• Defence Notes

  Global defense industry to tap into Middle East market at Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show (Sponsored)

  23rd February 2022

  Taking place from 6-9 March 2022 in Riyadh, World Defense Show, the global stage for interoperability, will bring together the global industry for four action-packed days of exhibits, live demonstrations, conferences, and seminars.

• Air Warfare

  Singapore Airshow 2022: Military air programmes in Asia-Pacific - opportunities and threats

  16th February 2022

  In a special report, Shephard Defence Insight investigates the market landscape for fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and UAVs in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Air Warfare

  Australia receives first upgraded C-130J

  16th January 2022

  Australia is upgrading its C-130J fleet and has prepared the way for a future P-8A upgrade, but the RAAF is struggling with its much-delayed C-27J programme.

• Military Logistics

  Singapore Airshow 2022: Boeing to apply data-driven logistics in South Korea

  15th February 2022

  A performance-based logistics approach should ensure operational readiness and reduce operator costs for the South Korean F-15K, CH-47D and B-737 AEW&C fleets, says Boeing.

• Air Warfare

  Malaysia receives first leased AW139 helicopters

  26th January 2022

  Malaysia's air force is leasing four AW139 helicopters, and the first two were received last month.

• Defence Notes

  Annual UK defence equipment spending jumps by more than £1 billion, deliveries nearly double

  28th January 2022

  The latest annual figures from MoD Defence Equipment & Support describe a significant increase in UK defence equipment spending.

• Defence Helicopter

  One down, 16 to go as Spain receives first remanufactured Chinook

  2nd February 2022

  Spain is part of a European trend to modernise CH-47 Chinooks.

• Defence Helicopter

  Liebherr to heat Indian helicopters

  28th January 2022

  The Light Utility Helicopter being built in India by HAL will include heating and ventilation from French company Liebherr.

• Defence Helicopter

  Collins Aerospace demonstrates Air Launched Effects capabilities

  1st February 2022

  Collins Aerospace has made new progress when demonstrating Air Launched Effects (ALE) capabilities under the US Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) effort.

• Defence Helicopter

  ALIAS-equipped uncrewed helicopter takes off

  9th February 2022

  Flexible and extensible automation architecture offers the prospect of uncrewed US Army rotorcraft missions in the Future Vertical Lift programme.

• Digital Battlespace

  Sea Tigers to fly with SOVERON

  25th January 2022

  New shipborne helicopters for the German Navy will be equipped with software-defined radios.

• Air Warfare

  Pakistan Navy inducts Sea Kings and Chinese-built frigate

  25th January 2022

  The Pakistan Navy has been boosted by the arrival of its most advanced warship ever, as well as second-hand Sea King naval helicopters.

• Defence Helicopter

  France finally signs off on huge H160 Joint Light Helicopter order

  23rd December 2021

  France has officially signed off on a huge helicopter order.

• Defence Helicopter

  Singapore Airshow 2022: Asia-Pacific AH-1Z sales still on Bell’s radar

  16th February 2022

  Bell remains convinced it can make a breakthrough on AH-1Z Viper helicopter sales in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky and RCAF set to make final determination on cause of CH-148 tail cracks

  3rd February 2022

  As repairs continue on RCAF CH-148 Cyclone helicopters, Sikorsky say it expects to make a final determination on what caused tail crack damage.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow-On [USA]

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M [France]

  Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 Puma ...

