• Digital Battlespace

  Arctic broadband satellites launched for reliable military connectivity

  14th August 2024

  The mission marks the first time an active US military payload has been delivered by commercial rocket.

• Air Warfare

  Turkish Aerospace eyes European and North African customers as Hürjet goes supersonic

  31st October 2024

  The trainer aircraft will initially seek to replace the Turkish Air Force’s T-38 trainer fleet, with deliveries scheduled for 2026, but TAI confirmed that ‘closer talks’ were underway with potential export customers.

• Defence Notes

  Incoming Irish government backs plans for larger defence force

  17th January 2025

  It has been more than six weeks since the Irish general election. After long negotiations, a coalition of two of the three largest parties and independents has resulted in a Programme for Government (PfG) which will form the basis of a government almost guaranteed to be formed on 22 January.

• Land Warfare

  CV90 delivery to Slovakia imminent

  20th November 2024

  Slovakia is undergoing a radical refresh of its equipment, like many central and eastern European countries, and the arrival of new vehicles will form a substantial part of this.

• Naval Warfare

  Anti-drone directed energy weapons continue to evolve at sea

  7th November 2024

  Defence companies have been accelerating the roll out of directed energy weapon systems to counter the growing importance of drones in modern maritime warfare.

• Defence Notes

  Irish defence budget increased by just €100 million despite €25 billion surplus

  3rd October 2024

  The budget of more than €1.3 billion is a record figure for the Irish Defence Forces but almost a quarter is to meet to meet the pensions costs of Defence Forces Veterans and their dependents.

• Land Warfare

  Estonia opens military camp to accommodate NATO forces close to Russian border

  17th September 2024

  The facility, which cost €21 million to construct, will be able to house 1,000 people and provide a home for exercises and crisis situations.

• Land Warfare

  KNDS wins $667.2 million Canadian Leopard 2 service deal

  17th September 2024

  KNDS Deutschland has set up its own Canadian entity to facilitate the deal and will also build a dedicated maintenance and repair centre.

• Air Warfare

  Air Warfare Review 2024: Budget cuts and delays fail to dampen modernisation efforts in 2024

  10th December 2024

  From major platform upgrades, high-value contract wins and programme delays, Shephard reported on a mixed year for air warfare in 2024, as geopolitical tensions rose across Europe and the Middle East.

• Air Warfare

  US approves more AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles for Singapore

  10th September 2024

  The approval of the sale of Raytheon (RTX) AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to Singapore follows similar approvals of the missile to Israel, Japan, Norway, Poland and Sweden in the past 12 months.

• Land Warfare

  Milrem to unveil new 8x8 UGV as THeMIS backlog grows

  18th November 2024

  Milrem unveiled the Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System (THeMIS) UGV in 2015. It has since developed improved variants and has worked with companies such as QinetiQ to present new versions.

• Land Warfare

  US Army to double investments in Patriot and Stinger modifications

  13th January 2025

  Congress authorised more than $505 million for the acquisition and improvement of Patriot and Stinger missile systems.

• Air Warfare

  Gray Eagle UAS makes first ship-to-shore journey

  14th November 2024

  The Gray Eagle short take-off and landing (STOL) UAS has a different engine, wings, control surfaces and landing gear to earlier Gray Eagles, and is a production variant of the demonstrator Mojave UAS.

• Defence Notes

  What the future holds for Ukraine and NATO under a Trump administration

  12th November 2024

  Although Trump’s geopolitics policy for Europe remains unclear, defence analysts from the US and Europe predict how his incoming administration would attempt to handle critical issues on the continent.

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2024: Babcock Immersive Training Experience debuts in US

  5th December 2024

  Named BITE, the system simulates the battlefield environment with multiple sensorial stimuli.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28UB - Russia

  Programme BackgroundThe Russian MoD plans to acquire up to 60 Mi-28UB aircraft for the Russian Air Force by mid-2020s. Moscow signed a contract with Russian Helicopters ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28UB - Forecast [Russia]

  Programme Background The Russian MoD plans to acquire up to 60 Mi-28UB aircraft for the Russian Air Force by mid-2020s. Moscow signed a contract with Russian ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Ka-52K Katran [Russia]

  Programme Background The Ka-52K Katran is a navalised version of the Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopter.  The history of the Ka-52K is aligned with ...

