• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DSEI 2021: Blue Bear emphasises swarm control

  19th September 2021

  UK SME Blue Bear has put a 20-drone swarm through its paces.

• Naval Warfare

  No progress on UK Bay-class support ship conversion

  27th September 2021

  Modifications to one of the RN's Bay-class support ships were first announced in March 2021 in the Defence Command Paper.

• Defence Helicopter

  Podcast: Revolutions in Vertical Flight S2 E6 - The Role of Autonomy

  7th September 2021

  Autonomy is certain to be a defining trend in the future of aviation and fully autonomous aircraft could one day supplement or even replace traditional helicopters.

• Naval Warfare

  Silent Sentinel secures Mexican naval base coastal surveillance contract

  1st September 2021

  Silent Sentinel cameras will form part of a new Mexican coastal surveillance system.

• Air Warfare

  Boeing plans its first overseas aircraft assembly plant

  22nd September 2021

  Should the RAAF proceed with its Loyal Wingman programme, the unmanned aircraft will be built in Australia.

• Naval Warfare

  DSEI 2021: Raytheon, Atlas Elektronik to demonstrate minehunting capability to RN

  16th September 2021

  The AQS-20C system features four separate sonars, including a forward-looking sensor, reducing the number of passes needed to detect mines in a given area.

• Defence Notes

  DSEI 2021: CGS underlines changing nature of warfare

  16th September 2021

  British Army must run fast to establish a credible advantage over our potential adversaries, says Gen Sir Mark Carleton-Smith.

• Digital Battlespace

  Babcock steps into quantum technology realm with Arqit tie-up

  24th August 2021

  UK firms Arqit and Babcock International have sealed a partnership agreement to test the encryption capabilities of QuantumCloud technology.

• Air Warfare

  USN contracts PteroDynamics to deliver VTOL cargo aircraft

  27th August 2021

  Using UAS to transport cargo would free up helicopters and V-22 aircraft for other missions.

• Defence Notes

  BAE Systems continues ACK work

  2nd September 2021

  DARPA awards Phase 2 contract for BAE to develop software under the Adapting Cross-Domain Kill-Webs programme.

• Land Warfare

  Milanion deepens Ukrainian relationship with MoU

  9th August 2021

  Agreement heightens the likelihood that the Agema UGV will be used by the Ukrainian military.

• Naval Warfare

  DSEI 2021: RN pushes for 'podular' capabilities

  15th September 2021

  The RN hopes its Persistent Operational Deployment Systems (NavyPODS) concept would allow ships to stay up to date with technological changes more quickly.

• Air Warfare

  STAT autonomy experimentation programme continues with latest contract

  18th August 2021

  USAF awards a new contract to develop and demonstrate autonomous technologies.

• Naval Warfare

  IDEF 2021: Turkey seeks new USVs

  17th August 2021

  RfP from Turkish defence procurement agency suggests naval requirements beyond existing unmanned surface platforms.

• Defence Notes

  Sarcos and BAE team up to explore advanced perception and sensing capabilities

  16th August 2021

  New platform to address the issues around coordinating individual and multiple heterogeneous autonomous platforms like UASs and UGVs.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master (RPV Sprial 2) [UK]

  Programme Background First announced in April 2017 and referred to in early MOD documents as the ‘last mile resupply’ initiative, the British Army is reportedly ...

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master (RPV Sprial 3) [UK]

  Programme Background First announced in April 2017 and referred to in early MOD documents as the ‘last mile resupply’ initiative, the British Army is reportedly ...

• Medium UGVs

  Medium Modular Equipment Transport Trailer [US]

  Programme Background Whilst there are many medium UGV programmes developing concepts for last-mile resupply problems the US Army's M-MET programme aims to provide an uncrewed ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS [Netherlands and Estonia]

  Programme Background The Estonian Armed Forces had already been operating the THeMIS UGV in Mali for a year at the time the programme was announced ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS [Spain]

  Programme Background In taking delivery of the THeMIS UGV Spain became the 13th user of the system. Like many of the other customers it was ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background The programme will be managed by Milrem Robotics Netherlands in co-operation with VDL Defentec, which is establishing an assembly line at its Born ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS [United Kingdom]

  Programme Background Milrem's THeMIS UGV is one of the most successful UGVs on the international market and like many militaries the British Army is looking ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS [Sweden]

  Programme Background Many countries have been acquiring small numbers of Milrem's THeMIS UGV since its success in the hands of Estonian Forces in Mali. The ...

