• Air Warfare

  Why the F-16 fighter jet remains a force to be reckoned with (updated 2026)

  28th January 2026

  The Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet remains in the limelight more than 40 years after its first flight. Shephard sums up the latest developments and details everything you need to know about the aircraft in 2026.

• Land Warfare

  World Defense Show 2026: Middle East remains focused on US equipment and local industry involvement

  10th February 2026

  Vehicle procurement in the Middle East continues to target big-ticket main battle tanks, with lighter platform purchases also potentially on the horizon including tactical, infantry fighting and armoured personnel carrier vehicles.

• Naval Warfare

  SAHA 2026: Turkey markets modular undersea systems to European buyers

  13th May 2026

  Turkey’s defence industry is pushing a class of platform and building an entire philosophy of cost-imposition around it.

• Air Warfare

  Baykar’s Kizilelma drone makes progress with first air-to-air kill

  1st December 2025

  This test is the latest milestone achieved by the indigenous drone, destroying a target using a beyond-visual-range missile.

• Land Warfare

  World Defense Show 2026: Rostec unveils new infantry fighting vehicle

  9th February 2026

  The latest infantry fighting vehicle from Rosoboronexport draws on experience from the war in Ukraine, and is designed to be more lethal and more survivable than its predecessors.

• Defence Notes

  Nuclear costs crowd out key defence priorities in UK investment plan, say SDR authors

  8th July 2026

  The UK government’s Defence Investment Plan has been criticised by the authors of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2025 which formed the basis of the plan. The SDR’s external reviewers told the country’s defence committee how the plan misses the mark.

• Air Warfare

  UH-60M Black Hawk: export demand underpins $13 billion market opportunity

  19th May 2026

  The UH-60M is the latest variant of the UH-60, a workhorse multirole helicopter that continues to attract further orders from across the globe. With further modernisation upgrades underway, the platform is expected to remain in operation until 2050.

• Land Warfare

  Estonia drops CV90 plan as it shifts towards uncrewed systems and firepower

  13th April 2026

  The country is scaling back its reliance on heavy battlefield equipment in favour of upgrading existing platforms and investing in firepower, mobility, unmanned systems and situational awareness.

• Land Warfare

  Europe’s eastern flank moves on air defence radars with wider efforts also underway

  28th July 2026

  Air defence radars have become more important assets in the past year with incursions in NATO countries on Europe’s eastern flank highlighting the need.

• Air Warfare

  BAE Systems and Turkish Aerospace team up on UAS opportunities

  7th November 2025

  The two companies will work together to explore ways to collaborate on the development of uncrewed air systems.

• Defence Notes

  As the new year starts, the UK defence spending delay continues

  6th January 2026

  The UK’s defence spending commitments remain uncertain as the government’s Defence Investment Plan, which had been due by the end of 2025, is yet to be published.

• Air Warfare

  Dubai Airshow 2025: Middle Eastern nations chart a broader course for defence procurement

  10th November 2025

  Several key defence contracts are still waiting to be confirmed in the air domain as global players including the US, some European countries and Turkey look to seize market opportunities.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore Airshow 2026: APAC countries explore fleet upgrade and expansion opportunities

  22nd January 2026

  Ahead of the Singapore Airshow 2026, opportunities for defence firms to upgrade or replace ageing aircraft remain strong, with tactical transport, combat aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft at the top of potential procurement lists.

• Air Warfare

  Turkey moves step closer to Eurofighter purchase with UK and Germany agreements

  24th July 2025

  The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement between the UK and Turkey has been welcomed by industry and governments, boosting confidence in a potential export sale and aid to kickstart more Typhoon production in the UK.

• Air Warfare

  Airbus to position Eurofighter Typhoon for Portugal’s F-16 replacement requirement

  28th October 2025

  The MoU with AED Cluster Portugal will see the two organisations work together on studies to create a pitch to replace the country’s current F-16 fleet.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 (Turkmenistan)

  Programme Background On 27 September 2021, Turkmenistan unveiled three Bayraktar TB2 UAVs during a parade to celebrate the nations 30th Anniversary of independence from the ...

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

  ForceShield [Portugal]

  Background As part of its efforts to expand its ground-based air defence (GBAD) capabilities, Portugal ordered an undisclosed ForceShield systems, based on the RapidRanger SHORAD systems. The ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Aksungur [Chad]

  Programme Background According to SavunmaSanayiST, reporting in April 2024, Chad received two Aksungur drones in 2024 following the Central African country's purchase of the Anka-S and ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Hisar-O (Steel Dome) [Turkey]

  Background Türkiye is procuring three domestically developed HİSAR Medium-Range Air Defence Systems. The systems are part of the Steel Dome air defence system. The HİSAR ...

