• Defence Notes

  In depth: US and China’s complex arms race over Taiwan

  28th June 2024

  The US and China have been engaging in a complex game of mutual deterrence over Taiwan in a race that features a bewildering range of different equipment.

• Land Warfare

  British Army to overhaul dismounted close combat capabilities

  11th April 2024

  The future of the British Army’s DCC capabilities will include replacement equipment for female personnel and a new procurement framework.

• Land Warfare

  The Philippines looks to Israel for military equipment amid South China Sea tensions

  23rd April 2024

  The southeast Asian country has been enhancing its military readiness by procuring advanced Israeli defence platforms and systems.

• Land Warfare

  Bradley IFV shows its worth as Russian ‘tank killer’ in Ukraine

  16th January 2024

  The US began supplying Bradley IFVs to Ukraine in early 2023 for its war against Russia, with up to 168 vehicles delivered to the country by September 2023 last year and even more expected to follow in 2024.

• Air Warfare

  Nigeria confirms M-346 advanced trainer deliveries for this year

  19th April 2024

  The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) will enhance its fleet with the imminent delivery of six Leonardo-built M-346 advanced trainer and light attack aircraft by the end of 2024.

• Land Warfare

  New bridges ordered for British Army

  26th January 2024

  The UK MoD has awarded a contract to provide replacements for the Royal Engineers' General Support Bridge systems as part of project Tyro.

• Naval Warfare

  Royal Marines to be quipped with new snowmobiles

  3rd April 2024

  The Royal Navy purchased the vehicles from Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) for more than £10 million (US$12.6 million).

• Land Warfare

  Estonia builds up defences by strengthening its CV90 fleet

  25th January 2024

  Estonia has been enhancing its defence capabilities by acquiring and upgrading various armoured vehicles including the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle, the Otokar Arma (6x6) armoured personnel carrier (APC) and the Nurol Makina NMS (4x4) armoured vehicle.

• Land Warfare

  Italy to buy more Flyer vehicles and air defence systems

  30th January 2024

  The Flyer 72 Advanced Light Strike Vehicle was developed by General Dynamics in partnership with Flyer Defense to meet a US Special Operations Command's requirement. Nine of the vehicles have already been in Italian service and Israel has 70 on order.

• Land Warfare

  Analysis: How Russia’s precision strike capability is evolving in Ukraine

  31st May 2024

  From the frontlines to power stations, Russia ability to target high-level targets in Ukraine has evolved significantly, as it expands missile production and deploys new systems to deliver lethal effects.

• Training

  US marines and sailors arrive in Australia for new MRF-Darwin rotation

  2nd April 2024

  About 2,000 US marines and sailors will participate in the defence exercise with Australian forces in the Northern Territory. The current MRF-D 24.3 rotation will conclude in October and last for six months.

• Naval Warfare

  Norway’s aim to purchase new frigates may impact Royal Navy’s own fleet production

  15th April 2024

  The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has only so far confirmed that discussions have been taking place with BAE Systems, but a decision has yet to be made, according to The Telegraph.

• Naval Warfare

  Australia’s new frigate options: No easy choices as pressure mounts on DoD

  16th April 2024

  A new class of General Purpose ‘Tier 2’ frigate will replace the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) Anzac-class frigates, but the selected design options appear to have major issues in terms of compatibility and availability for the future fleet.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force plan to retire 1,000 aircraft leads Congress to raise national security concerns

  16th April 2024

  The US Air Force has planned to retire more than 1,000 helicopters and AEW&C, combat, ISR, transport and training aircraft that have been in service for more than 30 years.

• Air Warfare

  Anduril and GA-ASI propel forward in US Air Force CCA programme’s next phase

  25th April 2024

  Anduril and GA-ASI have raced ahead in the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) initiative, securing contracts with the US Air Force to build production representative flight test platforms.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Loitering munitions

  Warmate (2017) [Poland]

  Background Order In November 2017, Poland ordered 100 sets of Warmate loitering munitions, each consisting of ten platforms, for a reported 100 million Polish Zloty ($26.49 ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) [USA]

  Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative, the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. As part of this all Infantry Brigade ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Combat General Purpose Vehicle [Netherlands]

  Programme Background The Dutch military is currently modernising its armoured vehicle fleet. The Combat General Purpose Vehicle (CGPV) programme is one of several procurement programmes currently ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  BvS10 [Austria]

  Background As part of a government-to-government arrangement with Sweden, Austria signed an EUR 85 million ($94.59 million) contract with BAE Systems Hägglunds for the delivery ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  M2A4/M7A4 Bradley (December 2024) [USA]

  Background The US began upgrading its Bradley fleet to the A4 standard in June 2018, with the first upgraded platform being delivered in June 2020. ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  M2A4/M7A4 Bradley (November 2025) [USA]

  Background The US began upgrading its Bradley fleet to the A4 standard in June 2018, with the first upgraded platform being delivered in June 2020. ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  M2A4/M7A4 Bradley (September 2024) [USA]

  Background The US began upgrading its Bradley fleet to the A4 standard in June 2018, with the first upgraded platform being delivered in June 2020. ...

