• Land Warfare

  L3Harris Diamondback autonomous reconnaissance vehicle to begin testing in 2025

  17th October 2024

  L3Harris and Overland AI have unveiled Diamondback, a modular, autonomous reconnaissance vehicle designed for versatile ISR missions in harsh environments.

• Air Warfare

  Dutch $691 million request for Sidewinder missiles approved

  9th September 2024

  The approval for the purchase follows other orders approved or placed in the past year by Romania, Poland, Italy and South Korea.

• Defence Notes

  Trump enters the White House promising into bring the US military to a “golden age”

  21st January 2025

  The returning US president also reiterated a commitment to supply the services with “made-in-America” capabilities and to end conflicts worldwide.

• Naval Warfare

  Saab to launch next-generation electronic warfare sensor at Euronaval

  4th November 2024

  The new U/SME-400 will operate in a broad signal spectrum and will have multiple uses.

• Naval Warfare

  Learning from Japan: how to transform a fleet at speed

  4th February 2025

  At a recent event in London, lessons were shared based on the experiences of the Japanese Navy and how it has been building a fleet rapidly.

• Training

  Australia’s exercise tempo increases as it looks east for national defence

  7th October 2024

  The Australian Government has focused heavily on the defence of its north-west coast, with plans to move its attack helicopters to the area, as well as base its maritime patrol assets in the region.

• Land Warfare

  The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle continues its success as the new variant rolls out

  20th March 2025

  The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is becoming the dominant platform in its class as it replaces most of the massive US Army and US Marine Corps (USMC) fleets of HMMWV 4x4s, colloquially known as the Humvee. Shephard dives deep into the JLTV programme background and analyses the latest variants and contracts, including the controversial production switch to AM General and the continued contracts continuing to head Oshkosh's way.

• Naval Warfare

  Clock ticks for the US Navy to present a recovery plan for faulty welds in its vessels

  8th October 2024

  The branch should submit the rework plan to the House of Representatives by 11 October.

• Land Warfare

  Estonian Centre for Defence Investments revamps sniper rifle provision

  3rd September 2024

  Estonia upgrades its sniper rifle for better, longer precision.

• Naval Warfare

  Can the US Navy afford its plans to operate a manned/unmanned fleet?

  21st November 2024

  Budgetary constraints and the annual procurement rate could impact the branch’s intention to have a hybrid fleet.

• Naval Warfare

  Three CB90 patrol boats delivered to Ukraine

  1st July 2024

  Combatboat (Stridsbåt) 90 (CB90) is a class of small, rapid attack boats designed for raiding and inshore/nearshore coastal protection operations or deploying up to 20 troops and equipment.

• Land Warfare

  Thai marines induct new 8x8 amphibious vehicles from Chaiseri

  9th October 2024

  Designed specifically for the requirements of the Royal Thai Marine Corps, the domestically built Armoured Wheeled Amphibious Vehicle will be fitted with a Guardian 1.5 remote-controlled weapon station and have a payload capacity of 2.5t.

• Land Warfare

  Arquus displays Drailer multirole wheeled UGV

  21st June 2024

  Drailer has been launched into a busy marketplace populated by tracked vehicles such as Milrem’s THeMIS and the wheeled General Dynamics’s Multipurpose Unmanned Tactical Transport.

• Land Warfare

  UK deploys Swedish Archer artillery ahead of future RCH-155 upgrade

  24th September 2024

  Archer systems fitted with a Kongsberg remote weapon station and armed with a 12.7mm machine gun will be deployed by 14 Regiment, Royal Artillery.

• Land Warfare

  Jackal 3 in full-scale production as 53 more are ordered by British Army

  19th September 2024

  Babcock will build an additional 53 High Mobility Transporter (HMT) Jackal 3s for the British Army in partnership with Supacat.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-60M - Jordan

  On 7 July 2020, the US State Department announced that it has approved a possible FMS of one UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and related equipment ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC 10 to OPC 25)

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) is planning on having up to 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC's) to replace the aging 29 medium-endurance cutters.The OPC programme ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC 10 to OPC 25)

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) is planning on having up to 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC's) to replace the aging 29 medium-endurance cutters.The OPC programme ...

• Corvettes

  Merkuriy Class (Project 20386)

  Programme Background Requirements The Russian Navy has been streamlining the number of new ship classes to reduce logistic and maintenance costs, meaning around two to ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  4x4 Vehicles [Dominican Republic]

  Programme Background Requirement The Dominican Republic shares a border with Haiti, whose security situation has worsened since the 2010 earthquake. In order to improve border ...

