• Defence Notes

  Chinese space ambitions benefit its military

  24th May 2021

  China talks often of its peaceful intentions for and use of space, but military purposes are key to its heavy investment in space.

• Land Warfare

  Delayed Canadian LAV recce system back on track

  6th May 2021

  The LRSS has suffered delays because of the bankruptcy of a subcontractor to DRS that was supposed to provide the telescopic mast system for the LAV surveillance system.

• Land Warfare

  Russia promotes Uran — but to what purpose?

  21st April 2021

  Russia wants to expand its fleet of robotic ground vehicles and is setting up a unit equipped with combat UGVs – but doctrine and CONOPS require more work.

• Land Warfare

  Sweden orders BvS10

  4th May 2021

  BAE Systems and the Swedish army have signed a contract for the delivery of 127 BvS10 all-terrain vehicles.

• Air Warfare

  Japanese satellites to track hypersonic weapons

  10th May 2021

  As China's military fields hypersonic glide vehicles, Japan is seeking to use satellites to detect and track them.

• Special Operations

  MRZR spotted on Singaporean roads

  4th May 2021

  The MRZR series of all-terrain vehicles has been spotted in Singapore.

• Special Operations

  French SOF awaits next VPS 2 batch

  28th April 2021

  An extra 35 special patrol vehicles were ordered for French SOF because of delays in the VLFS programme.

• Land Warfare

  Team Icelus gears up for UK tactical communications programme

  19th April 2021

  A team comprising Airbus, Fujitsu and Thales UK seeks the systems integrator role in LE TacCIS.

• Land Warfare

  UK MIV hull production set to begin

  22nd April 2021

  The manufacturing of the first Boxer 8x8 hull in the UK represents the first time a new armoured vehicle will be built in the UK for a decade. It re-establishes an industrial sovereign capability that was abandoned in 2009-2010 but requires considerable investment in facilities, technology and skills to develop.

• Military Logistics

  COVID-19 relief efforts motivate vehicle procurement in South America

  14th April 2021

  Ecuador and Argentina have bought or will acquire new military transport vehicles, driven by the need to provide humanitarian assistance amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Land Warfare

  Czech IFV tests begin

  27th April 2021

  Testing of IFV contenders for the Czech Army programme begins, marking another step in the progress of the acquisition project that had looked vulnerable to cancellation as recently as last year.

• Land Warfare

  US Army to improve Arctic mobility

  15th April 2021

  Following the publication of its strategy paper 'Regaining Dominance in the Arctic', the US Army is pushing ahead with efforts to improve mobility. It is moving ahead with the Cold weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV) project to address shortfalls in manoeuvre capability.

• Digital Battlespace

  Radars look over the horizon in the High North

  7th May 2021

  Rezonans-N radar installations will include surveillance of vast areas of airspace over Norway and Finland.

• Air Warfare

  J-10 fighter gets local power boost

  19th May 2021

  Locally produced jet engines are now powering single-engine fighters of the PLAAF.

• Land Warfare

  Taiwan’s army to boost its counter-invasion arsenal

  21st April 2021

  More capable self-propelled howitzers and TOW antitank missiles are on their way to beleaguered Taiwan.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• VMOE

  Programme Background The Spanish Army's SOF units are procuring the VMOE to meet their requirements for an SOV with sufficient firepower, mobility and mine-protection to ...

• Loitering munitions

  Loitering Munitions [Spain]

  Programme Background Fuerza 35 Project This project is a Spanish Army initiative to create and maintain an effective force by forming flexible and cohesive operational organisations, ...

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

  Micro UAS [Spain]

  Programme Background Fuerza 35 Project This project is a Spanish Army initiative to create and maintain an effective force by forming flexible and cohesive operational ...

• Military UAS - small

  Small UAS [Spain]

  Programme Background Fuerza 35 Project This project is a Spanish Army initiative to create and maintain an effective force by forming flexible and cohesive operational ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  VCR (Batch 1) [Spain]

  Programme Background Purpose The VCR programme is to replace several legacy wheeled and tracked vehicles currently in service with the Spanish Army including the BMR-600 6x6, ...

