• Digital Battlespace

  Northrop Grumman details bid for US Navy TACAMO aircraft replacement

  17th March 2023

  The company believes its role as prime contractor on the E-2 Hawkeye puts it in a strong position for the programme to replace the USN's Boeing E-6 Mercury fleet.

• Air Warfare

  US Army increases scope of Soldier Borne Sensor programme to acquire Black Hornet 3 UAS, budget documents reveal

  19th April 2023

  FLIR Unmanned Aerial Systems has been awarded a $93.89 million contract for its Black Hornet 3 nano-drone as part of the US Army's Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) programme. The contract and the latest US Army budget estimate have highlighted several changes in the SBS programme.

• Air Warfare

  US to deploy drones for chemical and biological threat detection

  14th February 2023

  Teledyne FLIR's SkyRaider UAS will fly autonomous missions to replace handheld sensors used for detecting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2023: Allen-Vanguard builds UAE counter-UAS and EOD capability

  16th February 2023

  The company is aiming to develop an indigenous electronic countermeasures capability offering for nations in the MENA region.

• Land Warfare

  US Army requests $185.5 billion for readiness and modernisation

  14th March 2023

  The FY 2024 request aims to fund a more data-centric force capable of operating in contested environments.

• Defence Notes

  IDEX 2023: All the news from the show floor (podcast)

  27th February 2023

  This week on the Shephard Defence Podcast, senior naval reporter Harry Lye and military training & simulation reporter Norbert Neumann chat about the big news stories from IDEX in Abu Dhabi.

• Land Warfare

  IDEX 2023: Smartshooter weapon station adds less-lethal option

  14th February 2023

  The Smash Hopper remote weapon station can be mounted on ground vehicles or fixed mounts.

• Air Warfare

  Japan approved for more E-2D Hawkeye aircraft

  9th March 2023

  The US has approved a Foreign Military Sale of up to five additional E-2D AEW aircraft, as Japan bolsters its surveillance and monitoring capabilities.

• Air Warfare

  HAL, Safran seal Indian helicopter engine pact but questions remain over size of market

  7th March 2023

  The two companies will develop a turboshaft to power the Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) and Deck Based Multi-Role Helicopter (DBMRH) designs.

• Special Operations

  France adds L3Harris sensor turret to A400M for special forces missions

  28th February 2023

  The French Air Force is modifying A400M transport aircraft with a mount for an MX-20 EO/IR turret for the special forces support role.

• Air Warfare

  Past financial woes won't affect US Air Force E-7A programme, Boeing says

  3rd March 2023

  Boeing said its recent financial issues on other defence programmes will not affect the USAF's E-7A programme and the first aircraft is expected to be operational by 2027.

• Land Warfare

  Why NATO is seeking an advanced modular air defence solution

  3rd March 2023

  Under the Modular Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) project, ten NATO members want to rapidly develop or acquire an air defence system that can respond to threats along the very short, short and medium-range spectrum.

• Land Warfare

  Elistair rolls out tethered drone for comms relay missions

  9th March 2023

  The Elistair Orion HL is designed for use as a persistent relay solution to form part of a secured mobile network.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  France progresses naval drone efforts with latest VSR700 testing

  31st January 2023

  The programme's next phase will see the Airbus VTOL drone operating from a French Navy frigate.

• Air Warfare

  Canada eyes up P-8A Poseidon to replace Aurora fleet

  29th March 2023

  Canada has submitted a request to purchase P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft to replace CP-140 Auroras but a final decision has not yet been made.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  ISTAR UAS project (Canada)

  Programme Background Objective The Royal Canadian Navy's (RCN) main significant UAV project is the RCN Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Unmanned Aircraft System (RCN ...

• 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 ...

• Light attack, Trainer

  IAR-99 Replacement (Romania)

  On 29 August 2017, Leonardo announced that the IAR-99 trainer technology demonstrator (TD) will be fitted with company's Vixen 500E AESA radar. The Vixen 500E AESA ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V (9-16) [Bulgaria]

  Programme Background In April 2022, the US State Department approved a potential FMS worth $1.673 million to procure eight F-16Vs to Bulgaria. The aircraft are ...

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

  Mini Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  General-Purpose UAS [Australia]

  Programme Background Banned As reported by Shephard in August 2023, in the past, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) used commercial UAS from companies such as DJI for ...

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

  Small Reconnaissance Drones [Lithuania]

  Programme Background Planned Purchases On 14 September 2022, the Lithuanian MoD announced in a short statement on Twitter, now X, that it had begun organising ...

