• Defence Notes

  Malaysia’s defence budget sets out major procurement goals for 2026

  16th October 2025

  The country has allocated RM21.70 billion for defence spending next year, with some major procurements set to be initiated across the country’s army, navy and air force.

• Defence Notes

  Romanians put pro-Russian candidate into presidential runoff even as the government spends west

  26th November 2024

  Romania joined NATO more than two decades ago and the country is vital to the alliance’s geographic reach and its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons.

• Naval Warfare

  Russian shipyards set to merge as sanctions hit productivity

  12th November 2024

  The planned merger, approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attempt to boost Russian naval production as US sanctions continue to impact the country's shipbuilding industry.

• Land Warfare

  The integration between drones and land vehicles is accelerating

  17th September 2025

  Drones and military ground vehicles are increasingly being designed to operate together as a single platform or even to convert crewed systems to automated ones.

• Air Warfare

  StormShroud enters service with UK RAF to suppress enemy air defences

  2nd May 2025

  StormShroud is designed to support UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Lockheed Martin F-35B and Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft by providing suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD). It is built around the Tekever AR3 uncrewed aerial system (UAS) and Leonardo BriteStorm electronic warfare (EW) jammer payload.

• 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

  Dubai Airshow 2025: Edge Group eyes international market expansion, unveils new UAVs

  19th November 2025

  The UAV portfolio expansion comes in the wake of the Edge-Anduril joint venture announced ahead of the airshow.

• Land Warfare

  Digital backbone: bringing new capabilities to the UK defence market

  29th August 2025

  In Conversation: Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan talks to Bittium’s newly appointed general manager for UK defence, Dean Aldridge, about how the company’s tactical communications technologies can empower the British armed forces, and its ambitions for the UK market.

• Naval Warfare

  First made-in-Finland US Coast Guard Arctic Security Cutter to be delivered in 2028

  7th January 2026

  The first Arctic Security Cutter will be built by Rauma Marine Constructions to be deployed in the US Arctic waters.

• Land Warfare

  World Defense Show 2026: Hanwha increases Middle East presence and reveals Tigon 6x6 sale

  13th February 2026

  Shephard sat down with Hanwha Middle East and Africa president Sung Il at World Defense Show 2026 to hear about the company’s plans for the region and how it plans to use local industry success to win deals.

• Air Warfare

  Norway contributes NOK 700 million to Ukraine drone donation

  9th January 2025

  Other countries, including Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Latvia, have also donated funds towards drones and maritime training for Ukraine.

• Land Warfare

  Czech CAESAR howitzer order at risk of cancellation

  10th July 2025

  The Czech Republic ordered 52 CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie (CAESAR) self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) in 2021 and added another 10 a year later. A cancellation of the programme would impact both the army’s capabilities and local industry which is involved in the manufacture.

• 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

  UK-built SkyShark and TigerShark answers domestic drone demand

  23rd July 2025

  MGI Engineering recently demonstrated two variants of its SkyShark, a UK-built one-way-effector (OWE), as both a gas turbine and electric-powered platform, with its larger OWE TigerShark to be showcased at DSEI in September.

• Air Warfare

  DSEI 2025: UK’s new Air Chief Marshal outlines nuclear, space and IAMD as three key priorities for RAF

  16th September 2025

  Aiming to field a more integrated, agile force, the military leader said in a keynote speech that focus on these core areas would be increased to help the RAF deter and meet challenges in the new threat landscape.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Russian Aircraft Carrier Programme

  Russia currently has one aircraft which is nonoperational which the need for a new aircraft carrier at the heart of the Russian naval modernisation programme. ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Russian Aircraft Carrier Programme

  Russia currently has one aircraft which is nonoperational which the need for a new aircraft carrier at the heart of the Russian naval modernisation programme. ...

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

  Golden Eagle (Ukraine Aid) [NATO Member]

  Programme Background 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the usage and effectiveness of micro and mini UAV platforms ...