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

  Mini UAS [Spain]

  Programme Background Fuerza 35 Project This project is a Spanish Army initiative to create and maintain an effective force by forming flexible and cohesive operational ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  VCR (Batch 2) [Spain]

  Programme Background Purpose The VCR programme is to replace several legacy wheeled and tracked vehicles currently in service with the Spanish Army including the BMR-600 6x6, ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  VCR (Third Batch) [Spain]

  Programme Background Purpose The VCR programme is to replace several legacy wheeled and tracked vehicles currently in service with the Spanish Army including the BMR-600 ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  VAMTAC ST5 (Batch 3) [Spain]

  Programme Background The decision to acquire these vehicles comes within the wider context of the Spanish government announcing a significant increase in defence spending in ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  VAMTAC ST5 (Batch 2) [Spain]

  Programme Background The decision to acquire these vehicles comes within the wider context of the Spanish government announcing a significant increase in defence spending in ...

• Neton VLOE

  Programme Background The VLOE will replace several variants of the VLOE Lathar (a SOF vehicles based on the Nissan Patrol ML-6 COTS chassis) currently in ...

• Neton VLOE - (Spain - Navy)

  Programme Background Information regarding the Spanish Navy's procurement of the Einsa Neton remains limited, however, it is likely that decisions to procure the platform arose from ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Air Force Second Batch

  The HT-29 Caiman will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service with the Spanish Air Force. The Spanish version of the NH90 TTHs can perform ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  B1 Centauro Replacement [Spain]

  Programme Background The Spanish Army entered the B1 Centauro into service between 2000 and 2006. Manufactured by the Italian Iveco and Oto Melara consortium CIO, the ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Air Force First Batch

  The HT-29 Caiman will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service with the Spanish Air Force. The Spanish version of the NH90 TTHs can perform ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Heavy UGVs

  Valkyrie

  The Valkyrie is a 6x6 UGV developed by the Spanish company SASCorp. It was unveiled for the first time at FINDEF 2021. The platform has reportedly ...

• Towed guns

  SIAC 155mm/52cal

  The SIAC 155mm/52cal towed howitzer is the latest derivative of the 155mm/52cal APU SBT howitzer originally developed by GDELS-SBS in the 1990s to meet a ...

• Land: RWS

  Guardian 2.0

  The Guardian 2.0 RWS is an upgraded version of Escribano's Guardian RWS in service with the Spanish Army, which offers improved sensors and better stabilisation. ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  ASCOD Common Base Platform

  GDELS unveiled a new variant of its tracked ASCOD (Austrian Spanish Cooperative Development) IFV based on the new Common Base Platform (CBP) at the June ...

• Land: vehicle simulators

  Leopard 2E Simulators

  Indra was prime contractor for the Spanish Army Leopard 2E Tank Simulation Programme, which involved 23 devices across driving, turret and platoon simulators with networking ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  Neton

  The 4x4 Neton Ultrafast Tactical Vehicle is manufactured by Spanish firm Einsa. It is an all-terrain, highly mobile and air-transportable SF platform. Following an evaluation ...

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

  Alcotán

  The Alcotán is a lightweight, hand-launched platform. Designed by USOL, the system features an aerial platform, autopilot and GCS. It is suitable for both civil ...

• Loitering munitions

  QLM-40

  The QLM-40, or Q-SLAM-40, is a multi-purpose loitering munition manufactured by Arquimea. It is launched from a pneumatic launcher, powered by an electric motor and contains an ISR payload ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  BMR-600

  The BMR-600 "Pegaso"  is a wheeled fully-amphibious 6x6 APC which began development in 1972. It was originally designed by Santa Barbara Sistemas which is now ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Piranha V

  The Piranha V, the latest member of the Piranha family of wheeled armoured fighting vehicles, introduced a vehicle in the upper weight class. Unveiled in ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  ASCOD

  The Austrian Spanish Cooperative Development (ASCOD) I/CFV was developed to meet the joint requirements of the Austrian and Spanish armies for a medium-weight armoured vehicle ...

• Individual assault/anti-tank weapons

  Alcotan-100

  The Alcotan-100 is a recoilless, shoulder-launched, antitank rocket launcher developed to meet a Spanish Army requirement, entering service in 2008. In 2014, the Peruvian Army ...

• Light machine guns

  MG4

  The 5.56mm MG4 has been in German Army service since 2005 and sold to at least five export customers, including the Spanish Army. The MG4 ...

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

  Fulmar X

  The Fulmar X is a Thales UAV designed to carry out high-quality ISTAR missions for civil and military applications. A complete system comprises two UAVs, launch and recovery ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  RF-7800H-MP

  The L3Harris RF-7800H-MP is a manpack HF radio with expanded data capabilities for long-range communications. First delivered in 2012, it remains in service with several militaries ...