• Defence Notes

  Airbus warns no-deal Brexit could spark 'very harmful decisions'

  24th January 2019

  Airbus chief Tom Enders warned Thursday that a no-deal Brexit could prompt the European aerospace giant to make 'very harmful decisions' for Britain, and branded …

• Defence Notes

  Raytheon’s JPALS flies in desert demo for US military

  23rd January 2019

  Raytheon’s Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) has been demonstrated to US services in Yuma, Arizona on 16 January, Shephard has learnt. The trial flight …

• Special Operations

  Inaugural SOF leaders course held

  9th January 2019

  Central and Eastern European special operations forces are benefiting from a new urban combat course designed to increase cooperation and interoperability between participating force elements.The …

• Military Logistics

  Surface Navy 2019: Navy official concerned over US shipbuilding and maintenance base

  17th January 2019

  Although the annual Surface Navy Association event in Washington, DC brings with it much interest in new ships such as the FFG(X) and new large …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UK government announces drone regulation shake-up

  8th January 2019

  The UK government has announced a series of measures that will provide police with increased powers to fight and prevent the misuse of drones, alongside …

• Land Warfare

  Russian land forces to receive modern vehicles

  7th January 2019

  Russian land forces will receive more than 1,850 vehicles in 2019 along with special equipment, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced on 3 January. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  IAI, Santos Lab team for precision agriculture

  11th January 2019

  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has signed an agreement with Santos Lab to collaborate on the use of UAS and advanced analytics for large scale precision …

• Land Warfare

  Insight: Will small arms ever reach Indian Army hands?

  26th January 2019

  It is quite incredible how much difficulty the Indian Army is having in obtaining new small arms to replace the likes of the INSAS assault …

• Digital Battlespace

  Russia bolsters its long-range EW capabilities

  18th January 2019

  The Russian MoD has reported the completion of the first deployment phase of a multi-level early warning (EW) radar network.  The four newly-commissioned long-range radar …

• Naval Warfare

  Surface Navy 2019: US Navy looks to future fleet ambitions

  15th January 2019

  As the US Navy maps out a long term plan for its future surface fleet a service official said that the problematic Littoral Combat Ship …

• Digital Battlespace

  SpaceX launches final ten satellites for Iridium

  11th January 2019

  SpaceX on Friday blasted off a payload of global communications satellites for Iridium, marking the first launch of 2019 for the California-based company headed by …

• Training

  FAAC receives ATMP support contract

  9th January 2019

  Arotech’s FAAC has received a subcontract to support the US Army’s Training Aids, Devices, Simulators and Simulations (TADSS) Maintenance Program (ATMP), Arotech announced on 7 …

• Digital Battlespace

  Dassault signs Rafale F4 development contract

  14th January 2019

  French manufacturer Dassault Aviation has signed a Rafale F4 standard development contract with the French Armed Forces, which will offer the platform a host of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ukraine buys Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UAVs

  16th January 2019

  Ukraine has placed an order for Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 Male class UAV systems. This was revealed by the country’s president Petro Poroshenko on 12 January.  …

• Digital Battlespace

  Elbit to deliver TCLS to Raytheon

  7th January 2019

  Elbit Systems of America has received a contract to deliver its Two Color Laser System (TCLS) for Raytheon’s Multi-Spectral Targeting System, Elbit Systems announced on …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• ISR/special mission

  Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (1-3) [Germany]

  Programme Background Requirement The Pegasus (Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System) project aims to fulfil a SIGINT capability which has been missing in the German Armed ...

• Fighter - electronic warfare

  Jamming and Escort Electronic Attack Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

  Programme Background According to earlier reports, Berlin had earlier decided to procure 15 EA-18G Growlers over the Eurofighter Typhoon ECR concept, which is expected to be ...

• ISR/special mission

  Stand-off Jammer Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

  Programme Background These large stand-off aircraft will be equipped with various EW systems capable of operating from a safe distance from the mission target. A400M ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Tornado Replacement (F-35A) [Germany]

  Programme Background In March 2020, it emerged that the German government was considering  30 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to replace 45 nuclear-capable Tornados, although contracts have yet ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 (Pre-War) [Ukraine Army]

  Programme Background The Ukraine Army purchased 12 TB2 units in January 2019 for a reported $69 million. The units were reportedly delivered from June 2019 ...

• Patrol boats

  UNPAV - Angelo Cabrini Class

  The Angelo Cabrini class consists of two high-speed multipurpose patrol boats (UNPAV) intended for the Italian Navy special forces. The vessels were built by Intermarine, ...

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

  Nauru 1000C [Brazil]

  Programme Background The Logistics Command (COLOG) of the Brazilian Army purchased three Nauru 1000C UAVs, training, 36-month interested logistics support, two EO/MWIR XSIS 222A gimbals, two ...

