• Air Warfare

  US Navy turns to personnel and industry for Greyhounds to fill the V-22 hole

  7th March 2024

  The V-22 Osprey, a joint-service multirole tiltrotor aircraft manufactured by Bell and Boeing in a joint venture, performs carrier resupply for the US Navy. With its grounding, however, C-2 Greyhounds have been called upon to carry out more work.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force to cut $2 billion of investments in aircraft in FY2025

  19th March 2024

  The reduction will impact several procurements and improvement programmes involving airlift, combat, tactical and strategic aircraft, as well as helicopters.

• Defence Helicopter

  Germany to send WS-61 Westland Sea King helicopters to Ukraine

  26th January 2024

  Germany has committed to sending Ukraine six of its 21 retiring WS-61 Westland Sea King multirole, amphibious helicopters.

• Air Warfare

  Poland secures mega missile order for $3.5 billion on 25th NATO anniversary

  13th March 2024

  Poland's military modernisation agenda has continued with the approval of multibillion-dollar missile agreements, as the country attempts to demonstrate its commitment to defence amid regional tensions.

• Defence Notes

  US Pentagon to reduce investments in main acquisition programmes over FY2025

  12th March 2024

  The DoD requested nearly US$850 billion to fund operations over the next fiscal year. Despite the amount being 1% higher than the FY2024 budget request, it has not covered the 3% inflation rate, which could impact the DoD’s main programmes in the medium and long term.

• Defence Notes

  US Senate approves $60 billion package to support Ukraine

  13th February 2024

  As part of the national security supplemental package, the fund will now be analysed by the House of Representatives.

• Air Warfare

  World Defense Show 2024: Leonardo and Saudi Arabia to explore defence solutions together

  5th February 2024

  Saudi Arabia and Leonardo have agreed to explore collaboration opportunities in the defence sector, including airframe maintenance, assembly of helicopters and next-generation technology initiatives.

• Air Warfare

  BAE Systems to deliver Common Missile Warning Systems to foreign allies

  6th February 2024

  BAE Systems has secured an FMS contract from the US Army for AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems, expanding its deployment beyond the US services.

• Air Warfare

  Leonardo’s AW149 and AW169M beat Airbus, Bell and Lockheed in North Macedonia

  24th January 2024

  Macedonia has selected the Leonardo AW149 medium helicopter over Airbus, Bell and Lockheed Martin aircraft.

• Air Warfare

  Albania receives two Black Hawk helicopters from US Army

  15th January 2024

  Albania has received the first two of three Black Hawk helicopters previously owned by the US Army.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UAE orders 200 EDGE uncrewed cargo and ISR helicopters

  25th January 2024

  The UAE has awarded a substantial contract to EDGE Group for 200 uncrewed helicopters at UMEX 2024.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore Airshow 2024: Stay ahead of developments with our Show Portal

  16th February 2024

  Shephard will provide updates on the latest news, announcements and launches throughout the Singapore Airshow 2024.

• Land Warfare

  Destruction of expired reserves of ATACMS ‘is not true’, says Pentagon

  9th January 2024

  Recent rumours claimed that the DoD would destroy its overdue MGM-140 stockpiles instead of donating them to Ukraine.

• Naval Warfare

  New US Navy expeditionary ship commissioned

  19th February 2024

  The US Navy's Expeditionary Sea Base (T-ESB) programme was created as a derivative of the Montford Point-class Expeditionary Transfer Docks, also built by General Dynamics NASSCO.

• Air Warfare

  Netherlands receives AH-64E Version 6 Apache attack helicopters

  16th January 2024

  The Royal Netherlands Air Force has received two advanced AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters remanufactured from the service’s AH-64D fleet.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28UB - Russia

  Programme BackgroundThe Russian MoD plans to acquire up to 60 Mi-28UB aircraft for the Russian Air Force by mid-2020s. Moscow signed a contract with Russian Helicopters ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28UB - Forecast [Russia]

  Programme Background The Russian MoD plans to acquire up to 60 Mi-28UB aircraft for the Russian Air Force by mid-2020s. Moscow signed a contract with Russian ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Ka-52K Katran [Russia]

  Programme Background The Ka-52K Katran is a navalised version of the Ka-52 Alligator reconnaissance and attack helicopter.  The history of the Ka-52K is aligned with ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-60A [Portugal]

  Programme Background At the end of February 2025, the Portuguese Minister of National Defence said that as part of the Portuguese Army's Support, Protection & ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  AW119Kx [Bosnia and Herzegovina]

