• Defence Notes

  DoD casts off interim funding as FY2022 budget tap turns on

  17th March 2022

  The US FY2022 federal budget was finally signed into law on 15 March, paving the way for almost $145 billion in military procurement funding.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  NAVAIR orders more Triton support from Northrop Grumman

  10th March 2022

  Continued input from OEM Northrop Grumman will help ensure that the MQ-4C is ready to conduct ISR missions, says NAVAIR.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  WDS 2022: AI software enhances Tekever maritime patrol UAS

  7th March 2022

  The Tekever AR5 UAS now includes a passive image-based radar system that uses AI software.

• Defence Helicopter

  Latest version of Apache Guardian makes overseas US Army debut

  17th March 2022

  Upgraded AH-64E v6 Apache Guardian attack helicopters have arrived at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.

• Defence Notes

  Deciphering the feasibility of PLA bases in the South Pacific (Opinion)

  12th May 2022

  A secretive security pact has turned Solomon Islands into potentially a first South Pacific location for a Chinese military base. But would such a base be an asset or a liability?

• Land Warfare

  Canada authorises M72 shipment to Ukraine

  4th March 2022

  ‘Up to 4,500’ M72 single-shot rocket launchers will be sent to Ukraine, the Canadian DND announced on 3 March.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Canada shines more light on RPAS plans

  23rd February 2022

  The Canadian Department of National Defence has confirmed the programme schedule for its optionally armed UAS procurement plan, while also identifying where the aircraft will be based.

• Air Warfare

  Italy approves C-130J Hercules support contract

  2nd March 2022

  The contract between the Italian Air Force, Avio Aero, Leonardo and Lockheed Martin for C-130J support has been approved.

• Land Warfare

  US Army to downselect CATV supplier by late June

  13th April 2022

  The FY2022 federal government funding bill allocated $18.3 million for the Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle. In line with its Arctic Strategy, the US Army also included the programme in its FY2023 request.

• Defence Notes

  USAF budget request offers mixed results for F-35 and F-15EX fighters

  29th March 2022

  The USAF's FY2023 defence budget request contains some surprises as it slows F-35 acquisition while accelerating F-15EX combat jet deliveries.

• Air Warfare

  Suspected collapse of Su-35 deal sees US agree Egyptian F-15 order

  18th March 2022

  Egypt looks set to acquire F-15 Advanced Eagle fighter jets as the Su-35 may be out of the picture.

• Naval Warfare

  Pakistan receives final Azmat missile boat

  5th April 2022

  Pakistan modified its fourth Azmat-class missile boat when it was built in Karachi. A series of smaller but similar gunboats is also on the cards.

• Air Warfare

  Super Hercules FMS deal for Egypt stays on track

  11th March 2022

  Egypt is still on track to receive 12 C-130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft via the FMS programme after the US Senate voted against a proposal to block the deal.

• Defence Notes

  IAI reveals long-range MPA order from Asia-Pacific customer

  11th March 2022

  IAI will manufacture a long-range MPA for an unnamed Asia-Pacific customer.

• Naval Warfare

  New UAVs for New Zealand delayed

  25th February 2022

  The wider impact of COVID-19 on the NZDF becomes more apparent as the introduction of new equipment is pushed back

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  ISTAR UAS project [Canada]

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

• ISR/special mission

  MC-27J - Algeria

  Programme Background Algeria has a long standing ISR aircraft requirement to support its Beech 1900 fleet comprised of six aircraft. The new ISR fleet is ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

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

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Programme Background In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm ...

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

  DEF129 (Nano UAS) [Australia]

  Programme Background DEF129 The Australian Ground Service has combined various army procurement efforts under the DEF129 programme to increase the abundance and proliferation of UAVs ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Falcon Air Defence System

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is Leonardo’s C-band AESA radar designed for detecting, classifying, and tracking small, high-maneuvering targets. It’s designed for various applications, including counter-UAS, ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Land: air defence radar

  iMOTR

  The Innovative Multiple-Object Tracking Radar (iMOTR) system has been designed to provide military test ranges with more accurate time, space and position information for several ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• EO/IR systems

  CM262

  Manfuaucted by AVT Australia, the CM262 is a ground-based imaging system combining four sensor configurations into a compact and ruggedised system for C-UAS and ISR ...

• Air: surveillance and maritime patrol radar

  Seaspray 7500E V2

  The Seaspray 7500E V2 is a long-range, maritime-focused multi-mode surveillance radar produced by Leonardo and manufactured in the UK. The system can rapidly interleave radar modes ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Penguin C VTOL

  The Penguin C VTOL is the VTOL version of the Penguin C MIL Mk2; hence it is sometimes called the Penguin C Mk2 VTOL. Edge ...

• OPVs

  PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO

  The PPA/MultiPurpose Combat Ship (MPCS) EVO is an enhanced version of the Thaon di Revel-class PPAs unveiled at Euronaval 2024. The PPA/MPCS EVO retains the core platform ...