• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Turkish defence industry expands drone portfolio with new tactical UAVs

  6th September 2023

  Turkish defence and aerospace company ESEN recently opened its doors to Turkish media and unveiled two brand new UAVs.  The first is the Gokhun tactical …

• Air Warfare

  Double Dutch as Netherlands adds four more Reapers to first order

  22nd August 2023

  The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) will increase its fleet of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9A Block 5 Reapers UAS from four to eight under a deal announced on 21 August.

• Training

  First US Air Force T-7 Red Hawk jet trainer poised to be delivered

  19th September 2023

  Boeing has completed crucial inspections of the T-7 Red Hawk, and five development aircraft are set to be delivered to the US Air Force, with hopes of completion by year-end. Despite setbacks, the programme is moving ahead, with further testing and detailed plans to replace the ageing T-38 Talon fleet.

• Digital Battlespace

  EOS to provide AS-65 gimbal for L3Harris's VAMPIRE weapon system

  21st July 2023

  EOS Defense Systems USA's AS-65 gimbal has been selected for L3Harris's VAMPIRE weapon system, empowering Ukraine's ground forces to counter hostile drones and ground threats using precision rockets.

• Training

  UK trains hundreds of Ukrainian marines

  14th August 2023

  Ukrainian marines were trained by Royal Marines and British Army Commandos to conduct small boat amphibious operations, including beach raids.

• Air Warfare

  DSEI 2023: Teledyne FLIR draws on use of Black Hornet UAS in Ukraine to develop autonomous launch system

  12th September 2023

  Teledyne Flir Defense is developing the Black Recon Vehicle Reconnaissance System (VRS), which will hold multiple UAVs, with autonomous launch and recovery. The system is expected to be available in the second half of 2024 with deliveries possible in 2025.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop reveals details of offer for DARPA ANCILLARY VTOL UAS programme

  14th July 2023

  Northrop Grumman will design an autonomous VTOL aircraft system for DARPA, capable of operating from navy ships at sea. The ANCILLARY program aims to enhance long endurance and expeditionary capabilities.

• Air Warfare

  Indonesia receives new C-130J Hercules, seeks AEW capability

  5th July 2023

  Indonesia is in receipt of its second C-130J from Lockheed Martin, after it arrived in Jakarta in late June, while plans to acquire two airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft have been approved.

• Air Warfare

  Germany's potential SCAF exit for GCAP unpacked

  3rd November 2023

  The leaked information about Germany leaving the Future Combat Air Systems (FCAS/SCAF) project and joining the rival Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) hints at the growing complexities and tensions within the Franco-German partnership.

• Air Warfare

  Shield AI, Sentient Vision collaborate on AI-enabled wide-area imagery

  15th August 2023

  Shield AI and Sentient Vision Systems will jointly develop a wide area motion imagery (WAMI) solution, integrating Sentient's Visual Detection and Ranging (ViDAR) onto Shield AI's V-BAT UAS.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  More Black Hornet UAVs bound for Ukraine as part of Norway order

  18th July 2023

  Teledyne FLIR Defense will supply Black Hornet 3 nano-UAVs to Ukraine, as part of a Norway MoD order. The pocket-sized drones provide crucial reconnaissance capabilities.

• Training

  ASTi to deliver 27 new SERA MQ-9 training systems

  9th August 2023

  ASTi has received a contract award from SAIC for 27 instances of its Simulated Environment for Realistic ATC (SERA) product.

• Digital Battlespace

  BAE Systems Australia secures deal to maintain RAAF's E-7A Wedgetail aircraft fleet

  19th July 2023

  BAE Systems Australia has secured a two-year contract extension to sustain the electronic warfare systems of the RAAF's E-7A Wedgetail aircraft.

• Digital Battlespace

  MARSS launches containerised C2 centre for counter-UAS

  7th July 2023

  MARSS has unveiled the NiDAR X-JOC, an all-in-one containerised C2 centre with UAS detection and countermeasures capabilities to protect critical sites against UAS.

• Air Warfare

  Australia, UK, US join forces on E-7 Wedgetail development

  17th July 2023

  The agreement signed by Australia, the UK and the US signifies a commitment to cooperation on E-7 Airborne Early Warning and Control capability development, testing, interoperability, operations, and training.

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 ...

• 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

  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 - 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 ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme 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 ...

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

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

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

• 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 ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Programme Background In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm ...

• 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 ...

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 ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• 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

  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

  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

  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 ...

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

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...

• 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 ...