Naval Warfare

Arleigh Burke-class destroyer finishes second sea trial

27th February 2020

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) completed the second builder’s sea trials of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119). The vessel spent …

Uncrewed Vehicles

France's DGA tests nEUROn in operational contexts

24th February 2020

The French DGA has completed a new flight test campaign of the nEUROn stealth combat drone technology demonstrator. Carried out in cooperation with Dassault Aviation, …

Military Logistics

Australian Army to trial 3D printing

24th February 2020

The Australian Army is set to trial new 3D printing technology already being used by the Royal Australian Navy. A partnership between the Australian Department …

Military Logistics

RAAF C-130J trials Litening sensor pod

31st January 2020

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-130J Hercules aircraft has begun flight trials equipped with a Northrop Grumman Litening sensor pod. Mounted on a pylon underneath …

Uncrewed Vehicles

RAN trials USV, AUV capabilities

29th January 2020

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group have carried out a trial of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) capabilities at …

Land Warfare

Dstl, QinetiQ complete APS trials

16th January 2020

Trials of an Active Protection System (APS) for Dstl’s Medusa Technology Assessment Programme (TAP) by a QinetiQ-led industry team are now complete. Part of Dstl’s …

Defence Notes

Podcast: Revolutions in Vertical Flight S1 E2: The Dawn of the Helicopter

20th December 2019

Welcome to Shephard Studio’s podcast series on Revolutions in Vertical Flight, sponsored by our partner Bell. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. The Revolutions in Vertical Flight …

Digital Battlespace

NEMO trials underway off the UK coast

4th November 2019

Participants from 13 NATO countries are taking part in Naval Electro Magnetic Operations (NEMO) trials off the south coast of the UK.The six-day trial provides …

Digital Battlespace

GPS III COps connects with first GPS III satellite

23rd October 2019

The US Air Force’s (USAF’s) GPS III Contingency Operations Program (COps) has successfully connected with the first GPS III satellite on orbit, the USAF announced …

Uncrewed Vehicles

Camcopter completes Norwegian SAR demo

7th October 2019

Schiebel has completed a shipboard demonstration of its Camcopter S-100 unmanned helicopter for the Norwegian coast guard. Showcasing the unmanned aerial vehicle’s ability to support search …

Naval Warfare

Prince of Wales sails for initial sea trials

20th September 2019

The Royal Navy’s second aircraft carrier, Prince of Wales, has sailed from Rosyth Dockyard for initial sea trials. The carrier will conduct extensive sea trials …

Military Logistics

50th MT30 gas turbine complete

17th September 2019

Rolls-Royce has completed the 50th MT30 gas turbine, which will now be despatched for the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force’s 30FFM frigate. The turbine will …

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 ...

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 ...