• Defence Notes

  Intelligence innovation: From data overload to decision advantage (Podcast)

  6th May 2026

  As militaries face an overwhelming flow of data, the challenge is shifting from collection to delivering fast, actionable insights that drive decision-making. Advances in AI and data integration are helping armed forces move beyond siloed systems to generate real-time intelligence across domains and allies.

• Land Warfare

  Sweden seeks US HIMARS missile system to expand long-range strike capability

  13th March 2026

  The proposed $920 million deal would provide Sweden with a step up from its existing tube artillery and align the country with other northern European nations that have selected the HIMARS platform.

• Air Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: Wartime iteration gives Ukraine an edge as future UAV exporter

  23rd June 2026

  As industrial-scale drone production proves its battlefield worth in Ukraine, what happens to that production capacity and knowhow once the guns fall silent – and is Ukraine about to become one of the world’s most credible UAV export partners?

• Land Warfare

  US Marine Corps force transformation on track, according to update

  5th November 2025

  The US Marines Corps’ Force Design 2030 is about restructure, changes to operational concepts, a refresh of equipment and new categories of equipment. The review indicates a high level of success.

• Naval Warfare

  Stockholm prepares to choose between three European frigate proposals

  29th April 2026

  Sweden’s Luleå frigate programme is gathering momentum, with a Saab and Babcock joint proposal and Navantia and Naval Group each presenting distinct propositions for a quartet of warships.

• Air Warfare

  Will amphibious aircraft developers’ ambitions for maritime defence missions hold water?

  28th May 2026

  Despite efforts to develop amphibious craft for future maritime operations, there is ongoing speculation on how operationally useful or core they will be, as countries globally – even with spending boosts – find their budgets constrained by competing and more important resource demands.

• Land Warfare

  Japanese wheeled combat vehicles: procurement driven by operational realities

  16th April 2026

  Japan’s armoured forces are currently undergoing a doctrinal shift from tracked to wheeled vehicles. This represents a major change in the country’s force structure and armoured capabilities.

• Land Warfare

  The C-UAS challenge: Finding the threat before it finds you

  18th May 2026

  How Teledyne FLIR Defense C-UAS solutions – and sensors optimized for third-party systems integrators – deliver early drone detection and decision advantage for UAS threat response

• Air Warfare

  How the US Air Force plans to use data analytics to enhance the roles of airmen and assets

  27th November 2025

  The USAF has allocated nearly US$500 million to further the deployment of this type of technology in FY2026. It envisions using analytics to enhance sensors, weapons, missiles and human performance.

• Air Warfare

  “Fifth-gen capability without the cost”: how autonomous strike can change the face of air warfare

  13th July 2026

  In Conversation… Armor Harris, Senior Vice President for Aircraft at Shield AI, talks to Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan about why cost-effective autonomous aircraft are a game-changer for air forces worldwide, and the key roles played by VTOL and AI as enabling technologies.

• Defence Notes

  The speed of relevance: how companies can navigate the new era of European defence procurement

  15th June 2026

  European militaries face a rapidly evolving security landscape and defence production must accelerate to meet surging demand for platforms and equipment. Industry needs to adapt to ensure it gets its products into the hands of the end user, Evelyn Rafferty, Senior Director Aerospace and Defence - Europe at Plexus told Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan.

• Naval Warfare

  Gulf tensions force Western navies to confront mine warfare shortfalls

  2nd April 2026

  The conversion of RFA Lyme Bay comes during signs that European navies may once again need to cooperate on Gulf mine clearance operations.

• Air Warfare

  France earmarks further $11.6 billion for missiles and drones amid rearmament push

  9th April 2026

  The revised funding allocation will see up to 23% of the additional budget put towards stockpiles of munitions, with the country’s GDP spending expected to reach 2.5% by 2030.

• Land Warfare

  Why cost-effective flexible networks are the key to C-UAS success

  18th May 2026

  The widespread use of drones and loitering munitions in current conflicts has tilted the balance in favour of the attacking force, both operationally and economically. EOS’s Dr Andreas Schwer tackles the question of what kind of C-UAS defences are needed to protect battlefield forces, and even entire countries.

• Land Warfare

  Companies and militaries look to artificial intelligence to improve support of equipment

  22nd August 2025

  Companies are turning to rapidly advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) to to reduce maintenance times and costs and increase operational hours and tempo.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV (Batch 2) [Slovenia]

  Programme Background  Slovenia began its procurement of Oshkosh Defence's JLTV 4x4 armoured vehicle in 2018, although a US government FMS contract was not signed until ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  BvS10 [India]

  Programme Background The BvS10 is a tracked APC designed to operate in all terrain environments, especially rough and mountainous regions. A significant proportion of India's ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F (Australia)

  Programme Background The government of Australia has requested to buy four CH-47F cargo helicopters with unique modifications: eight T55-GA-714A aircraft turbine engines, five AN/AAR-57 common ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  GEM-T Missiles [Sweden]

  Background A coalition of European countries has signed a $5.6-billion contract to procure 1,000 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) interceptors under the auspices of the NATO Support ...

