• Defence Notes

  Ukraine conflict prompts precision strike and artillery shift in the Baltics

  5th August 2022

  The Baltic states are fine-tuning their pre-war defence procurement plans following lessons learned from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, with a renewed focus on long-range and precision fire capabilities.

• Digital Battlespace

  Eurosatory 2022: MKS introduces UAV lenses

  16th June 2022

  MKS Instruments' new reduced-sized 18-255mm Ophir LightIR image can be fitted on tactical UAV IR cameras.

• Air Warfare

  Germany requests major F-35 Lightning II-related FMS package

  29th July 2022

  Following the shock announcement in March that Germany intends to buy the F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, Berlin has lodged a major $8.4 billion FMS request.

• Land Warfare

  Poland advances plans for new armoured vehicles from South Korea

  8th August 2022

  Poland has released further details of its ambitious plans to stock up rapidly on new tanks and self-propelled howitzers of South Korean design, involving over 1,000 K2 MBTs and 600 K9 SPHs. Some will replace equipment supplied to Ukraine, but the bulk of production will be for expansion of the army.

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo offers up four-point AW149 survivability plan to sweeten NMH bid

  2nd September 2022

  Leonardo hopes to persuade the UK MoD that a range of AW149 survivability-related items makes the helicopter the best fit for the New Medium Helicopter programme.

• Air Warfare

  Farnborough 2022: Turkish Aerospace to mark Çanakkale victory anniversary with TF-X rollout and Hürjet first flight

  20th July 2022

  Turkish Aerospace has revealed it will hold a TF-X rollout ceremony and conduct the first flight of a Hürjet trainer on the same day in 2023.

• Naval Warfare

  Indian P76 submarines impeded by rudderless P75I programme

  12th August 2022

  India wants to build submarines domestically, but its efforts are consequently beset by all sorts of difficulties and delays.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Royal Thai Navy chooses Hermes 900

  8th June 2022

  The Hermes 900 will add improved range, mission endurance and altitude capabilities to the Royal Thai Navy UAV fleet.

• Air Warfare

  Farnborough 2022: Airbus A330 MRTT gains certification for automatic refuelling

  19th July 2022

  The Airbus A330 MRTT has become the world's first aerial tanker certified for automatic refuelling after testing with the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

• Naval Warfare

  Malaysia reports back on the navy’s LCS fiasco

  8th August 2022

  Blame can be apportioned to various sources for the incessant delays in Malaysia's corvette programme, with the first ship still several years away.

• Land Warfare

  US Army buys Armored Ground Mobility System vehicles

  27th June 2022

  US Special Operations Command already operates the Armored Ground Mobility System but the US Army is ordering more vehicles.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2022: Roboteam introduces UGVs to Wave Relay Ecosystem

  14th June 2022

  Roboteam Defense will incorporate Persistent Systems' MANET technology into their full range of UGVs.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Teledyne FLIR launches Stormcaster-DX for standoff drone-based targeting

  18th May 2022

  The Stormcaster-DX laser target designator for small VTOL UASs is designed for small unit teams operating at the tactical edge who require the ability to designate targets at short notice.

• Air Warfare

  Farnborough 2022: BAE Systems’ ‘flap-free’ design helps CRANE take flight for DARPA

  18th July 2022

  Wind tunnel tests have been completed of the active flow control effector for the future X-Plane in the DARPA Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) programme.

• Land Warfare

  South Korean army completes evaluation of Redback IFV

  2nd June 2022

  Aspects of the Redback design could find their way into the Republic of Korea Army's future IFVs, but exports remain a priority for Hanwha Defense. Meanwhile, production of K808-based 8x8 variants continues apace.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-2 (Japan)

  Programme Background The UH-2 is a Japanese militarised version of Bell’s civilian 412EPX, with the two OEMs cooperating on this particular programme. The Acquisition, Technology ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-2 Forecast (Japan)

  Programme Background The UH-2 is a Japanese militarised version of Bell’s civilian 412EPX, with the two OEMs cooperating on this particular programme. The Acquisition, Technology ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 [Croatia]

  Programme Background Contract Award As reported by Shephard in November 2024, Croatia's government approved the purchase of six Bayraktar TB2 drones, a training package in Türkiye, a command-and-control centre, ...

• Trainer

  T-6C [Thailand]

  Programme Background The contract is for 12 Beechcraft T-6C Texan II advanced military training aircraft, ground-based training systems for pilots and maintenance professionals, a mission ...

• ISR/special mission

  ISTAR Aircraft (South Korea)

  Programme Background South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration stated that Seoul is planning to procure additional aircraft to minimize potential surveillance gaps amid growing security ...

