• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DGAC approves Skeyetech UAS operations

  8th February 2019

  Azur Drones has received approval from the French Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) to operate its fully-automated Skeyetech UAS in Europe, the company announced on …

• Special Operations

  SO/LIC 2019: USSOCOM seeks to shrink sensors for drones

  8th February 2019

  US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is looking to miniaturize sensors its uses on large unmanned aircraft systems so they can be flown on smaller UAS …

• Land Warfare

  US Army seeks new 155mm munitions

  12th February 2019

  In a sources sought request posted on 11 February 2019, the US Army stated its interest in a new 155mm Cannon-Delivered Area Effects Munition (C-DAEM) anti-personnel, …

• Special Operations

  Central European special ops command under way

  15th February 2019

  Special operations forces from across Central Europe could soon be operating under a Regional Special Operations Component Command (R-SOCC), according to a NATO announcement published …

• Digital Battlespace

  Blighter’s E-scan radar for Indian pilot programme

  19th February 2019

  Blighter Surveillance Systems has supplied its Blighter B400 series E-scan micro Doppler ground surveillance radar to Dat-Con Defence for Indian Border Security pilot programme, the …

• Digital Battlespace

  Hensoldt tests UAS collision warning radar

  18th January 2019

  Hensoldt has successfully carried out test flights with its collision warning radar system for UAS, the company announced on 16 January.   During flight the …

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2019: Opportunity knocks for China in any US pullout from Middle East

  19th February 2019

  Poly Technologies brought its Silent Hunter directed energy laser system to Abu Dhabi for IDEX 2019, just as it had done two years previously, in …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Thales, University of Southampton team up

  14th February 2019

  Thales has signed a five-year partnership agreement with the University of Southampton to research and develop maritime autonomous technology, the company announced on 7 February. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Global UAV receives UXO survey contracts

  13th February 2019

  Global UAV Technologies has received two separate unexploded ordnance (UXO) survey contracts in the US, the company announced on 7 February. The contracts are with …

• Defence Helicopter

  IDEX 2019: Middle Eastern nations strengthen air advantage (video)

  11th February 2019

  The order of 16 F-16 Block 70s aircraft and delivery of the first five MD 530F Cayuse Warrior helicopters in 2018 strengthened the respective air …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  NAVAIR casts net for unmanned ISR services

  7th February 2019

  Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has made public its intention of a contract for sea-based UAS ISR services aboard a maritime support vessel (MSV), it …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon 2019: Australia launches Shadow replacement

  26th February 2019

  Coinciding with the Avalon Air Show, the Australian Army released an industry engagement paper covering Project Land 129 Phase 3, the planned replacement of the …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG receives 12th C-130J aircraft

  4th February 2019

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) received its 12th C-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft in baseline configuration from Lockheed Martin in December 2018. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DDC begins testing of Falcon UAS

  5th February 2019

  Drone Delivery Canada (DDC) has commenced testing of its newest cargo delivery UAS, the Falcon, following approvals from Transport Canada, the company announced on 30 …

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2019: UAE turns beast mode on with Wahash 8x8

  17th February 2019

  UAE-based Calidus unveiled the new Wahash 8x8 amphibious IFV at IDEX 2019 in an effort to meet UAE, and more broadly Middle Eastern, requirements for …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

• 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 ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

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

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Programme Background In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm ...

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

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is Leonardo’s C-band AESA radar designed for detecting, classifying, and tracking small, high-maneuvering targets. It’s designed for various applications, including counter-UAS, ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Air: helicopter radar, Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AirMaster-C

  The AirMaster-C is a two-dimensional, AESA, airborne surveillance radar manufactured by Thales. It is marketed as a lightweight surveillance radar designed to be fitted to ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Land: air defence radar

  iMOTR

  The Innovative Multiple-Object Tracking Radar (iMOTR) system has been designed to provide military test ranges with more accurate time, space and position information for several ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...