• Uncrewed Vehicles

  IMDEX 2013: Asia sees unmanned market worth

  14th May 2013

  With UAVs entering the forefront of Asian militaries’ thinking, the potential market over the next ten years for ship-based tactical UAVs is predicted to fetch …

• Digital Battlespace

  NATO admits C2 failings

  1st May 2013

  A NATO official has identified weak links in the alliance’s C2 chain as it prepares for its next venture into integration testing, Unified Vision 2014. …

• Land Warfare

  Denmark launches APC trials

  1st May 2013

  Strong contenders are already beginning to emerge for Denmark's APC-replacement programme, currently the largest vehicle competition in Europe, with armoured vehicle evaluation trials now underway. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Succesful DeSIRE flight announced

  26th April 2013

  EDA and ESA announce succesful civil UAS integration trial The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on 26 April the …

• Naval Warfare

  C295 MPA successfully releases Marte missile

  15th April 2013

  The Airbus Military C295 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) has successfully demonstrated the release of an instrumented MBDA Marte MK2/S anti-ship inert missile as part of …

• Defence Helicopter

  MoD enlists special effects team for CDAS flight trials

  27th March 2013

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has used special effects software from the film industry to complete recent flight trial tests of an integrated defensive …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon: Victoria police to trial new UAV control interface

  27th February 2013

  Police in the Australian state of Victoria will shortly trial a new tablet-based control interface for use with an Aerobot Mikrokopter quadcopter UAV with the …

• Digital Battlespace

  L-3 TRL launches new jammers

  20th February 2013

  L-3 TRL has launched two new jammers in its Broadshield family range, a down-sized man-portable lightweight unit and a larger high power variant for use …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  I-Master-equipped Camcopter S-100 conducts trials

  19th February 2013

  Schiebel has announced that its Camcopter S-100 UAV has conducted flight trials equipped with a Thales I-Master radar system at the Schiebel test facility in …

• Defence Helicopter

  Netherlands moves forward with Apache upgrade

  6th February 2013

  The Dutch AH-64D upgrade programme is gathering pace with the first Apache now undergoing its Block II upgrade with Boeing. Once the upgrade is completed, …

• Defence Helicopter

  EDA takes helicopter pooling to the next level

  27th November 2012

  The European Defence Agency (EDA) Helicopter Training Programme (HTP) will organise military rotary wing exercises over a ten year period, following the signing of a …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-47B UCAS successfully operated by CDU

  15th November 2012

  Northrop Grumman has taken a first critical step toward demonstrating that the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator can be manoeuvred safely and wirelessly …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UAV test bed aircraft prepares for UK airspace flight

  19th October 2012

  A UAV test bed aircraft known as ‘The Flying Test Bed’ is to perform a series of flight trials this month in preparation for the …

• Land Warfare

  AAD 2012: DCD Mountain Lion III passes UAE trials

  20th September 2012

  DCD Protected Mobility has announced that its Mountain Lion III armoured utility vehicle passed the UAE's Summer Trials in July. Speaking to Shephard at the …

• Digital Battlespace

  RMPM-1000 NCW modem completes WGS testing

  3rd September 2012

  L-3 Linkabit has announced that has successfully tested its RMPM-1000 modem in a multi-band, multi-beam Over-The-Air (OTA) configuration using the WGS-3 satellite. It is the …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  Project Vixen [UK]

  Programme Background Project Goal The Royal Navy uses Leonardo crewed Merlin (AW101) helicopters fitted with CROWSNEST pods to provide airborne early warning capabilities for carriers. An early ...

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

  Akinci [Pakistan]

  Programme Background 'Brotherly Ties'  On 14 January 2022, the Pakistan government unveiled its first-ever National Security Policy. As reported by Shephard, the policy emphasised 'brotherly ties' with ...

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

  V-Bat 128 [Canada]

  Programme Background Requirement Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) was seeking a platform for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) that would significantly expand its surveillance range ...

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

  Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Project [Japan]

  Programme Background Requirement The Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) operated a few dozen Chinese-made UAVs that conducted SAR and surveillance activities. The drones performed well and ...

