• Air Warfare

  Germany to postpone decision on Eurofighter sale to Saudi Arabia until at least 2025

  13th July 2023

  The ongoing block on the export of the fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia is likely to impact the Eurofighter consortium's plans to sell around 200 jets in the next two years.

• Air Warfare

  PLA shows off new UCAV, while CH-5 achieves sale to Iraq

  27th September 2023

  China's aerospace industry continues to develop and sell advanced UAVs both at home and on the international market and has displayed UCAVs at the China Helicopter Exhibition in Tianjin.

• Training

  Training begins in earnest for Indian C295 transport aircraft crews

  15th May 2023

  Airbus has already begun training the first batch of flight crews for the Indian Air Force's C295 fleet and will also supply a CAE simulator under the contract.

• Defence Helicopter

  Australia investing A$700 million in Townsville base to support new Apache helicopters

  3rd July 2023

  The Australian government is investing around A$700 million (US$466 million) into upgrading RAAF Base Townsville to support the new AH-64E Apache helicopters.

• Naval Warfare

  New Exocet variants secure anti-ship missile capability for the future

  16th October 2023

  MBDA and the French Navy have completed the test firing of a new Exocet MM40 Block 3c anti-ship missile (AShM) from Aquitaine-class frigate FS Alsace.

• Air Warfare

  Elbit Systems to equip Philippine maritime patrol aircraft

  11th July 2023

  The Israeli company will integrate maritime patrol mission systems onto an ATR 72 turboprop for the Philippine Air Force.

• Naval Warfare

  Work starts on first Canadian Coast Guard Arctic patrol ship

  14th August 2023

  Construction on the first of two new patrol ships for the Canadian Coast Guard has started at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

• Air Warfare

  Belgium joins FCAS programme at Paris Air Show 2023

  20th June 2023

  Belgium announced on 19 June that it will join the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme as an observer, despite Dassault Aviation's reservations.

• Land Warfare

  Turkish air-portable howitzer targets exports as local production line rolls on

  16th August 2023

  Turkey’s MKEK has set its sights on export opportunities for its 105mm Boran Air Portable Light Towed Howitzer (APLTH) now that it is in production for the home market.

• Air Warfare

  Korean Air completes first AH-6i fuselage

  27th June 2023

  Korean Air in South Korea is building Boeing scout helicopter fuselages for an international customer.

• Digital Battlespace

  Hensoldt to protect Ukraine's helicopters against missile threat

  23rd June 2023

  Hensoldt will supply 16 self-protection systems for an unspecified Ukrainian military helicopter type, with the Mil Mi-24 being a likely candidate.

• Naval Warfare

  New Zealand explores modular ship designs for future naval fleet

  11th September 2023

  The New Zealand Ministry of Defence has started an industry engagement effort that aims to gather information about the future make-up of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), with a modular fleet based on just one or two basic ship designs being considered.

• Training

  British Army to receive fourth Apache crew trainer

  6th July 2023

  The new device will join the three other in-service trainers, allowing the British Army to train Apache operators to fly training sorties in pairs.

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell H-1 fleet achieves half a million flight hours

  30th June 2023

  The current fleet of AH-1Z Vipers and UH-1Y Venoms have surpassed the 500.000-flight hour mark.

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing receives last contract for CH-47F Chinook Block I

  6th July 2023

  Boeing has received a contract worth up to $793 million to produce 18 CH-47F Chinook helicopters for South Korea and an additional aircraft for Spain, marking the conclusion of Block I orders.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M - France

  Programme 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 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M [Ireland]

  Programme Background On 30 December 2024 Ireland announced a contract with Airbus for four new H145M helicopters to replace the Air Corps existing fleet of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System - AHTS (TH-57 Replacement)

  Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single engine 407GXi. ...

