• Defence Notes

  Military assistance to Ukraine ramps up as winter approaches

  30th November 2022

  The past 14 days have seen another wave of announcements of military assistance for Ukraine, including support from the US, UK, Norway and Germany.

• Defence Helicopter

  US joins NATO allies in European helicopter air assault exercise

  22nd November 2022

  American, Dutch and Polish rotary-wing assets were involved in large-scale operations practising cargo and personnel transport and drops, and other operations.

• Defence Notes

  The 5 most significant defence notes stories of 2022

  29th December 2022

  The year 2022 saw dramatic changes in the international security landscape. These top 5 defence notes stories highlight the journey, from the UK to Ukraine.

• Air Warfare

  US donates helicopters to El Salvador for peacekeeping mission

  4th November 2022

  El Salvador's military has received four MD 530 helicopters as part of a US State Department donation to support the Central American country's United Nations commitments in Mali.

• Training

  US awards helicopter training contracts for domestic and international programmes

  4th November 2022

  The US Navy has awarded contracts for training equipment to support the USMC's CH-53K programme and the Czech Republic's UH-1Y and AH-1Z fleets.

• Training

  UK Wildcat helicopter weapons training and digitisation reaches next stage

  8th November 2022

  The Wildcat Integrated Support and Training programme has reached its next stage with implementation of a Weapons Loading System trainer at the Royal Navy's Yeovilton base. The MoD is also experimenting with digitisation of the AW159 Wildcat helicopter.

• Air Warfare

  Australia double dips on C-130J transport replacement

  1st November 2022

  Lockheed Martin's C-130J has been promulgated as the Royal Australian Air Force's preferred choice to replace the current Super Hercules fleet.

• Air Warfare

  Rafael and Hensoldt to go after German Typhoon EW ambitions

  20th October 2022

  Rafael and Hensoldt's existing capabilities could support the German Air Force's decision to adopt the Eurofighter as an electronic attack platform with IOC in 2028.

• Defence Helicopter

  Demand for MH-60R helicopter 'never higher', Lockheed Martin says

  27th October 2022

  Norway, Sweden and Spain are three European countries interested in buying the US MH-60R maritime helicopter.

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2022: HII enhances human-machine teaming training for US Army

  9th December 2022

  HII’s crewed-uncrewed teaming training system has been tested with the US Army’s Apache, but it can operate with any autonomous system with the right equipment to receive data.

• Defence Helicopter

  Northrop Grumman expands knowledge base for UH-60V digital helicopter cockpit

  24th November 2022

  Northrop Grumman will provide UH-60V Black Hawk engineering support services as part of a KBR-led contract awarded by the DoD Information Analysis Center.

• Training

  Boeing raises HATS for Australian helicopter pilots

  21st September 2022

  Training of helicopter pilots and aircrew continues apace for the Australian navy and army at Nowra.

• Training

  Jordan boosts helicopter training with Bell 505

  3rd November 2022

  The Royal Jordanian Air Force has agreed to acquire ten Model 505 training helicopters from Bell

• Air Warfare

  Bell V-280 Valor wins FLRAA Black Hawk replacement contract

  6th December 2022

  The US Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) contract awarded to Bell marks the US Army’s largest helicopter procurement in 40 years. Here is everything you need to know about the programme.

• Air Warfare

  KAI receives development contract for Korean marines' attack helicopter

  2nd November 2022

  KAI's contract to develop a home-grown marine attack helicopter for South Korea's marine corps means the service will not field a dedicated tandem-seat design such as the Apache or Viper.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  H225M - France

  Programme Background In April 2021, the French government signed a deal for the purchase of eight H225M Airbus helicopters to replace its ageing fleet of SA330 ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M [Ireland]

  Programme Background On 30 December 2024 Ireland announced a contract with Airbus for four new H145M helicopters to replace the Air Corps existing fleet of ...

