• Naval Warfare

  Anduril Australia shows first Ghost Shark for RAN at factory opening

  3rd November 2025

  The new underwater vehicle has been described as an “important deterrent” thanks to its ability to operate undetected for extended periods of time.

• Land Warfare

  Australia and Canada approved for $2.5 billion HIMARS buys

  3rd October 2025

  Australia already operates M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) after receiving first units in March and conducting the first firings in August. Canada’s order comes in the face of a commitment from the government to move away from US products.

• Defence Notes

  Australia’s Exercise Talisman Sabre concludes after a series of firsts

  14th August 2025

  More than 40,000 military personnel from 19 participating nations took part in the 11th iteration of the biennial Exercise Talisman Sabre multi-domain event which was held across Australia and in Papua New Guinea.

• Naval Warfare

  Indo Pacific 2025: Autonomous systems reigned but can the Australian Defence Force afford it?

  17th November 2025

  Multiple autonomous systems and technologies were on display at this year’s Indo Pacific, but questions remain over how the Australian Department of Defence will balance the books.

• Naval Warfare

  Royal Australian Navy’s plan for fleet refresh continues in the face of headwinds

  5th August 2025

  Australia has selected the Mogami-class frigate from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to replace Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigates. The decision has been made as the RAN pushes to introduce delayed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), awaits criticised Hunter-class ships and lives in the shadow of threats to the Collins-class submarine replacement efforts.

• Land Warfare

  Light tanks for Slovakia – cost-effective alternative or false economy?

  26th September 2025

  Slovakia is currently considering replacing its Soviet era main battle tanks (MBTs) with lighter alternatives. However, the lower cost of these platforms may prove to be a false economy if they cannot compete with true MBTs.

• Land Warfare

  Croatia orders Leopards and CAESAR howitzers as Lithuania orders more CAESARs

  12th December 2025

  The Leopard is becoming the tank of choice in central and eastern Europe as Croatia joins Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Hungary in ordering the platform. Lithuania and Croatia have also signed for CAESAR howitzers.

• Naval Warfare

  Half of Australia’s first Hunter frigate is now in fabrication

  29th September 2025

  BAE Systems Maritime Australia’s Andy Coxall gave Shephard a progress update on its HMAS Hunter frigate, while addressing concerns over the cost difference between Australia’s programme and Norway’s.

• Land Warfare

  2025 land market review: British Army woes, European heavy armour and US MBT progress

  18th December 2025

  The last year has seen several major procurements in the land market. Shephard’s Dr Peter Magill reviews the main trends and themes in land procurement of 2025.

• Land Warfare

  Rheinmetall and KNDS tank tie-up narrows trans-European options

  18th December 2025

  The French and German governments signed an agreement in June 2018 to cooperate on the development of a new main battle tank under the Main Ground Combat System programme but the effort has struggled. This new agreement may damage it further.

• Digital Battlespace

  Australia looks towards space with force restructure, investment and training

  15th July 2025

  Australia is looking to improve its presence in space with a focus on communications and creating a dedicated segment of its defence forces committed to the domain.

• Defence Notes

  Rheinmetall sales up by almost a quarter on wave of German spending

  8th August 2025

  Germany’s Rheinmetall released its 1H 2025 results on 7 August, continuing the strong growth of recent years. A particular highlight of the result’s presentation was the Skyranger air defence system for which the company is predicting sales of about US$8.2 billion from the German Government before the end of the year.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2025: Trials completed for new version of Tridon air defence gun

  10th September 2025

  Less than two years ago, Sweden’s BAE Systems Bofors announced it was developing a new 40mm short-range air defence system using internal research and development funding, calling it the Tridon Mk2.

• Land Warfare

  Hundreds of Boxers with Puma turrets ordered for Dutch and German forces

  21st October 2025

  The order is for 270 vehicles, 222 of which are infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) known as Schakal (Jackal), which integrates the advanced Puma IFV RCT30 turret onto the Boxer chassis.

• Defence Notes

  Rheinmetall vehicle sales almost double as European companies see continued growth

  8th May 2025

  Results for Q1 2025 have been strong across the board for many defence companies in Europe with forward-looking statements and predictions for the full year also looking good.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Land 400 Phase 3 (Logistics, Ammunition Carrier and Mortar Carrier Variants) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Land 400 Phase 3 (Amphibious Vehicles) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Australian DoD released the initial RfI for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in November 2015. Following consultations with local industry, the ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams [Poland]

  Programme Background Requirement Since the early 2010s Poland wanted to upgrade its Soviet-era tank fleet due to modernisation requirements, the need to increase interoperability with NATO ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Drone40 (Ukraine Aid) [Australia]

  Programme Background In August 2022, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a think tank, held a podcast with Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, in which ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel - Medium (Project Land 8710 Phase 1A) [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirements Australia has set out requirements for a fleet of up to 18 Littoral Manoeuvre Vessels - Medium (LMV-M) with the release of ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Land 400 Phase 2 - Boxer CRV [Australia]

  Programme Background History The Land 400 Phase 2 programme will procure a replacement for the ASLAV, a derivative of the General Dynamics Land Systems Light Armoured Vehicle ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A4 [Czech Republic]

  Programme Background  The Czech Republic currently operates a small fleet of T-72s, which, while undergoing upgrades and life extension programmes, are increasingly obsolete. In October ...

