• Naval Warfare

  How adverse weather conditions affect autonomous USV navigation

  14th June 2024

  Significant advancements and ongoing challenges in the development of autonomous navigation for uncrewed systems have highlighted the complex interplay between human oversight and technological capability.

• Land Warfare

  Teledyne FLIR introduces Rogue 1 recoverable loitering munition system

  7th May 2024

  The company’s next generation of loitering munition allows for safe drone recovery and re-use and can be fitted with three types of warheads.

• Defence Notes

  How Chinese and Russian ambitions are forcing US posture in the Arctic to shift

  25th July 2024

  The recently released 2024 DoD Arctic Strategy established lines of action to improve US extreme cold-weather capabilities against perceived threats from China and Russia throughout the region.

• Special Operations

  USSOCOM to deploy next-generation communications for sUAS in contested scenarios

  4th May 2024

  SOCOM will operate the PDW Blackwave system, which enables critical communications and the operation of small drones in highly congested environments.

• Land Warfare

  Armed drone protection to be added to Iron Fist and Trophy

  3rd June 2024

  Two Israeli-made APS platforms have been in the process of being upgraded following a request from the Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD).

• Special Operations

  US SOCOM and Marine Corps test new Polaris MRZR Alpha 6x6

  5th May 2024

  Polaris’s MRZR Alpha 6x6 is undergoing testing by US SOCOM and the Marine Corps, exploring its enhanced capabilities in logistics and precision fires across various US locations.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing tests new MQ-25 Stingray software for crewed-uncrewed teaming

  1st May 2024

  The new software was said to significantly reduce the time it takes for an F/A-18 to communicate with an MQ-25.

• Air Warfare

  US Ordnance sees growing demand for small arms and machine guns

  8th May 2024

  The company believes its willingness to accommodate client requests, accept small orders and implement user feedback for continuous improvement has contributed to its success.

• Land Warfare

  Contracts awarded for US Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle

  8th April 2024

  The US Marine Corps (USMC) will procure the Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) from prime contractor BAE Systems to replace the legacy Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV7) platform. BAE Systems received the initial $1.1 billion contract to produce 204 ACVs in June 2018.

• Land Warfare

  Germany follows Austria and orders Skyranger air defence systems

  28th February 2024

  Unveiled at Eurosatory 2004, the Oerlikon Skyranger is a mobile ground based air defence system (GBAD) which can be deployed against air targets at short and very short range and against ground targets. The system for Germany is the missile and gun system alone mounted on Boxer IFVs.

• Land Warfare

  US Army completes truck airdrop test

  4th April 2024

  The US Army’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) consists of 17 models including cargo, tractor, van, wrecker, tanker and dump truck variants. The FMTV can also be produced unarmoured, with no ITAR restrictions, for international militaries.

• Land Warfare

  UAE awards contract to Edge for C-UAS system

  30th January 2024

  Skyshield consists of sensors, 3D radars, EO cameras, direction finders and effectors that have been networked into Edge’s unified C2 system to provide real-time situational awareness, with the ability to automatically detect and engage with drone threats and defeat them using spoofing and jamming solutions, among other key countermeasures.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Russia reaches new monthly record for Lancet use in Ukraine

  2nd July 2024

  The aggressor’s armed forces have adapted Lancet to Ukrainian conditions via iterative developments accompanied by a significant expansion in production capacity

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems delivers Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle to US Army

  7th March 2024

  BAE Systems' Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) was developed in response to a US Army requirement to replace ageing M113 APCs. The US Army has an acquisition objective of a total of 2,897 AMPVs under this approximately US$14.5 billion programme.

• Land Warfare

  Adaptable Architecture: How Vehicle Communications are Evolving for the Modern Battlespace

  12th June 2024

  In Conversation... General Dynamics Mission Systems' Dr Emeka Egbogah talks to Shephard's Gerrard Cowan about the communications challenges facing armoured vehicle crews and the need for an open-architecture modular system to meet their constantly evolving needs.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• AEW&C

  AEW&C Aircraft [India]

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems.  A330 Bid In 2015, the IAF has requested to procure six ...

• ISR/special mission

  MC-27J [Algeria]

  Programme Background Algeria has a long standing ISR aircraft requirement to support its Beech 1900 fleet comprised of six aircraft. The new ISR fleet is ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

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

  {inactive} General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  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 activities ...

• 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 - 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 ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

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

  {inactive} Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  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 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ...

• 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 helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

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

• 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is Leonardo’s C-band AESA radar designed for detecting, classifying, and tracking small, high-maneuvering targets. It’s designed for various applications, including counter-UAS, ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

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

  AirMaster-C

  The AirMaster-C is a two-dimensional, AESA, airborne surveillance radar manufactured by Thales. It is marketed as a lightweight surveillance radar designed to be fitted to ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• 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

  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 ...

• 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

  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 ...

• Land: air defence radar

  iMOTR

  The Innovative Multiple-Object Tracking Radar (iMOTR) system has been designed to provide military test ranges with more accurate time, space and position information for several ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• OPVs

  PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO

  The PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO is an enhanced version of the Thaon di Revel-class PPAs unveiled at Euronaval 2024. The PPA/MPCS EVO retains the core platform ...

• 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 ...