• Defence Notes

  Norway unveils strategic investment plan

  21st April 2020

  The Norwegian government has announced a new long-term strategic development plan for its armed forces, with an emphasis on greater investment in upgrades and new …

• Naval Warfare

  Russia to carry out second test-firing of hypersonic missile

  6th April 2020

  Russia is planning to carry out the second test-firing of its Tsirkon hypersonic missile in April or May 2020 according to Defence Ministry sources. The …

• Land Warfare

  Moscow parade to feature TOS-2 Tosochka debut

  1st April 2020

  The TOS-2 Tosochka thermobaric MLRS is scheduled to make its first public appearance at the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May. The …

• Naval Warfare

  USS Delaware joins USN fleet

  6th April 2020

  The USN commissioned USS Delaware (SSN-791) on 4 April, welcoming it as the 18th Virginia-class attack submarine in the fleet. The vessel has been designed …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sikorsky demonstrates air-to-air refuelling of CH-53K

  14th April 2020

  Sikorsky has reported that a CH-53K King Stallion naval helicopter has completed an air-to-air refuelling test which took place above the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia with …

• Naval Warfare

  HII gains submarine research contract

  5th March 2020

  The USN on 4 March awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) a $7.5 million modification to an earlier contract for engineering and technical design efforts on …

• Naval Warfare

  COVID-19 exposes USN fault lines

  23rd April 2020

  Worldwide disruption continues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the global response imposing many changes to normal routines and activity. For armed forces …

• Defence Notes

  Germany tells of no ‘substantial’ changes to future procurement targets

  24th March 2020

  The German MoD and industrial base are reporting that key domestic procurements continue to run as scheduled, although the outbreak of COVID-19 is causing catastrophic international operational …

• Naval Warfare

  Shutdown impacts launch of second Italian PPA patrol vessel

  7th April 2020

  As widely expected, the scheduled launch of the second-in-class PPA (Pattugliatori Polivalenti d'Altura) patrol vessel Francesco Morosini has slipped due to the COVID-19 pandemic and …

• Land Warfare

  Australian Army creates new office to manage disruptive technology

  31st March 2020

  The Australian Army has established a new management office with an initial annual budget of A$5 million ($3.6 million), as it pursues the accelerated adoption of disruptive technologies. …

• Naval Warfare

  South Korea installs HUSS to protect ports

  3rd April 2020

  South Korea has finished installing a new indigenously developed surveillance system that can monitor ports against threats such as surface vessels, submarines, submersibles, divers or …

• Naval Warfare

  HII set to build next USN amphibious transport dock

  6th April 2020

  Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has been awarded a $1.5 billion fixed-price-incentive modification to a previous contract for the construction of an amphibious transport dock LPD …

• Naval Warfare

  Black Sea Fleet frigates conduct Mediterranean exercises

  1st April 2020

  Three Admiral Grigorivich-class frigates from the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet (BSF) carried out a training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. The drill involved the …

• Naval Warfare

  West Africa accounts for 36% of global piracy, robbery-at-sea incidents in Q1 2020

  10th April 2020

  In the first quarter of 2020 a total of 60 instances of armed robbery and piracy were recorded by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), with …

• Naval Warfare

  Construction of Australia’s third Arafura-class OPV begins in WA

  31st March 2020

  The construction of the third Arafura-class OPV for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has begun at the Civmec shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia. It is the …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Submarines: nuclear, attack

  PROSUB - SSN [Brazil]

  Programme Background Following the successful delivery of the four Riachuelo-class SSK, which is due to all enter service between 2020 and 2023, the construction of ...

• 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 ...

• Naval: Combat Management Systems

  Naval: Combat Management Systems | Light Replenishment Oiler (T-AOL) [USN]

  The US Navy wants to procure a new class of medium-sized supply ships aimed at refuelling, rearming, and resupplying naval assets. The Navy’s proposed FY2025 budget requests $7.7 ...

• Naval: shipboard communication systems

  Naval: shipboard communication systems | Light Replenishment Oiler (T-AOL) [USN]

  The US Navy wants to procure a new class of medium-sized supply ships aimed at refuelling, rearming, and resupplying naval assets. The Navy’s proposed FY2025 budget requests $7.7 ...