• Submarines: nuclear, attack

  Second Hand SSNs [Australia]

  Programme Background Timeline In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock move, will not ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  In September 2021, it was announced in a trilateral announcement between Australia, the US and the UK that Australia, in a shock move, will not ...

• Main battle tanks

  Viatura Blindada de Combate-Carro de Combate (VBC-CC) [Brazil]

  Programme Background Several key technical requirements have been outlined by the Brazilian MoD. Among the most important are that the platform should weigh less than ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A1 Abrams (Ukraine Aid) [Australia]

  Programme Background Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Australia has been amongst the various Western allies providing Ukraine with military aid. Prior ...

• Submarines: nuclear, attack

  AUKUS-SSNs (1-5) [Australia]

  Programme Background AUKUS Australia announced on 16 September 2021 that the contract with Naval Group signed in 2016 had been cancelled. Although not a surprising ...

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

  Project Air 7003 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The Royal Australian Air Force has been without a UAS capability since the Heron was withdrawn in mid-2017. According to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R [Spain]

  Programme Background On 16 March 2022, the US State Department approved an FMS to Spain for eight MH-60R helicopters and associated equipment and weaponry for $950 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Carl-Gustaf M3

  The Carl-Gustaf M3 is the third generation of the 84mm shoulder-fired recoilless antitank gun, first fielded by the Swedish Army in 1946. Since then, it ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120mm KE DM63 / DM53 A1 Tank Ammunition

  The 120mm kinetic energy tank ammunition is manufactured by Rheinmetall. There are several variations of the ammunition, including the DM63, which can be fired from ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1/M1A1 Abrams

  The 105mm-armed M1 Abrams tracked MBT was introduced into US Army service in 1980 as a replacement for the 105mm-armed M60 MBT. In April 1991, ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  120mm PELE Tank Ammunition

  The 120mm Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE) tank ammunition is an inert round produced by Rheinmetall. It is suitable for use against semi-hard targets ...

• Light mortars

  60mm Mortar Ammunition

  US-based LD Systems' 60mm Mortar ammunition fulfils the NATO standard for lightweight mortar ammunition.

• S-64 Helitanker Fire-fighting Equipment

  Erickson's 10,031l tank for the S-64 helitanker drops water, retardant or foam mix at a rate of around 95l/h. Microprocessor-controlled tank doors offer eight individual ...

• Naval: RF, IR and acoustic decoys

  Nulka

  The Nulka is an active anti-ship missile decoy originally conceived in Australia, and developed under a joint Australian-US programme. BAE Systems Australia is prime contractor, while ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  120mm L55A1

  The 120mm L55A1 is a smoothbore high-pressure gun based on the L55 tank gun. The L55A1 has been qualified and in service since 2019. It ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  120mm L55 Tank Gun

  The 120mm L55 is a smoothbore tank gun produced by Rheinmetall. It is designed for use on the Leopard main battle tank, to which it ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 SEPv3

  The M1A2 System Enhancement Package 3 (M1A2 SEPv3, also known as M1A2C) is the latest production-standard variant of the Abrams MBT. Designed primarily to address ...

• Unguided Tank Ammunition

  M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP)

  The M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP) is a 120mm tank round developed by Northrop Grumman Defence Systems. Various customers, including Bahrain, Israel, and the US, use the tank ...

• Unguided Medium Calibre Ammunition

  Next Generation Combat Vehicle Ammunition

  The Next Generation Combat Vehicle Ammunition (NGVA) is a family of ammunition being developed by the US Army's Armaments Center and manufactured by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems ...

• Submarines: nuclear, attack

  SSN AUKUS

  The SSN-AUKUS will be the submarine design resulting from the AUKUS trilateral pact between Australia, the US and the UK. Expected to incorporate technology from ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  CVTESS

  Saab's Combat Vehicle Tactical Engagement Simulation System (CVTESS) is a laser-based simulator which supports every version of the Abrams Main Battle Tank and the Bradley ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Spike LR2

  The Spike LR2 (also known as NT-S) is Rafael's fifth-generation anti-tank guided missile system. It is a long-range, multi-purpose, multi-platform weapon designed for infantry, armored ...