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master [Norway]

  Programme Background Developed by Rheinmetall Canada in 2021, the Mission Master XT is designed to tackle ice and snow, as well as sandy, rocky and ...

• Medium UGVs

  DSTL Medium UGV [UK]

  Programme Background This programme was established to determine the future use of medium UGVs for logistical purposes in the British Army, although it was run ...

• Medium UGVs

  Mission Master SP [Japan]

  Programme Background Japanese budget documentation from 2024 had pictured a medium-UGV similar in outline to the Mission Master SP, and in the 2025 budget ¥1.4 billion ...

• Medium UGVs

  Ripsaw M3 [Sweden]

  Programme Background This is the first sale for the Ripsaw in Europe, which has otherwise favoured the Estonian THeMIS UGV, one of which Sweden ordered ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS (Ukraine Aid) [Germany]

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

• Light UGVs

  Teledyne PackBot 525 [Germany]

  Programme Background The Packbot 525 is a small UGV used to perform bomb disposal, surveillance and reconnaissance, CBRNE detection and mapping.  Bidders and Suppliers The Mission Master ...

• Medium UGVs

  THeMIS [USA]

  Programme Background The US Army's Corps of Engineers' CRREL acquired the THeMIS to evaluate UGVs including their autonomy and to develop concepts related to their ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Medium UGVs

  Rook

  The Rook is a 6x6 multipurpose UGV developed by Elbit in partnership with Roboteam. Conceived to carry heavy payloads in a wide range of environments, the ...

• Medium UGVs

  Arion-SMET

  The Arion-SMET is a fully electric 6x6 multipurpose UGV developed and produced by Hanwha Defense. With a payload of 550kg, the UGV can travel for up ...

• Light UGVs

  Oto-TRP7-HS

  The Oto-TRP7-HS (Homeland Security) is a semi-autonomous, electric-powered, tracked UGV. It is designed to undertake a number of homeland security missions. 

• Medium UGVs

  Rex Mk II

  The Rex Mk II is a UGV manufactured by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). It is a multimission system designed to provide direct support to manoeuvring infantry ...

• Heavy UGVs

  Mission Master CXT

  Part of Rheinmetall's Mission Master family, The Mission Mater Compact Extreme Terrain, or Mission Master CXT, is a rugged UGV designed to transport heavy payloads ...

• Medium UGVs

  Barkan

  The Barkan, or Barkan-2, is a Turkish UGV manufactured by Havelsan. A fully electric propulsion system powers the tracked, modular vehicle, which can be armed with a 7.62mm ...

• Heavy UGVs

  Shadow Rider

  Unveiled for the first time at IDEF 2019 and showcased with improvements at IDEF 2021, the Shadow Rider is a UGV developed and built by ...

• Medium UGVs

  Ermine UGV

  At Eurosatory 2024, Rheinmetall presented the Ermine family of tactical vehicles. The modular Ermine family currently consists of a UGV, a side-by-side buggy and a ...

• Medium UGVs

  Marker

  The Marker is a Russian UGV manufactured by Androidnaya Tekhnika. Development started in 2018, and the three-tonne UGV is now capable of supporting anti-tank missile systems, coaxial ...

• Medium UGVs

  Centurio

  At Eurosatory 2024, KNDS unveiled the Centurio family of 4x4 UGVs. Based on the Phobos UGV by SOGECLAIR, Centurio has been developed in the 2024-30 ...

• Medium UGVs

  Viking

  The Viking is a high-mobility 6x6 multipurpose UGV developed and produced by IDV Robotics. The UGV can be configured to perform different missions, from logistic ...

• Heavy UGVs

  Oshkosh Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV)

  The Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) is a tracked UGV developed by Oshkoshl in partnership with Pratt & Miller and QinetiQ. In September 2023, as part of ...

• Light UGVs

  Quator/Quator XL

  Quator is a scout, observation, inspection and detection robot suitable for rapid-response scenarios. Quator XL builds on the transportation capabilities of the smaller version, weighing ...

• Heavy UGVs

  Valkyrie

  The Valkyrie is a 6x6 UGV developed by the Spanish company SASCorp. It was unveiled for the first time at FINDEF 2021. The platform has reportedly ...

• Medium UGVs

  Titan UGV

  The Titan large UGV is a hybrid system built on the Milrem Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System (THeMIS) combined with QinetiQ North America's Tactical Robot Controller ...