• Defence Notes

  DSEI 2015: The price of the Royal Navy

  9th September 2015

  The price of doing business has been revealed by the UK Ministry of Defence, with the cost of running the Royal Navy’s warships disclosed to …

• Naval Warfare

  DSEI 2015: QinetiQ displays stand-off scanner

  9th September 2015

  QinetiQ will display its latest generation stand-off body scanner, at this year’s DSEI exhibition in London. It is currently in development with the US Transportation …

• Digital Battlespace

  MUOS-4 launch completes smoothly

  4th September 2015

  The fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite of the US Navy, MUOS-4, has been successfully launched and is responding normally to ground control, Lockheed …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2015: New Rosomaks look ahead

  4th September 2015

  You almost can’t move for the number of 8x8 Rosomak armoured fighting vehicles that litter the landscape at the MSPO exhibition in Kielce, Poland. Nonetheless, …

• Naval Warfare

  P-8A Poseidon for RAAF ordered

  1st September 2015

  The US Navy has ordered 13 Full-Rate Production (FRP) Lot 2 P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Boeing Defense in a nearly $1.5 billion contract, it was …

• Military Logistics

  USAF concerned over KC-46A delays

  28th August 2015

  Continuing delays to the maiden flight of the USAF’s next generation aerial tanker has increased concerns among Pentagon officials. This has prompted a revision of …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  MQ-8C beats previous endurance record

  26th August 2015

  The US Navy and Northrop Grumman have demonstrated endurance capabilities with the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, the company announced on 25 August. The MQ-8C …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  iRobot to deliver FirstLook to US

  20th August 2015

  iRobot has received an order worth $4 million for 110 FirstLook unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and accessories from the US Navy, the company announced on …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed, Weibel to develop GFTR

  18th August 2015

  Lockheed Martin and Weibel Scientific have entered a partnership to design, develop, test and verify a Gap-Filling Tracking Radar (GFTR) for ballistic missile defence (BMD), …

• Digital Battlespace

  MUOS-4 set for launch

  14th August 2015

  Lockheed Martin’s fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite for the US Navy, MUOS-4, has been encapsulated in its launch vehicle ahead of its launch …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Taiwan unveils Reaper lookalike

  13th August 2015

  The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) unveiled a Reaper lookalike MALE UAV on the opening day of the Taipei Aerospace & Defence Technology …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  API to collaborate on Blighter A400

  7th August 2015

  API Technologies will collaborate with Blighter Surveillance Systems on the production of the Blighter A400 series radar, the company announced on 5 August. Under the …

• Digital Battlespace

  AEHF satellite network now live

  3rd August 2015

  The Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite network has gone live in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, Lockheed Martin announced on 31 July. It …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Insitu to build Blackjacks for US forces

  3rd August 2015

  Insitu has been awarded a contract to build six RQ-21A Blackjack UAS for the US Marine Corps (USMC) and US Navy, the company announced on …

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed tests seven OMS payloads

  23rd July 2015

  Lockheed Martin has successfully flight-tested seven integrated Open Mission Systems (OMS) payloads within three months aboard a U-2 surveillance aircraft, the company announced on 22 …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (Saudi Arabia)

  The sale is aimed at improving Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats from enemy weapon systems, provide the capability to identify, engage ...

• AEW&C

  E-2D - USA

  The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) is an all-weather, twin engine, carrier-based, Airborne Command, Control and Surveillance aircraft designed to extend task force defense perimeters. The ...