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

  Orlan-10 [Russian Navy]

  Background Frigate Augmentation Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country planned to augment its Admiral Gorshkov class frigates with indigenously developed Orlan-10 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  Patria 6x6 (Ukraine Aid) [Latvia]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Latvia has been part of the allied coalition providing Ukraine with military support. Previous Latvian ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CV90 (Ukraine Aid) [Denmark & Sweden]

  Programme Background Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine was the recipient of a number of Western systems, many of which ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Spartan SUT [Russia]

  Programme Background Despite international sanctions following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Streit Group vehicles are believed to have continued to make their way into ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Croatia]

  Programme Background Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Croatia became the latest in a string of Eastern/Central European countries to bolster its ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  KF41 Lynx [Ukraine]

  Programme Background Following the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has sought to acquire a range of different Western platforms to replace its older Soviet ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CVR(T) Scimitar 2 (Ukraine Aid) [Latvia]

  Programme Background Latvia acquired 123 Scimitar 2s from the UK, with deliveries from 2015 to 2020.  They are due to be replaced by 84 ASCODs ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Senator (Ukraine Aid) [Canada]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Canada has been one of several NATO countries to supply Ukraine with continuous support. ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  LAV 6 (Ukraine Aid) [Canada]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Canada has been one of several NATO countries to supply Ukraine with continuous support. ...

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

  AR3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Background £270 Million investment On 15 September 2025, the UK MoD noted that, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T- Air Force [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  Il-78M

  Based on the Il-76 transport, the Il-78 convertible tanker/transport aircraft first entered service in 1974 and was followed three years later by the improved Il-78M ...

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

  Shark

  The Shark is a fixed-wing catapult-launched ISR UAV developed by Ukrspecsystems. The Shark-D is the original variant; an improved Shark-M variant was unveiled in early 2025. ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2

  The Bayraktar TB2, or Bayraktar-2, is a medium-altitude long-endurance UAV developed and manufactured by Baykar. The platform can conduct ISR and armed attack missions and has a ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: coastal surveillance radars

  SNAR-10M1

  The SNAR-10M1 is a mobile, armoured, self-propelled radar system manufactured by Almaz-Antey. It is designed with an automatic coordinate readout for locating moving ground and ...

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

  Orion / Orion-E

  The Orion, sometimes called the Inokhodets, is the first Russian-manufactured MALE UAV that has been designed to carry out a wide variety of military surveillance applications. Russia has ...

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

  Forpost (series)

  The Forpost was a variant of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Searcher Mk II produced under license in Russia until 2016. Following US pressure, Israel refused to ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  BMP-1

  The BMP-1 (Bronevaya Maschina Piekhota-1) is a tracked amphibious IFV that was developed in the Soviet Union during the 1960s.  Entering service with the Soviet ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Nebo-SVU

  The Nebo-SVU is an air defence radar distributed by Rosoboronexport in Russia and is currently used by the Russian Army and the Iranian Army. It ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  KamAZ-43269 Vystrel

  The KamAZ-43269 Vystrel (originally known as the BPM-97) is a 4x4 armoured vehicle based on the proven KamAZ-4326 4x4 military truck chassis. Although development started in ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Eleron-3 (Series)

  The Eleron series comprises several variants, including Eleron-3 (T23E), Eleron-3SV, Eleron-B, Eleron-10 (T10D and 10E) and Eleron-10SV (T10). The Russian Armed Forces use Eleron-3 aircraft ...

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

  Mavic 3 (Series)

  The Mavic 3 is a rotary-wing UAV manufactured by DJI, designed for commercial aerial photography and video capture. It has a Hasselblad L2D-20c two-camera payload, omnidirectional obstacle sensing, and ...

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

  Orlan-10/10E

  Developed by the Russia-based Special Technology Center, the Orlan-10 is a medium-range UAS with many variants, such as the 10E, an export version introduced in 2017. The ...

• Main battle tanks

  BMPT

  UVZ developed the BMPT Fire Support Combat Vehicle, nicknamed Terminator by the company, after studying the Russian Army's performance during the Chechen War. Designed to ...

• Air: aerial targets, Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Gerbera

  The Gerbera is a rudimentary Russian UAV manufactured by the Gastello Design Bureau.  The drone's body is made of radar-absorbent foam, and the platform is ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  BTR-70

  The BTR-70 is an amphibious 8x8 armoured personnel carrier originally developed for the Soviet Union's armed forces. Produced in the Soviet Union from 1972 until ...