• Digital Battlespace

  China steals US hydrophones

  3rd July 2018

  An arrest of a Chinese citizen accused of illegally exporting hydrophones to China has set off alarm bells amongst US experts on naval warfare in …

• Defence Notes

  Rolls-Royce sells commercial marine unit

  6th July 2018

  British engine maker Rolls-Royce announced on 6 July that it has agreed to sell its loss-making commercial marine business to Norwegian industrial group Kongsberg for …

• Special Operations

  Belgium inaugurates Special Operations Regiment

  6th July 2018

  The Belgian Ministry of Defence (MoD) officially inaugurated the Special Operations Regiment (SOR) on 3rd July as part of a wider move to increase the …

• Naval Warfare

  Damen, Mexican Navy building POLA vessel

  2nd July 2018

  Damen Shipyards Group and the Mexican Navy are working together to build a Long Range Ocean Patrol (POLA) vessel, the company announced on 26 June. …

• Naval Warfare

  Spain requests Aegis weapon systems

  29th June 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of five Aegis weapon systems to Spain, the Defense Security Cooperation …

• Training

  Adacel completes ATC simulator project in Algeria

  20th June 2018

  Adacel Systems has completed installation and site acceptance testing for an air traffic control (ATC) simulation system and intelligent communications environment (ICE) training system in …

• Digital Battlespace

  Indra develops electronic defence manpack

  20th June 2018

  Indra has developed a lightweight, portable electronic defence manpack system to equip soldiers with advanced radar-band analysis capabilities, the company announced on 14 June. The …

• Military Logistics

  Sri Lanka moves navy unit to Chinese-run port

  1st July 2018

  Sri Lanka will move its southern naval command to a port leased to a state-run Chinese firm but China will not use it for military …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Chinese UAS attempt to rule the roost

  25th June 2018

  Chinese security services are using birdlike UAS in a small-scale way around the country to monitor citizens and suspicious activities. The ornithological UAS in question, …

• Naval Warfare

  Vard to build Norwegian coast guard vessels

  27th June 2018

  Fincantieri’s subsidiary Vard Holdings has signed a contract with the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) for the construction of three coast guard vessels, Fincantieri announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  ADS tackles active protection system signature challenges (video)

  22nd June 2018

  ADS - a member of the Rheinmetall Group - is continuing to develop its active protection system (APS), the ADS Gen-3 with new certifications and future …

• Naval Warfare

  UDT 2018: Underwater scooter continues to evolve

  29th June 2018

  Stidd Systems is continuing the development of its diver propulsion device (DPD) having already sold 400 units to various NATO customers.The company is currently working …

• Naval Warfare

  Atlas, Thales combat system for German corvettes

  25th June 2018

  Atlas Elektronik and Thales Deutschland have received an order to jointly deliver the combat system for the German Navy’s five (batch two) K130 class corvettes, …

• Naval Warfare

  Saab, Damen partner for Brazilian corvette bid

  20th June 2018

  Saab has teamed up with Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding to bid for the project to supply four Tamandaré class corvettes (CCT) to the Brazilian Navy, …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Australia confirms Triton order

  26th June 2018

  On 26 June the Australian government announced it was investing A$1.4 billion ($1.04 billion) to acquire the first of six Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton UAVs …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 650 ISR - UAE

  Programme Background In February 2019 at IDEX, the UAE announced that it will procure a new special mission aircraft with an option for the second ...

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

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (Japan)

  Programme Background Selection & Contract Award In 2015, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan ...

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

  Chinese UAVs [Bangladesh]

  Background Request for Proposals (RFP) In 2023, as reported by Shephard at the time, the Bangladesh Army released a 106-page tender document to gather information ...

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

  Seeker 400 - Second 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 UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Jump 20 [Denmark]

  Background 2020 Tender In January 2018, Denmark's three main political parties signed the Danish Defence Agreement, a cross-party defence white paper covering the period between ...

