• Naval Warfare

  Australia signs US$2.8 billion ship deal with Austal but puts pressure on company to deliver

  20th February 2026

  The A$4 billion Landing Craft Heavy contract for Austal follows on from a A$1 billion deal in December for Landing Craft Medium ships, but the Australian government has made it clear that a contract for Mogami frigates is reliant on the success of these two contracts.

• Air Warfare

  Forecast $21.9 billion light attack and trainer opportunities up for grabs as Leonardo lines up M-346

  18th March 2026

  The M-346 stands as a potential contender for various countries facing impending capability gaps due to ageing trainer aircraft, while it could also be selected as a cost-effective light fighter aircraft.

• Air Warfare

  European CCA programmes see progress as industry narrows in on key flight milestones

  17th March 2026

  European defence firms including Airbus, Helsing, General Atomics and Anduril are accelerating development and testing of collaborative combat aircraft to meet Germany’s loyal wingman requirement, targeting operational deployment by the end of the decade.

• Air Warfare

  UAVs for Ukraine: Europe is willing to spend

  4th March 2025

  Despite President Donald Trump’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine, Shephard Defence Insight data suggests that in relation to UAVs, Europe and its non-US NATO allies are more than willing to fill any spending vacuum and are already contributing more than twice as much as the US.

• Air Warfare

  How unconventional warfare demands are changing the CUAS and drone development landscape

  14th August 2025

  The use of drones in unconventional ways is accelerating technological advances and countermeasures as military planners try to stay ahead of the drone revolution in military affairs.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SOF Week 2025: Kraken Technology group debuts K3 Scout USV in North America

  6th May 2025

  High-performance maritime industry player Kraken Technology Group, based in the UK, has used the SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida this week to debut its K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to the North American market.

• Defence Notes

  Growing a digital backbone: an essential capability for the multi-domain battlespace

  30th March 2026

  Future operational superiority will be defined by the ability to connect systems, data and personnel into a wider network. For armed forces, this creates the need for a digital backbone that integrates and enhances sensors and effectors of all kinds.

• Land Warfare

  Bahrain approved for $500 million HIMARS order as production surges

  15th August 2025

  Lockheed Martin’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is being widely ordered and deployed. The company has been working to ramp up production while continuing work to design and produce more potent missiles.

• Naval Warfare

  European navies line up $105.8 billion in unawarded contracts for 2026

  6th February 2026

  France, Germany and Italy lead the way on unawarded naval defence opportunities that could be awarded this year, but across Europe countries are ramping up their spending efforts to face geopolitical challenges.

• Naval Warfare

  Greece’s newly commissioned FDI frigate deployed to Cyprus

  3rd March 2026

  The recent naval modernisation efforts by the Hellenic Navy have been bolstered by the acquisition of advanced Naval Group frigates, the first of which was delivered in December 2025 and is now playing a crucial role in the latest Middle East conflict.

• Land Warfare

  Information advantage: what is a data fabric and why is it essential for armed forces?

  9th September 2025

  In Conversation: Shephard's Gerrard Cowan talks to Systematic’s Chris Harris about the vital importance of data fabrics in the networked battlespace, and how this capability can already be provided by existing technology.

• Air Warfare

  Paris Air Show 2025: New capabilities, partnerships and next-gen programmes remain priority for industry

  12th June 2025

  As European countries increase their defence budgets, the Paris Air Show will look to how the aerospace industry’s responds, with programme progression, new technology and industrial partnerships all expected to take centre stage at Le Bourget.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore Airshow 2026: Early adopters and big spenders point to UAV market opportunities

  27th January 2026

  While an estimated $37.99bn is still to be awarded across the Asia-Pacific uncrewed aerial vehicle market, the balance of potential future spending is unevenly split between various countries, with significant opportunities to be found in the collaborative combat aircraft space.

• Land Warfare

  Rheinmetall signs $521 million agreement for ammunition as it plans factory in Latvia

  30th September 2025

  Rheinmetall has been increasing its production capacity since 2022 and aims to be able to produce up to 1.5 million 155mm artillery shells annually by 2027.

• Land Warfare

  Ukraine Defence Contact Group commit another $24 billion for Ukraine

  14th April 2025

  The announcement of the funds followed a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) which consists of 57 countries. The UK has committed a further £350 million to Ukraine to provide repairs and maintenance to previously donated vehicles and equipment and additional equipment.

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 ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  HIMARS (Batch 1) [Estonia]

  Programme Background Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many European countries embarked upon an expansion of their military capabilities. This led Estonia ...

• 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 ...

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

  Penguin [Ukraine]

  Background Long-Standing Deal Red Wire announced in September 2025 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Edge Autonomy, had delivered additional aircraft from its Penguin uncrewed aerial system ...

• Self-propelled guns

  FH77 BW L52 Archer (Ukraine Aid) [Sweden]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, Sweden has consistently supported Ukraine with military aid. This has included the provision of air defence ...

• 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 - 8x8

  LAV 6 (Ukraine Aid) [Canada]

  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. Canada ...

• 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 ...

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 ...

• Artillery rockets

  MO.1.01.04

  MO.1.01.04 is a short-range 220mm artillery rocket armed with a thermobaric warhead developed for Russian TOS-1 MLRS.

• 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 ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...