• Digital Battlespace

  PCAS prepares for live weapons drop

  21st February 2014

  The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Raytheon will demonstrate their Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) capability with a live fire mission later …

• Defence Helicopter

  Aurora awarded DARPA VTOL X-Plane contract

  7th February 2014

  Aurora Flight Sciences has confirmed that it will build its LightningStrike Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft for DARPA’s VTOL X-Plane programme. The company has been …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon to work on DARPA’s Plan X programme

  6th February 2014

  DARPA has awarded a contract to Raytheon to conduct research and development that will enable the US Department of Defense (DoD) to predictably and rapidly …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky to advance VTOL X-Plane programme

  13th December 2013

  The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Sikorsky Phase 1 of the VTOL Experimental Aircraft (X-Plane) programme.   The new contract, valued …

• Defence Helicopter

  Rockwell Collins to develop DVEPS for US Army

  5th November 2013

  Rockwell Collins will develop the Degraded Visual Environment Pilotage System (DVEPS) for the US Army’s Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) helicopters. The company was awarded …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment awarded DARPA TERN contract

  5th November 2013

  AeroVironment will work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAS designed to operate from small ships to …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2013: Night Stalkers order hostile fire warning system

  17th October 2013

  The US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) plans to award a contract to Raytheon-BBN Corporation for an undisclosed number of Boomerang Air acoustic hostile fire indicator …

• Defence Helicopter

  SOCOM develops DVE avionics for helicopters

  14th October 2013

  Three companies have been chosen to develop a synthetic-vision system for US Special Forces helicopters, to counter brownouts and degraded visual conditions (DVE), it has …

• Digital Battlespace

  Novawurks launches satellite recycling programme

  11th October 2013

  The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Novawurks a $30.7 million contract to advance its ‘Phoenix’ initiative, aimed at recycling ageing satellite …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Bluefin AUVs integrated with new sonar payload

  18th September 2013

  Bluefin Robotics’ autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are now able to be integrated with the L-3 Klein UUV-3500 Side Scan Sonar payload. The new payload is …

• Digital Battlespace

  DSEI 2013: Q-Warrior leads BAE charge

  10th September 2013

  BAE Systems has launched the newest variant of its see-through helmet mounted display (HMD), the Q-Warrior for dismounted soldiers. Leading on from its LiteHUD and …

• Defence Helicopter

  DSEI 2013: DARPA expands PCAS focus

  9th September 2013

  The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has re-scoped the work being carried out under its Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) programme, it has …

• Digital Battlespace

  DARPA continues long-range surveillance research

  6th September 2013

  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Trex Enterprises a contract for the Military Imaging and Surveillance Technology Long-Range (MIST-LR) programme, it was …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Knifefish UUV programme makes progress

  6th August 2013

  The US Navy’s programme to deploy the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) has reached a new milestone, with General Dynamics Advanced Information …

• Digital Battlespace

  Nvidia aiming to exploit massive data hauls

  17th July 2013

  Nvidia has launched the Geospatial Intelligence (GeoInt) Accelerator designed to generate faster processing speed of surveillance data, the company has stated. Sumit Gupta, GM for accelerated …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY (ANCILLARY) [US]

  Background Aims & Timeline As stated by DARPA, the ANCILLARY programme aims to develop and fly an X-plane that will provide a “leap-ahead” in long-endurance, VTOL-capable ...

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

  LongShot [USA]

  Background Requirement As explained by GA-ASI in February 2026, LongShot is envisaged as an air-launched UAV that will fly from larger, mostly crewed aircraft and ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Penetrating Counter Air (PCA) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement Originally conceived as a replacement for the F-22, the PCA was designed to counter various air threats, including integrated air defence systems ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Arctic Security Cutters (7-11) [USCG]

  Programme Background Requirements The Arctic Security Cutter (ASC) programme aims to increase the US presence and capability in the Arctic to counter Russian and Chinese ...

• AEW&C

  AEW&C Aircraft [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirement The requirement was initially reported in 2016 when it was noted as being part of a long-term development plan, however, reports from ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military - UUVs

  Manta Ray

  Manta Ray is an uncrewed underwater vessel (UUV) developed by Northrop Grumman.

• Military - UUVs

  Bluefin-Knifefish

  The Bluefin-Knifefish UUV was initially developed for the Surface Mine Countermeasure UUV (SMCM UUV) programme for the USN’s Littoral Combat Ships. It is manufactured by General Dynamics ...

• Sea: procedural training

  UUV Training Simulator

  The Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) Training Simulator teaches users how to operate and control a UUV, specifically with reference to mine hunting. The UUV is ...

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

  X-68A

  The X-68A is a developmental, host-platform-agnostic air-launched effect (ALE). After developmental contracts were first awarded in 2021 under the LongShot programme, General Atomics (GA-ASI) emerged as the preferred supplier ...

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

  XRQ-73

  The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) unveiled the flying design of the XRQ-73 in June 2024. The aircraft has been developed under the  Series ...

• Sea: procedural training

  2 Sigma Digital Tutor

  A Digital Tutor that is designed to outperform schoolhouse instructors, bringing CTC training to a broad spectrum of sailors. Specifications include improving student outcomes for ...

• Military - USVs

  NOMARS

  The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to develop a first-of-its-kind large uncrewed surface vessel.

• Major networking projects

  CHAIN

  The Compartmented High Assurance Information Network (CHAIN) is described as a robust architecture that improves interoperability of IT systems among the military services and security ...

• Riptide Mk II

  At Oceanology International 2018, Riptide Autonomous Solutions presented its second-generation micro-UUV – the Mk II. The Riptide Mk II UUV has a maximum speed of ...

• Military - UUVs

  BlueWhale

  BlueWhale (ELI-3325) is an autonomous uncrewed underwater vessel (UUV) developed by Israel's Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It is designed for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Mine Countermeasures (MCM) and ...

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

  XV-24A LightningStrike

  The XV-24A LightningStrike, developed by Aurora Flight Sciences and its partners Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, was a project for a tilt-wing UAV powered by an electric-distributed ...

• Military - UUVs

  Lamprey MMAUV

  The Lamprey Multi-Mission Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (MMAUV) is a UUV designed by Lockheed Martin. The UUV is intended as an autonomous companion submersible to a ...

• Sea: sonar systems

  UUV-3500

  The Klein UUV-3500 side-scan sonar family is composed of the mid-depth (3000m) high-resolution, low-power, dual-frequency and the deep (6000m) variant which is a higher power ...

• Military - UUVs

  D19 UUV

  Naval Group's family of D19 drones are AUVs designated for varying taskings such as identification, surveillance, EW, mobile target, minelaying and MCM operations.

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

  Shrike

  The Shrike was a micro, portable, rugged VTOL-capable UAV designed for frontline day/night ISR.  Development of the Shrike began in 2008 under a $4.6-million contract from ...