• Air Warfare

  US orders 78 new F-35 combat aircraft

  1st April 2020

  USN Naval Air Systems Command has placed an order worth $4.7 billion for 78 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from Lockheed Martin. The fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, firm-fixed-price …

• Defence Notes

  Coronavirus chews up South Korean defence budget

  17th April 2020

  The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is having a global economic impact, and defence spending will not be immune. One of the earliest casualties is the South …

• Naval Warfare

  Serious Chinese shenanigans persist in South China Sea

  24th April 2020

  One might have hoped that China would desist from its aggressive territorial claims and military activities in the South China Sea during the COVID-19 crisis. …

• Naval Warfare

  Australia fast-tracks extra patrol boats

  1st May 2020

  Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds announced on 1 May that her country’s navy would receive six additional Cape-class patrol boats, to be built by Austal. …

• Defence Notes

  Production resumes at Boeing’s Philadelphia sites

  21st April 2020

  Boeing restarted ‘essential’ production at its Ridley Township facilities near Philadelphia on 20 April after being closed since 3 April. The CH-47D Chinook, V-22 Osprey (pictured) …

• Training

  AI drives new approach to pilot training

  28th April 2020

  The FlightSmart integrated pilot performance evaluation and training tool from FlightSafety International (FSI) has completed acceptance testing with the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus AFB in Ohio. FlightSmart …

• Digital Battlespace

  Australia pushes on with indigenous ISR and EW programme

  4th May 2020

  Australia is pushing ahead with the next phase of its Miniaturised Orbital Electronic Warfare Sensor System (MOESS) project. The Australian Department of Defence announced in …

• Land Warfare

  ACV deals emerge unscathed from Force Design 2030

  27th April 2020

  The USMC Force Design 2030 blueprint, which intends to reduce the number of amphibious vehicle companies from six to four, does not affect agreements with …

• Defence Helicopter

  Spotlight shines on US presidential helicopters

  29th April 2020

  A recent report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) acknowledges that the presidential helicopter programme is within cost goals but asserts that some technical …

• Naval Warfare

  Spain to gain Aegis fire control via FMS

  23rd April 2020

  Lockheed Martin was, on 17 April, awarded a new $519 million cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee undefinitised contract to provide Aegis fire control loop development to Spain. US …

• Digital Battlespace

  HAMMR time: Northrop demonstrates missile defence capability

  11th March 2020

  Northrop Grumman has successfully demonstrated its Highly Adaptable Multi-Mission Radar (HAMMR) during a test at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. A HAMMR system was …

• Naval Warfare

  FREMM-derived design wins out in USN FFG(X) programme

  1st May 2020

  The decision by the USN on 30 April to award the contract for the build up to ten of the future FFG(X) guided missile frigates …

• Land Warfare

  Blighter Surveillance Systems develops low-cost radar

  1st April 2020

  Blighter Surveillance Systems has developed a low-cost and lightweight ground surveillance/vehicle-mountable radar called Orbiter, designed for military and non-military uses. Orbiter can detect a moving …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Russia accepts Orion MALE UAV

  27th April 2020

  The Russian MoD has completed the acceptance process for the Orion MALE UAV, according to Nikolay Dolzhenkov, chief designer at St Petersburg-based manufacturer Kronstadt Group. …

• Naval Warfare

  Textron to build more SSC hovercraft

  17th April 2020

  US Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded Textron a $386.28 million contract modification to build 15 more Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) hovercraft. Work will be completed by January 2025 …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Multirole Fighter [Morocco]

  Programme Background 2019 In March 2019, the US State Department announced that it had approved a possible FMS of 25 F-16V Block 72 aircraft to ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V [Türkiye]

  Programme Background Requirement Turkish Air Force ordered 100 F-35A aircraft as a partner nation, however, the country was removed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme ...

• 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Horizon 2 - Multirole Fighter Programme [Philippines]

  Programme Background Requirement The Philippines wants a fighter able to perform score missions such as air-to-air combat, air-to-ground tasks and reconnaissance, including over water. It ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Project Halcon I [Spain]

  Programme Background The Spanish Air Force began requirements assessments, although potential suppliers including Boeing (F/A-18E/F), Lockheed Martin (F-35), Airbus-BAE-Leonardo (Eurofighter Typhoon) are already engaged with ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-15SA Saudi Arabia

  The aircraft deal includes 170 APG-63(v)3 AESA radar sets, 193 F-110-GE-129 Improved Performance Engines, 100 M61 Vulcan Cannons, 338 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems amongst ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Multi Role Combat Aircraft [Bangladesh]

  Programme Background The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) continues its quest to acquire a new multirole combat aircraft. Under the country’s Forces Goal 2030 plan, which ...

