• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Eurodrone offers boost to European defence industry

  15th June 2024

  Joint European project to create MALE UAV has led to major job generation and offered a significant supply chain boost to the continent’s defence industry.

• Land Warfare

  Ukraine receives further weapon support from NATO members and BAE Systems

  18th December 2023

  NATO and other western countries have been throwing support behind Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, which has continued in the form of further ammunition orders, support for weapons, additional equipment and a new industrial strategy.

• Air Warfare

  Heron TP flies over Germany for the first time

  15th May 2024

  The Heron TP is a multi-role, advanced, long-range MALE UAS. It is faster, larger and higher flying than the Heron Mk 1 on which it is based and has been equipped with automatic taxi-takeoff and landing systems, satellite communication for extended range and fully redundant avionics.

• Land Warfare

  UK fleshes out Boxer programme

  24th January 2024

  ARTEC, a joint venture between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles and Rheinmetall Military Vehicles Nederland, has produced the Boxer to meet the requirements of several militaries.

• Defence Notes

  Ireland’s government plots way forward for defence strategy

  29th May 2024

  Ireland finds itself outside of the norm when it comes to European security as an EU nation surrounded mostly by water and whose only land border is with a non-EU country. The Irish Government has been working to overcome the challenges the neutral country faces from having the smallest budget per capita and per GDP of all EU member states.

• Air Warfare

  Doodle Labs expands use of its radios on UAV systems

  19th April 2024

  Mesh Rider is a SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) optimised mesh radio designed for uncrewed systems and supports six frequency bands in a single transceiver and AES-256 encryption. It was developed in cooperation with the US Defense Innovation Unit.

• Air Warfare

  Taiwan to widen seven air force runways

  22nd January 2024

  By widening seven military runways, the East Asian island’s Ministry of National Defense has anticipated Chinese missile strikes and will increase its air force’s ability to counterstrike.

• Land Warfare

  French Army to receive 109 CAESAR MkII howitzers from 2026

  3rd February 2024

  Nexter’s Caesar (CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie) 6x6, a 155mm/52cal weapon mounted on a Renault Trucks Defense 6x6 Sherpa chassis,

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force plan to retire 1,000 aircraft leads Congress to raise national security concerns

  16th April 2024

  The US Air Force has planned to retire more than 1,000 helicopters and AEW&C, combat, ISR, transport and training aircraft that have been in service for more than 30 years.

• Land Warfare

  World Defense Show 2024: Bigger bang for Tulpar as Otokar adds 120mm tank gun

  7th February 2024

  Otokar unveiled the Tulpar IFV at Turkey’s IDEF defence exhibition in May 2013. It has been designed to be carried by the A400M strategic transport aircraft and will target customers in the export market.

• Naval Warfare

  Kongsberg, Diehl, MBDA to develop supersonic strike missile for Germany and Norway

  14th May 2024

  The 3SM Tyrfing supersonic strike missile will succeed the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) currently in use on Norwegian naval vessels from 2035, with Germany yet to announce its deployment plans.

• Land Warfare

  US approves support of Ukrainian Hawk missile systems

  10th April 2024

  The decades-old HAWK system has undergone substantial improvements since its introduction into service.

• Training

  Defender 24: US Army sets sails for largest US exercise in Europe

  5th April 2024

  The Defender 24 Exercise will happen from 4 April – 31 May and is linked to NATO’s Steadfast Defender 24 exercise.

• Naval Warfare

  UK Royal Navy orders more Remus UUVs

  7th May 2024

  HII’s Remus UUVs can be used for mine-countermeasure, harbour security and reconnaissance operations, as well as hydrographic surveys, environmental monitoring and debris field mapping.

• Land Warfare

  Bradley IFV shows its worth as Russian ‘tank killer’ in Ukraine

  16th January 2024

  The US began supplying Bradley IFVs to Ukraine in early 2023 for its war against Russia, with up to 168 vehicles delivered to the country by September 2023 last year and even more expected to follow in 2024.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Land 400 Phase 3 (Logistics, Ammunition Carrier and Mortar Carrier Variants) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Land 400 Phase 3 (Amphibious Vehicles) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

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

  Drone40 (Ukraine Aid) [Australia]

  Programme Background In August 2022, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a think tank, held a podcast with Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, in which ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel - Medium (Project Land 8710 Phase 1A) [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirements Australia has set out requirements for a fleet of up to 18 Littoral Manoeuvre Vessels - Medium (LMV-M) with the release of ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams [Poland]

  Programme Background Requirement Since the early 2010s Poland wanted to upgrade its Soviet-era tank fleet due to modernisation requirements, the need to increase interoperability with NATO ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Land 400 Phase 2 - Boxer CRV [Australia]

  Programme Background History The Land 400 Phase 2 programme will procure a replacement for the ASLAV, a derivative of the General Dynamics Land Systems Light Armoured Vehicle ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A4 [Czech Republic]

  Programme Background  The Czech Republic currently operates a small fleet of T-72s, which, while undergoing upgrades and life extension programmes, are increasingly obsolete. In October ...

