• Naval Warfare

  Spain’s F100 upgrade mirrors Aegis modernisation paths in allied navies

  2nd February 2026

  The Spanish Navy’s Alvaro de Bazan-class of air defence frigates will receive the latest Aegis Weapon System technology among other modernisations to extend the service life to 2045.

• Air Warfare

  GA-ASI takes step towards developing European YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft

  21st July 2025

  The US company will work with its European affiliate company, General Atomics Aerotec Systems (GA-ATS) to support manufacture the YFQ-42A.

• Land Warfare

  Oshkosh Defense starts production on ROGUE-Fires and develops MTVR 4×4 variant

  12th May 2025

  Both ROGUE-Fires and the MTVR demonstrator have been designed for Indo-Pacific mobility and expeditionary operations.

• Naval Warfare

  How will the Canadian Coast Guard’s transfer to the DND umbrella affect its capabilities?

  4th December 2025

  By joining the defence department, the coast guard will need to acquire new solutions and adapt its in-service capabilities to ensure interoperability with the Canadian Armed Forces.

• Naval Warfare

  US representatives plan to invest $1.6 billion in US Coast Guard inventory in FY2026

  11th June 2025

  The FY26 Homeland Security Bill Markup of the House Committee on Appropriations included resources for the procurement of ships, aircraft and unmanned systems.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy seeks suppliers to upgrade the MK 41 VLS

  30th July 2025

  The US Navy has been preparing to award a contract for the refurbishment of MK 41 VLS on board USN vessels and other military type ships.

• Defence Notes

  US forces’ heads lay out their needs and requirements before Senate committees

  22nd May 2025

  The new US administration has introduced or outlined plans for substantial change across the Department of Defence (DoD) and its branches. Several branch heads faced up to Senate Committees to outline needs and challenges.

• Naval Warfare

  US Coast Guard faces the “greatest readiness challenge since World War II”, says Homeland Security Secretary

  13th May 2025

  The service currently has diverse problems in its procurement programmes and capability gaps in its inventory, writes Shephard’s North America editor Flavia Camargos Pereira.

• Naval Warfare

  UK ‘Hybrid Navy’ steps up as Norway cooperation reinforces Arctic strategy

  13th February 2026

  As Russia commits billions to new warships and stealth submarines, the UK is reshaping its strategy with expanded troop deployments, shared frigate fleets and a shift towards uncrewed platforms.

• Land Warfare

  World Defense Show 2026: Saudi Arabia’s record defence spend highlights uncertain times

  6th February 2026

  Saudi Arabia’s investment in its land forces, notably in the area of air defence as recently as 30 January, is a sign of the challenges the Gulf State faces, particularly the threat from Houthi rebels in Yemen.

• Land Warfare

  The integration between drones and land vehicles is accelerating

  17th September 2025

  Drones and military ground vehicles are increasingly being designed to operate together as a single platform or even to convert crewed systems to automated ones.

• Naval Warfare

  How the UK Royal Navy is powering up its hybrid fleet to combat new threats

  14th November 2025

  Since it announced its move towards a new “hybrid navy” earlier this year, the force has announced a number of new uncrewed technologies in the works.

• Air Warfare

  Tactical UAS: mission-driven innovation for a new battlefield era

  26th August 2025

  As global conflicts evolve and the limitations of traditional UAS become clear, Aeronautics is redefining the tactical unmanned aerial systems space with platforms that prioritize survivability, flexibility, and mission effectiveness.

• Defence Notes

  DroneShield to double its US footprint to meet growing demand for counter-UxS capabilities

  23rd September 2025

  DroneShield disclosed to Shephard its plans to increase its workforce and manufacturing capacities while strengthening partnerships with US suppliers.

• Land Warfare

  Precision Strike Missile engine successfully tested from M270A2 launcher

  9th June 2025

  Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) is a next-generation surface-to-surface missile with the solid rocket motor (SRM) provided by Northrop Grumman. The company is working to boost its SRM production capability.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Boxer (RCH 155) [Ukraine]

  Programme Background The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of maintaining a large number of long-range fires. Since February 2022, Germany has donated a ...

• Frigates

  De Zeven Provinciën Class Replacement/LC Frigates [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Replacements The De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command platforms, which are in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), are expected to be ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Ka-52M Alligator-Russia

  Programme Background The loss of 66 Ka-52s and 8 Mi-24s damaged and/or destroyed leaves the Russian Military with an acute need of replacements.  The Ka-52M will ...

• Transport

  C-130J-30 [Philippines]

  Programme Background Requirement The PAF relies on an older fleet of C-130s obtained secondhand. In fact, the last time the Philippines purchased brand-new Hercules was ...

