• Naval Warfare

  Industry sees opportunity in Australia’s shift to networked undersea warfare

  13th August 2026

  Australia’s new defence innovation strategy indicates a shift from platform-centric to network-centric undersea warfare, with Ocius and Anduril Industries pointing to fast-growing opportunities for local industry.

• Land Warfare

  “No single technology is enough”: why an integrated approach to uncrewed warfare is essential

  16th July 2026

  In Conversation… Ahmet Akyol, CEO of ASELSAN, talks to Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan about how the rapid evolution of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) is transforming the battlespace, with militaries focused on both deploying these platforms to maximum effect and developing the defensive systems needed to counter them.

• Air Warfare

  FIA 2026: Honeywell Aerospace targets expansion following June spin-off

  24th July 2026

  Honeywell Aerospace charted its growth strategy as a standalone company, with CEO Jim Currier pointing to record defence budgets and a $19 billion backlog as drivers of expansion.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2026: CUAS market expands as suppliers target new threats and operational requirements

  20th October 2026

  New developments from MARSS, MyDefence, Mountain Horse Solutions and Rafael suggest that future counter-drone protection will increasingly depend on combining advanced detection, rapid interception and integrated defensive networks.

• Land Warfare

  US Army to procure next-gen remote sensing capabilities to boost battlefield mobility

  15th April 2026

  The US Army Materiel Command is seeking solutions that can automatically detect and classify natural or man-made obstacles preventing the manoeuvrability of land vehicles.

• Land Warfare

  “A survivable architecture”: why resilient communications are no longer a luxury

  6th October 2026

  In Conversation… Military communications must adapt to a rapidly evolving battlespace, characterised by decentralised forces and an increasingly contested electromagnetic spectrum. To survive and thrive, it is vital to prioritise resilient systems and networks, Faisal Munir, President – Mission-Critical Communications at L3Harris Technologies, told Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan.

• Defence Notes

  SOF Week 2026: US military tests AI algorithm to support missions in low-light scenarios

  20th May 2026

  The US Army and USAF are evaluating an AI-enabled imaging capability from Deepnight designed to enhance low-light and no-light operations across multiple platforms and environments.

• Air Warfare

  FIA 2026: Post-Gripen strategy takes shape as Sweden accelerates current fleet

  22nd July 2026

  Major General Jonas Wikman said Sweden had accelerated procurement of Taurus missiles and Gripen E capability as its air force adjusts to NATO membership and rethinks its future combat air strategy.

• Air Warfare

  US military tests AI-powered CUAS turret against drone swarms

  3rd September 2026

  As the US continues to invest heavily in counter-drone systems, demand for low-cost, mobile and autonomous technologies is on the rise, with Edda designed to align with these emerging requirements.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: Updated S-KAPS ready to neutralise drone threat

  12th June 2026

  Launched at Eurosatory 2026, the revamped Soft-Kill Advanced Protection System (S-KAPS) counter-UAS package has been developed by three French SMEs, Lacroix, Bertin Technologies and MC2 Technologies as a private venture.

• Defence Notes

  Agile, sovereign, edge-ready: rewiring defence IT for a contested decade

  9th June 2026

  Today's rapidly changing security landscape means that armed forces can no longer treat their data in the same way as in the past. What are the key challenges they face, and how can industry help them?

• Defence Notes

  Intelligence innovation: From data overload to decision advantage (Podcast)

  6th May 2026

  As militaries face an overwhelming flow of data, the challenge is shifting from collection to delivering fast, actionable insights that drive decision-making. Advances in AI and data integration are helping armed forces move beyond siloed systems to generate real-time intelligence across domains and allies.

• Air Warfare

  NATO countries test Canadian-made, high-speed “cannibal” drone

  2nd June 2026

  INKAS Anuri CUAS drone has been built to engage consumer, commercial and modified first-person view enemy drones flying at speeds of up to 400 km/h.

• Naval Warfare

  Five years on: where could opportunities emerge next for AUKUS Pillar II?

  2nd October 2026

  Payload commonality, combat systems and electronic warfare are emerging as likely priorities as the trilateral partnership balances building submarines with sharing industrial ecosystems.

• Air Warfare

  Airbus unveils expansion of uncrewed portfolio with new CCA and helicopter platforms

  10th June 2026

  The manufacturer is betting heavily on the demand for uncrewed systems, revealing the uncrewed H145M – known as the U145 – and the U760 Ravenstorm at ILA Berlin 2026 as the two latest additions to its expanding UAV offering.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  IA-63 Pampa III (Follow-On) [Argentina]

  Programme Background After the previous procurement of six AI-63 Pampa III aircraft from 2018 and 2019 agreements, Argentina was left with a further need for 34 aircraft. ...

• Military UAS - small

  Shield AI UAVs [Saudi Arabia]

  Background Reported talks Reporting from the World Defence Show (WDS) 2026, the Middle East Eye (MEE) noted that, according to two sources, Saudi Arabia was ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  X-Bat [Poland]

  Background Polish involvement Speaking in June 2026, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that Shield AI offered Poland a role in the X-Bat programme, with the ...

