• Naval Warfare

  Turkey’s ASFAT on track to deliver first Hisar OPV in 2024

  2nd December 2023

  While outfitting activities on the first two Hisar-class OPVs have been advancing at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, discussions for additional platforms continue.

• Naval Warfare

  Australian navy receives final Bluebottle USV

  13th June 2023

  Australia's navy now has in its hands all five USVs that it ordered from a Sydney innovator and manufacturer.

• Land Warfare

  Supacat and NP Aerospace deliver lightweight recovery vehicles to British Army

  28th July 2023

  Supacat and NP Aerospace have this week delivered lightweight recovery vehicles to the British Army as part of the PMETS contract, addressing the off-road recovery needs of high mobility transport vehicles.

• Defence Helicopter

  Boeing secures $271 million to advance modernisation of US Special Operations' MH-47G Chinook

  11th December 2023

  Boeing has clinched a major contract modification to further its backing of the US Special Operations Command’s MH-47G Chinook aircraft modernisation effort.

• Air Warfare

  Dubai Airshow 2023: EDGE Group acquires majority stake in Swiss VTOL company

  6th November 2023

  The announcement came ahead of Dubai Airshow 2023 where EDGE will showcase ANAVIA's VTOL solutions brought into its portfolio through the acquisition of a majority shareholding in the Swiss company.

• Digital Battlespace

  Lockheed Martin joins radar research consortium ahead of Finland’s F-35 procurement

  22nd November 2023

  Lockheed Martin and VTT will lead a consortium of Finnish defence and technology companies to develop signals intelligence technologies for the F-35 and other defence applications.

• Air Warfare

  Ukraine fields 5,000 homegrown drones amid Iran's debut of advanced Shahed-238 UAV

  24th November 2023

  Amid escalating tensions and technological advancements in drone warfare, Ukraine has reinforced its front lines with a delivery of 5,000 indigenous drones, paralleled by Iran's revelation of the new jet-powered Shahed-238.

• Air Warfare

  Canada orders 14 Poseidon P-8A maritime patrol aircraft

  1st December 2023

  Canada will purchase 14 Boeing P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft to replace its ageing CP-140 Aurora fleet, joining Australia, New Zealand, US and UK as an operator of the aircraft type.

• Defence Notes

  Ukraine and Taiwan? What the US will spend Biden's extra 40.1 billion defence dollars on

  23rd August 2023

  The additional budget proposal addresses critical needs for emergency funding for the Pentagon, partners and allies.

• Land Warfare

  Norway set to order NASAMS to replace systems donated to Ukraine

  16th November 2023

  National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) was originally developed by Norway's Kongsberg and Raytheon to meet the requirements of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

• Air Warfare

  India looks to produce additional LCA Mk1A fighters

  30th August 2023

  India has dug a hole for itself because of incessant delays in fighter procurements. Building more Tejas fighters might alleviate the situation.

• Air Warfare

  Slovenia secures second C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft

  23rd November 2023

  A new agreement between Leonardo, the Italian government and Slovenia has marked the procurement of a second C-27J Spartan medium tactical transport aircraft for Slovenia, following an earlier deal signed in March 2022.

• Land Warfare

  Swiss join new-generation Patriot missile club

  1st November 2023

  US officials have finalised an agreement for Switzerland to buy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles.

• Air Warfare

  US Air Force XQ-58A Valkyrie completes AI-powered test flight

  4th August 2023

  Developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Valkyrie's AI and machine learning agents demonstrated their capability to solve tactically relevant challenges during airborne operations.

• Air Warfare

  JetZero receives $235 million from the US Air Force to develop fuel-efficient blended-wing aircraft

  18th August 2023

  JetZero has won a $235 million award from USAF to accelerate the development of its blended-wing body aircraft which promises a 50% reduction in fuel burn and emissions.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Light attack, Trainer

  PC-21 (Project Air 5428) [Australia]

  The new PTS, including aircraft, flight training simulators and learning environments is being acquired from a single capability contractor, Team 21, which consists of Lockheed ...

• Transport, Transport/tanker aircraft

  Project Air 7404 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement Australia is thinking ahead to an enlarged transport fleet to replace the current C-130Js. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was the second ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-35A (Project Air 6000 Phase 2A/B) [Australia]

  Programme Background The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took delivery of 18 F-35A aircraft as of March 2020 and the remaining aircraft are expected to ...

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

  Loyal Wingman [Australia]

  Background Older Efforts On 23 April 2021, the US State Department's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) approval announcement revealed that Australia had requested to buy up ...

