• Air Warfare

  Turkish Air Force tanker modernisation effort completed ahead of schedule

  2nd February 2023

  US contractor Field Aerospace has finished upgrading the Turkish Air Force's Boeing KC-135R tanker fleet flight decks to Block 45 configuration.

• Land Warfare

  India gets ball rolling on truck-mounted howitzers

  15th February 2023

  Truck-mounted 155mm howitzers are one important element of the Indian Army's goal of modernising its artillery inventory.

• Defence Notes

  Airbus to define next generation of European military helicopters

  31st January 2023

  Airbus Helicopters has been selected to coordinate a European R&D programme looking at military rotorcraft operational needs post-2030, and is also leading on a study for a defence collaborative cloud.

• Digital Battlespace

  Electronic warfare suite for F-16 Block 70 jets passes critical milestone

  3rd February 2023

  The L3Harris Viper Shield EW system has moved a step closer to service entry with Foreign Military Sales customers after passing a critical design review.

• Air Warfare

  Myanmar Air Force bolsters fleet with the commission of new aircraft

  10th January 2023

  As part of its 75th anniversary, the Myanmar Air Force showed off a variety of new types of aircraft and helicopters.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  TB2 UAV conquers another export market with Kuwaiti order

  20th January 2023

  Turkish developer Baykar's best-selling TB2 has chalked up a 28th export customer, with more in the pipeline according to the company.

• Air Warfare

  India redoubles efforts to make up fighter squadron shortfall

  28th February 2023

  Mindful of the need to defend its border with China, India is evaluating how to overcome a shortfall of 12 fighter aircraft squadrons over the next decade.

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2023: Saudi Arabia in frame to buy ‘Korean Patriot’ SAM system

  24th February 2023

  South Korea's LIG Nex1 is confident Saudi Arabia will become the next customer for its Medium-range Surface-to-Air Missile Block-II after the UAE.

• Training

  New Indian supersonic trainer jet to supplement PC-7 and Hawk fleets

  15th February 2023

  The Indian Air Force has abandoned plans to acquire a two-seat trainer variant of the Tejas Mk 1 Light Combat Aircraft, opting instead for the HAL HLFT-42 supersonic jet.

• Air Warfare

  Regional F-35 sustainment facility to boost operational resilience in Indo-Pacific region

  15th January 2023

  Lockheed Martin has ensured more efficient sustainment of F-35 fighters thanks to a new warehouse in Australia.

• Land Warfare

  Rheinmetall chalks up more munitions and air defence contracts

  3rd February 2023

  The German-based group has announced contracts for Spike missiles, air defence systems and 40mm and 155mm ammunition for NATO and non-NATO customers.

• Air Warfare

  Korea's KF-21 fighter makes progress but Indonesian involvement still in arrears

  6th January 2023

  The third prototype of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet has flown, and supersonic flight will be achieved in Q1 2023. However, the timescale for Indonesia honouring its financial commitments to the programme remains unclear.

• Naval Warfare

  Metal Shark makes programme progress for Caribbean navies

  3rd February 2023

  US shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered a new patrol vessel to Costa Rica and achieved a major milestone on a project for Guyana.

• Air Warfare

  Past financial woes won't affect US Air Force E-7A programme, Boeing says

  3rd March 2023

  Boeing said its recent financial issues on other defence programmes will not affect the USAF's E-7A programme and the first aircraft is expected to be operational by 2027.

• Land Warfare

  Why NATO is seeking an advanced modular air defence solution

  3rd March 2023

  Under the Modular Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) project, ten NATO members want to rapidly develop or acquire an air defence system that can respond to threats along the very short, short and medium-range spectrum.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  San Antonio LPD 17 Flight I [USN]

  The LPD 17 Flight I ships are the first flight of the San Antonio-class Landing Platform Docks (LPD). Procured between FY1996 and FY2017, the vessels ...

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

  Wing Loong I [Eygpt]

  Programme Background SIPRI According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2016, Eygpt ordered around 10 Wing Loong I aircraft from China, which were ...

• Tanks

  Arjun Mark-II

  Programme Background While original plans envisioned the production of up to 250 Arjun Mk IIs, the programme's many delays have prompted the Indian Army to ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  PKX-B Batch II (13-22) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Contracts Award On 24 November 2022, HJ Heavy Industries was awarded a contract worth KRW212 billion ($160 million) to build four PKX-B Batch-II ...

