• Training

  RAF F-35s fly for Exercise RED FLAG

  24th January 2020

  Royal Air Force (RAF) F-35 Lightning aircraft from 617 Squadron have departed from RAF Marham to take part in Exercise RED FLAG at Nellis Air …

• Naval Warfare

  HMS Queen Elizabeth sails for jet trials

  27th January 2020

  HMS Queen Elizabeth has sailed for flight trials with UK F-35 Lightning jets in UK waters.The joint Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Lightning Force …

• Defence Notes

  Croatia sets out its 2020 procurement vision

  7th February 2020

  Salient features of the Croatian defence procurement programme for 2020 were unveiled on 6 February, with new detail provided on plans to purchase new aircraft …

• Training

  Merlin helicopters train on HMS Queen Elizabeth

  31st January 2020

  Trainees from 824 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm are undertaking a month-long deployment on HMS Queen Elizabeth in the North Sea for …

• Naval Warfare

  Tech demonstrations could be part of Prince of Wales 2021 deployment

  30th January 2020

  The first deployment of HMS Prince of Wales (foreground), second of the UK RN’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, in 2021 could see the platform being used …

• Military Logistics

  L3 Harris to repair C-130H radar display units

  27th January 2020

  L3 Harris has been awarded an $11.4 million contract to repair electronic flight indicators and radar display units for the C‐130H Hercules. The contract was …

• Training

  L3 Technologies to upgrade Greek F-16 ATDs

  6th January 2020

  L3 Technologies will upgrade Hellenic Air Force F-16 Aircrew Training Devices (ATD) under a $28 million contract announced on 2 January. The contract, issued by …

• 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 …

• 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

  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 …

• 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 …

• 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 …

• 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. …

• 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 …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Fighter - multirole

  Multirole Fighter [Morocco]

  Background FMS approval 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 [Turkey]

  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 in ...

• 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

  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

  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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Mobile Short Range Radar [Austria]

  Background As part of its efforts to modernise its ground-based air defence (GBAD) network, Austria is seeking to acquire 14 mobile short-range radar systems. According ...

• Short Range Missile Defence Systems: 0 to 20 km range

  RapidRanger [Portugal]

  Background In October 2024, Portugal signed a contract through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) for the supply of three Thales RapidRanger systems, part ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V [Jordan]

  Background 2022 FMS On 3 February 2022, the US State Department announced that it has approved a potential sale of 12 F-16 C Block 70 aircraft,  ...

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: 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. ...

• 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 ...

• 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: air combat simulators

  Air Combat Training

  Boeing has experience in delivering training for fixed-wing air combat platforms including F-15C/E, F-16, F/A-18E/F, EA-18G, F-22 and MV/CV-22.

• 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 ...