• Data links

  Data links | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  Air: Helmet-mounted displays | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Hawk 127 Replacement (Future Lead-In Fighter Training System- Project Air 6002 PH1) [Australia]

  In June 2020, Australia issued a Request for Information (RfI) for a Future Lead-In Fighter Training System (LIFTS) in a requirement called Project Air 6002 Phase ...

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

  Project Vixen [UK]

  Programme Background Project Goal The Royal Navy uses Leonardo crewed Merlin (AW101) helicopters fitted with CROWSNEST pods to provide airborne early warning capabilities for carriers. An early ...

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

  Project Air 7003 [Australia]

  Programme Background Requirement The Royal Australian Air Force has been without a UAS capability since the Heron was withdrawn in mid-2017. According to Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) [USN]

  Programme Background Requirement The USN wants to acquire carrier-capable loyal wingman drones. These drones will have a high level of autonomy, allowing them to work alongside crewed ...

• Patrol boats

  Evolved Cape Class (11-12) [Australia]

  Programme Background Austal was awarded a contract to build six 'Evolved'Cape-class patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on 1 May 2020 (see separate ...

• OPVs

  Arafura Class (Project SEA 1180) (1-6) [Australia]

  Programme Background Australia's new class of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), the Arafura-class, will replace the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) fleet of Armidale and Cape-class patrol ...

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

  MQ-28 Ghost Bat [Australia]

  Background Goal As stated by the Head of Air Force Capability, Air Vice-Marshal Robert Denney, in March 2022, the Ghost Bat will be an "operational system ...

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

  MQ-4C Triton (Option) [Australia]

  Programme Background Four Contracted Units In the summer of 2020, Northrop Grumman announced that the Australian Government provided $333 million for three MQ-4C Tritons and associated ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: Integrated Defensive Systems

  Air-5416 Project Echidna

  Air-5416 Project Echidna was an initiative launched in 2001 by BAE Systems for the Australian DoD. Its goal was to overhaul the self protection systems ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  Australian Defence Force MRH90 Training

  As prime contractor for the ADF's MRH90 training programme, CAE has provided two MRH90 full-flight mission simulators (FFMS), training facilities and engineering and support services. ...

• Trainer

  King Air trainer

  Textron / Beechcraft King Air trainers are a family twin-engine aircraft based on King Air 90, 100, 200 and 350 utility aircraft. The King Air ...

• AMAS

  AMAS – Australian Minesweeping System – was developed with the assistance of the Defence Science & Technology Organisation and the Royal Australian Navy. It adopts ...

• Air: air combat simulators

  RAAF Hawk Mk 127 FMS

  Under subcontract to BAE Systems, CAE is designing and manufacturing three Hawk Mk 127 full-mission simulators (FMS) for the Royal Australian Air Force that will ...

• Air: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  NGJ

  Raytheon's Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) was selected by the USN in 2013 to replace the legacy ALQ-99 systems used on the EA-18G electronic attack aircraft. ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  AN/ALQ-210

  Lockheed Martin’s AN/ALQ-210 is an Electronic Support Measure (ESM) outfitting the Sikorsky MH-60R Romeo naval support helicopter. The manufacturer’s official literature says that the product ...

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

  Wanderer

  The Wanderer is a low-altitude, low-cost, long-endurance UAV produced in-house by the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Jericho Disruptive Innovation Group and the Australian Government's Defense Science ...

• Light attack

  Hawk 200

  The Hawk 200 is a single-seat light attack iteration of the Hawk 100 (see separate entry) and Advanced Jet Trainer or AJT (see separate entry). ...

• Maritime patrol

  Challenger 604

  Bombardier Challenger CL-604 MPAs are in service with the Royal Danish Air Force and the Korea Coast Guard. The first of three Danish aircraft entered ...

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

  MQ-28A Ghost Bat

  The MQ-28A Ghost Bat is a loyal wingman type MALE fixed-wing drone being developed by Boeing Defence Australia. Its development began in 2013 and took its first ...

• Air: UAV simulators

  Predator Mission Trainer (PMT)

  The CAE Predator Mission Trainer (PMT) is an integrated platform that combines the features of CAE's UAS mission trainer with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Predator-specific ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  AN/ALR-2001

  BAE Systems’ AN/ALR-2001 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) is thought to be based on Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Elta Systems division’s EL/M-8382 ESM. The AN/ALR-2001 is ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Phantom 4 (Series)

  Designed for aerial photograph applications by DJI, the Phantom 4 series of UAVs includes the Phantom 4 Pro, Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, Phantom 4 Advanced ...

• Submarine-launched torpedoes

  Mk 48 Mod 7AT CBASS

  The MK 48 MOD 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) is the latest variant of the Mk 48 torpedo family manufactured by Lockheed Martin and ...