• Military helicopters - light/training

  TH-73 Advanced Helicopter Training System - AHTS (TH-57 Replacement)

  Contenders for the competition included the Leonardo single engine TH-119 – a military variant of the AW119Kx – and Bell’s newly upgraded single engine 407GXi. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145 Helicopter [Honduras]

  Programme Background  The Honduran Government has purchased a total of four H145 Helicopters manufactured by Airbus to develop the armed forces preparedness against natural disasters ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Maritime Operations Helicopters

  The three maritime operations helicopters will be used for logistics and personnel transport, alongside transportation of PASKAL naval special forces in operations in the area. ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Bell 412EPI-Indonesia

  Programme Background PTDI is assembling Bell helicopters in its factory in Bandung.  The first Bell 412EPI was delivered to Indonesian Army on 29 December 2020 ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Kondor Naval Helicopters (Poland)

  Programme Background In 2018, the Polish MoD announced its requirement to purchase up to eight naval helicopters to replace in-service SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters. Polish ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Spain HT-29 Caiman (NH90 TTH) - Army First Batch

  HT-29 Caiman GSPAs (NH90 TTH) will be assembled at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Albacete and will replace AS332 Super Puma fleet in service. Even though ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101 [Poland]

  According to the media reports, Airbus couldn't provide a competitive offer for the programme due to the offset requirements.  The deliveries were to be completed ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  AH-X [Japan]

  There is no mention of the AH-X in the 2019-2023 Medium Term Defence Plan, so it is possible that the requirement has quietly been postponed. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H135 (UK)

  Programme BackgroundAirbus Helicopters UK announced on 2 February 2022 that it has won an order to provide five additional H135 twin-engine helicopters for the MoD. The ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  Ka-226T-India-Air Force

  An official contract announcement is expected during the Aero India 2021 exhibition in Bangalore, although negotiations have dragged on for more than five years and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M (Contracted) [Germany]

  Programme Background Previous Usage The German Armed Forces ordered 15 H145M helicopters, with the initial two delivered in December 2015, for the Kommando Spezialkräfte. These ...

• Military helicopters - maritime

  Naval Utility Helicopters (India)

  Programme Background The program will witness the formation of a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and another local or foreign manufacturer. In June ...

• Military helicopters - attack

  Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) First Batch (South Korea)

  Programme Background The LAH is the first time that the South Korean OEM has developed an armed helicopter. The project kicked off in June 2015, ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military helicopters - light/training, Military helicopters - multirole

  H135M

  The H135M (formerly known as the EC635 and also designated as H135) is a light utility variant of the EC135 twin-engine, multipurpose 3t helicopter. In ...

• Model 301 Fire Attack

  The Model 301 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters AS365-series helicopters.

• Model 316 Fire Attack

  The Model 316 is a belly tank/refill hose system for Airbus Helicopters H225 and AS332 L-series helicopters.

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H145M

  The H145M (formerly known as the EC645 T2) is the military version of the H145 medium-sized (3.7t) helicopter. It is marketed as a multi-role platform ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H175M

  The Airbus H175M is the military variant of the H175, a seven-tonne class aircraft powered by twin PT6C 67E engines. The civilian variants produced by Airbus ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Helionix

  The Helionix digital avionics suite was developed from the need for a more powerful avionics system with greater functions and computing capacity, alongside a user-friendly interface. ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  H215M

  The H215M (formerly the AS532 ALe) is the most recent addition to the Cougar family.  It is a medium-weight (9t-class), twin-engine helicopter, combining the AS532's ...

• Helicopter engines

  Arriel 2+/2D

  Unveiled in 2011, the Arriel 2+ is an upgrade of the Arriel 2 and is intended for single- and twin-engine helicopters. It incorporates a new ...

• AC67 Airbus Helicopters H135 interior

  Bucher has developed the AC67 medical interior for the Airbus Helicopters H135 in cooperation with ADAC Luftrettung.The lightweight, modular design features a floor with integrated ...

• Helicopter engines

  LTS101

  The LTS101 was first certified in 1975. Since then, over 2,100 engines have been delivered to customers worldwide, logging over 11 million service hours. The ...

• EO/IR systems

  Viviane

  Viviane is an out-of-production gyro-stabilised night and adverse weather observation system with missile sight.  Manufactured by Safran, it was fitted to French Army Gazelles. It contained a ...

• Air: mission management systems

  APM 2000

  The current generation of autopilots is the APM 2000 family, fitted on major worldwide platforms. The APM 2000 is based on an integrated digital computer. ...

• Air: Defensive Systems - Radar Warning Receivers

  EWR-99

  Dassault is not traditionally associated with electronic warfare subsystems, instead being equated with the manufacture of combat aircraft and business jets. Nonetheless, the company did, ...

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  H125M

  The H125M (formerly the AS550 B3e Fennec) is a military version of the civil H125. The helicopter has a reduced radar signature due to the use ...

• H160

  Airbus Helicopters unveiled a full-scale model of the H160 medium twin rotorcraft on 3 March 2015 at Heli-Expo. The utility helicopter, the first to be ...