• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CAA hails prosecution of illegal UAV flight

  2nd April 2014

  Public understanding of the legal restrictions surrounding the use of UAVs in UK airspace has been called into question following the first prosecution for the …

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems to continue RAAF Wedgetail EW support

  31st March 2014

  BAE Systems has signed a $77 million contract extension with Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) to continue to support electronic warfare sub-systems on the Royal Australian …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  FIDAE: EXPAL displays Shepherd UAV

  31st March 2014

  Spanish defence manufacturer EXPAL unveiled its hand-launched Shepherd-MIL UAV at the FIDAE exhibition in Santiago, Chile. Designed for silent, autonomous aerial reconnaissance, the platform is …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DIMDEX: Qatar Armed Forces pursue OPV design

  28th March 2014

  Thales and the Qatar Armed Forces (QAF) have agreed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue the development of an 'optionally piloted vehicle - aircraft' …

• Land Warfare

  UK advances Army 2020 plan

  27th March 2014

  The UK Ministry of Defence has implemented the first phase of its Army 2020 re-structuring programme with the launch of Force Troops Command (FTC), which …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  FIDAE: ScanEagle offered to Brazil

  27th March 2014

  The Insitu ScanEagle UAV completed a maritime demonstration with the Brazilian Navy on 17 February, Shephard has learned. Speaking at the FIDAE exhibition in Santiago, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Brazilian Air Force selects Hermes 900 UAV

  26th March 2014

  Elbit Systems will supply a Hermes 900 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) under a new contract announced on 26 March. …

• Digital Battlespace

  DIMDEX: Middle Eastern C4ISR requirements evolve

  26th March 2014

  The Middle East is experiencing a change of mindset in the area of C4ISR procurement, according to Thales. Speaking to Shephard at DIMDEX on 26 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Watchkeeper deployment to Afghanistan ‘unlikely’

  25th March 2014

  The British Army’s WK450 Watchkeeper is unlikely to be deployed to Afghanistan due to ‘significant delays’ to the programme, the UK House of Commons Defence …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DIMDEX: 5G reveals Herculean task for USVs

  25th March 2014

  5G International will unveil an autonomous refuelling-at-sea USV technology demonstrator (TD) next year, Shephard has been informed. According to company director, Keith Henderson, the 38-ft …

• Digital Battlespace

  MDA bags Canadian CP-140 Aurora radar contract

  24th March 2014

  MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) will provide the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) with eight radar surveillance systems for integration into the Royal Canadian …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Triton completes initial envelope expansion testing

  24th March 2014

  The MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) under development by Northrop Grumman for the US Navy has completed its initial envelope expansion test programme, with …

• Digital Battlespace

  IAI announces new air defence radar contract

  24th March 2014

  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will supply air defence and traffic control radar systems to an unnamed customer under a new contract announced on 23 March. …

• Digital Battlespace

  New P-8A operational flight trainers for US Navy

  21st March 2014

  In addition to new simulation system orders announced on 20 March, CAE has received a new order from Boeing and the US Navy to supply …

• Naval Warfare

  Rheinmetall successfully demo’s MASS with Elta NavGuard

  21st March 2014

  Rheinmetall announced on 21 March that in cooperation with the German armed forces and IAI Elta it had successfully tested the Multi Ammunition Softkill System …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• ISR/special mission

  MC-27J [Algeria]

  Programme Background Algeria has a long standing ISR aircraft requirement to support its Beech 1900 fleet comprised of six aircraft. The new ISR fleet is ...

• ISR/special mission

  C-208B ISR [Tunisia]

  Programme Background Requirement The acquisition of the C-208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft is part of Tunisia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its ISR capabilities in response ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER ISR [Kuwait]

  Programme Background In February 2018, the US State Department has approved an estimated $259m potential foreign military sale of King Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ...

• Military UAS - mini

  U&C reconnaissance drones [US Army]

  Methodology PGO The programme has been assigned a PGO of 100%, as a contract has been awarded. Unit cost It has not been clarified what ...

• Military UAS - small

  Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement & Objective The RN identified a requirement to acquire an RPAS to transport cargo and supplies between ships and personnel. When mature, it ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Long-Endurance UAV [US AFRICOM]

  Programme Background Ageing MQ-9A Reapers In November 2022, Shephard reported that GA-ASI would continue supporting contractor SMX with its MQ-9A after winning a $2.3 billion task ...

• Military UAS - small

  Black Hornet 3 PRS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army operated approximately 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS between 2013 and 2017, when the decision was made to retire ...