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

  WanderB or ThunderB [Colombia]

  Programme Background Expodefensa 2019 During Colombia's Expodefensa 2019 exhibition, BlueBird Aero Systems displayed its ThunderB VTOL small UAV. Reportedly, the Colombian Army requested information on ...

• Ateş Armoured Border Security Vehicle

  The Ateş is equipped with several sensors developed by Aselsan including the Acar ground detection radar,  FalconEye EO system on an extendable mast, and Seda ...

• Amphibious assault ships

  TCG Anadolu LHD [Turkey]

  Programme Background TCG Anadolu is a Multipurpose Assault Ship (LHD) built by Sedef in Tuzla for the Turkish Navy. The vessel, which is the single ...

• Anaconda

  Four variants of the Anaconda were purchased by the RNMC: general support; patrol; command; and training. In addition to 46 vehicles, the contract also included ...

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

  Anka-S (Saudi Arabia)

  Programme Background Desired Procurement Saudi Arabia has reportedly been in negotiations to procure six Anka UAVs since 2013. It has not been disclosed which Anka ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  MiSu 6X6 PMPVs [Finland]

  In June 2019, Protolab announced that the first of the four PMPVs had been delivered to the FDF. According to a company spokesman, deliveries of ...

• Destroyers

  Hobart Class (Sea 4000)

  Programme Background The Hobart-class consists of three air warfare destroyers (AWDs) for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ships replaced the Adelaide-class frigates. Built by a ...

• Military UAS - small

  Penguin C (Latvia)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Latvian MoD signed an agreement with Latvian companies UAV Factory and Atlas Aerospace to procure UAVs for the LNAF. Under ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Naval: COMINT and ELINT systems

  Naval RESM-CESM

  Rohde and Schwarz Radar Electronic Support Measures (RESM) and Communications Electronic Support Measures (CESM) are passive electromagnetic sensor systems. It monitors and performs direction finding ...

• Frigates

  HCX-19

  The HCX-19 concept vessel was first revealed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) at MADEX 2019, standing for Hyundai Combatant eXperimental 2019. It was created to ...

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

  Odysseus

  The Aurora Flight Sciences Odysseus fixed-wing UAV is a solar-powered, pseudo-satellite platform, which is designed to remain on station in the stratosphere for months at ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  Super Swift

  The Super Swift series by ST Engineering is designed for homeland security as a range of ultra-high speed, fast patrol boats first revealed in May ...

• Naval guns

  Gökdeniz

  Gökdeniz, also known as Korkut-D, is a 35mm Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) developed by Turkish Aselsan. It was unveiled for the first time at IDEF ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Aselsan 9681 V/UHF

  Aselsan 9681 V/UHF is a software-defined radio with frequency hopping and encryption capabilities. Designed for air platforms, it has been in service with the Turkish ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  Piccolo Elite

  Produced by Collins Aerospace, the Piccolo Elite is an autopilot architecture solution for advanced UAS applications. Unveiled in 2019, it is provided in five configurations ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  ADVENT

  Havelsan ADVENT is a naval combat management system (CMS) that focuses on fleet-wide communications, building on Havelsan's previous experience providing CMS capability to surface vessels. ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Su-57

  The Su-57, previously known also as the T-50, is a fifth-generation single-seat stealth multirole fighter developed under the Russian PAK FA (Future Air Complex for ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPX

  The Bell 412EPX is a utility helicopter manufactured by Subaru. This platform improves upon the UH-1J/412-series helicopters. It has enhanced safety, performance, visibility, maintainability and ...

• Searcher

  Searcher is a fixed-wing low- and medium-altitude UAV manufactured by Elytron Aeronautica. The tandem-wing UAV is designed long-endurance reconnaissance missions and was unveiled in May ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Ajban 447A

  The Ajban 447A is a seven-crew military tactical vehicle featuring a configurable armoured cabin designed for different missions, including tactical response, border patrol, reconnaissance, COIN ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  CMS (Vikrant-Class)

  The Combat Management System abroad INS Vikrant is developed by TATA Power's Strategic Engineering Division, the Indian MoD's Weapon and Electonic System Engineering Establishment and ...

• Air: Displays

  MFD-4820

  The MFD-4820 Large Area Display is a glove-compatible touchscreen display produced by Collins Airspace. Designed to be used in fixed-wing aircraft, it was unveiled for ...

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

  Shaheen VTOL UASN SH-01

  Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Defense Studies & Research Center displayed its Shaheen VTOL UASN SH-01 at IDEX in February 2019. The aircraft is designed for ...