Defence Notes

Russia deploying ballistic missiles to Baltic enclave

5th February 2018

Lithuania has accused Russia of deploying nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic, on 5 February, as relations between Moscow and the …

Defence Notes

Russia dismisses evidence of Iran-made missiles to Yemen

31st January 2018

Russia on 31 January dismissed evidence presented by the US and UN experts that Iran had supplied missiles to Yemen's Houthi rebels as inconclusive, signalling …

Defence Notes

Turkish air strikes pound Kurdish fighters in Syria

31st January 2018

Turkish air strikes pounded the Syrian border region of Afrin on 30 January and fighting raged on two fronts as Ankara pursued its offensive against …

Land Warfare

SA-10U production begins in Ukraine

31st January 2018

Ukroboronprom’s Impulse has launched production of the SA-10U vehicle for the Ukrainian Army, the company announced on 29 January. The vehicle is designed to provide …

Defence Notes

US: Russia doing nothing to end Ukraine conflict

30th January 2018

Russia has done ‘absolutely nothing’ to end the conflict in Ukraine and Washington is deeply disappointed with Moscow's lack of progress towards a peace deal, …

Defence Notes

Russian warplane flies within metres of US jet

30th January 2018

A Russian fighter jet flew perilously close to a US Navy reconnaissance plane over the Black Sea on 30 January, officials said, a manoeuvre the …

Defence Notes

More civilians killed as Turkey pursues Syria campaign

29th January 2018

Clashes and air strikes again hit Syria's border region of Afrin on 29 January, with new civilian casualties reported as Turkey pursued an offensive against …

Digital Battlespace

UK to launch new radar against 'severe' Russian threat

27th January 2018

Britain's defence minister Gavin Williamson said a new radar off Scotland's Shetland Islands would help tackle the 'severe and real' threat from Moscow. In a …

Defence Notes

Russia lashes out at UK’s Gavin Williamson

26th January 2018

Russia on 26 January said the British Defence Secretary had stepped beyond ‘the boundaries of reason’ after he accused Moscow of planning to create chaos …

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 ...