• Military Logistics

  C295 in AAR test flight

  29th January 2020

  Airbus’ C295 tactical airlifter has carried out its first wet contacts during an air-to-air (AAR) flight test campaign, the company announced on 29 January. The …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman to develop SPOC radio terminal

  13th January 2020

  Northrop Grumman will develop and demonstrate a Software Programmable Open Mission Systems (OMS) Compliant (SPOC) radio terminal for the US Air Force under a contract …

• Defence Notes

  JF-17 Block III fighter takes to the air

  8th January 2020

  The JF-17 Block III fighter achieved its maiden flight from the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group’s (CAIG's) facility in Chengdu-Huangtianba in Sichuan on 15 December 2019. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Longbow receives Fire Control Radar contract

  27th January 2020

  Longbow has received a contract from the US Army Contracting Command for production support services for the Fire Control Radar System for the Apache attack …

• Air Warfare

  Canadian FWSAR programme progresses

  31st January 2020

  Canada’s Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Aircraft Replacement (FWSAR) programme has progressed with the Aircraft Maintenance Trainer (AMT) aircraft travelling to the country.The aircraft is …

• Digital Battlespace

  Leonardo​ radar for Indonesian Air Force

  24th January 2020

  The Indonesian Air Force (IAF) is to receive a Leonardo RAT 31 DL/M radar system, the company announced on 21 January.The system will be delivered …

• Naval Warfare

  Royal Marines train alongside Norwegian stealth corvette

  4th February 2020

  Royal Marines taking part in Arctic training in Norway have carried out an exercise alongside a Norwegian stealth missile ship. The exercise in the fjords …

• Digital Battlespace

  Viasat awarded US Air Force IDIQ contract

  22nd January 2020

  Viasat has received an IDIQ contract worth up to $90 million from the US Air Force (USAF) for Battlefield Awareness Targeting System—Dismounted (BATS-D) handheld Link …

• Digital Battlespace

  Osprey 50 radar flies for the first time

  2nd January 2020

  Leonardo has carried out the first flight trials of its Osprey 50 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The flight trials were carried out in …

• Naval Warfare

  State of the navy: US surface fleet programmes

  31st January 2020

  With its share of the US DoD’s budget reduced from the Cold War, the USN is having to manage a range of surface fleet shipbuilding …

• Digital Battlespace

  Netherlands' new radar installation under way

  21st January 2020

  Work has begun at the Netherlands Air Force Air Operations Control Station Nieuw Milligen to install a new Signal Multibeam Acquisition Radar for Targeting, Longrange …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ​Northrop Grumman not pausing for thought on MQ-4C

  13th February 2020

  The US DoD's decision to pause production of the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAV is not one that concerns the platform’s manufacturer. A two-year …

• Defence Notes

  USAF begins search to provide F-35A with more punch

  9th January 2020

  The USAF is looking to give a considerable anti-access/area denial capability boost to its fifth-generation fighter jet. It also plans to develop ‘future advanced capabilities’ …

• Air Warfare

  New MiG-31BM fighters for Russian Air Force

  27th January 2020

  The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced that the Russian Air Force will receive six high-altitude supersonic MiG-31BM in 2020. The aircraft will join the …

• Land Warfare

  Sky Sabre begins to rattle as air defence market heats up

  17th January 2020

  As the ground-based air defence (GBAD) market sees a spike of investment, one new next-generation system is on the verge of entering service. Although the British Army’s …

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 ...