• Naval Warfare

  Royal New Zealand Navy outlines modernisation goals

  2nd September 2025

  The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has a crunch time coming up as it looks to refresh its fleet before 2040, and prepares to begin operating Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters, although it is at the back of a long ordering queue. A key part of any solution is looking at what neighbouring Australia is buying.

• Naval Warfare

  What new technologies could be involved in UK Atlantic Bastion initiative?

  9th December 2025

  As new details emerge on the UK Royal Navy’s plan to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO, three main areas of opportunity for new technology are the focal point.

• Air Warfare

  US Pentagon pursues industry input to address drones’ payload and navigation limitations

  14th January 2026

  The US Department of Defence along with its services and agencies have been increasing efforts to enhance the uncrewed aerial vehicle capabilities to succeed in future warfare.

• Naval Warfare

  What HII’s UK expansion could mean for Royal Navy’s uncrewed future

  14th January 2026

  As HII prepares to deliver its latest AI-enabled uncrewed surface vessel later this year, its major UK facility expansion aligns with the UK Royal Navy’s plans for a hybrid fleet.

• Air Warfare

  F-35 buy decisions rear their head after US tariffs increase

  11th August 2025

  Following Spain’s decision not to procure F-35 aircraft in favour of Eurofighter and FCAS 6th-gen, Switzerland and Canada continue to weigh up their investment in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 aircraft.

• Air Warfare

  AUSA 2025: AeroVironment showcases new variant of Switchblade loitering munition family

  15th October 2025

  The new Switchblade 400 was on display alongside new variants of existing drones: the Switchblade 600 Block 2 and Switchblade 300 Block 20.

• Naval Warfare

  US and European special operators test Icelandic AI-based solution for marine platforms

  5th May 2025

  Hefring Marine IMAS was designed to optimise vessels’ operation.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore investigates rotary-wing crewed-uncrewed teaming

  25th July 2025

  Initial exploration of helicopter crewed-uncrewed teaming capabilities will commence in late-2025 and could potentially help shape future programmes involving launched effects.

• Defence Notes

  Rheinmetall sales up by almost a quarter on wave of German spending

  8th August 2025

  Germany’s Rheinmetall released its 1H 2025 results on 7 August, continuing the strong growth of recent years. A particular highlight of the result’s presentation was the Skyranger air defence system for which the company is predicting sales of about US$8.2 billion from the German Government before the end of the year.

• Naval Warfare

  Interview: DSTA collaborates with Leonardo, Thales and Safran for naval C-UAS

  25th April 2025

  In an exclusive interview with Shephard, DSTA chief Ng Chad-son outlines how the agency is reshaping defence tech development through deeper collaboration with industry partners, from AI-enhanced radar to smart naval munitions.

• Air Warfare

  November Drone Digest: GA-ASI eyes Middle East for Gambit, Edge Group unveils new UAVs

  1st December 2025

  In November 2025, GA-ASI unveiled a new Gambit variant, the Gambit 6, and appears to be pitching the aircraft series to various customers in the Middle East, which is a fast-emerging CCA market. The Dubai Airshow also saw the unveiling of various Emirati aircraft from Edge Group.

• Naval Warfare

  US military pursues affordable, commercial solutions to enhance maritime ISR

  30th July 2025

  The DIU is seeking low-cost, COTS capabilities and technologies to analyse naval environments and increase the safety for personnel and infrastructure.

• Defence Notes

  How might European countries look to tackle drone incursions?

  24th December 2025

  Disruption of infrastructure in Europe, whether by cyberattack, physical damage to pipelines or uncrewed aerial vehicles flying over major airports, as has happened more recently, is on the rise. What is the most effective way of countering the aerial aspect of this not-so-open warfare?

• Air Warfare

  Eurofighter eyes mid-life upgrade for Typhoon jets, with production increase underway

  26th June 2025

  With roughly 80% of combat missions flown by Typhoons in Europe, the Eurofighter consortium is emphasising the continued relevance of its jet and wants to ramp up production to continue to deliver combat mass in light of a shifting geo-political world order.

• Defence Notes

  Defence companies continue to ride procurement wave

  1st August 2025

  Vehicle and technology companies are reporting substantial growth compared to the first half of 2024. Italy’s Fincantieri saw revenues jump 24% for the first half of the year compared to 2024 and Thales up 6.8% for the same period. General Dynamics reported second quarter revenue growth of 8.9% for the second quarter compared to last year and MilDef reported organic order intake growth of 58%.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  V-Bat [USN]

  Background Core Requirement Fundamentally, the USN requires a UAV that can be flown from its ships in austere environments without dedicated launch or recovery equipment.  ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (Saudi Arabia)

  The sale is aimed at improving Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats from enemy weapon systems, provide the capability to identify, engage ...

