• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-47B demonstrates autonomous aerial refuelling

  24th April 2015

  The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft successfully demonstrated fully autonomous aerial refuelling (AAR), as announced on 22 April. The demonstration was conducted …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ECA Group wins two export contracts for USVs

  24th April 2015

  ECA Group has revealed that it has secured export contracts valued at over $10.72 million for systems from its Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) portfolio. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Radioactive UAV gatecrashes Japanese prime minister’s office

  24th April 2015

  Staff discovered a quadrotor UAV atop the roof of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s office in Tokyo on 22 April 2015. The craft, emblazoned with a …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Bluefin delivers new hull inspection vehicles to US Navy

  23rd April 2015

  Bluefin Robotics has delivered new vehicles to the US Navy to remotely search for IEDs, limpet mines and objects of interest on ship hulls, harbour …

• Land Warfare

  New Warrior turret completes on-the-move firing

  22nd April 2015

  The new turret developed by Lockheed Martin UK for the upgrade to the British Army’s Warrior IFV has completed its first on-the-move firing tests. LM …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CTX 2015: UAVs set for UK Counter Terror operations

  22nd April 2015

  The UK’s counter terrorism policing unit has selected the Aeryon SkyRanger UAS to carry out security and surveillance missions at airports across the UK and …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy names next Freedom-class LCS

  22nd April 2015

  The US Navy has named the next Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS St. Louis, it announced on 17 April. The USS St. Louis, designated …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  CM100 gimbal successfully tested on Aerosonde UAV

  22nd April 2015

  UAV Vision, an Australian-based manufacturer specialising in gimbal manufacturing for both manned and unmanned craft, announced in early April that its CM100 product has been …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ONR conducts swarming UAV demonstrations

  20th April 2015

  The US Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) has conducted demonstrations of swarming unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the navy announced on 14 April. The demonstrations …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SAS 2015: ONR displays LDUUV

  15th April 2015

  The US Office of Naval Research (ONR) is showing its prototype Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (LDUUV) for the first time at Sea-Air-Space 2015. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SAS 2015: Proteus dual mode underwater vehicle on display

  15th April 2015

  The dual mode (manned or unmanned) Proteus vehicle (DMUV) is on display at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) stand at Sea-Air-Space 2015. The DMUV was …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Boeing acquires 2d3 Sensing

  15th April 2015

  Boeing has acquired OMG's wholly-owned subsidiary 2d3 Sensing, which specialises in motion imagery processing of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data generated from aerial platforms. Boeing …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Chinese military UAV makers expand into civilian market

  15th April 2015

  State-owned makers of UAVs are rushing into the civilian market, according to a report released by the China Daily on 14 April 2015. Furthermore, defence …

• Defence Helicopter

  US Army receives 100th AH-64E Apache

  10th April 2015

  The US Army has reached a significant milestone in its AH-64E Apache helicopter programme, having taken delivery of the 100th aircraft in late March. The …

• Defence Helicopter

  Pakistan enjoys attack helicopter choices – American, Chinese or Russian?

  10th April 2015

  Pakistan has several choices as it seeks to expand its army attack helicopter fleet – American, Chinese and Russian. On 6 April 2015 it emerged …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior [India]

  Programme Background Make In India The 'Make In India' initiative is an effort by the Indian government to boost domestic manufacturing. In the context of ...

• 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 ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Ajax IFV [UK]

  Background Prior to commencing development of the Ajax the UK utilised the Warrior was its primary IFV. However, the Warrior entered service in 1987 making it ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Naval Collaborative Combat Air Vehicle (N-CCAV) [India]

  Programme Background CATS Warrior The Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) is a planned, uncrewed and crewed family of aircraft in development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ...

• Military UAS - small

  Bug Nano UAS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army previously took delivery of 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS in 2013 to support operations in Afghanistan. After these ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Background Required Quantity Although the US Army first envisioned a requirement for 132 MQ-1C Gray Eagles, the US Army's Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) was increased ...

