• Training

  Australia’s HATS achieves IOC

  3rd April 2019

  The Australian Defence Force’s Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) has successfully achieved initial operating capability (IOC), the Australian Department of Defence announced on 1 April. …

• Digital Battlespace

  Ultra Electronics awarded NGSSR work

  9th April 2019

  Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems has received a $27.98 million contract for the development and production of the US Navy’s Next Generation Surface Search Radar (NGSSR) …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy completes testing of Q-20C

  11th April 2019

  The US Navy has completed developmental testing of the Q-20C variant of the AN/AQS-20C towed mine-hunting sonar system, NAVSEA announced on 8 April. The Q-20C …

• Training

  ADF issues final acceptance of CH-47F CAT

  4th April 2019

  The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has completed all evaluation testing of Kratos’ CH-47F Chinook Avionics Trainers (CAT), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced on 1 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Triumph components for MQ-25

  9th April 2019

  Triumph Group has received a contract from Boeing to supply hydraulic system components for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refuelling programme, the company announced on 4 …

• Defence Helicopter

  Airbus confirms FARA proposal but keeps platform under wrap

  20th February 2019

  Airbus Helicopters has confirmed its involvement in the US Army’s FARA (Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft) programme, having formally filed a proposal in December 2018 to meet …

• Defence Notes

  Clashes rage in Libya despite UN truce call

  8th April 2019

  Fighting raged south of Libya's capital on 7 April despite a UN call for a two-hour ceasefire, as forces of strongman Khalifa Haftar and the …

• Military Logistics

  Keel authenticated for LHA 8

  20th March 2019

  Construction of the US Navy's third America-class amphibious assault ship, Bougainville (LHA 8), is well underway at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, with …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UK invests in UAS swarm technology

  3rd April 2019

  The UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator has awarded a £2.5 million contract to a Blue Bear Systems Research-led consortium to develop UAS swarm technology. Acting …

• Defence Notes

  Merkel rejects US criticism on defence spending

  19th March 2019

  On 19 March 2019 Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted Germany will not cut foreign aid to raise military spending, rejecting US criticism of its defence outlays. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  LIMA 2019: Malaysia expresses a liking for large UAVs

  28th March 2019

  Malaysia issued a rather general RfI for a MALE UAV last December, and three OEMs from China, Turkey and the US exhibited their potential solutions …

• Naval Warfare

  Japan and China commission new destroyers

  7th March 2019

  Japan commissioned its second and final Asahi-class guided-missile destroyer on 27 February. Meanwhile, China continues its massive naval build-up with the commissioning of yet more …

• Defence Notes

  Podcast: The future of rotorcraft, the air defence market and challenges facing the Royal Air Force

  22nd March 2019

  Welcome to Episode 9 of The Weekly Defence Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. Sign up to an early email alert of future podcasts here.

• Land Warfare

  MAPS in US Army rodeo exercise

  6th March 2019

  Lockheed Martin and partners supported the US Army integration of three countermeasures and a cueing sensor into the Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) framework for …

• Digital Battlespace

  New radar for USMC Blackjacks

  12th April 2019

  Utah based company Imsar will supply its NSP-5 radar system to the Blackjack Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which is currently operated by the US Navy …

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 - 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects-Short Range (LE-SR) [US Army]

  Background Goal The Army sees LE-SR as a family of systems consisting of an air vehicle, effects payload, mission system applications, and associated support equipment ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) [USA]

  Programme Background US Army's Future Vertical Lift Programme The FLRAA is one of three strands of a broader army programme. The others are the Future ...

• 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 - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [US Army]

  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 intended to ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey [Japan]

  Programme Background Procurement Contracts The Japanese government is the first export customer of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, having ordered 17 helicopters from the US across ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F Chinook [U.S Army]

  As the Army's only heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F Improved Cargo helicopter is an essential component of the Army's Multi-Domain Battle framework. The CH-47F and MH-47G ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Data links

  Data links | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

• 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 ...

• 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, ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  APR-39E(V)2

  The AN/APR-39E(V)2 is a digital radar warning receiver manufactured by Northrop Grumman. The receiver is a modernised version of the AN/APR-39 radar warning receiver and ...

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

  HQ-60

  Similarly to other platforms in the L3 Technologies Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) and Fixed-Wing Rotator family (see separate entries) of VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, the HQ-60 has ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  H6 Poseidon

  Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  X-Sight

  Elbit X-Sight is a developmental helmet-mounted display system designed for helicopters. According to the manufacturer, it will offer a high field of view and colour binocular ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 360 Invictus

  The Bell 360 Invictus is the company's prototype for the US Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme.  The helicopter features retractable weapon bays, two ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Veloce-15

  The ST Engineering Veloce-15 (V-15) is a hybrid fixed-wing UAV with four rotors for vertical lift and a tail-mounted two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal propulsion.  ...

• Land: soldier modernisation systems - industry programmes

  Warrior Systems

  General Dynamics Mission Systems is prime contractor and system integrator for the US Army’s Warrior soldier systems, which include Air Warrior, Future Force Warrior, Land Warrior ...

• 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 ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  Integrated Avionics Suite

  Northrup Grumman's Integrated Avionics Suite is an open architecture mission equipment package, which can be deployed on a number of rotorcraft platforms. It consists of ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Voly 50 (Series)

  The Voly 50 is a VTOL-capable, multi-role, long-haul UAV primarily designed to conduct ISR applications on a small footprint. It has a modular, open-system design.  The UAV was ...