• Air Warfare

  The potential impact of US tariffs on the F-35A

  20th October 2025

  The Trump administration’s proposed tariffs have raised questions on the desirability and feasibility of the F-35A for key US allies including Canada and Switzerland. With combined orders amounting to 126 units, both nations undertook reviews of their ongoing fighter programmes.

• Naval Warfare

  MBDA-led DragonFire’s latest trials move the LDEW system closer to UK navy integration

  21st November 2025

  The DragonFire lines up with other European laser-directed energy weapons being developed in collaboration with MBDA.

• Land Warfare

  Russian T-90MS MBT goes for maximum survivability

  25th November 2025

  The in-production T-90MS comes with five levels of protection to tackle a wide range of evolving threats on the battlefield.

• Naval Warfare

  Advances in USV technology help develop tomorrow’s hybrid fleet

  27th October 2025

  As services like the Royal Navy and US Navy aim to develop hybrid fleets to reduce reliance on and dangers to crewed vessels, L3Harris, Metal Shark and Red Cat step forward.

• Land Warfare

  South Korean companies turning necessity into export opportunity

  14th November 2025

  South Korea’s particular geopolitical situation and threat environment has created a defence industry ecosystem of substantial size and breadth.

• Land Warfare

  2025 land market review: British Army woes, European heavy armour and US MBT progress

  18th December 2025

  The last year has seen several major procurements in the land market. Shephard’s Dr Peter Magill reviews the main trends and themes in land procurement of 2025.

• Air Warfare

  Could the Middle East be the next target for the F-35A?

  17th November 2025

  The Pentagon has indicated a growing willingness to export advanced US defence technology to nations in the Middle East – excluding Israel – resulting in new and resumed talks with Saudi Arabia and Turkey respectively.

• 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.

• Land Warfare

  US Army signs for $982 million loitering munition deal as demand rises and industry follows

  6th October 2025

  The Hero-120 loitering munition has a 4.5 kg multi-purpose warhead designed to engage armoured targets. It is manufactured in the US by Mistral in partnership with Israel’s Uvision.

• Air Warfare

  Royal Navy launches Project Vanquish to test carrier-launched drone

  7th October 2025

  The requirement notice outlines the need for a fixed-wing, short take-off and landing autonomous collaborative platform, as part of the UK Royal Navy’s route towards fielding a hybrid air wing.

• 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

  Dubai Airshow 2025: Airbus reveals progress on drone mothership plans for A400M

  18th November 2025

  Airbus is working to expand the mission capabilities of its A400M aircraft, including a 40t payload increase, to boost Europe’s defence capabilities.

• Land Warfare

  Iran lifts lid on its anti-tank missiles used in the field against Israel

  1st October 2025

  Iran’s anti-tank guided weapons (ATGWs) are generally lesser known but systems were put on display at the Partner 2025 exhibition in Serbia late last month, many of which are based on US weapons.

• Defence Notes

  Leonardo unveils plans for Michelangelo air defence dome

  28th November 2025

  The new multi-layered defence system will harness AI to neutralise airborne threats and protect Europe from Russian aggression.

• Air Warfare

  US Army command’s Picatinny CLIK common lethal drone interface makes progress

  10th December 2025

  The Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit is designed to overcome the issue of unique integration methods between lethal payloads and drones as well as avoiding problematic acquisition conditions created by vendor lock.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

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

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• OPVs

  Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Programme Background Requirements Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Canada is seeking to procure an undisclosed number of small vessels (below 1000t). Part ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian (3) [Belgium]

  Background Strategic Vision 2030 In 2016, the Belgian MoD published its Strategic Vision 2030 report. This report highlighted the need for MALE reconnaissance drones to ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  KT-1B Woongbi - Indonesia

  The programme value is estimates as $30 million for the purchase of three KT-1B aircraft. The deliveries are planned to be completed in 2021. The KT-1B ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian (1-2) [Belgium]

  Background Strategic Vision 2030 In 2016, the Belgian MoD published its Strategic Vision 2030 report. This report highlighted the need for MALE reconnaissance drones to ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Fleet Solid Support (FSS) (1-3) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement The 2015 Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) highlighted the requirement for three Military Afloat Reach & Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ...

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

  Large ULS-A / Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) [USMC]

  Background US Marine ULS-A programmes The US Marines are seeking a family of Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A), which will provide logistics and ground units with their ...

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

  Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) [Canada]

  Programme Background Programme Inception The Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project was established to procure a UAS for ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  T-X / T-7A Red Hawk [USAF]

  Programme Background Goal The T-X programme aims to acquire a two-seat jet trainer aircraft to replace its Northrop Grumman T-38 Talon. The programme could be worth ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Micro VTOL [USMC]

  Programme Background Force Design 2030 The USMC Force Design 2030 is a modernisation effort to create a lighter, more agile maritime force. The update to ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is seeking a replacement for its Kingston-class OPVs. The programme is still in the very early stages of project ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is seeking a replacement for its Kingston-class OPVs. The programme is still in the very early stages of project ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Helicopter engines

  T900

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black Hawk ...

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

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Helicopter engines

  T901

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AVX JMR

  AVX Aircraft proposed a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, small wings and dual ducted-fan propulsors for the US Army’s JMR-TD FVL programme. In April 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a JMR-TD aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal to build a demonstrator ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Tiltrotors

  TR36TD

  Karem Aircraft was one of four contenders for the US Army's JMR-TD, which is a precursor to the FVL project that will replace the UH-60 ...

• ISR/special mission

  E-4B Nightwatch

  Developed by Boeing based on the 747-200 airliner, the E-4B Nightwatch is a special mission aircraft used as the US National Airborne Operations Centre and is ...

• SARAH

  Flying-Cam’s Special Aerial Response Automatic Helicopter (SARAH) has been designed for applications such as LIDAR, photogrammetry and surveying. Features include five flight modes, dual GPS antenna, ...

• Sea: tactical training

  Proteus Surface Warship CTT

  In addition to the generic Proteus Action Speed Tactical Trainer (ASTT), Kongsberg can also provide Command Team Trainers (CTT) tailored to the specific needs of ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-97 Raider

  The S-97 Raider helicopter is based on the five-year, company-funded X2 Technology Demonstrator project. Like the X2, the S-97 Raider will feature twin coaxial, counter-rotating ...

• Subsystems: visual

  VTTS

  The Virtual Reality Team Training System (VTTS) allows team members to interact together in one common virtual world. Every trainee uses a workstation consisting of ...

• SARAH 4.0

  Flying-Cam’s Special Aerial Response Automatic Helicopter (SARAH) 4.0 has been designed for applications such as LIDAR, photogrammetry and surveying. Features include dual GPS antenna, RIEGL LIDAR, ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-280 Valor

  Bell Helicopter Textron is developing the V-280 Valor tiltrotor for the JMR-TD FVL project. The US Army announced in August 2014 that Bell would be ...

• Sea: tactical training

  SCTT

  The Submarine Combat Team Trainer (SCTT) prepares the submarine combat information centre team for its duties with the aid of simulated combat situations and environmental ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  LTMPAV Dino 519

  The Dino 519 is a light tactical multi-purpose armored vehicle (LTMPAV) developed by Team Concept, a Poland-based armored vehicle manufacturer.