• Naval Warfare

  Pentagon recalibrates USN fleet numbers but lacks updated force structure assessment

  26th June 2020

  US shipbuilders and Congress are anxiously awaiting details of the USN’s 30-year shipbuilding plan, which is already running five months late. This blueprint will propel …

• Air Warfare

  VIDEO: Progress continues with FVL

  28th April 2020

  The US Army initiated the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme in 2018 to develop a replacement for its attack and scout helicopters as part …

• Defence Helicopter

  USN orders more helmet display trackers for MH-60S crew

  25th June 2020

  The USN is ordering 76 more helmet display tracker systems, major assemblies, engineering services and support equipment from Elbit Systems of America. This sole-source procurement …

• Training

  USN outlines F/A-18 STE enhancements

  8th July 2020

  The USN has unveiled plans for its continued update of F/A-18 and EA-18G synthetic training equipment (STE) over the next four years. With all but …

• Land Warfare

  MBDA to lead industry team on LynkEUs

  1st July 2020

  MBDA is spearheading the development of a European BLoS network-enabled battlefield engagement capability, the manufacturer announced on 1 July. MBDA joins 13 partners and subcontractors …

• Defence Notes

  PODCAST: Updating the F/A-18 Super Hornet, European frigate programmes and all the news

  19th June 2020

  Welcome to Episode 24 of the second series of The Weekly Defence Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. Sign up to an early email alert …

• Land Warfare

  Poland embarks on quest for better VSHORAD

  2nd July 2020

  The Polish MoD Armament Inspectorate is procuring a new mobile very short range (VSHORAD) air defence system for the Polish Army under the Sona programme. …

• Land Warfare

  Slovak vehicle procurement faces a blurry future

  27th June 2020

  The new leadership in the Slovak MoD faces a series of hard decisions over many procurement programmes that are expected to change the posture of …

• Air Warfare

  Where is air warfare going in the 21st century?

  23rd July 2020

  Despite the tumultuous events of recent months, the global COVID-19 hiatus offers the chance to look ahead at the shape of air warfare as the …

• Defence Notes

  PODCAST: The future of unmanned ASW and special operations forces equipment priorities Part Two.

  12th June 2020

  Welcome to Episode 23 of the second series of The Weekly Defence Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more. Sign up to an early email alert …

• Air Warfare

  Japan to have world’s second-largest F-35 fleet

  10th July 2020

  The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in the US gave a green light on 9 July to a Japanese request to purchase 105 Lockheed Martin …

• Digital Battlespace

  European team seeks holy grail of unifying airborne EM systems

  17th June 2020

  More light can be shed on the European Defence Agency’s (EDA’s) CROWN initiative to develop a scalable, single architecture for airborne radar, EW and communications …

• Digital Battlespace

  ​NGG partners complete subsystem preliminary design review

  25th June 2020

  Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace have successfully completed the preliminary design review for first payload subsystem on the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Geosynchronous …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Greece holds firm on Israeli defence agreement amid annexation controversy

  3rd July 2020

  Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, the Greek Minister of National Defence, has told the country’s parliament that efforts to ratify a defence co-operation pact with Israel should not …

• Air Warfare

  Aurora to assist DARPA future aircraft design concept

  22nd June 2020

  Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences has been awarded a $7.11 million contract from DARPA for work on the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  The Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike (FVL-MS) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement The FVL-MS programme seeks to develop and acquire a family of systems, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, to replace rotary life aircraft utilised ...

• UAS: communication systems

  UAS: communication systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• UAS: flight control systems

  UAS: flight control systems | Project Proteus [UK]

  Project Proteus is an RN and Leonardo effort to design and develop an uncrewed helicopter demonstrator that could provide an innovative alternative to existing crewed ...

• Tiltrotors

  V-22 Osprey [Japan]

  Programme Background Procurement Contracts The Japanese government is the first export customer of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, having ordered 17 helicopters from the US across ...

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  MQ-8C Fire Scout (USA)

  Programme Background Timeline According to the Naval Air Systems Command, having first ordered the MQ-8B in 2009, the UAV has become a pillar of the ...

• Military UAS - small

  Heavy Lift Capability (UASHLC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirement & Objective The RN identified a requirement to acquire an RPAS to transport cargo and supplies between ships and personnel. When mature, it ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  MH-60R Seahawk (Saudi Arabia)

  The sale is aimed at improving Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats from enemy weapon systems, provide the capability to identify, engage ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Data links

  Data links | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  Air: Helmet-mounted displays | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | Future Naval Fighter China

  China is planning to deploy stealth naval fighter aircraft with vertical take-off landing capabilities to operate from Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)'s future Type 075A class ...

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Project Proteus [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The RN requires an uncrewed helicopter to test the viability of larger uncrewed aircraft for the RN, possibly providing an alternative to crewed ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - MALE, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL)

  Unveiled at KADEX 2024, the Korean Future Vertical Lift (KFVL) is a family of uncrewed helicopters from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Despite being in the ...

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

  Aerosonde Mk 4.8 HQ FTUAS

  From the Texton family of Aerosonde UAS, the Aerosonde Mk 4.8 Hybrid Quad (HQ) FTUAS is a tactical drone purpose-built to meet the US Army's Future Vertical Lift ...

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

  HQ-60

  Similarly to other platforms in the L3 Technologies Hybrid Quadrotor (HQ) and Fixed-Wing Rotator family (see separate entries) of VTOL fixed-wing UAVs, the HQ-60 has ...

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

  V-247 Vigilant

  The V-247 Vigilant is a tiltrotor UAV from Bell. Officially introduced in 2016, it features an open modular architecture and can host several payloads. These include ...

• Baby Shark 260

  The Foxtech Baby Shark 260 is a fixed-wing VTOL UAV for commercial and civil operations, which has four spar-mounted rotors to provide vertical lift, a pusher ...

• Air: Displays

  F-15 Replacement Vertical Situation Display

  BAE Systems Replacement Vertical Situation Display (RVSD) replaces the legacy VSD units on F-15E aircraft. The AMLCD display offers a larger display size and is compatible ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  X-Sight

  Elbit X-Sight is a developmental helmet-mounted display system designed for helicopters. According to the manufacturer, it will offer a high field of view and colour binocular ...

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

  H6 Poseidon

  Manufactured by Swarmly, the H6 Poseidon is a fixed-wing VTOL-capable UAV. The second largest member of the Poseidon family, the vertical lift is provided through ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Proteus

  Proteus is a technology demonstrator that Leonardo is developing in collaboration with the UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S;) Future Capabilities Group and the ...

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

  Veloce-15

  The ST Engineering Veloce-15 (V-15) is a hybrid fixed-wing UAV with four rotors for vertical lift and a tail-mounted two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal propulsion.  ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Bell 360 Invictus

  The Bell 360 Invictus is the company's prototype for the US Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme.  The helicopter features retractable weapon bays, two ...

• Military UGVs

  Avenger

  In January 2017, Med-Eng announced the launch of a new bomb disposal and tactical robot, called the Avenger, at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. ...

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

  Ultra

  The Ultra UAV, or HCMC, is a fixed-wing twin-engined cargo-carrying platform manufactured by Windracers. The platform is mainly aimed at the commercial market and has conducted trials ...

• EO/IR systems

  VLP-16

  Velodyne's VLP-16 Puck is a small and compact lidar that is power and performance optimised for usage across a variety of applications. This ranges from ...

• Nimbus 1800

  Foxtech's Nimbus 1800 is a tri-copter, lightweight, fixed-wing VTOL UAV designed for civilian and commercial mapping and inspection roles. It has a 2.8kg weight without ...