• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Ariadna project makes progress

  26th May 2016

  The European Ariadna project has taken new steps toward the integration of manned and unmanned vehicle operation in non-segregated airspace, with the simultaneous flight of …

• Defence Notes

  UK considers laser-equipped Phalanx

  26th May 2016

  The UK could test a Phalanx close-in weapon system equipped with a directed-energy weapon capability, with the first demonstrations potentially taking place in 2018. The …

• Defence Notes

  US lifts Vietnam arms embargo

  26th May 2016

  The first order of business during US President Barack Obama’s state visit to Vietnam was to lift a long-standing arms embargo on lethal weapons on …

• Digital Battlespace

  DRS to enhance FPAs for DARPA

  25th May 2016

  DARPA has awarded a contract to DRS Technologies to improve its infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) as part of the Lambda Scale programme, the company …

• Defence Notes

  UDT 2016: DCNS eyes Ula replacement

  25th May 2016

  French defence company DCNS has their eyes on the proposed plan by the Norwegian MoD to replace their Ula-class diesel electric boats with new boats. …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy accepts USS Zumwalt

  24th May 2016

  The US Navy has accepted the delivery of the future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), a guided missile destroyer and the lead ship of the Zumwalt …

• Defence Helicopter

  SOFIC 2016: USSOCOM's ‘circle of love’

  24th May 2016

  USSOCOM officials have outlined the command’s materiel acquisition philosophy, with one procurement chief dubbing the approach ‘the SOCOM acquisition circle of love’. The comments came at …

• Training

  ITEC 2016: UK military medics prepare for future (video)

  24th May 2016

  Now the war in Afghanistan is over, medics across the British armed forces are adapting their training to prepare for contingency operations.   At ITEC …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy christens LPD 27

  24th May 2016

  The US Navy has christened USS Portland (LPD 27), its newest and 11th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, at the manufacturer Huntington Ingalls Industries …

• Defence Helicopter

  Bell reorganises manufacturing

  23rd May 2016

  Bell plans to relocate several manufacturing programmes to 'optimise' the manufacturing capabilities at its various facilities, its parent company Textron announced on 19 May. The …

• Defence Notes

  UK awards F-35 missile contract

  23rd May 2016

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a £411 million contract to MBDA for developing a new missile for its F-35B future supersonic stealth …

• Digital Battlespace

  ADF C-RAM to merge with air defence capability

  23rd May 2016

  The Australian Defence Force's (ADF) counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) capability will be absorbed into a new ground-based air defence system to be tendered later …

• Military Logistics

  Sabre bags Seaport-e task order

  23rd May 2016

  Sabre has been awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee task order under the US Seaport-e Multiple Award Contract (MAC), it announced on 20 May. The five-year order is …

• Training

  ITEC 2016: Netherlands to receive SUIT training systems

  20th May 2016

  The Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) will soon take delivery of two RE-liON Small Unit Immersive Trainer (SUIT) systems: one for special operations forces and the …

• Training

  ITEC 2016: Saab shows new capabilities

  20th May 2016

  Saab has used ITEC 2016 to announce a number of new contracts and highlight their participation in Exercise Arrow, the first time that the US and …

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 ...