• Land Warfare

  Ukraine Defence Contact Group commit another $24 billion for Ukraine

  14th April 2025

  The announcement of the funds followed a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) which consists of 57 countries. The UK has committed a further £350 million to Ukraine to provide repairs and maintenance to previously donated vehicles and equipment and additional equipment.

• Land Warfare

  Malaysia advances armoured modernisation with $435 million Tarantula vehicle deal

  23rd May 2025

  Mildef International Technologies will supply high-mobility armoured vehicles featuring systems from Aselsan under a new strategic agreement.

• Land Warfare

  Polaris to unveil new MRZR Alpha base vehicle at Modern Day Marine

  29th April 2025

  The new platform was designed to provide 1KW of exportable power as standard and has been developed in partnership with the US Marine Corps (USMC).

• Air Warfare

  National Audit Office report highlights major delays in UK’s F-35 programme

  11th July 2025

  The report discloses that while the capability provided by the F-35 is superior to previous UK aircraft, delays from the UK Ministry of Defence on the programme have significantly impacted the country’s warfighting capabilities.

• Naval Warfare

  Swedish Visby frigates to get air defence system under $166 million contract

  30th May 2025

  Saab announced in 2021 that it had signed an agreement with Swedish defence procurement for the development of plans for a Visby upgrade. One aspect of the upgrade is for the introduction of a surface-to-air missile capability.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force to receive extra $1.6 billion for aircraft procurement and modernisation in FY2025

  2nd January 2025

  The additional fund has been earmarked for fighter jets and transport aircraft efforts.

• Land Warfare

  US Army to receive Oshkosh’s next-gen autonomy-ready trucks by December

  2nd April 2025

  The company recently announced a new US$95 million order for the Palletized Load System A2 under the FHTV V agreement.

• Air Warfare

  Embraer evaluates new mission capabilities for C-390 with ISR study to finish by 2026

  10th June 2025

  Alongside its official Maritime Patrol study, Embraer is also evaluating further special missions capabilities for its aircraft, including those in the space domain and with drones, CEO Bosco da Costa Junior told Shephard.

• Air Warfare

  Co-operation continues as tri-national F-35s break new ground in Pacific exercise

  22nd April 2025

  The February exercise marked a milestone in multinational cooperation with fifth-generational air warfare capabilities, but will it continue considering shifting US politics?

• Air Warfare

  Paris Air Show 2025: Airbus assembles first SIRTAP prototype, with a maiden flight planned by year's end

  16th June 2025

  Airbus has completed the assembly of the first SIRTAP prototype, ahead of a ground test campaign that will culminate in the system's maiden flight by the end of 2025. The MALE drone is destined for delivery to Spain in 2027 and will also be operated by Colombia.

• Land Warfare

  "The next industrial revolution": Pearson Engineering embraces autonomy and robotics

  1st September 2025

  In Conversation: Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan talks to Pearson Engineering group chief executive officer Ian Bell about how the company is turning to new technologies to provide critical protection and mobility for troops on the front line.

• Naval Warfare

  As Australian resistance rises, is AUKUS in trouble?

  28th March 2025

  The tripartite submarine project is under political pressure from a grass-roots Australian Labor Party movement, but it could also have practical issues in its way.

• Land Warfare

  Introducing the MITR-M1 Half Mask: Tactical respiratory protection for every scenario

  13th February 2025

  Counter terrorism, specialist firearms officers, special forces, explosive breaching, drug interdiction, riot control, indoor/outdoor shooting, environmental disaster response, first response, prisons and corrections: tactical operators across law enforcement, first responders, and the military face a vast array of low-mid level respiratory threats in their day-to-day operations.

• Naval Warfare

  Defending the Fleet: Naval air defence in the drone era (Podcast)

  29th May 2025

  In an era of swarming drones, proliferating missiles and saturation attacks, naval air defence must combine cutting-edge effectiveness with low cost per intercept. Israel’s Rafael is applying its long expertise to help navies adapt to emerging threats, while looking to a future of laser technology – and beyond.

