• Digital Battlespace

  World Defense Show 2026: Northrop Grumman to present improved C2 management system

  4th February 2026

  The Northrop Grumman Integrated Battle Command System is in service with Poland and the US Army with another 20 countries believed to have expressed an interest.

• Air Warfare

  Sophistication versus simplification: the divided future of air-to-air missiles

  12th October 2026

  As global air combat operations continue to evolve at a rate not seen for decades, what will the next generation of air-to-air weapons look like, and what missions will they need to fulfil?

• Air Warfare

  UK Defence Investment Plan: What does it mean for UK air power?

  30th June 2026

  The DIP sees £8.6 billion earmarked for the Global Combat Air Programme, with heavy emphasis on uncrewed systems procurement and a national CCA programme, despite pushed forward helicopter retirements and questions over what shape future ISR capabilities could take.

• Air Warfare

  2025 air market review: European defence independence, next-gen tech and export concerns dominate

  23rd December 2025

  This year’s (geo)political turmoil has challenged many long-prevailing assumptions, leading to far-reaching consequences for air forces and their supplier bases in industry worldwide – with five key trends in review for 2025.

• Land Warfare

  Greece opts for PULS long-range artillery as demand for capability surges

  9th April 2026

  Greece’s selection of PULS makes it the sixth European country to choose the system and follows Sweden’s plan to buy HIMARS and Norway’s selection of Chunmoo artillery systems. The diverse choices for a similar capability highlight demand and a desire for European industrial capacity.

• Air Warfare

  What might next-generation military aircrew training look like?

  26th December 2025

  Changing roles for combat aircraft fleets, the rise of simulation and LVC technologies, and the increasing cost of flight hours could all be leading to a paradigm shift in military pilot training.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy to accelerate the replenishment of SM-6 stocks as demand continues to surge

  5th May 2026

  The Naval Sea Systems Command exercised a US$335 million modification to a contract with RTX Raytheon to support increasing the production of Standard Missiles 6 by 2030. Shephard spoke with the company president about how the company has scaled to meet demand.

• Air Warfare

  Anduril marks new milestones with YFQ-44A flight tests as USAF plans further demos

  4th March 2026

  A production decision on Increment 1 of the CCA Programme is due to be made by the end of the year, with further demonstrations building on F-22 Raptor and MQ-20 Avenger teaming flight tests.

• Land Warfare

  US gives Patriot $50 billion boost, as Dutch to deliver first equipment under new scheme

  5th August 2025

  The Patriot Air Defence System has been a core part of equipment used in the Ukraine-Russia war, and will form part of the first Dutch military aid package backed by the new NATO-US Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.

• Land Warfare

  April land forces roundup: Munitions and long-range fires drive procurement momentum

  1st May 2026

  The demand for long-range fires continues alongside the drive to increase artillery shell manufacture and the procurement of new artillery weapons.

• Defence Notes

  Why small guns have been critical to layered CUAS architectures

  5th February 2026

  Multiple countries have been deploying small arms as the last line of drone defence due to their multiple operational and tactical advantages.

• Air Warfare

  Australia’s revised defence investment plan: what it means for air warfare

  17th April 2026

  The Australian government’s 2026 National Defence Strategy has unveiled a major spending uplift planned for the Royal Australian Air Force, focused on upgrading its air combat and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as upping investment in uncrewed aerial systems.

• Land Warfare

  Netherlands to get step change in air defence capability with FFG ACSV selection

  21st January 2026

  FFG’s tracked Armoured Combat Support Vehicle will form the backbone of the Netherlands’ new low-level air defences, Shephard has learned, with scope for further fleet expansion beyond the initial order.

• Land Warfare

  “Timelines are measured in seconds”: tackling the UAS threat with dispersed defences

  17th July 2026

  Small uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) have transformed the battlespace, posing a complex threat across all domains. Militaries now need counter-UAS (CUAS) capabilities that defeat the danger while meeting demands around readiness, manoeuvrability and adaptability, according to Mike Spina, Director, Global Sales and Business Development for Targeting and Sensor Systems (TSS) at L3Harris Technologies.

• Air Warfare

  DSEI 2025: Helsing and Systematic join forces to revolutionise drone recce-strike missions

  12th September 2025

  The partnership will integrate Helsing’s AI-powered systems with the Systematic SitaWare suite of C4ISR currently used by more than 50 nations, enabling faster data exchange between ISR UAVs and Helsing’s HX-2 loitering munitions.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - micro

  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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T- Air Force [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  PULS (Batch 1) [Netherlands]

  Background The Netherlands previously operated the M270, however it retired its fleet in 2004, as they were considered unnecessary.  The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T - Army [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

• Military UAS - small

  AR3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Background £270 Million investment On 15 September 2025, the UK MoD noted that, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK ...

• 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 ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  VBMR-L Serval [Croatia]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many European countries have been modernising their armed forces.  Croatia is no exception ...

• 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 ...

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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 ...

• 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 - 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

  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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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

  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 ...