• Air Warfare

  Swedish Air Force faces up to the challenge of new aircraft and an uncrewed horizon

  31st August 2026

  Sweden is an outlier as a smaller nation with its own indigenous fighter aircraft and airborne early warning platform and is now looking at how local company Saab Aerospace can meet the plans for a collaborative combat aircraft.

• Air Warfare

  Saab’s GlobalEye gains ground as Canada’s aircraft procurement tilts towards Europe

  2nd October 2026

  Canada’s interest in negotiating a procurement of Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft signals its readiness to reduce its reliance on US defence technology as trade tensions with its North American neighbour mount.

• Air Warfare

  FIA 2026: Malloy eyes NATO expansion and Australia for T-150 as it scales up technology

  23rd July 2026

  BAE Systems’ Malloy Aeronautics is seeking to expand the international customer base for its T-150 heavy-lift UAV, with NATO users beginning to adopt the platform and Australia identified as a key prospective market.

• Digital Battlespace

  Artificial intelligence: the hope, the hype and the real-world reality

  20th July 2026

  Artificial intelligence has supported C2 systems and decision-making for more than two decades. It has gradually built up a head of steam in the 2020s, but what is it achieving today and what role could it play in the future?

• Naval Warfare

  Can Portugal solve NATO’s uncrewed systems development challenge?

  23rd June 2026

  NATO has spent more than a decade building one of the world’s most sophisticated maritime uncrewed experimentation ecosystems, but still lacks a way to translate this testing into alliance-wide operational capability. Portugal now believes it has the answer.

• Naval Warfare

  From the seas to the web: the changing shape of UK defence in Southeast Asia

  28th July 2026

  As his final engagement before leaving his post as the head of the British defence staff for Southeast Asia and defence adviser to Singapore, Brigadier Eddie Maskell-Pedersen spoke with Shephard about maritime security, cyber cooperation and long-term partnerships.

• Air Warfare

  September crewed air review: established platforms retain their grip on the market

  30th September 2026

  With many next-generation capabilities still years from operational readiness, several of the month’s largest developments demonstrated that governments remain willing to invest heavily in aircraft with proven capabilities and established support networks.

• Land Warfare

  Uncrewed ground vehicles put to the test as NATO eyes autonomous shift

  2nd July 2026

  The European Land Robot Trials are influenced by NATO researchers seeking to create uncrewed ground vehicle standards for allied Western forces working in multinational task forces.

• Land Warfare

  All of NATO’s innovation ranges may be operational this year

  27th May 2026

  The innovation ranges are designed to provide testing and validation across high technology areas and are a key part of NATO’s Rapid Adoption Action Plan to get new technologies into service faster.

• Air Warfare

  Europe risks losing control of CUAS production capacity as manufacturers look abroad

  16th September 2026

  European counter-drone developers are securing early orders in the Middle East while slow domestic acquisition processes threaten to redirect production capacity, expertise and investment away from Europe.

• Air Warfare

  What opportunities remain for European airborne early warning requirements?

  28th April 2026

  With a pending NATO AWACS replacement on the horizon, the demand and market opportunities for airborne early warning aircraft remain strong as countries look to bolster their capabilities, with industry eyeing gaps in the market.

• Land Warfare

  Ukraine and NATO look to industry to boost capability plans

  5th June 2026

  The Ukraine-Russia war has highlighted the force-multiplying capability of innovation and adaptation of industry and individual companies. NATO is attempting to introduce this flexibility while Ukraine is accelerating these efforts and looking for industrial support.

• Naval Warfare

  Canada’s selection of TKMS for its new patrol submarines reflects rising Arctic competition

  8th July 2026

  The decision points to deepening NATO cooperation and mounting competition in the Arctic and North Atlantic, as Canada opts for a European-designed solution despite interest from South Korea.

• Naval Warfare

  Quantum Systems enters maritime domain with Baltic-focused USV and UUV

  23rd September 2026

  Quantum Systems has launched into the maritime domain with Seavex and Subvex, aiming to close a Baltic Sea ISR gap opened by infrastructure sabotage.