• Long Range Missile Defence Systems: > 90km range

  Siper-1 (Steel Dome) [Turkey]

  Background The Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) and related companies signed a contract for the initial production of SİPER-1 and HİSAR systems. The systems will ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 [Qatar]

  Background Subsystems Qatar will use Roketsan MAM-L and MAM-C munitions as well as PiriReis navigation software in its Bayraktar T2B operations. Methodology PGO and programme ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Multirole Fighter [Turkiye]

  Programme Background Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey had already paid $1.4 billion into the programme, while its defence industry has ploughed significant ...

• Submarines: conventional/attack

  Reis Class (1-6) [Turkey]

  Programme Background Turkey is taking delivery of six Reis-class Type 214TN diesel-electric attack (SSK) submarines from German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The new boats ...

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 [Rwanda]

  Programme Background Media Links In October 2021, online reports emerged linking Rwanda with Baykar's TB2 drone. It was reported that the RFF's ongoing experience conducting military ...

• Frigates

  Istif Class Procurement (1-2) [Indonesia]

  Programme Background Timeline During IDEF 2025, TAIS Shipyards was awarded a contract by Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence to construct two MİLGEM İstif-class frigates. No further details were disclosed. ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  PULS [Peru]

  Background As part of an extensive effort to re-equip its ground forces with modern vehicles Peru is set to acquire three PULS MLRS (some sources ...

• Fighter - multirole

  TF-X Kaan Next Generation Fighter [Türkiye]

  Programme Background Requirement Geopolitical factors have spurred aircraft development in Türkiye. With its removal from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project following the Russian S-400 ...

• Trainer

  KT-1T - Turkey

  In 2007, Turkey bought 40 KT-1 aircraft under a $400 million deal that puts average unit cost estimate around $10 million per platform.The first five ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar Kizilelma [Turkey]

  Background Added to inventory Speaking at SAHA 2026, Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar stated that the Bayraktar Kilzilelma would be added to Turkey’s inventory in 2026. When ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A4 T1

  Roketsan upgraded 40 Leopard 2A4s of Turkish Land Forces with a hybrid armour package including Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA), ballistic cage armour and composite armour. ...

• Airborne rockets - guided

  Cirit

  The Cirit 70mm laser-guided missile was designed to fill the gap between cheap and low-precision unguided rockets and high-cost guided antitank missiles. Cirit can be ...

• Crew-served assault/anti-tank weapons

  Mizrak-O OMTAS

  The Mizrak-O OMTAS (Medium-Range Anti-Tank Missile System) is a Turkish-made anti-tank guided missile manufactured by Roketsan. It is designed to be effective against armored threats ...

• Artillery rockets

  TRG/TRLG-122

  The TRG-122 is a Turkish 122mm family of guided artillery rockets developed by ROKETSAN for the T-122 Sakarya and other MLRS platforms. The family includes ...

• Air-to-surface missiles, Anti-ship missiles

  CAKIR

  ÇAKIR is a family of multi-service compact cruise missiles developed by Turkish state-owned defence company Roketsan.

• Trainer

  Hurkus

  Turkey’s Undersecretariat for Defence Industries signed an agreement with Turkish Aerospace Industries in March 2006 for the Hurkus Turkish Basic Training Aircraft development programme. Three ...

• Long Range Missile Defence Systems: > 90km range

  SiPER Block-1

  The SİPER Block-1 missile is Turkey's domestically developed long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, designed to defend against high-altitude, long-range aerial threats. The missile is part ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  LGM-V

  The Laser Guided Missile Vehicle (LGM-V) mounts a Roketsan Pedestal Mounted CiRiT (PMC) launcher on an FNSS ACV-19 tracked vehicle. Roketsan originally developed its CiRiT ...

• Submarine-launched torpedoes

  AKYA

  The AKYA is a Turkish-developed, next-generation heavyweight torpedo designed for submarine launch to engage both submarine and surface targets. It boasts high speed and long-range ...

• Submarine-launched torpedoes

  Tigerfish Mk 24 Mod 2

  The Mk 24 Mod 2 Tigerfish is a British-made 21-inch, electrically powered heavyweight torpedo built for anti-submarine and anti-surface-ship warfare.

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Kaplan-10

  The Kaplan-10 is a new-generation armoured fighting vehicle designed for operations with main battle tanks. It has a low silhouette and the ability to operate at ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Karayel

  Karayel is a fixed-wing UAV designed for ISTAR and attack applications. It provides users with autonomous end-to-end surveillance, reconnaissance, and tactical and combat capabilities.  Initially developed by ...

• Guided munitions

  MAM-L

  The Roketsan Smart Micro Munition (MAM-L) is designed to be used for taking down heavily armoured vehicles,  by all classes of UAVs and light attack aircraft. The ...

• Loitering munitions

  Alpagut

  Unveiled at SAHA Expo 2022, the Alpagut is a loitering munition being developed by STM and Roketsan.  It is hoped the platform will be able to ...

• Artillery rockets

  TRG-300 Block I

  TRG-300 is a 300 mm artillery rocket developed by Turkish ROKETSAN, serving as the heavy rocket in the TRG family of guided artillery missiles.