• Naval Warfare

  DSEI 2021: Raytheon, Atlas Elektronik to demonstrate minehunting capability to RN

  16th September 2021

  The AQS-20C system features four separate sonars, including a forward-looking sensor, reducing the number of passes needed to detect mines in a given area.

• Air Warfare

  Army-2021: Ka-52M explores MUM-T possibilities

  31st August 2021

  ​If it passes state trials and enters serial production, the Ka-52M could become a valuable asset for Russian ISR and long-range strike missions.

• Air Warfare

  Whatever the mission, the AW149 can support (sponsored)

  2nd September 2021

  Imagine the scene: You have just been tasked for a CASEVAC mission. The objective is to extract seven troops and a casualty from the battlefield. You need to get to the extraction point quickly and leave just as fast. The enemy are closing in on the ground forces, and to add to the pressure, the weather is deteriorating.

• Defence Notes

  Shvabe upgrades laser imager

  3rd September 2021

  Upgraded Russian imaging system is expected to deliver 3-10x magnification.

• Land Warfare

  Efforts proceed to fix Australian Hawkei vehicle

  21st June 2021

  The Hawkei's problematic journey towards introduction into Australian Army service has been tortuous, and its dilemmas are not over yet.

• Defence Notes

  USAF issues multibillion-dollar Minuteman III support contract

  8th July 2021

  Northrop Grumman to provide engineering and maintenance services for ICBMs at six USAF bases.

• Defence Notes

  Afghanistan descends into chaos after Western forces withdraw

  10th August 2021

  The Taliban is securing enormous swathes of territory in Afghanistan, as the West pulls out and says enough is enough.

• Air Warfare

  Malaysia puts pen to paper for LCA tender

  22nd June 2021

  Malaysia has been talking about new light combat aircraft for some time, but finally a tender is out for 18 aircraft.

• Naval Warfare

  First steel cut for HMS Belfast

  30th June 2021

  Prince William has begun construction of HMS Belfast by setting the plasma cutting machine to work on the first plate of steel for HMS Belfast.

• Air Warfare

  IDEF 2021: TAI reports progress on fixed- and rotary-wing programmes

  24th August 2021

  CEO announces 2023 milestone plans for Hürjet, TF-X and ATAK, while programme manager confirms ASW variant of Aksungur UAV will have sonobouy deployment capability.

• Defence Notes

  Ajax adds to woeful litany of British Army procurement failures (Opinion)

  6th July 2021

  Given the latest delay to a key programme, how much confidence should there be in the underequipped British Army achieving key vehicle procurement ambitions laid out in the recent Integrated Review?

• Land Warfare

  Saudi Arabia’s booming defense industry: Entering the global stage (sponsored)

  6th September 2021

  Saudi Arabia continues to stand as one of the most exciting investment opportunities for global defense and technology companies. As a result of national aspirations to diversify the local economy, Saudi Arabia plans to spend half its military budget within the Kingdom by the end of the decade.

• Training

  DSEI 2021: Inzpire unveils new simulators

  8th September 2021

  Inzpire's Mission Training Devices Division has added three new simulators that are due to be unveiled at this year's DSEI event.

• Digital Battlespace

  Artificial intelligence and multi-domain operations (podcast)

  26th August 2021

  The second episode of Shephard Studio’s Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield podcast, sponsored by our partner Systel, looks more closely at the military applications of AI.

• Defence Notes

  Nioa puts its hand up for Australian sovereign missile production

  4th June 2021

  Nioa, owner of the Australian Missile Corporation, inked several cooperation agreements with domestic and foreign forces at Land Forces 2021.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  PC-21 (Project Air 5428) [Australia]

  The new PTS, including aircraft, flight training simulators and learning environments is being acquired from a single capability contractor, Team 21, which consists of Lockheed ...

• Transport, Transport/tanker aircraft

  Project Air 7404 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement Australia is thinking ahead to an enlarged transport fleet to replace the current C-130Js. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was the second ...

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

  Harpii Szpon (Loyal Wingman) [Poland]

  Programme Background Market Evaluation On 6 November 2023, speaking at the IQPC International Fighter Conference (IFC) 2023 in Madrid, Major General Cezary Wiśniewski, the Deputy General Commander of ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A (Project Air 6000 Phase 2A/B) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took delivery of 18 F-35A aircraft as of March 2020 and the remaining aircraft are expected to ...

