• Digital Battlespace

  EW Europe 2018: Geopolitics fuels EW advances

  31st May 2018

  Widely considered to be the 'fifth domain' of warfare, developing technology that will deliver the competitive edge against adversaries in the electromagnetic spectrum is being …

• Digital Battlespace

  CIA faces crippling challenges in China

  17th May 2018

  China’s perfection of facial recognition and gait detection software, integrated into algorithms that have access to millions of profiles of ‘blacklisted’ individuals, would give Cold …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2018: SkyRaider gets first public outing ahead of further demonstrations

  30th April 2018

  Aeryon Defense looks to have stolen a march on the competition at AUVSI’s Xponential in Colorado with the first public unveiling of its new Group …

• Training

  TerraSim releases TerraTools 5.6

  17th April 2018

  TerraSim has introduced TerraTools 5.6, the latest version of its virtual terrain generation software, the company announced on 9 April. The new software introduces a …

• Digital Battlespace

  DSA 2018: China’s Orwellian nightmare comes true

  19th April 2018

  George Orwell would have déjà vu if the late author of 1984 attended this week’s DSA exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. Beijing-based Yitu Technology showcased its artificial …

• Digital Battlespace

  Insight: Deciphering China’s AI militarisation

  9th April 2018

  Even with Beijing’s recent announcement that artificial intelligence (AI) will rewrite the very nature of a revolution in military affairs (RMA), China faces as many …

• Naval Warfare

  BAE announces investment for MISC upgrade

  16th April 2018

  BAE Systems is to invest £10 million to upgrade its Maritime Integration and Support Centre (MISC) in Portsmouth, the company announced on 12 April. The …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Navy looks to defeat enemy radars with AI

  12th April 2018

  The US Navy plans to equip its F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft with electronic warfare technology that utilises machine learning algorithms to detect, and possibly jam, …

• Digital Battlespace

  Post-Ukraine, US looks to boost 'grey-zone' research

  16th April 2018

  Supporting operations in the so-called 'grey zone', the amorphous space between peacetime activities and conventional warfare, has become a more pressing concern since Russia's actions …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DefExpo 2018: Indian robots grow more capable and intelligent

  13th April 2018

  India’s state-owned defence establishments continue to hone existing robotic products and to create new ones, including development of three types of surveillance robots from the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Cepton unveils LiDAR solution for UGVs

  30th March 2018

  Cepton Technologies has introduced a new Vista LiDAR solution for unmanned ground vehicles - a key sensing technology to support self-driving efforts, the company announced …

• Digital Battlespace

  DARPA announces COMPASS programme

  21st March 2018

  DARPA has announced a new programme called Collection and Monitoring via Planning for Active Situational Scenarios (COMPASS) to better understand and respond to adversary grey-zone …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  French DGA launches PEA MMT

  22nd March 2018

  Dassault Aviation and Thales are to carry out the French DGA's Man-Machine-Teaming preliminary advanced study programme (PEA MMT), Dassault announced on 16 March. The programme …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Roboteam announces AI-CU software

  12th March 2018

  On 1 March Roboteam announced the launch of its Artificial Intelligence Control Unit (AI-CU) software to provide autonomous and artificial intelligence capabilities to the warfighters.  …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Kraken completes SeaVision sea trials

  22nd March 2018

  Kraken Robotics has successfully completed sea trials of its SeaVision 3D underwater laser imaging system, the company announced on 15 March. SeaVision is an ultra-high …

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, ...