• Defence Notes

  Opinion: Vietnam has options in its China relations

  21st February 2018

  China and Vietnam have long had tenuous relations, including a border war in 1979 and a naval battle in 1988, but Beijing has become more …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Elistair to target international growth

  26th January 2018

  Elistair has raised €2 million with Starquest Capital and its historic investors to enable it to grow its business, the company announced on 22 January. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  SCTX 2018: Avenger UGV logs first customers

  6th March 2018

  NATO countries Bulgaria and Romania have ordered a number of Avenger UGVs, just a year after Med-Eng unveiled the new system. Six of the platforms …

• Defence Helicopter

  Playing the Ace card with the Austrian Armed Forces

  8th March 2018

  Despite setbacks with contracts and the adjustment of onboard tech, Ace Aeronautics, manufacturers of the Ace Deck VL 60 avionics suite, is not only confident …

• Naval Warfare

  Airbus completes SIGNALIS integration

  22nd February 2018

  Airbus subsidiary SIGNALIS has been fully integrated into Airbus' communications, intelligence and security (CIS) business, Airbus announced on 19 February. SIGNALIS was established as an …

• Defence Notes

  Pentagon hushes up data on Taliban in Afghan war

  30th January 2018

  A US government watchdog said on 30 January the US Department of Defense (DoD) has barred it from disclosing how much of Afghanistan is under …

• Military Logistics

  SARAS PT1N completes second test flight

  27th February 2018

  India’s light transport aircraft SARAS PT1N has successfully completed its second test flight, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 20 February. The aircraft …

• Digital Battlespace

  Singapore strengthens its cyber defences

  22nd February 2018

  Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) is continuing to bolster cyber defences as hackers becomes more innovative and persistent, the latter ranging from amateur hackers to …

• Digital Battlespace

  InShield for Spain’s A400M fleet

  27th February 2018

  Indra’s InShield Direct Infra-Red Counter-Measure (DIRCM) system has been selected to equip up to nine Spanish Air Force A400M military transport aircraft, the company announced …

• Training

  Milestone for L-39NG jet trainer project

  2nd March 2018

  Known for its development of fast-jet training aircraft, Czech Republic aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody has taken a major step towards the first flight of its …

• Defence Notes

  US fighter jet drops fuel tanks in Japan accident

  20th February 2018

  The Japanese MoD demanded explanations on 20 February from the US military after a fighter jet experiencing an engine fire dropped two fuel tanks into …

• Special Operations

  Getac updates X500 products

  28th February 2018

  Getac has updated its X500 notebook and X500 server products to support mobile big data storage and management solutions for the defence industry. The rugged …

• Naval Warfare

  Italian Navy readies for next-generation vessels

  1st March 2018

  Leonardo is set to supply parts of its combat suite offering to the Italian Navy (IN), as the service prepares to accept new vessels under …

• Defence Notes

  Mideast peace proposal nearly ready, says US

  23rd February 2018

  The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said on 22 February that a proposal for a long awaited peace plan between Israelis and …

• Defence Notes

  German Army facing 'big gaps' as spending cuts bite

  20th February 2018

  Germany's armed forces are being pushed beyond their limits as Berlin makes greater international commitments while failing to invest in and reform the military, according …

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 ...