• Naval Warfare

  US and European special operators test Icelandic AI-based solution for marine platforms

  5th May 2025

  Hefring Marine IMAS was designed to optimise vessels’ operation.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Military Aid - $300 Million On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine to "bolster Urkaine's capacity ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165 Special Ops HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HHMWV, or Humvee, has been in US service since 1983. The M1165A1B3 is a special operations variant of the platform.  In 2015, the US ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (16 March 2022 & 13 April 2022) On 16 March 2022, President Biden announced $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine through ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank [US]

  Programme Background As IAI stated in a 19 January 2023 press release, it had been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Irregular Warfare Technical Support ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE [Kosovo]

  Background Contract Award On 21 January 2022, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that AeroVironment had been awarded an $11.01 million firm-fixed contract for Puma ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background On 24 February 2023, the US DoD announced that the Biden Administration had released an additional aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1152A1B2/M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million Presidential Drawdown security ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE [Estonia]

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS): Switchblade [US]

  Background DoD contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a ceiling of $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  ACV-30 PRTV [USA]

  Background The Armoured Combat Vehicle (ACV) programme is intended to provide a replacement for the USMC's fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicle 7 (AAV7) tracked vehicles. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  XQ-58A Valkyrie [USMC]

  Programme Background Contract Award On 30 December 2022, the US DoD announced that it had awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems a $15.52 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to ...

• 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 ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Pistols

  M9

  M9 is the US DoD designation for the military-specification 9mm Beretta 92FS, selected in 1985 to replace the 45cal M1911A1 in US service. Sales to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Igla/SA-18

  The 9K38 Igla (US DoD designation SA-18, NATO reporting name Grouse ) IR-homing MANPADS was developed by KBM and entered service in 1983 to meet the requirements ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank

  Point Blank Weapon System is a hand-launched electro-optical VTOL-capable loitering munition developed by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI has been awarded a contract by the US ...

• Military UAS - small

  ScanEagle 3

  Insitu unveiled the ScanEagle 3 at the Xponential exhibition in Denver in May 2018. The platform has twice the payload capacity of its ScanEagle predecessor ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  BAT-850

  Pathfinder's BAT-850 VSAT is a carbon fibre, tri-band terminal with auto-acquisition capability. Suitable for flyaway (case-based) and vehicle-mounted applications, it is in service with the ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  URC-300

  The URC-300 is a software-defined radio designed for line-of-sight, ground-to-air communications in particular. Introduced in 2020, it adheres to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards as well ...

• Air: aerial targets

  BQM-177A/i

  The BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT) was designed for the USN, and the BQM-177i is the export variant. The BQM-177 provides realistic threat emulation for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Banshee Tactical Radio

  Developed by Fenix Group, the Banshee Tactical Radio (BTR) is a communications system that uses 4G/LTE connectivity to provide secure mesh networking capability on the ...

• Crew-served grenade launchers

  Striker 40/MK47

  General Dynamics is systems integrator for the Striker 40 (MK47 AGL in US service). The complete system comprises the weapon, AN/PWG-1 Lightweight Video Sight and ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  AN/ARC-231 Skyfire

  The AN/ARC-231 Skyfire is an airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM system. This system supports US DoD requirements for airborne, multi-band, multi-mission, secure anti-jam voice, data ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  CLWS

  Developed by Boeing, Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS or CLaWS) is a medium-range, low-power laser C-UAS system. According to the reports, the CLWS prototype has ...

• Weapon sights for day use

  CompM4/M4s

  The US DoD has bought over one million Aimpoint sights since 1997. The US Army is now fielding the CompM4s as the latest version of ...

• Heavy machine guns

  M2HB

  US Ordnance is one of two US M2HB heavy machine gun manufacturers which has received multi-year contracts to supply weapons to the US DoD. The ...