• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky's X2 relocates to Florida to prepare for high-speed test flights

  31st July 2009

  Aiming to achieve the highest speed ever recorded for a helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.’s X2 Technology demonstrator has relocated to the company’s Florida flight facility …

• Defence Helicopter

  Record number of first time exhibitors prepare for Helitech 2009

  31st July 2009

  More than 45 companies are making their debut at Helitech 2009, which this year takes place from 22-24 September at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australia weighs PPP vs traditional purchasing for new helo training fleet

  31st July 2009

  Australia is still to make decisions on whether it uses traditional capital acquisition or public private partnership (PPP) methods to finance its planned Project Air …

• Defence Helicopter

  American Eurocopter Appoints 2009 Vision Zero Aviation Safety Award Blue Ribbon Committee

  30th July 2009

  American Eurocopter announced today that it has appointed the 2009 Vision Zero Aviation Safety Award Blue Ribbon Committee. The members of this committee will be …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  German Armed Forces order 4 LUNA UAV Systems from EMT

  30th July 2009

  LUNA, the unmanned aerial reconnaissance systems, have proven their reliability and technical maturity in more than 5000 flights and in international missions at day and …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Portable Ku-Band Ground Data Terminal Antenna System from TECOM

  30th July 2009

  TECOM Industries, a Smiths Interconnect business, today announces the commercial launch of the GDT-2100 Ku-Band Ground Data Terminal Antenna (GDT) System. The GDT-2100 is a …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heavy Lift Helicopter Community Celebrates Propulsion First

  30th July 2009

  The CH-53K’s engine, the GE38, took center stage at a ceremony held at General Electric in Lynn, Mass., last week. Navy, Marine Corps and Sikorsky …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Dynamic tests validate design and structural integrity of X-47B UCAS for carrier operations

  30th July 2009

  Northrop Grumman Corporation recently completed a series of static and dynamic proof load tests to validate the design and structural integrity of the US Navy's …

• Defence Helicopter

  Australian CH-47F necessitated by migration challenge

  30th July 2009

  The head of Australia’s military helicopter acquisitions directorate says that plans replace the Australian Army’s six Boeing CH-47D helicopters with seven new CH-47F aircraft directly …

• Defence Helicopter

  EADS North America LUH platform meets key U.S. Army armed aerial scout performance requirement

  30th July 2009

  EADS North America today announced it has completed a series of successful “high/hot” flight demonstrations of its UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) platform. These …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Successful first campaign of flight tests for Patroller long-endurance surveillance UAV

  29th July 2009

  Sagem (Safran group) and Stemme have successfully carried out the first campaign of flight tests for the Patroller long-endurance surveillance UAV system, scheduled to be …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ViaSat Enerdyne Division Delivers EnerLinks Autotracking Antenna System

  29th July 2009

  The Enerdyne division of ViaSat is now shipping the EnerLinks III Autotracking Antenna System (ETAS), a complete, high-performance ground station for video and ISR data …

• Defence Helicopter

  Raytheon Australia tapped for RAN AS350BA fleet support

  29th July 2009

  Raytheon Australia has been tapped to provide in-service support for the Royal Australian Navy’s Aerospatiale AS350BA Squirrel helicopters through to their planned life of type …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Weaponising UAS Gathers Pace

  29th July 2009

  Combat operations from Kosovo to Afghanistan over the past decade have convinced the US military and many allied armed forces that the era of ‘weaponised …

• Defence Helicopter

  Textron Names John Garrison President & CEO of Bell Helicopter

  29th July 2009

  Textron today announced that John L. Garrison, Jr. has been named president and CEO of its Bell Helicopter business unit, effective August 1st. He replaces …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  PC-21 (Project Air 5428) [Australia]

  The new PTS, including aircraft, flight training simulators and learning environments is being acquired from a single capability contractor, Team 21, which consists of Lockheed ...

• Transport, Transport/tanker aircraft

  Project Air 7404 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement Australia is thinking ahead to an enlarged transport fleet to replace the current C-130Js. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was the second ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A (Project Air 6000 Phase 2A/B) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took delivery of 18 F-35A aircraft as of March 2020 and the remaining aircraft are expected to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton (5-6) [Australia]

  Background Four Contracted Units In the summer of 2020, Northrop Grumman announced that the Australian Government provided $333 million for three MQ-4C Tritons and associated GCS. ...

