• Land Warfare

  Hanwha debuts with US Army deal worth up to $3.6 billion as it eyes future M109 replacement

  20th August 2026

  The Mobile Tactical Cannon is to replace the US Army’s M777 towed howitzers which could result in the procurement of almost 500 systems at an estimated $3.59 billion.

• Land Warfare

  “Creating a decision advantage”: how C-UAS is evolving to reduce the operator burden

  1st September 2026

  In Conversation… Speaking to Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan, Dr Brian Shand, Director – Advanced Concepts & Technology at L3Harris, explains how, as operators face growing numbers of low-cost drones, C-UAS providers must focus on reducing operator workload, transforming fragmented sensor data into effective decision-making.

• Land Warfare

  Germany orders 84 Boxer howitzers as UK commits to a single demonstrator

  29th December 2025

  Germany has ordered 84 RCH 155 self-propelled guns along with 200 Puma infantry fighting vehicles, as the the UK commits to a single Early Capability Demonstrator RCH 155.

• Land Warfare

  Estonia drops CV90 plan as it shifts towards uncrewed systems and firepower

  13th April 2026

  The country is scaling back its reliance on heavy battlefield equipment in favour of upgrading existing platforms and investing in firepower, mobility, unmanned systems and situational awareness.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore Airshow 2026: APAC countries explore fleet upgrade and expansion opportunities

  22nd January 2026

  Ahead of the Singapore Airshow 2026, opportunities for defence firms to upgrade or replace ageing aircraft remain strong, with tactical transport, combat aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft at the top of potential procurement lists.

• Land Warfare

  Land forces review: Tanks, trucks and IFVs dominate but woes remain for Ajax

  29th January 2026

  This year has begun with main battle tanks taking the lead while orders for large logistics and support vehicles continued from last year. Additionally, two of the British Army’s most significant contracted vehicle programmes, Ajax reconnaissance vehicle and Challenger 3 tank, continued to make news in January.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy prepares next step of the F-35 Block 4 upgrade while GAO predicts acquisition delays

  9th September 2025

  The US Navy published a pre-solicitation notice of intent for the third phase of the F-35 Reprogramming Verification & Validation System. Meanwhile, with a five-year delay in its schedule, GAO foresees more postponements in the completion of the Block 4 effort.

• Air Warfare

  April air forces review: Next-gen platform push ties in with fleet modernisation plans

  29th April 2026

  Countries releasing their spending budgets over the past month have placed an emphasis on advancing next-generation crewed programmes as well as upgrades and expansion plans for air combat and aerial refuelling capabilities.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force unveils new details of Next Generation Airlift aircraft to replace C-17 and C-5

  6th July 2026

  New planning documents reveal how the service is defining the aircraft expected to succeed the C-17 and C-5, including its initial requirements and procurement roadmap.

• Naval Warfare

  Asia-Pacific emerges as the largest export market for US-made USVs

  12th August 2026

  Asian customers have placed one of the largest known international purchases of US-built uncrewed surface vessels, highlighting accelerating regional demand for autonomous maritime capabilities and distributed naval operations.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy SPY-6 approaches FRP with Raytheon already having “a hot production line”

  2nd March 2026

  Jen Gauthier, Raytheon’s VP of Naval Systems and Sustainment, told Shephard that the company is awaiting the US Navy’s green light to move “fully into full-rate production”.

• Land Warfare

  Inside Pearson Engineering’s £8 million investment in future-ready manufacturing (Studio)

  8th September 2025

  Pearson Engineering’s home, Armstrong Works, has been an engineering hub for almost 200 years, delivering critical capabilities for the UK Armed Forces and customers around the globe. The company is now investing for the future, to meet customers’ evolving requirements for a battlespace defined by data and autonomous systems.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2025: OpenWorks launches new system for on-the-move targeting

  10th September 2025

  Vision Pace uses OpenWorks’ artificial intelligence (AI) classifiers and trackers to detect, track and identify multiple targets in land and naval applications for air defence.

• Air Warfare

  Australia starts upgrade programme for P-8A Poseidon fleet

  30th October 2025

  The upgrades will work to strengthen the country’s maritime surveillance and anti-submarine capabilities, with one more aircraft due to be delivered by 2026.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force prepares next stage of E-3 Sentry modernisation

  12th May 2026

  The USAF intends to conduct the second phase of the DRAGON programme from FY2026 to FY2030, while the future of the E3 replacement remains unknown.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  Chu-SAM [Japan]

  Background Japan is procuring upgraded Type 03 Chu-SAM Kai air defence systems to strengthen its capability against ballistic and hypersonic threats. The systems meet Japan's ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-1Y [Romania]

  Programme Background The Romanian MoD has a long-standing requirement for new rotary platforms, including troop transport, supply and attack configurations. According to the the Romanian Military ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Class 2 Tactical UAS [Ireland]

  Background EU Tender On 13 March 2024, the Irish Department of Defence released a planning notice on the EU tenders website, confirming that the Irish ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Omen [UAE]

