• Naval Warfare

  Fleet Solid Support programme progresses to next phase

  1st September 2021

  Four consortia obtain Competitive Procurement Phase design contracts for UK naval support vessels.

• Defence Notes

  World Defense Show seals royal patronage (sponsored)

  23rd August 2021

  The inaugural World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia next year will be held under the patronage of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The World …

• Land Warfare

  US Army advances future long-range fires

  8th September 2021

  As the US Army drives its new programmes for long-range precision fires weapons forward, two of them are expected to come to fruition in the next couple of years.

• Naval Warfare

  UK tests robot survey boat

  12th August 2021

  During trials, the Otter Pro robot boat surveyed a 7,000m2 area in just 40min.

• Naval Warfare

  Taiwan’s navy to fortify frigates and woo Romeo

  2nd September 2021

  In the coming year, Taiwan has set aside money for new ASW helicopters and to upgrade its relatively toothless frigates.

• Naval Warfare

  Reshef steps closer to production

  26th August 2021

  An agreement on the Reshef-class detailed design phase brings the ship one step closer to production.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2021: CTAI 40mm deliveries ramp up

  14th September 2021

  40mm Case Telescoped Armament System finds uses on land and at sea.

• Naval Warfare

  German F126 frigate approaches review

  15th September 2021

  As the Mehrzweckkampfschiff 180 (MKS180) multirole ship transitions into the F126 frigate, the Bundeswehr has provided details of the progress towards its expected construction date.

• Naval Warfare

  Lockheed Martin boosts MK92 Fire Control System deal with USN

  31st August 2021

  Lockheed Martin has been awarded a new contract by the Naval Surface Warfare Center to deliver engineering services and supplies for the MK92 Fire Control system.

• Training

  Leonardo ramps up Norwegian crew training

  24th August 2021

  Leonardo increases training tempo as RNoAF AW101s gradually replace SAR Sea Kings.

• Naval Warfare

  Indonesia begins work on pair of OPVs

  31st August 2021

  Indonesia looks to domestic shipbuilders for new naval vessels to patrol its vast archipelago.

• Naval Warfare

  LHD Trieste sea trials commence

  25th August 2021

  Italian-shipbuilder Fincantieri has begun sea trials of Italy's Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) Trieste, the bulk of which should be concluded by the end of this year.

• Naval Warfare

  Latvia chooses repair and maintenance provider for naval assets

  26th July 2021

  Local SME to conduct dockyard services for Latvian Naval Forces vessels.

• Naval Warfare

  IDEF 2021: ASFAT unveils convertible version of Hisar OPV

  25th August 2021

  ASFAT's design concept envisages an extensive armament and sensor package that could be fitted to OPVs to enhance their capabilities in a conflict scenario,

• Naval Warfare

  Refreshed UK shipbuilding strategy to come after government spending review

  18th August 2021

  UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace first announced the Refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy on 16 March at the Society of Maritime Industries Annual Conference, adding it would include a 30-year pipeline of all government vessels over 150t.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Loitering munitions

  Loitering Munition (Royal Navy) [UK]

  Background Persistent Operational Deployment Systems (PODS) As the Royal Navy stated in 2022, Persistent Operational Deployment Systems (PODS) are “interchangeable modules that can be fitted to ...

• Directed energy weapons

  Project Dragonfire [UK]

  Background The UK Government's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has been working with MBDA, Leonardo and QinetiQ to develop a LASER Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) called ...

• Military UAS - small

  T-150 (Royal Navy) [UK]

  Background Deployment On 7 April 2025, the Royal Navy announced that, for the first time, nine T-150 drones would be operated from the HMS Prince ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Lanza 3D Radar [Thailand]

  Background Thailand is procuring the LANZA 3D radar to strengthen surveillance and protection of Sattahip Naval Base. The radar will be deployed by the Royal ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Flexible Tactical Uncrewed Air System (FTUAS) [UK]

  Background Tender notice and timeline On 25 May 2021, the MoD published a tender notice for the urgent acquisition of a UAS and ancillaries under ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (UK)

  Programme Background Testing The Royal Navy announced in October 2020 that the Puma was undergoing its first operational testing on HMS Albion's autumn deployment to ...