• Military helicopters - attack, Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M / H145M Add-On [Romania]

  Methodology As part of a potential initial order for 12 H225M helicopters, Romania has included the option to acquire 30 additional helicopters from Airbus. Shephard estimates this ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H135 [UK]

  Programme Background Airbus Helicopters UK announced on 2 February 2022 that it has won an order to provide five additional H135 twin-engine helicopters for the ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters

  The three maritime operations helicopters will be used for logistics and personnel transport, alongside transportation of PASKAL naval special forces in operations in the area. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M [Ireland]

  Background On 30 December 2024 Ireland announced a contract with Airbus for four new H145M helicopters to replace the Air Corps existing fleet of light ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  SW4 Puszczyk Replacement [Poland]

  Programme Background  In 2002, Poland order 47 SW4 training helicopters from Italian manufacturer Leonardo; as of Spring 2025, the Ministry of Defence is looking to ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  NH-90 [Spain]

  Programme Background Along with a range of other air programmes, the Spanish Government announced the nation has set aside 1 billion euros (USD$1.162 billion) to ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  Future Aircrew Training Program [Canada]

  Background The FAcT requires to graduate 120 pilots, 40 combat systems officers and 36 airborne electronic sensor operators per year with 15% fluctuation. Training services are ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia

  Programme Background PTDI is assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung.  The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to Indonesian Army on 29 December 2020 ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Army First Batch

  HT-29 Caiman GSPAs (NH90 TTH) will be assembled at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Albacete and will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service. Even though ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) (TH-57 Replacement)

  Programme Background Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101 [Poland]

  According to the media reports, Airbus couldn't provide a competitive offer for the programme due to the offset requirements.  The deliveries were to be completed ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-X [Japan]

  There is no mention of the AH-X in the 2019-2023 Medium Term Defence Plan, so it is possible that the requirement has quietly been postponed. ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - light/training

  H145

  The light, twin-engine EC145 began as an initiative to increase the cabin size of the BK 117 C1 aircraft, involving Kawasaki of Japan and Airbus ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M

  The medium-weight, 11t-class H225M (formerly known as the EC725) is the latest military Super Puma/Cougar family member.  Technical features include a modular design of mechanical ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M

  The H145M (formerly known as the EC645 T2) is the military version of the H145 medium-sized (3.7t) helicopter (covered in a separate entry). It is ...

• Military helicopters - light/training, Military helicopters - multirole

  H135M

  The H135M (formerly known as the EC635 and also designated as H135) is a light utility variant of the EC135 twin-engine, multipurpose 3t helicopter. In ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H215M

  The H215M (formerly the AS532 ALe) is the most recent addition to the Cougar family.  It is a medium-weight (9t-class), twin-engine helicopter, combining the AS532's ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Helionix

  The Helionix digital avionics suite was developed from the need for a more powerful avionics system with greater functions and computing capacity, alongside a user-friendly interface. ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2+/2D

  Unveiled in 2011, the Arriel 2+ is an upgrade of the Arriel 2 and is intended for single- and twin-engine helicopters. It incorporates a new ...

• Helicopter engines

  LTS101

  The LTS101 was first certified in 1975. Since then, over 2,100 engines have been delivered to customers worldwide, logging over 11 million service hours. The ...

• EO/IR systems

  Viviane

  Viviane is an out-of-production gyro-stabilised night and adverse weather observation system with missile sight.  Manufactured by Safran, it was fitted to French Army Gazelles. It contained a ...

• Air: mission management systems

  APM 2000

  The current generation of autopilots is the APM 2000 family, fitted on major worldwide platforms. The APM 2000 is based on an integrated digital computer. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H175M

  The Airbus H175M is the military variant of the H175 and works to fill a gap in the H175 helicopter family, as well as offer ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  Light Armed Helicopter

  The South Korean government selected Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in July 2014 to develop the Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) and the related Light Civil Helicopter ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AS365 N3+ Dauphin

  The AS365 N3+, manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), was developed from the Dauphin series of medium, twin-turboshaft rotorcraft. The AS365 N3+ was launched at the 2009 ...

• Military UAS - small

  Flexrotor

  Flexrotor, or U030 Flexrotor, is a VTOL small UAS manufactured by Aerovel. It can integrate different types of payloads, including electro-optical systems and advanced sensors, to suit ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  NH90 TTH

  Developed as a multinational programme between France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, the European NH90 was designed to meet NATO requirements for multirole capability from ...