Uncrewed Vehicles

Aerostat successfully completes border surveillance trial

20th March 2017

Airborne Industries' Aerostat Surveillance system has successfully completed a border surveillance trial in Saudi Arabia, the company announced on 17 March.The trial, conducted by the …

Defence Notes

Typhoon trials Brimstone

15th March 2017

The Royal Air Force's (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoon has successfully completed a new series of flight trials with MBDA's Brimstone air-to-surface weapon at BAE Systems' site …

Military Logistics

Seaspan awarded JSS D&PE contract

2nd March 2017

Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards has been awarded a contract for design and production engineering (D&PE) work on the Royal Canadian Navy's Joint Support Ship (JSS), the …

Uncrewed Vehicles

SkyRanger UAS flies BVLOS

28th February 2017

Aeryon's SkyRanger UAS has carried out a beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight at the Foremost UAS Range in Canada, the company announced on 24 February.The …

Digital Battlespace

UK MoD tests airborne gateway in Babel Fish III

17th February 2017

The UK Ministry of Defence's Babel Fish III trial has seen the successful deployment of an airborne gateway between an F-35B Lightning II and a …

Land Warfare

US Army orders GPR enhancement systems

15th February 2017

Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems will supply ten Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) trial systems to the US Army under a $4.9 million contract announced on …

Land Warfare

Transport testing underway for Land 400 Phase 2

8th February 2017

Trials of Australia's Land 400 Phase 2 contenders have taken place on HMAS Canberra to determine whether the tendered vehicles can be deployed to designated …

Military Logistics

C295W envelope keeps expanding

18th January 2017

A new demonstration carried out by Airbus Defence and Space has seen the C295W transport and tanker conduct air-to-air refuelling contacts with an H225M Caracal helicopter. …

Digital Battlespace

Artisan 3D completes sea-based acceptance trials

12th January 2017

Sea-based acceptance trials for BAE Systems’ Artisan 3D radar system have been successfully completed on the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates, the company announced on …

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Project Vixen [UK]

Programme Background Project Goal The Royal Navy uses Leonardo crewed Merlin (AW101) helicopters fitted with CROWSNEST pods to provide airborne early warning capabilities for carriers. An early ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

Akinci [Pakistan]

Programme Background 'Brotherly Ties'  On 14 January 2022, the Pakistan government unveiled its first-ever National Security Policy. As reported by Shephard, the policy emphasised 'brotherly ties' with ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Project [Japan]

Programme Background Requirement The Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) operated a few dozen Chinese-made UAVs that conducted SAR and surveillance activities. The drones performed well and ...

Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

Camcopter S-100 [Greece]

Programme Background Trails A 2 August 2021 Schiebel press release announced the company had demonstrated the Camcopter S-100's capabilities to the Hellenic Navy. The UAV was ...

Sealift/replenishment vessels

Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs) [India]

Programme Background Requirements The units will perform multi-role support functions such as maritime surveillance& patrol, launching/recovery of torpedoes and operation of various types of aerial, ...

APCs/IFVs - 4x4, Reconnaissance/patrol vehicles

Multi-Role Vehicle (Protected) (MRV-P) Package 1 (UK)

Programme Background Requirement The MRV-P programme was intended to procure replacements for a diverse fleet of 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles purchased during the wars in Iraq ...

Military UAS - tactical

RQ-7B Shadow v2 Block III (USA)

Programme Background The first iteration of the Shadow UAS, the Shadow 600, was first introduced in 1992 and since then Textron has had a longstanding ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

DEF129 Small UAS Plus [Australia]

Programme Background Requirement The army wanted up to 17 SUAS+ systems with a life of six years. The tender said the UAV would be issued ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Hermes 900 StarLiner [Switzerland]

Programme Background Contract Information In September 2015, under the Reconnaissance Drone System 15 (ADS 15), the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (VBS) awarded ...

