• Training

  I/ITSEC 2015: Mockingbird RPA software flies in

  1st December 2015

  ZedaSoft’s mockingbird software for remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and unmanned aerial system (UAS) operator training is making its debut at I/ITSEC in Orlando. The company …

• Defence Notes

  Japanese exporters slowly gear up

  1st December 2015

  Japanese defence manufacturers are slowly appearing on the international stage as companies take advantage of a loosening of the country’s tight regulations regarding military sales. …

• Digital Battlespace

  DST and Aselsan to form JV

  1st December 2015

  Taqnia Defense and Security Technologies (DST) has signed an agreement with Aselsan for the formation of a joint venture company in Saudi Arabia, Aselsan announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  Model 527 radar signal simulator for KC-46

  1st December 2015

  Textron Systems Electronic Systems’ Model 527 has been selected as the Radar Signal Simulator for the KC-46 aircraft, Textron announced on 30 November.  The Model …

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2015: Swedish Navy gets new trainer

  30th November 2015

  The Swedish Navy is to receive a Naval Warfare Training System (NWTS) from CAE in early 2016. The company is demonstrating its Naval Tactical Mission …

• Naval Warfare

  Life goes on after UK MPA decision

  28th November 2015

  The announcement on 23 November that the UK will be purchasing nine P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) dealt a terminal blow to any thought …

• Defence Helicopter

  Russian Helicopters delivers Mi-8AMTSh-VA

  27th November 2015

  Russian Helicopters' Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant has delivered the first Mi-8AMTSh-VA helicopter to the Russian Defence Ministry’s Arctic groupings, the company announced on 25 November.  The …

• Naval Warfare

  Barak-8 in successful test

  27th November 2015

  The Barak-8 air and missile defence system has successfully intercepted a target during testing onboard an Israel Navy corvette, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  USMC orders Puma AE UAS

  26th November 2015

  AeroVironment will supply RQ-20A Puma AE unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to the US Marine Corps as part of a $13 million order announced on 25 November. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Saab to extend RBS 97’s service life

  26th November 2015

  The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) has awarded a contract to Saab to extend the service life of the RBS 97 air defence missile system, …

• Naval Warfare

  Singaporean revelations about SMC

  26th November 2015

  More details have been revealed about the Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) Specialised Maritime Craft (SMC), which will be employed for coastal interception and maritime …

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2015: A brighter budget outlook on the horizon

  25th November 2015

  While last year’s I/ITSEC saw budget uncertainty amid concerns about sequestration the future for the training market is looking up. Although budgets are not expanding …

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2015: Operation Blended Warrior to commence

  25th November 2015

  This year’s I/ITSEC sees the beginning of a multi-year exercise - Operation Blended Warrior (OBW) - which will explore the potential for live, virtual and …

• Naval Warfare

  Thales signs NATO BMD subcontract

  24th November 2015

  Leidos has subcontracted Thales for the verification of the NATO Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) architecture on the Integrated Test Bed in The Hague, Thales announced …

• Naval Warfare

  Spirit starts production of RAAF P-8A

  24th November 2015

  Spirit AeroSystems commenced production of the first P-8A aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in October, the company announced on 20 November.  The first …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Seeker 400 - First Batch (UAE)

  Programme Background The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far back ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 650 ISR - UAE

  Programme Background In February 2019 at IDEX, the UAE announced that it will procure a new special mission aircraft with an option for the second ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Acquisition of an Initial Depth Support Drone Capacity (ADAPT) [France]

  Background Aftermath of SDT To fill the capability void left by the cancellation of the second section of the Tactical Drone System (SDT) programme, three ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Seeker 400 - Second Batch (UAE)

  Programme Background The UAE has a long history of transactions with Denel Dynamics. The country has been purchasing various Seeker systems from as far back ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Chinese UAVs [Bangladesh]

  Background Request for Proposals (RFP) In 2023, as reported by Shephard at the time, the Bangladesh Army released a 106-page tender document to gather information ...

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

  Jump 20 [Denmark]

  Background 2020 Tender In January 2018, Denmark's three main political parties signed the Danish Defence Agreement, a cross-party defence white paper covering the period between ...