• ISR/special mission

  ISTAR Aircraft [South Korea]

  Programme Background 2018 - Issue of RfI The South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) stated that Seoul planned to procure additional aircraft to minimise potential surveillance ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 [Italy]

  Programme Background Initial Procurement Italy submitted a $330 million FMS request through the Defence Security Cooperation Agency for four MQ-9A aircraft, four GCS and five ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper (First Batch) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Acquisition Decision The Netherlands cancelled a project to procure a MALE UAV in 2007. Six years later, in 2013, it was revealed the Dutch ...

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

  AR3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Background £270 Million investment On 15 September 2025, the UK MoD noted that, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK ...

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

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirments Seoul required UAS assets to help monitor its neighbour to the north and, increasingly, Chinese activities in waters and in the air near ...

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

  Gladius [Poland]

  Programme Background Contract Signing On 6 May 2022, the Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, the president of the WB GROUP, Piotr Wojciechowski and the head ...

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

  Tactical UCAV [Czechia]

  Programme Background Inception In November 2017, the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) announced that the service had earmarked CZK1 billion ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intra-Theatre Lift [UK]

  Background  Relationship to the Heavy Lift Challenge The Royal Navy (RN) embarked on the Heavy Lift Challenge, now called the Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC), to explore cargo-carrying ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper (Second Batch) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background First Batch Following a cancelled MALE UAV project in 2007, the Dutch MOD revealed its intention to acquire four MQ-9A Reapers from General ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  AR5

  First announced in October 2012, the AR5 is a MALE UAS designed for SAR, surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The AR5 can be flown manually or commanded ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AN/APY-10

  The AN/APY-10 is an airborne maritime surveillance radar manufactured by Raytheon. It is designed to equip the USN'S Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and has ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AN/ZPY-1 STARLite

  The AN/ZPY-1 Small Tactical Radar-Lightweight (STARLite) is a synthetic aperture radar and GMTI sensor for UAVs, manufactured by Northrop Grumman. It offers strip and spot synthetic ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar, Air: surveillance radar

  AN/APS-137B(V)5

  The AN/APS-137B(V)5 is a maritime patrol radar manufactured by Raytheon. It provides both multi-resolution synthetic aperture radar and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), allowing performance over the ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  TriSAR

  The Tri-mode Synthetic Aperture Radar (TriSAR) is a real-time, high-resolution land and maritime surveillance radar designed by Array Systems Computing in Canada. It is suited ...

• Air: helicopter radar

  AN/DPY-1 Lynx Block 30

  The multi-mode AN/DPY-1 Lynx Block 30 is a reduced weight, power and volume variant of the AN/APY-8. It is a high-resolution, wide-area surveillance, Ku-band synthetic ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  TacSAR

  The Tactical Synthetic Aperture Radar (TacSAR) is an airborne reconnaissance system designed by Collins Aerospace (now part of Raytheon). It is intended for land and ...

• Air: surveillance radar

  AN/APY-3

  The AN/APY-3 is a large, phased-array, ground surveillance, side-looking airborne radar with synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (MTI) capability. It is the primary sensor of ...

• Subsystems: software

  Radar Simulation Systems

  The Digital Radar Landmass Simulator (DRLMS) model accurately simulates real-world terrain and cultural feature returns, as well as weather patterns and targets. Configurable parameters allow ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

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

  AR3

  The AR3, or AR3 Net Ray, is an autonomous small-UAS designed to support land-based and maritime missions.  In May 2025, the Royal Air Force announced ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  MOSAIC

  The MOSAIC is a three-dimensional, AESA-based, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Telephonics. It is designed for maritime, littoral and overland surveillance missions for rotary- and fixed-wing ...

• Air: surveillance radar

  ASTOR

  The Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) is abattlefield surveillance synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (MTI) system installed in the UK RAF's Raytheon SentinelR1 aircraft, a version ...

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

  Black Swan

  The Black Swan is a cargo-carrying drone manufactured by Dronamic.  In February 2026, the company released the Detect & Defend version, a military variant of the platform ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7300E V2

  The Seaspray 7300E V2 radar is an airborne, maritime, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Leonardo. It is designed for the detection of small maritime targets in ...