• Defence Notes

  China and India calm border dispute

  2nd June 2018

  This week’s 17th Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) began with a panel session on the border dispute between China and India, ahead of a keynote address by Indian …

• 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 …

• Defence Notes

  US releases ‘Mad Dog’ at Shangri-La

  5th June 2018

  US Defense Secretary James Mattis failed to placate China’s fears that the US government, under the Trump administration, was taking China as a serious existential …

• Naval Warfare

  US to continue FONOP drumbeat in South China Sea

  30th May 2018

  Whilst on a flight to Hawaii on 29 May for a Pacific Command (PACOM) change-of-command ceremony, US Defence Secretary James Mattis commented to media on US …

• Defence Notes

  Taiwan faces defence export challenges

  25th May 2018

  Taiwan’s defence industry is struggling to enter the US defence global supply chain, despite its procurement of billions of dollars of US equipment over the …

• Defence Notes

  North Korea threatens to cancel US summit

  16th May 2018

  North Korea threatened on 16 May to cancel the forthcoming summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump if Washington seeks to …

• Military Logistics

  Asia-Pacific is perfect testbed for USN’s EFP programme

  16th May 2018

  The USN is using the Pacific region to exploit the capabilities of the Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport (EFP) and to possibly develop a new concept …

• Defence Notes

  Beijing's South China Sea bombers fly in face of protests

  22nd May 2018

  China's brazen landing of nuclear-capable bombers on anisland in the disputed South China Sea is a bold power play to bolster its territorial claims while …

• Defence Notes

  Air Force Un: Personal jet for North Korea's Kim

  9th May 2018

  The plane that flew Kim Jong Un to China this week is officially known as Chammae-1, or Goshawk-1, after the national bird of North Korea …

• Naval Warfare

  Canadian navy sees greater engagement in Asia

  4th May 2018

  Half of Canada’s seaboard fronts onto the Pacific Ocean, yet the country’s military is rarely seen across the other side of the Pacific in Asia. …

• Naval Warfare

  Saudi Border Guard small boat programme close to completion

  3rd May 2018

  Plascoa, subsidiary of French shipbuilder Couach, is close to completing a large order for 79 Plascoa 1650 high speed interceptors for the Saudi Border Guard (SBG) …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Airbus outlines unmanned strategies

  12th April 2018

  As drones become more commonplace Airbus is continuing to explore the use of unmanned technologies throughout a variety of different applications. During the Commercial UAV …

• Land Warfare

  DSA 2018: China unveils new Fire Dragon missile

  23rd April 2018

  Beijing-based Norinco unveiled its Fire Dragon 280A tactical missile for the AR3 multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) at the DSA 2018 exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Roboteam lets loose flying robot

  23rd April 2018

  Roboteam has completed the design phase of its new flight-capable UGV and several customers within the US Department of Defense (DoD) are lined up, the …

• Training

  DSA 2018: Honeywell to supply engines for Taiwan’s AJT

  20th April 2018

  Honeywell confirmed that it closed a contract last October to supply F124 engines for Taiwan’s new advanced jet trainer (AJT) that will be built by …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 - MALE

  Hermes 900 [Singapore]

  Background Replacement Ahead of the Singapore Airshow 2024, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) outgoing chief, Major General Kelvin Khong, stated that the service would replace ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-70M Black Hawk [Indonesia]

  Programme Background On 23 August 2023, Lockheed Martin announced that Sikorsky had signed an agreement with PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) for a strategic partnership in ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  TITAN [Singapore]

  Programme Background Singapore currently operates 135 Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICV) procured in the early 2000s. The Terrex s5 is the latest model in the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Heron Mk 1 Replacement [Singapore]

  Background Drone Replacement Ahead of the Singapore Airshow 2024, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) outgoing chief, Major General Kelvin Khong, stated that the ...

• 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 - small

  V-Bat [Netherlands]

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

• 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 - small

  Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)-capable shipborne UAV [Bahrain]

  Background NAVCENT and Bahraini cooperation In late 2021, NAVCENT's Task Force 59 conducted an uncrewed integration exercise at sea alongside Bahrain, which, according to Vice Adm. Brad ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) services [USN]

  Background ISR services In April 2026, several companies announced that the USN had selected them to provide Contractor-Owned, Contractor-Operated (COCO) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) ...