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

  Loyal Wingman [Australia]

  Background Older Efforts On 23 April 2021, the US State Department's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) approval announcement revealed that Australia had requested to buy up ...

• Data links

  Data links | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  Air: Helmet-mounted displays | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

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

  Project Air 7003 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The Royal Australian Air Force has been without a UAS capability since the Heron was withdrawn in mid-2017. According to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) [USN]

  Programme Background Requirement The USN wants to acquire carrier-capable loyal wingman drones. These drones will have a high level of autonomy, allowing them to work alongside crewed ...

• Patrol boats

  Evolved Cape Class (11-12) [Australia]

  Programme Background Austal was awarded a contract to build six 'Evolved'Cape-class patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 1 May 2020 (see separate ...

• OPVs

  Arafura Class (Project SEA 1180) (1-6) [Australia]

  Programme Background Australia's new class of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), the Arafura-class, will replace the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) fleet of Armidale and Cape-class patrol ...

• 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 - MALE

  MQ-28 Ghost Bat [Australia]

  Programme Background Goal As stated by the Head of Air Force Capability, Air Vice-Marshal Robert Denney, in March 2022, the Ghost Bat will be an "operational ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Australian Defence Force MRH90 Training

  As prime contractor for the ADF's MRH90 training programme, CAE has provided two MRH90 full-flight mission simulators (FFMS), training facilities and engineering and support services. ...

• Trainer

  King Air trainer

  Textron / Beechcraft King Air trainers are a family twin-engine aircraft based on King Air 90, 100, 200 and 350 utility aircraft. The King Air ...

• AMAS

  AMAS – Australian Minesweeping System – was developed with the assistance of the Defence Science & Technology Organisation and the Royal Australian Navy. It adopts ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  RAAF Hawk Mk 127 FMS

  Under subcontract to BAE Systems, CAE is designing and manufacturing three Hawk Mk 127 full-mission simulators (FMS) for the Royal Australian Air Force that will ...

• Air: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  NGJ

  Raytheon's Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) was selected by the USN in 2013 to replace the legacy ALQ-99 systems used on the EA-18G electronic attack aircraft. ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  AN/ALQ-210

  Lockheed Martin’s AN/ALQ-210 is an Electronic Support Measure (ESM) outfitting the Sikorsky MH-60R Romeo naval support helicopter. The manufacturer’s official literature says that the product ...

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

  Wanderer

  The Wanderer is a low-altitude, low-cost, long-endurance UAV produced in-house by the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Jericho Disruptive Innovation Group and the Australian Government's Defense Science ...

• Air: Integrated Defensive Systems

  Air-5416 Project Echidna

  BAE Systems’ commenced its work on the Australian Department of Defence’s Air-5416 Project Echidna initiative in 2001. The rationale of the programme was to overhaul ...

• Light attack

  Hawk 200

  The Hawk 200 is a single-seat light attack iteration of the Hawk 100 (see separate entry) and Advanced Jet Trainer or AJT (see separate entry). ...

• Air: chaff, flare and decoy systems

  Vicon-XF

  Thales’ Vicon-XF is a countermeasure dispensing system which can equip an array of platforms, primarily large aircraft and rotorcraft, according to the manufacturer’s official literature. ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 604

  Bombardier Challenger CL-604 MPAs are in service with the Royal Danish Air Force and the Korea Coast Guard. The first of three Danish aircraft entered ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  Predator Mission Trainer (PMT)

  The CAE Predator Mission Trainer (PMT) is an integrated platform that combines the features of CAE's UAS mission trainer with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator-specific ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  AN/ALR-2001

  BAE Systems’ AN/ALR-2001 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) is thought to be based on Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Elta Systems division’s EL/M-8382 ESM. The AN/ALR-2001 is ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Phantom 4 (Series)

  Designed for aerial photograph applications by DJI, the Phantom 4 series of UAVs includes the Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Phantom 4 Advanced ...

• Submarine-launched torpedoes

  Mk 48 Mod 7AT CBASS

  The MK 48 MOD 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) is the latest variant of the Mk 48 torpedo family manufactured by Lockheed Martin and ...