• Digital Battlespace

  Taiwan offers new night vision scope

  10th October 2016

  Forever Plus Corp, a Taiwanese company, has begun marketing a new lightweight, multifunctional digital night vision scope.  The company describes the FPC-NVP300 as the ‘most …

• Defence Helicopter

  Enhanced Fire Scouts reach Southeast Asia

  17th October 2016

  USS Coronado, an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), arrived in Singapore on 16 October with two enhanced Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scouts and a Sikorsky …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Euronaval 2016: Elbit Systems showcase maritime solutions

  12th October 2016

  Israeli OEM Elbit Systems will showcase its range of ISR and maritime security solutions at the upcoming Euronaval defence exhibition, running from 17-21 October.  A …

• Digital Battlespace

  Euronaval 2016: Software boost for SPx radar

  14th October 2016

  Cambridge Pixel has enhanced its SPx radar tracking software with new modelling algorithms to support the detection and tracking of very small targets. The new …

• Digital Battlespace

  Belarus unveils new air surveillance radar

  14th October 2016

  The Belarus state-owned company SPLLC OKB TSP has made the first public presentation of its new RLS-50 3D air surveillance mobile radar.  This has been …

• Naval Warfare

  India opens Naval Air Enclave

  11th October 2016

  A new Naval Air Enclave (NAE) has been opened at Cochin International Airport (CIAL), India, the national Ministry of Defence announced on 5 October. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Euronaval 2016: Thales introduce new USV/AUV hybrid

  17th October 2016

  As Europe’s largest maritime and naval defence show gets underway Thales have been among the first of the major exhibitors to unveil a new system …

• Digital Battlespace

  Russian reconnaissance radar launched

  13th October 2016

  The Russian MoD has completed testing and evaluation on a new radar called Pika-M and has started production. Built by Russia’s United Instrument-Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC), …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Sentient, Insitu to demonstrate ViDAR

  12th October 2016

  Sentient and Insitu will demonstrate the ViDAR wide area autonomous detection system on the ScanEagle UAS at the British Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior demonstration, Sentient …

• Land Warfare

  AUSA 2016: DRS develops IR sensor for ground vehicles

  11th October 2016

  DRS Technologies is to develop a two-colour infrared sensor for ground combat vehicles under a $41.6 million cost-plus-incentive fee contract from the US Army. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Northrop to build more MQ-8Cs

  3rd October 2016

  Northrop Grumman will build ten more MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopters for the US Navy, the company announced on 29 September. This will take the …

• Naval Warfare

  First Australian P-8A Poseidon accepted

  3rd October 2016

  Boeing has rolled-out the first Australian P-8A Poseidon aircraft in Seattle, Washington, US, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) announced on 28 September. The aircraft, …

• Defence Helicopter

  31st MEU aviators soar in Philippines

  10th October 2016

  Much is being written about maritime tensions in the South China Sea, but for pilots of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) of the USMC …

• Defence Notes

  ADAS 2016: Thales eyes land and naval sector (video)

  28th September 2016

  Benoit Nalin, Philippines country director at Thales, talks to Shephard about the systems the company is offering in the land and naval sector and those on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Bravura awarded aerostat management contract

  29th September 2016

  Bravura Information Technology Systems has been awarded a $305.7 million contract by the US Army for operation, maintenance and sustainment of its aerostats, it announced …

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 ...