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Air Warfare
Shield AI unveils new autonomous VTOL fighter jet concept
23rd October 2025
Named X-Bat, the AI-controlled vertical take-off and landing drone is expected to enter production by 2029, with first flight tests estimated to take place a year earlier.
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Air Warfare
AUSA 2025: IAI presents its bid for US Army’s next-generation VTOL UAS requirement
13th October 2025
The OmniRaider uncrewed aerial system is described by Israel Aerospace Industries as an “Americanised” version of its ThunderB-NG vertical take-off and landing UAS of which there are hundreds in service.
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Air Warfare
Sikorsky unveils new Nomad VTOL drone family
7th October 2025
The tailsitting vertical take-off and landing drones are designed to be scalable with Group 3 to Group 4 variants, with each one focused on meeting US Army reconnaissance requirements.
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Air Warfare
Why tactical UAVs are winning on the future battlefield (Podcast)
9th May 2025
In Conversation: In this special edition of the Shephard Defence Podcast, Tony Skinner sits down with Dan Slasky, President and CEO of Aeronautics, to explore how cutting-edge tactical unmanned aerial systems are reshaping today’s battlefields.
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Air Warfare
DSEI 2025: New AR3 EVO puts Tekever’s modularity ambitions under the spotlight
10th September 2025
An evolution of the Tekever AR3, the AR3 EVO that broke cover at DSEI incorporates the thousands of incremental evolutions the company has implemented through its spiral development, geared towards delivering a constant stream of improved aircraft to Ukraine.
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Air Warfare
Teledyne FLIR upgrades Black Hornet 4 UAS
9th May 2025
Integration and expanding capabilities are among the objectives for Teledyne FLIR to further develop its family of uncrewed systems.
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Air Warfare
Tactical UAS: mission-driven innovation for a new battlefield era
26th August 2025
As global conflicts evolve and the limitations of traditional UAS become clear, Aeronautics is redefining the tactical unmanned aerial systems space with platforms that prioritize survivability, flexibility, and mission effectiveness.
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Air Warfare
Proteus: forging the future of autonomous rotorcraft
4th September 2025
As the home of British helicopters, Leonardo has worked with the UK Ministry of Defence for over a decade to advance technologies underpinning uncrewed rotorcraft. Today, in partnership with DE&S Future Capabilities Innovation and the Royal Navy, Leonardo is spearheading the next step in that journey: from remotely piloted technologies to fully autonomous systems.
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Air Warfare
Italy boosts UAV fleet with Jump-20 procurement and ScanEagle additions
22nd April 2025
The Jump-20 uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) procurement will replace Italy’s RQ-7 Shadow UAS fleet.
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Air Warfare
BAE Systems lauds counter-UAS drone progression with live fire trials
18th July 2025
The US-based tests successfully demonstrated the first live trial of a precision guided missile from a modified TRV-150 drone which destroyed both aerial and ground targets.
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Air Warfare
October Drone Digest: Growing desire for CCAs and new VTOL technology unveiled
30th October 2025
During October 2025, several countries and organisations signalled their intention to acquire Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) or study the capability further while various new uncrewed helicopters were showcased, two of which were unveiled for the first time.
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Air Warfare
Bell selected over Boeing to build DARPA SPRINT X-Plane
11th July 2025
The programme first began in 2023 with Bell and Boeing’s concepts progressing to Phase 1B, in which testing has been carried out over the last year.
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Air Warfare
Just Released: New UAS Technology Report now available to read
28th April 2025
Autonomous advantage: Unlocking the potential of VTOL UAS in the battlefield resupply role
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Air Warfare
Paris Air Show 2025: Airbus and France sign framework agreement for VSR-700
17th June 2025
The framework agreement is for the future acquisition of the system under the French Navy’s SDAM programme. The agreement also paves the way for cooperation with other nations via government-to-government agreements.
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Naval Warfare
Royal Canadian Navy will start operating class 2 UAVs in 2028
10th September 2025
Acquired under Canada’s Department of National Defence ISTAR UAS project, the drones will be deployed from the Halifax-class frigates.
Programme Results - Defence Insight
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Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical
Embarked VTOL UAV [South Korea]
Programme Background VTOL Development In January 2024, South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that it would commence development of a VTOL-capable rotary-wing UAV that ...
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Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical
Camcopter S-300 [South Korea]
Programme Background Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) On 18 January 2023, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Northop Grumman at a ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini
K1000ULE [USMC]
Programme Background Contact Award After a comprehensive down-selection evaluation, Kraus Hamdani Aerospace's K1000ULE drone won the USN's PMA 263 contract in April 2024. The company will now provide the USN ...