• Corvettes

  Tuo Chiang Class (Batch I) [Taiwan]

  Programme Background Requirements The multi-purpose corvette Tuo Chiang-class is made up of an initially smaller corvette and the first-in-class ROCN Tuo Chiang (not included in this programme value), followed by ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Data links

  Data links | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Pegasus SIGINT Aircraft (Follow-On) [Germany]

  In 2021, Germany awarded a contract to Hensoldt for the Kalaetron integrated SIGINT system to be installed on three Bombardier Global 6000 aircraft, forming the Persistent ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Persistent Surveillance / High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) [Japan]

  Programme Background Drone Appetite Released in December 2022, the Defence Buildup Programme (DBP) called on the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to replace some human assets with ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R [Spain]

  Programme Background On 16 March 2022, the US State Department approved an FMS to Spain for eight MH-60R helicopters and associated equipment and weaponry for $950 ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  First-Person View (FPV) UAV [USMC]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) In December 2025, a US government procurement website posted an RFI concerning a USMC acquisition of 10,000 drones, mostly first-person view ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Containerized Autonomous Drone Delivery System (CADDS) [US]

  Background CADDS Concept In early February 2026, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) stated that it required the ability to rapidly deploy large quantities of UAS ...

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

  Medium Altitude Persistent Surveillance System (MAPSS) [India]

  Background Order In January 2026, ThePrint reported that the Indian Army had placed an order worth Rs 168 crore ($20 million) with NRT for the ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters Block 2 (South Korea)

  Programme Background The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) was seeking additional naval helicopters under its Maritime Operations Helicopter Batch 2 (MOH2) project. It represented a ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Indago

  Indago is a small quadrotor UAV with VTOL. It is equipped with a large-screen handset and is marketed as 'whisper-quiet' with a noise level of ...

• Light UGVs

  Dragon Runner

  The Dragon Runner UGV, manufactured by QinitiQ, has two versions: the Dragon Runner 10 (DR10) and the slightly larger Dragon Runner 20 (DR20). All Dragon ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MPU5

  The MPU5 (WR-5100) has been described as a smart MANET radio, designed for connectivity, interchangeable frequency module, stream HD video and integrated Radio over IP functionality. ...

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

  Sentinel

  First displayed at DSEI 2023, Sentinel is a tethered drone from Drone Evolution. Designed to support various applications, such as increased ISR, EW and communications, ...

• Data links

  MiMMC

  Microsat Man-Packable Mission Command (MiMMC) is a satellite-based BLoS communications system providing the ability to extend mission command applications including voice, video and data transfer ...

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

  Orion HL

  The Elistair Orion Heavy Lift (HL) is a rotary-wing tethered UAV designed for use as a persistent relay solution to form part of a secured mobile network. ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  SOVERON VR

  Designed by Rohde&Schwarz;, the SOVERON VR is a ruggedised vehicle SDR that supports the V/UHF band. Notably, it comes with a built-in amplifier and a cosite ...

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

  Medium Altitude Persistent Surveillance System (MAPSS)

  The Medium Altitude Persistent Surveillance System (MAPSS) is a solar-powered UAV developed by NewSpace Research & Technologies (NRT).  An evolution of the High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS), ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  SOVERON HR

  The SOVERON HR5000 is a multiband handheld radio that supports two voice channels and IP data transmission in parallel. Developed by Rohde&Schwarz;, it is in ...

• EO/IR systems

  AWAPSS

  The AWAPSS is an airborne surveillance system developed by BAE Systems. It is designed to perform persistent day-and-night surveillance. The system integrates advanced electro-optical (EO) ...

• Medium UGVs

  Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT)

  The Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) UGV is designed to be a multirole, rugged, small-unit forcemultiplier. Able to operate in remote-controlled, tethered or tele-operated modes, it ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  MIPR

  The Military IP Radio (MIPR) is described as a next-generation tactical IP radio designed to deliver high-speed broadband data communication to the battlefield. Modular and ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Orion

  The Orion is a twin-engine UAS capable of flying for over 100h at a time with large payloads. The system has a length of 40.2m, ...

• Major networking projects

  BACN/RAIDER

  Battlefield Airborne Communications Node/Rapid Attack Information Dissemination Execution Relay (BACN/RAIDER) is a MANET experiment in which a BACN radio network gateway aboard an RB-57 Canberra ...

• Light UGVs

  Talon

  The Talon is a medium-sized tactical UGV that was first introduced in 2000. Manufactured by QinetiQ, the drone is described as a multi-mission Explosive Ordnance ...