• Air Warfare

  Dubai Air Show 2023: Can air-launched missile stocks keep pace with a full-spectrum conflict?

  9th November 2023

  Russia's war in Ukraine has pushed the issue of stocks up the priorities list for air forces concerned about dwindling reservoirs of air-launched ordnance.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2023: Sentinel UAS offers solution for communications relay and black holes

  12th September 2023

  UK company Drone Evolution is showing for the first time its tethered UAS, Sentinel, and outlined future plans for the system as a radio relay as well as surveillance asset.

• Naval Warfare

  Dutch navy launches new rMCM vessel

  20th October 2023

  The first new Mine Countermeasures Vessel (MCMV) for the Royal Netherlands Navy was launched in a ceremony at the Kership Joint Venture shipyard in Concarneau on 19 October 2023.

• Land Warfare

  Just released: Armoured Vehicles Technology Report 2023

  17th September 2023

  How remote weapon stations and vehicle self-protection systems are helping armed forces stay ahead of the game on the modern battlefield.

• Air Warfare

  US Marines’ XQ-58A Valkyrie UAS completes first test flight

  9th October 2023

  The XQ-58A Valkyrie, developed by Kratos and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (USAFRL), is designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, with a total of six planned test flights for the USMC

• Air Warfare

  South Korean manufacturers invest heavily in new UAV designs

  23rd October 2023

  South Korean companies displayed a multitude of developmental and conceptual UAVs at Seoul ADEX 2023.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Challenges and innovations: Russia struggles to counter Ukraine's dominance in drone warfare

  4th September 2023

  The Russian armed forces and civilian UAV manufacturers face hurdles countering Ukraine's drone supremacy, standardising UAS production and fighting evolving tactics, as highlighted at the recent Dronnitsa event.

• Training

  Exercise Iron Titan clears new UK Apache for frontline duty

  25th October 2023

  Exercise Iron Titan focused on improving interoperability, tactics and C2 procedures while evaluating new equipment.

• Land Warfare

  Future of the CPI2 programme remains blurry

  31st October 2023

  Despite planning to release a RfP by the end of the year, the US Army has placed the effort into ‘hold’ status, with details on its next steps and schedule yet to be disclosed.

• Training

  US assists Philippine Air Force ISR training

  22nd September 2023

  At the request of the Philippine government, the 505th Training Squadron located at Hurlburt Field, Florida sent a team of USAF Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit instructors to Villamor Air Base, Philippines.

• Naval Warfare

  Textron awarded UAS contract for Littoral Combat Ships

  11th August 2023

  The US Navy (USN) is expanding the airborne surveillance capabilities of three of its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with the addition of new UAS capabilities.

• Air Warfare

  Dubai Airshow 2023: GA-ASI and Edge forge MQ-9B weapon integration partnership on future UAE drones

  13th November 2023

  The partnership between Edge and General Atomics aims to concentrate on incorporating precision-guided munitions and guided-glide weapon systems onto forthcoming MQ-9Bs, provided that the Gulf Country gains access to the platform.

• Air Warfare

  South Africa upgrades ageing C-130s for a second time

  16th August 2023

  Marshall Aerospace has secured a contract to perform two modifications and extensive servicing on the South African Air Force’s (SAAF) 1960s-vintage C-130 fleet, as well as supporting subsequent in-country modification work.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force strategic programmes to be affected by budgetary uncertainty

  15th November 2023

  The operation under continuing resolutions can impact the schedule of several US Air Force efforts including the B-21, AMRAAM and C3BM.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ukraine shows combat-tested armament at DSEI 2023

  15th September 2023

  The Ukrainian pavilion at DSEI 2023, organised by state-owned Spetstechnoexport, exhibited several indigenous combat-tested systems, including UAVs, USVs and an evacuation vehicle.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

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

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

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

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

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

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

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

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Aeromobila A Pilotaggio Remoto (Mini) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirement Released on 5 August 2021, the Italian MoD's Multi-Year Defence Programme Document for 2021-2023 announced a programme aimed at acquiring a mini-UAS capable ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Aeromobila A Pilotaggio Remoto (Micro) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirement Released on 5 August 2021, the Italian MoD's Multi-Year Defence Programme Document for 2021-2023 announced a programme aimed at acquiring a micro-UAS capable ...

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

  RQ-20 Puma (Belgium)

  Programme Background Requirement The Belgian MoD outlined plans to procure more mini and tactical UAS in its Strategic Vision for Defence published in 2016. According ...

• Military UAS - small

  Bug Nano UAS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army previously took delivery of 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS in 2013 to support operations in Afghanistan. After these ...

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

  Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) [Canada]

  Programme Background Programme Inception The Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project was established to procure a UAS for ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  CLRV [Luxembourg]

  Programme Background Requirement The Luxembourg MoD wants to replace the Luxembourg Army's fleet of 42 AM General M1151 HMMWV Up-Armoured (UA) and 48 KMW Dingo ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

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

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Pitbull C-UAS Jammer

  In June 2018, MyDefence launched the Pitbull wearable C-UAS solution, which utilises smart jamming to defeat enemy drones. Pitbull was developed to have a minimal ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  SkyTracker

  SkyTracker is a technology suite that detects, identifies, tracks and mitigates UAS threats. The system provides continuous 24h automated monitoring in all weather conditions. The ...

• EO/IR systems, Land: unattended sensor/surveillance systems, Land: vehicle surveillance/target acquisition systems

  T-SIGHT

  The T-SIGHT is a rapid deployment and vehicle-mounted medium-range surveillance system. It hosts the SIGHT-25HD EO/IR system. It is designed for remote tactical surveillance, ISR observation, force protection, route ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM202U

  The CM202U is a field-proven gyro-stabilised imaging system for counter small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) operations and ground ISR applications.  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, it includes high-definition ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

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

  ATLAS C4EYE

  The Advanced Technology Light Acquisition System (ATLAS) C4EYE is the smallest UAS developed by C-Astral Aerospace. Part of the Bramor family of UAS, the Atlas ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Operator Assist

  Operator Assist software contributes to force protection by utilising algorithms to detect and track objects in the air and on the ground. This increases the ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  X-MADIS

  The eXpeditionary Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (X-MADIS) is a portable, fully integrated C-UAS system for fixed-site, mobile and on-the-move operations.  Combining four all-threat air ...