• Land Warfare

  UK tests robot for chemical reconnaissance

  19th January 2021

  The fully autonomous Merlin UGV was developed to detect and report chemical agents over large areas in order to protect ground troops and help them to deal with hazardous scenarios. It was successfully tested by the UK MoD.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Tekever demonstrates manned-unmanned teaming at AWE19

  27th October 2020

  A UK research project has developed new ways of reducing operator burden in mission planning and execution.

• Digital Battlespace

  Allied Defence Accelerator picks 15 ideas for next stage

  28th October 2020

  UK-US initiative aims to create new methods for international procurement

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SeeByte connects underwater autonomy and communications

  12th October 2020

  Increased real-time environmental awareness may allow robotic underwater vehicles to maximise their in-field persistence and operational effectiveness

• Military Logistics

  Royal Marines explore use of supply UAVs

  4th November 2020

  Experiments continue with using UAVs for battlefield logistics

• Defence Notes

  Starburst taps into Indian startup community

  8th October 2020

  Aerospace and defence accelerator Starburst is expanding from the US into India, to work with the fast-growing startup sector in the Asian country. The aim …

• Defence Notes

  R&D plan recognises need for UK to win race for technological advantage

  20th October 2020

  ​Science and Technology Strategy for R&D ‘will lay the groundwork for decades to come’, claims UK government

• Naval Warfare

  Latest Tsirkon test shines more light on Russian hypersonics

  19th October 2020

  ​The hypersonic missile travelled at Mach 8 to strike a naval surface target at 450km range, but is Russia following a realistic timetable to bring it into service?

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Experiment enables soldiers and aircrew to partner with smart machines

  24th September 2020

  Scientists from the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) have overseen an experiment to see how humans and the new generation of smart machines …

• Defence Notes

  IAI selects five start-ups for accelerated technology development

  2nd October 2020

  Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) R&D; and innovation managers have picked five start-up companies for accelerated development at its Innovation Center. QuantLR, Aigent-tech, DST, Scopoli, and …

• Land Warfare

  Armies seek to accelerate autonomous tech developments

  20th August 2020

  In order to be ready for the battlefield of the future, armed forces around the world are increasing efforts and investing more resources to procure …

• Air Warfare

  USAF seeks answer to ‘money question’ after first NGAD prototype flight

  17th September 2020

  The USAF has secretly flown a full-scale prototype of a Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) aircraft, developed and built using digital design techniques and technologies. The service …

• Digital Battlespace

  DASA awards Map the Gap Phase 1 contracts

  12th August 2020

  The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) in the UK has awarded contracts worth a total of £1.3 million ($1.7 million), for Phase 1 in the …

• Defence Notes

  ​IAI issues another call to start-ups

  17th August 2020

  The Innovation Center of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on 16 August issued a call for start-ups to apply for its next 13-week accelerator programme, which …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UK holds landmark MUM-T flight

  21st July 2020

  QinetiQ has completed the UK’s first manned/unmanned aircraft team (MUM-T) demonstration, featuring a manned H125 helicopter and semi-autonomous UAV. The event took place on 19 …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  Command Insertion Craft (CIC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Navy is seeking a replacement for its fleet of LVPs Mk5 amphibious landing craft. The vessels entered service in the ...

• Loitering munitions

  Mission Talon Strike [Australia]

  Background Request for Tender (RFT) On 19 May 2025, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA), an agency aimed at streamlining defence invocation for the Australian Defence ...

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

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme 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 ...

• 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 - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Sovereign UAS Challenge [Australia]

  Request for Information (RFI) In July 2023, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) released a Request for Information (RFI) for the Sovereign Uncrewed Aerial Systems Challenge, which sought ...

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

  Project Air 7003 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The Royal Australian Air Force has been without a UAS capability since the Heron was withdrawn in mid-2017. According to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - micro

  SnapShot

  Flare Bright manufactures the SnapShot. It is a small, light, ruggedised, unpowered micro UAS designed to capture instant aerial images in wind, adverse weather and constrained ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Mozzie

  The Mozzie is a rotary-wing UAV manufactured by Grabba Technologies.  It was purchased through the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA)'s Sovereign UAS Challenge.

• Loitering munitions

  OWL-X

  Unveiled at the Australia Air Show 2025, the One-Way Loitering (OWL) X, or OWL-X, is an Australian loitering munition.  Unlike the other OWLs in InnovAero's parliament, the ...

• Military - USVs

  Wave Glider

  Wave Gliders are long-duration USVs designed to collect and communicate real-time ocean data. It is manufactured by Liquid Robotics.

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Bittium Tough SDR Handheld

  Bittium Tough SDR Handheld is a part of Bittium's Tough software-defined radio family. The transceiver supports Bittium's proprietary waveforms as well as ESSOR, and national ...

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

  OWL-B

  Manfuauctef by InnovAero, the One-Way Loitering (OWL) is, as its name suggests, a loitering munition. In March 2025, a family of systems was unveiled, with an ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Bittium Tough SDR Vehicular

  The Bittium Tough SDR is the latest member of Bittium’s product range and was launched in August 2017. The Bittium SDR family includes the handheld ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Bittium TAC WIN

  Bittium Tactical Wireless IP Network (TAC WIN) is a high-data-rate system designed to create battlegroup IP networks as a backbone to support data and voice ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian / SeaGuardian

  Manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), the MQ-9B is an upgraded variant of the MQ-9A designed for ISR missions. The MQ-9B is split into ...