• 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  H-X Fighter Programme [Finland]

  Programme Background In June 2020, Finnish MoD announced that the Hornet fleet life extension programme is neither cost-effective solution nor sufficient in terms of Finland’s ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A [Denmark]

  Programme Background  Denmark joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program in 2002 during the System Development and Demonstration phase and has influenced technical elements ...

• AEW&C

  AEW&C Aircraft [India]

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems.  A330 Bid In 2015, the IAF has requested to procure six ...

• Hybrid effector systems

  M-SHORAD Increment 1 [USA]

  Background The US Army is developing a new maneuver short-range air defense system (M-SHORAD) to perform short-range air defense (SHORAD). Under this programme, there are ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Project Quadriga [Germany]

  Programme Background Under Project Quadriga, Berlin is seeking a replacement for its 33 Typhoon Tranche 1. Furthermore, Germany is offering its Tranche 1 fleet to ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

  Programme Background Five prototypes will be manufactured for developmental tests. Indian Air Force will buy 36 AMCA Mark-I aircraft from 2029-30. The Mark-I configuration will ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-83 SABR

  The AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) is an active electronically scanned array (AESA) fire control radar being developed by Northrop Grumman using its own ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V Block 70/72

  The F-16 Block 70/72, also referred to as the F-16V, is a fourth-generation multirole fighter aircraft. It is the latest version of Lockheed Martin's F-16 ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  Raven ES-05

  The Raven ES-05 is an AESA fire-control radar developed by Leonardo in close collaboration with Saab for the Gripen E/F. It features a repositionable AESA ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-81

  AN/APG-81 is operating in the X-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) fire control radar designed by Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems for the F-35 “Lightning” all-weather ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-63(V)2

  The AN/APG-63(V)2 is a significant radar upgrade for the U.S. Air Force F-15C aircraft. This upgrade replaces the mechanically-scanned antenna (MSA) with an AESA antenna,  ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-68

  The AN/APG-68 is a pulse-Doppler radar with increased range, modes, and resolution compared to the APG-66 radar. The F-16C/D Block 25 was the first Fighting ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-82(V)1

  The AN/APG-82(V)1 is an X-band active electronically scanned array radar system that combines the AN/APG-79 processor with the AESA antenna of the AN/APG-63(V)3. The system ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  USAF F-16 Training System

  L3Harris Technologies is supporting approximately 180 F-16 pilot and maintenance trainers as part of the USAF’s F-16 Training System. Programme contract options extend through 2019. ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16C/D Block 25, 30/32, 40/42

  The F-16C/D ('C' one-seat, 'D' two-seat designation) is the second generation of the F-16 Fighting Falcon family. The production of the F-16C/D began in 1983 with ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16C/D Block 50/52/52+

  A member of the F-16 Fighting Falcon family, the F-16C/D Block 50/52 ('C' single-seat, 'D' dual-seat) is a third-generation multirole fighter that was rolled out ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-76

  The AN/APG-76 is a Ku-band multimode radar system providing high-resolution synthetic aperture radar capabilities with moving target indicator overlays. The system was developed primarily for ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-79

  The AN/APG-79 is an agile beam radar with a solid-state digital array that scans at nearly the speed of light, enabling detection and tracking of ...

• Air: Displays

  F-16 Center Pedestal Display

  Produced by Elbit Systems of America, the F-16 Center Pedestal Display (CPD) provides a high-resolution colour display that replaces several legacy instruments on F-16 aircraft. 

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-63(V)3

  The AN/APG-63(V)3 is the latest advancement Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) upgrade of the APG-63 radar family, initially fielded on the F-15C/D Eagle. Evolving from the ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  AN/APG-77

  The AN/APG-77 is a low-probability-of-intercept fire control radar for the F-22 Raptor. It is designed to significantly improve capability in air-to-air combat, allowing the pilot ...