• Loitering munitions

  Warmate 3.0 [India]

  Background Capacity Gap While awaiting domestic solutions, the Indian Army has filled a capacity gap by purchasing around 120 Warmate 3.0 units from WB Group. ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  AW119Kx [Bosnia and Herzegovina]

  Programme Background  In May 2025, the U.S. State Department approved an FMS to Bosnia and Herzegovina for approximately $100 million including 8 AW119Kx helicopters and a ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  SCATA Mk1 (Batch 1) [Finland]

  Background SCATA developed the SCATA Mk1 to fill the gap between the Finnish army's lighter GTP 4x4s and heavier 6x6s. Providing enhanced protection over the ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  MRZR D4 [Belgium]

  Background In September 2025, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) awarded Polaris a framework agreement to supply vehicles across the alliance. This framework is intended to ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  SCATA Mk1 (Batch 2) [Finland]

  Background SCATA developed the SCATA Mk1 to fill the gap between the Finnish army's lighter GTP 4x4s and heavier 6x6s. Providing enhanced protection over the ...

• Main battle tanks

  VT5 [Bangladesh]

  Programme Background The Bangladesh MoD issued an RfI for a new light tank and a related ARV in September 2017. This will be easier to ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CATV (Batch 2) [USA]

  Background The original Beowulf CATV contract between BAE and the US Army was to provide it with a total of 207 vehicles to operate in ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AW109M [Argentina]

  Background The Argentinian Air Force is set to receive four new AWL09 helicopters from Leonardo. The programme is intended to strengthen the navy's capacity to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Mistral SHORAD [Croatia]

  Background Croatia announced the procurement of the Mistral for the Croatian Armed Forces. The procurement followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the crash of a Tu-141 ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CATV [Norway]

  Programme Background Seeking to replace its ageing fleet of BV206 tracked all-terrain vehicles, the Norwegian Armed Forces reported in May 2023 it was considering a ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS (Ukraine Aid) [Germany]

  Background Of the 14 vehicles, seven will be configured for casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) and were scheduled to be delivered by the end 2022. The other ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Subsystems: visual

  Terrain Tools for ESRI ArcGIS

  MVRsimulation's Terrain Tools for Esri ArcGIS enable users to turn geospatial data into real-time geospecific 3D terrain from within their GIS software. Building on the ArcGIS ...

• Subsystems: visual

  ESP

  Introduced in January 2008, ESP is intended to provide a common, Windows PC-compatible platform on which to build a wide variety of virtual simulations for ...

• Subsystems: visual

  Sindbad 3-EX

  Sindbad 3-EX is a tool aiming at generating geographic terrain databases and 3D models for environment display systems. It is based on COTS tools and ...

• Air: parachute simulators

  Parasim

  Parasim is designed to simulate parachuting from the moment of leaving the aircraft to landing, including free fall before canopy deployment and controlled descent with ...

• Subsystems: software

  Light Box

  Light Box software provides critical, precision test tools to assess the correlation and compatibility of output formats, and automate the validation, quality control and accuracy ...

• Light UGVs

  PIAP Gryf

  The PIAP Gryf is a lightweight UGV designed for reconnaissance, EOD/IED detection, neutralisation and bomb disposal in places that are difficult to access. It was ...

• Subsystems: software

  SE Core

  The US Army’s Synthetic Environment Core (SE Core) common virtual environment management (CVEM) program provides simulations with the ability to fully integrate and interoperate within ...

• Subsystems: software

  Content Creation

  Content creation tools from Presagis include 3D modelling and terrain generation software that enable modellers and developers to build accurate and detailed virtual environments optimised ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Q4i

  The Q4i is a mini rotary-wing UAV designed for ISR tasks. The UAV and the Ninja, the Q4i's smaller sibling, can be assembled without tools and features an autopilot ...

• Construction vehicles

  10K ATFL

  The Cat 10K and 13K All-Terrain Forklifts (ATFL) utilise the Cat 930K platform to lift and carry loads, and provide rough-terrain capability for work in ...

• Heavy UGVs

  MV-10

  The DOK-ING MV-10 is a large, dedicated mine clearance UGV designed to clear anti-personnel, antitank mines and unexploded ordnance. The platform is usually fitted with ...

• Heavy UGVs

  MW330 Medium MineWolf

  The Medium MineWolf (MW330) was unveiled in 2010 and is designed to combine features from the manned MW370 and the remote-controlled MW240. It can be ...

• Subsystems: software

  CDB

  Equipe’s Continental Databases (CDB) expand the concept of flight simulation visual training environments from current networks of local airport regions to continental-sized areas containing the ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Ninja

  Designed for security and surveillance applications, the Ninja is a micro rotary-wing UAV manufactured by ideaForge.  The UAV and the Q4i, the Ninja's larger sibling, ...

• Subsystems: software

  OneSAF

  The One Semi-Automated Force (OneSAF) is an open-source, common constructive simulation platform used by the US Army, joint and international communities as well as non-military ...