• Digital Battlespace

  USMC SATCOM system upgrade outperforms expectations

  10th June 2020

  The USMC Systems Command is in the process of upgrading its tactical satellite system with the latest field user evaluations showing that it has performed …

• Digital Battlespace

  NATO shares SATCOM with allied partners

  29th May 2020

  The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) announced on 27 May that it has begun sharing SATCOM capacity between allies in order to strengthen a …

• Air Warfare

  New Zealand signs up for Super Hercules

  9th June 2020

  Without going to competitive tender, the New Zealand government has ordered five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft via the Foreign Military Sales avenue. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Australian CHORUS is on song

  13th May 2020

  The Australian Department of Defence announced on 11 May that it is exploring ways to integrate laser-based optical and RF communication technologies onto a single …

• Air Warfare

  Being agile, flexible and timely in a time of crisis (Studio)

  5th June 2020

  Military aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services must adapt to crises, even those as severe and unexpected as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For Honeywell, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Israel to lease Heron UAVs to Greece

  6th May 2020

  As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to Premium News subscribers, our curated content provides the latest industry news, contract awards and programme …

• Digital Battlespace

  Light shines on Five Eyes SIGINT collection mechanisms

  5th May 2020

  Although the mechanisms by which the ‘Five Eyes’ partners share their intelligence have been shrouded in secrecy for some years, revelations in recent years have …

• Digital Battlespace

  ThinKom demonstrates interoperability of Ku3030 antenna

  30th April 2020

  ThinKom Solutions has completed a series of demonstrations of the interoperability of its core antenna technology with low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. These included the …

• Digital Battlespace

  USAF nuke protection teams gain comms upgrade

  28th April 2020

  USAF security forces tasked with protecting nuclear weapons are receiving enhancements to their communications systems. On 8 April, Persistent Systems announced that it had received …

• Special Operations

  MMP makes its mark in Mali

  17th April 2020

  The French Army has disclosed details regarding the use of MBDA’s Missile Moyenne Portée (MMP) land combat missile system on operations in West Africa. Speaking …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Elbit Systems to upgrade Latin American Hermes 900 UAS

  15th April 2020

  Israel-based Elbit Systems has, on 12 April, confirmed that it secured a $20 million contract from two Latin American customers to upgrade their Hermes 900 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Uavos and KACTS demonstrate remote operation for Saker-1B

  27th March 2020

  UAVOS and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) had demonstrated their jointly developed flight control system for the Saker-1B UAS. The new system …

• Defence Helicopter

  Chinese Z-20F ASW helicopter makes tantalising appearance

  10th April 2020

  It is well known that one significant capability gap in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is an effective anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter, but the …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed to develop protected SATCOM for US Space Force

  10th March 2020

  Lockheed Martin was awarded a $240 million contract to develop and produce a prototype payload for its Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) system. PTS will use …

• Digital Battlespace

  Avtomatika develops SATCOM protection for Meridian satellite

  10th March 2020

  Avtomatika Group, part of Russia’s state-owned Rostec conglomerate, has developed a software system to protect transmissions between the Meridian military communications satellite (14F112) and its …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Dominator XP [Thailand]

  Programme Background Purchase As reported by Shephard, in September 2023, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) inducted three Dominator XPs. The RTAF purchased the trio ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MALE Combat Drones [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 helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F Chinook (Singapore)

  Programme Background In July 2020, photos have emerged on the internet of the first Boeing CH-47F Chinook destined for the Republic of Singapore Air Force ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Anka-S (Second Batch) [Turkey]

  Programme Background First Batch Based on comments by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Turkish media in 2018, Shephard believes that Türkiye acquired 26 Anka-S drones ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  New Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (NWJFAC) (1-31) [India]

  Programme Background Requirements The Indian Navy is seeking replacements for a large proportion of its 19 46-49m-long waterjet-powered fast attack craft, several of which are approaching ...

• Military UAS - small

  Mini RPAS (High Altitude)

  Programme Background The Indian Army has initiated several tenders aiming to procure micro UAVs, but there has been little progress in following through with these ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Portugal VTLB

  Programme Background The Portuguese Army planned to allocate funds for the procurement of 167 VTLBs during the Military Programming Law running from 2015 until 2026. ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Akinci [Turkey]

  Programme Background Unveiling & Testing Unveiled at TEKOFEST Istanbul Aviation, Space and Technology Festival in September 2019, the Akinci completed its first flight in December 2019. In June 2021, ...