• ISR/special mission

  Shadow R1 [UK]

  Background The RAF is moving forward with an ambitious plan to transform its intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) force to enable greater interoperability ...

• ISR/special mission

  Baekdu-II [South Korea]

  Programme Background This ISR aircraft programme, which first appeared on the 2020-24 Mid-Term Defense Acquisition Plan, comprises four Baekdu-II aircraft. These will add to two ...

• Military UAS - mini

  ISR Drones (First Batch) (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background First Batch On 20 March 2024, Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, announced that, following a 19 March Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Drone Action Plan (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background APOS On 6 October 2024, the Dutch Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, visited Kharkiv and Kyiv. During his visit to Ukraine, he announced a new ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER -Canada

  Background Canadian Special Forces was looking to procure ISR aircraft to support their missions both overseas and domestically.  There were few Canadian suppliers to sell the ...

• Maritime patrol

  P-8A add-on [Canada]

  Programme Background Canadian Air Force is operating 15 C-3P (Canadian designation CP-140) special mission aircraft in service. They were acquired between 1980-91 and expected to ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  Background ISR services In April 2026, several companies announced that the USN had selected them to provide Contractor-Owned, Contractor-Operated (COCO) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  A-29 Super Tucano Afghanistan

  Media reports suggest that with the hourly cost of $1000, the A-29 is a successful platform for counter-insurgency missions. Its operational capability from unprepared airstrips, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - tactical

  Zeus

  The Zeus is an Argentine tactical-class UAV from Aerotec, in partnership with its Polish technology partner, Ekolot Aerospace & Defense (EAD). The aircraft is modular and ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Silent Falcon

  The Silent Falcon is a solar-electric sUAS with long-endurance capabilities for extended-range missions. The UAS can be used for commercial and military applications. The entire ...

• Military UAS - small

  Jackal

  The Jackal is a small UAV manufactured by FLY BVLOS, Flyby Technology and Maxwell Innovations. The system features a plug-and-play system, meaning new equipment and technologies can be ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Delta

  The Delta is a UAV with a VTOL capability before rotating and operating as a conventional fixed-wing aircraft when airborne.  Manufactured by Fly BVLOS, Nigeria was expected ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Indago

  Indago is a small quadrotor UAV with VTOL. It is equipped with a large-screen handset and is marketed as 'whisper-quiet' with a noise level of ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Canary

  Volatus Aerospace has stated that its civilian Canary rotary-wing cargo-carrying UAV can be adapted for military use in last-mile resupply operations.  Payloads are housed internally ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  ENVOY

  The ENVOY is a multi-mission rotary-wing UAV with a tandem-rotor design and a payload carrying capacity of 180kg. General Dynamics renamed the system ENVOY in mid-2025.  ...

• Air: UAS radar

  EchoFlight

  The Echoflight radar by Echodyne is a Lightweight Metamaterials ESA (MESA®), a Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) 4D radar designed for mid-sized UAVs flying below the visual line of sight (BVLOS) ...

• UAS: communication systems

  muLTElink

  Produced by uAvionix, the muLTElink is a multiple-link airborne radio system designed for uncrewed platforms in particular. It combines C-Band, LTE, ISM and Viasat L-Band communications, ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Ageon ISR

  Ageon ISR is a multi-INT C2/PED solution supporting cross-domain collection, ingestion, processing, exploitation and dissemination from tactical units to the global enterprise and cloud. Ageon ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AIMS-ISR

  AIMS-ISR is a software package used to process the video footage and data gathered from the cameras and other sensors fitted to airborne, ground-based and ...

• Military UAS - mini

  DrN-15 (series)

  The DrN-15 is a hexacopter mini-UAV from ST Engineering. The platform is highly customizable and can carry various payloads depending on a user's requirements.  All DrN ...

• Military UAS - small

  Nauru 500C

  The Nauru 500C ISR is a VTOL-capable small fixed-wing UAV from Xmobots. Designed for ISR missions, the UAV features XSIS-EO and XSIS-EOLWIR stabilised sensors. The UAV features ...

• Military UAS - small

  Outlaw SeaHunter

  Outlaw UAVs are used by military and research agencies for training, testing, data collection and system development. In the 114-137kg maximum take-off weight class, SeaHunter ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Viper 1000C

  The Viper 1000C is a fixed-wing MALE UAS. Designed to carry EO/IR sensors over vast distances, it can be employed in a wide variety of ...