reaper UAS, under a modernisation contract from …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Denmark seeks new unmanned air capability

  16th June 2020

  The Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) is planning to acquire a new UAS capability to support the Danish Armed Forces. According to an EU-wide …

• Air Warfare

  Lockheed to provide radar processor retrofits for Advanced Hawkeye

  24th June 2020

  US Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Lockheed Martin a firm-fixed-price order worth $22.43 million, to procure 12 retrofit advanced radar processor systems for Northrop …

• Air Warfare

  Rwanda joins the Grand Caravan club

  25th June 2020

  Cessna C-208 Grand Caravan EX aircraft are being supplied to the Rwandan Air Force by ATI Engineering Services in an FMS deal. The $10.1 million contract for …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  General Atomics to supply two more Reapers

  23rd June 2020

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has received a $26.87 million contract from US Naval Air Systems Command to provide two MQ-9A Reaper unmanned air systems (UASs). The …

• Defence Notes

  Ireland mulls a major leap forward in air capabilities

  3rd July 2020

  Ireland has raised the possibility of purchasing air combat interceptor aircraft, as a major increase in capability for the Air Corps if the proposal goes …

• Special Operations

  GSA awards SOF light tactical vehicle contract to Polaris

  5th June 2020

  The US General Services Administration (GSA) awarded a follow-on contract worth up to $109 million to Polaris Government & Defense for its MRZR Alpha vehicle, …

• Air Warfare

  Sweden hits deadlock over new defence spending plans

  26th June 2020

  Cross party political talks in Sweden addressing future defence funding have collapsed, following disagreement over whether additional money should be approved. The Swedish government will …

• Digital Battlespace

  European team seeks holy grail of unifying airborne EM systems

  17th June 2020

  More light can be shed on the European Defence Agency’s (EDA’s) CROWN initiative to develop a scalable, single architecture for airborne radar, EW and communications …

• Land Warfare

  UK invests in disruptive vehicle technology

  6th July 2020

  The British Army is keen to provide disruptive technology to its troops and will invest in new equipment, systems and sensors during this year. An …

• Air Warfare

  Northrop Grumman reaches AARGM-ER design milestone

  19th June 2020

  Northrop Grumman has completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) of key components for the USN’s Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) programme, the company confirmed …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ukroboronprom delivers modernised Spectator-M1 to AFU

  19th June 2020

  Ukroboronprom subsidiary OJSC Meridian confirmed on 18 June that it has completed its first delivery of a modernised Spectator-M1 UAS to the Armed Forces of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  QinetiQ Australia to build Queensland UAS Flight Test Range

  8th June 2020

  QinetiQ Australia has been awarded a contract by the Queensland state government to design and build an UAS Flight Test Range (FTR) at Cloncurry Aerodrome …

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 ...

• AEW&C

  AEW&C Aircraft [India]

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems.  A330 Bid In 2015, the IAF has requested to procure six ...

• 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 ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Aeromobila A Pilotaggio Remoto (Mini) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirement Released on 5 August 2021, the Italian MoD's Multi-Year Defence Programme Document for 2021-2023 announced a programme aimed at acquiring a mini-UAS capable ...

• 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 ...

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 ...

• 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

  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

  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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• 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 ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Pitbull C-UAS Jammer

  In June 2018, MyDefence launched the Pitbull wearable C-UAS solution, which utilises smart jamming to defeat enemy drones. Pitbull was developed to have a minimal ...

• OPVs

  PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO

  The PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO is an enhanced version of the Thaon di Revel-class PPAs unveiled at Euronaval 2024. The PPA/MPCS EVO retains the core platform ...