• Training

  I/ITSEC 2023: VirTra debuts integration of VBS4 into its simulators

  1st December 2023

  VirTra has unveiled the integration of VBS4 and BlueIG into its simulator systems with the aim of enhancing the capabilities of its technology for military training.

• Defence Helicopter

  Indonesia signs MoU for S-70M Black Hawks

  4th September 2023

  The Indonesian military has turned its sights on S-70M Black Hawk helicopters, with the service never having bought platforms from Sikorsky before.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Leonardo and UK MoD unveil rotary-wing UAS at DSEI 2023

  14th September 2023

  The design selected for the Rotary Wing Uncrewed Autonomous System is best suited for maritime operations.

• Land Warfare

  Poland to spend billions of dollars on K9 howitzers as it continues massive equipment refresh

  4th December 2023

  The deal between Poland and Hanwha has been valued at US$2.6 billion and is part of a larger agreement for 672 K9 howitzers and 288 Chunmoo MLRS.

• Air Warfare

  Israel prepares F-35s for potential mission in Iran

  21st February 2024

  The threat of Iranian nuclear weapons has led Israel to make changes to its F-35s while Russian actions in Syria have acted as a catalyst for action in developing anti-jamming systems.

• Air Warfare

  Paris Air Show: NATO strengthens German air defence with Leonardo radar order

  20th June 2023

  NATO has ordered a third Leonardo RAT 31 DL/M deployable air defence radar for operation by the German Air Force.

• Defence Helicopter

  New Sikorsky S-92A helicopters to improve capability of British forces on Falkland Islands

  24th August 2023

  Two Sikorsky S-92A helicopters have been delivered to the Falkland Islands, providing an upgraded support helicopter capability for British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) through improved reliability and operational capabilities.

• Air Warfare

  Thales, Schiebel complete factory acceptance test for UK MoD Peregrine programme

  30th August 2023

  Thales and Schiebel have successfully completed the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) for the Peregrine Programme, advancing the delivery of the Camcopter S-100 UAS for UK Royal Navy warships.

• Air Warfare

  QinetiQ presents on-the-move capability with Obsidian C-UAS radar

  6th November 2023

  QinetiQ’s Obsidian C-UAS radar can work as a static or deployable system and its on-the-move capability has marked a major step forward for C-UAS systems of this size.

• Air Warfare

  UK NMH programme will not see helicopters delivered to British Armed Forces until 2027

  1st March 2024

  Airbus, Leonardo and Lockheed Martin have progressed through to the Invitation to Negotiate phase of the New Medium Helicopter competition, but the initial goal of introducing new helicopters by 2025 remained unattainable.

• Naval Warfare

  Frigate building in South America – the fleet renewal challenge

  2nd April 2024

  South America has become something of a retirement village warships where the average age of major surface combatants is 40 years, some of which should probably be in a museum. Peru, however, has joined Brazil and Colombia in a group of three countries that have been attempting to modernise their fleets with new frigates and corvettes built in local shipyards.

• Defence Helicopter

  Dubai Airshow 2023: South Korean homegrown helicopters make international debut

  14th November 2023

  Two KAI helicopters, the KUH-1E utility helicopter and the Light Attack Helicopter (LAH), have taken centre stage at the Dubai Airshow 2023.

• Air Warfare

  RAF fighter pilot training situation is “unacceptable” for UK taxpayer, says industry official

  14th March 2024

  While the head of the Royal Air Force admits the ongoing issues with the service's ability to train its fighter pilots, no concrete plans were put in place to resolve the problem. What steps could the RAF take to ensure the readiness of its pilot force for future challenges?

• Air Warfare

  Will air forces in the Middle East look to new sources for advanced equipment?

  29th December 2023

  Amid a tense strategic situation and the absence of advanced indigenous products, Gulf Cooperation Council states have come to be regarded as a priority export destination for most new air, land or sea systems.

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2023: GMS demos AI-powered X9 Spider manpack

  19th October 2023

  General Micro Systems' solution merges battlefield processing of video, sensors, data and comms with mobile artificial intelligence capabilities.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• AEW&C

  GlobalEye (1-3) [UAE]

  Programme Background The GlobalEye is a modification of Bombardier's Global 6000 jet aircraft fitted with the S-band Erieye Extended Range (ER) radar and mission system ...

• OPVs

  OPVs Procurement [Greece]

  Programme Background Requirements According to the RFI issued in late 2022, the Hellenic Coast Guard is seeking to procure two new OPVs. The vessels are ...

• ISR/special mission

  MC-27J - Algeria

  Programme Background Algeria has a long standing ISR aircraft requirement to support its Beech 1900 fleet comprised of six aircraft. The new ISR fleet is ...

• Amphibious assault ships, Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Landing Platform Docks [India]

  Programme Background Requirements The LPD tender, although more akin to an LHD, specifies that the quartet of ships must be built within India, although collaboration ...