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

  AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY (ANCILLARY) [US]

  Background Aims & Timeline As stated by DARPA, the ANCILLARY programme aims to develop and fly an X-plane that will provide a “leap-ahead” in long-endurance, VTOL-capable ...

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

  Tactical-Level Armed Drone [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 - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (Japan)

  Programme Background Selection & Contract AwardIn 2015, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan to ...

• Submarines: conventional, attack

  Submarines Procurement (1-2) [Greece]

  Programme Background Requirements As of 2025, the Hellenic Navy (HN) submarine force consists of four Type 214, four Type 209/1200 and two Type 209/1100. With ...

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

  DTIF GUARD (Ireland)

  Programme Background The Problem As stated by the project's website, Ireland is the "softest target in EU for smugglers" due to its 3171km of coastline, ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian [Belgium]

  Programme Background FMS Contract On 26 March 2019, the US State Department announced that it had approved a possible FMS of four MQ-9B SkyGuardians for an estimated ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Boxer MIV [UK]

  Programme 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  Aviator UAV 200

  Cobham’s UAV 200 is a satcom solution designed to enhance a tactical UAV’s performance, range and payload flexibility in a number of applications.This including SAR, ...

• USV-450

  The SeaRobotics USV-450 is a lightweight USV designed for survey/surveillance, hydrographic data-gathering and general-purpose sensor transport. 

• Military - USVs

  USV-11000

  The SeaRobotics USV-11000 is a long-endurance USV that can be used for military and civil missions. This includes coastal and offshore surveys, hydrographic data-gathering, harbour security ...

• UAS: communication systems

  BlackRay 1000

  The BlackRay 1000 is a ruggedised two-way SATCOM terminal for the UAV market with built-in modem and ACU. It is customisable to meet most UAS ...

• Military - USVs

  USV-550

  The SeaRobotics USV-550 can be used for shallow-water survey and surveillance, hydrographic data-gathering, general-purpose sensor transport and small ROV deployment. 

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

  Shadow M2

  The Shadow M2 builds on the Shadow 200, but has greater endurance and payload capability, quieter and more reliable propulsion and an optional SATCOM capability ...

• UAS: communication systems

  LAISR ULW

  Developed by Inmarsat Government, the Lightweight Airborne ISR System - Ultra Lightweight (LAISR ULW) is an L-Band SATCOM terminal providing beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) connectivity for SWaP-constrained ...

• Maritime patrol, Trainer

  DA42 MPP Pandion

  The DA42 MultiPurpose Platform (MPP) Pandion is a lightweight MPA, designed to carry out various missions, including coastal surveillance, training, anti-piracy, oil spill detection and ...

• UAS: communication systems

  Airborne Broadband SATCOM

  ViaSat’s airborne SATCOM services offer worldwide access and a range of service levels, providing connectivity and performance options tailored to meet a variety of needs. ...

• Military - USVs

  USV-Collapsible

  The USV-Collapsible can be used for surveying, hydrographic data-gathering, harbour security/surveillance and general-purpose sensor transport. It can also be collapsed into a small shipping crate ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  ELK-1882T NC2

  Produced by Elta Systems (a subsidiary of IAI), ELK-1882T NC2 SATCOM terminals provide secure BLOS communications for fighter and special mission aircraft. The terminals utilise software-defined ...

• Land: battle management systems

  SCC Titan

  The server-based Situational Command and Control (SCC) Titan system is broken down into an HQ and a field-ready tactical satellite package, both designed to offer ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  RF-7800B-VU104

  This land mobile broadband global area network (BGAN) SATCOM terminal provides a tactical radio network capability within the Falcon III multi-band radio family. The RF-7800B-VU104 ...

• Data links

  VDC-550/-555/-850

  ViaSat Data Controllers (VDCs) work with combat net radios to deliver networking, including over severely degraded channels. Using a tactical radio, computer and VDC, notes ...

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

  F100 Karma

  The F100 Karma is a fixed-wing UAV from WEDRONES. It is designed to detect, track, and mitigate the threats posed by other drones. The drone is ...