• Loitering munitions

  Attack & Surveillance Drones (Ukraine Aid) [UK]

  Programme Background 1000th Day On 19 November 2024, the UK Government announced a new military support package for Ukraine, which would supply £7.5 million ($9.4 ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  KC-130J [Saudi Arabia]

  Programme Background On 20 May 2017, President Donald Trump signed a Memorandum of Intent for a $109.7 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, including $5.8 ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft [Greece]

  Programme Background Requirement The Greek government issued a request for proposals in 2023, with a focus on acquiring modern, all-weather maritime surveillance aircraft. The intended ...

• Transport

  C-27 Spartan (Third Batch) [Peru]

  Programme Background In the early 2010s, the Peruvian Air Force started a transport aircraft programme to modernise its transport wing with a platform which can traverse ...

• Frigates

  Type 054A/P (Pakistan)

  Programme Background Contracts Pakistan has ordered four frigates from China under the Type 054AP programme, which refers to the vessels being based on the Peoples ...

• Light attack

  M-346 FA [Brazil]

  Programme Background Requirement Brazil operates several A-1 (AMX) light attack aircraft, which were produced by Embraer in partnership with Leonardo in the 1980s. Similarly, the ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Multirole Fighter (Taiwan)

  Programme Background Taiwan claims that Chinese fighter jets are often crossing into the island's air defence zone. The Republic of China Air Force is looking for options ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  PKX-B Batch II (1-4) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Contracts Award On 24 November 2022, HJ Heavy Industries was awarded a contract worth KRW212 billion ($160 million) to build four PKX-B Batch-II fast attack ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors, Patrol boats

  Gun Boats (Pakistan)

  Programme Background Timeline The first steel cutting for these boats occurred on 6 October 2022. The PN is seeking 20 vessels; the first one should ...

• Trainer

  Hurjet (1-17) [Türkiye]

  Programme Background The Turkish Executive Committee of Defence Industry (SSIK) has officially given the green light to mass production of the Hürjet trainer and light ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: Integrated Defensive Systems

  ACES

  Raytheon's Advanced Countermeasures Electronic System (ACES) is an Integrated Self-Protection System (ISPS) designed to equip Lockheed Martin F-16 series combat aircraft. It includes sub-systems from ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  Royal Moroccan Air Force F-16 ATD

  L3Harris Technologies continues to upgrade the fielded F-16C Block 52 Aircrew Training Devices to include updates to the current Morocco F-16 OFP Tape and replacement ...

• Land: range systems and targets

  Table Top Trainer Family

  The Table Top Trainer family is driven by customer demand for cost-effective and mobile simulation solutions for training in special functions such as laying bridges ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  Fregat M2EM / Top Plate

  The Fregat M2EM, part of the 'Top Plate' radar family, is a three-dimensional, naval air and surface surveillance radar manufactured in Russia. The system is known to ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16A/B Block 1, 5, 10, 15, 20

  The F-16 Fighting Falcon programme started as a low-cost, highly manoeuvrable day fighter to complement the higher-cost, heavier McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  Ajban LRSOV

  The Ajban Long-Range Special Operations Vehicle (LRSOV) is an open-top 4x4 long-range reconnaissance vehicle based on Nimr's Ajban multipurpose vehicle. The LRSOV seats four crew ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  Patsas

  Unveiled at Eurosatory 2012, the 4x4 Bastion Patsas is an open-top variant of ACMAT's Bastion family developed for SF operations. In 2012, Chad became the ...

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

  STR-50

  The STR-50 is a rotary-wing UAV manufactured by Stromkind.  Little is known about the platform. It was seen displayed on top of a Boxer 8x8 ...

• Titan MkIV

  The Titan MkIV is an octorotor UAV designed for industrial and commercial applications, such as inspection, data collection and surveillance. It is capable of carrying ...

• Land: vehicle simulators

  Convoy Table-Top Crew Station

  The Convoy Table-Top Crew Station simulates commander, driver and gunner positions of a HMMWV or tactical truck. The gunner position features a head-mounted display for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  KG-255 INE

  The AltaSec KG-255 is an NSA-certified Type 1 inline network encryptor (INE) that supports the secure exchange of classified information, up to the Top Secret ...

• Military - USVs

  Adaro

  Adaro is a rugged, man-portable, X-class USV. Its series-hybrid energy system allows for quiet operation, including at top speeds, while the heavy fuel-based range extender ...

• Individual grenade launchers

  LG4

  The LG4 is a six-chamber, revolving-cylinder, shoulder-fired, semi-automatic 40x46mm grenade launcher. It is fitted with a top rail for optical sights and a bottom rail ...

• Z-Boat 1800

  The Z-Boat 1800 is a remotely operated hydrographic survey boat which includes GNSS positioning, echo sounder and GPS. It has a typical survey speed of ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Multi-role Armored System (MARS) 4x4

  The MARS 4x4 is a mobile air defence platform manufactured by the Czech company SVOS. Originally designed with an open top, soon after its unveiling, ...