• Defence Notes

  Podcast: IMDEX Asia, Maritime Cyberspace and all hail the King Stallion

  17th May 2019

  Welcome to Episode 17 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.

• Special Operations

  New combat drysuit in the spotlight

  30th May 2019

  Typhoon International promoted the latest member in its family of drysuits at the Underwater Defence Technology (UDT) exhibition last week, specifically designed to support combat …

• Military Logistics

  Russia, Kazakhstan discuss defence partnership

  17th May 2019

  The Russian Ministry of Defence has carried out consultations on military cooperation with Kazakhstan, the Russian MoD announced on 15 May. Both parties reviewed and …

• Defence Helicopter

  Elbit Systems delivers BrightNite to NATO country

  24th May 2019

  Elbit Systems' BrightNite has entered into operational service on the SA 330 Puma helicopter fleet operated by the air force of an unnamed NATO country, …

• Defence Helicopter

  USMC weighs up FVL options

  29th May 2019

  The USMC is keeping a close eye on FVL developments as it holds out, for the time being, on a specific acquisition process for a …

• Training

  New simulation technology for UK, US pilots

  21st May 2019

  The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to Boeing Defence UK to deliver a new simulation technology which can replicate up to three …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2019: US Naval SOF prepare for PDW “combat evaluation”

  28th May 2019

  US Naval special operations elements are preparing to conduct “combat evaluation” on a small number of Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) kits from SIG Sauer. Those …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2019: NASA pushing autopilot envelope for UAM

  29th April 2019

  NASA’s Cessna LC40 UAM testbed flight research aircraft is being utilised to champion industry and the agency’s research efforts in the field of flight automation, …

• Land Warfare

  Rheinmetall receives Brazilian order for Fieldguard 3

  21st May 2019

  Rheinmetall Air Defence has received an order for a further Fieldguard 3 military measurement system from Brazil’s Avibras, the company announced on 17 May. Fieldguard …

• Training

  TECRO requests F-16 training

  22nd April 2019

  The US State Department has made a determination approving a potential foreign military sale for the continuation of a pilot training programme to the Taipei …

• Defence Notes

  Angola takes delivery of 12 Su-30K fighters

  29th May 2019

  The Belorussian 558 ARP company has completed the deliveries of all 12 refurbished and upgraded Sukhoi Su-30K heavyweight multi-role fighters ordered by Angola.  This was revealed …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  New Zealand selects EOD robots from Roboteam

  23rd May 2019

  Roboteam, a Tel Aviv-based ground robotics developer, has won a contract from the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) for a suite of robots suitable for …

• Digital Battlespace

  Bittium to port ESSOR waveform for Finland

  10th April 2019

  Bittium has received an order from the Finnish Defence Force to port the European European Secure Software-Defined Radio (ESSOR) programme’s Operational Capability (OC) 1 phase …

• Defence Helicopter

  Afghanistan receives Indian-funded Mi-24V helicopters (update)

  23rd May 2019

  India handed over a pair of Russian-built Mi-24V attack helicopters to the Afghan Air Force (AAF) on 16 May during a ceremony at the air …

• Defence Helicopter

  Putin pledges an increased Mi-28NM order

  20th May 2019

  Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that the Russian MoD is set to increase an order to be placed in the coming months for the Mi-28NM …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  Medium Range Air Defence [Portugal]

  Background Portugal's Military Programming Law 2023-2034 includes a requirement for medium-range air defence. In order to facilitate this, Portugal has joined the European Sky Shield Initiative ...

• Medium Range Missile Defence Systems: 20-90km range

  GEM-T Missiles [Sweden]

  Background A coalition of European countries has signed a $5.6-billion contract to procure 1,000 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) interceptors under the auspices of the NATO Support ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT (1-9) [NATO]

  Programme Background Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Mistral SHORAD [Hungary]

  Background Hungary is a member of the common procurement programme for MISTRAL 3 ground-based air defence systems for protection against air threats. The project's framework ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawks [Norway]

  Programme Background NH90 NFH cancellation  The Norwegian government announced the termination of the NH90 NFH helicopter contract for 14 NH90s with NHIndustries in June 2022. Seahawk Acquisition ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT Follow-On [NATO]

  Programme Background Following operations in Libya and extensive analyses by the European Defence Agency (EDA), it was agreed at the NATO Summit in 2012 that ...

