• Defence Notes

  New UK MoD equipment report demonstrates spending progress

  31st January 2013

  Following the scrutiny of its spending costs by the National Audit Office (NAO) in 2011, the UK MoD has now made ‘significant positive steps’ to …

• Land Warfare

  British Army conducts largest ever virtual exercise

  30th January 2013

  The British Army has announced that soldiers from the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh completed the army’s largest ever virtual simulation exercise on 30 January. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Poland launches comprehensive helicopter fleet renewal

  30th January 2013

  The Polish Armed Forces is reviewing bids for an initial 70 helicopter requirement, with a contract expected to be awarded at the end of this …

• Digital Battlespace

  West 2013: JIE framework implementation gathers pace

  30th January 2013

  The DoD is progressing with the implementation of the Joint Information Environment (JIE) framework that will create a single seamless, secure network accessible by employees …

• Digital Battlespace

  Thales launches MBITR 2 dual-channel radio

  29th January 2013

  Thales has launched the second generation of its Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR) with a new simultaneous two-channel capability. The MBITR 2 leverages the narrowband …

• Land Warfare

  Norway contracts Iveco for further LAVs and support

  29th January 2013

  Iveco Defence Vehicles announced today that the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation (NDLO) has agreed to the procurement of a further tranche of 62 Light Armoured …

• Defence Helicopter

  Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter takes flight

  28th January 2013

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that the first Wildcat attack helicopter to be delivered to the Royal Navy successfully completed its first …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky, Boeing team for US Army’s JMR TD

  21st January 2013

  Sikorsky and Boeing have announced that they will work together to submit a joint proposal in response to the US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate …

• Defence Helicopter

  Embraer, AgustaWestland sign MoU

  21st January 2013

  Embraer and AgustaWestland have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the companies aim to establish a joint venture to …

• Digital Battlespace

  Roke develops Dismounted Close Combat simulator

  18th January 2013

  Roke has introduced a new portable Dismounted Close Combat (DCC) simulator which delivers the ability to evaluate future technology concepts without the need to develop …

• Military Logistics

  Egypt signs on for more C295 aircraft

  18th January 2013

  Airbus Military has confirmed that the Egyptian Air Force will receive a further six new C295 transport aircraft under a new order announced on 16 …

• Military Logistics

  New light weight vehicle recovery mats unveiled

  16th January 2013

  Faun Trackway has introduced a new light weight vehicle recovery mat (LVRM) system, enhancing its portfolio of ground mobility systems. The new lightweight women matting …

• Defence Helicopter

  AW159 helicopter finds first export customer

  16th January 2013

  AgustaWestland will supply the AW159 helicopter to the Republic of Korea Navy following its selection of the aircraft to fulfil its Maritime Operational Helicopter requirement. …

• Land Warfare

  UK MoD selects Glock pistols for troops

  11th January 2013

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced a new £9 million contract that will see the British armed Forces equipped with over 25,000 new …

• Defence Helicopter

  AUSA Aviation: TRADOC Commander says army needs to strike fine aviation balance

  10th January 2013

  Opening AUSA’s annual aviation conference, General Robert Cone, Commanding General US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), spoke of the difficulty that the army faces …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey [Japan]

  Programme Background Procurement Contracts The Japanese government is the first export customer of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, having ordered 17 helicopters from the US across ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects - Short Range (LE-SR) [US]

  Background Air-launched effect (ALE) In 2022, the US sought a family of systems comprising an air vehicle, payload, mission systems applications and support equipment to ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-8C Fire Scout (USA)

  Programme Background Timeline According to the Naval Air Systems Command, having first ordered the MQ-8B in 2009, the UAV has become a pillar of the ...

• Military UAS - small

  Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement & Objective The RN identified a requirement to acquire an RPAS to transport cargo and supplies between ships and personnel. When mature, it ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift UAV [Germany]

  Background  Victor U250 agreement On 10 June 2026, at ILA Berlin, Rheinmetall, ERC Systems, and the North Rhine-Westphalia state formed a strategic partnership to lay ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects - Medium Range (LE-MR) [US]

  Background Air-launched effect (ALE) In 2022, the US sought a family of systems comprising an air vehicle, payload, mission systems applications and support equipment to ...

• Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Project Proteus [UK]

  Background Requirements The RN requires an uncrewed helicopter to test the viability of larger uncrewed aircraft, possibly providing an alternative to crewed aircraft such as the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle – Expeditionary ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy-lift Helicopter STH [Germany]

  Background Requirement The German government issued a tender in March 2019 for the procurement of heavy-lift helicopters under the Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) program, 60 units are ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) (MV-75 Cheyenne II) [USA]

  Programme Background US Army's Future Vertical Lift Programme The FLRAA is one of three strands of a broader army programme. The others are the Future ...

• Military UAS - small

  Intra-Theatre Lift [UK]

  Background  Relationship to the Heavy Lift Challenge The Royal Navy (RN) embarked on the Heavy Lift Challenge, now called the Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC), to explore cargo-carrying ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F CHINOOK [USA]

  Programme Background As the Army's only heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F Improved Cargo helicopter is an essential component of the Army's Multi-Domain Battle framework. The CH-47F ...

• Transport

  Large Transport Aircraft-II (LTA-II) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirements The aircraft are needed for peacetime, international peacekeeping, emergency and combat operations. They are especially required to ensure a strategic lift capacity ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ FTUAS

  From the Texton family of Aerosonde UAS, the Aerosonde Mk 4.8 Hybrid Quad (HQ) FTUAS is a tactical drone purpose-built to meet the US Army's Future Vertical Lift ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  HQ-60

  Similarly to other platforms in the L3 Technologies Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) and Fixed-Wing Rotator family (see separate entries) of VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, the HQ-60 has ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD) aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Air: Displays

  F-15 Replacement Vertical Situation Display

  BAE Systems Replacement Vertical Situation Display (RVSD) replaces the legacy VSD units on F-15E aircraft. The AMLCD display offers a larger display size and is compatible ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  X-Sight

  Elbit X-Sight is a developmental helmet-mounted display system designed for helicopters. According to the manufacturer, it will offer a high field of view and colour binocular ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Military UAS - tactical

  Hexa

  The Hexa, or LIFT Hexa, is a rotary-wing aircraft developed by LIFT Aircraft for military and commercial markets. Due to its configuration and triple redundant autopilot computer, ...

• Military UAS - small

  H6 Poseidon

  Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  DrN-600

  The DrN-600 is a medium-lift cargo UAV developed by Singapore-based manufacturer ST Engineering. The platform combines vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) with wing-borne forward flight and ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  Victor U250

  The Victor U250 is a heavy lift drone in development by ERC Systems. The UAV has been developed by ERC for critical mission applications including ...

• Light UGVs

  Avenger

  In January 2017, Med-Eng announced the launch of a new bomb disposal and tactical robot, called the Avenger, at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. ...

• 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 - mini

  Loong 2

  The Loong 2 is a rotary-wing mini-UAV manufactured by LoongUAV. Designed for ISR missions, the UAV features a universal plug-and-play standardised interface, meaning a lot of different ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Proteus

  Proteus is a technology demonstrator that Leonardo is developing in collaboration with the UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S;) Future Capabilities Group and the ...