• Uncrewed Vehicles

  DARPA aims for first trials of NOMARS vessel in 2024

  25th August 2022

  DARPA aims to begin trialling the first No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) in late 2024, the agency told Shephard following its 22 August announcement that it would build, test and demonstrate the first vessel.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Italy funds UUV demonstrator

  12th August 2022

  According to a contract notice, Italy has funded the development of a UUV demonstrator under an effort dubbed 'Recon-UV'.

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Boeing continues DARPA Hunter XLUUV work

  27th July 2022

  Boeing has received an $8.51 million contract modification from DARPA for Option 3 of the Hunter Phase 2 programme.

• Air Warfare

  Farnborough 2022: BAE Systems’ ‘flap-free’ design helps CRANE take flight for DARPA

  18th July 2022

  Wind tunnel tests have been completed of the active flow control effector for the future X-Plane in the DARPA Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) programme.

• Defence Notes

  DARPA picks Canadian firm for AI-based modelling research project

  15th July 2022

  The Automating Scientific Knowledge Extraction and Modeling programme seeks to harness AI for decision-making.

• Digital Battlespace

  HRL composes ELGAR to improve G-band electronics

  15th July 2022

  DARPA wants to maximise the opportunities offered by the G-band spectrum.

• Digital Battlespace

  Raytheon continues JAWS work for DARPA to coordinate kill webs

  14th July 2022

  DARPA has awarded Phase 2 work to Raytheon in the Joint All-Domain Warfighting Software (JAWS) battle management planning programme.

• Defence Notes

  DARPA and US Air Force complete second hypersonic weapon flight test

  19th July 2022

  Raytheon and Northrop Grumman announced on 18 July that they have completed the second flight test of the scramjet-powered HAWC.

• Air Warfare

  Reduced fleet size and weapons integration issues put squeeze on future RAF air combat missions

  22nd September 2022

  As the RAF manages NATO missions and faces increased pressure from Russia, defence experts argue that additional fighter jet deployments to the Asia-Pacific to maintain leading strategic ambitions signposted by the UK's Integrated Review looks to be out of the question.

• Naval Warfare

  Hanwha demonstrates anti-submarine UUV for ROKN

  27th July 2022

  Hanwha Systems is working on USVs and UUVs for South Korea's navy, including an anti-submarine type. The country is also working to improve its AIP and fuel cell technology.

• Naval Warfare

  Belgorod mega-sub falls short of its potential

  15th July 2022

  Is the Russian Belgorod special-purpose submarine really operational? Key capabilities remain unavailable, despite positive talk from the Russian Navy.

• Defence Notes

  Challenges and opportunities abound for US in autonomy research

  19th April 2022

  DARPA continues to explore the potential of uncrewed platforms across the air, land and sea domains — although industry, academia and government agree that challenges must still be overcome.

• Naval Warfare

  Japan commissions its second frigate

  3rd May 2022

  The second of a new class of frigate for Japan's navy has been delivered to the JMSDF.

• Defence Notes

  BAE Systems joins DARPA’s MINC programme

  5th May 2022

  BAE Systems receives a contract from US agency to develop an autonomous tactical network.

• Land Warfare

  DARPA wants to move faster on autonomous off-road UGV simulation

  27th April 2022

  Intel expects new simulation tools in the DARPA RACER-Sim programme to significantly improve the development of autonomous systems using virtual testing.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  LongShot [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement According to DARPA, the objective of the LongShot programme is "to disrupt the paradigm of air combat operations by demonstrating an unmanned ...

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

  AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY (ANCILLARY) [US]

  Programme Background Aims & Timeline As stated by DARPA, the ANCILLARY programme aims to develop and fly an X-plane that will provide a "leap-ahead" in long-endurance, ...

• Fighter - multirole

  Penetrating Counter Air (PCA) [USA]

  Programme Background Requirement Originally conceived as a replacement for the F-22, the PCA was designed to counter various air threats, including integrated air defence systems ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military - UUVs

  Manta Ray

  Manta Ray is an uncrewed underwater vessel (UUV) developed by Northrop Grumman.

• Military - UUVs

  Bluefin-Knifefish

  The Bluefin-Knifefish UUV was initially developed for the Surface Mine Countermeasure UUV (SMCM UUV) programme for the USN’s Littoral Combat Ships. It is manufactured by General Dynamics ...

• Sea: procedural training

  UUV Training Simulator

  The Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) Training Simulator teaches users how to operate and control a UUV, specifically with reference to mine hunting. The UUV is ...

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

  LongShot

  The LongShot is a developmental air-launched platform intended to increase the survivability of friendly crewed aircraft. In February 2021, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ...

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

  XRQ-73

  The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) unveiled the flying design of the XRQ-73 in June 2024. The aircraft has been developed under the  Series ...

• Sea: procedural training

  2 Sigma Digital Tutor

  A Digital Tutor that is designed to outperform schoolhouse instructors, bringing CTC training to a broad spectrum of sailors. Specifications include improving student outcomes for ...

• Military - USVs

  NOMARS

  The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) is a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort to develop a first-of-its-kind large uncrewed surface vessel.

• Major networking projects

  CHAIN

  The Compartmented High Assurance Information Network (CHAIN) is described as a robust architecture that improves interoperability of IT systems among the military services and security ...

• Riptide Mk II

  At Oceanology International 2018, Riptide Autonomous Solutions presented its second-generation micro-UUV – the Mk II. The Riptide Mk II UUV has a maximum speed of ...

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

  XV-24A LightningStrike

  The XV-24A LightningStrike, developed by Aurora Flight Sciences and its partners Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, was a project for a tilt-wing UAV powered by an electric-distributed ...

• Sea: sonar systems

  UUV-3500

  The Klein UUV-3500 side-scan sonar family is composed of the mid-depth (3000m) high-resolution, low-power, dual-frequency and the deep (6000m) variant which is a higher power ...

• Military - UUVs

  BlueWhale

  BlueWhale is an autonomous uncrewed underwater vessel (UUV) developed by Israel's Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

• Military - UUVs

  Iver4 580

  The Iver4 580 is a UUV designed by L3Harris for commercial and defence survey operations.

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Shrike

  The Shrike was a micro, portable, rugged VTOL-capable UAV designed for frontline day/night ISR.  Development of the Shrike began in 2008 under a $4.6-million contract from ...

• Military - UUVs

  D19 UUV

  Naval Group's family of D19 drones are AUVs designated for varying taskings such as identification, surveillance, EW, mobile target, minelaying and MCM operations.