• Main battle tanks

  New MBT [Romania]

  Programme Background Requirement The Romanian Army's MBT fleet is composed of T-55 variants that are due to be retired in the mid-2020s. Although Romania's TR-85 ...

• Military UAS - small

  Penguin C VTOL [Croatia]

  Background Announcment Redwire Corporation announced on 12 November 2025 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Edge Autonomy, had been contracted to deliver the Penguin C VTOL ...

• Main battle tanks

  M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 [Romania]

  Programme Background Requirement The Romanian Army's MBT fleet is composed of T-55 variants that are due to be retired in the mid-2020s. Although Romania's TR-85 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) - (Greece)

  Programme Background EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  EU next generation rotorcraft technologies project (ENGRT) - [Italy]

  Background ENGRT phase I EU Next Generation Rotorcraft Technologies Project (ENGRT) was announced in early 2022 and the project contract was awarded in December 2022. Phase I ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Bayraktar TB2 [Kuwait]

  Background Contract Award On 18 January 2023, Baykar announced signing a $370 million export contract with Kuwait for the Bayraktar TB2. According to the announcement, ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Netherlands]

  Background The Leopard 2A8, the latest in the Leopard family, was selected by the Royal Dutch Army as per announcements in September 2024.  Given the ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  UAV Tactical Level [Norway]

  Background Request for Information (RfI) In September 2022, the Norwegian Defence Material Agency (NDMA) launched a request for information in preparation for a possible procurement ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [France]

  Background Requirements The European Patrol Corvette (EPC) is one of the new PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation on Defence and Security) projects. PESCO was established by ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: air defence radar

  APIS

  APIS is a passive high-resolution primary radar system developed by Indra. It is the first passive system in the world capable of offering images using ...

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  AE50R

  The AE50R is an aviation gasoline single rotary engine with an output of 40.4kW. The engine is certified according to European Aviation Safety Agency Part ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  LOTUS

  The LOTUS, Low Observable Tactical Unnamed System, is a tactical UAV especially designed for border patrol ISR operations.  The development of the project is funded by ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2H

  Safran Helicopter Engines received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) engine type certification for its Arriel 2H engine, installed in the Avicopter AC312E, in April 2018. ...

• Military UAS - tactical

  AR5

  First announced in October 2012, the AR5 is a MALE UAS designed for SAR, surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The AR5 can be flown manually or commanded ...

• Trainer

  Gabriel-TP

  Gabriel-TP is a low-wing, two-seat tandem trainer aircraft aimed at both military and civilian customers. It is certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in ...

• Air: NVGs

  PNL-3M Orlik

  PNL-3M are high-performance, lightweight, passive stereoscopic NVGs for helicopter crew members. Certification by European Aviation Safety Agency also enables civilian use. The device can be ...

• Military UAS - small

  Capa-X

  The Capa-X, or U050, is a VTOL-capable fixed-wing drone from Survey Copter, a subsidiary of Airbus. The drone has been linked with France’s Système de Drone Tactique Léger ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  Standard 3

  Jointly developed by ATR and Thales, The Standard 3 avionics suite has been specifically designed for ATR-600 aircraft. It offers the pilot user-friendly interface, along ...

• CUAS - jammers

  DroneGun

  DroneGun enables controlled management of an adversarial UAS, causing no damage to the UAV or surrounding area. It either forces the drone to perform a ...

• Directed energy weapons

  Tryzub Laser

  Ukraine's Tryzub (Trident) laser was revealed during the European Defence Industry: Prospects for Cooperation with the Ukrainian Defence Industry conference in 2025. Video footage from ...

• Military - USVs

  NOMARS

  The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to develop a first-of-its-kind large uncrewed surface vessel.

• Uncrewed aerial systems engines

  Trident 100TD2

  The Trident 100TD2 is a compression-ignition engine that is capable of operating on various types of heavy fuel. It is claimed to offer up to ...

• Space: radar systems

  ESA Sentinel-1

  Sentinel-1 is a planned constellation of four satellites with two already in orbit and two on order. They carry a payload of a C-band SAR ...

• Air: chaff/flare/decoy systems

  Sky Buzzer

  Hensoldt’s Sky Buzzer is a towed anti-radar decoy originally developed by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). The system is designed to protect ...