• Data links

  Data links | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  Air: Helmet-mounted displays | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

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

  Loyal Wingman [Australia]

  Background Older Efforts On 23 April 2021, the US State Department's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) approval announcement revealed that Australia had requested to buy up ...

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

  Project Air 7003 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The Royal Australian Air Force has been without a UAS capability since the Heron was withdrawn in mid-2017. According to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, ...

• OPVs

  Arafura Class (Project SEA 1180) (1-6) [Australia]

  Programme Background Australia's new class of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), the Arafura-class, will replace the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) fleet of Armidale and Cape-class patrol ...

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

  MQ-28 Ghost Bat [Australia]

  Background Goal As stated by the Head of Air Force Capability, Air Vice-Marshal Robert Denney, in March 2022, the Ghost Bat will be an "operational system ...

• Patrol boats

  Evolved Cape Class (11-12) [Australia]

  Programme Background Austal was awarded a contract to build six 'Evolved'Cape-class patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 1 May 2020 (see separate ...

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

  Project Vixen [UK]

  Background Project Goal The Royal Navy uses Leonardo crewed Merlin (AW101) helicopters fitted with CROWSNEST pods to provide airborne early warning capabilities for carriers. An early 2021 Royal ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Project SEA 3000 [Australia]

  The February 2024 Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet review recommends that the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) acquire at least seven, and optimally 11, Tier 2 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: Integrated Defensive Systems

  Air-5416 Project Echidna

  Air-5416 Project Echidna was an initiative launched in 2001 by BAE Systems for the Australian DoD. Its goal was to overhaul the self protection systems ...

• Trainer

  King Air trainer

  Textron / Beechcraft King Air trainers are a family twin-engine aircraft based on King Air 90, 100, 200 and 350 utility aircraft. The King Air ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Australian Defence Force MRH90 Training

  As prime contractor for the ADF's MRH90 training programme, CAE has provided two MRH90 full-flight mission simulators (FFMS), training facilities and engineering and support services. ...

• AMAS

  AMAS – Australian Minesweeping System – was developed with the assistance of the Defence Science & Technology Organisation and the Royal Australian Navy. It adopts ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  RAAF Hawk Mk 127 FMS

  Under subcontract to BAE Systems, CAE is designing and manufacturing three Hawk Mk 127 full-mission simulators (FMS) for the Royal Australian Air Force that will ...

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

  Wanderer

  The Wanderer is a low-altitude, low-cost, long-endurance UAV produced in-house by the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Jericho Disruptive Innovation Group and the Australian Government's Defense Science ...

• Light attack

  Hawk 200

  The Hawk 200 is a single-seat light attack iteration of the Hawk 100 (see separate entry) and Advanced Jet Trainer or AJT (see separate entry). ...

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

  MQ-28A Ghost Bat

  The MQ-28A Ghost Bat is a loyal wingman type MALE fixed-wing drone being developed by Boeing Defence Australia. Its development began in 2013 and took its first ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 604

  Bombardier Challenger CL-604 MPAs are in service with the Royal Danish Air Force and the Korea Coast Guard. The first of three Danish aircraft entered ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  Predator Mission Trainer (PMT)

  The CAE Predator Mission Trainer (PMT) is an integrated platform that combines the features of CAE's UAS mission trainer with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator-specific ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  AN/ALR-2001

  BAE Systems’ AN/ALR-2001 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) is thought to be based on Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Elta Systems division’s EL/M-8382 ESM. The AN/ALR-2001 is ...

• Submarine-launched torpedoes

  Mk 48 Mod 7AT CBASS

  The MK 48 MOD 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) is the latest variant of the Mk 48 torpedo family manufactured by Lockheed Martin and ...

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

  Phantom 4 (Series)

  Designed for aerial photograph applications by DJI, the Phantom 4 series of UAVs includes the Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Phantom 4 Advanced ...

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

  M Solar-X

  First revealed in August 2020, in February 2024, at its symposium, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) showcased the M Solar-X. This solar-powered fixed-wing drone was ...

• Military - USVs

  Bluebottle

  Bluebottle is a persistent, autonomous, uncrewed surface vessel from Ocius Technology in service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).