• Digital Battlespace

  Podcast: Five Eyes Connectivity - The United States

  14th October 2020

  In this episode of the Five Eyes Connectivity podcast, we dive into the connectivity issues facing the US military and its further development of the Multi-Domain Operations concept.

• Military Logistics

  Luxembourg becomes seventh A400M operator

  8th October 2020

  The Luxembourg Army Air Force has received its Airbus A400M military transport aircraft, manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space announced on 7 October. The aircraft was …

• Land Warfare

  Mystery customer orders RDM mortar ammo

  1st October 2020

  South Africa-based Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) has received a contract from an unnamed ‘long-standing’ international customer for 60mm mortar ammunition. RDM will provide ‘different state-of-the-art …

• Digital Battlespace

  Netherlands Coast Guard DHC-8 programme includes CarteNav mission software

  2nd October 2020

  Canadian company CarteNav on 30 September announced it is providing ISR mission software for two new DHC-8 multirole maritime surveillance aircraft, to be operated by …

• Digital Battlespace

  Curtiss-Wright moves into tactical communications

  28th September 2020

  Curtiss-Wright is to acquire the stock of Pacific Star Communications (PacStar) in a $400 million cash deal. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 this …

• Naval Warfare

  OCEA launches research vessel for Nigeria

  28th September 2020

  A new vessel for the Nigerian Navy was launched on 24 September at the OCEA shipyard in Les Sables d'Olonne, France. The hydrographic research vessel …

• Naval Warfare

  Defender ROV deliveries begin to USN under latest contract

  2nd October 2020

  VideoRay has begun shipments of its Defender ROV to the USN from its facility in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, under a recent $49 million contract. ‘The systems are …

• Naval Warfare

  Final landmarks in sight for UK’s River-class OPV programme

  1st October 2020

  The arrival in Portsmouth later this month of the UK’s fifth and final Batch 2 River-class OPV will be one of the final landmarks of …

• Defence Notes

  Estonia boosts defence spending in 2021

  30th September 2020

  Estonia is to increase defence spending in 2021 to ‘strengthen its military capabilities with large-scale procurement of equipment’, Minister of Defense Jüri Luik announced on …

• Defence Helicopter

  Leonardo secures lucrative AW169M order from Austria

  25th September 2020

  Leonardo has beaten off stiff competition from Airbus and Bell to win a €300 million ($349 million) contract for 18 AW169M multirole helicopters from Austria. …

• Military Logistics

  Tatra resumes Pandur service support in Czech Republic

  30th September 2020

  The Czech MoD has signed a four-year framework agreement with Tatra Defence Vehicle, covering comprehensive service support for Pandur vehicles. Under the CZK2.39 billion ($100 million) …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Russia jumps on the MUM-T bandwagon

  25th September 2020

  One of the most interesting developments from the Army 2020 exhibition last month was the unveiling by Kronstadt Group of the Grom UCAV as Russia’s …

• Land Warfare

  Caracal scrambles to hold onto Indian carbines

  24th September 2020

  Caracal of the UAE, unwilling to relinquish a major deal for 93,895 CAR816 5.56mm carbines for the Indian Army, is now offering to build 100% …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Greece issues tender for UAVs

  30th September 2020

  The Hellenic Army has released an electronic open tender for urgent procurement of five reconnaissance UAVs for ‘special operations’. Interested parties have until 29 October …

• Land Warfare

  Romania seeks 100mm rounds

  29th September 2020

  The Romanian MoD has opened an EU-wide tender for procurement of 100mm ammunition for the army. Interested parties must submit a bid by 12 October. …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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

  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 ...

• OPVs

  Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Programme Background Requirements Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Canada is seeking to procure an undisclosed number of small vessels (below 1000t). Part ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian (3) [Belgium]

  Background Strategic Vision 2030 In 2016, the Belgian MoD published its Strategic Vision 2030 report. This report highlighted the need for MALE reconnaissance drones to ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  KT-1B Woongbi - Indonesia

  The programme value is estimates as $30 million for the purchase of three KT-1B aircraft. The deliveries are planned to be completed in 2021. The KT-1B ...

