• Naval Warfare

  Japan considers specialist submersibles and LRADs

  10th October 2022

  Recent exhibitions in Japan saw companies offering specialist equipment such as tactical submersibles and long-range acoustic devices to the Japanese military.

• Air Warfare

  Russia developing home-grown Switchblade equivalent, footage suggests

  23rd November 2022

  Evidence suggests individual groups of Russian military advisers are circumventing traditional state procurement channels to get new weapon systems such as loitering munitions into the hands of Donbas militias.

• Training

  Industry consortium offers British Army training that meets the demands of the future battlefield

  5th December 2022

  The Raytheon UK-led Omnia Training will offer new training technologies for CTTP, with data and digitisation at the core of their bid.

• Training

  Royal Air Force modernisation and training experience a plunge

  23rd September 2022

  Along with the British Army, the Royal Air Force has lost out on the Integrated Review and the UK MoD has taken risky bets. It is in need of an honest review and ministers should accept that wrong assumptions were made.

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2022: Virtual Flag exercise enhances Five Eyes training capabilities

  22nd November 2022

  Virtual Flag is one of the US DoD's largest exercises, allowing three other Five Eyes allies, Australia, Canada and the UK to train in a live, virtual and constructive environment from anywhere on the planet.

• Defence Notes

  Pentagon highlights risks of short-term defence funding

  7th December 2022

  Short-term funding is preventing the US government from starting new multi-year procurement and development programmes, which may put the DoD in a risky position.

• Naval Warfare

  Euronaval 2022: Keel laid for second Saudi Multi-Mission Surface Combatant

  19th October 2022

  Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the four-ship programme to build Multi-Mission Surface Combatant ships for Saudi Arabia.

• Naval Warfare

  India maintains busy tempo of laying down and launching ships

  8th September 2022

  Naval corvettes, frigates and coast guard interceptor programmes are all under way in India via various shipyards.

• Training

  BISim rolls out major revamp to VBS4 and bags new Mantle ETM customer, says CCO

  10th November 2022

  The VBS4 updates include a range of new features and general improvements, while the latest version of the terrain enterprise Mantle ETM supports Common Database (CDB) format.

• Defence Notes

  Nioa and Diehl deepen their bond with naval munitions strategic partnership

  7th October 2022

  An agreement between Nioa and Diehl includes technology transfer for Australian sovereign manufacturing of naval munitions.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Camcopter S-100 relays acoustic buoy surveillance in NATO exercise

  25th October 2022

  This year marked the Thales-Schiebel partnership's first participation in NATO's REPMUS exercise.

• Land Warfare

  Australia delays armoured vehicle replacement decision till 2023

  28th November 2022

  The chances of Land 400 Phase 3 retaining its original look for 450 new IFVs grow more and more strained.

• Defence Notes

  Is the industrial base strong enough to fulfil the 2022 US National Defense Strategy?

  1st November 2022

  The document outlines the challenges the country expects to face in the next decade, putting emphasis on the Indo-Pacific and considering China the ‘most comprehensive and serious challenge’ to the US.

• Defence Notes

  Defence at depth: Seabed warfare in the spotlight

  7th November 2022

  When multiple leaks sprung on the NordStream 1 and 2 pipelines this summer, governments and navies were reminded of the threat posed to seabed infrastructure.

• Training

  Industry must convince customers of the value of new tech at I/ITSEC 2022

  27th November 2022

  Shrinking financial resources and increasing military tension best characterise 2022 for most countries. This year’s exhibitors at I/ITSEC will face the task of persuading customers that innovation and novel approaches are safe bets.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Bandit (US)

  Programme Background Goal As stated by Alyson Turri, the AFRL Bandit programme manager, the goal is to "develop an unmanned platform that looks like a fifth-generation ...