• AEW&C

  E-2D - USA

  The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) is an all-weather, twin engine, carrier-based, Airborne Command, Control and Surveillance aircraft designed to extend task force defense perimeters. The ...

• Corvettes

  Tuo Chiang Class (Batch I) [Taiwan]

  Programme Background Requirements The multi-purpose corvette Tuo Chiang-class is made up of an initially smaller corvette and the first-in-class ROCN Tuo Chiang (not included in this programme value), followed by ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Data links

  Data links | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

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

  Persistent Surveillance / High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) [Japan]

  Programme Background Drone Appetite Released in December 2022, the Defence Buildup Programme (DBP) called on the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to replace some human assets with ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R [Spain]

  Programme Background On 16 March 2022, the US State Department approved an FMS to Spain for eight MH-60R helicopters and associated equipment and weaponry for $950 ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  First-Person View (FPV) UAV [USMC]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) In December 2025, a US government procurement website posted an RFI concerning a USMC acquisition of 10,000 drones, mostly first-person view ...

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

  Medium Altitude Persistent Surveillance System (MAPSS) [India]

  Background Order In January 2026, ThePrint reported that the Indian Army had placed an order worth Rs 168 crore ($20 million) with NRT for the ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters Block 2 (South Korea)

  Programme Background The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) was seeking additional naval helicopters under its Maritime Operations Helicopter Batch 2 (MOH2) project. It represented a ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

• ISR/special mission

  P-1 EW [Japan]

  Programme Background Requirement Japan has operated the EP-3, a COMINT/SIGINT/ELINT configuration of the P-3 Orion, since 1993. As of 2024, the Japanese MoD maintains that these aircraft ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Indago

  Indago is a small quadrotor UAV with VTOL. It is equipped with a large-screen handset and is marketed as 'whisper-quiet' with a noise level of ...

• Light UGVs

  Dragon Runner

  The Dragon Runner UGV, manufactured by QinitiQ, has two versions: the Dragon Runner 10 (DR10) and the slightly larger Dragon Runner 20 (DR20). All Dragon ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MPU5

  The MPU5 (WR-5100) has been described as a smart MANET radio, designed for connectivity, interchangeable frequency module, stream HD video and integrated Radio over IP functionality. ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Sentinel

  First displayed at DSEI 2023, Sentinel is a tethered drone from Drone Evolution. Designed to support various applications, such as increased ISR, EW and communications, ...

• Data links

  MiMMC

  Microsat Man-Packable Mission Command (MiMMC) is a satellite-based BLoS communications system providing the ability to extend mission command applications including voice, video and data transfer ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Orion HL

  The Elistair Orion Heavy Lift (HL) is a rotary-wing tethered UAV designed for use as a persistent relay solution to form part of a secured mobile network. ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  SOVERON VR

  Designed by Rohde&Schwarz;, the SOVERON VR is a ruggedised vehicle SDR that supports the V/UHF band. Notably, it comes with a built-in amplifier and a cosite ...

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

  Medium Altitude Persistent Surveillance System (MAPSS)

  The Medium Altitude Persistent Surveillance System (MAPSS) is a solar-powered UAV developed by NewSpace Research & Technologies (NRT).  An evolution of the High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS), ...

• Military - USVs

  Bluebottle

  Bluebottle is a persistent, autonomous, uncrewed surface vessel from Ocius Technology in service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  SOVERON HR

  The SOVERON HR5000 is a multiband handheld radio that supports two voice channels and IP data transmission in parallel. Developed by Rohde&Schwarz;, it is in ...

• EO/IR systems

  AWAPSS

  The AWAPSS is an airborne surveillance system developed by BAE Systems. It is designed to perform persistent day-and-night surveillance. The system integrates advanced electro-optical (EO) ...

• Medium UGVs

  Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT)

  The Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) UGV is designed to be a multirole, rugged, small-unit forcemultiplier. Able to operate in remote-controlled, tethered or tele-operated modes, it ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Orion

  The Orion is a twin-engine UAS capable of flying for over 100h at a time with large payloads. The system has a length of 40.2m, ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MIPR

  The Military IP Radio (MIPR) is described as a next-generation tactical IP radio designed to deliver high-speed broadband data communication to the battlefield. Modular and ...

• Major networking projects

  BACN/RAIDER

  Battlefield Airborne Communications Node/Rapid Attack Information Dissemination Execution Relay (BACN/RAIDER) is a MANET experiment in which a BACN radio network gateway aboard an RB-57 Canberra ...