• Uncrewed Vehicles

  IDEX 2017: UAE receives Predator UAVs

  14th February 2017

  The United Arab Emirates has accepted delivery of all aircraft for its initial Predator UAV system, Shephard has learnt.Designated the RQ-1E in UAE service, the …

• Special Operations

  ​SOCOM searches for 7.62mm conversion kit

  20th March 2017

  A US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) solicitation calling for the design of a Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) could have serious implications for the future of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2017: RNLAF contracts P1AR for SAR training

  27th February 2017

  The Defense Helicopter Command of the Royal Netherlands Air Force has awarded a multi-year contract to Priority 1 Air Rescue (P1AR) for the provision of …

• Military Logistics

  Denel, TKMS sign South African naval MoU

  13th March 2017

  Denel and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on support to the South African Navy, Denel announced on …

• Naval Warfare

  Azerbaijan receives border patrol ship

  3rd March 2017

  The Azerbaijani Coast Guard recently received its third Tufan-class (Saar 82) patrol ship, designed by Israel Shipyards and built at the Türkan shipbuilding and maintenance …

• Digital Battlespace

  THAAD rushed to South Korea

  9th March 2017

  In immediate response to North Korea's firing of four ballistic missiles, three of which landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, the US deployed the first …

• Naval Warfare

  SharpEye for next Batch 2 River class OPVs

  21st February 2017

  Kelvin Hughes will supply its SharpEye radar systems for the Royal Navy's two latest Batch 2 River class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), the company announced …

• Naval Warfare

  McMurdo awarded UK SAR upgrade contract

  3rd March 2017

  McMurdo has been awarded a contract by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to enhance its search and rescue (SAR) satellite technology, the company …

• Special Operations

  Special ops flock to Flintlock

  8th March 2017

  The international special operations community has once again amassed across West Africa as part of Exercise Flintlock, designed to further develop the capabilities of indigenous …

• Digital Battlespace

  Thales receives Captas-1 contract from UAE

  2nd March 2017

  Thales will supply its Captas-1 single ceramic ring high-performance sonar to the UAE Navy under a contract announced on 28 February.The Captas-1 is designed to …

• Digital Battlespace

  ALR-69A(V) demos geolocation capability

  28th February 2017

  Raytheon's ALR-69A(V) radar warning receiver has demonstrated a single-ship geolocation capability, the company announced on 27 February.The demonstration, which took place during a recent flight …

• Naval Warfare

  Fincantieri launches Italian frigate

  6th March 2017

  The seventh FREMM frigate for the Italian Navy has been launched at Fincantieri's Riva Trigoso shipyard in Genoa.The vessel has been named Federico Martinengo. It …

• Digital Battlespace

  Avalon 2017: JORN upgrade award imminent

  3rd March 2017

  A decision on the upgrade to Australia's Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) is imminent with the two bidding companies, Lockheed Martin Australia and BAE Systems …

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon wins USAF mobile sensors contract

  1st March 2017

  Raytheon will operate and maintain radar systems aboard two US Navy vessels under a contract announced on 27 February.The four year IDIQ mobile sensors contract …

• Land Warfare

  Enhanced Tamir extends intercept range

  7th March 2017

  Testing on the Iron Dome air defence missile system has taken place using a new variant of the Tamir interceptor missile for the first time.An …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  Seeker 400 - First Batch (UAE)

  Programme Background The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far back ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 650 ISR - UAE

  Programme Background In February 2019 at IDEX, the UAE announced that it will procure a new special mission aircraft with an option for the second ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (Japan)

  Programme Background Selection & Contract Award In 2015, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan ...

• Military UAS - small

  Acquisition of an Initial Depth Support Drone Capacity (ADAPT) [France]

  Background Aftermath of SDT To fill the capability void left by the cancellation of the second section of the Tactical Drone System (SDT) programme, two ...

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

  Chinese UAVs [Bangladesh]

  Background Request for Proposals (RFP) In 2023, as reported by Shephard at the time, the Bangladesh Army released a 106-page tender document to gather information ...

