• Naval Warfare

  UK demonstration shows how sensors and C2 can protect ports from multi-domain threats

  26th June 2025

  Naval vessels are at high risk when in harbour, port or dockside and the threat from asymmetric attacks has been shown in the Ukraine war against Russian ships. A demonstration of combined systems in the UK hoped to show a potential solution to defence, government and commercial delegates.

• Naval Warfare

  US Coast Guard to receive the largest single acquisition funding in its history

  7th July 2025

  The nearly $25 billion investment will cover USCG procurement of cutters, aircraft, helicopters, training simulators and Polar capabilities over the next four years.

• Naval Warfare

  What HII’s UK expansion could mean for Royal Navy’s uncrewed future

  14th January 2026

  As HII prepares to deliver its latest AI-enabled uncrewed surface vessel later this year, its major UK facility expansion aligns with the UK Royal Navy’s plans for a hybrid fleet.

• Land Warfare

  IDEF 2025: Calidus targets more exports as Alhedah armoured 4×4 enters full production

  28th July 2025

  The Alheda variant being shown at IDEF 2025 was the protected four-door version with a flatbed at the rear which is known to have been supplied to Ethiopia.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2025: AM General Hawkeye awaits first production contract

  16th October 2025

  AM General presented its new Hawkeye at AUSA 2025 in Washington, with prototypes of the howitzer system having been trialled in Ukraine last year.

• Naval Warfare

  Royal New Zealand Navy outlines modernisation goals

  2nd September 2025

  The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has a crunch time coming up as it looks to refresh its fleet before 2040, and prepares to begin operating Sikorsky MH-60R helicopters, although it is at the back of a long ordering queue. A key part of any solution is looking at what neighbouring Australia is buying.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2025: AM General “on target” for JLTV full-rate production in 2026 as it uncrews a Humvee

  15th October 2025

  AM General believes it has completed working with customers for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles to reach a final version of the vehicle and to prepare to begin producing vehicles under full rate production.

• Naval Warfare

  South Korea advances next-gen naval concepts for future force needs

  13th June 2025

  HHI and Hanwha Ocean outline highly autonomous and unmanned-enabled designs as the ROKN explores force structure for the 2030s and beyond.

• Land Warfare

  Drone wars: countries are looking for answers but do companies have the solutions?

  18th March 2026

  Manufacturers are speeding up their counter-drone development efforts as countries increasingly focus on procurements to provide battlefield and national protection.

• Air Warfare

  Germany becomes fifth JSM customer with planned $644 million order

  5th June 2025

  Norway, Japan, Australia and the US have already selected Kongsberg’s Joint Strike Missile (JSM) for use from Lockheed Martin’s F-35A multirole fighter aircraft. Demand for the missile has led to an expansion in manufacturing.

• Air Warfare

  UAVs for Ukraine: Europe is willing to spend

  4th March 2025

  Despite President Donald Trump’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine, Shephard Defence Insight data suggests that in relation to UAVs, Europe and its non-US NATO allies are more than willing to fill any spending vacuum and are already contributing more than twice as much as the US.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy seeks industry partners to address pressing research needs

  10th June 2025

  The Office of Naval Research will host an Industry Engagement Day in August aiming at building new partnerships and advancing its science and technology initiatives in multiple areas.

• Naval Warfare

  Canadian Coast Guard OOSV Naalak Nappaaluk enters sea testing phase

  19th June 2025

  Trials in North Vancouver with the Coast Guard’s largest science-dedicated vessel will involve full-scale exercises to evaluate systems’ integrations and performance.

• Defence Notes

  India’s strategic defence footprint expansion could be accelerated by Iran-Israel conflict

  4th March 2026

  The latest escalation between Iran and Israel could shape New Delhi’s next-generation shield as India deepens cooperation with Israel on missile defence and drone production.

• Air Warfare

  Why is the US military focusing on having low-cost, disposable drones in its inventory?

  1st June 2025

  Diverse acquisition and development efforts across the US Department of Defence (DoD) have been focusing on the benefits cheap uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Long-Endurance UAV [US AFRICOM]

  Programme Background Ageing MQ-9A Reapers In November 2022, Shephard reported that GA-ASI would continue supporting contractor SMX with its MQ-9A after winning a $2.3 billion task ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  HH-60W - Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH)

  According to the FY2021 Base funding, the HH-60W helicopter unit cost is $43.2 million. The HH-60W will be capable of employment day or night, in ...

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

  Bayraktar TB2 [Pakistan]

  Programme Background Requirement Following a 2019 skirmish with India, Pakistan placed newfound importance on EW and ISR, primarily due to the significant advantage gained during that ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Long-Range Drones [Norway]

  Background Andøya Ambition On 3 April 2023, the Norwegian MoD released a statement confirming its plans for Andøya, the northernmost island in its Vesterålen archipelago. In addition to ...

