• Land Warfare

  Ireland targets improved anti-drone capability before mid-year ahead of EU presidency

  22nd April 2026

  With Ireland's EU presidency set to commence from July this year, the ramped-up efforts to procure a counter-uncrewed aerial system and radar capability under its Military Radar Programme are on track to meet targeted roll-out dates.

• Naval Warfare

  Austal signs long-delayed shipbuilding pact as industry risks persist

  18th August 2025

  Austal signs long-delayed Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement, but schedule risks and programme delays still loom over Canberra’s naval plans.

• Naval Warfare

  Taiwan entrusts USVs with task of deterring a PLA amphibious invasion

  23rd August 2025

  Drawing lessons from Ukraine’s Black Sea experience, Taiwan is investing heavily in unmanned surface vessels to strengthen its asymmetric defence strategy against potential PLA amphibious assaults.

• Air Warfare

  British Army ACP project progresses with contract selection expected March 2026

  26th January 2026

  Known as Project Nyx, the loyal wingman developed from this initiative will accompany the Apache 64-E and be used to complement tanks and artillery.

• Naval Warfare

  From surface to seabed: Fincantieri takes on a new challenge

  25th September 2025

  Underwater is emerging as the global geopolitical domain, a crossroads between new needs and technological acceleration. While 80% of the sea floor and 98% of the abyssal seabed remain unexplored (Mars' and Jupiter's surfaces are better known than our oceans), human well-being relies on underwater assets and resources.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore Airshow 2026: Rafael highlights tailored effector solutions for different operational needs

  10th February 2026

  Shephard spoke with Rafael’s CEO about the company’s effector offerings as well as his perspective on one-way attack drones.

• Naval Warfare

  Beyond GPS: How LEO satellites are changing the game in naval navigation

  10th October 2025

  Satellite navigation is increasingly critical for global maritime defence, and Low Earth Orbit satellites are rapidly overtaking the traditional and more widely used Medium Earth Orbit option as they are less susceptible to jamming or spoofing.

• Land Warfare

  Arquus and Milrem push their UGVs fitted with long-range missiles

  10th July 2025

  Arquus displayed the Drailer uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) integrating the Akeron LP long-range missile at the Techterre technology demonstrator event ahead of trials in September.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SOF Week 2025: Kraken Technology group debuts K3 Scout USV in North America

  6th May 2025

  High-performance maritime industry player Kraken Technology Group, based in the UK, has used the SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida this week to debut its K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to the North American market.

• Air Warfare

  Baykar’s Akinci: Local participation and export freedom drive $4.63 billion success story

  5th May 2026

  The success of the Akinci drone stems from Turkey’s push for domestically produced components – which has led to fewer export restrictions – and from manufacturer Baykar’s willingness to coproduce the drone with customers’ domestic industries.

• Naval Warfare

  Hanwha commits $5 billion to improving Philadelphia shipyard

  28th August 2025

  Hanwha Group said the cash would be dedicated to boosting the Philadelphia-based shipyard’s capacity and output.

• Air Warfare

  Belgium’s F-35A order progresses at it awaits first jet delivery by late 2025

  12th June 2025

  The first aircraft delivery timeline confirmation comes as Belgium weighs up an additional F-3A buy from Lockheed Martin.

• Defence Notes

  Amazon Project Kuiper emphasises user-friendly solutions for multi-domain connectivity (Studio)

  12th September 2025

  At DSEI 2025, Shephard's Alix Valenti spoke to Project Kuiper's Rich Pang about the importance of enabling seamless communication between allied forces such as NATO members in challenging operational environments.

• Naval Warfare

  The Netherlands cleared to purchase $2.2 billion in Tomahawk missiles

  28th April 2025

  The approved purchase is for Tomahawk Block IV and Block V missiles, control systems, telemetry missiles and communication and broadcast systems.

• Land Warfare

  Sweden boosts air defence capabilities with Diehl Defence, Saab and MBDA orders

  25th November 2025

  The orders continue the country’s growing investment in its air defence systems across land and sea, coming months after previous investments by the government into IRIS-T SLM equipment.

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 - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  MQ-8C Fire Scout (USA)

  Programme Background Timeline According to the Naval Air Systems Command, having first ordered the MQ-8B in 2009, the UAV has become a pillar of the ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Global Fast Sealift [USN]

  Background Requirements At Sea Air Space 2026, Hanwha Ocean and Gibbs and Cox displayed the Global Fast Sealift concept design. The vessel is intended as a ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (India)

  Programme Background On 25 February 2020, a letter of acceptance for 24 MH-60Rs, worth approximately $2.12 billion, was signed by India and the US in Delhi. ...

