• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Honeywell, CMU to develop AI technologies

  30th August 2018

  Honeywell is collaborating with Carnegie Mellon University to advance artificial intelligence and robotic technologies for connected e-commerce distribution centres, Honeywell announced on 28 August. The …

• Defence Notes

  US Army continues to question AI role in modernisation plans

  22nd August 2018

  Just days before the US Army activates its new Futures Command in Austin, Texas, top brass is urging that the service come to terms with …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  China harbours ‘giant’ unmanned submarine aspirations

  23rd July 2018

  China has its heart set on large unmanned submarines that could be deployed worldwide, with an R&D; programme currently under way at the Chinese Academy …

• Defence Notes

  Lawmakers seek to inject funds into military tech advancements

  24th July 2018

  US House and Senate lawmakers have hashed out a deal authorising next year's defence spending levels at $716 billion, and zeroing in on technology developments …

• Defence Helicopter

  Ukrainian Army Aviation takes Mi-2MSB-Vs

  23rd July 2018

  According to Col Igor Yeremenko, Commanding Officer of the Ukrainian Army Aviation, in early June an undisclosed army aviation brigade took on strength Mi-2MSB-V helicopters …

• Digital Battlespace

  ​Insight: Australia on China’s AI shopping list

  4th July 2018

  China’s advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are closely entangled in obtaining talent and dual-use technologies in both Australia and the US, according to a new …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SRI to develop continuously learning AI

  21st June 2018

  SRI International has been selected by DARPA to develop a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) system that will be able to learn continuously and apply that …

• Training

  BISim releases updated VBS3 versions

  19th June 2018

  Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) has released updated versions of its VBS3, VBS Control Behavior Pack 1 and VBS Simulation SDK, the company announced on 13 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Eurosatory 2018: Safran moves ahead with Furious robotic system development

  14th June 2018

  Safran showcased its eRider optionally piloted vehicle and accompanying robotic system at Eurosatory 2018 as it begins development and testing with the French procurement agency …

• Digital Battlespace

  Eurosatory 2018: Israeli companies look to speed up joint fires

  13th June 2018

  Israeli manufacturers have used Eurosatory to promote a series of networked attack solutions designed to provide a more efficient fire support capability to forward deployed …

• Naval Warfare

  UDT 2018: Bids in for UK ORCA programme

  20th June 2018

  Bids for the UK Royal Navy’s programme to replace the combat management system (CMS) on its mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs) were submitted in May, as …

• Digital Battlespace

  US needs to become proactive on AI and cyber threats

  4th June 2018

  Proactive measures need to begin before threats posed by cyber and artificial intelligence (AI) overwhelm our ability to react to them in real-time during a …

• Digital Battlespace

  EW Europe 2018: Race to militarise AI heats up

  31st May 2018

  Touted as a game changing technology for defence systems, the race to exploit the battlefield potential of AI has heated up in recent years, contributing …

• Digital Battlespace

  EW Europe 2018: US uses AI to defeat adaptive threats

  31st May 2018

  The proliferation of advanced digital radar systems is focusing military research and development efforts on technology that can identify and respond to unknown threat emitters …

• Digital Battlespace

  Eurosatory 2018: FLIR adopts ambitious growth strategy

  4th June 2018

  Soldier modernisation programmes pursued by militaries around the world offer lucrative opportunities for producers of advanced sensing solutions. Providing essential technology for both modern soldier …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  IA-63 Pampa III -(Follow-On) [Argentina]

  Programme Background After the previous procurement of six AI-63 Pampa III aircraft from 2018 and 2019 agreements, Argentina was left with a further need for 34 aircraft. ...

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

  V-Bat [Netherlands]

  Background Contract Award On 9 July 2025, Shield AI announced that the Netherlands MoD had acquired eight V-Bat, specifically the V-Bat 400, aircraft to enhance the maritime intelligence, surveillance ...

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

  V-Bat 128 (Brazil)

  Programme Background On 7 February 2022, Sheild AI announced on its website that it had signed a contract with VSK Tactical which included the 'purchase of [the] V-Bat ...

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

  V-Bat [India]

  Background Make In India The ‘Make In India’ is an initiative by the Indian government to grow the domestic manufacturing industry. In the defence context, ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Group Unmanned Isr DronE (GUIDE) [Netherlands]

  Background Competition On 14 March 2025, the Netherlands announced a competition on the EU tendering website for the future procurement of 514 UAVs for intelligence, surveillance, ...

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

  Shield AI UAVs [Saudi Arabia]

  Background Reported Talks Reporting from the World Defence Show (WDS) 2026, the Middle East Eye (MEE) noted that, according to two sources, Saudi Arabia was ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Ship-Bourne VTOL UAV [Singapore]

  Background Multi-Role Combat Vessel  The Republic of Singapore Navy will retire its six Victory-class corvettes and replace them with a new platform, the Multi-Role Combat ...

