• Special Operations

  Dubai Airshow 2017: Not SOFt on C-130J

  21st November 2017

  Lockheed Martin is positioning its C-130J-SOF export variant as the go-to aircraft for special operation forces helicopter and fixed-wing refuelling needs. Pushing hard on the …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Learning the lessons of Gulf defence procurement

  17th November 2017

  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced at the Dubai Air Show that it is keen to acquire the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This is the …

• Military Logistics

  WEW wins US Army Camel water tank work

  17th November 2017

  WEW Container Systems will deliver additional Camel low-profile water tank modules for the US Army under a contract announced on 14 November. The contract will …

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE to develop testbed for space technologies

  16th November 2017

  BAE Systems will develop a space evaluation and analysis testbed under a $12.8 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Dubai Airshow 2017: UMS Skeldar soaring into Middle East

  16th November 2017

  UMS Skeldar will be conducting flight campaigns with its R-350 VTOL platform in the Middle Eastern region next year. A new enhanced version of the …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: London’s latest SDSR review attempts to square the defence circle

  10th November 2017

  The UK has adopted a policy of conducting a Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) every five years. The process aims to review commitments, ensure …

• Digital Battlespace

  Harris develops fully digital GPS III payload

  13th November 2017

  Harris Corporation has completed development of a fully digital Mission Data Unit designed for its navigation payload for Lockheed Martin’s Global Positioning System (GPS III) …

• Land Warfare

  Australia eyes APS for AFV fleets

  15th November 2017

  A senior Australian Army officer has revealed that a hard-kill active protection system (APS) is under consideration for future integration with the service’s fleets of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Dubai Airshow 2017: Turkish delight at Karayel presence

  13th November 2017

  Turkish company Vestel Defence has ventured to display its Karayel-SU for the first time at an overseas exhibition, one of a number of international manufacturers …

• Land Warfare

  China to deliver Thai VN1s next year

  13th November 2017

  The Royal Thai Army (RTA) will receive its first batch of 34 VN1 8x8 IFVs from Norinco next year, and it has plan to procures …

• Naval Warfare

  Babcock, BMT enter partnership

  10th November 2017

  Babcock and BMT have signed a cooperation agreement that will see the companies collaborate to support the design, build, construction and support of future classes …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ​ADEX 2017: IAI/Hankuk announce joint UAV venture

  18th October 2017

  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Korea-based Hankuk Carbon signed an agreement establishing a new joint venture company, Korea Aviation Technologies (KAT), to be based in …

• Defence Notes

  Lockheed to develop fibre laser for AFRL

  10th November 2017

  Lockheed Martin has received a $26.3 million contract from the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to design and produce a high-power fibre laser, the …

• Military Logistics

  ​Dubai Airshow 2017: Atlas Aerospace expects opportunity from French focus

  12th November 2017

  France’s interest in developing its civil and military markets in the UAE is helping companies like Abu Dhabi-based Atlas Aerospace explore new business opportunities in …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA 2017: FVL progress on point (video)

  6th October 2017

  The US Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) programme seeks to shape the services helicopter fleet of the future.  Dan Bailey, programme director for JMR/FVL with …

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 ...