• Landing platform docks/dock landing ships

  Landing Platform Dock-Qatar

  Programme Background Close to a €4 billion ($4.67 billion) contract was awarded to Fincantieri in June 2016 for the construction of seven surface vessels, including the four ...

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

  Anka-S (First Batch) [Turkey]

  Programme Background Orders In February 2018, TAI announced that it had delivered the first Anka-S UAVs to the Turkish Air Force. In late 2018, Savunmasanay ...

• Submarines: conventional, attack

  Isaac Peral Class (S-80A Plus) [Spain]

  Programme Background The S-80A SSK design for the Spanish Navy is based on the Franco-Spanish S-80 Scorpene design that both countries decided to cooperate on ...

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

  Anka-S [Chad]

  Programme Background Hurkus Trainer Aircraft On 10 July 2023, President General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno visited an air base to inspect the country's new Hurkus trainer ...

• ISR/special mission

  E-6 TACAMO Recapitalisation Programme (E-XX) [USN]

  Programme Background The E-6 Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) Recapitalisation Programme (E-XX) provides for air vehicle replacement and mission systems modernization to augment and eventually ...

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

  Anka-S (Saudi Arabia)

  Programme Background Desired Procurement Saudi Arabia has reportedly been in negotiations to procure six Anka UAVs since 2013. It has not been disclosed which Anka ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  S-70i (Philippines)

  The Black Hawk is believed to have been the most expensive of the aircraft that had been shortlisted for the PAF project, others being the ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  EDA-S [France]

  Programme Background Following the announcement of the 14-ship contract, the DGA approved the design of the first two standard amphibious landing craft (EDA-S) in October 2019, ...

• Destroyers

  KDDX-S [South Korea]

  Programme Background Requirements During MADEX 2023, Naval News reported that there is an upcoming competition for new destroyers, namely the KDDX-S programme. According to the ...

• 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 ...

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

  Anka-S [El Salvador]

  Programme Background As reported by InfoDefensa in September 2023, The Salvadoran Air Force (FAS) is considering purchasing the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Anka-S and T625 Gokbey medium ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Sea: commercial shipping radar

  FAR-21x7

  FAR-21x7 is a series of S-band and X-band radars with a 19in LCD display unit. The family consists of FAR-2117 and FAR-2127 X-band radars and ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  DBR

  The Dual Band Radar (DBR) phased-array system works in both X- and S-bands simultaneously, coordinated by a resource manager. The system performs multiple functions automatically ...

• Data links

  S-band TDMA Airborne Data Link

  Multiple-participant airborne S-band TDMA data link with up to 400 slots/s. Transmission rate is up to 625Kb/s. As an example, a data link built for ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  Sea Fire Multi Function Radar

  The Sea Fire is a four-panel S-band 4D AESA radar developed by Thales and unveiled in 2014. This S-band radar is designed to outfit vessels displacing ...

• Data links

  CMDL

  The Compact Multi-band Data Link (CMDL) operates in the Ku-, C-, L- or S-band, using both analogue and digital waveforms. It is interoperable with military ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  THPR1055

  Triad THPR1055 is a four-channel, S-Band radio system designed for long-distance uncrewed C2 and data link applications in particular.

• Land: weather radar

  Defender S-band Series

  Magnetron- and Klystron-powered Defender S-band series weather radars are designed and engineered with an output of 850kW to 1,000kW, which the company claims is the ...

• Major networking projects

  TST 111/X

  The TST 111/X X-band transportable satellite terminal provides voice and data communications through FDMA PAMA channels at 256kb/s (2Mb/s as an option) maximum. The outdoor ...

• Data links

  TIGDL-II

  Tactical Interoperable Ground Data Link (TIGDL)-II is described as a transportable TDL surface terminal that supports military operations by providing a full duplex ground capability ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  CENK

  CENK is a S-band AESA radar developed by Aselsan. It is optimized for medium-to-long-range high-altitude air and surface surveillance and target designation.

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  SPY-6(V)1

  The SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) is the next-generation S-band radar system that will equip the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Flight III.

• Land: weather radar

  Defender X200

  EEC’s shorter wavelength X-band weather radar is designed to be able to detect smaller particles such as high-altitude water droplets or light snow. The size ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar, Sea: surveillance system radar

  SharpEye

  The SharpEye radar is available in S- and X-band configurations. In the former, the radar has a peak output power of 200W and an average ...

• Data links

  Naval TDMA Data Link Management Unit

  The multiple-participant naval TDMA data link updates a ship’s C2 via existing radios (HF, VHF, UHF, L- and S-band) and INMARSAT. The Data Link Update ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  EL/M-2238 STAR

  EL/M-2238 Surveillance Threat Alert Radar (STAR) is an S-band, pulse-Doppler, 3D, surface and air search radar for naval platforms. The STAR has three antenna variants: ...