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

  MQ-9B SkyGuardian (1-2) [Belgium]

  Background Strategic Vision 2030 In 2016, the Belgian MoD published its Strategic Vision 2030 report. This report highlighted the need for MALE reconnaissance drones to ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Fleet Solid Support (FSS) (1-3) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement The 2015 Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) highlighted the requirement for three Military Afloat Reach & Sustainability (MARS) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ...

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

  Large ULS-A / Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) [USMC]

  Background US Marine ULS-A programmes The US Marines are seeking a family of Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A), which will provide logistics and ground units with their ...

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

  Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) [Canada]

  Programme Background Programme Inception The Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Joint Unmanned Surveillance and Target Acquisition System (JUSTAS) project was established to procure a UAS for ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  T-X / T-7A Red Hawk [USAF]

  Programme Background Goal The T-X programme aims to acquire a two-seat jet trainer aircraft to replace its Northrop Grumman T-38 Talon. The programme could be worth ...

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

  Micro VTOL [USMC]

  Programme Background Force Design 2030 The USMC Force Design 2030 is a modernisation effort to create a lighter, more agile maritime force. The update to ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is seeking a replacement for its Kingston-class OPVs. The programme is still in the very early stages of project ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Kingston Class Replacement [Canada]

  Under the second pillar of its shipbuilding strategy, Ottawa is seeking a replacement for its Kingston-class OPVs. The programme is still in the very early stages of project ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Helicopter engines

  T900

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black Hawk ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Helicopter engines

  T901

  The Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is the US Army's effort to build a 50% more powerful and 25% more fuel-efficient engine for its Black ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AVX JMR

  AVX Aircraft proposed a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, small wings and dual ducted-fan propulsors for the US Army’s JMR-TD FVL programme. In April 2015, ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  SB-1 Defiant

  The SB-1 Defiant is a JMR-TD aircraft. Sikorsky and Boeing announced in February 2013 that they would submit a joint proposal to build a demonstrator ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Tiltrotors

  TR36TD

  Karem Aircraft was one of four contenders for the US Army's JMR-TD, which is a precursor to the FVL project that will replace the UH-60 ...

• ISR/special mission

  E-4B Nightwatch

  Developed by Boeing based on the 747-200 airliner, the E-4B Nightwatch is a special mission aircraft used as the US National Airborne Operations Centre and is ...

• SARAH

  Flying-Cam’s Special Aerial Response Automatic Helicopter (SARAH) has been designed for applications such as LIDAR, photogrammetry and surveying. Features include five flight modes, dual GPS antenna, ...

• Sea: tactical training

  Proteus Surface Warship CTT

  In addition to the generic Proteus Action Speed Tactical Trainer (ASTT), Kongsberg can also provide Command Team Trainers (CTT) tailored to the specific needs of ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-97 Raider

  The S-97 Raider helicopter is based on the five-year, company-funded X2 Technology Demonstrator project. Like the X2, the S-97 Raider will feature twin coaxial, counter-rotating ...

• Subsystems: visual

  VTTS

  The Virtual Reality Team Training System (VTTS) allows team members to interact together in one common virtual world. Every trainee uses a workstation consisting of ...

• SARAH 4.0

  Flying-Cam’s Special Aerial Response Automatic Helicopter (SARAH) 4.0 has been designed for applications such as LIDAR, photogrammetry and surveying. Features include dual GPS antenna, RIEGL LIDAR, ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-280 Valor

  Bell Helicopter Textron is developing the V-280 Valor tiltrotor for the JMR-TD FVL project. The US Army announced in August 2014 that Bell would be ...

• Sea: tactical training

  SCTT

  The Submarine Combat Team Trainer (SCTT) prepares the submarine combat information centre team for its duties with the aid of simulated combat situations and environmental ...

• LTVs - 4x4

  LTMPAV Dino 519

  The Dino 519 is a light tactical multi-purpose armored vehicle (LTMPAV) developed by Team Concept, a Poland-based armored vehicle manufacturer.