APCs/IFVs - 4x4

4x4 Armoured Vehicle (Estonia)

Programme Background The Estonian military wants to replace its fleet of soft-skin troop transports with 4x4 and 6x6 armoured vehicles. This will improve the survivability ...

Loitering munitions

Loitering Munitions (Forecast) [Germany]

Programme Background Three Systems In April 2023, Germany reportedly ordered three different loitering munition systems to further assess their suitability for use by the German Armed ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

TAPAS BH-201 [India]

Programme Background Requirements As of late 2023, the Indian tri-service plan was reportedly to acquire 155 indigenously produced MALE UAVs alongside 31 MQ-9B drones from General Atomics (GA-ASI), ...

APCs/IFVs - 4x4

4x4 Armoured Vehicle (Unknown)

Programme Background The Estonian military wants to replace its fleet of soft-skin troop transports with 4x4 and 6x6 armoured vehicles. This will improve the survivability ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

V-Bat 128 (Canada)

Programme Background Requirement Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) is seeking a platform for the CCG that will significantly expand its surveillance range during search ...

APCs/IFVs - tracked

Heavy IFV (Poland)

Programme Background Requirement Due to the perceived threat from Russia and the conflict in Ukraine, Poland has accelerated and expanded its plans to modernise its ...

Military UGVs

Mission Master XT

Part of Rheinmetall's Mission Master family, The Mission Mater Extreme Terrain, or Mission Master XT, is a rugged UGV designed to accompany troops in challenging environments ...

APCs/IFVs - 6x6

Tigon

Hanwha Defense Systems selected DSA 2018 in Kuala Lumpur as the location to unveil its Tigon 6x6 armoured wheeled vehicle. The company conducted a fortnight-long ...

Matternet M2

The Matternet M2 quadcopter UAV has been certified by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation for full logistics operations over cities. The platform is ...

Special operations vehicles

VOS-APP

The Arquus VOS-APP is a 6x6 support vehicle currently under trial with the French SOF. Acting as a replacement for the 1970s-vintage ACMAT VLRA, the VOS-APP is the ...

Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

KUS-VT tiltrotor

The KUS-VT is a tiltrotor UAV that first flew in October 2013 and was exhibited at ADEX 2013. The aircraft is designed to have a ...

Armoured engineer vehicles

M1150 ABV

The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

HQ-60

Similarly to other platforms in the L3 Technologies Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) and Fixed-Wing Rotator family (see separate entries) of VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, the HQ-60 has ...

Air-launched ASW torpedoes, Ship-launched torpedoes, Submarine-launched torpedoes

MU90

The MU90 is a lightweight torpedo manufactured in collaboration between Leonardo, Naval Group and Thales. It is a fire-and-forget torpedo that can be launched from ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Mojave

Unveiled in December 2021, the Mojave is a MALE UAV in development by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). It is based on the avionics and flight control ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Archer

The Archer is a short-range UAV being developed for India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).  Based on the Rustom I and inspired by Bayrakar's ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

Flamingo Mk3

The Flamingo Mk3 entered production in July 2017 and is based on the Flamingo Mk2. The Mk3 has been designed to provide a 65% increase ...

Air: Electronic Attack - Jamming

Miysis DIRCM

Leonardo’s Miysis Directed Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system provides high power, all aspect protection against modern and legacy Infrared Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (IR MANPADS) for ...

Loitering munitions

Mace

Mace is a loitering munition developed by UAC, a Czech-Ukrainian company that is a subsidiary of DeViro. The electric-powered, catapult-launched UAV can host various warheads, including HEAT, thermobaric and ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

United 40 Block-5

The United 40 was unveiled at the Dubai Airshow 2011 and is a MALE UAV with a twin-wing configuration and a hybrid turbine-electric engine. The ...

Mine-protected vehicles

Phantom 380-X1

The Phantom 380-X1 is a 4x4 multipurpose armoured vehicle produced by Thailand's Panus. It is powered by a six-cylinder turbo engine with an undercarriage capable ...