• Frigates

  Hamilton Class Cutter [Bahrain]

  Background Very little has been said about the transfer of an ex-Hamilton-class cutter to Bahrain, but it is one of the final two to leave ...

• Patrol boats

  Evolved Cape Class (1-6) [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. The contract ...

• Patrol boats

  Evolved Cape Class (7-8) [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 ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Boraida Class replacement [Saudi Arabia]

  Background Requirements The Royal Saudi Navy urges the replacement of three Boraida-class minehunters. Based on the Durance-class design, the ships entered service in the mid-1980s ...

• Minehunters

  Lat Ya Class Replacement Programme [Thailand]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) currently operates two Lat Ya-class minehunters, commissioned in the late 1990s. The units are based on the ...

• Frigates

  Air Defence Frigates Procurement [Denmark]

  Background Requirements After focusing on the procurement of new highly capable patrol ships and new Arctic frigates as a replacement for the Thetis-class, Shephard had initially estimated ...

• Frigates

  Karel Dorman Class (Chile)

  Programme Background  Chile currently operates two ex-Karel Doorman-class frigates which were sold in 2004. The Royal Netherlands Navy are in the process of replacing the ...

• Military UAS - small

  V-Bat [Netherlands]

  Background Contract award On 9 July 2025, Shield AI announced that the Netherlands MoD had acquired eight V-Bat aircraft, specifically the V-Bat 400, to enhance the maritime ...

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Multi-Role Support Ship (MRSS) (3) [Malaysia]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Malaysian Navy are in the process of a fleet transformation plan known as the 15 to 5 Transformation Plan, which ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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 - UUVs

  XV Excalibur

  XV Excalibur is an Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) built by UK-based MSubs, in conjunction with the Royal Navy. It is an experimental vessel ...

• Frigates

  Hunter Class (Type 26)

  The Hunter-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy are based on the Type 26 design. The ships are set to replace the Anzac-class under the ...

• Sea: naval fire control radar

  Ceros 200

  The Ceros 200 is a radar and optronic tracking system designed for use on naval vessels. When interfaced with modern missile or gun systems, it ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Royal Danish Navy MH-60R MOFT

  In January 2014, CAE was awarded an FMS contract by the USN to develop an MH-60R mission operational flight trainer (MOFT) for the Royal Danish ...

• Frigates

  Naresuan Class

  The Naresuan-class guided-missile frigates are a modified variant of the Chinese-built Type 053 frigate. The two ships-in-class were built by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation ...

• Destroyers

  River Class (Type 26)

  The Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigate has been designed for the UK Royal Navy, but with an emphasis on export. Both the Royal Canadian Navy ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  AN/SPY-7(V)1

  The AN/SPY-7(V)1 is a solid-state naval surveillance radar produced and manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The system is expected to be fully integrated into programmes for ...

• Frigates

  Jacob Van Heemskerck Class

  The Jacob van Heemskerck class frigates were ex-Royal Netherlands Navy frigates that also served under the Chilean Navy, also known as the Latorre-class. Two anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Walrus

  The Walrus is a mini rotary-wing UAV manufactured by the Royal Navy's 700X Naval Air Squadron.  As stressed during the December 2022 announcement, Walrus has been ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  RD-170BT

  The RD-170BT is a man-portable surveillance radar deployed ashore to protect moored patrol boats of the Royal Norwegian Navy. 

• Minehunters

  Sandown Class

  The Sandown class vessels are coastal minehunters and OPVs in service with the UK Royal Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces as the Al Jawf class. Additionally, ...

• Military - UUVs

  Mission Specialist Defender

  The Mission Specialist Defender is a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) developed by VideoRay, now part of BlueHalo's unmanned maritime systems. The ROV is known ...

• Frigates

  Type 22 (Batch 1)

  The Type 22 frigates were previously the Broadsword-class in service with the UK's Royal Navy. The vessels were built in three batches, with the first ...

• Sea: weapon training

  Inflatable Naval Gunnery Targets

  GeoData produces a range of Naval Gunnery Target Balloons (NavTGTs) for use by marine, navy, coast guard and army units to maintain target acquisition and ...