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Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing
Micro VTOL [USMC]
Programme Background Force Design 2030 The USMC Force Design 2030 is a modernisation effort to create a lighter, more agile maritime force. The update to ...
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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 ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing
Fixed-Wing VTOL UAV (Malaysia)
Programme Background Tender Issued As reported by Shephard, on 18 June 2021, Malaysia issued a tender for fixed-wing hybrid VTOL UAVs. Requirement The tender stated that Malaysia required ...
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Military UAS - rotary-wing
VTOL UAV [New Zealand]
Background Defence Capability Plan (DCP) In April 2025, the New Zealand government published the DCP, a document that is essentially a blueprint for what procurements ...
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Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small
Cargo UAV (Turkey)
Programme Background Inception & Requirment Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) initiated a programme to procure VTOL-capable cargo drones in June 2018. These were planned for ...
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Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing
Parrot Anafi (Singapore)
Programme Background On 7 February 2022, the Singapore Army posted photographs on Facebook that showed the Anafi UAV used as training devices in a five-day ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini
Ship-Bourne VTOL UAV [Singapore]
Programme Background Multi-Role Combat Vessel The Republic of Singapore Navy will retire its class of six Victory-class corvettes and replace them with a new platform ...
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UAS: communication systems
UAS: communication systems | Project Proteus [UK]
Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...
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UAS: flight control systems
UAS: flight control systems | Project Proteus [UK]
Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
Artillery UAV [Thailand]
Programme Background Requirement & Replacement The Royal Thai Army (RTA) was understood to be seeking a new tactical UAV to replace four legacy Israel Aerospace Industries ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
Tactical Drone System Light (SDTL) [France]
Programme Background The French 2024-2030 military programme unveiled the SDTL for the special forces and the French Army. According to reports, the requirement would cover 30 ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
WanderB or ThunderB [Colombia]
Programme Background Expodefensa 2019 During Colombia's Expodefensa 2019 exhibition, BlueBird Aero Systems displayed its ThunderB VTOL small UAV. Reportedly, the Colombian Army requested information on ...
Equipment Results - Defence Insight
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini
Penguin B VTOL
The Penguin B VTOL is a variant of the Penguin B platform manufactured by Edge Autonomy. Announced in June 2021, the variant is a reliable, long-endurance ...
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Ikarus
The Ikarus is a rotary-wing UAV suitable for various roles, including agricultural survey, industrial inspection, search and rescue, and all aspects of health and safety ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini
Spider VTOL
The Spider VTOL is a mini electrical fixed-wing UAV. Unlike traditional VTOL UAVs with dedicated motors, propellors and structural parts for performing take-off and landing, the Spider ...
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Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small
VTOL UAV
The Defence Technology Institute launched the VTOL UAV R&D; project in cooperation with the Naval Research and Development Office, Royal Thai Navy and private sector ...
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Lynx VTOL
The Lynx VTOL aircraft takes off like a helicopter, flies like a fixed-wing aircraft and is used for precision agriculture and surveying. It has an ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing
Zala VTOL
Manufactured by Zala Aero Group, the ZALA VTOL is a hybrid platform that can be operated both as a fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAV due to ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
Argus VTOL
The Argus VTOL, currently in development, is part of the Argus family of UAVs manufactured by Free Horizons, which also features the Argus Predator Mk ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
Rakshak VTOL
The Rakshak VTOL is a fixed-wing UAV with an EO/IR sensor for ISR missions. Developed by TATA Advanced Systems, the UAV is VTOL-capable, allowing it to operate ...
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Air: aerial targets
Viking VTOL
The Viking VTOL is an aerial target designed to mimic the size and flight characteristics of most larger, Group 1 (and potentially Group 2) platforms. Boresight has ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical
Stream C VTOL
At IDEX 2019, Threod Systems unveiled a new version of the Stream C UAS, capable of VTOL manoeuvres. Known as the Stream C VTOL, this ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
ThunderB-NG VTOL
The ThunderB-Next Generation VTOL, or ThunderB-NG VTOL, is a vertical take-off and landing capable version of the ThunderB. The fixed-wing UAV features a fully autonomous flight control system ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini
Zada
Zada is a mini fixed-wing UAV designed for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (ISR) missions. It features tilt-rotor systems, which give it a VTOL capability.
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Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small
Zala 421-22
The Zala 421-22 is a rotary-wing UAV designed for ship- or land-based reconnaissance and surveillance, bomb damage assessment and real-time target acquisition. The VTOL UAV ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini
SR-10 VTOL
Deftech showcased the SR-10 VTOL at DSA 2022. It has been locally designed in Malaysia to conduct aerial mapping, surveillance and line inspection missions. The hand-launched platform is powered ...
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Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small
H6 Poseidon
Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...
