• Defence Helicopter

  Slovakia leans towards Black Hawks

  19th January 2015

  The door may be closing on European helicopter manufacturers in Slovakia, with the country’s defence minister revealing the Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk transport helicopter is …

• Naval Warfare

  How naval technology aided AirAsia airliner search in Indonesia

  19th January 2015

  Naval assets and technology proved instrumental in locating the wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501, which crashed into the Java Sea with 162 passengers and crew …

• Defence Helicopter

  Philippine military receives more AW109s

  16th January 2015

  The Philippine Navy (PN) and Air Force (PAF) have had their helicopter capability bolstered with the delivery of four disassembled AgustaWestland AW109 Power helicopters to …

• Defence Notes

  UK's fairy land equipment budget

  14th January 2015

  The UK Ministry of Defence’s equipment budget is based on a dream world of accounting where they think their reduced cost forecasts will be met. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Canada receives Chinook maintenance trainer

  14th January 2015

  The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has received a maintenance training system for its CH-147F Chinook helicopter from Boeing, the company said on 12 January. …

• Land Warfare

  MEADS named as candidate for Germany, Poland

  9th January 2015

  According to a 7 January Lockheed Martin press release, the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) has been named a candidate in Germany and Poland. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Z-18A undergoes high-altitude testing

  8th January 2015

  Pictures of the new Z-18A troop-carrying helicopter undergoing high-altitude testing have emerged on the Chinese internet as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) looks for a …

• Naval Warfare

  Indian Navy selects OTO Melara 127/64 LW guns

  8th January 2015

  INDIA has selected OTO Melara's 127/64 LW Vulcano gun system to arm 13 Indian Navy (IN) frigates and destroyers.  The deal for the 127mm guns …

• Defence Helicopter

  Russia accelerates rotorcraft fleet renewal

  6th January 2015

  Around 135 new helicopters were delivered to the Russian military in 2014, as the country continues a wide-ranging modernisation of its rotorcraft fleet. The majority …

• Defence Helicopter

  New Zealand NH90s take up responsibilities

  6th January 2015

  Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) NH90 transport helicopters continue to take up greater mission responsibilities, as demonstrated by the type’s transition from the Helicopter …

• Defence Helicopter

  First two HAD-E Tigers delivered to Spain

  23rd December 2014

  The Spanish military’s new helicopter fleet continues to take shape with the delivery of the first two Tiger helicopters in the new HAD-E version from …

• Defence Helicopter

  AgustaWestland signs Polish offset MoUs

  22nd December 2014

  AgustaWestland has signed four Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with partners in Poland as it seeks to strengthen its industrial relationships with Polish industry. The Polish …

• Defence Helicopter

  Russian military receives more Mi-8MTV-5-1s

  22nd December 2014

  The Russian Air Force’s 15th Army Aviation Brigade, stationed at Ostrov in the western part of the country, is set to take a batch of …

• Defence Helicopter

  NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter delivered to Spain

  19th December 2014

  The first NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) built in Spain has been delivered to the Spanish armed forces by NHI from Airbus Helicopters’ Albacette facility. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Karem progresses to next phase of VTOL-X project

  18th December 2014

  Karem Aircraft will continue its development work on the DARPA Vertical Take Off and Landing Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) programme, with Phase 1B funding issued …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F -Kenya

  Crew transition training took place at the MD Helicopters headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, with field service support, armament, and gunnery training scheduled to occur at ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  MD 530G - Malaysia

  Procured for an urgent operational requirement for gunships to support Eastern Sabah Security Command operations, helicopter deliveries had to slip from a planned delivery of ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G Lebanon

  The Armed MD 530G Scout Attack Helicopter features next-generation all-glass cockpit that includes: two Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 6” x 9” LCD primary displays, Tek Fusion ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Uncrewed MD 500 Replacement [South Korea]

  Background Uncrewed Replacement of the MD 500 Throughout the 2010s, South Korea appeared interested in replacing its fleet of crewed MD 500 helicopters that were manufactured under licence ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Project Land 2097 Phase 4 [Australia]

  Programme Background According to the RfI, under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, the selected helicopter must comprise a commercial or military off-the-shelf solution that is ...

• 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, ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Army)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Navy)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (Second 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, ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8, Tanks

  Tracked & Wheeled Light Tank (Philippines)

  Programme Background The decision to split the programme into a wheeled and a tracked element follows the belief of the Philippine Army that this will ...

• 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

  UH-60A [Portugal]

  Programme Background At the end of February 2025, the Portuguese Minister of National Defence said that as part of the Portuguese Army's Support, Protection & ...

• 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 - 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F Cayuse Warrior

  An evolution of the OH-6 Cayuse light observation helicopter, the MD 530F was initially Federal Aviation Administration-certified in July 1985 as the Model 369FF. It ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G

  The MD 530G is the newest addition to the MD Helicopters line of light scout attack platforms. It has increased-capacity landing gear and a mission-configurable ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  MDHI Glass Cockpit

  The American aerospace manufacturer MD Helicopters Inc. (MDHI) has designed and developed a glass cockpit specifically for MD 500E AND MD 520N aircraft. It is ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  IDU-680

  The IDU-680 is Genesys Aerosystems’ 3D synthetic vision integrated Electronic Flight Instrument System. The system includes a Highway in the Sky navigation system, geo-referenced hover ...

• Helicopter guns

  FN HMP

  The FN HMP (Heavy Machine Gun Pod) is a self-contained airborne weapon system armed with a 50cal FN M3P heavy machine gun. It is available ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  KUS-VH

  The Korean Air Korean Air Unmanned System-Vertical Helicopter (KUS-VH) is a large, rotary-wing UAV based on the MD 500. The first flight of the platform ...

• Helicopter Armour

  Armor of America (AoA) produces custom armour kits for any rotary-wing aircraft. AoA helicopter armour protects areas such as the cockpit floor and doors, cabin ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  6XX

  Publicly unveiled at Heli-Expo in March 2017, the MD Helicopters 6XX is the next evolution in the MD 500 series and is a redesigned, single-engine ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C30

  The M250-C30 and -C30P are the exclusive powerplants for the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger and the MD Helicopters MD 530F and MD 530G. In addition, the AH-6i is ...

• HEMS Completions

  RSG has been providing modification, retrofit, completion services and component overhaul to the air medical industry for over 38 years on aircraft produced by Airbus ...

• HS-16600

  Breeze-Eastern's HS-16600 external electric hoist system is operational on the Leonardo Helicopters AW109 and AW119, Bell Helicopter 206 and 222, and MD 500. It is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 500

  The MD 500 is a single-engine light helicopter derived from the Hughes OH-6A Cayuse developed for the US Army in the early 1960s and the ...

• EO/IR systems

  LEO-III

  The LEO-III, or LEO-III HD, was an airborne observation system with HD sensors and video outputs. It was a COTS, gyro-stabilised platform containing a multi-sensor HD ...

• Airborne rockets - unguided

  Aculeus MD-36 and MD-432

  The Aculeus MD-36 unguided multi-dart rocket provides 36 darts for the neutralisation of columns of light armoured vehicles. The Aculeus MD-432 provides 432 darts to ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C47E

  The C47E is the latest growth variant of the C47B/8 engine. In addition to a hot-and-high Value Improvement Package Kit, the C47E also includes dual-channel ...