• Land Warfare

  Challenge for US combat vehicles

  4th April 2016

  Modernising the US Army’s combat vehicles when significant reductions in numbers and budgets are taking place present certain challenges. ‘There was a time when 46 …

• Land Warfare

  DefExpo 2016: FICV attraction

  3rd April 2016

  Armoured vehicle manufacturers were out in force at DefExpo 2016, lured by the massive Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) programme for the Indian Army. Under …

• Defence Notes

  Ingalls to build DDG 123

  1st April 2016

  The Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has been awarded a $618 million contract modification by the US Navy to build the Arleigh …

• Defence Helicopter

  FIDAE 2016: Peru’s billion dollar shopping spree

  1st April 2016

  The Peruvian Air Force has set out ambitious plans to modernise its air force over the next five years with one of the main aims …

• Defence Helicopter

  DefExpo 2016: HAL LUH to fly soon

  1st April 2016

  A new helicopter emerging from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) hangar is the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), and it is expected to perform its maiden flight …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DefExpo 2016: Robot family blessed with new children

  31st March 2016

  The Daksh family of UGV from the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has seen new additions added to its portfolio. The original skid-steer …

• Land Warfare

  DefExpo 2016: MKU unveils future soldier system

  31st March 2016

  The Future Infantry Soldier As a System (F-INSAS) programme was terminated in its original format just over a year ago, to be replaced by two …

• Defence Helicopter

  British Merlins join HMS Ocean

  31st March 2016

  The Uk' Royal Navy's upgraded Merlin iMk3 medium-lift helicopters of 846 naval air squadron have joined the HMS Ocean amphibious assault ship for training, the navy …

• Land Warfare

  DefExpo 2016: Arjun Mk II raises dust

  31st March 2016

  The updated Arjun Mk II MBT from India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been demonstrated alongside the Arjun Mk I. The prototype Mk …

• Defence Helicopter

  FIDAE 2016: Carabineros marks AW139 milestone

  30th March 2016

  Chile’s national police force, the Carabineros de Chile, is celebrating a year with one of its new acquisitions, the Finmeccanica Helicopter Division AW139, at this year’s …

• Land Warfare

  Swedish IFVs get upgrade

  30th March 2016

  The Swedish government has awarded BAE Systems a contract, to refurbish and upgrade CV90 infantry fighting vehicles for the Swedish Army. The contract is worth …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Kongsberg tests SAR UAV technology

  30th March 2016

  Kongsberg Geospatial and the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service have concluded the field trials of a new software application that improves the safety of operating …

• Naval Warfare

  Analysis: UK shipbuilding

  30th March 2016

  As the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigate passes another milestone with the award to BAE Systems of an extension for the demonstration phase, the backbone …

• Defence Helicopter

  DefExpo 2016: Rockwell to provide CAAS to Indian Chinooks

  30th March 2016

  Rockwell Collins has been awarded a contract by Boeing to supply Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) for 15 CH-47F Chinook helicopters for the Indian Ministry …

• Land Warfare

  DefExpo 2016: Say hello to Tata combat vehicles

  29th March 2016

  The development of Tata Motors' Kestrel is progressing with flotation and mobility trials now completed. The 8x8 Kestrel is India’s first indigenous wheeled combat vehicle. …

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 ...