• Land Warfare

  Successful firing in next stage of US hypersonic missile tests

  13th December 2024

  The US Army and US Navy are working together on the development of the hypersonic missile which will have a speed of Mach 5.

• Land Warfare

  Israel set to order more JLTVs and missile boats

  26th November 2024

  The Nagel Committee has been established to examine defence spending and IDF military force design for the future in the wake of last year’s 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

• Land Warfare

  CAVS rolls on as Denmark orders 129 vehicles

  14th July 2025

  Denmark signed the Technical Arrangement for the multinational Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) in April this year. The order means the country will receive its first vehicle this year.

• Land Warfare

  Ireland plans for radar capability in 2026

  22nd April 2025

  The Irish Government has previously outlined ambitious plans, the furthest reach of these being the possible purchase of fighter aircraft to provide a capability the country’s defence force currently doesn’t have. A more advanced procurement effort for a primary radar is being fast tracked.

• Air Warfare

  StormShroud enters service with UK RAF to suppress enemy air defences

  2nd May 2025

  StormShroud is designed to support UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Lockheed Martin F-35B and Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft by providing suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD). It is built around the Tekever AR3 uncrewed aerial system (UAS) and Leonardo BriteStorm electronic warfare (EW) jammer payload.

• Naval Warfare

  ST Engineering to supply the Republic of Singapore Navy with counter-mine systems

  8th May 2025

  Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) will supply uncrewed naval systems and supporting command and control equipment to support counter-mine operations with deliveries expected to begin in 2027.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy moves quickly with uncrewed vessels and industry follows

  23rd June 2025

  The US Navy (USN) is evolving into a hybrid fleet with uncrewed systems supporting crewed vessels and companies working to provide new solutions. In the case of Ocean Aero, its Triton uncrewed surface vessel can also be used underwater.

• Land Warfare

  The British Army’s Land Mobility Programme – all change but no progress?

  19th November 2025

  The UK’s Land Mobility Programme, an effort to replace thousands of British Army vehicles, may be about to undergo a radical change in direction.

• Land Warfare

  Ukraine’s ground robot army still finding its feet

  31st October 2025

  Ukraine’s quest to replace soldiers with robots is hitting technical snags. Shephard spoke with industry leaders about difficulties in the field and what solutions are in the pipeline.

• Land Warfare

  Orders roll in for VAMTAC tactical vehicles as first is delivered to New Zealand

  9th June 2025

  The VAMTAC (Vehículo de Alta Movilidad Táctico or High Mobility Tactical Vehicle) 4×4 by Urovesa is in service with or has been ordered by eight countries, the most recent being Spain this month and Romania last month.

• Naval Warfare

  US shipbuilding struggles to keep pace with China

  22nd January 2025

  The small production capacity of US shipyards has generated multiple delays in US Navy programmes.

• Air Warfare

  Spain signs for two Quantum Systems UAS reconnaissance platforms

  7th May 2025

  The Vector and Twister systems will be utilised for medium and short-range ISR missions across the Spanish Armed Forces.

• Land Warfare

  JLTV A2 cleared for first export as AM General awaits US Army plans

  12th August 2025

  The AM General’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) A2 is in low-rate initial production (LRIP) as testing of first vehicles continues. Canada is set to become the first export customer and the likely order will mark an important step for the company as it awaits the outcome of the US Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) which has argued for cuts to JLTV.

• Land Warfare

  Italy begins hunt for Puma replacement

  11th June 2025

  The Italian Army operates Pumas in 6×6 and 4×4 configurations but the platforms are ageing and numbers have fallen with obsolescence also being an issue. Any replacement is likely to have a focus on the involvement of local industry.

• Air Warfare

  UK delays E-7 Wedgetail initial operational capability to 2026

  7th May 2025

  The E-7 Wedgetail programme had been classified as ‘red’ in a previous UK government report, denoting that it would either not meet cost, timeline or capability targets.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Columbia Class Submarine (SSBN 828 - 837) (3-12) [USN]

  The Columbia (SSBN-826) class program is to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 ...

• Maritime patrol

  P-8 Poseidon [South Korea]

  Programme Background South Korea is facing an imminent submarine threat from North Korea. The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) is operating an aging fleet of P-3C ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Columbia Class Submarine (3-12) [USN]

  The Columbia (SSBN-826) class program is to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Columbia Class Submarine (3-12)

  The Columbia (SSBN-826) class program is to design and build a new class of 12 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to replace the Navy’s current force of 14 ...

• Destroyers

  DDX Programme (1-2) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirements Destroyers are fundamental to Italy's blue water fleet and will be required to be capable of projecting capability at sea from the ...

• Destroyers

  Maya Class (27DDG) (1-2) [Japan]

  Programme Background The 27DD Maya class destroyers were previously known as the Improved Atago class because they are an addition to the existing two Atago-class destroyers that have entered service. ...

