• Defence Helicopter

  Safran avionics systems for US Army Lakotas

  3rd April 2018

  Safran Electronics and Defense will supply avionics systems to Airbus Helicopters for the US Army’s new UH-72A Lakota helicopters, the company announced on 28 March. …

• Military Logistics

  UK’s third Tide-class tanker arrives for fit-out

  30th March 2018

  RFA Tidesurge, the third of four new Tide-class support tankers for the UK Navy’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary, has arrived for customisation and trials in Cornwall, …

• Land Warfare

  China developing smart driving system

  3rd April 2018

  Chinese scientists are working on an intelligent sensor to enable military vehicles to drive at night without lighting or in changeable lighting, the Chinese Ministry …

• Defence Notes

  Russia says West's attitude stoking tensions in Balkans

  19th February 2018

  The West is stoking tensions in the Balkans despite Russia's pacific stance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on 19 February ahead …

• Defence Helicopter

  US accelerates CV-22 stationing in Japan

  4th April 2018

  Five Bell-Boeing CV-22 Ospreys belonging to the USAF were unloaded from a ship at the port of Yokohama in Japan on 4 April.  This is significant because the …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Open letter to John Bolton about North Korea

  28th March 2018

  Congratulations on your appointment by US President Donald Trump as the next National Security Advisor. I know that, when you settle into your seat in …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Sea-Air-Space 2018: Manned-unmanned aircraft integration underway

  10th April 2018

  Integration testing between the US Navy's manned P-8A Poseidon aircraft and its MQ-4C Triton UAS is underway with plans to ramp up efforts in the …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Brexit will put military focus under the microscope

  20th February 2018

  At the Munich Security conference, Prime Minister Teresa May sought to set out how the UK Government wished to develop its security partnership with the …

• Land Warfare

  US approves sale of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine

  2nd March 2018

  The United States has formally approved the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, the State Department said Thursday, confirming a move expected to anger …

• Defence Helicopter

  CH-53K arrives in Germany

  4th April 2018

  A Sikorsky CH-53K heavy lift helicopter has arrived in Holzdorf, Germany, for its international debut at the ILA Berlin Air Show 2018, Lockheed Martin announced …

• Naval Warfare

  Pentagon flags LCS for 'significant' cost growth

  4th April 2018

  The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is one of two programmes to trigger a per unit cost growth breach the Pentagon is warning lawmakers.  …

• Defence Helicopter

  MBDA receives Brimstone CSP contract

  29th March 2018

  MBDA has received a £400 million contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the Brimstone air-to-surface missile Capability Sustainment Programme (CSP), the company …

• Defence Helicopter

  Safran engines for Qatar’s new NH90s

  3rd April 2018

  Safran Helicopter Engines has been selected as the engine supplier for Qatar’s NH90 fleet, the company announced on 28 March. The 28 NH90 military helicopters …

• Digital Battlespace

  ARTEX launches emergency locator

  5th March 2018

  ARTEX has introduced a 406MHz approved transport-grade alkaline battery-powered emergency locator transmitter (ELT) called the ELT 4000, the company announced on 26 February. ARTEX ELT …

• Special Operations

  USSOCOM outlines technical experiment

  8th April 2018

  The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has released an RfI to support an upcoming Technical Experimentation (TE) event. The 4 April request outlined TE opportunities for …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  A330 MRTT Follow-On (NATO)

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

• 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 ...

• 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 ...

• 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 UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  UAV Tactical Level [Norway]

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

• Military helicopters - multirole

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

  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 ...

• Maritime patrol

  MAWS/PATMAR [France]

  Programme Background In 2017, Germany and France announced that they would be working towards developing an MPA to replace their current fleets in service. The ...

• Tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Bidders and Suppliers The Leopard 2A8, the latest in the Leopard family, was selected by the Royal Dutch Army as per announcements in ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, 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, ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  MQ-4C Triton - Germany (Cancelled)

  Programme Background Germany requested to buy four MQ-4C Triton HALE UAVs from Northrop Grumman. On 5 April 2018, the US State Department announced that it ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [France]

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

• AEW&C

  Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (1-6) [NATO]

  Programme Background NATO’s E-3A AWACS fleet is set to retire in 2035, after 50 years of service. To plan for the required follow-on capability, NATO's ...

• Corvettes

  European Patrol Corvette (EPC) [Italy]

  Programme Background Requirements The 2021-2023 Documento Programmatico Pluriennale (DPP) - a multi-year defence planning document from the Italian MoD - includes a plan to acquire eight "Patrol Ships", ...

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 - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Surface-to-air missiles

  Mistral 3

  The Mistral 3 is the latest member of the Mistral family of very short-range surface-to-air missiles. It entered service in 2018 and has been chosen ...

• 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 - fixed-wing, 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Akeron RCH 170

  Unveiled in April 2025, the Akeron RCH 170 is a fixed-wing loitering munition from MBDA. Similar in design to the Switchblade 300, the catapult launched system ...

• 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 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Akeron RCX 50

  Unveiled in April 2025, the Akeron RCX 50 is a rotary-wing loitering munition from MBDA.  According to reports, the RCX 50 is designed to support ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  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 ...

• 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 ...