• Naval Warfare

  China launches two new destroyers

  6th July 2018

  The Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company in Liaoning Province simultaneously launched two Type 055 destroyers, a new class destined for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), …

• Defence Notes

  Farnborough 2018: Rolls-Royce unveils hybrid flying taxi

  17th July 2018

  Rolls-Royce has revealed its plans to develop a hybrid electric vehicle, dubbed the ‘flying taxi’, which takes off and lands vertically and could be airborne …

• Training

  Plexsys to support NADTC 2.0 programme

  27th July 2018

  Plexsys Interface Products has received a subcontract from Aero Simulation (ASI) for the US Navy Aviation Distributed Training Center (NADTC) 2.0 programme, the company announced …

• Land Warfare

  GD-OTS receives AGMV contract

  2nd July 2018

  General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) has received a $33.8 million contract from the US Army for the production of Army Ground Mobility Vehicles …

• Training

  Farnborough 2018: Link to start UH-60L training

  25th July 2018

  L3 Technologies Link Training and Simulation is about to start offering UH-60L Black Hawk training at its headquarters in Arlington, Texas. The UH-60L simulator joins …

• Digital Battlespace

  Taiwan hacker conference proves unnerving

  31st July 2018

  The 2018 Hacks in Taiwan Conference (HITCON) was disturbing. After being founded in 2005, the 14th HITCON was held from 27-28 July at the Taipei …

• Defence Helicopter

  Farnborough 2018: Industry competitors united on accelerating FVL timelines

  16th July 2018

  The main industry figures involved in developing the US Army’s medium lift FVL aircraft, commonly referred to as capability set 3, are working together to …

• Special Operations

  SOF seeks enhanced ground SIGINT designs

  27th July 2018

  United States Special Operations Command has released a combined special notice / RfI describing a planned demonstration under which the command will explore new designs …

• Defence Notes

  Farnborough 2018: Eurofighter to be testbed for Tempest

  17th July 2018

  As the UK eyes the development of a new fighter jet through the Team Tempest programme, the Eurofighter Typhoon is expected to be a testbed …

• Defence Notes

  Farnborough 2018: Government pushes business as Brexit concerns persist (video)

  19th July 2018

  With the uncertainty of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations forming a backdrop to this week's Farnborough International Airshow, UK government officials were keen to …

• Military Logistics

  US Army looks beyond SUSV

  29th June 2018

  The US Army is exploring the potential of an all-terrain type vehicle that could perform missions similar to those of the currently fielded Small Unit …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  STM’s Kargu passes precision strike test

  19th July 2018

  STM’s autonomous rotary-wing kamikaze Kargu UAS has successfully passed precision strike capability tests carried out at the Mechanical and Chemical Industry Company compound in Kırıkkale, …

• Naval Warfare

  HII launches US Navy’s DDG 121

  19th July 2018

  Huntington Ingalls Industries has launched the US Navy’s future Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer Frank E Petersen Jr (DDG 121) the company announced on …

• Military Logistics

  BAE to expand operations in Alabama

  19th July 2018

  BAE Systems is expanding its operations in Huntsville, Alabama, with a $45.5 million investment project, the company announced on 16 July. The company has planned …

• Defence Helicopter

  Industry waits for US light attack helicopter guidance

  21st June 2018

  Bell and Sikorsky are gearing up for a forthcoming announcement that will shed light on the Pentagon's plans to build a new, light attack helicopter …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey [Japan]

  Programme Background Procurement Contracts The Japanese government is the first export customer of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, having ordered 17 helicopters from the US across ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects - Short Range (LE-SR) [US]

  Background Air-launched effect (ALE) In 2022, the US sought a family of systems comprising an air vehicle, payload, mission systems applications and support equipment to ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-8C Fire Scout (USA)

  Programme Background Timeline According to the Naval Air Systems Command, having first ordered the MQ-8B in 2009, the UAV has become a pillar of the ...

• Military UAS - small

  Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement & Objective The RN identified a requirement to acquire an RPAS to transport cargo and supplies between ships and personnel. When mature, it ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift UAV [Germany]

  Background  Victor U250 agreement On 10 June 2026, at ILA Berlin, Rheinmetall, ERC Systems, and the North Rhine-Westphalia state formed a strategic partnership to lay ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects - Medium Range (LE-MR) [US]

  Background Air-launched effect (ALE) In 2022, the US sought a family of systems comprising an air vehicle, payload, mission systems applications and support equipment to ...

• Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Project Proteus [UK]

  Background Requirements The RN requires an uncrewed helicopter to test the viability of larger uncrewed aircraft, possibly providing an alternative to crewed aircraft such as the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy-lift Helicopter STH [Germany]

  Background Requirement 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 - multirole

  Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) (MV-75 Cheyenne II) [USA]

  Programme Background US Army's Future Vertical Lift Programme The FLRAA is one of three strands of a broader army programme. The others are the Future ...

• 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 helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F CHINOOK [USA]

  Programme Background As the Army's only heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F Improved Cargo helicopter is an essential component of the Army's Multi-Domain Battle framework. The CH-47F ...

• Transport

  Large Transport Aircraft-II (LTA-II) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirements The aircraft are needed for peacetime, international peacekeeping, emergency and combat operations. They are especially required to ensure a strategic lift capacity ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ FTUAS

  From the Texton family of Aerosonde UAS, the Aerosonde Mk 4.8 Hybrid Quad (HQ) FTUAS is a tactical drone purpose-built to meet the US Army's Future Vertical Lift ...

• 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 helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Air: Displays

  F-15 Replacement Vertical Situation Display

  BAE Systems Replacement Vertical Situation Display (RVSD) replaces the legacy VSD units on F-15E aircraft. The AMLCD display offers a larger display size and is compatible ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  X-Sight

  Elbit X-Sight is a developmental helmet-mounted display system designed for helicopters. According to the manufacturer, it will offer a high field of view and colour binocular ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Military UAS - tactical

  Hexa

  The Hexa, or LIFT Hexa, is a rotary-wing aircraft developed by LIFT Aircraft for military and commercial markets. Due to its configuration and triple redundant autopilot computer, ...

• Military UAS - small

  H6 Poseidon

  Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  DrN-600

  The DrN-600 is a medium-lift cargo UAV developed by Singapore-based manufacturer ST Engineering. The platform combines vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) with wing-borne forward flight and ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Victor U250

  The Victor U250 is a heavy lift drone in development by ERC Systems. The UAV has been developed by ERC for critical mission applications including ...

• Light UGVs

  Avenger

  In January 2017, Med-Eng announced the launch of a new bomb disposal and tactical robot, called the Avenger, at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Veloce-15

  The ST Engineering Veloce-15 (V-15) is a hybrid fixed-wing UAV with four rotors for vertical lift and a tail-mounted two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal propulsion.  ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Loong 2

  The Loong 2 is a rotary-wing mini-UAV manufactured by LoongUAV. Designed for ISR missions, the UAV features a universal plug-and-play standardised interface, meaning a lot of different ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Proteus

  Proteus is a technology demonstrator that Leonardo is developing in collaboration with the UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S;) Future Capabilities Group and the ...