  Background Joint Venture In November 2025, EDGE Group and Anduril unveiled the EDGE-Anduril Production Alliance, a joint venture in which the two companies collaborated on ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Next Tactical Aviation Capability Set (nTACS) [Canada]

  Programme Background The Royal Canadian Air Force has unveiled its new nTACS programme that aims to replace the RCAFs ageing fleet of CH-146 Griffon helicopters ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Tracked Support Vehicle [Spain]

  Background Requirement Spain has an inventory of ageing M113s in various configurations, at least 20 of which were transferred to Ukraine in 2022. According to ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-X III Phase II (F-35) [South Korea]

  Programme Background On 14 September 2014, South Korea signed an FMS contract under the first phase of F-X III programme to supply 40 F-35As for ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Multidomian Micro Drones [USSOCOM]

  Background Special Notice On 14 November 2024, a Special Notice was released that informed the industry that the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was looking for ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35B (1-12) [Singapore]

  Programme Background Singapore is renowned as a discerning and demanding customer, so its selection of the F-35 must be seen as a vote of confidence ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  SW4 Puszczyk Replacement [Poland]

  Programme Background  In 2002, Poland order 47 SW4 training helicopters from Italian manufacturer Leonardo; as of Spring 2025, the Ministry of Defence is looking to ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A Japan Follow On

  The F-35 full-rate production is expected to be further delayed following an October 2020 US DoD announcement that postponed the simulation tests, originally planned for 2017 ...

• Maritime patrol

  P-8A Poseidon [UK]

  Background In July 2016, the UK government announced that it had ordered nine aircraft for service with the RAF. Under this frame, in January 2019, ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  Next Generation Trainer [Slovakia]

  Programme Background As Slovakia is set to receive 14 Lockheed Martin F-16Vs by the end of 2023, the Slovak Air Force (Vzdušné sily Slovenskej Republiky: ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35B (1-30) [Italy]

  The 2019 and 2020 budget contained significant funding for the F-35 programme: €690 million ($775 million) in 2019 and €859 million ($962 million) in 2020, ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Tactical Drone System (SDT) (1-14) [France]

  Background Tactical Drone System (SDT) programme The French Army launched the SDT programme to replace the Sagem (now Safran) Sperwer Intermediate Tactical Drone System (SDTI) ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  Field Artillery Training Systems

  The ICE Field Artillery Training Systems for the M109A6 Paladin and M270/M270A1 MLRS provides instrumented real-time data and performance monitoring during training and live-fire missions. ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  ITAS-TESS

  The Improved Target Acquisition System – Tactical Engagement Simulation System (ITAS-TESS) is a laser-based system designed to conduct simulated weapons engagement during crew and collective ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  TESS

  The Tactical Engagement Simulation System (TESS) is a transparent training instrumentation system designed for the AH-64 Apache Longbow Force-on-Force collective training for live aerial gunnery ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  I-HITS

  The Initial Homestation Instrumentation Training System (I-HITS), developed for the US Army, provides high-fidelity, scalable CTC training capabilities for missions including force-on-force, urban operations, joint ...

• Subsystems: software

  Tactical Simulation Tool Suite

  Saab's Tactical Simulation Tool Suite is a software package for creating entity simulations and complex tactical scenarios. The software can be used as a standalone ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  Area Weapons Effects Simulation

  Cubic’s indirect fire and Area Weapons Effects Simulators (AWES) determine the extent of simulated injuries and damage sustained by soldiers and vehicles in a combat ...

• Air: chaff/flare/decoy systems

  BriteCloud

  Leonardo's BriteCloud is a digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) expendable active decoy (EAD). The device is designed to disrupt incoming missiles' RF tracking systems and ...

• Subsystems: visual

  G10 Image Generator

  Incorporating multiple CPU and GPU processing cores, the latest Generation10 (G10) Image Generators offer 54 billion textured pixels-per-second (peak) per channel. Using leading-edge graphics technologies, ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  CATS CTC

  The CATS Combat Training Centre (CTC) trains armed forces in simulated opposition. Features: direct-fire weapon effect simulation with laser engagement systems; area weapon effect simulation ...

• Subsystems: software

  Simulation

  From physics-based dynamics and intelligent entity behaviours to tactical and operational missions, Presagis simulation software tools address the rigorous challenges of M&S; applications. Its simulation ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  MANWORN II DPU

  The MANWORN II Dismounted Player Unit (DPU) is a flexible position location tracking system suitable for individual through brigade-level training. MANWORN II DPU features GPS ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Helicopter Cabin/Door Gun Trainer

  The airborne cabin/door gun training system was jointly developed with Saab. It uses existing weapon installations enabling any flight to be used as a training ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  Magnet

  Magnet is an infantry micro-tactical weapon training system with AAR capability. It is based on a control system and laser engagement technology, which enables the ...

• Naval: COMINT and ELINT systems

  Q CIEW

  Q CIEW is a family of COMINT and EW (CIEW) systems focused on counter-terror and counter-insurgency operations in a land environment, supported by naval, air ...

• Land: vehicle simulators

  LETS

  The US Army maintains a large fleet of locomotives and rail vehicles throughout the US to facilitate the movement of equipment and supplies and provides ...