• Defence Notes

  Farnborough 2016: Aircraft on static display (video)

  13th July 2016

  Shephard took a tour around the static displays at Farnborough International Airshow 2016 to give you a sneak peek at what you can discover at …

• Defence Notes

  Farnborough 2016: UK ISTAR missions hampered by fleet depletion

  13th July 2016

  The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) ISTAR commander has fired off a stark warning about the future reduction of his fleet of five Sentinel R1 to …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  NATO AGS system at Warsaw Summit

  12th July 2016

  The operational capabilities of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system were presented to heads of state at the 2016 Warsaw NATO Summit on 8-9 …

• Digital Battlespace

  Farnborough 2016: Meteoric cost saving potential

  11th July 2016

  Meteor, a radar guided beyond visual range air-to-air missile, is being showcased on an operational aircraft for the first time at the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA 2016). Meteor …

• Defence Helicopter

  Farnborough 2016: What to expect (video)

  10th July 2016

  Editor Richard Thomas runs through some of the key themes that we can expect during a busy week at this year's Farnborough Airshow. The F-35 …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG achieves IOC for C-27J

  8th July 2016

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) Air Station Sacramento, California, has achieved initial operational capability (IOC) for the Alenia C-27J Spartan medium range surveillance aircraft, it …

• Digital Battlespace

  South Korea to host THAAD battery

  8th July 2016

  In a long-anticipated move, South Korea and the US have agreed to base a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on the Korean Peninsula. The …

• Defence Notes

  India approves four more P-8's

  6th July 2016

  India will procure four additional Boeing P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft with approval from the country’s Cabinet Committee on Security, which is chaired by Prime …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DST partners to develop robotic system

  6th July 2016

  Australia's Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group has teamed up with academia and industry for the development of a prototype robotic teaming system that can …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Farnborough 2016: NATO AGS operators get hands on

  6th July 2016

  Recent NATO trials to test its Joint ISR concept used live data feeds from five information collection platforms from four countries. Exercise Unified Vision 2016 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  LUNA flies in MINUSMA mission

  5th July 2016

  The German Army’s LUNA tactical UAS was deployed as part of the MINUSMA mission of the United Nations (UN) in Mali in June, EMT announced on 4 …

• Digital Battlespace

  NATO fusion to counter threats

  5th July 2016

  By combining their national analysis assets, NATO’s intelligence chiefs hope to dramatically expand their situational awareness capability. In exercise Unified Vision 2016 based out of …

• Defence Notes

  US 4th Fleet prepares for P-8A Poseidon

  1st July 2016

  A Boeing P-8A Poseidon has arrived at Cooperative Security Location (CSL) Comalapa, El Salvador, in preparation for deployment with the US Navy's 4th Fleet, the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  USCG contracts ScanEagle services

  29th June 2016

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) has contracted Insitu to provide UAS services for one of its National Security Cutters (NSC), the company announced on 27 …

• Digital Battlespace

  AN/TPQ-53 radar tracks UAS

  29th June 2016

  The AN/TPQ-53 counter-fire radar has demonstrated its ability to identify and track UAS and pass that information to a command and control (C2) node, providing …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• ISR/special mission

  C-208B ISR [Tunisia]

  Programme Background Requirement The acquisition of the C-208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft is part of Tunisia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its ISR capabilities in response ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER ISR [Kuwait]

  Programme Background In February 2018, the US State Department has approved an estimated $259m potential foreign military sale of King Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ...

• Military UAS - mini

  U&C reconnaissance drones [US Army]

  Methodology PGO The programme has been assigned a PGO of 100%, as a contract has been awarded. Unit cost It has not been clarified what ...

• Military UAS - small

  Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement & Objective The RN identified a requirement to acquire an RPAS to transport cargo and supplies between ships and personnel. When mature, it ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Long-Endurance UAV [US AFRICOM]

  Programme Background Ageing MQ-9A Reapers In November 2022, Shephard reported that GA-ASI would continue supporting contractor SMX with its MQ-9A after winning a $2.3 billion task ...

• Military UAS - small

  Black Hornet 3 PRS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army operated approximately 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS between 2013 and 2017, when the decision was made to retire ...

• ISR/special mission

  Shadow R1 [UK]

  Background The RAF is moving forward with an ambitious plan to transform its intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) force to enable greater interoperability ...