  Programme Background  In May 2025, the U.S. State Department approved an FMS to Bosnia and Herzegovina for approximately $100 million including 8 AW119Kx helicopters and a ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Mi-26T2 Halo [Russia]

  Programme Background The original Mi-26 was initially revealed to the West at the Paris airshow in June 1981. In terms of carrying capacity (weight and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-1Y Venom (Czechia)

  Programme Background Czech Armed Forces intended to use the UH-1Y Venom helicopters in various missions including utility, search and rescue, aerial reconnaissance, air-to-ground support and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  CH-47D Replacement [Thailand]

  Programme Background The RTA divested its six Boeing CH-47D Chinooks after failing to sell the 25-year-old aircraft on the second-hand market. Thailand found Chinook maintenance ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  T129 (Nigeria)

  Programme Background Requirement The Nigerian Air Force has an ongoing requirement for attack helicopters in order to assist the country's ongoing counter-insurgency operations. Nigeria already ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T- Air Force [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Naval Utility Helicopters [India]

  Programme Background The programme would have involved the formation of a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and another local or foreign manufacturer. In June ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T - Army [India]

  Programme Background India had operated a diverse and antiquated fleet of helicopters to support its high-altitude operations along contested borders with China and Pakistan. Reducing ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-1Z Viper [Czech Republic]

  Programme Background On 3 May 2019, it was announced that the US State Department had approved a possible FMS of four AH-1Z Vipers to the Czech ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy-lift Helicopter STH [Germany]

  Programme Background The German government issued a tender in March 2019 for the procurement of heavy-lift helicopters under the Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) program, 60 units are ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy Lift Helicopter [Philippines]

  Programme Background Procurement from Russia In November 2021, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that a contract had been signed to acquire 16 Mi-171 heavy ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Mi-38

  Russian Helicopters' Mi-38 medium-lift helicopter is designed to compete with the Leonardo AW101 and Sikorsky S-92 in both the civil and military markets. The first ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28UB

  Russian Helicopters unveiled the Mi-28UB rotorcraft at the International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS 2013) exhibition. As the combat training modification of the Mi-28NE Night ...

• Model 327 Fire Attack

  The Model 327 is a belly tank/refill hose system designed for the Russian Helicopters Ansat.

• Model 328 Fire Attack

  The Model 328 is a belly tank/refill hose system designed for the Russian Helicopters Ka-32.

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

  BAS-750

  The BAS-750, or БАС-750, is a rotary-wing UAS unveiled at Army 2022 by Russian Helicopters. Described as a multifunctional UAV, it can host various payloads to complete several mission ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Mi-28N/Mi-28NM

  The Mi-28N is a Russian attack helicopter manufactured by Russian Helicopters for use by the Russian Armed Forces. The helicopter is twin-engined with tandem seating ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  NSTsI-V

  Developed by KRET, the NSTsI-V is a helmet-mounted targeting and display system for pilots. The system projects an image onto the transparent screen in front of ...

• Helicopter guns

  YAK-B

  The YAK-B is a four-barrel 12.7x108mm Gatling gun. The system is remotely controlled, using a gas-operated mechanism, and offers a high rate of fire. It ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ansat

  The Ansat is a light, multipurpose, twin-engine helicopter designed and built by Kazan Helicopters. The helicopter is able to carry up to six fully equipped troops, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Mi-171Sh

  The Mi-8AMTSh (domestic)/Mi-171Sh (export) is a civil and military transport helicopter that was developed from the Mi-8MT/Mi-17 by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant. The type is built ...

• Air: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  Rychag-AVM

  KRET’s Rychag-AVM radio frequency jammer is designed to perform electronic attack against hostile communications and radar systems. The Rychag-AVM ensemble is mounted onboard dedicated Mil ...

• Land: RWS

  Nanuk Russian

  Rheinmetall Canada's Nanuk RWS family includes this variant for non-NATO weapons, which combines full stabilisation, long-range day/night all-weather sights and a versatile weapon cradle that ...

• Land: RWS

  Qimek Russian

  Rheinmetall's Qimek single-weapon RWS family includes a variant for non-NATO weapons, which combines full stabilisation, long-range day/night all-weather sights and a versatile weapon cradle for ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Kopyo-A

  The Kopyo-A is a Russian, multipurpose radar intended for deployment on helicopters. It is designed for coastal monitoring, search and detection of sea surface and ground ...