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

  Camcopter S-100 [Greece]

  Programme Background Trails A 2 August 2021 Schiebel press release announced the company had demonstrated the Camcopter S-100's capabilities to the Hellenic Navy. The UAV was ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs) (1-2) [India]

  Programme Background Requirements The units will perform multi-role support functions such as maritime surveillance & patrol, launching/recovery of torpedoes and operation of various types of ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Multi-Role Vehicle (Protected) (MRV-P) Package 1 (UK)

  Programme Background Requirement The MRV-P programme was intended to procure replacements for a diverse fleet of 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles purchased during the wars in Iraq ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  RQ-7B Shadow v2 Block III (USA)

  Programme Background The first iteration of the Shadow UAS, the Shadow 600, was first introduced in 1992 and since then Textron has had a longstanding ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  DEF129 (Small UAS Plus) [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The army wanted up to 17 SUAS+ systems with a life of six years. The tender said the UAV would be issued ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  4x4 Armoured Vehicle (Unknown)

  Programme Background The Estonian military wants to replace its fleet of soft-skin troop transports with 4x4 and 6x6 armoured vehicles. This will improve the survivability ...

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

  Hermes 900 StarLiner [Switzerland]

  Background Contract Information In September 2015, under the Reconnaissance Drone System 15 (ADS 15), the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (VBS) awarded Elbit ...

• Loitering munitions

  Loitering Munitions [Japan]

  Programme Background Appreciation of Loitering Munitions After years of not operating loitering munitions and armed UAVs, Japan's position towards them has changed. Belatedly, the MoD realised ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Heavy IFV [Poland]

  Programme Background Requirement Due to the perceived threat from Russia and the conflict in Ukraine, Poland has accelerated and expanded its plans to modernise its ...

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

  Project Vampire [UK]

  Programme Background Prior RN Tests Project Vampire began in 2021, before the January 2022 Phase 1 tender announcement. In September 2021, as part of Vampire, a Banshee ...

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

  Indian-Made MALE UAV [India]

  Programme Background Requirements As of late 2023, the Indian tri-service plan was reportedly to acquire 155 indigenously produced MALE UAVs alongside 31 MQ-9B drones from General Atomics (GA-ASI), ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master XT

  Part of Rheinmetall's Mission Master family, The Mission Mater Extreme Terrain, or Mission Master XT, is a rugged UGV designed to accompany troops in challenging environments ...

• Matternet M2

  The Matternet M2 quadcopter UAV has been certified by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation for full logistics operations over cities. The platform is ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  Tigon

  Hanwha Defense Systems selected DSA 2018 in Kuala Lumpur as the location to unveil its Tigon 6x6 armoured wheeled vehicle. The company conducted a fortnight-long ...

• Military - USVs

  Sentinel - Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT)

  Sentinel is an autonomous uncrewed surface vessel (USV) built from the decommissioned HMAS Maitland , a former Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Armidale-class Patrol Boat.

• LTVs - 4x4

  VOS-APP

  The Arquus VOS-APP is a 6x6 support vehicle currently under trial with the French SOF. Acting as a replacement for the 1970s-vintage ACMAT VLRA, the VOS-APP is the ...

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

  KUS-VT tiltrotor

  The KUS-VT is a tiltrotor UAV that first flew in October 2013 and was exhibited at ADEX 2013. The aircraft is designed to have a ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  M1150 ABV

  The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

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

  HQ-60

  Similarly to other platforms in the L3 Technologies Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) and Fixed-Wing Rotator family (see separate entries) of VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, the HQ-60 has ...

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

  Gray Eagle STOL / Mojave

  Unveiled in December 2021, the Mojave is a MALE UAV demonstrator aircraft. The Gray Eagle STOL, or GE STOL, is a production variant of the demonstrator. It ...

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

  Archer

  The Archer is a short-range UAV being developed for India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).  Based on the Rustom I and inspired by Bayrakar's ...

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

  Flamingo Mk3

  The Flamingo Mk3 entered production in July 2017 and is based on the Flamingo Mk2. The Mk3 has been designed to provide a 65% increase ...

• Loitering munitions

  Mace

  Mace is a loitering munition developed by UAC, a Czech-Ukrainian company that is a subsidiary of DeViro. The electric-powered, catapult-launched UAV can host various warheads, including HEAT, thermobaric and ...

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

  United 40 Block-5

  The United 40 was unveiled at the Dubai Airshow 2011 and is a MALE UAV with a twin-wing configuration and a hybrid turbine-electric engine. The ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Samarthak Class

  The Samarthak-class consists of two Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs) being built by Larsen & Toubro for the Indian Navy. The ships will perform multi-role support functions such as maritime ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Phantom 380-X1

  The Phantom 380-X1 is a 4x4 multipurpose armoured vehicle produced by Thailand's Panus. It is powered by a six-cylinder turbo engine with an undercarriage capable ...