• Submarines: nuclear/attack

  Second Hand SSNs [Australia]

  Programme Background Timeline In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock ...

• Main battle tanks

  Viatura Blindada de Combate-Carro de Combate (VBC-CC) [Brazil]

  Programme Background Several key technical requirements have been outlined by the Brazilian MoD. Among the most important are that the platform should weigh less than ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock move, will not ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock move, will not ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  HIMARS (Batch 2) [Australia]

  Programme background Prior to selecting HIMARS in January 2023, Australia did not operate an MLRS system. However, the effectiveness of Ukrainian HIMARS convinced the Australian government ...

• Military - USVs

  Bluebottle USV (16-55) [Australia]

  Programme Background Timeline The RAN purchased a number of the 6.8m-long Bluebottles, including five under an A$4.9 million ($3.3 million) contract signed in November 2022. ...

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master (RPV Sprial 2) [UK]

  Background First announced in April 2017 and referred to in early MOD documents as the ‘last mile resupply’ initiative, the British Army is reportedly evaluating ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A1 Abrams (Ukraine Aid) [Australia]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Australia has been amongst the various Western allies providing Ukraine with military aid. Prior ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Carl-Gustaf M3

  The Carl-Gustaf M3 is the third generation of the 84mm shoulder-fired recoilless antitank gun, first fielded by the Swedish Army in 1946. Since then, it ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120mm KE DM63 / DM53 A1 Tank Ammunition

  The 120mm kinetic energy tank ammunition is manufactured by Rheinmetall. There are several variations of the ammunition, including the DM63, which can be fired from ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120MM HEAT-TP F1A

  Franco-German KNDS-Nexter produce the 120mm High-Explosive Anti-Tank Training-Purpose F1A (HEAT-TP F1A) round to enable reduced-cost training for Main Battle Tank crews. 

• Main battle tanks

  M1/M1A1 Abrams

  The 105mm-armed M1 Abrams tracked MBT was introduced into US Army service in 1980 as a replacement for the 105mm-armed M60 MBT. In April 1991, ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120mm PELE Tank Ammunition

  The 120mm Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE) tank ammunition is an inert round produced by Rheinmetall. It is suitable for use against semi-hard targets ...

• Light mortars

  60mm Mortar Ammunition

  US-based LD Systems' 60mm Mortar ammunition fulfils the NATO standard for lightweight mortar ammunition.

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  120mm L55A1

  The 120mm L55A1 is a smoothbore high-pressure gun based on the L55 tank gun. The L55A1 has been qualified and in service since 2019. It ...

• Naval: RF/IR/acoustic decoys

  Nulka

  The Nulka is an active anti-ship missile decoy originally conceived in Australia, and developed under a joint Australian-US programme. BAE Systems Australia is prime contractor, while ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  120mm L55 Tank Gun

  The 120mm L55 is a smoothbore tank gun produced by Rheinmetall. It is designed for use on the Leopard main battle tank, to which it ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 SEPv3

  The M1A2 System Enhancement Package 3 (M1A2 SEPv3, also known as M1A2C) is the latest production-standard variant of the Abrams MBT. Designed primarily to address ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP)

  The M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP) is a 120mm tank round developed by Northrop Grumman Defence Systems. Various customers, including Bahrain, Israel, and the US, use the tank ...

• Unguided Medium Calibre Ammunition

  Next Generation Combat Vehicle Ammunition

  The Next Generation Combat Vehicle Ammunition (NGVA) is a family of ammunition being developed by the US Army's Armaments Center and manufactured by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  CVTESS

  Saab's Combat Vehicle Tactical Engagement Simulation System (CVTESS) is a laser-based simulator which supports every version of the Abrams Main Battle Tank and the Bradley ...

• Submarines: nuclear/attack

  SSN AUKUS

  The SSN-AUKUS will be the submarine design resulting from the AUKUS trilateral pact between Australia, the US and the UK. Expected to incorporate technology from ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Spike LR2

  The Spike LR2 (also known as NT-S) is Rafael's fifth-generation anti-tank guided missile system. It is a long-range, multi-purpose, multi-platform weapon designed for infantry, armored ...