• Minehunters

  New Generation Minehunters/Coastal (NGM/C) (1-5) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirements Four vessels were planned to be NGM/A, a new ocean-going MCMV, while a further eight NGM/C minehunters, a new coastal MCMV. These will ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A400M-Forecast [Indonesia]

  Programme Background The TNI-AU currently relies on 17 Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and L-100-30 aircraft, including five C-130Hs transferred from Australia. Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) is ...

• ISR/special mission, Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Q02 (Qatar)

  Programme Background Reiner developed the Q01 jointly with the Emirate of Qatar, primarily for the Qatar Armed Forces. It was introduced at the ILA Berlin Air ...

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

  Camcopter Project (Thailand)

  Programme Background Batch One In November 2019, as reported by Shephard, Schiebel was awarded a TBH600 million ($18.76 million) contract from the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  LCU Replacement [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Requirements The Netherlands currently operates five landing craft utility (LCU) MKII vessels which are due to be replaced in 2031. In October, De Haas ...

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  LPDs/OPVs Replacement Programme [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Requirements The RNLN will need to replace the ageing LPDs Rotterdam and Johan de Witt when the vessels' service lives come to an ...

• Submarines: conventional/attack

  Project P76 [India]

  Programme Background Requirements An indigenous submarine programme would look to expand Indian defence and technological capabilities. The P76 SSK is expected to have a displacement ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A400M [Indonesia]

  Programme Background The TNI-AU currently relies on 17 Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and L-100-30 aircraft, including five C-130Hs transferred from Australia. Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) is ...

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

  MQ-9B [Saudi Arabia]

  Programme Background Biggest International Deal Speaking to defence media outlets at IDEX 2025, GA-ASI President David Alexander stated that the company was in the early stages of working on ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Multirole Fighter [Turkiye]

  Programme Background Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey had already paid $1.4 billion into the programme, while its defence industry has ploughed significant ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CV90 [Ukraine]

  Programme Background Announced at the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting in Brussels in June 2023, Ukraine formally signed a Joint Declaration on Cooperation in the Procurement and Operation ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: range systems and targets

  Digital Modular Shoot House

  Turnkey custom-designed Digital Modular Shoot Houses can be provided to meet an organisation’s requirement for a close-quarters live-fire facility. The house provides a platform to ...

• Land: range systems and targets

  MATCH

  The Modular Armored Tactical Combat House (MATCH) is a live-fire 360° ballistically safe shoot house designed to teach and practise close-quarter urban battle skills such ...

• Land: infantry weapon simulators

  LST

  The Live-Fire System Trainer (LST) is an add-on option to Laser Shot military training systems. Its live-fire camera tracks replicate thermal heat signatures of ball ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RC

  The RC family comprises compact multi-mode radars of modular construction aimed at combat aircraft and advanced trainers, developed from the Mirage 2000-5’s RDY radar. The ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  USAF F-16 ATD– JHMCS

  L3Harris Technologies has provided its simulated Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) and Advanced Helmet Mounted Display (AHMD) on the USAF’s F-16 Aircrew Training Device programme. ...

• Land: infantry weapon simulators

  EST 2000

  The Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000 – described as the US Army’s only validated marksmanship trainer – teaches individual marksmanship skills, squad-level collective defence and ...

• Subsystems: software

  Judgmental Training Software

  The Judgmental Training Software (JTS) is Laser Shot’s latest advancement in firearms training technology. It provides judgemental training through the use of interactive, HD video ...

• Land: range systems and targets

  Infantry Shoot Back System

  Saab's Infantry Shoot Back System is a laser-based automated friend-or-foe target system for use in MOUT and open terrain training areas. Soldiers armed with a ...

• Ground control stations

  Ground Control Station (GCS)

  Aertec Solutions GCS station has been designed with in-house technology and allows for various types of unmanned vehicles to be controlled from the system.

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  Combat Training Range Instrumentation

  Combat training range instrumentation systems are meant for live-fire, force-on-force and constructive combat training ranges. GD OTS provides systems for dismounted and mounted player tracking and ...

• Land: fire support simulators

  Advanced Howitzer Simulator

  The Advanced Howitzer Simulator is a virtual self-propelled howitzer simulator for the entire crew, which provides training of operational and degraded modes, including direct fire, ...

• Laser-directed energy weapons

  Minotaur

  Minotaur, developed by Soukos Robots, is a Greek laser directed energy weapon (LDEW). Minotaur is an anti-drone platform with the ability to shoot down unmanned ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  SOVERON D

  Formerly known as SVFuA, SOVERON D is a software-defined radio designed for vehicular applications. Cleared for communications up to the NATO SECRET level, it can house ...

• EW test systems

  EMC Test Facility

  ECS has a custom-built semi anechoic chamber used for in-house product development and pre-compliance testing which is available to hire to outside organisations. The chamber ...

• Guided munitions

  Rash 2M

  Unveiled at IDEX 2021, the Rash 2M is a fixed-wing guidance kit for mortars and other in-house designed payloads and can strike medium-sized targets with ...