• Destroyers

  Joint Strike Ship [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirements The third element of South Korea's "Three Axis System" - a complex of measures designed to track, detect, and eliminate an adversary’s ballistic missiles and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H-145M (Serbia)

  Serbia's aircraft will be equipped with a fast roping system, high-performance camera, fire support equipment, ballistic protection as well as an electronic countermeasures system. The ...

• Submarines: nuclear/ballistic missile

  Dreadnought Class (Successor Programme) (1-4) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The Dreadnought-class, prior to being named in October 2016, was known as the Successor programme, which was approved by the government in May ...

• Destroyers

  Future Destroyers - ASEV (1-2) [Japan]

  Programme Background Requirements Following the Maya-class destroyers, the JMSDF will not just maintain the destroyer units they operate already but will receive two new destroyer platforms. ...

• Destroyers

  Sejong the Great Class (KDX-III) Batch 2 (1-3) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirements The Sejong the Great class (KDX-III) Batch 2 will consist of three improved Sejong the Great-class (KDX-III) batch 1 guided-missile destroyers, which ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-X III Phase II (F-35) [South Korea]

  Programme Background On 14 September 2014, South Korea signed an FMS contract under the first phase of F-X III programme to supply 40 F-35As for ...

• ISR/special mission

  P-1 EW [Japan]

  Programme Background Requirement Japan has operated the EP-3, a COMINT/SIGINT/ELINT configuration of the P-3 Orion, since 1993. As of 2024, the Japanese MoD maintains that these aircraft ...

• Submarines: conventional/attack

  Submarines Procurement Programme [Saudi Arabia]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) is in the process of a fleet transformation plan which, so far, has seen the procurement ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  HIMARS (Batch 1) [Estonia]

  Programme Background Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many European countries embarked upon an expansion of their military capabilities. This led Estonia ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Major networking projects

  Ballistic Missile Defence

  In early 2010, NATO acquired the first phase of an initial theatre ballistic missile defence capability to protect alliance forces. 

• Submarines: nuclear/ballistic missile

  Arktur Next Generation SSBN

  At Army 2022 defence exposition, Rubin Design Bureau unveiled the next-generation ballistic missile submarine concept. Known as Arktur, the submarine features a stealth design and ...

• Major networking projects

  Missile Defence

  In 2010, NATO rolled out an initial capability to protect alliance forces against missile threats and is now examining options for protecting territory and populations. ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  SM-2 Block IV (RIM-156A)

  The SM-2 Block IV (RIM-156A) is an extended-range surface-to-air missile developed by the United States Navy for fleet area air defence and terminal phase ballistic ...

• Land: air defence radar

  AN/TPY-2

  The Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance (AN/TPY-2) is an X-band missile defence radar that can detect, classify and track ballistic missiles. It uses an AESA antenna comprising 25.344 T/R ...

• Long Range Missile Defence Systems: > 90km range

  Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System

  The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System, developed by the United States, provides advanced sea-based and land-based protection against ballistic missile threats.  Using the AN/SPY-1 ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  9M82M

  The 9M82M (NATO reporting name SA-23a 'Giant') is a Russian medium-range, surface-to-air missile designed to destroy tactical ballistic missiles. The development of the 9M82M missile, part of ...

• Long Range Missile Defence Systems: > 90km range

  Arrow Weapon System

  The Arrow air defence system was jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing under the oversight of Israel's Ministry of Defense and the ...

• Major networking projects

  C2BMC

  Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) is the integrating element of the US Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) for global missile defence. C2BMC links ...

• Sea: naval fire control radar

  AN/SPY-1 air search radar

  Aegis isan integrated missile guidance system used on USN and allied ships to performanti-air and ballistic missile defence missions. The S-band phased-array AN/SPY-1D(V) radar acquires ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  L-SAM ABM (Block I)

  The L-SAM system's anti-ballistic missile (ABM) interceptor is a three-stage missile designed to neutralize incoming ballistic missiles during their terminal phase. It employs a hit-to-kill ...

• Destroyers

  Akizuki Class

  The Akizuki-class (19DD) destroyers are escort ships for the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF). They are designed to accompany Japan’s new Hyuga—and Izumo-class helicopter carriers ...

• Long Range Missile Defence Systems: > 90km range, Self-propelled missile systems

  S-300V (SA-12 Gladiator)

  The SA-12 Gladiator, part of the S-300V air defence system, is a long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by the Soviet Union in the late ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  KRONOS Power Shield

  The KRONOS Power Shield is an early warning naval radar manufactured by Leonardo. It is primarily designed for ballistic missile defence and surveillance. The main ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  L-SAM AAM (Block I)

  The L-SAM system's anti-aircraft missile (AAM) interceptor is a three-stage missile designed to target high-altitude threats such as aircraft and cruise missiles. It boasts an operational range ...