• Land Warfare

  UK finally signs $1.35 billion British Army howitzer deal but with scaled-back numbers

  14th May 2026

  The deal will provide the British Army with five times the number of guns it currently operates as an interim measure, but it still leaves the force with comparatively fewer weapons than partner forces.

• Naval Warfare

  Naval primes dive into an underwater acquisition gold rush

  20th July 2026

  A cluster of acquisitions by Fincantieri, Thales, Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall points to a race to secure underwater warfare, autonomy and sensing capability.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: As MGCS stalls, has Europe’s new MBT been unveiled?

  24th June 2026

  Eurosatory 2026 saw a number of main battle tanks on display, including two new platforms which could be the future of European tanks.

• Land Warfare

  Russian T-90MS MBT goes for maximum survivability

  25th November 2025

  The in-production T-90MS comes with five levels of protection to tackle a wide range of evolving threats on the battlefield.

• Air Warfare

  DSEI 2025: NATO members evaluate Black Widow UAV as it joins NSPA catalogue

  12th September 2025

  The addition of Red Cat’s Black Widow to NATO’s NSPA catalogue opens the doors for allied forces to more easily procure the AI-enabled drone.

• Defence Notes

  As the new year starts, the UK defence spending delay continues

  6th January 2026

  The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.

• Defence Notes

  How US Special Operations Forces are using AI to transform modern warfare

  29th May 2026

  USSOCOM is expanding the use of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and human-machine teaming to improve decision-making, survivability and operational reach in contested environments.

• Naval Warfare

  China’s mineral processing dominance exposes naval supply chain vulnerabilities

  22nd September 2026

  Competition for critical minerals, and China’s dominance of their processing, is emerging as a decisive factor in future naval procurement programmes.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy to invest more than $700 million in laser-related R&D efforts in FY2026

  26th January 2026

  The US Navy’s acceleration of its laser weapon development initiatives reflects a decisive shift towards ultimately having a “laser on every ship” across tomorrow’s surface fleet.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: Recovery, reconnaissance, autonomy and air defence shape land systems developments

  17th June 2026

  New recovery vehicles, reconnaissance platforms, autonomous fire-support systems and short-range air-defence capabilities on display at Eurosatory 2026 highlighted how land forces are adapting to evolving battlefield requirements.

• Land Warfare

  Why Middle Eastern markets demand bespoke AFV solutions

  6th March 2026

  In this expert analysis, Christopher Foss looks at how armoured vehicle suppliers to the Middle East are increasingly tailoring platforms for the region’s specific operational requirements.

• Air Warfare

  Dubai Airshow 2025: Anduril and Edge joint venture unveils Omen tailsitter UAV

  13th November 2025

  The Group 3 UAV has also netted its first order from the UAE for 50 platforms, with full-scale production scheduled for 2028.

• Defence Notes

  The speed of relevance: how companies can navigate the new era of European defence procurement

  15th June 2026

  European militaries face a rapidly evolving security landscape and defence production must accelerate to meet surging demand for platforms and equipment. Industry needs to adapt to ensure it gets its products into the hands of the end user, Evelyn Rafferty, Senior Director Aerospace and Defence - Europe at Plexus told Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan.

• Land Warfare

  SAHA 2026: MKE sets its sights on the Turkish Army’s self-propelled guns

  7th May 2026

  With multiple artillery platforms on display at SAHA 2026, Turkey’s defence contractors are positioning to replace the country’s older imported platforms.

• Naval Warfare

  Russia’s uncrewed boat portfolio hints at future naval demand

  7th September 2026

  Ukrainian intelligence has catalogued more than 20 Russian uncrewed surface vessels, revealing a portfolio weighted towards mine warfare and logistics, with implications for Western naval investment.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey [Japan]

  Programme Background Procurement Contracts The Japanese government is the first export customer of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, having ordered 17 helicopters from the US across ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects - Short Range (LE-SR) [US]

  Background Air-launched effect (ALE) In 2022, the US sought a family of systems comprising an air vehicle, payload, mission systems applications and support equipment to ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-8C Fire Scout (USA)

  Programme Background Timeline According to the Naval Air Systems Command, having first ordered the MQ-8B in 2009, the UAV has become a pillar of the ...

• 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 - tactical

  Heavy Lift UAV [Germany]

  Background  Victor U250 agreement On 10 June 2026, at ILA Berlin, Rheinmetall, ERC Systems, and the North Rhine-Westphalia state formed a strategic partnership to lay ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects - Medium Range (LE-MR) [US]

  Background Air-launched effect (ALE) In 2022, the US sought a family of systems comprising an air vehicle, payload, mission systems applications and support equipment to ...

• Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Project Proteus [UK]

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

• Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy-lift Helicopter STH [Germany]

  Background Requirement The German government issued a tender in March 2019 for the procurement of heavy-lift helicopters under the Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) program, 60 units are ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) (MV-75 Cheyenne II) [USA]

  Programme Background US Army's Future Vertical Lift Programme The FLRAA is one of three strands of a broader army programme. The others are the Future ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intra-Theatre Lift [UK]

  Background  Relationship to the Heavy Lift Challenge The Royal Navy (RN) embarked on the Heavy Lift Challenge, now called the Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC), to explore cargo-carrying ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F CHINOOK [USA]

  Programme Background As the Army's only heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F Improved Cargo helicopter is an essential component of the Army's Multi-Domain Battle framework. The CH-47F ...

• Transport

  Large Transport Aircraft-II (LTA-II) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirements The aircraft are needed for peacetime, international peacekeeping, emergency and combat operations. They are especially required to ensure a strategic lift capacity ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ FTUAS

  From the Texton family of Aerosonde UAS, the Aerosonde Mk 4.8 Hybrid Quad (HQ) FTUAS is a tactical drone purpose-built to meet the US Army's Future Vertical Lift ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  HQ-60

  Similarly to other platforms in the L3 Technologies Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) and Fixed-Wing Rotator family (see separate entries) of VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, the HQ-60 has ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Air: Displays

  F-15 Replacement Vertical Situation Display

  BAE Systems Replacement Vertical Situation Display (RVSD) replaces the legacy VSD units on F-15E aircraft. The AMLCD display offers a larger display size and is compatible ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  X-Sight

  Elbit X-Sight is a developmental helmet-mounted display system designed for helicopters. According to the manufacturer, it will offer a high field of view and colour binocular ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Military UAS - tactical

  Hexa

  The Hexa, or LIFT Hexa, is a rotary-wing aircraft developed by LIFT Aircraft for military and commercial markets. Due to its configuration and triple redundant autopilot computer, ...

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  DrN-600

  The DrN-600 is a medium-lift cargo UAV developed by Singapore-based manufacturer ST Engineering. The platform combines vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) with wing-borne forward flight and ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Victor U250

  The Victor U250 is a heavy lift drone in development by ERC Systems. The UAV has been developed by ERC for critical mission applications including ...

• Light UGVs

  Avenger

  In January 2017, Med-Eng announced the launch of a new bomb disposal and tactical robot, called the Avenger, at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Veloce-15

  The ST Engineering Veloce-15 (V-15) is a hybrid fixed-wing UAV with four rotors for vertical lift and a tail-mounted two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal propulsion.  ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Loong 2

  The Loong 2 is a rotary-wing mini-UAV manufactured by LoongUAV. Designed for ISR missions, the UAV features a universal plug-and-play standardised interface, meaning a lot of different ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Proteus

  Proteus is a technology demonstrator that Leonardo is developing in collaboration with the UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S;) Future Capabilities Group and the ...