• 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 ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  Air: Helmet-mounted displays | 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 ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | 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 ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | 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 ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Light Replenishment Oiler (T-AOL) [USN]

  The US Navy wants to procure a new class of medium-sized supply ships aimed at refuelling, rearming, and resupplying naval assets. The Navy’s proposed FY2025 budget requests $7.7 ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Light Replenishment Oiler (T-AOL) [USN]

  The US Navy wants to procure a new class of medium-sized supply ships aimed at refuelling, rearming, and resupplying naval assets. The Navy’s proposed FY2025 budget requests $7.7 ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Polar Support Vessel [Brazil]

  Programme Background Requirements In June 2020, the Brazilian Navy released a Request for Proposal (RfP) to procure a new Antarctic vessel to be manufactured in Brazil. The ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  Command Insertion Craft (CIC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Navy is seeking a replacement for its fleet of LVPs Mk5 amphibious landing craft. The vessels entered service in the ...

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

  Naval Collaborative Combat Air Vehicle (N-CCAV) [India]

  Programme Background CATS Warrior The Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) is a planned, uncrewed and crewed family of aircraft in development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Project Mosquito [UK]

  Programme Background Inception and Capabilities In 2019, in collaboration with the RAF, the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) released details of its new UAS ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) [Thailand]

  Programme Background Roadmap In February 2024, the RTAF unveiled its White Paper 2024. Incorporating lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israel-Hamas War, and other events ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Air Launched Effects (ALE) [UK]

  Programme Background Acquisition Pipeline First published on 13 June 2022, the Acquisition Pipeline is a forward look at potential procurement activity undertaken by the UK MoD.  ...

• Aircraft carriers

  CVX (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirements HHI was awarded a contract for the conceptual design of the LPX-II in October 2019. The project now aims to build a ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Hybrid Tiger

  Manufactured by the Naval Research Laboratory, the Hybrid Tiger is an electric UAV. As its name suggests, the platform features a hybrid power generation unit. ...

• Air: UAS radar

  RASAR

  The real-time, autonomous, synthetic aperture radar (RASAR) is a self-contained radar designed for installation under the wing of UAS for counter-IED and FOPEN (Foliage Penetration) missions. It is ...

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

  SA-400 Jackal

  The SA-400 Jackal is a heavy-payload-capability, long-endurance VTOL UAS that had its first flight in 2013. It is an optionally piloted vehicle, so it can ...

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

  Outlaw SeaHunter

  Outlaw UAVs are used by military and research agencies for training, testing, data collection and system development. In the 114-137kg maximum take-off weight class, SeaHunter ...

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

  ShadowHawk

  The ShadowHawk is a VTOL UAV that can be transported and launched/recovered within a small area. The ShadowHawk is able to maintain aerial surveillance at ...

• Air-launched ASW torpedoes, Ship-launched torpedoes

  Shyena/TAL

  Shyena, also known as TAL (The Advanced Light Torpedo), is an Indian lightweight anti-submarine torpedo developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (affiliated to ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - MLDS, Air: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  AN/AAQ-45

  Leonardo’s AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasures is designed to equip rotorcraft. The system is being installed on Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk medium-lift utility helicopters used ...

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

  Havoc

  Havoc is a MALE modular payload UAS designed for customers with varying missions and payload requirements. Features include tool-less assembly, rolling take-off and landing and ...

• Military - USVs

  MAST

  The Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST) was developed by ASV Global and Roke Manor Research under funding from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It ...

• Subsystems: software

  SWARM

  CHI Systems worked with Lockheed Martin on a programme for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to build software models that imitate human behaviour, and ...

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

  Bat

  Northrop Grumman is developing the Bat family of medium-altitude, multi-mission UAS. The company announced two variants of the UAS (3.7m and 4.3m) and a rotary-wing ...

• Light UGVs

  Dragon Runner

  The Dragon Runner UGV, manufactured by QinitiQ, has two versions: the Dragon Runner 10 (DR10) and the slightly larger Dragon Runner 20 (DR20). All Dragon ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  CLS-200

  The CLS-200 is part of the Yates Electrospace Corporation Silent Arrow family. It is a powered cargo-carrying one-use UAV, based on the company's GD-2000 glider.  In ...

• Light UGVs

  Jackal

  Launched in September 2014, Clearpath Robotics' Jackal is a small, portable, integrated and weatherproof UGV. It has been built on a metal chassis and has four wheels ...

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

  Skate

  The Skate is a small, man-packable VTOL UAV designed for performing short-range ISR at the tactical level. A thrust-vectoring system provides a near-VTOL capability, enabling ...