• Military Logistics

  Fincantieri cuts steel for Italian Navy LHD

  17th July 2017

  Fincantieri has cut first steel for the Italian Navy’s Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) at its Castellammare di Stabia shipyard in Italy, the company announced on 12 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Brazilian Navy receives CSAR H225M

  10th July 2017

  Helibras, a local operation of Airbus Helicopters, recently handed over the first of three H225M helicopters in CSAR configuration to the Brazilian Navy. The aircraft, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Philippines expecting ScanEagles

  5th July 2017

  The Philippines is expecting a delivery of additional Insitu ScanEagle tactical UAVs later this year, although the acquisition still needs to pass through various agencies …

• Defence Helicopter

  Korea’s final Wildcats bare operational claws

  6th July 2017

  The final four of South Korea’s eight Leonardo AW159 Wildcat naval helicopters were formally declared operational on 5 July. The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) …

• Defence Helicopter

  Strong prospects for Airbus Helicopters Romania

  3rd July 2017

  Airbus Helicopters remains confident in the potential of its subsidiary company in Romania, Airbus Helicopters Romania and its sister entity, Airbus Helicopters Industries, which is …

• Defence Notes

  Upgunned ESG concept exercised in Talisman Saber

  21st July 2017

  Exercise Talisman Saber 2017, held in Australia this month, provided the US Navy (USN) with the opportunity to put its latent upgunned Expeditionary Strike Group …

• Defence Helicopter

  Airbus H145 gets increased payload capacity

  3rd July 2017

  Airbus Helicopters is offering its H145 twin-engine light utility helicopter with Alternate Gross Weight (AGW) of 3,800kg, the company announced on 28 June. The optional increase …

• Defence Helicopter

  Petards secures UK market contracts

  10th July 2017

  Petards has detailed contracts received for work in the UK military market worth a combined £1.5 million.The first contract, awarded by the UK Ministry of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Saudi Arabia’s helicopter inventory bolstered

  5th July 2017

  The skies above Saudi Arabia are soon to be filled with AH-6is and Black Hawks as deliveries begin from Boeing and Sikorsky as part of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Thai army to buy four more Black Hawks

  3rd July 2017

  The Royal Thai Army (RTA) will order four more UH-60M Black Hawks from Sikorsky after receiving US congressional approval. This acquisition will enable the RTA …

• Defence Helicopter

  German armed forces receives final H145M

  29th June 2017

  Airbus Helicopters has delivered the 15th and final H145M multi-role helicopter to the German armed forces (Bundeswehr), the company announced on 26 June.  Stationed in …

• Defence Notes

  First firing for MBDA’s Sea Venom

  7th July 2017

  MBDA’s Sea Venom/ANL anti-ship missile has successfully completed its first firing at the Île du Levant test range in France, the company announced on 4 …

• Defence Helicopter

  CH-53K flight testing moves to Patuxent River

  7th July 2017

  The CH-53K King Stallion has completed its first long-range test flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, as it …

• Defence Helicopter

  Saab’s IDAS for H225M Caracal helicopters

  28th June 2017

  Saab will supply its Integrated Defensive Aids Suite (IDAS) to Airbus Helicopters for use on H225M Caracal multi-role utility aircraft, the company announced on 23 …

• Military Logistics

  Portland completes builder’s trials

  5th July 2017

  The US Navy’s upcoming San Antonio class amphibious transport dock, the future USS Portland (LPD 27), has successfully completed builder’s trials following four days of operations …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F -Kenya

  Crew transition training took place at the MD Helicopters headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, with field service support, armament, and gunnery training scheduled to occur at ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  MD 530G - Malaysia

  Procured for an urgent operational requirement for gunships to support Eastern Sabah Security Command operations, helicopter deliveries had to slip from a planned delivery of ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G Lebanon

  The Armed MD 530G Scout Attack Helicopter features next-generation all-glass cockpit that includes: two Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 6” x 9” LCD primary displays, Tek Fusion ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Uncrewed MD 500 Replacement [South Korea]

