• Land Warfare

  The Abrams tank: US heavy metal looks set to roll on for decades (updated 2024)

  19th January 2024

  The Abrams tank has been the mainstay of US battle groups for decades and looks set to continue its substantive role beyond 2050. Further upgrades have been proposed for the in-demand MBT as plans are unveiled for a substantially updated new version.

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy places small boat order worth up to $290 million

  17th May 2024

  The Metal Shark 40 Defiant, a 40-foot, welded-aluminium pilothouse monohull patrol boat, features ballistic protection and can be armed with a range of remotely operated and crew-served weapons systems. The ReconCraft 40ft patrol boat is similar and offers waterjet, outboard and inboard/outboard propulsion.

• Naval Warfare

  Austal completes autonomy trials with former Royal Australian Navy patrol boat

  24th April 2024

  The work took place under the Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial (PBAT), which has been a collaboration between Austal, Greenroom Robotics, the Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre and the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Warfare Innovation Navy Branch.

• Land Warfare

  MBDA successfully tests Italian Army GRIFO air defence system

  8th May 2024

  The GRIFO air defence system is part of the Enhance Modular Air Defence Solutions family will be operated as part of the Italian Army’s air defence, giving its short-range air defence capability an extended range.

• Air Warfare

  USAF orders Joint Strike Missile for its F-35s

  3rd June 2024

  The Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is a multirole version of the Naval Strike Missile. Norway funded the programme to develop and produce the JSM for the F-35 for anti-ship and land-attack missions.

• Land Warfare

  Elbit Systems to supply Iron Sting munition to Israeli MoD in $190 million deal

  29th July 2024

  Elbit Systems’ Iron Sting mortar was reported in October last year as being used for the first time in operations against Hamas in Gaza as the country reacted to Hamas attacks inside Israel.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UAE orders 200 EDGE uncrewed cargo and ISR helicopters

  25th January 2024

  The UAE has awarded a substantial contract to EDGE Group for 200 uncrewed helicopters at UMEX 2024.

• Land Warfare

  BAE Systems receives $50 million to restart M777 production

  5th January 2024

  The M777 155mm lightweight howitzer has seen service across five continents and has been heavily used in Ukraine where weapons were donated by Australia, Canada and the US.

• Land Warfare

  Skyranger anti-aircraft turret to use Spexer sensors

  31st July 2024

  The Spexer 200M sensor is the latest option to be offered on Rheinmetall's anti-aircraft defence solution.

• Land Warfare

  Canada orders more than 8,000 Batlskin Caiman helmets

  18th July 2024

  The order by Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) follows a February 2023 contract for 2,100 helmets taking the total order to 10,500 helmets.

• Land Warfare

  Brazilian Army plans future acquisitions under $2.4 billion SISFRON programme

  22nd January 2024

  From 2024 to 2027, the service is interested in procuring unique C4ISR capabilities to be deployed in diverse regions of the country.

• Naval Warfare

  Australia releases blueprint for expanded naval surface fleet

  20th February 2024

  The much-anticipated Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet review has allocated billions of dollars towards enhancing the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet.

• Land Warfare

  Elbit receives $600 million contract for Australian Redback IFV subsystems

  26th February 2024

  Hanwha Defense Australia was chosen as the preferred bidder for the Land 400 Phase 3 programme in July 2023 with contract signature for 129 Redback IFVs in November last year and includes major Elbit subsystems.

• Land Warfare

  The Netherlands orders more GM200 compact tactical radars

  15th April 2024

  The Ground Master 200 (GM200), a medium range tactical radar, is part of the Ground Master family architecture, which shares common hardware, software building blocks and interfaces. As a multi-mission radar, it can carry out air surveillance, air defence, CRAM and surface vessel detection.

• Land Warfare

  Rheinmetall wins $2.9 billion contract to supply Boxer 8x8s to the Bundeswehr

  21st March 2024

  Some of the 123 “Heavy Weapon Carrier for the Infantry” vehicles will be made in Australia and shipped to Germany.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• Loitering munitions

  Launched Effects-Short Range (LE-SR) [US Army]

  Background Goal The Army sees LE-SR as a family of systems consisting of an air vehicle, effects payload, mission system applications, and associated support equipment ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) (Forecast) [US Army]

  Background USMC In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, which had been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) [USA]

  Programme Background US Army's Future Vertical Lift Programme The FLRAA is one of three strands of a broader army programme. The others are the Future ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Large ULS-A / Aerial Logistics Connector (ALC) [USMC]

  Programme Background US Marine ULS-A programmes The US Marines are seeking a family of Unmanned Logistics Systems-Air (ULS-A), which will provide logistics and ground units with ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [US Army]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was intended to ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey [Japan]

  Programme Background Procurement Contracts The Japanese government is the first export customer of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, having ordered 17 helicopters from the US across ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  CH-47F Chinook [U.S Army]

  As the Army's only heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F Improved Cargo helicopter is an essential component of the Army's Multi-Domain Battle framework. The CH-47F and MH-47G ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Data links

  Data links | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ FTUAS

  From the Texton family of Aerosonde UAS, the Aerosonde Mk 4.8 Hybrid Quad (HQ) FTUAS is a tactical drone purpose-built to meet the US Army's Future Vertical Lift ...

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-97 Raider

  The S-97 Raider helicopter is based on the five-year, company-funded X2 Technology Demonstrator project. Like the X2, the S-97 Raider will feature twin coaxial, counter-rotating ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  AVX JMR

  AVX Aircraft proposed a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, small wings and dual ducted-fan propulsors for the US Army’s JMR-TD FVL programme. In April 2015, ...

• 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 ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  H6 Poseidon

  Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  X-Sight

  Elbit X-Sight is a developmental helmet-mounted display system designed for helicopters. According to the manufacturer, it will offer a high field of view and colour binocular ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 360 Invictus

  The Bell 360 Invictus is the company's prototype for the US Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme.  The helicopter features retractable weapon bays, two ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Veloce-15

  The ST Engineering Veloce-15 (V-15) is a hybrid fixed-wing UAV with four rotors for vertical lift and a tail-mounted two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal propulsion.  ...

• Land: soldier modernisation systems - industry programmes

  Warrior Systems

  General Dynamics Mission Systems is prime contractor and system integrator for the US Army’s Warrior soldier systems, which include Air Warrior, Future Force Warrior, Land Warrior ...

• Military helicopters - multirole, Tiltrotors

  TR36TD

  Karem Aircraft was one of four contenders for the US Army's JMR-TD, which is a precursor to the FVL project that will replace the UH-60 ...

• Air: Integrated cockpit systems

  Integrated Avionics Suite

  Northrup Grumman's Integrated Avionics Suite is an open architecture mission equipment package, which can be deployed on a number of rotorcraft platforms. It consists of ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Voly 50 (Series)

  The Voly 50 is a VTOL-capable, multi-role, long-haul UAV primarily designed to conduct ISR applications on a small footprint. It has a modular, open-system design.  The UAV was ...

• Light UGVs

  Centaur

  The Centaur is a military UGV developed specifically for the US Army's Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc II), a requirement for a ...