• Digital Battlespace

  Intelsat encrypting Five Eyes as contested operations increase

  18th September 2018

  The safe transference of data is of the upmost importance to civil and military operators alike; however, the conduct of clandestine missions conducted by multinational …

• Defence Notes

  US coalition to block North Korean oil

  20th September 2018

  A US government effort to build a multinational coalition to monitor North Korean violations of fuel smuggling appears to be gaining steam. The Trump administration, …

• Digital Battlespace

  US Army to trial 'radio-over-satellite' communications

  10th September 2018

  Spectra Group’s Slingshot appliqué kit has been selected to support the US Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiments (AEWEs) in 2019, company officials have disclosed to Shephard. …

• Land Warfare

  Boxer UK update: Boxing clever

  18th September 2018

  Since its inception in the 1990s, the Boxer programme has had highs and lows. By 2015, the vehicle had only secured two customers – lead …

• Defence Notes

  Koreas to shut down some border guard posts

  21st August 2018

  North and South Korea have agreed to close some guard posts along their border on a trial basis, Seoul's defence minister told parliament on 21 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Strabag orders KlauPPK system

  15th August 2018

  KlauPPK has supplied its high precision drone surveying technology to Strabag for construction services support.European construction services company Strabag trialled the KlauPPK system deployed on …

• Military Logistics

  RAF’s 20th Atlas enters service

  17th July 2018

  The Royal Air Force’s (RAF) 20th A400M Atlas transport aircraft has formally entered into service following its handover at Brize Norton, the UK Ministry of …

• Naval Warfare

  Leonardo Marlin 40 naval gun approaches first sale

  26th July 2018

  After launching its Marlin 40 lightweight naval gun in March 2018 manufacturer Leonardo says that it is now in the contract phase with at least …

• Military Logistics

  Airbus trials automatic air-to-air refuelling

  13th July 2018

  Airbus Defence and Space has performed an automatic air-to-air refuelling trial of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Farnborough 2018: Nightwarden flights to continue from Textron’s Blackstone site

  19th July 2018

  Textron Systems Unmanned Systems is to move its Nightwarden UAV flights to its Blackstone facility near Richmond, Virginia, to continue preparations ahead of any future …

• Defence Notes

  North Korea begins dismantling rocket test site

  24th July 2018

  North Korea has started dismantling some facilities at its main satellite launch station, seen as the testing ground for its intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to expert …

• Military Logistics

  UDT 2018: Trial of LiFi networking takes places at Babcock facility

  26th June 2018

  UK-based company pureLiFi has been trialing a wireless capability with Babcock to support shore-side maintenance decision making, as improving logistics methods and delivery emerged as …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Airbus, Wilhelmsen team for Skyways project

  11th June 2018

  Airbus and Wilhelmsen Ships Service have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop UAS and related services for maritime parcel deliveries, Airbus announced on 5 …

• Land Warfare

  Axe hangs over UK's £1.6bn Warrior upgrade

  6th July 2018

  The British Army’s plans to upgrade its legacy Warrior IFVs looks to be in further jeopardy as a new UK government watchdog report revealed that …

• Defence Notes

  France brings back national service

  28th June 2018

  The army general in charge of bringing back national service in France said on 28 June that he would try to make it appealing for …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• 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 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), ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...