• Naval Warfare

  Latest Virginia-class submarine, USS Iowa, commissioned

  8th April 2025

  SSN-797 was commissioned as USS Iowa, the first Virginia-class submarine of the second Trump administration. It was described as “just the beginning” of a revitalisation of US naval shipbuilding by Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.

• Naval Warfare

  Keel laid for Royal Navy’s next-generation nuclear submarine

  25th March 2025

  HMS Dreadnought will be the first of the four Dreadnought class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) scheduled to enter service in the early 2030s. Following its keel-laying ceremony last week, Shephard takes a deeper dive into the class which will eventually replace the Royal Navy's long-standing Vanguard class of boats.

• Air Warfare

  Avalon 2025: Australia reimagines Ghost Bat as a proving platform and targets future versions

  24th March 2025

  Now known as the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, the Loyal Wingman notably kept close to promised deadlines such as first flight in February 2021, in spite of originally being promised for 2020.

• Naval Warfare

  Havelsan sells ADVENT CMS into Chilean Navy frigates

  2nd April 2025

  The system is intended to add enhanced operational precision to two ageing vessels.

• Naval Warfare

  Second rMCM vessel begins sea trials, advances autonomous minesweeping

  1st April 2025

  The rMCM programme will ultimately comprise of 12 vessels, six each working for the Belgian and the Royal Netherlands Navy.

• Naval Warfare

  Long-delayed polar icebreaker programme gets cash and impetus boost

  1st April 2025

  The US Government has awarded a significant contract to move along its Polar Security Cutter programme.

• Naval Warfare

  Latest Virginia-class submarine, the future USS Iowa, delivered to US Navy

  30th December 2024

  The second Virginia-class vessel delivered in 2024, the USS Iowa is also the twelfth battle force vessel added to the US Navy across the year.

• Land Warfare

  British Army’s commitment to L118 105mm light gun may be death knell for Light Fires Platform

  15th April 2025

  The UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) was running the programme for the Light Fires Platform (LFP) which was touted as the replacement for the 105mm L118 Light Gun used by the Royal Artillery (RA) regular and reserve units.

• Air Warfare

  Interview: Edge Group eyes Indonesian market for naval and UAV expansion

  27th June 2025

  The UAE’s Edge Group has been positioning itself as a key defence and technology partner to Indonesia, where it has been focusing on naval platforms, UAVs and long-term industrial collaboration.

• Air Warfare

  Raytheon receives $590 million for Growler jammer

  6th December 2024

  In January 2020, Raytheon was awarded a $403 million System Demonstration Test Articles (SDTA) contract for the New Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) which is designed for use on Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft.

• Naval Warfare

  US lawmakers approve a $37 billion investment in shipbuilding programmes

  22nd July 2025

  Available until 2030, the funding supports multiple efforts, including Columbia and Virginia-class submarines, Arleigh-class destroyers and Ford-class carriers.

• Naval Warfare

  How the Force Design 2028 will impact US Coast Guard acquisitions

  24th April 2025

  The FD 2028 strategy intends to reduce the bureaucracy in procurement processes while speeding up the field of assets.

• Air Warfare

  South Korea starts mass assembly of its MUAV

  17th December 2024

  Construction of the Busan-based production facility has also now been completed, with the new medium-altitude reconnaissance drones destined for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) by 2028.

• Air Warfare

  Portugal to purchase 12 NATO-configured A-29 Super Tucanos

  16th December 2024

  The €200 million investment also includes a flight simulator, goods and logistics support and full implementation and sustainment of the A-29N from Embraer.

• Land Warfare

  Dutch order for up to 1,570 trucks highlights surging demand

  19th May 2025

  The past 12 months has seen billions-of-dollars in logistics, support and supply trucks ordered and delivered. The deals range from a US Army US$1.5 billion contract with Oshkosh, Italy for US$784 million from IDV and Canada’s US$1.8 billion order for Mercedes-Benz Zetros trucks to a German order worth US$3.5 billion with Rheinmetall.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• ISR/special mission

  Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (1-3) [Germany]

  Programme Background Requirement The Pegasus (Persistent German Airborne Surveillance System) project aims to fulfil a SIGINT capability which has been missing in the German Armed ...

• Fighter - electronic warfare

  Jamming and Escort Electronic Attack Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

  Programme Background According to earlier reports, Berlin had earlier decided to procure 15 EA-18G Growlers over the Eurofighter Typhoon ECR concept, which is expected to be ...

• ISR/special mission

  Stand-off Jammer Aircraft (luWES) [Germany]

  Programme Background These large stand-off aircraft will be equipped with various EW systems capable of operating from a safe distance from the mission target. A400M ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Tornado Replacement (F-35A) [Germany]

  Programme Background In March 2020, it emerged that the German government was considering  30 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to replace 45 nuclear-capable Tornados, although contracts have yet ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 (Pre-War) [Ukraine Army]

  Programme Background The Ukraine Army purchased 12 TB2 units in January 2019 for a reported $69 million. The units were reportedly delivered from June 2019 ...