• Military UAS - small

  Orbiter 3 (Croatia)

  Programme Background The Croatian government launched a competitive tender for the procurement of a short-range UAV in October 2017. Although the tender was opened on ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Protected 4x4 Replacement [Argentina]

  Programme Background Argentina currently operates the AML, Spartan 4x4 APC and Dongfeng Warrior CSK131, with 45 still in service across the three vehicles. It also previously operated ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Boxer (MIV) [UK]

  Background History The UK MoD announced in March 2018 that it would re-join the Boxer programme and pursue a sole-source acquisition of the 8x8 vehicle. ...

• CUAS - hybrid effector systems

  Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System [Qatar]

  Background In 2022, Qatar received authorisation from the US Government to acquire 10 Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (FS-LIDS) for $1 billion. Also ...

• Military UAS - mini

  AR100-H [Germany]

  Programme Background In May 2022, it was announced that 145 AR100-H drones would be supplied to the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). At the time of ...

• Military UAS - small

  Alpha 900 [Uruguay]

  Background Acqustiion In October 2022, the Alpha 900 from Alpha Unmanned Systems was reportedly jointly purchased by the Uruguayan state energy company UTE and the ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Sixth-Generation Aircraft [South Korea]

  Programme Background Hanwha industries has confirmed that a new engine is under development to replace the American manufactured F-414 engine; according to reports, the new ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  Ermine (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western governments have sought to provide as much assistance as possible to the Ukrainian government. ...

• Minehunters

  New Generation Minehunters/Coastal (NGM/C) (1-5) [Italy]

  Background Requirements Four vessels were planned to be NGM/A, a new ocean-going MCMV, while a further eight NGM/C minehunters, a new coastal MCMV. These will replace ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military - USVs

  SHARC

  The Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft (SHARC) wave glider platform is a JV developed between Boeing and Liquid Robotics. The SHARC is able to deliver ...

• Land: soldier modernisation systems - industry programmes

  Warrior Systems

  General Dynamics Mission Systems is prime contractor and system integrator for the US Army’s Warrior soldier systems, which include Air Warrior, Future Force Warrior, Land Warrior ...

• 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 - small

  NRQ-21

  Insitu displayed the NRQ-21 Integrator at the Unmanned Warrior 2016 event in Wales. The aircraft has been designed to carry out tasks on land and ...

• Land: soldier modernisation systems - industry programmes

  Mounted Warrior

  Mounted Warrior will provide an integrated system-of-systems ensemble designed to improve the survivability, lethality and combat effectiveness of armoured vehicle crewmen. The system leverages capabilities ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Warrior

  The Warrior IFV entered service with the British Army in mid-1987. A total of 789 vehicles were delivered in IFV, infantry command, anti-tank, recovery, repair, ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  MIHDS

  The Modular Integrated Helmet Display System (MIHDS) is designed and developed jointly by General Dynamics Mission Systems, USA and Microvision Inc. The system's SD2500 design ...

• Military - USVs

  MAST

  The Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST) was developed by ASV Global and Roke Manor Research under funding from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  CATS Warrior

  Manufactured by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior is a medium-altitude long-endurance UAS part of the CATS family ...

• Land: soldier modernisation systems - national programmes

  Warrior 2020

  Finland’s Warrior 2020 programme is focused on improving individual soldier equipment in the five capability areas defined by NATO: C4I, lethality, mobility, survivability and sustainability. Warrior ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  OH-58D Kiowa Warrior

  The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, manufactured by Bell Helicopter Textron, is a two-person, light scout helicopter with a day/night mast-mounted sight, glass cockpit and four-bladed rotor system. ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MUBC

  The Modular Universal Battery Charger (MUBC) is a scalable charging system for a range of military and commercial batteries. It provides for the addition of ...

• 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 ...

• UAS: Integrated systems - uncrewed

  Athena 511

  The Athena 511 is a compact all-in-one GPS-aided INS air data system. The system’s integrated inertial sensing uses a tactical grade, ring-laser gyro IMU, with ...

• Land: RWS

  Unmanned T40

  Nexter is developed an unmanned variant of its T40 two-man turret to meet the growing demand for these types of systems. Like the standard T40, ...