• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Blackjack nears IOC on US Navy decks

  22nd January 2018

  Insitu is gearing up for IOC of its RQ-21A Blackjack with the US Navy in the second quarter of 2018 with FOC commencing in the …

• Naval Warfare

  ADECS 2018: India’s silent arm progresses…slowly

  24th January 2018

  Having initiated its 30-year submarine-building plan two decades ago to raise operational and indigenous construction capabilities, modernisation of the Indian Navy (IN) underwater fleet has …

• Naval Warfare

  Leonardo to lead OCEAN2020 project

  17th January 2018

  Leonardo has been awarded the tender for the European Defence Fund’s OCEAN2020 initiative, the company announced on 12 January. The project aims to use unmanned …

• Special Operations

  ViaSat signs USSOCOM contract

  15th January 2018

  ViaSat has been awarded an IDIQ contract with US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) for mission networking and communications equipment, sustainment and support services, the company …

• Naval Warfare

  ADECS 2018: Piracy report released

  23rd January 2018

  A new annual international piracy report issued by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) under the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and covering 2017, indicated that …

• Digital Battlespace

  European Space Agency to launch quantum satellites

  16th January 2018

  The European Space Agency (ESA) and its industrial partners are planning to launch two quantum key distribution satellites at the beginning of next decade, and …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Loitering munition systems put to the test

  8th January 2018

  Israeli company UVision Air continues to mature its portfolio of Hero loitering systems as its steps up development and testing of its loitering munitions. In …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  ScanEagle aids disaster recovery missions

  4th December 2017

  Insitu's ScanEagle UAS has taken part in disaster recovery and fire suppression missions in California, Oregon and Texas, the company announced on 28 November. Insitu's …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Sagetech supports UAS civil airspace flight

  27th December 2017

  Sagetech’s XPC-TR-50 Mode C transponder has been used by PAE ISR to demonstrate the capability of its Resolute Eagle UAS to fly in controlled civil …

• Digital Battlespace

  Japan considers EW aircraft and greater offensive capabilities

  2nd January 2018

  Japan’s MoD is considering the acquisition of electronic warfare (EW) aircraft to blunt enemy air defences and command networks, with several jets to be procured …

• Defence Notes

  Opinion: India faces fallout on Chinese border

  20th December 2017

  For 73 days from June-August, Indian and Chinese troops faced off across the Himalayas in the worst border confrontation in years. At Doklam, an unremarkable …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Williams, Airbus sign MoU for Zephyr

  21st December 2017

  Airbus Defence and Space has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Williams Advanced Engineering to explore potential areas of technological collaboration, the company announced …

• Defence Notes

  Lockheed Martin LRASM in new test firing

  20th December 2017

  Lockheed Martin has test fired production-configuration Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) from a US Air Force B-1B bomber. The test - conducted over the sea …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Tethered UAS sought by UK MoD

  19th December 2017

  The UK MoD is looking to procure 14 tethered UAS platforms for use at its sites, supplying elevated ISR capabilities for a minimum endurance of …

• Digital Battlespace

  GA-EMS receives ARGOS contract

  13th December 2017

  General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has received a contract from Advanced Technology International for the Army Resilient Global on-the-move SATCOM (ARGOS), the company announced on …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• 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 ...

• ISR/special mission

  C-208B ISR [Tunisia]

  Programme Background Requirement The acquisition of the C-208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft is part of Tunisia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its ISR capabilities in response ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER -Canada

  Programme Background Canadian Special Forces was looking to procure ISR aircraft to support their missions both overseas and domestically.  There were few Canadian suppliers to sell ...

• ISR/special mission

  King Air 350ER ISR - Kuwait

  Feb 2018: The US State Department has approved an estimated $259m potential foreign military sale of King Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft ...

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

  Long-Endurance UAV [US AFRICOM]

  Programme Background Ageing MQ-9A Reapers In November 2022, Shephard reported that GA-ASI would continue supporting contractor SMX with its MQ-9A after winning a $2.3 billion task ...

• ISR/special mission

  Shadow R1 [UK]

  Programme Background The RAF is moving forward with an ambitious plan to transform its intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) force to enable greater ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  ISR Civilian-Made UAVs [Taiwan]

  Background Civilian-made, Military-specification As reported by Shephard, to accelerate the acquisition process and urgently create a larger UAV inventory, Taipei is enlisting the help of the ...