• Sealift/replenishment vessels

  Polar Support Vessel [Brazil]

  Programme Background Requirements In June 2020, the Brazilian Navy released a Request for Proposal (RfP) to procure a new Antarctic vessel to be manufactured in Brazil. The ...

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

  Naval Collaborative Combat Air Vehicle (N-CCAV) [India]

  Programme Background CATS Warrior The Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) is a planned, uncrewed and crewed family of aircraft in development by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  Command Insertion Craft (CIC) [UK]

  Programme Background Requirements The Royal Navy is seeking a replacement for its fleet of LVPs Mk5 amphibious landing craft. The vessels entered service in the ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Project Mosquito [UK]

  Programme Background Inception and Capabilities In 2019, in collaboration with the RAF, the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) released details of its new UAS ...

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

  High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) [Thailand]

  Programme Background Roadmap In February 2024, the RTAF unveiled its White Paper 2024. Incorporating lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israel-Hamas War, and other events ...

• Loitering munitions, Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Air Launched Effects (ALE) [UK]

  Programme Background Acquisition Pipeline First published on 13 June 2022, the Acquisition Pipeline is a forward look at potential procurement activity undertaken by the UK MoD.  ...

• Aircraft carriers

  CVX (South Korea)

  Programme Background Requirements HHI was awarded a contract for the conceptual design of the LPX-II in October 2019. The project now aims to build a ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

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

  Hybrid Tiger

  Manufactured by the Naval Research Laboratory, the Hybrid Tiger is an electric UAV. As its name suggests, the platform features a hybrid power generation unit. ...

• Air: UAS radar

  RASAR

  The real-time, autonomous, synthetic aperture radar (RASAR) is a self-contained radar designed for installation under the wing of UAS for counter-IED and FOPEN (Foliage Penetration) missions. It is ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  SA-400 Jackal

  The SA-400 Jackal is a heavy-payload-capability, long-endurance VTOL UAS that had its first flight in 2013. It is an optionally piloted vehicle, so it can ...

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

  Outlaw SeaHunter

  Outlaw UAVs are used by military and research agencies for training, testing, data collection and system development. In the 114-137kg maximum take-off weight class, SeaHunter ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  ShadowHawk

  The ShadowHawk is a VTOL UAV that can be transported and launched/recovered within a small area. The ShadowHawk is able to maintain aerial surveillance at ...

• Air: EO/IR – Jamming Systems

  AN/AAQ-45

  Leonardo’s AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasures is designed to equip rotorcraft. The system is being installed on Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk medium-lift utility helicopters used ...

• Air-launched ASW torpedoes, Ship-launched torpedoes

  Shyena/TAL

  Shyena, also known as TAL (The Advanced Light Torpedo), is an Indian lightweight anti-submarine torpedo developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (affiliated to ...

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

  Havoc

  Havoc is a MALE modular payload UAS designed for customers with varying missions and payload requirements. Features include tool-less assembly, rolling take-off and landing and ...

• Military - USVs

  MAST

  The Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST) was developed by ASV Global and Roke Manor Research under funding from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It ...

• Subsystems: software

  SWARM

  CHI Systems worked with Lockheed Martin on a programme for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to build software models that imitate human behaviour, and ...

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

  Bat

  Northrop Grumman is developing the Bat family of medium-altitude, multi-mission UAS. The company announced two variants of the UAS (3.7m and 4.3m) and a rotary-wing ...

• Light UGVs

  Dragon Runner

  The Dragon Runner UGV, manufactured by QinitiQ, has two versions: the Dragon Runner 10 (DR10) and the slightly larger Dragon Runner 20 (DR20). All Dragon ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  CLS-200

  The CLS-200 is part of the Yates Electrospace Corporation Silent Arrow family. It is a powered cargo-carrying one-use UAV, based on the company's GD-2000 glider.  In ...

• Light UGVs

  Jackal

  Launched in September 2014, Clearpath Robotics' Jackal is a small, portable, integrated and weatherproof UGV. It has been built on a metal chassis and has four wheels ...

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

  Skate

  The Skate is a small, man-packable VTOL UAV designed for performing short-range ISR at the tactical level. A thrust-vectoring system provides a near-VTOL capability, enabling ...