• AEW&C

  E-2D [USA]

  Programme Background The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) is an all-weather, twin engine, carrier-based, Airborne Command, Control and Surveillance aircraft designed to extend task force defence ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-25 Stingray (16-76) [USN]

  Background Initial requirements The programme looked different when it began. In 2013, the USN awarded four Preliminary Design Review (PDR) contracts to Boeing, General Atomics, ...

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) [USN]

  Background Requirement The USN wants to acquire carrier-capable loyal wingman drones. These drones will have a high level of autonomy, allowing them to work alongside crewed aircraft.  ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-25 Stingray (10-15) [USN]

  Background Initial requirements The programme looked different when it began. In 2013, the USN awarded four Preliminary Design Review (PDR) contracts to Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-25 Stingray (1-9) [USN]

  Background Initial requirements The programme looked different when it began. In 2013, the USN awarded four Preliminary Design Review (PDR) contracts to Boeing, General Atomics, ...

• Military - USVs

  MUSV [USN]

  Programme Background Requirements In March 2026, the US announced it would be replacing its Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) programme with a Medium Uncrewed Surface ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton (28-68) [USN]

  Background Requirement The MQ-4C Triton programme, developed under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) programme, required an uncrewed system to provide persistent, broad-area intelligence, surveillance ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

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

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

• OPVs

  Hisar Class (1-2) [Turkey]

  Background Requirements The thoughts behind the acquisition of this type of OPV, which comes in a baseline and a convertible variant, is an OPV that ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Anti-ship missiles

  Naval Strike Missile (NSM)

  The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is a subsonic, sea-skimming, anti-ship and land-attack missile. The original name was the Nytt sjømålsmissil, but this was later dropped ...

• Frigates

  FF(X) Frigate

  The FF(X) frigate is a vessel derived from Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HHI) National Security Cutter (NSC). It was designed in response to the cancellation of ...

• Land: Integrated Defensive Systems

  Low Band Transmitter

  The Low Band Transmitter-Antenna Group (LBT-AG), developed by Cobham, has been in production since 2005. The LBT is designed to protect strike aircraft, ships and ...

• Air-to-surface missiles, Anti-ship missiles

  JSM

  The Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is a multi-role version of the Naval Strike Missile. Norway funded the programme to develop and produce the JSM for the ...

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

  MQ-8B Fire Scout

  The MQ-8B Fire Scout is a rotary-wing UAV that provides situational awareness and precision targeting support for the US Armed Forces. The MQ-8B Fire Scout, ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

  The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was developed to perform naval strike missions for the USN. The primary mission for the F/A-18E/F is a strike fighter that ...

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

  MQ-8C Fire Scout

  The MQ-8C is a newer version of the Fire Scout and is based on a Bell 407 commercial helicopter. It offers a greater range, endurance and ...

• Frigates

  Independence Class (LCS)

  The USN’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme was originally envisaged to be 50 ships, which would provide a coastal platform that would take over from ...

• Destroyers

  Zumwalt Class

  The DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class is formed by a series of next-generation multi-role destroyers 21st century. They were designed to host the latest in sensors and weapons ...

• Frigates

  Hunter Class Guided Missile Frigate

  During Indo Pacific 2023, BAE Systems Australia unveiled a Guided Missile variant of the Hunter-class frigate (ASW). Compared to the baseline ASW configuration, the proposed ...

• Frigates

  Constellation Class (FFG)

  The USN has selected Fincantieri Marinette Marine to build up to ten frigates under the FFG(X) next-generation future guided-missile frigate programme. The new Constellation-class will replace ...

• OPVs

  Hisar Class

  Turkish Military Factory and Shipyard Management company ASFAT has built two Hisar-class OPVs at Istanbul Naval Shipyard for the Turkish Navy. Four more platforms are on order, but the ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  SCOTT

  The Synthetic Cognition for Operational Team Training (SCOTT) system was developed for the USN to train teamwork and communication skills for E-2C flight crews interfacing ...

• Air: aerial targets

  GQM-163A Coyote SSST

  The GQM-163A Coyote Supersonic Sea Skimming Target (SSST) was developed for the USN to emulate two-stage anti-ship cruise missiles in support of air defence weapon/combat ...

• Trainer

  Saab 340 trainer

  The Saab 340 trainer aircraft is based on the Saab 340 regional airliner. It is used by the USN for pilot training. The aircraft replaced ...