• 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 - light/training

  AW119Kx [Bosnia and Herzegovina]

  Programme Background  In May 2025, the U.S. State Department approved an FMS to Bosnia and Herzegovina for approximately $100 million including 8 AW119Kx helicopters and a ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Mi-26T2 Halo [Russia]

  Programme Background The original Mi-26 was initially revealed to the West at the Paris airshow in June 1981. In terms of carrying capacity (weight and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-1Y Venom (Czechia)

  Programme Background Czech Armed Forces intended to use the UH-1Y Venom helicopters in various missions including utility, search and rescue, aerial reconnaissance, air-to-ground support and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  CH-47D Replacement [Thailand]

  Programme Background The RTA divested its six Boeing CH-47D Chinooks after failing to sell the 25-year-old aircraft on the second-hand market. Thailand found Chinook maintenance ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T- Air Force [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  T129 (Nigeria)

  Programme Background Requirement The Nigerian Air Force has an ongoing requirement for attack helicopters in order to assist the country's ongoing counter-insurgency operations. Nigeria already ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T - Army [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Naval Utility Helicopters [India]

  Programme Background The programme would have involved the formation of a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and another local or foreign manufacturer. In June ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-1Z Viper [Czech Republic]

  Programme Background On 3 May 2019, it was announced that the US State Department had approved a possible FMS of four AH-1Z Vipers to the Czech ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy-lift Helicopter STH [Germany]

  Programme Background The German government issued a tender in March 2019 for the procurement of heavy-lift helicopters under the Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) program, 60 units are ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy Lift Helicopter [Philippines]

  Programme Background Procurement from Russia In November 2021, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that a contract had been signed to acquire 16 Mi-171 heavy ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28UB

  Russian Helicopters unveiled the Mi-28UB rotorcraft at the International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS 2013) exhibition. As the combat training modification of the Mi-28NE Night ...

• Model 327 Fire Attack

  The Model 327 is a belly tank/refill hose system designed for the Russian Helicopters Ansat.

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Mi-38

  Russian Helicopters' Mi-38 medium-lift helicopter is designed to compete with the Leonardo AW101 and Sikorsky S-92 in both the civil and military markets. The first ...

• Model 328 Fire Attack

  The Model 328 is a belly tank/refill hose system designed for the Russian Helicopters Ka-32.

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

  BAS-750

  The BAS-750, or БАС-750, is a rotary-wing UAS unveiled at Army 2022 by Russian Helicopters. Described as a multifunctional UAV, it can host various payloads to complete several mission ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  NSTsI-V

  Developed by KRET, the NSTsI-V is a helmet-mounted targeting and display system for pilots. The system projects an image onto the transparent screen in front of ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28N/Mi-28NM

  The Mi-28N is a Russian attack helicopter manufactured by Russian Helicopters for use by the Russian Armed Forces. The helicopter is twin-engined with tandem seating ...

• Helicopter guns

  YAK-B

  The YAK-B is a four-barrel 12.7x108mm Gatling gun. The system is remotely controlled, using a gas-operated mechanism, and offers a high rate of fire. It ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Mi-171Sh

  The Mi-8AMTSh (domestic)/Mi-171Sh (export) is a civil and military transport helicopter that was developed from the Mi-8MT/Mi-17 by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant. The type is built ...

• Air: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  Rychag-AVM

  KRET’s Rychag-AVM radio frequency jammer is designed to perform electronic attack against hostile communications and radar systems. The Rychag-AVM ensemble is mounted onboard dedicated Mil ...

• Land: RWS

  Nanuk Russian

  Rheinmetall Canada's Nanuk RWS family includes this variant for non-NATO weapons, which combines full stabilisation, long-range day/night all-weather sights and a versatile weapon cradle that ...

• Land: RWS

  Qimek Russian

  Rheinmetall's Qimek single-weapon RWS family includes a variant for non-NATO weapons, which combines full stabilisation, long-range day/night all-weather sights and a versatile weapon cradle for ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Kopyo-A

  The Kopyo-A is a Russian, multipurpose radar intended for deployment on helicopters. It is designed for coastal monitoring, search and detection of sea surface and ground ...

• Military helicopters - attack, Military helicopters - multirole

  Mi-35M

  The Mi-35M is a multirole combat helicopter used for ground attack, assault and cargo transport. It is the current production version of Rostvertol's Mi-24/35. Designed ...

• Helicopter guns

  GSh-23L

  The GSh-23 is a 23mm double-barrelled aircraft gun designed by KBP Instrument Design Bureau. The gun is designed to fire fragmentation mines, armour-piercing explosives and ...