• Military UAS - small

  V-Bat [India]

  Background Make In India The ‘Make In India’ is an initiative by the Indian government to grow the domestic manufacturing industry. In the defence context, ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Group Unmanned Isr DronE (GUIDE) [Netherlands]

  Background Competition On 14 March 2025, the Netherlands announced a competition on the EU tendering website for the future procurement of 514 UAVs for intelligence, surveillance, ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Ship-Bourne VTOL UAV [Singapore]

  Background Multi-Role Combat Vessel  The Republic of Singapore Navy will retire its six Victory-class corvettes and replace them with a new platform, the Multi-Role Combat ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  Background ISR services In April 2026, several companies announced that the USN had selected them to provide Contractor-Owned, Contractor-Operated (COCO) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) ...

• Military UAS - small

  V-Bat 128 [Brazil]

  Background Contract award On 7 February 2022, Shield AI announced on its website that it had, on 21 January 2021, signed a contract with VSK Tactical, through ...

• Loitering munitions

  Seth-X and Anubis (Ukraine aid) [Germany]

  Background German-built, Ukraine-bound The Auterion Airlogix Joint Venture GmbH was established in February 2026 at the Munich Security Conference by the German company Auterion and ...

• 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 ...

• AEW&C

  GlobalEye [Canada]

  Background Canada and Sweden have been strengthening ties, particularly in defence, as middle powers continue to diversify their relationships due to increasingly strained relations with ...

• Medium UGVs

  Engineer Autonomous Breaching Capability (EABC)

  Background The US Army is currently evaluating the use of UGVs in a variety of support roles. The EABC is intended to provide US Army ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Sonora (Second tranche) [France]

  Methodology PGO and programme status The programme has been marked as contracted because the DGA has formally issued two contracts to Harmattan AI for the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Embarked VTOL UAV [South Korea]

  Background VTOL Development In January 2024, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that it would commence development of a VTOL-capable rotary-wing UAV to be ...

• Medium UGVs

  Infantry Last Tactical Mile (ILTM) [US]

  Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI), the US Army is accelerating its procurement of UGVs. As part of this effort, it has launched ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: vehicle surveillance/target acquisition systems

  TKN-AI

  TKN-AI is a commander’s periscope intended for guiding a vehicle, and battlefield observation and target acquisition by day and night. It is compatible with T-62, ...

• Fixed wing aircraft engines

  AI-20M

  The Ivchenko AI-20 is a Soviet turboprop engine developed in the 1950s. Although the engines were originally designed for civil cargo aircraft servicing medium- and ...

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  AI-450

  The AI-450 is a Ukrainian engine developed by Ivachenko-Progress, with Motor Sich acting as the production partner to supply parts and components. The turboprop engine ...

• Fixed wing aircraft engines

  АI-24

  The Ivchenko AI-24 turboprop aircraft engine was initially designed and manufactured in the late-1950s. Manufacturing was later moved to Motor Sich, a Ukraine based manufacturer ...

• Fixed wing aircraft engines

  AI-222-25

  Manufactured by Ukraine’s Motor Sich, the AI-222 is a high thrust-to-weight ratio turbofan engine family developed to power Russian Air Force advanced trainers and light ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  X-Bat

  The X-Bat is an AI-piloted, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) autonomous combat aircraft designed for expeditionary and maritime operations in contested environments. Unveiled by Shield ...

• Medium UGVs

  ULTRA

  ULTRA is a medium UGV developed by Overland AI for a variety of operations.

• Loitering munitions

  Mizrak

  Mizrak, manufactured by Baykar, is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered loitering munition with AI-powered target detection and visual diving. The UAV was unveiled at SAHA 2026 ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  Hivemind

  Developed by Shield AI, Hivemind is an ecosystem of tightly integrated AI software tools and interfaces that leverages several factors to deliver  intelligent and resilient autonomy ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - mini

  GA-10FPV-AI

  The GA-10FPV-AI is a Lithuanian FPV quadcopter drone manufactured by Granta Autonomy. The drone can carry a 3kg payload and operate in GNSS-denied environments. In September 2024, Granta Autonomy ...

• Transport

  An-32

  The An-32 (NATO reporting name Cline) is a light military transport aircraft that can be operated in hot temperatures (up to 50°C) and from mountain ...

• Subsystems: software

  DI-Guy

  DI-Guy is an AI, scenario and SDK for real-time human visualisation, simulation and artificial intelligence. DI-Guy has thousands of realistic ready-to-use characters and motions. It ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Sonora

  Sonora, or Delco, is a micro rotary-wing UAV manufactured by Harmattan AI. It is a cost-effective, training-focused UAV built to simulate ISR operations. In June 2025, France acquired 1,000 ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Scorpio 1000

  Described as an outdoor precision striker, the Scorpio 1000 is a rotary-wing quadcopter from XTEND.  It has advanced AI auto-targeting that enables precise flight without ...

• CUAS - jammers

  Tron C-UAS Jammer

  Designed to counter the threat of Chinese drones, Tron Future Tech's counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) is an AESA-based, AI-supported drone defense system with satellite connectivity.