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

  Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Project [UK]

  Programme Background Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Project The British Army launched the RAS project to provide the "direction required to exploit emerging technologies to ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  M2A4/M7A4 Bradley (September 2025) [USA]

  Background The US began upgrading its Bradley fleet to the A4 standard in June 2018, with the first upgraded platform being delivered in June 2020. ...

• APCs/IFVs - 6x6

  6x6 APC [Philippines]

  Programme Background Programme Background The Philippine Army has identified an urgent need for new wheeled APCs, after the Battle of Marawi exposed shortcomings in its ...

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

  Mini-UAVs [Czech Republic]

  Background Tactical UCAV Halted The effort to acquire mini-UAVs is directly linked to the Czech MoD's now-delayed procurement programme for tactical or MALE drones, such as the ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CV90 (Batch 1) [Slovakia]

  Background Requirements The Slovakian Armed Forces are currently lumbered with an ageing inventory of legacy platforms that are not interoperable with its allies and do ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  CV90 (Batch 2) [Slovakia]

  Background Requirements The Slovakian Armed Forces are currently lumbered with an ageing inventory of legacy platforms that are not interoperable with its allies and do ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Boxer [Portugal]

  Background The Portuguese Army currently operates a medium mechanised brigade equipped with the M113 as its primary APC. However, they are increasingly outdated and are ...

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

  5,000 Latvian UAVs (Ukraine Aid) [Latvia]

  Background Ukrainian Defence Contact Group (UDCG) In January 2024, the Ukrainian Defence Contact Group (UDCG), a multi-nation organisation that coordinates military aid for Ukraine, established a drone ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Major networking projects

  Army BCT Modernisation Program Increment 1

  The US Army brigade combat team (BCT) modernisation strategy will build a mix of mobile, networked BCTs that can gain leverage from mobility, protection, information ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Short Range Missile Defence Systems: 0 to 20 km range

  Initial Maneuver - SHORAD

  Unveiled at AUSA 2019, Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) is a multipurpose platform, based on the Stryker IFV, which moves and maneuvers in ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  CATS CTC

  The CATS Combat Training Centre (CTC) trains armed forces in simulated opposition. Features: direct-fire weapon effect simulation with laser engagement systems; area weapon effect simulation ...

• Construction vehicles

  HMEE

  The JCB High Mobility Engineer Excavator (HMEE) was originally designed to support the US Army’s Stryker brigade combat teams and has been proven on operations ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  M1150 ABV

  The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  JAB

  The US Army is leading the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) project to replace legacy M60A1-based bridge launchers in service with itself and USMC with an M1-based ...

• Land: C2 simulators

  Collective Combat Training

  Thales offers a global simulation and training approach that links together various simulators to perform the full spectrum of military operations (offence, defence, stability and ...

• Land: battle management systems

  FüInfoSys Heer

  FüInfoSys Heer (Army Command and Control Information System) is the first common, integrated and mobile system of its kind in the German Army. It is ...

• Land: tactical engagement simulators

  GAMER Deployable CTC

  Saab’s GAMER Deployable Combat Training Center (CTC) is an instrumented training system, enabling a military to train on home bases and deploy worldwide for training ...

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

  RQ-7 Shadow 200

  The Shadow 200, designated RQ-7B by the US Army, is flown by the army brigade combat teams and combat aviation brigades along with the UAV ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle

  The tracked M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV), developed in parallel with the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), equips reconnaissance units within the US ...

• Subsystems: software

  Simulation-based Embedded Training Software Package

  This software package is installed in the Stryker Interim Armoured Vehicle (IAV), supporting US Army brigade combat team training requirements. It has been in service ...

• Land: COMINT and ELINT systems

  EWPMT

  Raytheon’s Electronic Warfare Planning and Management Tool (EWPMT) is a US Army programme which began in 2014, designed to support electronic warfare officers and provide ...

• Land: battle management systems

  Combat-NG

  Combat-NG is an artillery fire control and C4I system designed for deployment from platform to brigade level, managing various aspects of operation. The system is ...