• Air Warfare

  Spain moves ahead with transport, intelligence and training aircraft modernisation efforts

  6th January 2026

  Confirming its C295 order in late December, the Spanish Ministry of Defence also awarded Airbus with its Hurjet procurement contract and both Airbus and Indra with a contract to investigate a proposed Signals Intelligence aircraft solution by 2028.

• Land Warfare

  World Defense Show 2026: DOK-ING working on MV-8 variants and reveals specs ahead of Eurosatory

  12th February 2026

  The Croatian company began the development of the MV-8 modular uncrewed platform in the early 2020s. Specifications for the vehicle were revealed to Shephard at World Defense Show 2026.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: MARSS and parent company EOS expand air defence capability

  24th June 2026

  MARSS became part of EOS Defence earlier this year, bringing together the former’s C2 NiDAR and Nation Shield air defence products with the latter’s suite of effectors and sensors.

• Land Warfare

  NATO’s Crystal Arrow factors in Ukrainian UGV lessons as European interest grows

  19th May 2026

  One goal of NATO’s Exercise Crystal Arrow was to identify the potential uses of uncrewed ground vehicles – as seen on the Ukrainian battlefield – and put platforms into the hands of users.

• Air Warfare

  Advances in HALE/MALE systems prove the sky is not the limit for drones

  10th October 2025

  Drone systems are multiplying at high altitudes as designers turn out new components and subsystems that let units operate there.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy to invest more than $700 million in laser-related R&D efforts in FY2026

  26th January 2026

  The US Navy’s acceleration of its laser weapon development initiatives reflects a decisive shift towards ultimately having a “laser on every ship” across tomorrow’s surface fleet.

• Land Warfare

  Textron unveils a smaller, low-cost variant of the Ripsaw family of UGVs

  29th April 2026

  Ripsaw M1 has been designed to support the US Marine Corps’ littoral missions by carrying diverse types of payloads and performing multiple missions. Shephard spoke with Textron to find out more.

• Air Warfare

  How uncrewed rotary platforms are shaping approaches to contested logistics

  19th March 2026

  Defence industry primes are working on an array of different platforms to meet the growing need for rotary uncrewed aerial vehicles to carry out future logistics missions.

• Naval Warfare

  Thales wins DE&S contract for portable autonomous command centres

  29th December 2025

  The agreement to provide portable autonomous command centres to the UK Royal Navy will enhance the service’s Mine Counter Measure operations and further integrate autonomous and uncrewed systems into its fleet.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2025: Controp Discusses AI-Enabled Multi-Domain Surveillance Solutions

  12th September 2025

  At DSEI 2025, Controp representatives outline how artificial intelligence is being integrated with electro-optical payloads to improve decision-making and operational efficiency across land, air, and maritime domains.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing prepared to go fast on CxR uncrewed tiltrotor concept

  3rd November 2025

  The Collaborative Transformational Rotorcraft is designed with the potential to meet a range of mission requirements, from reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition to contested logistics.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: GDELS and Thales combine proven tech to create reduced-risk CUAS

  19th June 2026

  Both Thales and GDELS shone a spotlight on their uncrewed and counter-drone efforts at Eurosatory 2026, highlighting the integration of mature technologies with stable C2 systems that are open to agnostic additions and expansion.

• Air Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: First public flight of Teledyne FLIR Black Recon reconnaissance system

  16th June 2026

  The drone took flight as undisclosed European customers are testing the system. Defence Insight highlights the Nordic region and existing Black Hornet users as potential early customers amid growing demand for micro-UAVs.

• Land Warfare

  US Marine Corps provides US$900 million for prototypes as vehicle refresh motors on

  10th April 2026

  General Dynamics Land Systems and Textron Systems are competing to replace the US Marine Corps’ fleet of light armoured vehicles. The companies have been awarded contracts to provide prototypes of three different vehicle variants.

• Land Warfare

  DSEI 2025: Likely spending boosts outlined this year turn spotlight on show

  4th September 2025

  A surge in budgeted and planned defence spending across European NATO countries in the past year has come in the face of the war in Ukraine and demands from the Trump administration that the countries take on more of the load. This is likely to be reflected in what can be expected from DSEI.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Multirole Underwater Seabed Surveillance Ship (MU3S) [Italy]

  In June 2024, during a presentation provided at the NATO Maritime Security Centre of Excellence (MARSEC COE), the Italian Navy detailed the new capabilities it ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Multirole Underwater Seabed Surveillance Ship (MU3S) [Italy]

  In June 2024, during a presentation provided at the NATO Maritime Security Centre of Excellence (MARSEC COE), the Italian Navy detailed the new capabilities it ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Multirole Underwater Seabed Surveillance Ship (MU3S) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirements According to the presentation provided by the Italian Navy, the MultiroleUnderwater Seabed Surveillance Ship (MU3S) will:operate a wide range of uncrewed systems, ...

• Maritime patrol

  C295 MPA [Angola]

  Programme Background Requirement Angola uses a mix of Dornier Do-28s, A-29s and EMB-312 Tucanos for maritime surveillance duties. The country's dedicated maritime patrol capability was ...