• Submarines: conventional/attack

  Invincible Class (Type 218SG) (5-6) [Singapore]

  Programme Background Timeline In March 2025, the Singapore Ministry of Defence (Mindef) announced it would acquire two more submarines to complement its four Types 218SG Invincible-class ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Parrot Anafi (Singapore)

  Programme Background On 7 February 2022, the Singapore Army posted photographs on Facebook that showed the Anafi UAV used as training devices in a five-day ...

• Amphibious assault ships, Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Landing Ship Tank Replacement [Singapore]

  Programme Background Requirements Singapore needs to replace its four in-service Endurance-class ships, which will be retired in the late 2020s. In 2014, Singapore announced the ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft [Singapore]

  Programme Background Deployed from Changi West airbase, and jointly operated by the RSAF and Republic of Singapore Navy, the ageing Fokker 50 fleet is primarily ...

• Military UAS - small

  Orbiter 4 [Singapore]

  Background Contract Announcement Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen announced the acquisition during the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) Committee of Supply debate on 2 March 2022. Following this, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  Veloce-60

  The Veloce-60 was a fixed-wing UAV first displayed by ST Engineering at Singapore Airshow 2020. It had VTOL capabilities with a rear-mounted piston engine to power a ...

• Medium UGVs

  Taurus

  Unveiled at Singapore Airshow 2024, the Taurus is a medium UGV from ST Engineering. The multi-role vehicle can be used for surveillance, casualty evacuation, logistics transport and ...

• Military UAS - micro

  ARTEX

  The ARTEX is a rotary-wing aircraft unveiled by ST Engineering at the Singapore Airshow 2026.  ST Engineering stated it has been designed for ISR missions, ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - micro

  Viper 40

  The Viper 40 is a tube-launched loitering munition from SpearUAV. Part of the wider Viper family of drones, the variant can uniquely be launched from ...

• Tiltrotors

  Lanying R6000

  First shown at the 2024 Singapore Airshow, the Lanying R6000 is an optionally crewed helicopter from United Aircraft Group. It is comparable to the V-22 ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Veloce-15

  The ST Engineering Veloce-15 (V-15) is a hybrid fixed-wing UAV with four rotors for vertical lift and a tail-mounted two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal propulsion.  ...

• Military UAS - small

  TD220

  The TD220 is an electric, coaxial dual-rotor UAV manufactured by Zhong Hang Zhi (ZHZ). The aircraft, which debuted at the 2014 Singapore Airshow, is designed ...

• Air-to-surface missiles

  CM-502KG

  The CM-502KG is a Chinese air-to-surface missile. It is a variant of the CM-502G and is similar in size to the AR-1. However, it has ...

• Naval: COMINT and ELINT systems

  ELM-2222 Nav-Guard

  ELTA Systems’ Nav-Guard, a lightweight, modular Ship Protection System based upon four AESA antennae, it is designed to cope with the new threats and increase a naval ...

• Loitering munitions

  EagleStrike

  ST Engineering launched EagleStrike at the Singapore Airshow 2026, a beyond-line-of-sight (BLoS) loitering munition. A cannister-launched munition, it is designed to be put on a ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Wing Loong X

  The Wing Loong X, or WL-X, is a fixed-wing UAV developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Debuted at the Paris Air Show ...

• Directed energy weapons

  Iron Beam

  Iron Beam is a family of high-energy laser weapon systems (HELWS) currently in development by Rafael. The 100kW system uses fibre laser technology to intercept ...

• Military UAS - small

  DrN-35DH

  The DrN-35DH is a hexacopter UAV that ST Engineering showed at the Singapore Airshow 2024. Designed for ISR operations, it carries two cameras, with a primary gimbaled EO/IR ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - micro

  ARTOS

  At the Singapore Airshow 2026, ST Engineering unveiled the ARTOS, a rotary-wing multi-mission UAV designed to support forces operating in dense, cluttered, or contested environments. ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Terrex s5

  The Terrex s5 is the latest edition to ST Engineering's Terrex 8x8 family. Development began in 2022 and it was unveiled at the Singapore Airshow in ...