• Defence Notes

  Dubai Airshow 2017: Russian Aircraft Corporation prospecting for MiG 35 interest (video)

  21st November 2017

  With dozens of regional and international customers already operating platforms such as the MiG-29, Russian Aircraft Corporation is hopeful that the newly developed MiG-35 will …

• Special Operations

  US Army outlines $1 billion in SOF training opportunities

  7th December 2017

  Last week’s I/ITSEC exhibition in Orlando, Florida, featured updates on training programmes across the armed services. As the US Army Project Manager for Instrumentation, Targets and Threat …

• Naval Warfare

  Lürssen wins Australian OPV contract

  24th November 2017

  The Australian government announced that prime contractor Lürssen had won a design and construction contract for 12 OPVs for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under …

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2017: US Army looks to avoid the tyranny of training

  28th November 2017

  The US Army wants to escape the ‘tyranny of training’ as it continues to look for multi-domain and home based training solutions that are viewed …

• Naval Warfare

  Sweden and Finland close on IOC for combined task force

  22nd November 2017

  The chief of the Royal Swedish Navy is hopeful that an initial operating capability (IOC) of the joint Sweden and Finland combined naval task group …

• Defence Notes

  China’s ICBMs come to maturity

  1st December 2017

  Recent Chinese-language media reports indicate that China’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will be deployed by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) in early 2018. The …

• Land Warfare

  Otokar submits bid for Altay serial production

  23rd November 2017

  Otokar has submitted its proposal for the serial production of the Altay main battle tank (MBT) to the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM), the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Milipol Paris 2017: Aeraccess unveils new Hawkeye UAS

  28th November 2017

  French drone manufacturer Aeraccess unveiled its new Hawkeye man-packable micro UAS at the Milipol internal security fair near Paris. According to Shehzaad Callachand, general manager …

• Land Warfare

  Poland requests IBCS-enabled Patriot

  21st November 2017

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale of an Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) Battle Command System …

• Land Warfare

  India refloats new tank requirement

  14th November 2017

  India issued a global RfI on 8 November for what it is calling a Future Ready Combat Vehicle (FRCV), an attempt to obtain a new …

• Land Warfare

  Milipol Paris 2017: Montenegro’s TARA Group unveils new weapons

  24th November 2017

  TARA Perfection, a division of the TARA Group, unveiled its new TM-10 7.62x51mm assault rifle and TM-9 SMG 9x19mm sub machine gun (SMG), at Milipol …

• Military Logistics

  Northrop Grumman to sustain ADF C-27J

  17th November 2017

  Northrop Grumman has been awarded a through life support (TLS) contract for the Royal Australian Air Force's C-27J Spartan airlift fleet, the company announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Autonomous convoy brings logistics technology to the last mile

  23rd November 2017

  With global defence forces continuing to develop autonomous technologies, recent demonstrations of such capabilities are helping to inform decision makers on the readiness of such …

• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop's acoustic flank array tested

  16th November 2017

  The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) has conducted testing on Northrop Grumman's new hull-mounted acoustic Advanced Flank Array (AFA), the company announced on 14 November.The …

• Special Operations

  US Air Force looks for help with personnel recovery

  16th November 2017

  The successful recovery of downed flight crews is a critical mission that covers both conventional and special operations forces across the entire spectrum of conflict. Against …

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 ...