• Tanks

  Al-Khalid-I

  Programme Background Pakistan operates a vast fleet of Chinese and Ukrainian MBTs primarily aimed at deterring regional rivals such as India. In order to build ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  PKX-B Batch II (9-12) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Contracts Award On 24 November 2022, HJ Heavy Industries was awarded a contract worth KRW212 billion ($160 million) to build four PKX-B Batch-II ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  PKX-B Batch II (1-4) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Contracts Award On 24 November 2022, HJ Heavy Industries was awarded a contract worth KRW212 billion ($160 million) to build four PKX-B Batch-II fast attack ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  PKX-B Batch II (5-8) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Contracts Award On 24 November 2022, HJ Heavy Industries was awarded a contract worth KRW 212 billion ($160 million) to build four PKX-B ...

• Tanks

  Al-Khalid-II

  Programme Background Pakistan operates a vast fleet of Chinese and Ukrainian MBTs primarily aimed at deterring regional rivals such as India. In order to build ...

• Fast attack/patrol craft and interceptors

  Fast Interceptor Craft - Indigenous (FIC-I) (1-120) [India]

  Programme Background Requirements The craft are required to have a length of 13-17m, a sustained speed of 45kt, a range of at least 200nm at 15kt, ...

• Submarines: conventional, attack

  KSS-III (Boats 1-3) [South Korea]

  Programme Background Timeline The new KSS-III Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho-class submarines for the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) are a significant advance on the earlier KSS-II ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  RQ-4 Global Hawk (Japan)

  Programme Background Selection & Contract AwardIn 2015, Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft were selected by Japan to ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  New Exploration and Escort Helicopter (NEES) (Phase II) [Italy]

  Programme Background Phase I In 2017, the Italian government signed a contract with Leonardo to replace its fleet of AW129 Mangusta attack helicopters with the ...

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

  Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) (Phase II) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) provides short-range day and night ISR to US Army units at the squad, platoon and other small ...

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

  Orlan-10 [Uzbekistan]

  Programme Background On 16 November 2023, Uzbekistan announced that the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, had ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Subsystems: software

  SWORD

  The SWORD is a high-level, automated war-game solution for training, analysis and planning. Developed in close relation with armies worldwide, the SWORD immerses brigade and ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  TAOS

  In Tactical Aircraft Online Services (TAOS), live Aero L-29 jets are flown by experienced combat pilots alongside a wingman flying a ground-based flight simulator, controlled ...

• Land: fire support simulators

  FIDex

  Fidelity has merged the technology of its JTAC and IDF product lines. It released FIDex (Fidelity Extreme) at I/ITSEC 2011 with its first demo of ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators, Land: tactical engagement simulators

  VBS Blue IG

  At I/ITSEC 2017, Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) unveiled a new simulation technology to help international militaries train for operations. VBS Blue IG, an upgrade from the ...

• Subsystems: visual

  EP-8100

  At I/ITSEC 2015, Collins Aerospace (formerly Rockwell Collins) unveiled its EP-8100 image generation system, which is driven by real-time, simulation-specific graphics cards and software. It ...

• Subsystems: visual

  WholeEarth Synthetic Environment

  Rockwell Collins unveiled its enhanced synthetic training environment, WholeEarth, at I/ITSEC 2015 and the official release occurred in May 2016. The high-resolution complete Earth database ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  ULV MicroVSAT

  Ultra I&C;'s ULV MicroVSAT is a tri-band, lightweight SATCOM terminal that emphasises portability. First introduced in 2022, the modem-agnostic system supports WGS, Intelsat Flex, Inmarsat GX ...

• Air: helicopter radar, Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar, Air: UAS radar

  ELM-2022

  The ELM-2022, developed by IAI ELTA, is a maritime patrol radar family operating in the X-band designed for manned and unmanned, fixed- or rotary-wing airborne platforms. It is engineered for ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  Cockerill i-X

  The Cockerill i-X is a wheeled armoured vehicle designed as a light armoured platform with a modular turret for intercepting enemy forces. John Cockerill Defense unveiled the new ...

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

  ALTIUS-600 / ALTIUS-600M

  Part of the ALTIUS family, the ALTIUS-600 is an air-launched, tube-integrated UAV that Area-I has designed to conduct ISR, SIGINT collection and electronic warfare missions.  At AUSA 2022, Anduril ...

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

  Wing Loong I

  Designed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the Wing Loong I is the first member of the ...

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

  Skylark I-LEX

  The Skylark I-LEX is a mini-UAV manufactured by Elbit Systems.  Unveiled at the Paris Air Show 2015, the UAV is designed for ISR operations. It enables ...

• Self-propelled rocket launchers

  Pinaka

  The Pinaka 214mm MRL was developed indigenously by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from 1986 to meet the Indian Army's requirement for an ...

• Land: air defence radar

  MSSR-2000-I

  The MSSR 2000 I is a monopulse secondary surveillance radar system manufactured by Hensoldt. It is designed for military air surveillance applications and is capable ...

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

  Anka-I

  Anka-I is a SIGINT/COMINT variant of Turkey’s Anka-S and is operated by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization. The COMINT capability allows operators to track, geolocate and ...