• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2016: US Army looks for new small UAS

  3rd May 2016

  The US Army is looking to provide dismounted soldiers with a UAS toolkit by adding a small quadcopter to the already proven Puma and Raven …

• Defence Helicopter

  Aurora flies subscale LightningStrike

  20th April 2016

  Aurora Flight Sciences has successfully conducted the first flight of a subscale vehicle demonstrator (SVD) of its LightningStrike vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) X-Plane for DARPA …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Australia hunts for naval VTOL UAV

  15th April 2016

  Australia wants a small number of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs to develop experience in their use aboard Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships at …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UAV Solutions demonstrates two SUAS

  15th April 2016

  Two of UAV Solutions’ small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS) have taken part in flight demonstrations for the Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety (RAPS) Phase II …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DefExpo 2016: OIS-AT promotes UAV proliferation

  4th April 2016

  The private Indian firm OIS Advanced Technology (OIS-AT) has invested heavily in UAVs over the past four years. Indeed, Sanjay Bhandari, founder chairman and managing …

• Defence Helicopter

  Aurora contracted for X-Plane phase 2

  7th March 2016

  Aurora Flight Sciences has been awarded a contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for phase two of the Vertical Takeoff and …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2016: Capability gap looming

  29th February 2016

  The Pentagon is facing a capability gap before new vertical lift technologies enter service, a leading rotorcraft analyst has argued. The US military continues to …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New partnership targets VTOL UAS market

  2nd February 2016

  A new partnership between Hankuk Carbon of Korea and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will target the development and manufacture of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Romania receives Phoenix 30 UAS

  12th January 2016

  Four Phoenix 30 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have been delivered to the Romanian Army by UAV Solutions under a foreign military sale, the company announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AirMule UAS takes flight

  6th January 2016

  Tactical Robotics’ AirMule VTOL UAS has successfully completed its first untethered flight at the Megiddo airfield in northern Israel. The flight was conducted as part …

• Defence Helicopter

  Iroquois lined up for autonomous capability

  25th November 2015

  The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has selected the UH-1H Iroquois as the platform for Phase 3 of the Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility system (AACUS) programme. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New UAS payload launcher out

  18th November 2015

  Aero Surveillance has developed a new Multi-purpose Payload Launcher (MPL 30) to allow its VTOL UAS to deploy payloads such as tear gas grenades, the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  D&S 2015: The rise of Falcon-V

  5th November 2015

  The VTOL-capable Falcon-V UAV completed a demonstration flight in October for Thailand’s Royal Irrigation Department for use in an aerial mapping capacity, following on from …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Funding for canister-launched UAS

  4th November 2015

  Lockheed Martin has received US military funding to continue development of a maritime canister-launched small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS), the company announced on 3 November.  …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  GPEC 2015: New UAV prototype showcased

  23rd October 2015

  Malaysian company Unmanned Systems Technology (UST) displayed its new prototype UAV designed for the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) force at GPEC Asia in Kuala Lumpur. …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  Embarked VTOL UAV [South Korea]

  Programme Background VTOL Development In January 2024, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that it would commence development of a VTOL-capable rotary-wing UAV that ...

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

  Camcopter S-300 [South Korea]

  Programme Background Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) On 18 January 2023, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Northop Grumman at a ...

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

  K1000ULE [USMC]

  Programme Background Contact Award After a comprehensive down-selection evaluation, Kraus Hamdani Aerospace's K1000ULE drone won the USN's PMA 263 contract in April 2024. The company will now provide the USN ...

• 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 ...

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

  UAV Tactical Level [Norway]

  Programme Background Request for Information (RfI) In September 2022, the Norwegian Defence Material Agency (NDMA) launched a request for information in preparation for a possible ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Fixed-Wing VTOL UAV (Malaysia)

  Programme Background Tender Issued As reported by Shephard, on 18 June 2021, Malaysia issued a tender for fixed-wing hybrid VTOL UAVs.  Requirement The tender stated that Malaysia required ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Cargo UAV (Turkey)

  Programme Background Inception & Requirment Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) initiated a programme to procure VTOL-capable cargo drones in June 2018. These were planned for ...