• Patrol boats

  UNPAV - Angelo Cabrini Class

  The Angelo Cabrini class consists of two high-speed multipurpose patrol boats (UNPAV) intended for the Italian Navy special forces. The vessels were built by Intermarine, ...

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

  Nauru 1000C [Brazil]

  Programme Background The Logistics Command (COLOG) of the Brazilian Army purchased three Nauru 1000C UAVs, training, 36-month interested logistics support, two EO/MWIR XSIS 222A gimbals, two ...

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

  WanderB or ThunderB [Colombia]

  Programme Background Expodefensa 2019 During Colombia's Expodefensa 2019 exhibition, BlueBird Aero Systems displayed its ThunderB VTOL small UAV. Reportedly, the Colombian Army requested information on ...

• Ateş Armoured Border Security Vehicle

  The Ateş is equipped with several sensors developed by Aselsan including the Acar ground detection radar,  FalconEye EO system on an extendable mast, and Seda ...

• Amphibious assault ships

  TCG Anadolu LHD [Turkey]

  Programme Background TCG Anadolu is a Multipurpose Assault Ship (LHD) built by Sedef in Tuzla for the Turkish Navy. The vessel, which is the single ...

• Anaconda

  Four variants of the Anaconda were purchased by the RNMC: general support; patrol; command; and training. In addition to 46 vehicles, the contract also included ...

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

  Anka-S (Saudi Arabia)

  Programme Background Desired Procurement Saudi Arabia has reportedly been in negotiations to procure six Anka UAVs since 2013. It has not been disclosed which Anka ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  MiSu 6X6 PMPVs [Finland]

  In June 2019, Protolab announced that the first of the four PMPVs had been delivered to the FDF. According to a company spokesman, deliveries of ...

• Destroyers

  Hobart Class (Sea 4000)

  Programme Background The Hobart-class consists of three air warfare destroyers (AWDs) for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ships replaced the Adelaide-class frigates. Built by a ...

• Military UAS - small

  Penguin C (Latvia)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Latvian MoD signed an agreement with Latvian companies UAV Factory and Atlas Aerospace to procure UAVs for the LNAF. Under ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Frigates

  HCX-19

  The HCX-19 concept vessel was first revealed by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) at MADEX 2019, standing for Hyundai Combatant eXperimental 2019. It was created to ...

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

  Odysseus

  The Aurora Flight Sciences Odysseus fixed-wing UAV is a solar-powered, pseudo-satellite platform, which is designed to remain on station in the stratosphere for months at ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  Super Swift

  The Super Swift series by ST Engineering is designed for homeland security as a range of ultra-high speed, fast patrol boats first revealed in May ...

• Naval guns

  Gökdeniz

  Gökdeniz, also known as Korkut-D, is a 35mm Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) developed by Turkish Aselsan. It was unveiled for the first time at IDEF ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Aselsan 9681 V/UHF

  Aselsan 9681 V/UHF is a software-defined radio with frequency hopping and encryption capabilities. Designed for air platforms, it has been in service with the Turkish ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  Piccolo Elite

  Produced by Collins Aerospace, the Piccolo Elite is an autopilot architecture solution for advanced UAS applications. Unveiled in 2019, it is provided in five configurations ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  ADVENT

  Havelsan ADVENT is a naval combat management system (CMS) that focuses on fleet-wide communications, building on Havelsan's previous experience providing CMS capability to surface vessels. ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Su-57

  The Su-57, previously known also as the T-50, is a fifth-generation single-seat stealth multirole fighter developed under the Russian PAK FA (Future Air Complex for ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 412EPX

  The Bell 412EPX is a utility helicopter manufactured by Subaru. This platform improves upon the UH-1J/412-series helicopters. It has enhanced safety, performance, visibility, maintainability and ...

• Searcher

  Searcher is a fixed-wing low- and medium-altitude UAV manufactured by Elytron Aeronautica. The tandem-wing UAV is designed long-endurance reconnaissance missions and was unveiled in May ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Ajban 447A

  The Ajban 447A is a seven-crew military tactical vehicle featuring a configurable armoured cabin designed for different missions, including tactical response, border patrol, reconnaissance, COIN ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  CMS (Vikrant-Class)

  The Combat Management System abroad INS Vikrant is developed by TATA Power's Strategic Engineering Division, the Indian MoD's Weapon and Electonic System Engineering Establishment and ...

• Air: Displays

  MFD-4820

  The MFD-4820 Large Area Display is a glove-compatible touchscreen display produced by Collins Airspace. Designed to be used in fixed-wing aircraft, it was unveiled for ...

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

  Shaheen VTOL UASN SH-01

  Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Defense Studies & Research Center displayed its Shaheen VTOL UASN SH-01 at IDEX in February 2019. The aircraft is designed for ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  MUREN

  MÜREN is a combat management system designed for submarines. Developed under a joint project between the Turkish Navy and TUBITAK BILGEM, it was integrated into ...