• Defence Notes

  US Senate plans to booster FY2025 acquisitions with an extra $10 billion despite budget cuts to major programmes

  7th August 2024

  While lawmakers intend to provide additional resources for procurement for all US branches, they have reduced the budget for main programmes such as F-35, MQ-25, PIM and AMPV.

• Naval Warfare

  L3Harris to provide communications for new Canadian ships

  31st May 2024

  The Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) project, part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, will see the replacement of Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigates under a design contract awarded to Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems in February 2019.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  How Russia is ramping up efforts to counter drones in Ukraine

  30th April 2024

  Russian forces in Ukraine have been employing multifaceted strategies to counteract drones, as a past reliance on large-scale electronic warfare has shifted towards diverse, localised countermeasures.

• Defence Notes

  Dutch MoD targets two more frigates as part of future defence plans

  6th September 2024

  The latest defence memorandum from the Dutch government has suggested that funding would be increased, with the procurement of more frigates, F-35s and Leopard 2A8s expected.

• Air Warfare

  F-16 not dead yet in Thailand despite RTAF’s selection of Gripen

  26th September 2024

  Lockheed Martin and Saab have both delivered updated offset proposals to Thailand’s air force with contracts yet to be signed on any deal.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Tekever unveils new swarm-controlling UAS

  24th April 2024

  Tekever has manufactured the AR3, AR4 and AR5 UAS with all systems sharing common electronics and software architecture, which has enabled the reuse of ground segment elements within the new ARX UAS.

• Air Warfare

  Congress plans to provide the US Air Force with an additional $1 billion for procuring aircraft

  15th June 2024

  Extra funds will go to several programmes including the F-35. The House Appropriations Committee also prohibited the US Air Force from divesting U-2 and F-15 C/D fleet.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ready for the race: Air separation drone swarms vs. air defence systems

  11th April 2024

  As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.

• Land Warfare

  UAE awards contract to Edge for C-UAS system

  30th January 2024

  Skyshield consists of sensors, 3D radars, EO cameras, direction finders and effectors that have been networked into Edge’s unified C2 system to provide real-time situational awareness, with the ability to automatically detect and engage with drone threats and defeat them using spoofing and jamming solutions, among other key countermeasures.

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems shows Bofors 40mm naval gun as Tridon Mk2 land air defence system

  13th June 2024

  The Tridon Mk2 has been designed to be vehicle agnostic, building upon the mature Bofors 40mm naval gun with a focus on defeating UAS, aircraft, missiles and rockets.

• Land Warfare

  The future of the UGV market: A battlefield revolution in the making (opinion)

  22nd October 2024

  The market for uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) is rapidly evolving, with profound implications for future military operations. As we look to the coming decade, the potential for these autonomous platforms to redefine the battlefield is immense.

• Land Warfare

  British Army to overhaul dismounted close combat capabilities

  11th April 2024

  The future of the British Army’s DCC capabilities will include replacement equipment for female personnel and a new procurement framework.

• Land Warfare

  SPX incorporates other makers' systems onto its BlackTALON CUAS architecture

  1st July 2024

  The introduction of open architecture to BlackTALON CUAS has been designed to allow the integration of other sensors and systems rapidly, as well as to provide a faster response time for the inclusion of new sensors.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing details expansion and improvements for P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft

  17th July 2024

  The P-8 Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft, based on the Boeing 737NG airliner, is a replacement for the US Navy's fleet of P-3 Orions. It is also being targeted at other users of ageing P-3 aircraft with several countries, including Australia and New Zealand, taking up the option.

• Naval Warfare

  The future remains unclear for US Coast Guard’s Healy icebreaker

  4th September 2024

  The cutter has been in Seattle where repairs have been taking place to electrical fire damage but no estimate has been given on its return to service leaving the US Coast Guard without surface assets to patrol the Arctic.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

• 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 ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

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

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Programme Background In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is Leonardo’s C-band AESA radar designed for detecting, classifying, and tracking small, high-maneuvering targets. It’s designed for various applications, including counter-UAS, ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Land: air defence radar

  iMOTR

  The Innovative Multiple-Object Tracking Radar (iMOTR) system has been designed to provide military test ranges with more accurate time, space and position information for several ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

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

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...

• OPVs

  PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO

  The PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO is an enhanced version of the Thaon di Revel-class PPAs unveiled at Euronaval 2024. The PPA/MPCS EVO retains the core platform ...