• AEW&C

  Airbus A330 AWACS (India)

  Programme Background India is planning to increase its AEW&C; capabilities with indigenous radar systems. IAF has requested to procure six Airbus 330 airliner to host ...

• Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Company Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System (SUAS) Directed Requirement (DR) [US Army]

  Programme Background Requirement The US Army approved the Co-Level SUAS DR acquisition in June 2023 to supply Brigade Combat Teams with an "immediate, commercially available capability" to ...

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

  Skeldar V-200 (ASW) [Canada]

  Programme Background Contract Award At Euronaval 2022, Shephard reported that UMS Skeldar and Ultra had been awarded a Phase 2 contract on 19 October to provide ...

• Fighter - multirole

  F-16V [Türkiye]

  Programme Background Requirement Turkish Air Force ordered 100 F-35A aircraft as a partner nation, however, the country was removed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme ...

• Maritime patrol

  Maritime Patrol Aircraft Procurement [Italy]

  Programme Background In an appearance before the Italian parliament’s Foreign and Defence Affairs Committee on 14 July 2022, Italian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Adm ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Replicator 2 [US]

  Programme Background 1.0 The Replicator programme is a US effort to field thousands of attritable, autonomous systems across multiple domains before the end of 2025 ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR) / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) [USA]

  The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an organic, on-demand ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  AW101-Norway

  AgustaWestland is also providing initial support and training services, including spares at each of the operating bases and aircrew training. It will then provide performance ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Deployable/static missile systems

  Falcon

  Unveiled at IDEX 2019, Falcon is a short-to-medium range ground-based air defence system, including C-RAM and C-UAS capabilities. The Falcon consists of Lockheed Martin's Skykeeper ...

• Sea: surveillance system radar

  TRS-4D

  The TRS-4D C-band AESA multi-function air/surface radar is designed for dangerous, target-dense, blue waters and littoral environments. The TRS-4D is based on GaN AESA technology ...

• Sea: ship surveillance and fire control systems

  FCS-3

  The FCS-3 incorporates surveillance radar and fire control system capabilities in a C-band radar with AESA technology. Originally funded by the Japanese MoD, The FCS-3 ...

• Land: RWS

  Pitbull

  General Robotics developed the lightweight Pitbull family of remote weapons station for use on aerial, land and naval crewed or uncrewed platforms. Armed with a single ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  RBE2

  The AESA RBE2 is the first AESA radar produced in Europe for combat aircraft. The active phased array replaces the passive array in the RBE2 currently ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  C-UAS Solution

  The C-UAS Solution uses goniometry, radar technologies and various sensors to detect and remove UAS from the air. So far, the solution has been proven effective against ...

• Air: AEW/fire control radar

  Vixen 500E

  The Vixen 500E is an X-band, compact, lightweight AESA radar for fighter and lead-in fighter trainer aircraft. It is currently fitted to the US Customs ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Airfence 5.0

  Airfence 5.0 is a C-UAS RF technology released by Sensofusion. It is designed to protect airports, personnel, prisons and private companies from rogue UAS in ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Howler C-UAS

  Developed by Raytheon, the Howler is a counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS), which includes a Ku-band Radio Frequency Sensor (KuRFS), a command-and-control system, and a Coyote ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Cobham C-UAS

  Unveiled at the AUVSI 2017 trade show in Dallas, Texas, the Cobham C-UAS primarily consists of wideband omnidirectional, directional helix (single- or dual-band), directional flat ...

• Counter-UAS systems

  Skylock C-UAS

  Skylock, an Avnon Group company, has developed a C-UAS system that is intended to bring sensors, jammers and a laser effector into a single deployable ...

• Sea: naval surveillance radar

  KRONOS Naval

  KRONOS Naval is a multi-functional radar family based on AESA technology. Kronos can simultaneously perform a range of functions, including air and surface surveillance, threat ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: coastal surveillance radars

  KRONOS Land

  KRONOS Land is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations. The system simultaneously performs surveillance, ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: indirect fire location radar

  KRONOS

  KRONOS is a mobile multifunctional C-band radar system designed by Leonardo to support air and coastal defence tactical operations.  The system simultaneously performs surveillance, dedicated target ...

• Land: air defence radar, Land: battlefield and ground surveillance radar

  TMMR

  The Tactical Multi-Mission Radar (TMMR) is a 3D C-Band full AESA Antenna Radar providing detection, classification and tracking of airborne and surface targets. It is ...