• Naval Warfare

  COTECMAR and Damen team up for Colombian frigate replacement programme

  7th October 2022

  The PES programme to replace 1980s-vintage frigates in Colombia is making progress, but will the South American country learn lessons from the Mexican failure with POLA?

• Land Warfare

  New UAS family promises man-portable close air support

  15th March 2023

  The QuadCAS UAS range developed by BothwellRoyal comprises two single-use remote anti-personnel weapons and a multi-projectile reusable carrier.

• Land Warfare

  WFEL awards more subcontract work on UK Boxer armoured vehicle programme

  23rd March 2023

  WFEL has awarded a contract for streamlined inventory management and component supply on the British Army's Boxer 8x8 Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme as the UK supply chain is built up.

• Naval Warfare

  Everything you need to know about France's FDI frigate

  3rd November 2022

  France's first Frégate de Défense et d'Intervention (FDI) ship, Amiral Ronarc'h, is the first of eight being built at Naval Group's Lorient shipyard for the French and Greek navies.

• Air Warfare

  Decision to delay UK's MQ-9B Protector programme cost £186 million

  17th March 2023

  The Ministry of Defence's decision to delay the MQ-9B Protector programme by two years has cost the country £186 million, with total projected whole-life costs now at over £1.7 billion.

• Land Warfare

  Kawasaki develops C-UAS laser system for Japanese military

  16th March 2023

  Japan is developing an indigenous C-UAS system that uses a high-power laser.

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman to commence work on MESA sensors for US Air Force E-7 AEW fleet

  22nd March 2023

  The USAF will become the fifth operator of the E-7/MESA combination following Australia, Turkey, South Korea and the UK.

• Air Warfare

  Elbit awarded contracts to refit Romanian helicopters, jet trainers

  15th March 2023

  Elbit will supply onboard mission equipment and payloads for Romania's IAR 330 Puma helicopter fleets, as well as new avionics to upgrade the country's IAR 99 trainer jets.

• Air Warfare

  Norway chooses MH-60R Seahawk as NH90 replacement

  14th March 2023

  Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks could conduct anti-surface warfare and search and rescue operations alongside UAVs such as the Skeldar V-200 for Norway.

• Training

  Leonardo takes another step towards sixth-generation training

  14th March 2023

  Leonardo will develop immersive training solutions that leverage Varjo's headsets for multiple use cases across the pilot training curriculum.

• Air Warfare

  Brazil achieves full operational capability for KC-390 transport aircraft

  11th April 2023

  The first C-390 transport aircraft certified to Full Operational Capability standard has begun its handover process to the Brazilian Air Force.

• Naval Warfare

  The US Navy's 2024 budget request in five charts

  22nd March 2023

  In early March, the Biden administration submitted a proposal to Congress that would see the US DoD funded to the tune of $842 billion, around a quarter of which will go to the US Navy.

• Digital Battlespace

  New US developer LightRidge to take on air and space sensor markets

  23rd March 2023

  The private-equity backed firm combines the businesses of space payloads specialist GEOST and airborne sensor manufacturer Ophir.

• Air Warfare

  Turkey considers ditching F-16 Block 70 request in favour of non-US alternative

  16th March 2023

  Turkish officials are signalling dissatisfaction and contemplating abandoning plans to purchase F-16 Block 70s from the US as the deal stalemates, and the country faces hard economic decisions.

• Training

  Boeing partners with Shield AI on autonomous pilot programme

  17th March 2023

  The agreement between Boeing and Shield AI will explore autonomous systems implemented into existing and future aircraft.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

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

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• OPVs

  Continental Defence Corvette [Canada]

  Programme Background Requirements Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Canada is seeking to procure an undisclosed number of small vessels (below 1000t). Part ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian (3) [Belgium]

  Background Strategic Vision 2030 In 2016, the Belgian MoD published its Strategic Vision 2030 report. This report highlighted the need for MALE reconnaissance drones to ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  KT-1B Woongbi - Indonesia

  The programme value is estimates as $30 million for the purchase of three KT-1B aircraft. The deliveries are planned to be completed in 2021. The KT-1B ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian (1-2) [Belgium]

  Background Strategic Vision 2030 In 2016, the Belgian MoD published its Strategic Vision 2030 report. This report highlighted the need for MALE reconnaissance drones to ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Fleet Solid Support (FSS) (1-3) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement The 2015 Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) highlighted the requirement for three Military Afloat Reach & Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ...

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

  Large ULS-A / Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) [USMC]

  Background US Marine ULS-A programmes The US Marines are seeking a family of Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A), which will provide logistics and ground units with their ...

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

  Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) [Canada]

  Programme Background Programme Inception The Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project was established to procure a UAS for ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  T-X / T-7A Red Hawk [USAF]

  Programme Background Goal The T-X programme aims to acquire a two-seat jet trainer aircraft to replace its Northrop Grumman T-38 Talon. The programme could be worth ...

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

  Micro VTOL [USMC]

  Programme Background Force Design 2030 The USMC Force Design 2030 is a modernisation effort to create a lighter, more agile maritime force. The update to ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is seeking a replacement for its Kingston-class OPVs. The programme is still in the very early stages of project ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is seeking a replacement for its Kingston-class OPVs. The programme is still in the very early stages of project ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Helicopter engines

  T900

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black Hawk ...

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

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Helicopter engines

  T901

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AVX JMR

  AVX Aircraft proposed a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, small wings and dual ducted-fan propulsors for the US Army’s JMR-TD FVL programme. In April 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal ...

• ISR/special mission

  E-4B Nightwatch

  Developed by Boeing based on the 747-200 airliner, the E-4B Nightwatch is a special mission aircraft used as the US National Airborne Operations Centre and is ...

• SARAH

  Flying-Cam’s Special Aerial Response Automatic Helicopter (SARAH) has been designed for applications such as LIDAR, photogrammetry and surveying. Features include five flight modes, dual GPS antenna, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-97 Raider

  The S-97 Raider helicopter is based on the five-year, company-funded X2 Technology Demonstrator project. Like the X2, the S-97 Raider will feature twin coaxial, counter-rotating ...

• Sea: tactical training

  Proteus Surface Warship CTT

  In addition to the generic Proteus Action Speed Tactical Trainer (ASTT), Kongsberg can also provide Command Team Trainers (CTT) tailored to the specific needs of ...

• Subsystems: visual

  VTTS

  The Virtual Reality Team Training System (VTTS) allows team members to interact together in one common virtual world. Every trainee uses a workstation consisting of ...

• SARAH 4.0

  Flying-Cam’s Special Aerial Response Automatic Helicopter (SARAH) 4.0 has been designed for applications such as LIDAR, photogrammetry and surveying. Features include dual GPS antenna, RIEGL LIDAR, ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-280 Valor

  Bell Helicopter Textron is developing the V-280 Valor tiltrotor for the JMR-TD FVL project. The US Army announced in August 2014 that Bell would be ...

• Sea: tactical training

  SCTT

  The Submarine Combat Team Trainer (SCTT) prepares the submarine combat information centre team for its duties with the aid of simulated combat situations and environmental ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  LTMPAV Dino 519

  The Dino 519 is a light tactical multi-purpose armored vehicle (LTMPAV) developed by Team Concept, a Poland-based armored vehicle manufacturer. 

• Major networking projects

  Project Marshall

  The Joint Military Air Traffic Services project was initiated by the UK MoD in November 2005 to identify and evaluate options for the future delivery ...