• ISR/special mission

  Baekdu-II [South Korea]

  Programme Background This ISR aircraft programme, which first appeared on the 2020-24 Mid-Term Defense Acquisition Plan, comprises four Baekdu-II aircraft. These will add to two ...

• Military UAS - mini

  ISR Drones (First Batch) (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background First Batch On 20 March 2024, Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, announced that, following a 19 March Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Drone Action Plan (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background APOS On 6 October 2024, the Dutch Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, visited Kharkiv and Kyiv. During his visit to Ukraine, he announced a new ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER -Canada

  Background Canadian Special Forces was looking to procure ISR aircraft to support their missions both overseas and domestically.  There were few Canadian suppliers to sell the ...

• Maritime patrol

  P-8A add-on [Canada]

  Programme Background Canadian Air Force is operating 15 C-3P (Canadian designation CP-140) special mission aircraft in service. They were acquired between 1980-91 and expected to ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  Background ISR services In April 2026, several companies announced that the USN had selected them to provide Contractor-Owned, Contractor-Operated (COCO) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  A-29 Super Tucano Afghanistan

  Media reports suggest that with the hourly cost of $1000, the A-29 is a successful platform for counter-insurgency missions. Its operational capability from unprepared airstrips, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - tactical

  Zeus

  The Zeus is an Argentine tactical-class UAV from Aerotec, in partnership with its Polish technology partner, Ekolot Aerospace & Defense (EAD). The aircraft is modular and ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Silent Falcon

  The Silent Falcon is a solar-electric sUAS with long-endurance capabilities for extended-range missions. The UAS can be used for commercial and military applications. The entire ...

• Military UAS - small

  Jackal

  The Jackal is a small UAV manufactured by FLY BVLOS, Flyby Technology and Maxwell Innovations. The system features a plug-and-play system, meaning new equipment and technologies can be ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Delta

  The Delta is a UAV with a VTOL capability before rotating and operating as a conventional fixed-wing aircraft when airborne.  Manufactured by Fly BVLOS, Nigeria was expected ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Indago

  Indago is a small quadrotor UAV with VTOL. It is equipped with a large-screen handset and is marketed as 'whisper-quiet' with a noise level of ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Canary

  Volatus Aerospace has stated that its civilian Canary rotary-wing cargo-carrying UAV can be adapted for military use in last-mile resupply operations.  Payloads are housed internally ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  ENVOY

  The ENVOY is a multi-mission rotary-wing UAV with a tandem-rotor design and a payload carrying capacity of 180kg. General Dynamics renamed the system ENVOY in mid-2025.  ...

• Air: UAS radar

  EchoFlight

  The Echoflight radar by Echodyne is a Lightweight Metamaterials ESA (MESA®), a Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) 4D radar designed for mid-sized UAVs flying below the visual line of sight (BVLOS) ...

• UAS: communication systems

  muLTElink

  Produced by uAvionix, the muLTElink is a multiple-link airborne radio system designed for uncrewed platforms in particular. It combines C-Band, LTE, ISM and Viasat L-Band communications, ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AIMS-ISR

  AIMS-ISR is a software package used to process the video footage and data gathered from the cameras and other sensors fitted to airborne, ground-based and ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Ageon ISR

  Ageon ISR is a multi-INT C2/PED solution supporting cross-domain collection, ingestion, processing, exploitation and dissemination from tactical units to the global enterprise and cloud. Ageon ...

• Military UAS - mini

  DrN-15 (series)

  The DrN-15 is a hexacopter mini-UAV from ST Engineering. The platform is highly customizable and can carry various payloads depending on a user's requirements.  All DrN ...

• Military UAS - small

  Nauru 500C

  The Nauru 500C ISR is a VTOL-capable small fixed-wing UAV from Xmobots. Designed for ISR missions, the UAV features XSIS-EO and XSIS-EOLWIR stabilised sensors. The UAV features ...

• Military UAS - small

  Outlaw SeaHunter

  Outlaw UAVs are used by military and research agencies for training, testing, data collection and system development. In the 114-137kg maximum take-off weight class, SeaHunter ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Viper 1000C

  The Viper 1000C is a fixed-wing MALE UAS. Designed to carry EO/IR sensors over vast distances, it can be employed in a wide variety of ...