• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Global Hawk nears U-2 sensor tests

  2nd February 2016

  The US Air Force (USAF) and Northrop Grumman will begin flight trials of new sensor payloads for the RQ-4 Global Hawk later this month, officials …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New UAS-UGV teaming demo

  26th January 2016

  Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Sikorsky have participated in a joint autonomy demonstration to prove the capability of new ground-air cooperative missions, CMU announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Raytheon provides Coyote UAS to NOAA

  21st January 2016

  Raytheon is providing its enhanced Coyote UAS to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for hurricane research missions, the company announced on 20 January.  …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Contract award for more French Reapers

  21st January 2016

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has been awarded a $43.7 million contract for the production of a MQ-9 Reaper for the French Air Force as part …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Saab to deliver UAV to Swedish Police

  18th January 2016

  The Swedish Police has awarded a contract to Saab for the delivery of three UAV systems, it was announced on 13 January.  The system selected …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Talon 120LE UAS awarded COA

  15th January 2016

  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a Section 333 Grant of Exemption and Certificate of Waiver and Authorization (COA) to UAV Solutions for its …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Germany to lease IAI’s Heron TP

  12th January 2016

  Germany will lease up to five Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron TP UAVs ahead of the eventual development of a European MALE UAS in the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Romania receives Phoenix 30 UAS

  12th January 2016

  Four Phoenix 30 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have been delivered to the Romanian Army by UAV Solutions under a foreign military sale, the company announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Brazil UAS JV winds up

  8th January 2016

  Budget constraints in Brazil have led AEL Sistemas, Embraer Defense and Avibras to wind up the activities of their Harpia joint venture (JV). The decision …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AirMule UAS takes flight

  6th January 2016

  Tactical Robotics’ AirMule VTOL UAS has successfully completed its first untethered flight at the Megiddo airfield in northern Israel. The flight was conducted as part …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Heron reaches new flight hour milestone

  31st December 2015

  Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI) Heron 1 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) has marked its 70,000th flight hour in support of operations in Afghanistan, IAI announced on …

• Training

  Aegis Technologies to enrich Vampire

  30th December 2015

  Aegis Technologies has been contracted to work on a programme for the Spanish Ministry of Defense being delivered under an AeroVironment-US Army UAS Foreign Military …

• Naval Warfare

  Airships have multirole future

  28th December 2015

  Airship producer Aeroscraft says lighter-than-air (LTA) aircraft have an advantage over other ISR platforms, particularly in roles such as coastal patrol and port security, as …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  GA-ASI delivers final RQ-1 Predator As

  24th December 2015

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has delivered two RQ-1 Predator UAS to the Italian Air Force, the company announced on 22 December. This marks the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Saab and UMS Aero Group form JV

  23rd December 2015

  Saab will form a joint venture with UMS Aero Group to target the defence and civil tactical UAS markets, the company announced on 21 December. …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Aeromobila A Pilotaggio Remoto (Micro) [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 micro-UAS capable ...

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

  RQ-20 Puma (Belgium)

  Programme Background Requirement The Belgian MoD outlined plans to procure more mini and tactical UAS in its Strategic Vision for Defence published in 2016. According ...

• Military UAS - small

  Bug Nano UAS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army previously took delivery of 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS in 2013 to support operations in Afghanistan. After these ...

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

  Blue Water Maritime Logistics UAS (BWUAS) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Goal The Blue Water Maritime Logistics UAS (BWUAS) programme stems from the Military Sealift Command and Fleet Forces Command identifying, in 2018, a ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE (Germany)

  Programme Background The Germany navy had an urgent requirement for three UAS required for reconnaissance and identification in maritime operations. A platform was required that ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Class 2 Tactical UAS [Ireland]

  Background EU Tender On 13 March 2024, the Irish Department of Defence released a planning notice on the EU tenders website, confirming that the Irish ...

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

  Mini UAS [Spain]

  Programme Background Fuerza 35 Project This project is a Spanish Army initiative to create and maintain an effective force by forming flexible and cohesive operational ...

• 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 ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Long Range Reconnaissance (LRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  Under its Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) programme, the US Army plans to procure a Family of Small UAS (FoSUAS) to provide an organic ISR capability ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Long Range Reconnaissance (LRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  Under its Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) programme, the US Army plans to procure a Family of Small UAS (FoSUAS) to provide an organic ISR capability ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Indigenous UAS (South Korea)

  Programme Background South Korea's Total UAS Budget The government of South Korea wants to grow its domestic UAS industry. To do this, it was reported in ...

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

  Anafi [Sweden]

  Programme Background Sweden announced on 7 February 2024 that Defence Material Works had procured drones for the Home Guard on behalf of the Armed Forces. ...

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

  MALE UAV (Finland)

  Programme Background Defence Report 2017 The Government's Defence Report 2017 stated that Finland's fighter capability could not be replaced wholesale by UAVs. Therefore, the FDF ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Maveric UAS

  The Maveric is a small, lightweight UAS designed to perform covert ISR missions at the tactical level. In order to camouflage the drone, its profile ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  UAS Academy

  IAI has established a UAS Academy for training and certification of operators and technicians. The academy was established to meet a perceived need for skilled ...

• Lynx UAS

  The Lynx is an sUAS used for large-area precision agriculture and surveying and has an endurance of 3h with the standard mapping payload. Its hand-launched ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  UAS 100

  The UAS 100 is an autonomous, three-engined platform, modular UAS manufactured by Thales in partnership with Issoire Aviation, Hionos and with the support of the ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy UAS

  The Heavy UAS, or Cargo Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, is, as its name suggests, a cargo-carrying UAV.  Manufactured by Honeywell Aerospace, the VTOL capable UAV's horizontal flight ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  MAUI

  The Mobile Application for UAS Identification (MAUI) is an acoustic sensor that operates on smartphones using the microphone to detect Group 1 (small, lightweight) UAVs, ...

• Hex Mini UAS

  The Hex Mini is a hexacopter UAS capable of autonomous operation. Launched in under 10min, the system is constructed of sturdy materials and supports gyrostabilised ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  UAS Operator Training

  To help in the development of training applications for UAS pilots, Presagis offers a suite of integrated COTS software that can be used for the ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  UAS Mission Trainer

  The UAS Mission Trainer combines an open architecture with COTS hardware and simulation software that minimises the use of proprietary designs to provide a platform-agnostic ...

• 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: Radio and SATCOM

  Small UAS CISR

  Cubic's Secure ISR Radio (SCISR) for small unmanned aerial systems is a rugged common data link (CDL) multi-band (L, S, and C) full-duplex transceiver for ...

• UAS: Integrated systems - uncrewed

  AsteRx-m2 UAS

  The AsteRx-m2 UAS is a GNSS receiver designed to be easily integrated into UAS applications to provide centimetre-level RTK positioning. The system’s standard connectors enable ...

• 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 ...

• Foremost UAS Range

  The Foremost UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Range is an area of restricted airspace, located near the village of Foremost, for UAS research and development or ...