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

  Seeker 400 - Second Batch (UAE)

  Programme Background The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far back ...

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

  Jump 20 [Denmark]

  Background 2020 Tender In January 2018, Denmark's three main political parties signed the Danish Defence Agreement, a cross-party defence white paper covering the period between ...

• ISR/special mission

  ISTAR Aircraft [South Korea]

  Programme Background 2018 - Issue of RfI The South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) stated that Seoul planned to procure additional aircraft to minimise potential surveillance ...

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

  AR3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Background £270 Million investment On 15 September 2025, the UK MoD noted that, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper (First Batch) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Acquisition Decision The Netherlands cancelled a project to procure a MALE UAV in 2007. Six years later, in 2013, it was revealed the Dutch ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 [Italy]

  Programme Background Initial Procurement Italy submitted a $330 million FMS request through the Defence Security Cooperation Agency for four MQ-9A aircraft, four GCS and five ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirments Seoul required UAS assets to help monitor its neighbour to the north and, increasingly, Chinese activities in waters and in the air near ...

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

  Gladius [Poland]

  Programme Background Contract Signing On 6 May 2022, the Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, the president of the WB GROUP, Piotr Wojciechowski and the head ...

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

  Tactical UCAV [Czechia]

  Programme Background Inception In November 2017, the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) announced that the service had earmarked CZK1 billion ...

• 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  AR5

  First announced in October 2012, the AR5 is a MALE UAS designed for SAR, surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The AR5 can be flown manually or commanded ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AN/APY-10

  The AN/APY-10 is an airborne maritime surveillance radar manufactured by Raytheon. It is designed to equip the USN'S Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and has ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AN/ZPY-1 STARLite

  The AN/ZPY-1 Small Tactical Radar-Lightweight (STARLite) is a synthetic aperture radar and GMTI sensor for UAVs, manufactured by Northrop Grumman. It offers strip and spot synthetic ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar, Air: surveillance radar

  AN/APS-137B(V)5

  The AN/APS-137B(V)5 is a maritime patrol radar manufactured by Raytheon. It provides both multi-resolution synthetic aperture radar and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), allowing performance over the ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  TriSAR

  The Tri-mode Synthetic Aperture Radar (TriSAR) is a real-time, high-resolution land and maritime surveillance radar designed by Array Systems Computing in Canada. It is suited ...

• Air: helicopter radar

  AN/DPY-1 Lynx Block 30

  The multi-mode AN/DPY-1 Lynx Block 30 is a reduced weight, power and volume variant of the AN/APY-8. It is a high-resolution, wide-area surveillance, Ku-band synthetic ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  TacSAR

  The Tactical Synthetic Aperture Radar (TacSAR) is an airborne reconnaissance system designed by Collins Aerospace (now part of Raytheon). It is intended for land and ...

• Air: surveillance radar

  AN/APY-3

  The AN/APY-3 is a large, phased-array, ground surveillance, side-looking airborne radar with synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (MTI) capability. It is the primary sensor of ...

• Subsystems: software

  Radar Simulation Systems

  The Digital Radar Landmass Simulator (DRLMS) model accurately simulates real-world terrain and cultural feature returns, as well as weather patterns and targets. Configurable parameters allow ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

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

  AR3

  The AR3, or AR3 Net Ray, is an autonomous small-UAS designed to support land-based and maritime missions.  In May 2025, the Royal Air Force announced ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  MOSAIC

  The MOSAIC is a three-dimensional, AESA-based, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Telephonics. It is designed for maritime, littoral and overland surveillance missions for rotary- and fixed-wing ...

• Air: surveillance radar

  ASTOR

  The Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) is abattlefield surveillance synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (MTI) system installed in the UK RAF's Raytheon SentinelR1 aircraft, a version ...

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

  Black Swan

  The Black Swan is a cargo-carrying drone manufactured by Dronamic.  In February 2026, the company released the Detect & Defend version, a military variant of the platform ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7300E V2

  The Seaspray 7300E V2 radar is an airborne, maritime, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Leonardo. It is designed for the detection of small maritime targets in ...