• Uncrewed Vehicles

  IDEX 2023: General Atomics showcases SkyGuardian UAV with Emirati weapons

  20th February 2023

  Pictures showing Halcon weapons on the MQ-9B SkyGuardian indicate that a stalled UAE programme to purchase the UAS is back on.

• Naval Warfare

  IMDEX 2023: Two more Shaldag Mk V interceptors arrive in the Philippines

  2nd May 2023

  In April, two more Israel Shipyards-built Shaldag Mk V fast attack interdiction craft (FAIC) arrived in the Philippines.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Changing the game of the modern battlefield (Sponsored)

  5th April 2023

  Tactical forces today increasingly require autonomy in the field. The Orbiter 4 STUAS meets this need.

• Air Warfare

  Italian Air Force's C-27J Spartan fleet to receive upgrade

  7th March 2023

  Leonardo will upgrade the Italian Air Force's C-27J Spartan fleet with a new avionics configuration, including mission computers, flight management and self-protection systems.

• Training

  Boeing ‘100% believes’ in T-7 jet despite critical GAO report and persisting programme delays

  31st May 2023

  Issues with the T-7A Red Hawk include risks of canopy fragmentation and high g-forces during ejection which have caused delays and require further design revisions. Boeing is working to address these concerns while emphasising the safety and performance improvements of the jet.

• Training

  General Atomics helps train Marines for MQ-9A Reaper as service struggles to meet UAV operator requirements

  4th April 2023

  General Atomics is conducting high-level training exercises with the US Marine Corps using its MQ-9A Reaper as the service experiences training problems under arrangements that could lead to a potential long-term partnership.

• Land Warfare

  Latest tranche of US military aid for Ukraine targets multiple needs

  6th February 2023

  The US has earmarked more equipment worth billions for Kyiv.

• Land Warfare

  New UAS family promises man-portable close air support

  15th March 2023

  The QuadCAS UAS range developed by BothwellRoyal comprises two single-use remote anti-personnel weapons and a multi-projectile reusable carrier.

• Air Warfare

  Marshall palleted radar system to enable conversion of transport aircraft for special missions

  3rd April 2023

  Marshall Aerospace has developed a palletised radar system to convert transport aircraft for surveillance missions and tested the installation on a C-130J aircraft.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force receives first upgraded F-16 for South Korean air defence mission

  12th April 2023

  The US Air Force in South Korea has received the first F-16 fighter jet upgraded with an AN/APG-83 radar and other avionics improvements.

• Air Warfare

  US Army increases scope of Soldier Borne Sensor programme to acquire Black Hornet 3 UAS, budget documents reveal

  19th April 2023

  FLIR Unmanned Aerial Systems has been awarded a $93.89 million contract for its Black Hornet 3 nano-drone as part of the US Army's Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) programme. The contract and the latest US Army budget estimate have highlighted several changes in the SBS programme.

• Air Warfare

  General Atomics nets first US customer for MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAS

  6th March 2023

  Air Force Special Operations Command is procuring the MQ-9B SkyGuardian to support its Adaptive Airborne Enterprise concept.

• Land Warfare

  Blighter radars to form part of UK laser anti-drone system

  9th March 2023

  Two Blighter A800 radars will be deployed alongside a Raytheon UK vehicle-mounted counter-UAS laser in a demonstrator programme for the UK MoD.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  IMDEX 2023: Flyby and Thales look to further Jackal development after successful missile firing

  4th May 2023

  Having successfully developed and successfully fired a Lightweight Multi-Role Missile (LMM) from the Jackal drone, Flyby Technology and Thales see the system as offering a cross-domain capability for the UK and others.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Aeronautics inks agreement for producing Orbiter 4 UAVs in Thailand

  22nd March 2023

  Aeronautics has expanded its Asia-Pacific operations, signing a collaboration agreement with RV Connex to produce the Orbiter 4 UAV in Thailand.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

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

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

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

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

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

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

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

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

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

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

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

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Aeromobila A Pilotaggio Remoto (Mini) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirement Released on 5 August 2021, the Italian MoD's Multi-Year Defence Programme Document for 2021-2023 announced a programme aimed at acquiring a mini-UAS capable ...

• Military UAS - micro

  Aeromobila A Pilotaggio Remoto (Micro) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirement Released on 5 August 2021, the Italian MoD's Multi-Year Defence Programme Document for 2021-2023 announced a programme aimed at acquiring a micro-UAS capable ...

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

  RQ-20 Puma [Belgium]

  Programme  Requirement The Belgian MoD outlined plans to procure more mini and tactical UAS in its Strategic Vision for Defence published in 2016. According to ...

• Military UAS - small

  Bug Nano UAS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army previously took delivery of 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS in 2013 to support operations in Afghanistan. After these ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE [Germany]

  Programme Background The Germany navy had an urgent requirement for three UAS required for reconnaissance and identification in maritime operations. A platform was required that ...

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

  Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) [Canada]

  Programme Background Programme Inception The Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project was established to procure a UAS for ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

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

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Pitbull C-UAS Jammer

  In June 2018, MyDefence launched the Pitbull wearable C-UAS solution, which utilises smart jamming to defeat enemy drones. Pitbull was developed to have a minimal ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  SkyTracker

  SkyTracker is a technology suite that detects, identifies, tracks and mitigates UAS threats. The system provides continuous 24h automated monitoring in all weather conditions. The ...

• EO/IR systems, Land: unattended sensor/surveillance systems, Land: vehicle surveillance/target acquisition systems

  T-SIGHT

  The T-SIGHT is a rapid deployment and vehicle-mounted medium-range surveillance system. It hosts the SIGHT-25HD EO/IR system. It is designed for remote tactical surveillance, ISR observation, force protection, route ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Operator Assist

  Operator Assist software contributes to force protection by utilising algorithms to detect and track objects in the air and on the ground. This increases the ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM202U

  The CM202U is a field-proven gyro-stabilised imaging system for counter small uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) operations and ground ISR applications.  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, it includes high-definition ...

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

  ATLAS C4EYE

  The Advanced Technology Light Acquisition System (ATLAS) C4EYE is the smallest UAS developed by C-Astral Aerospace. Part of the Bramor family of UAS, the Atlas ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  X-MADIS

  The eXpeditionary Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (X-MADIS) is a portable, fully integrated C-UAS system for fixed-site, mobile and on-the-move operations.  Combining four all-threat air ...

• Freya

  An easy-to-use system which requires minimal training, Freya can be operated in difficult situations and weather conditions, including strong winds and mountainous areas. A tracker ...