Naval Warfare

Hero-30 undergoes successful maritime trial

23rd June 2020

The Hero-30 portable loitering munition has completed a successful trial with an unnamed NATO navy. ‘Successfully withstanding all trial objectives, the system demonstrated compatibility [with] …

Defence Helicopter

Honeywell and US Army to test next-gen Chinook engine

5th June 2020

Honeywell and the US Army have signed an agreement to demonstrate and trial its upgraded T55-GA-714C engine on the heavy-lift CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The latest …

Naval Warfare

IAI completes LORA firing trial

3rd June 2020

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced on 2 June that it has completed a dual operational firing trial of its Long-Range Artillery Weapon System (LORA). The …

Land Warfare

Nemo could find a home on US Army mortar carriers

19th May 2020

Patria is to conduct a joint feasibility study with the US Army into whether the Finnish company’s Nemo 120mm turreted mortar can be integrated into …

Naval Warfare

Russia’s newest frigate travels to Baltic Sea for final trial

10th April 2020

The newest frigate to join the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet, Project 22350 Admiral Kasatonov (pictured), has passed through the Great Belt Strait as it travels …

Land Warfare

US tests common hypersonic glide vehicle

20th March 2020

The US Army and US Navy on 19 March successfully joint tested a hypersonic glide body during a trial carried out at the Pacific Missile …

Naval Warfare

MBDA succeeds in first trial firing of Sea Venom

6th March 2020

MBDA has carried out its first qualification firing trial for the Sea Venom/ANL anti-ship missile. The test was carried out at the DGA Essais de …

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

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 ...

Loitering munitions

Loitering Munitions [Japan]

Programme Background Japan's Newfound Desire for Loitering Munitions After years of not operating loitering munitions and armed UAVs, Japan's position towards them is changing. Belatedly, ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Bayraktar TB2 [Japan]

Programme Background Turkish Claims In September 2022,  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Japan for the funeral of the former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. While there, in ...

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, ...

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 - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Trial Operation Project [Japan]

Programme Background Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) Procurement The JCG was looking to replace its Chinese-made UAVs with MALE UAVs in the JCG PRAS Project. In April ...

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 - 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), ...

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

Small UAS Plus (SUAS+) (Australia)

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

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Air: aerial targets

MQM-178 Firejet

The MQM-178 Firejet is a target drone manufactured by Kratos Defence.  It performs a variety of end-to-end weapons-release training roles, including surface-to-air and air-to-air.