• Defence Helicopter

  ADEX 2015: South Korea’s AW159 on the way

  26th October 2015

  Site acceptance tests for South Korea’s new AgustaWestland AW159 helicopters are imminent in the UK, and the first four rotorcraft will be handed over by …

• Defence Helicopter

  QinetiQ evaluates Chinook upgrades for UK

  23rd October 2015

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a £5.2 million contract with QinetiQ to independently evaluate Boeing’s Digital Automatic Flight Control System (DAFCS) upgrade …

• Defence Helicopter

  Lockheed delivers MH-60R helicopter for Denmark

  23rd October 2015

  Lockheed Martin has delivered the first MH-60R helicopter for the Royal Danish Air Force to the US Navy, the company announced on 22 October.  The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ADEX 2015: Korean Air showcases unmanned MD 500

  22nd October 2015

  The Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) continues to develop a fully unmanned MD 500 helicopter for a Korean Army requirement, it has emerged. The company …

• Defence Helicopter

  ADEX 2015: South Korean Apache deliveries imminent

  21st October 2015

  The first 14 of 36 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) are loaded on the production line right now, …

• Defence Helicopter

  New H145 for German police force

  21st October 2015

  Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first H145 helicopter in police configuration to the federal-state police of Baden-Württemberg at the company’s industrial site in Donauwörth, it …

• Defence Helicopter

  ADEX 2015: LCH/LAH to help Airbus penetration

  21st October 2015

  Airbus Helicopters sees the Light Civil Helicopter/Light Attack Helicopter (LCH/LAH) programme in South Korea as an avenue to deepen penetration of the country’s rotorcraft market. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Selex ES LOAM on board Italian NH90

  20th October 2015

  The first qualified Laser Obstacle Avoidance and Monitoring (LOAM) system developed and manufactured by Selex ES is now on board an Italian Army NH90 Tactical …

• Defence Helicopter

  Navy receives first upgraded AW101 Merlin HC Mk3

  20th October 2015

  The first of seven upgraded AW101 Merlin HC Mk3 helicopters has been delivered to the Royal Navy as part of Phase 1 of the Merlin …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed Martin to update ATOMS

  20th October 2015

  Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract by the US Air Force to update the battle command system Air Tasking Order Management System (ATOMS), the …

• Defence Helicopter

  HAL completes LCH performance trials

  20th October 2015

  Performance trials of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) are now complete, paving way for weapon trials to commence, HAL announced on 16 October.   A …

• Defence Helicopter

  250th NH90 helicopter delivered

  16th October 2015

  NHIndustries has delivered a new NH90 tactical transport helicopter to the Italian Army, marking the 250th delivery made under the NH90 programme. The delivery was made …

• Defence Helicopter

  RAF SAR service complete

  16th October 2015

  The Royal Air Force (RAF) UK search and rescue (SAR) air operations drew to a close in October, marking the end of more than 74 …

• Military Logistics

  ESB vessel construction begins

  15th October 2015

  General Dynamics NASSCO has started construction of the second ship of the US Navy's reclassified Expeditionary Base Mobile (ESB) programme, the company announced on 14 …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2015: US Army to evolve MUM-T

  15th October 2015

  The speed at which the US Army has had to integrate the Shadow UAS into combat aviation brigades following the aviation restructure initiative (ARI) is …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F -Kenya

  Crew transition training took place at the MD Helicopters headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, with field service support, armament, and gunnery training scheduled to occur at ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  MD 530G - Malaysia

  Procured for an urgent operational requirement for gunships to support Eastern Sabah Security Command operations, helicopter deliveries had to slip from a planned delivery of ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Uncrewed MD 500 Replacement [South Korea]

  Background Uncrewed Replacement of the MD 500 Throughout the 2010s, South Korea appeared interested in replacing its fleet of crewed MD 500 helicopters that were manufactured under licence ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Project Land 2097 Phase 4 [Australia]

  Programme Background According to the RfI, under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, the selected helicopter must comprise a commercial or military off-the-shelf solution that is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD-530G [Lebanon]

  Background Order context The Lebanese MD-530 order was placed during a visit of US Central Command Commander General Joseph Votel in December 2017.  MD 530F ...

