• Defence Notes

  Forewarned is forearmed: Poland fast-tracks procurement and surges defence spending

  23rd March 2022

  Long-standing concerns over potential Russian aggression meant that Poland was already positioned to react to the invasion of Ukraine by raising defence spending and procuring new equipment.

• Air Warfare

  NZ leads the pack with NH90 availability rates

  22nd February 2022

  Many countries are dissatisfied with their NH90 helicopters, but New Zealand seems to have found a recipe for success.

• Defence Notes

  UK weighs up supplying Starstreak anti-air missiles to Ukraine

  9th March 2022

  The UK has already provided Ukraine with thousands of antitank missiles and other equipment.

• Defence Helicopter

  Northrop Grumman enhances USN Hueys

  9th March 2022

  The USN has contracted Northrop Grumman to improve the avionics of its AH-1Z and UH-1Y fleets in order to keep the platform flying.

• Naval Warfare

  Risks stalk Australia’s Hunter class

  23rd February 2022

  It is common for large Australian military procurements to go awry, but officials remain upbeat about progress on its new frigates.

• Defence Helicopter

  Singapore Airshow 2022: Airbus continues Japanese helicopter maintenance

  15th February 2022

  Airbus has secured five-year contract extensions to continue support for Japanese H225 and H135 helicopters.

• Land Warfare

  Advanced sight adds punch to Carl-Gustaf M4

  25th January 2022

  The new AFCD TI is designed to ensure a high first-round hit probability against stationary and moving targets.

• Land Warfare

  Multi-domain operations dominate US Army budget request

  30th March 2022

  The US Army has solicited $35 billion in its FY 2023 budget request for acquisitions and research, development, test and evaluation efforts.

• Air Warfare

  Sikorsky gains King Stallion FMS contract modification for Israel

  16th February 2022

  Sikorsky will build for LRIP Lot 6 CH-53Ks for Israel under an FMS contract modification.

• Land Warfare

  Tests point to retrofittable autonomous drive systems for legacy British Army vehicles

  26th January 2022

  ABD Solutions claims it can equip any military vehicle with simple-to-install autonomous capabilities.

• Land Warfare

  Indian close-in weapon system contenders gather momentum

  16th March 2022

  For a number of years, India has been seeking close-in air defence systems to protect its airbases.

• Naval Warfare

  South American shipyards maintain their tempo

  9th March 2022

  Shipyards in Argentina, Brazil and Chile are constructing vessels for their respective fleets, including ships for polar operations.

• Naval Warfare

  DSA 2022: Indonesian shipyards keep up tempo of naval construction

  27th March 2022

  Wherever possible, Indonesia is using local shipbuilders to build vessels for its disparate naval requirements.

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo boosted by 2021 aircraft order increase, notes ‘limited exposure’ to Russia

  11th March 2022

  Leonardo's industrial recovery looks to be in good health, following production complications linked to COVID-19 issues.

• Defence Helicopter

  AW149 undergoes weapons firing trials

  17th February 2022

  An AW149 helicopter test-fired unguided and laser-guided rockets in trials in an undisclosed European country.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F -Kenya

  Crew transition training took place at the MD Helicopters headquarters in Mesa, Arizona, with field service support, armament, and gunnery training scheduled to occur at ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  MD 530G - Malaysia

  Procured for an urgent operational requirement for gunships to support Eastern Sabah Security Command operations, helicopter deliveries had to slip from a planned delivery of ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G Lebanon

  The Armed MD 530G Scout Attack Helicopter features next-generation all-glass cockpit that includes: two Genesys Aerosystems IDU-680 6” x 9” LCD primary displays, Tek Fusion ...

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

  Uncrewed MD 500 Replacement [South Korea]

  Background Uncrewed Replacement of the MD 500 Throughout the 2010s, South Korea appeared interested in replacing its fleet of crewed MD 500 helicopters that were manufactured under licence ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Project Land 2097 Phase 4 [Australia]

  Programme Background According to the RfI, under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, the selected helicopter must comprise a commercial or military off-the-shelf solution that is ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) First Batch (South Korea)

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Army)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Bell 505 (South Korea - Navy)

  Programme Background Requirement South Korea operates an ageing fleet of Bell UH-1s and MD 500s for training purposes. The country has already replaced a part of ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (Second Batch) [South Korea]

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8, Tanks

  Tracked & Wheeled Light Tank (Philippines)

  Programme Background The decision to split the programme into a wheeled and a tracked element follows the belief of the Philippine Army that this will ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M - France

  Programme Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-60A [Portugal]

  Programme Background At the end of February 2025, the Portuguese Minister of National Defence said that as part of the Portuguese Army's Support, Protection & ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M (Contracted) [Germany]

  Programme Background Previous Usage The German Armed Forces ordered 15 H145M helicopters, with the initial two delivered in December 2015, for the Kommando Spezialkräfte. These ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530F Cayuse Warrior

  An evolution of the OH-6 Cayuse light observation helicopter, the MD 530F was initially Federal Aviation Administration-certified in July 1985 as the Model 369FF. It ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  MDHI Glass Cockpit

  The American aerospace manufacturer MD Helicopters Inc. (MDHI) has designed and developed a glass cockpit specifically for MD 500E AND MD 520N aircraft. It is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 530G

  The MD 530G is the newest addition to the MD Helicopters line of light scout attack platforms. It has increased-capacity landing gear and a mission-configurable ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  IDU-680

  The IDU-680 is Genesys Aerosystems’ 3D synthetic vision integrated Electronic Flight Instrument System. The system includes a Highway in the Sky navigation system, geo-referenced hover ...

• Helicopter guns

  FN HMP

  The FN HMP (Heavy Machine Gun Pod) is a self-contained airborne weapon system armed with a 50cal FN M3P heavy machine gun. It is available ...

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

  KUS-VH

  The Korean Air Korean Air Unmanned System-Vertical Helicopter (KUS-VH) is a large, rotary-wing UAV based on the MD 500. The first flight of the platform ...

• Helicopter Armour

  Armor of America (AoA) produces custom armour kits for any rotary-wing aircraft. AoA helicopter armour protects areas such as the cockpit floor and doors, cabin ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  6XX

  Publicly unveiled at Heli-Expo in March 2017, the MD Helicopters 6XX is the next evolution in the MD 500 series and is a redesigned, single-engine ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C30

  The M250-C30 and -C30P are the exclusive powerplants for the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger and the MD Helicopters MD 530F and MD 530G. In addition, the AH-6i is ...

• HEMS Completions

  RSG has been providing modification, retrofit, completion services and component overhaul to the air medical industry for over 38 years on aircraft produced by Airbus ...

• HS-16600

  Breeze-Eastern's HS-16600 external electric hoist system is operational on the Leonardo Helicopters AW109 and AW119, Bell Helicopter 206 and 222, and MD 500. It is ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  MD 500

  The MD 500 is a single-engine light helicopter derived from the Hughes OH-6A Cayuse developed for the US Army in the early 1960s and the ...

• EO/IR systems

  LEO-III

  The LEO-III, or LEO-III HD, was an airborne observation system with HD sensors and video outputs. It was a COTS, gyro-stabilised platform containing a multi-sensor HD ...

• Airborne rockets - unguided

  Aculeus MD-36 and MD-432

  The Aculeus MD-36 unguided multi-dart rocket provides 36 darts for the neutralisation of columns of light armoured vehicles. The Aculeus MD-432 provides 432 darts to ...

• Helicopter engines

  M250-C47E

  The C47E is the latest growth variant of the C47B/8 engine. In addition to a hot-and-high Value Improvement Package Kit, the C47E also includes dual-channel ...