• Naval Warfare

  USS Tulsa completes acceptance trials

  19th March 2018

  The US Navy has successfully completed acceptance trials of its Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Tulsa, the navy announced on 15 March. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  STR’s Falcon ROV fleet expands

  20th March 2018

  Subsea Technology & Rentals (STR) has added another Saab Seaeye Falcon ROV to its global rental fleet of inspection class vehicles, the company announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  KIGAM orders Aquabotix’s Hybrid AUV

  19th March 2018

  UUV Aquabotix will supply a Hybrid autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), the company announced on 14 …

• Naval Warfare

  Venari-85 platform being examined by variety of potential users

  22nd March 2018

  British naval vessel designer BMT is in discussions with a number of European and non-European countries looking at future mine countermeasure (MCM) procurements, utilising its …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  RAF preps for MQ-9B Protector

  16th March 2018

  A Royal Air Force (RAF) team based in the US is preparing the way to introduce the MQ-9B Protector into service, the RAF announced on …

• Naval Warfare

  Finland requests Mk 41 VLSs

  26th February 2018

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of four Mk 41 Baseline VII Strike-Length Vertical Launching Systems (VLS) …

• Naval Warfare

  German Navy's future 212CD submarines to be maintained in Norway

  20th March 2018

  A common maintenance model between Germany and Norway will see German Navy submarines maintained at a support hub in Norway. The two countries in 2017 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Kongsberg launches Flexview multibeam sonar

  16th March 2018

  Kongsberg Mesotech has launched its new Flexview multibeam sonar designed for small observation class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the company announced on 13 March. The …

• Defence Notes

  Taiwan will push for F-35Bs and KC-135

  7th March 2018

  It is official, no matter how illogical the procurement in the face of a massive military threat, Taiwan will request at least three squadrons of …

• Naval Warfare

  Navantia breeds talent in Australia

  15th March 2018

  Four Australian naval design companies have begun work on a 3D digital model training course led by Navantia Australia, the company announced on 14 March. …

• Land Warfare

  Canadian battalions prepare to field new soldier system

  14th March 2018

  The first Argus kits, the chosen system for the Canadian Army’s Integrated Soldier System Programme, are scheduled to be deployed with battalions by June 2018. …

• Defence Notes

  Chinese railgun puts US on notice

  22nd March 2018

  China is fond of magic-bullet weapons, whether they are anti-ship ballistic missiles such as the DF-21D, hypersonic glide vehicles or anti-satellite weapons capable of blinding or …

• Special Operations

  GA-EMS delivers batteries for DCS

  19th February 2018

  General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has delivered the first shipset of Lithium-ion Fault Tolerant (LiFT) batteries for the US Special Operations Command’s new Dry Combat …

• Military Logistics

  DIMDEX 2018: DND's search for treasure continues

  13th March 2018

  Naval logistics forms the backbone for any naval force deployed persistently overseas, removing much of the requirements for vessels to leave stations for lengthy trips …

• Land Warfare

  US Army chief explains increased 155mm buy

  16th March 2018

  US Army officials are looking to stockpile 155mm projectiles in case of a contingency that causes the service to run through its cache.  During a House Appropriations …

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 ...