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

  Parrot Anafi (Singapore)

  Programme Background On 7 February 2022, the Singapore Army posted photographs on Facebook that showed the Anafi UAV used as training devices in a five-day ...

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

  Ship-Bourne VTOL UAV [Singapore]

  Programme Background Multi-Role Combat Vessel  The Republic of Singapore Navy will retire its class of six Victory-class corvettes and replace them with a new platform ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

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

  M Solar-X [Thailand]

  Programme Background Roadmap In February 2024, the RTAF unveiled its White Paper 2024. Incorporating lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israel-Hamas War, and other events ...

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

  Tactical Drone System Light (SDTL) [France]

  Programme Background The French 2024-2030 military programme unveiled the SDTL for the special forces and the French Army. According to reports, the requirement would cover 30 ...

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

  Artillery UAV [Thailand]

  Programme Background Requirement & Replacement The Royal Thai Army (RTA) was understood to be seeking a new tactical UAV to replace four legacy Israel Aerospace Industries ...

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Project Proteus [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The RN requires an uncrewed helicopter to test the viability of larger uncrewed aircraft for the RN, possibly providing an alternative to crewed ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Penguin B VTOL

  The Penguin B VTOL is a variant of the Penguin B platform manufactured by Edge Autonomy. Announced in June 2021, the variant is a reliable, long-endurance ...

• Ikarus

  The Ikarus is a rotary-wing UAV suitable for various roles, including agricultural survey, industrial inspection, search and rescue, and all aspects of health and safety ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  VTOL UAV

  The Defence Technology Institute launched the VTOL UAV R&D; project in cooperation with the Naval Research and Development Office, Royal Thai Navy and private sector ...

• Lynx VTOL

  The Lynx VTOL aircraft takes off like a helicopter, flies like a fixed-wing aircraft and is used for precision agriculture and surveying. It has an ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Zala VTOL

  Manufactured by Zala Aero Group, the ZALA VTOL is a hybrid platform that can be operated both as a fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAV due to ...

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

  Argus VTOL

  The Argus VTOL, currently in development, is part of the Argus family of UAVs manufactured by Free Horizons, which also features the Argus Predator Mk ...

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

  Spider VTOL

  The Spider VTOL is a mini electrical fixed-wing UAV. Unlike traditional VTOL UAVs with dedicated motors, propellors and structural parts for performing take-off and landing, the Spider ...

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

  Rakshak VTOL

  The Rakshak VTOL is a fixed-wing UAV with an EO/IR sensor for ISR missions. Developed by TATA Advanced Systems, the UAV is VTOL-capable, allowing it to operate ...

• Air: aerial targets

  Viking VTOL

  The Viking VTOL is an aerial target designed to mimic the size and flight characteristics of most larger, Group 1 (and potentially Group 2) platforms.  Boresight has ...

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

  Stream C VTOL

  At IDEX 2019, Threod Systems unveiled a new version of the Stream C UAS, capable of VTOL manoeuvres. Known as the Stream C VTOL, this ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Zala 421-22

  The Zala 421-22 is a rotary-wing UAV designed for ship- or land-based reconnaissance and surveillance, bomb damage assessment and real-time target acquisition. The VTOL UAV ...

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

  SR-10 VTOL

  Deftech showcased the SR-10 VTOL at DSA 2022. It has been locally designed in Malaysia to conduct aerial mapping, surveillance and line inspection missions. The hand-launched platform is powered ...

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

  H6 Poseidon

  Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...

• RMAX

  The RMAX is a remotely piloted UAV that was developed in the 1990s for industrial and farming applications, including aerial spraying. The UAV can also ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  Virtual Cockpit v3.0

  Virtual Cockpit v3.0 integrates all flight sensors, communication and payload interfaces into a light, small package.