Defence Notes

Submariners killed in Russia sub fire: defence ministry

3rd July 2019

Fourteen seamen have died in a fire on a deep submersible, Russia's defence ministry said on 2 July, adding the vessel was currently at a …

Defence Notes

NATO agrees response to new Russia missile

27th June 2019

NATO on 26th June agreed a package of political and military measures to boost its defences against a controversial new Russian missile system. The alliance …

Defence Notes

Pompeo holds talks in 'tariff king' India

26th June 2019

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26th June, trying to chart a path that keeps the Asian ally …

Defence Notes

Slovakia to meet NATO defence budget target by 2022

26th June 2019

Slovakia will increase its military budget to the NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product by 2022, 2 years earlier than planned, President Zuzana …

Defence Notes

Two killed in Vietnam military plane crash

14th June 2019

Two pilots were killed in Vietnam on 14 June after their military plane crashed during a training session, an official told AFP.  Though Vietnam has …

Land Warfare

Russia tests ABM missile

7th June 2019

The Russian armed forces have tested a modernised missile of the Russian anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, the testing …

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Akinci [Ukraine]

Programme Background Two Export Contracts In January 2022, the Daily Sabah reported that Baykar had "recently" signed its first export contract for the Akinci. Haluk Bayraktar ...

Tanks

T-90S (Saudi Arabia)

Programme Background.  The status of the Saudi Arabian T-90 deal is unclear, it is possible that these tanks may be purchased to replace stocks of ...

Loitering munitions

ZT-180 [Russia]

Programme Background Claims On 23 February 2023, DER SPIEGEL reported that, according to information it had gathered, China and Russia were negotiating the purchase of 100 ZT-180 ...

Loitering munitions

Shahed-136 [Russia]

Programme Background Iran's Involvement On 11 July 2022, according to US intelligence, Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor, announced during a statement that the Iranian ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

Vector / Scorpion (Selected) [Ukraine]

Programme Background 500 Systems Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Quantum-Systems has provided many drones to Ukraine. Over 400 units have been provided as aid ...

Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

SkyRanger R70 (Ukraine Aid) [Canada]

Programme Background On 19 February 2024, the Canadian Defence Minister, Bill Blair, announced that the country would donate more than 800 SkyRanger R70 UAVs to ...

Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

T-150 (Ukraine)

Programme Background Virtual Address On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. On 3 May 2022, the UK's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, virtually addressed the Ukrainian ...

Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

Black Hornet 3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK & Norway]

Programme Background Russo-Ukraine War Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, UAVs have proved vital to the country's defence. Consequently, as in this programme, the ...

Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

FPV Drones (Ukraine Aid) [Lithuania]

Programme Background FPV Drones On 5 April 2024, the Lithuanian MoD announced it would purchase around 3,000 Lithuanian-made FPV drones to give to Ukraine to support ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

Quantix Recon (Ukraine)

Programme Background April Meeting In mid-April, just shy of two months after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, the Ambassador and the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Ukraine met ...

Tanks

Leopard 2A8 [Germany]

Programme Background Germany has operated the domestically produced Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Leopard 2 since its inception in the 1970s. Spanning now eight versions, the Leopard 2A8 is the ...

Air: Radio and SATCOM

Air: Radio and SATCOM | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

Data links

Data links | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

Air: Head-up displays

Air: Head-up displays | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

Transponders and IFF

Transponders and IFF | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

Tanks

T-80UD

The 125mm-armed T-80UD MBT is a variant of the T-80 which was in production in Ukraine when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. An ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

Supercam S350/S350F

The Supercam S350/S350F is a mini fixed-wing that Supercam Unmanned Systems Group manufactures. The Russian UAV features a modular design and has been primarily designed ...

Transport

An-140

The An-140 is a light turboprop military transport aircraft developed from the An-140 regional airliner, which first flew in September 1997. It is designed to ...

Loitering munitions

AQV 100 Scalpel

The AQV 100 Scalpel, or AQV-100, is a low-cost loitering munition manufactured by One Way Aerospace.  The drone is operated using a first-person view and ...

Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

Mini 2

The Mini 2 is a micro rotary-wing drone from DJI. It features a 3-axis gimbaled 12MP camera for photographs and 4k/30fps for video capture. Shephard believes ...

Loitering munitions

Shahed-136

The Shahed-136 is an Iranian loitering munition. The aircraft has a delta-wing configuration and is launched through a Rocket-Assist Take-off (RATO) method. Russia operates the platform and ...

Fighter - ground attack

Su-25

The Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) is a single-seat ground attack aircraft developed for close combat air support missions. Production of the Su-25 began in ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

Orlan-10/10E

Developed by the Russia-based Special Technology Center, the Orlan-10 is a medium-range UAS with many variants, such as the 10E, an export version introduced in 2017. The ...

Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

Matrice 300 RTK

The Matrice 300 RTK is a rotary-wing UAV manufactured by DJI. Despite being primarily aimed at industrial applications, militaries utilise it for ISR tasks.  In ...

Fighter - air superiority

MiG-29

The MiG-29 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum) is an air superiority fighter aircraft designed to engage air targets in any weather, day and night.  The production ...

Air: Helmet-mounted displays

SURA HMTDS

SURA is a helmet-mounted display system produced in Ukraine. Notably, it offers off-boresight acquisition capability to pilots and can cue the aircraft's sensor systems using ...

Transport

An-22

The largest transport aircraft of the time, the An-22 Antei (NATO reporting name Cock) is a heavy military transport aircraft developed by Antonov in the ...

Transport

An-148

Developed by Antonov, the An-148 is intended for passenger, mixed cargo-passenger and cargo transport operations for both military and civilian roles. Its maiden flight took ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

Eleron T-16

The Eleron T-16, or Valdai, is a small fixed-wing Russian drone.  Multiple media outlets in August 2023 reported that the first Russian Eleron T-16 had ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

Orion / Orion-E

The Orion, sometimes called the Inokhodets, is the first Russian-manufactured MALE UAV that has been designed to carry out a wide variety of military surveillance applications. Russia has ...