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

  Embarked VTOL UAV [South Korea]

  Background VTOL Development In January 2024, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that it would commence development of a VTOL-capable rotary-wing UAV to be ...

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

  Air Launched Effect (ALE) [South Korea]

  Programme Background KF-21 Boramae Crewed Fighter The Republic of Korea's Air Force (ROKAF) plans to acquire the KF-21 Boramae fighter, replacing F-4E Phantom II and ...

• Loitering munitions

  Drone Dominance Program (DDP) [US]

  Background Drone Dominance Program (DDP) As part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Army Transformation Initiative (ATI), he published a July 2025 document outlining the DPP. He called ...

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

  V-Bat [USN]

  Background Core Requirement Fundamentally, the USN requires a UAV that can be flown from its ships in austere environments without dedicated launch or recovery equipment.  ...

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

  KF-21 Loyal Wingman [South Korea]

  Background KF-21 Boramae Crewed Fighter The Republic of Korea’s Air Force (ROKAF) plans to acquire the KF-21 Boramae fighter, replacing F-4E Phantom II and F-5E/F fighters in the ROKAF. ...

• 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 ...

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

  V-Bat [Armenia]

  Background Announcment On 9 February 2026, in a press release from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan and JD Vance, US vice-president, ...

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

  Anka-3 [Turkey]

  Background Order Announcement Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) General Manager Mehmet Demiroğlu, in a statement at SAHA Istanbul's SAHA Chat program in January 2026, stated that, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: vehicle surveillance/target acquisition systems

  TKN-AI

  TKN-AI is a commander’s periscope intended for guiding a vehicle, and battlefield observation and target acquisition by day and night. It is compatible with T-62, ...

• Fixed wing aircraft engines

  AI-20M

  The Ivchenko AI-20 is a Soviet turboprop engine developed in the 1950s. Although the engines were originally designed for civil cargo aircraft servicing medium- and ...

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  AI-450

  The AI-450 is a Ukrainian engine developed by Ivachenko-Progress, with Motor Sich acting as the production partner to supply parts and components. The turboprop engine ...

• Fixed wing aircraft engines

  АI-24

  The Ivchenko AI-24 turboprop aircraft engine was initially designed and manufactured in the late-1950s. Manufacturing was later moved to Motor Sich, a Ukraine based manufacturer ...

• Fixed wing aircraft engines

  AI-222-25

  Manufactured by Ukraine’s Motor Sich, the AI-222 is a high thrust-to-weight ratio turbofan engine family developed to power Russian Air Force advanced trainers and light ...

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

  X-Bat

  The X-Bat is an AI-piloted, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) uncrewed fighter jet designed for expeditionary and maritime operations in contested environments. Unveiled by Shield AI ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  Hivemind

  Developed by Shield AI, Hivemind is an ecosystem of tightly integrated AI software tools and interfaces that leverages several factors to deliver  intelligent and resilient autonomy ...

• Transport

  An-32

  The An-32 (NATO reporting name Cline) is a light military transport aircraft that can be operated in hot temperatures (up to 50°C) and from mountain ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  GA-10FPV-AI

  The GA-10FPV-AI is a Lithuanian FPV quadcopter drone manufactured by Granta Autonomy. The drone can carry a 3kg payload and operate in GNSS-denied environments. In September 2024, Granta Autonomy ...

• Subsystems: software

  DI-Guy

  DI-Guy is an AI, scenario and SDK for real-time human visualisation, simulation and artificial intelligence. DI-Guy has thousands of realistic ready-to-use characters and motions. It ...

• Loitering munitions

  Viper 10

  The Viper 10 is a rotary-wing first-person view (FPV) drone from Baltic Viper. The loitering munition quadcopter has a 4kg payload, a reinforced communication system, and ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Scorpio 1000

  Described as an outdoor precision striker, the Scorpio 1000 is a rotary-wing quadcopter from XTEND.  It has advanced AI auto-targeting that enables precise flight without ...

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

  Gogol-M

  The Gogol-M is a Ukrainian fixed-wing drone carrier, or mothership, from Strategy Force Solutions. The system can deliver two first-person view (FPV)-type attack drones to hit precision ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Sonora

  Sonora is a micro rotary-wing UAV manufactured by Harmattan AI. It is a cost-effective, training-focused UAV built to simulate ISR operations. In June 2025, France acquired 1,000 Sonora ...

• EO/IR systems

  Rex Mini Mk II

  The Rex Mini Mk2 is a sub-900g EO/IR sensor from Atmolab. It has a day camera with a 10x optical zoom, a high-resolution thermal camera, ...