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

  Multidomian Micro Drones [USSOCOM]

  Background Special Notice On 14 November 2024, a Special Notice was released that informed the industry that the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was looking for ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian [Denmark]

  Programme Background Arctic Capability Package In February 2021, Denmark published the Arctic Capability package, a commitment to invest in new technologies, particularly uncrewed systems, to improve ...

• Loitering munitions

  Long Range One-way Platforms [US]

  Solicitation In October 2024, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) released a solicitation for long-range, one-way platforms. The DIU noted recent conflicts highlighted the asymmetric impact of low-cost, ...

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

  V-Bat 128 [Canada]

  Programme Background Requirement Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) was seeking a platform for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) that would significantly expand its surveillance range ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Mini Intelligence Drone System (SMDR) [France]

  Background Requirement The French Army identified a need for a new tactical UAS to replace the Drac, which entered service in 2008. The Mini Reconnaissance ...

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

  M Solar-X [Thailand]

  Programme Background Roadmap In February 2024, the RTAF unveiled its White Paper 2024. Incorporating lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israel-Hamas War, and other events ...

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

  Seeker 400 - First Batch (UAE)

  Programme Background The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far back ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  NH90 NFH-Italy

  Programme Background  The Italian Navy has taken delivery of its first NH90 NFH helicopter in Full Operational Capability (or Step B) configuration in November 2013. ...

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

  CH-4 (First Batch) [Pakistan]

  Programme Background First Batch According to the Pakistan Exim Trade Info website, five aircraft were delivered to the country on 15 January 2021. According to a ...

• Loitering munitions

  Medium-Range Loitering Munition with LEO Satellite Data Link [South Korea]

  Background New Project In April 2025, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) announced a new project titled “Development of Medium-Range ...

• Military UAS - small

  Small UAV (Bulgaria)

  Programme Background The Bulgarian Army wants to procure UAVs to enhance the organic tactical ISR capabilities of its ground forces. According to Bulgarian media, a ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Caihong

  The Caihong (Rainbow), also known as the Cai Hong or CH, is a solar-powered HALE platform designed for near-space flight. It is suitable for military ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Morning Star

  Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s Morning Star is a quasi-satellite, near-space, solar-powered platform. It is designed for both military and civilian applications, including reconnaissance, navigation ...

• FL-3

  The FL-3 is a planned solar-powered, long-endurance, near-space platform with an 85,300ft ceiling. Speculated future uses include communication, ground observation, meteorological monitoring and operation as ...

• ISR/special mission, Maritime patrol

  A320neo M3A

  Currently under development by Airbus, the A320 M3A is the Maritime Patrol version of the civilian A320neo aircraft. The aircraft can be fitted with a wide ...

• Space: radar systems

  SARah

  SARah is the planned follow-on system for the SAR-Lupe radar satellite constellation operated by the German Armed Forces. In 2013, it was announced that OHB ...

• Major networking projects

  EAC

  The NATO Communications and Information Agency awarded ACTIA Sodielec a contract in June 2013 to provide NATO with an Extended Advanced SATCOM Network Monitoring and ...

• Space: radar systems

  ESA Sentinel-1

  Sentinel-1 is a planned constellation of four satellites with two already in orbit and two on order. They carry a payload of a C-band SAR ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Vocality Pro Series

  The Pro Series includes the V25, V50, V150 and V20. These are designed to be used in a central communications hub or as part of ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  FlyingFish Maritime

  The FlyingFish Maritime SIGINT system is one of several derivatives of the FlyingFish Airborne Satellite Monitoring System developed by Horizon Technologies. Designed to be mounted ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing

  S-70UAS U-Hawk

  Unveiled at AUSA 2025, the S-70UAS U-Hawk is an uncrewed version of Sikorsky’s crewed UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter.  It will act as a delivery aircraft for medium-sized uncrewed ground vehicles ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  FlyingFish

  FlyingFish is an Airborne Satellite Monitoring System designed to detect and intercept SATCOM from airborne ISR platforms. As a passive system, it cannot be detected ...

• Guided munitions

  GP155B

  The GP155B is a 155mm artillery round developed by Norinco. The GP155B integrates satellite-based guidance systems that are compatible with both the Chinese Beidou Navigation ...

• Data links

  Space CDL

  The Space Common Data Link (CDL) system provides a wideband data link capability adaptable to a variety of space-based applications. It consists of separate transmitter ...

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

  ULTRA

  The Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft (ULTRA) is a fixed-wing drone from DZYNE Technologies.  It is described as a long-endurance, GPS-harded intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform with full ...

• Naval: COMINT and ELINT systems

  FlyingFish Naval

  The FlyingFish Naval SIGINT system is one of several derivatives of the FlyingFish Airborne Satellite Monitoring System (ASMS) developed by Horizon Technologies. Whereas the original ...