• Defence Notes

  Venezuela denies Colombian claims of armed forces incursion

  23rd August 2018

  Venezuela has hit back at Colombia, branding as fake news, claims from its neighbour that helicopters and troops had violated its sovereignty in an illegal …

• Defence Helicopter

  Rostvertol demonstrates improved Mi-28NE

  31st August 2018

  An enhanced Mi-28NE derivative for export customers has been publicly unveiled for the first time at Army 2018. A set of new design features have …

• Defence Notes

  Thorny trade, defence issues await US diplomats in India

  4th September 2018

  Two of US President Donald Trump's top officials are finally heading for talks in India in the week of 3 September, after Washington twice pulled …

• Defence Helicopter

  SB>1 Defiant blades issue appears solved

  22nd August 2018

  The Sikorsky-Boeing in-development SB>1 Defiant demonstrator team appear to have resolved production issues concerning the future medium class helicopter's blades. Manufacturing issues of the components, being …

• Defence Helicopter

  UN to begin medevac helicopter process

  13th August 2018

  Beginning on 30 August, the UN is to open a formal tender process for the procurement of two SAR/medevac helicopters for its Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Royal Navy goes global, but treads fine line with China

  12th September 2018

  The Royal Navy’s flagship, the amphibious assault ship HMS Albion, has spent much of 2018 deployed in the Far East supporting UK strategic interests in …

• Naval Warfare

  PMSA’s largest patrol ship soon to arrive in Pakistan

  24th August 2018

  The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) is set to imminently receive its largest OPV, the Chinese-built PMSS Kashmir, after it departed China on 26 July. …

• Training

  NZ to purchase NH90 simulator

  13th August 2018

  NH90 flight training for Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) pilots is to move in-country, the New Zealand government announced on 9 August. The training, …

• Defence Helicopter

  HAL orders more IDAS-2 for Dhruv

  10th August 2018

  Saab will supply the Integrated Defensive Aids Suite 2 (IDAS-2) self-protection suite for the Indian Army’s Dhruv helicopter under a follow-on order announced on 8 …

• Defence Helicopter

  New tool for servicing Apaches developed

  9th August 2018

  InventHelp has announced the development of a new tool to simplify the rigging of horizontal stabilisers on Apache AH-64D helicopters. When installing the horizontal stabiliser, …

• Defence Helicopter

  FAA approves all-glass cockpit for MD 530F

  13th July 2018

  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved MD Helicopters’ advanced, all-glass cockpit for the MD 530F (type certified 369FF) helicopter. The new single-engine all-glass type …

• Defence Helicopter

  Latvia requests UH-60M Black Hawks

  7th August 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related equipment to Latvia, the …

• Special Operations

  Army SOF responds to multi-domain threats

  22nd August 2018

  US Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) is responding to a range of emerging threats in the multi-domain battlespace. Some representative examples of those responses were …

• Land Warfare

  Tor-E2 SAM system introduced

  16th August 2018

  Rostec’s JSC Rosoboronexport has introduced the new Tor-E2 short range air defence system for the protection of military and other critical facilities. The Tor-E2 combat …

• Defence Notes

  US Army continues to question AI role in modernisation plans

  22nd August 2018

  Just days before the US Army activates its new Futures Command in Austin, Texas, top brass is urging that the service come to terms with …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F -Kenya

  Crew transition training took place at the MD Helicopters headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, with field service support, armament, and gunnery training scheduled to occur at ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  MD 530G - Malaysia

  Procured for an urgent operational requirement for gunships to support Eastern Sabah Security Command operations, helicopter deliveries had to slip from a planned delivery of ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G Lebanon

  The Armed MD 530G Scout Attack Helicopter features next-generation all-glass cockpit that includes: two Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 6” x 9” LCD primary displays, Tek Fusion ...

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

  Uncrewed MD 500 Replacement [South Korea]

  Background Uncrewed Replacement of the MD 500 Throughout the 2010s, South Korea appeared interested in replacing its fleet of crewed MD 500 helicopters that were manufactured under licence ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Project Land 2097 Phase 4 [Australia]

  Programme Background According to the RfI, under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, the selected helicopter must comprise a commercial or military off-the-shelf solution that is ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) First Batch (South Korea)

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Army)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Navy)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (Second Batch) [South Korea]

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8, Main battle tanks

  Tracked & Wheeled Light Tank (Philippines)

  Programme Background The decision to split the programme into a wheeled and a tracked element follows the belief of the Philippine Army that this will ...

• 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

  UH-60A [Portugal]

  Programme Background At the end of February 2025, the Portuguese Minister of National Defence said that as part of the Portuguese Army's Support, Protection & ...

• 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 - 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F Cayuse Warrior

  An evolution of the OH-6 Cayuse light observation helicopter, the MD 530F was initially Federal Aviation Administration-certified in July 1985 as the Model 369FF. It ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G

  The MD 530G is the newest addition to the MD Helicopters line of light scout attack platforms. It has increased-capacity landing gear and a mission-configurable ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  MDHI Glass Cockpit

  The American aerospace manufacturer MD Helicopters Inc. (MDHI) has designed and developed a glass cockpit specifically for MD 500E AND MD 520N aircraft. It is ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  IDU-680

  The IDU-680 is Genesys Aerosystems’ 3D synthetic vision integrated Electronic Flight Instrument System. The system includes a Highway in the Sky navigation system, geo-referenced hover ...

• Helicopter guns

  FN HMP

  The FN HMP (Heavy Machine Gun Pod) is a self-contained airborne weapon system armed with a 50cal FN M3P heavy machine gun. It is available ...

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

  KUS-VH

  The Korean Air Korean Air Unmanned System-Vertical Helicopter (KUS-VH) is a large, rotary-wing UAV based on the MD 500. The first flight of the platform ...

• Helicopter Armour

  Armor of America (AoA) produces custom armour kits for any rotary-wing aircraft. AoA helicopter armour protects areas such as the cockpit floor and doors, cabin ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  6XX

  Publicly unveiled at Heli-Expo in March 2017, the MD Helicopters 6XX is the next evolution in the MD 500 series and is a redesigned, single-engine ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C30

  The M250-C30 and -C30P are the exclusive powerplants for the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger and the MD Helicopters MD 530F and MD 530G. In addition, the AH-6i is ...

• HEMS Completions

  RSG has been providing modification, retrofit, completion services and component overhaul to the air medical industry for over 38 years on aircraft produced by Airbus ...

• HS-16600

  Breeze-Eastern's HS-16600 external electric hoist system is operational on the Leonardo Helicopters AW109 and AW119, Bell Helicopter 206 and 222, and MD 500. It is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 500

  The MD 500 is a single-engine light helicopter derived from the Hughes OH-6A Cayuse developed for the US Army in the early 1960s and the ...

• EO/IR systems

  LEO-III

  The LEO-III, or LEO-III HD, was an airborne observation system with HD sensors and video outputs. It was a COTS, gyro-stabilised platform containing a multi-sensor HD ...

• Airborne rockets - unguided

  Aculeus MD-36 and MD-432

  The Aculeus MD-36 unguided multi-dart rocket provides 36 darts for the neutralisation of columns of light armoured vehicles. The Aculeus MD-432 provides 432 darts to ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C47E

  The C47E is the latest growth variant of the C47B/8 engine. In addition to a hot-and-high Value Improvement Package Kit, the C47E also includes dual-channel ...