• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Eurosatory 2018: First autonomous flight for VSR700 imminent

  14th June 2018

  Airbus Helicopters is moving ahead with its VSR700 project with the first fully autonomous flight test scheduled for 2018, the company told Shephard at Eurosatory …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ION, Greensea sign agreement

  21st June 2018

  ION Geophysical and Greensea Systems have signed a joint marketing agreement to provide underwater navigation solutions for manned and unmanned underwater vehicle operators, ION announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  India seeks item support for AH-64E Apaches

  14th June 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of items in support of a proposed direct commercial sale of …

• Naval Warfare

  UDT 2018: Saab to display full size torpedo model

  20th June 2018

  Among Saab’s displays at the forthcoming Undersea Defence Technology conference and exhibition will be a full size model of its new lightweight torpedo (SLWT), with …

• Naval Warfare

  Keel laid for Swedish SIGINT ship

  19th June 2018

  PGZ Stocznia Wojenna has laid the keel for the new Swedish signals intelligence (SIGINT) ship at the Nauta shipyard in Gdynia, Poland, Saab announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  NASA Ikhana flies with detect and avoid avionics

  19th June 2018

  General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ (GA-ASI) Detect and Avoid (DAA) avionics system enabled the flight of NASA’s Ikhana UAS through the National Airspace System (NAS) earlier …

• Naval Warfare

  UDT 2018: New sonar for Australian submarines

  20th June 2018

  Thales will support efforts by Australia to upgrade systems and capabilities of the Collins class submarines as part of an overall A$542 million ($400 million) …

• Naval Warfare

  US touts enduring Pacific presence as carrier visits Manila

  26th June 2018

  A US aircraft carrier visited the Philippines on 26 June, the third such call in four months, as its commander cited America's ‘enduring presence’ in …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Eurosatory 2018: Anti-drone systems continue proliferation

  13th June 2018

  The proliferation of counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) technology continues across Europe with multiple new solutions unveiled at Eurosatory in Paris, France. Elbit Elisra, MBDA and …

• Digital Battlespace

  Orbit receives SATCOM systems order

  13th June 2018

  Orbit Communications Systems has received an order totaling around $1.1 million from an unnamed Asian navy for its maritime SATCOM systems, the company announced on …

• Naval Warfare

  Lockheed to continue to Halifax class support

  18th June 2018

  Lockheed Martin Canada has received a three-year contract extension to its in-service support contract for the Royal Canadian Navy's 12 Halifax-class frigates. The existing in-service …

• Naval Warfare

  Kongsberg sonar for Finnish corvettes

  12th June 2018

  Kongsberg Maritime has received a contract from the Finnish Defence Force to deliver the ST2400 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) upgrade for the Hamina-class corvette fleet, …

• Naval Warfare

  BAE Systems begins investigations into Forth issues

  23rd June 2018

  Investigations are being carried out by BAE Systems to identify the causes of defects identified onboard the UK’s new Royal Navy Batch 2 OPV. As …

• Defence Helicopter

  Pentagon eyes new 'knife fighter' helicopter

  25th June 2018

  US Army leaders are moving forward with plans to develop and field a new attack reconnaissance helicopter and are shooting to have two prototypes in …

• Defence Helicopter

  Eurosatory 2018: Tri-service H160M designs presented

  13th June 2018

  Airbus Helicopters has used Eurosatory to highlight its militarised H160 platform which is currently undergoing de-risking studies. The aircraft is being developed for the French …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 650 ISR [UAE]

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

• Military UAS - tactical

  Seeker 400 (1-6) [UAE]

  Background Long history The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Acquisition of an Initial Depth Support Drone Capacity (ADAPT) [France]

  Background Aftermath of SDT To fill the capability void left by the cancellation of the second section of the Tactical Drone System (SDT) programme, three ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• Military UAS - MALE

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

  Background Acquisition decision The Netherlands cancelled a project to procure an MALE UAV in 2007. Six years later, in 2013, it was revealed that the ...

• 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 - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk [Japan]

  Background Selection and 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 - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk [South Korea]

  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 - 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 - MALE

  MQ-9A Reaper (9-12) [Italy]

  Background Initial purchases (1-6) The Italian Air Force acquired four MQ-9A Reapers in the Block 1 standard in 2008. A further two UAVs were acquired ...

• 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 - MALE

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

  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 Atomics ...

• 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 - MALE

  MQ-9A Reaper (7-8) [Italy]

  Background Initial purchases (1-6) The Italian Air Force acquired four MQ-9A Reapers in the Block 1 standard in 2008. A further two UAVs were acquired ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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

  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 ...

• 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 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 - 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 ...