• 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 …

• Defence Notes

  Hobart completes Sea Acceptance Trials

  8th March 2017

  The Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) first air warfare destroyer, the future HMAS Hobart, has successfully completed Sea Acceptance Trials following 21 days at sea off …

• Land Warfare

  EDA looks to increase artillery accuracy

  7th March 2017

  The European Defence Agency (EDA) has detailed the results of its Course Correction Fuze (CCF) project, which was carried out to increase the accuracy of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon 2017: ADF progresses UAV capability

  6th March 2017

  Australia's latest acquisition - the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 system - was on display at the Avalon Air Show near Melbourne, where the three branches of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Avalon 2017: Orbital ATK promotes C-27J palletised ISR

  6th March 2017

  Orbital ATK is in discussions with the Royal Australian Air Force about ISR mission pallets that could enhance capabilities. The company already supplies roll-on/roll-off modules …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing unveils MH-139 helicopter

  6th March 2017

  Boeing's bid for the US Air Force's UH-1N Replacement Program will be based on the Leonardo Helicopters AW139, with the company unveiling its MH-139 helicopter …

• Defence Helicopter

  Heli-Expo 2017: Thales sees avionics decline

  3rd March 2017

  The well-publicised depression in the helicopter market is having a knock-on effect for companies across the supply chain, not least those that provide high-end electronics …

• Defence Helicopter

  Avalon 2017: Tiger and Taipan to improve availability

  3rd March 2017

  Even as other manufacturers were slowly circling for the kill at the Avalon Air Show by offering the Australian Army replacement attack helicopters, Airbus Helicopters …

• Naval Warfare

  Avalon 2017: Saab tries to hook NZ on Swordfish

  2nd March 2017

  New Zealand's future requirement for a maritime patrol aircraft to replace the in-service Lockheed Martin P-3K2 Orion is attracting a number of contenders, including Saab's …

• Military Logistics

  Avalon 2017: RAAF announces MRTT FOC and upgrade

  2nd March 2017

  The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) announced at the Avalon Air Show on 2 March that its fleet of Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) …

• Military Logistics

  Seaspan awarded JSS D&PE contract

  2nd March 2017

  Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards has been awarded a contract for design and production engineering (D&PE) work on the Royal Canadian Navy's Joint Support Ship (JSS), the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Stratobus prepares for lift-off

  2nd March 2017

  Thales Alenia Space is on course to fly a full-scale prototype of its Stratobus high-altitude 'drone satellite' by 2020, with a sub-scale demonstrator expected to …

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo to work on RWUAS CCD Phase 2

  2nd March 2017

  Leonardo UK will work on the Rotary Wing Unmanned Air System, Capability Concept Demonstrator (RWUAS CCD) Phase 2 programme under a contract with the UK …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Avalon 2017: Heron TP wants fair Australian competition

  2nd March 2017

  With the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) eyeing a future armed MALE UAV platform to join its fleet, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) wants the right …

• Defence Helicopter

  Avalon 2017: Bell positions Viper-Venom combo

  1st March 2017

  The marketing focus for Bell Helicopter at Avalon Air Show 2017 was a major push of its AH-1Z Viper. With the Australian Army's Tiger Armed …

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 ...