• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky, Rheinmetall submit German STH bid

  16th January 2020

  Sikorsky and Rheinmetall have submitted their joint bid for the German Air Force’s new heavy-lift transport helicopter (STH) programme. Based on the Sikorsky CH-53K King …

• 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 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Unmanned spotlighted as concepts develop for future requirements

  16th January 2020

  As the incremental adoption of unmanned vessels into the naval sphere continues, the intent from the US government, agencies and industry for such solutions is …

• Naval Warfare

  RAN creates new Maritime Warfare Centre

  23rd January 2020

  The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has opened a centralised warfighting agency called the Maritime Warfare Centre at Garden Island, Sydney. Designed to enhance the RAN’s …

• Land Warfare

  Dstl, QinetiQ complete APS trials

  16th January 2020

  Trials of an Active Protection System (APS) for Dstl’s Medusa Technology Assessment Programme (TAP) by a QinetiQ-led industry team are now complete. Part of Dstl’s …

• Naval Warfare

  USN pushes against fleet readiness problems

  30th January 2020

  With the USN spending a considerable amount on modernising and increasing the size of its fleet, one notable takeaway from the Surface Navy Association annual …

• Defence Notes

  Podcast: Revolutions in Vertical Flight S1 E3 - The Tiltrotor

  20th December 2019

  Welcome to Shephard Studio’s podcast series on Revolutions in Vertical Flight, sponsored by our partner Bell. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. The Revolutions in Vertical Flight …

• Training

  Dstl opens UK's first wargaming centre

  15th January 2020

  The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has opened the UK’s first dedicated, purpose designed wargaming centre. The Defence Wargaming Centre (DWC), located on Dstl’s …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Gray Eagle ER begins new flight demo campaign

  22nd January 2020

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has begun a series of internally-funded multi-domain operations (MDO) demonstrations of the Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) UAS. The flight …

• 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. …

• Land Warfare

  US Army cancels OMFV solicitation

  17th January 2020

  The US Army has terminated the current acquisition process of the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV), after only one bid was received in the competition …

• Training

  RAAF completes US-based F-35A training mission

  20th January 2020

  Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A Lightning II pilots, maintainers and aircraft have begun returning to Australia from Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in the …

• Defence Notes

  Podcast: Revolutions in Vertical Flight S1 E6 - the Future of VTOL Innovation

  20th December 2019

  Welcome to Shephard Studio’s podcast series on Revolutions in Vertical Flight, sponsored by our partner Bell. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. The Revolutions in Vertical Flight …

• Defence Helicopter

  Poland seeks new naval helicopters

  17th January 2020

  The Polish Navy plans to modernise its aviation fleet through the procurement of a series of multirole helicopters, starting a new ‘technical dialogue’ with industry. …

• Training

  UK adds long-overdue helicopter aircrew training capacity

  22nd January 2020

  The UK MoD has signed a £183 million ($240 million) Military Flying Training System (MFTS) contract to add capacity to train rotary-wing pilots, filling a long-overdue shortfall. This …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

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

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (Saudi Arabia)

  The sale is aimed at improving Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats from enemy weapon systems, provide the capability to identify, engage ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Data links

  Data links | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  Air: Helmet-mounted displays | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35C Carrier Variant

  The US Navy is planning to order 130 F-35Cs between FY2026 and FY2030 under the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. The purchase is estimated be ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Large ULS-A / Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) [USMC]

  Background US Marine ULS-A programmes The US Marines are seeking a family of Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A), which will provide logistics and ground units with their ...

• Fighter - naval

  Future Naval Fighter China

  The PLAN started development work in 2011 for the Type 075 with the aim of increasing the "vertical" amphibious assault capability, with the mountainous East ...

• Fighter - naval

  F-35B STOVL Future Procurement - US Navy

  US Navy has ordered 122 F-35B aircraft until FY2020, the remaining 202 fighters will be acquired at a rate of 10 and 17 per year ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing

  VTOL UAV [New Zealand]

  Background Defence Capability Plan (DCP) In April 2025, the New Zealand government published the DCP, a document that is essentially a blueprint for what procurements ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Air: Displays

  F-15 Replacement Vertical Situation Display

  BAE Systems Replacement Vertical Situation Display (RVSD) replaces the legacy VSD units on F-15E aircraft. The AMLCD display offers a larger display size and is compatible ...

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ FTUAS

  From the Texton family of Aerosonde UAS, the Aerosonde Mk 4.8 Hybrid Quad (HQ) FTUAS is a tactical drone purpose-built to meet the US Army's Future Vertical Lift ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-97 Raider

  The S-97 Raider helicopter is based on the five-year, company-funded X2 Technology Demonstrator project. Like the X2, the S-97 Raider will feature twin coaxial, counter-rotating ...

• Surface-to-air missiles, Surface-to-surface missiles

  RIM-174 Standard ERAM SM-6 Block I/IA

  The SM-6 (RIM-174 Standard ERAM) is a surface-to-air supersonic missile launched from cruisers and destroyers, capable of successfully engaging crewed and uncrewed, fixed- or rotary-wing ...

• Helicopter engines

  T901

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AVX JMR

  AVX Aircraft proposed a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, small wings and dual ducted-fan propulsors for the US Army’s JMR-TD FVL programme. In April 2015, ...

• Cumulus One

  Cumulus One is an autonomous fixed-wing drone manufactured by Sky-Watch. The aircraft’s structure is made from carbon fibre and Kevlar. The system has mission planning ...

• Helicopter engines

  T900

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black Hawk ...

• EO/IR systems

  Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera with Laser Rangefinder

  Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera with Laser Rangefinder is a surveillance system with a laser rangefinder. Performance includes 1/3in charge-coupled device colour sensor, NTSC or PAL format. Resolution ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a JMR-TD aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal to build a demonstrator ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Tiltrotors

  TR36TD

  Karem Aircraft was one of four contenders for the US Army's JMR-TD, which is a precursor to the FVL project that will replace the UH-60 ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  Super Komar

  The Super Komar is an upgraded version of the Komar, featuring digital signal processing. Air-to-air modes include boresight, head-up display search, look-up/down, range-while-search, track-while-scan (TWS) and vertical manoeuvre. ...

• Military - UUVs

  Roving Bat

  The Roving Bat is a multipurpose, hybrid ROV and crawler built by Exail. It is designed for close inspection and cleaning operations of immersed vertical structures ...