• Defence Helicopter

  First CH-53K prototype prepares for ground tests

  5th December 2012

  The first prototype aircraft of the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter being developed by Sikorsky for the US Marine Corps (USMC) has been delivered to the …

• Military Logistics

  Final A330 MRTT delivered to RAAF

  4th December 2012

  The fifth and final A330 MRTT multi-role tanker transport ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has been delivered by Airbus Military. Designated the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Neuron UCAV demonstrator takes flight

  3rd December 2012

  Saab has announced that the Neuron Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator has completed its first flight in French Istres achieving a major milestone in …

• Digital Battlespace

  CREST consortium to deliver UK CCCES programme

  3rd December 2012

  A new programme to investigate novel technologies and techniques in support of future UK defence electronic surveillance procurements is to be carried out by the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment, CybAero enter into strategic relationship

  3rd December 2012

  AeroVironment has announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Sweden-based CybAero to develop and distribute a Tier II vertical takeoff and landing …

• Digital Battlespace

  General Dynamics receives new US Army manpack radio order

  30th November 2012

  General Dynamics C4 Systems has announced that it has been awarded an additional production order by the US Army for the Handheld, Manpack, Small Form …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  X-47B UAV successfully launched by catapult

  30th November 2012

  The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator being developed by Northrop Grumman for the US Navy has been successfully launched from a catapult for …

• Naval Warfare

  Thales wins Netherlands Goalkeeper modification contract

  29th November 2012

  Thales is to update the Goalkeeper Close-In Weapon Systems of the Royal Netherlands Navy under a new contract signed between the Netherland’s Ministry of Defence …

• Digital Battlespace

  Rockwell Collins to provide C-130T avionics equipment

  28th November 2012

  Rockwell Collins will provide a suite of avionics equipment for the US Navy C-130T Avionics Obsolescence Upgrade programme under a new contract awarded by the …

• Defence Helicopter

  Pratt & Whitney wins US Army rotorcraft R&D award

  28th November 2012

  Pratt & Whitney will carry out work to research and develop an Advanced Variable-Speed Power Turbine (AVSPOT) to meet the range and lift requirements for …

• Defence Helicopter

  EDA takes helicopter pooling to the next level

  27th November 2012

  The European Defence Agency (EDA) Helicopter Training Programme (HTP) will organise military rotary wing exercises over a ten year period, following the signing of a …

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing and MDHI on collision course over AAS contenders

  27th November 2012

  Boeing is in dispute with MD Helicopters (MDHI) over the latter’s development of the MD 540F as a militarised aircraft, it has emerged. A Boeing …

• Defence Notes

  Germany takes delivery of MANTIS air defence system

  26th November 2012

  Rheinmetall has announced the formal delivery of the MANTIS air defence system to the German Air Force during a ceremony in Husum, Germany, home of …

• Defence Helicopter

  NAVAIR launches Presidential helicopter replacement

  26th November 2012

  US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has begun a fresh effort to find a new Presidential helicopter, with the release of a draft RfP to …

• Land Warfare

  UK MoD to acquire new Foxhound vehicles

  23rd November 2012

  The UK MoD has announced that it is investing £46 million in acquiring 51 new Foxhound patrol vehicles for soldiers serving on the frontline in Afghanistan. Defence …

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 ...