• Hybrid effector systems

  US Air Force Air Base Defence Missile Defence [US]

  Background The US Air Force's (USAF) Air Base Air Defence Missile Defence (ABAD MD) programme is part of the Air Force Physical Security System and sits ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) First Batch (South Korea)

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Army)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Navy)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (Second Batch) [South Korea]

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton [Germany]

  Background Global Hawk Early in the development of the Global Hawk, the German MoD also expressed interest in procuring the aircraft as a replacement for ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow-On [USA]

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Multirole Helicopters [Poland]

  Programme Background In 2020, Poland announced the launch of the Perkoz programme to acquire 32 support helicopters to replace its fleet of Mi-2 aircraft stationed ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M [France]

  Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 Puma ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F Cayuse Warrior

  An evolution of the OH-6 Cayuse light observation helicopter, the MD 530F was initially Federal Aviation Administration-certified in July 1985 as the Model 369FF. It ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  MDHI Glass Cockpit

  The American aerospace manufacturer MD Helicopters Inc. (MDHI) has designed and developed a glass cockpit specifically for MD 500E AND MD 520N aircraft. It is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 500

  US-based MD Helicopters' MD 500 is a single-engine light helicopter derived from the Hughes OH-6A Cayuse developed for the US Army in the early 1960s and ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  IDU-680

  The IDU-680 is Genesys Aerosystems’ 3D synthetic vision integrated Electronic Flight Instrument System. The system includes a Highway in the Sky navigation system, geo-referenced hover ...

• Helicopter guns

  FN HMP

  The FN HMP (Heavy Machine Gun Pod) is a self-contained airborne weapon system armed with a 50cal FN M3P heavy machine gun. It is available ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G

  The MD 530G is the newest addition to the MD Helicopters (MDHI) line of light scout attack platforms. It has increased-capacity landing gear and a ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  KUS-VH

  The Korean Air Korean Air Unmanned System-Vertical Helicopter (KUS-VH) is a large, rotary-wing UAV based on the MD 500. The first flight of the platform ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  6XX

  Publicly unveiled at Heli-Expo in March 2017, the MD Helicopters 6XX is the next evolution in the MD 500 series and is a redesigned, single-engine ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C30

  The M250-C30 and -C30P are the exclusive powerplants for the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger and the MD Helicopters MD 530F and MD 530G. In addition, the AH-6i is ...

• EO/IR systems

  LEO-III

  The LEO-III, or LEO-III HD, was an airborne observation system with HD sensors and video outputs. It was a COTS, gyro-stabilised platform containing a multi-sensor HD ...

• Airborne rockets - unguided

  Aculeus MD-36 and MD-432

  The Aculeus MD-36 unguided multi-dart rocket provides 36 darts for the neutralisation of columns of light armoured vehicles. The Aculeus MD-432 provides 432 darts to ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C47E

  The C47E is the latest growth variant of the C47B/8 engine. In addition to a hot-and-high Value Improvement Package Kit, the C47E also includes dual-channel ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MD-1366 EBEM

  The US government selected the MD-1366 Enhanced Bandwidth Efficient Modem (EBEM) from ViaSat to set the DoD standard for high-speed, high-performance,flexibility and compatibility in a ...

• EO/IR systems

  Wescam MX-10

  The Wescam MX-10 EO/IR low-weight imaging system is designed for low-altitude tactical surveillance and reconnaissance missions from crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The MX-10 has had a close ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Night Intruder 600 Vertical Take-Off (NI-600VT)

  The Night Intruder 600 Vertical Take-Off (NI-600VT) is an in-development UAV from Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) based on an MD 500 twin-seat American commercial helicopter airframe. With the ...