• Naval Warfare

  Baltic naval priorities shift towards mine warfare and versatile platforms

  17th July 2026

  Baltic states are investing in mine warfare, uncrewed systems and multirole platforms as major warship purchases remain scarce, industry sources indicate.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• AEW&C

  Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (1-10) [NATO]

  Background NATO’s E-3A AWACS fleet is set to retire in 2035, after 50 years of service. To plan for the required follow-on capability, NATO's Alliance ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton [NATO]

  Background NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum During the July 2026 NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, Türkiye, NATO announced that Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) [NATO]

  Background Purchase While NATO doesn’t have its own forces and depends on its allies, the alliance does have some of its own assets and equipment. In ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  C-390 Options [Portugal]

  Programme Background Leadership from Embraer and the Portuguese Air Force formalised a contract that includes 10 aircraft options that can be utilised by any NATO ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) - (Greece)

  Programme Background EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU next generation rotorcraft technologies project (ENGRT) - [Italy]

  Background ENGRT phase I EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded in December 2022. Phase I ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  C-390 [Portugal]

  Programme Background Leadership from the Portuguese Air Force and Embraer signed a contract for a sixth C-390, with the option for ten additional aircraft for ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A400M [NATO]

  Background 2026 announcement At the July 2026 NATO Summit Defence Forum, government officials from Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the UK launched an ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  MRZR D4 [Belgium]

  Background In September 2025, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) awarded Polaris a framework agreement to supply vehicles across the alliance. This framework is intended to ...

• ISR/special mission

  EC-37B Compass Call (1-10) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The retirement of the EF-111A in 1990 left the USAF largely out of the operational and tactical level radar jamming business. Lockheed Martin ...

• Military UAS - small

  Jump 20 [Denmark]

  Background 2020 Tender In January 2018, Denmark's three main political parties signed the Danish Defence Agreement, a cross-party defence white paper covering the period between ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT Follow-On [NATO]

  Programme Background Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that ...

• Hybrid effector systems

  Skyranger 30 [Germany]

  Background The SPD-led approach Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany has been under consistent pressure to increase its defence spending. In the immediate ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Germany]

  Background The SPD-led approach Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany has been under consistent pressure to increase its defence spending. In the immediate ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  Luchs 2 Reconnaissance Vehicle [Germany]

  Background The SPD-led approach Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany has been under consistent pressure to increase its defence spending. In the immediate ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Major networking projects

  ARRC C2IS

  In August 2006, the UK MoD appointed Thales as prime contractor for the delivery of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) – Command Control and ...

• Major networking projects

  NATO SATCOM

  Leonardo has been awarded a turnkey contract to rationalise and upgrade NATO’s SATCOM systems and associated infrastructure. The company will design, build, test, commission and ...

• Major networking projects

  NATO DCIS

  Airbus is delivering the NATO Deployable Communication and Information System (DCIS). The project represents a major upgrade in the capability of NATO Response Forces (NRF) ...

• Land: RWS

  Qimek NATO

  Rheinmetall's RWS family includes the Qimek single-weapon RWS and the Nanuk dual-weapon RWS. The Qimek NATO combines full stabilisation, long-range day/night all-weather sights and a ...

• Land: RWS

  Nanuk NATO

  Rheinmetall's RWS family includes the Qimek single-weapon RWS and the Nanuk dual-weapon RWS, which was introduced in 2008. The Nanuk NATO combines full stabilisation, long-range ...

• Major networking projects

  EAC

  The NATO Communications and Information Agency awarded ACTIA Sodielec a contract in June 2013 to provide NATO with an Extended Advanced SATCOM Network Monitoring and ...

• Air: mission management systems

  LC2IS

  The contract to supply Land Command and Control Information Services (LC2IS) for the NATO Command Structure was awarded to Thales by NATO NC3A and achieved ...

• Air: fixed-wing flight simulators

  NATO E-3A Training Devices

  CAE designed the original NATO E-3A Sentry full-flight simulator as well as an E-3A cockpit procedures trainer and flight training device. The company continues to ...

• Major networking projects

  Air Policing

  Air Policing is a collective peacetime mission that requires NATO to take action against all violations and infringements of its airspace using agreed procedures. Supreme ...

• Major networking projects

  NCIRC

  Leonardo, together with Northrop Grumman, has undertaken a contract for the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency to develop, implement and support the NATO Computer ...

• Land: handheld day observation/surveillance and targeting systems

  LRM 1500M/1800S/2200SI

  Laser rangefinder monoculars combine laser measurement, optics and controls. The LRM 1500M is for users requiring basic functionality. It has a measurement range of 1,500m ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons, Multipurpose missiles

  9M117 Bastion

  The 9M117 Bastion is an antitank missile used in a number of separate weapon systems, such as the 9K116-1 Bastion (NATO reporting name: AT-10 Stabber) and the 9K118 ...

• Major networking projects

  Ballistic Missile Defence

  In early 2010, NATO acquired the first phase of an initial theatre ballistic missile defence capability to protect alliance forces. 

• Data links

  Link Y Mk2

  Thales Link Y Mk2 is used to securely exchange tactical data and orders via a self-managing, adaptive radio network between multiple military platforms. Designed for ...

• Major networking projects

  Air and Missile Defence

  NATO Air and Missile Defence comprises all measures aimed at monitoring and reacting to potential air threats in NATO airspace, as well as countering hostile ...