  Background Uncrewed Replacement of the MD 500 Throughout the 2010s, South Korea appeared interested in replacing its fleet of crewed MD 500 helicopters that were manufactured under licence ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Project Land 2097 Phase 4 [Australia]

  Programme Background According to the RfI, under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, the selected helicopter must comprise a commercial or military off-the-shelf solution that is ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) First Batch (South Korea)

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Army)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Navy)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (Second Batch) [South Korea]

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• 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 ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8, Tanks

  Tracked & Wheeled Light Tank (Philippines)

  Programme Background The decision to split the programme into a wheeled and a tracked element follows the belief of the Philippine Army that this will ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M - France

  Programme Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-60A [Portugal]

  Programme Background At the end of February 2025, the Portuguese Minister of National Defence said that as part of the Portuguese Army's Support, Protection & ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M (Contracted) [Germany]

  Programme Background Previous Usage The German Armed Forces ordered 15 H145M helicopters, with the initial two delivered in December 2015, for the Kommando Spezialkräfte. These ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F Cayuse Warrior

  An evolution of the OH-6 Cayuse light observation helicopter, the MD 530F was initially Federal Aviation Administration-certified in July 1985 as the Model 369FF. It ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G

  The MD 530G is the newest addition to the MD Helicopters line of light scout attack platforms. It has increased-capacity landing gear and a mission-configurable ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  MDHI Glass Cockpit

  The American aerospace manufacturer MD Helicopters Inc. (MDHI) has designed and developed a glass cockpit specifically for MD 500E AND MD 520N aircraft. It is ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  IDU-680

  The IDU-680 is Genesys Aerosystems’ 3D synthetic vision integrated Electronic Flight Instrument System. The system includes a Highway in the Sky navigation system, geo-referenced hover ...

• Helicopter guns

  FN HMP

  The FN HMP (Heavy Machine Gun Pod) is a self-contained airborne weapon system armed with a 50cal FN M3P heavy machine gun. It is available ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  KUS-VH

  The Korean Air Korean Air Unmanned System-Vertical Helicopter (KUS-VH) is a large, rotary-wing UAV based on the MD 500. The first flight of the platform ...

• Helicopter Armour

  Armor of America (AoA) produces custom armour kits for any rotary-wing aircraft. AoA helicopter armour protects areas such as the cockpit floor and doors, cabin ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  6XX

  Publicly unveiled at Heli-Expo in March 2017, the MD Helicopters 6XX is the next evolution in the MD 500 series and is a redesigned, single-engine ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C30

  The M250-C30 and -C30P are the exclusive powerplants for the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger and the MD Helicopters MD 530F and MD 530G. In addition, the AH-6i is ...

• HEMS Completions

  RSG has been providing modification, retrofit, completion services and component overhaul to the air medical industry for over 38 years on aircraft produced by Airbus ...

• HS-16600

  Breeze-Eastern's HS-16600 external electric hoist system is operational on the Leonardo Helicopters AW109 and AW119, Bell Helicopter 206 and 222, and MD 500. It is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 500

  The MD 500 is a single-engine light helicopter derived from the Hughes OH-6A Cayuse developed for the US Army in the early 1960s and the ...

• EO/IR systems

  LEO-III

  The LEO-III, or LEO-III HD, was an airborne observation system with HD sensors and video outputs. It was a COTS, gyro-stabilised platform containing a multi-sensor HD ...

• Airborne rockets - unguided

  Aculeus MD-36 and MD-432

  The Aculeus MD-36 unguided multi-dart rocket provides 36 darts for the neutralisation of columns of light armoured vehicles. The Aculeus MD-432 provides 432 darts to ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C47E

  The C47E is the latest growth variant of the C47B/8 engine. In addition to a hot-and-high Value Improvement Package Kit, the C47E also includes dual-channel ...