• ISR/special mission

  ISTAR Aircraft [South Korea]

  Programme Background 2018 - Issue of RfI The South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) stated that Seoul planned to procure additional aircraft to minimise potential surveillance ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk [Japan]

  Background Selection and contract award In 2015, Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk [South Korea]

  Background Requirments Seoul required UAS assets to help monitor its neighbour to the north and, increasingly, Chinese activities in waters and in the air near ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper (First Batch) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Acquisition Decision The Netherlands cancelled a project to procure a MALE UAV in 2007. Six years later, in 2013, it was revealed the Dutch ...

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

  MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 [Italy]

  Programme Background Initial Procurement Italy submitted a $330 million FMS request through the Defence Security Cooperation Agency for four MQ-9A aircraft, four GCS and five ...

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

  AR3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Background £270 Million investment On 15 September 2025, the UK MoD noted that, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the UK ...

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

  Gladius [Poland]

  Programme Background Contract Signing On 6 May 2022, the Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, the president of the WB GROUP, Piotr Wojciechowski and the head ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Tactical UCAV [Czechia]

  Programme Background Inception In November 2017, the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR) announced that the service had earmarked CZK1 billion ...

• 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  AR5

  First announced in October 2012, the AR5 is a MALE UAS designed for SAR, surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The AR5 can be flown manually or commanded ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AN/APY-10

  The AN/APY-10 is an airborne maritime surveillance radar manufactured by Raytheon. It is designed to equip the USN'S Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and has ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  AN/ZPY-1 STARLite

  The AN/ZPY-1 Small Tactical Radar-Lightweight (STARLite) is a synthetic aperture radar and GMTI sensor for UAVs, manufactured by Northrop Grumman. It offers strip and spot synthetic ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar, Air: surveillance radar

  AN/APS-137B(V)5

  The AN/APS-137B(V)5 is a maritime patrol radar manufactured by Raytheon. It provides both multi-resolution synthetic aperture radar and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), allowing performance over the ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  TriSAR

  The Tri-mode Synthetic Aperture Radar (TriSAR) is a real-time, high-resolution land and maritime surveillance radar designed by Array Systems Computing in Canada. It is suited ...

• Air: helicopter radar

  AN/DPY-1 Lynx Block 30

  The multi-mode AN/DPY-1 Lynx Block 30 is a reduced weight, power and volume variant of the AN/APY-8. It is a high-resolution, wide-area surveillance, Ku-band synthetic ...

• 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 ...

• Subsystems: software

  Radar Simulation Systems

  The Digital Radar Landmass Simulator (DRLMS) model accurately simulates real-world terrain and cultural feature returns, as well as weather patterns and targets. Configurable parameters allow ...

• Air: surveillance radar

  AN/APY-3

  The AN/APY-3 is a large, phased-array, ground surveillance, side-looking airborne radar with synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (MTI) capability. It is the primary sensor of ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  TacSAR

  The Tactical Synthetic Aperture Radar (TacSAR) is an airborne reconnaissance system designed by Collins Aerospace (now part of Raytheon). It is intended for land and ...

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

  AR3

  The AR3, or AR3 Net Ray, is an autonomous small-UAS designed to support land-based and maritime missions.  In May 2025, the Royal Air Force announced ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  MOSAIC

  The MOSAIC is a three-dimensional, AESA-based, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Telephonics. It is designed for maritime, littoral and overland surveillance missions for rotary- and fixed-wing ...

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

  Black Swan

  The Black Swan is a cargo-carrying drone manufactured by Dronamic.  In February 2026, the company released the Detect & Defend version, a military variant of the platform ...

• Air: surveillance radar

  ASTOR

  The Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) is abattlefield surveillance synthetic aperture radar/moving target indication (MTI) system installed in the UK RAF's Raytheon SentinelR1 aircraft, a version ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7300E V2

  The Seaspray 7300E V2 radar is an airborne, maritime, multi-mode surveillance radar manufactured by Leonardo. It is designed for the detection of small maritime targets in ...