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

  KUS-FT (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirement The ROKA had identified a need for tactical UAVs that can be employed at the divisional level to carry out ISTAR missions ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M [Taiwan]

  Programme Background China's Aggression Taiwan's national defence policy revolves around defending itself from a possible invasion by China. In Early 2025, the Taipei Times elaborated ...

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

  KUS-FS (ROKA) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Inception The Aerospace Division of Korean Air (KAL-ASD) commenced developing the MUAV in 2008 in response to a ROKAF requirement for a MALE ...

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

  KUS-FS (ROKAF) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Inception The Aerospace Division of Korean Air (KAL-ASD) commenced developing the MUAV in 2008 in response to a ROKAF requirement for a MALE UAV ...

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

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirments Seoul required UAS assets to help monitor its neighbour to the north and, increasingly, Chinese activities in waters and in the air near ...

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

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (Japan)

  Programme Background Selection & Contract AwardIn 2015, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan to ...

• Loitering munitions

  Long Range One-way Platforms [US]

  Solicitation In October 2024, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) released a solicitation for long-range, one-way platforms. The DIU noted recent conflicts highlighted the asymmetric impact of low-cost, ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Swiss Air 2030 - Combat Aircraft

  Programme Background Switzerland began the latest phase of flight and ground tests on 8 April 2019. In June 2019, Saab announced that the company’s in-development ...

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

  Eurodrone (Forecast) [Czechia]

  Programme Background Eurodrone Programme For context, the European MALE RPAS, or Eurodrone, is a quad-nation effort from some of Europe's most prominent defence manufacturers to ...

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

  Eurodrone (Forecast) [Japan]

  Programme Background Japan's Application The Letter of Approval (LOA) for observer status in the programme was presented to the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, Hidenao Yanagi, by Joachim ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: COMINT and ELINT systems

  GenCOM Defense Ground

  GenCOM Defense Ground provides an automatic multi-layered situational awareness picture to the decision-maker, based on external signal data (metadata) gathered in real time. Integrating with ...

• Major networking projects

  DCGS

  The Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) is the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office plan for the integrated architecture of all ground and surface computing and communications ...

• 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 ...

• Land: air defence radar

  KRONOS Power Shield Land

  This system is an L-band digital AESA anti-TBM radar. It is the land-based version of the naval KRONOS Power Shield, also known as KRONOS Ground ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  AMRAAM-ER

  The AIM-120 AMRAAM-ER is essentially an upgraded version of the AIM-120 AMRAAM tailored for extended range and enhanced performance in ground-based air defense systems like ...

• Short Range Missile Defence Systems: 0 to 20 km range

  Initial Maneuver - SHORAD

  Unveiled at AUSA 2019, Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) is a multipurpose platform, based on the Stryker IFV, which moves and maneuvers in ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  Type 87

  The Type 87 is a 6x6 armoured reconnaissance vehicle developed by the now defunct Defense Division of Komatsu to meet the specific requirements of the ...

• Parvus DuraCOR 312

  The Parvus DuraCOR 312 is an Ultra-Small Form Factor (USFF) modular mission computer unveiled by Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions in November 2016. The DuraCOR 312 is ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AMDWS

  AMDWS (Air and Missile Defense Work Station), is a collaborative battlespace awareness information management system developed by Northrop Grumman to meet the requirements of the ...

• AEW&C

  P600 AEW&C

  In June 2019, Embraer and IAI/Elta signed a cooperation agreement aimed at developing an AEW&C; aircraft based on the business jet Praetor 600, namely the ...

• Long-range Video and Data Downlinks

  BMS airborne and ground-based equipment enables long-range, real-time HD video and broadband data links. Products include cockpit control panels, airborne antennas, real-time encoders, compact high-power ...

• Land: battle management systems

  FAAD/C-RAM C2

  The Forward Area Air Defense (FAAD) Command and Control (C2) system was developed by Northrop Grumman to provide command and control (C2) for the US Army ...

• Data links

  Universal Link System

  Developed by Scytalys, the Universal Link System (ULS) is a modular, scalable multi data link processor. It supports all NATO and US standard data links ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  MIM-72 Chaparral

  The MIM-72 Chaparral is a short-range, low-altitude, surface-to-air missile produced for the M48 Chaparral fire unit. It was produced as a replacement for the cancelled MIM-46 Mauler ...

• Land: battle management systems

  Delta Situational Awareness System

  The Delta Situational Awareness System is a cloud-based ISTAR and battle management platform with planning, communication and fire control capabilities according to NATO standards. Developed ...