• Military UAS - small

  Black Hornet 3 PRS (UK)

  Programme Background The British Army operated approximately 160 first-generation Black Hornet PD-100 nano UAS between 2013 and 2017, when the decision was made to retire ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  SW-4

  The SW-4 is aimed at the basic and advanced pilot training, troop transport and ISR missions. Its Polish designation is Puszczyk. The SW-4s are based ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  A-29 Super Tucano Afghanistan

  Media reports suggest that with the hourly cost of $1000, the A-29 is a successful platform for counter-insurgency missions. Its operational capability from unprepared airstrips, ...

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

  ISR Drones (First Batch) (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background First Batch On 20 March 2024, Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defence of the Netherlands, announced that, following a 19 March Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting, ...

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

  Drone Action Plan (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background APOS On 6 October 2024, the Dutch Minister of Defense, Ruben Brekelmans, visited Kharkiv and Kyiv. During his visit to Ukraine, he announced a new ...

• Maritime patrol

  Multi-Mission Aircraft (Canada - Option)

  Programme Background Canadian Air Force is operating 15 C-3P (Canadian designation CP-140) special mission aircraft in service. They were acquired between 1980-91 and expected to ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Ukrainian Drones (Ukraine Aid) [Netherlands]

  Programme Background Military Package On 5 March 2025, the Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced the Netherlands would reserve €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) to continue ...

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

  V-Bat [Netherlands]

  Background Contract Award On 9 July 2025, Shield AI announced that the Netherlands MoD had acquired eight V-Bat, specifically the V-Bat 400, aircraft to enhance the maritime intelligence, surveillance ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Silent Falcon

  The Silent Falcon is a solar-electric sUAS with long-endurance capabilities for extended-range missions. The UAS can be used for commercial and military applications. The entire ...

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

  ULTRA

  The Unmanned Long-endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft (ULTRA) is a fixed-wing drone from DZYNE Technologies.  It is described as a long-endurance, GPS-harded intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platform with full ...

• DT18 Airframe

  The DT18 is a civilian UAV with approval for BVLOS operations by the French Civil Aviation Authority. Its applications include linear infrastructure monitoring, precision agriculture ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Jackal

  The Jackal is a small UAV manufactured by FLY BVLOS, Flyby Technology and Maxwell Innovations. The system features a plug-and-play system, meaning new equipment and technologies can be ...

• Freya

  An easy-to-use system which requires minimal training, Freya can be operated in difficult situations and weather conditions, including strong winds and mountainous areas. A tracker ...

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

  Delta

  The Delta is a UAV with a VTOL capability before rotating and operating as a conventional fixed-wing aircraft when airborne.  Manufactured by Fly BVLOS, Nigeria was expected ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Indago

  Indago is a small quadrotor UAV with VTOL. It is equipped with a large-screen handset and is marketed as 'whisper-quiet' with a noise level of ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AIMS-ISR

  AIMS-ISR is a software package used to process the video footage and data gathered from the cameras and other sensors fitted to airborne, ground-based and ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Ageon ISR

  Ageon ISR is a multi-INT C2/PED solution supporting cross-domain collection, ingestion, processing, exploitation and dissemination from tactical units to the global enterprise and cloud. Ageon ...

• UAS: communication systems

  muLTElink

  Produced by uAvionix, the muLTElink is a multiple-link airborne radio system designed for uncrewed platforms in particular. It combines C-Band, LTE, ISM and Viasat L-Band communications, ...

• Air: UAS radar

  EchoFlight

  The Echoflight radar by Echodyne is a Lightweight Metamaterials ESA (MESA®), a Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) 4D radar designed for mid-sized UAVs flying below the visual line of sight (BVLOS) ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  DrN-15 (series)

  The DrN-15 is a hexacopter mini-UAV from ST Engineering. The platform is highly customizable and can carry various payloads depending on a user's requirements.  All DrN ...

• AR100C

  The AR100C is a quadcopter UAV designed for surveillance and reconnaissance missions at low-altitude BVLOS during day and night operations. The system is an improved ...

• Indago 2

  Lockheed Martin's Indago 2 UAS is designed to be programmed and integrated into existing systems and work processes for a range of applications. The folding, ...

• Foremost UAS Range

  The Foremost UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Range is an area of restricted airspace, located near the village of Foremost, for UAS research and development or ...