• 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 - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters

  The three maritime operations helicopters will be used for logistics and personnel transport, alongside transportation of PASKAL naval special forces in operations in the area. ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia

  Programme Background PTDI is assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung.  The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to Indonesian Army on 29 December 2020 ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Kondor Naval Helicopters (Poland)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Polish MoD announced its requirement to purchase up to eight naval helicopters to replace in-service SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters. Polish ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Army First Batch

  HT-29 Caiman GSPAs (NH90 TTH) will be assembled at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Albacete and will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service. Even though ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101 [Poland]

  According to the media reports, Airbus couldn't provide a competitive offer for the programme due to the offset requirements.  The deliveries were to be completed ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-X [Japan]

  There is no mention of the AH-X in the 2019-2023 Medium Term Defence Plan, so it is possible that the requirement has quietly been postponed. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H135 (UK)

  Programme BackgroundAirbus Helicopters UK announced on 2 February 2022 that it has won an order to provide five additional H135 twin-engine helicopters for the MoD. The ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T-India-Air Force

  An official contract announcement is expected during the Aero India 2021 exhibition in Bangalore, although negotiations have dragged on for more than five years and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M (Contracted) [Germany]

  Programme Background Previous Usage The German Armed Forces ordered 15 H145M helicopters, with the initial two delivered in December 2015, for the Kommando Spezialkräfte. These ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Naval Utility Helicopters (India)

  Programme Background The program will witness the formation of a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and another local or foreign manufacturer. In June ...

• 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, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - light/training

  H145

  The light, twin-engine EC145 began as an initiative to increase the cabin size of the BK 117 C1 aircraft, involving Kawasaki of Japan and Airbus ...

• Military helicopters - light/training, Military helicopters - multirole

  H135M

  The H135M (formerly known as the EC635 and also designated as H135) is a light utility variant of the EC135 twin-engine, multipurpose 3t helicopter. In ...

• Model 301 Fire Attack

  The Model 301 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters AS365-series helicopters.

• Model 316 Fire Attack

  The Model 316 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters H225 and AS332 L-series helicopters.

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M

  The H145M (formerly known as the EC645 T2) is the military version of the H145 medium-sized (3.7t) helicopter (covered in a separate entry). It is ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H175M

  The Airbus H175M is the military variant of the H175, a seven-tonne class aircraft powered by twin PT6C 67E engines. The civilian variants produced by Airbus ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Helionix

  The Helionix digital avionics suite was developed from the need for a more powerful avionics system with greater functions and computing capacity, alongside a user-friendly interface. ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M

  The medium-weight, 11t-class H225M (formerly known as the EC725) is the latest military Super Puma/Cougar family member.  Technical features include a modular design of mechanical ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H215M

  The H215M (formerly the AS532 ALe) is the most recent addition to the Cougar family.  It is a medium-weight (9t-class), twin-engine helicopter, combining the AS532's ...

• AC67 Airbus Helicopters H135 interior

  Bucher has developed the AC67 medical interior for the Airbus Helicopters H135 in cooperation with ADAC Luftrettung.The lightweight, modular design features a floor with integrated ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2+/2D

  Unveiled in 2011, the Arriel 2+ is an upgrade of the Arriel 2 and is intended for single- and twin-engine helicopters. It incorporates a new ...

• Helicopter engines

  LTS101

  The LTS101 was first certified in 1975. Since then, over 2,100 engines have been delivered to customers worldwide, logging over 11 million service hours. The ...

• EO/IR systems

  Viviane

  Viviane is an out-of-production gyro-stabilised night and adverse weather observation system with missile sight.  Manufactured by Safran, it was fitted to French Army Gazelles. It contained a ...

• Air: mission management systems

  APM 2000

  The current generation of autopilots is the APM 2000 family, fitted on major worldwide platforms. The APM 2000 is based on an integrated digital computer. ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  EWR-99

  Dassault is not traditionally associated with electronic warfare subsystems, instead being equated with the manufacture of combat aircraft and business jets. Nonetheless, the company did, ...