• Maritime patrol

  Dornier 228 MPA - India

  Programme Background In October 2014, the Defence Acquisition Council of India approved RS.1850 core ($302 million) for the purchase of 12 Dornier 288 maritime surveillance ...

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

  Surveillance & Maritime Drones (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Programme Background 2024/2025 Military Aid Package On 12 January 2024, the UK government announced it would provide Ukraine with £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in military ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) Ship [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The 2021 Defence Command Paper, Defence in a competitive age, outlined the plan to develop a new Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) vessel ...

• Maritime patrol

  AVSIMAR (France)

  Programme Background In November 2018, the French MoD announced that it awarded a contract for the detailed definition study of the future surveillance and maritime ...

• ISR/special mission, Maritime patrol

  C295 MPAs/MSAs [Spain]

  Programme Background Required to replace Spain's existing P-3M Orion fleet set to reach OSD in the mid-late 2020s, Airbus' C295W has been selected as the replacement ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  In April 2026, AeroVironment (AV) and Shield AI announced that they had been selected to compete for a US$800 million task order to provide Contractor-Owned, ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  In April 2026, AeroVironment (AV) and Shield AI announced that they had been selected to compete for a US$800 million task order to provide Contractor-Owned, ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  T-AGOS Surtass Ships (6-7) [USN]

  Programme Background Requirements The Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance (T-AGOS) ships focus on gathering underwater acoustical data to support the mission of the Integrated Undersea Surveillance ...

• Patrol boats

  Support Vessels Procurement [Denmark]

  Programme Background Requirements According to the fleet plan, the multi-purpose support vessels should be around 60m in length, have diesel-hybrid propulsion and ISO module decks. Through ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Nightwarden (Qatar)

  Programme Background The Qatar MoD has established the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center to carry out ISR missions for the Qatar Armed Forces. Among its roles ...

• AEW&C

  E-2D [USA]

  Programme Background The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) is an all-weather, twin engine, carrier-based, Airborne Command, Control and Surveillance aircraft designed to extend task force defence ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  Blighter B400 Series Radars

  Blighter B400-series radars are long-range movement detection sensors for fixed and mobile surveillance applications. Modular construction provides azimuth e-scan angles from 90° for a single ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  Blighter Explorer Nexus

  In February 2017, Blighter Surveillance Systems announced the development of the Blighter Explorer Nexus, an integrated, battery-operated, man-portable radar/camera surveillance system designed for rapid deployment. ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: coastal surveillance radars

  A400 Series Radars

  The A400 is a series of electronic scanning, modular air security radars manufactured by Blighter Surveillance Systems. It is designed to provide reliable, slow and small ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  Orbiter

  Orbiter is a Ku band ground surveillance radar developed by Blighter. The system employs 15.7 to 17.2 GHz  E-scan Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Doppler Ground ...

• Land: coastal surveillance radars

  Blighter C400

  The C400-series radar is a coastal surveillance and security radar manufactured by Blighter. The system is based on the company's B400 ground surveillance systems.  It ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  AUDS

  The Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS) is designed to disrupt and neutralise UAVs engaged in hostile airborne surveillance and potentially malicious activity. The AUDS combines directional ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  Surveillance Systems Integration

  HISS has designed and installed complete mission systems in 24 countries around the world. These include a range of rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, rugged ground ...

• Land: vehicle surveillance/target acquisition systems

  Hawkeye Land Surveillance Systems

  Launched at DSEI 2015, the Chess Dynamics Hawkeye family of multi-sensor surveillance systems is designed to provide short- to extended-range optical surveillance and target acquisition ...

• Sea: weapon training

  IS Coastal Surveillance Simulator

  Image Soft unveiled its new IS Coastal Surveillance Simulator (IS CSS) at UDT Europe in May 2017. The IS CSS features simulated distance measurement and ...

• Land: air defence radar

  3D Primary Surveillance Radar

  The Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) 3D is part of the Lanza family of 3D radar systems. It has been designed especially for airport and air ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  SR Hawk Ground Surveillance Radar

  The SR Hawk surveillance radar provides continuous 360° surveillance of the ground, ports and harbours and airspace. It detects personnel, land vehicles, marine vessels, avian ...

• EO/IR systems, Sea: ship surveillance and fire control systems

  Ship Surveillance and Fire Control

  L3 produces a range of IR systems with thermal sensitivity that meet naval specifications for surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition. They can be installed in ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  Retinar PTR Perimeter Surveillance Radar

  The Retinar PTR Perimeter Surveillance Radar is a medium-range radar system developed by the Turkish defence manufacturer Meteksan Savunma Sanayi. It is designed for the ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  Retinar OPUS Perimeter Surveillance Radar

  The Retinar OPUS Perimeter Surveillance Radar is a multifunctional surveillance system developed by the Turkish defence manufacturer Meteksan Savunma Sanayi. It's design is based on ...

• Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: coastal surveillance radars

  Three-Dimensional Perimeter Surveillance Radars

  The Three-Dimensional Perimeter Surveillance radars are hemispheric surveillance radars manufactured by RADA in Israel. They provide border and perimeter surveillance through detection, classification and tracking ...