• Defence Notes

  SOF Week 2026: US military tests AI algorithm to support missions in low-light scenarios

  20th May 2026

  The US Army and USAF are evaluating an AI-enabled imaging capability from Deepnight designed to enhance low-light and no-light operations across multiple platforms and environments.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: Nordic CV90 contract to be signed this year as best offer submitted

  17th June 2026

  The four-nation Nordic Programme to buy BAE Systems Hägglunds CV90 MkIV tracked vehicles is an ambitious effort for the partner countries to buy almost identical vehicles and is worth billions of dollars.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: What has become of the Main Ground Combat System?

  10th June 2026

  The Main Ground Combat System has had a troubled life. With repeated delays and competition on the horizon, the programme may be approaching the end of the road.

• Naval Warfare

  HHI poised to start submarine production in Peru pending election outcome

  6th May 2026

  South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries confirmed to Shephard that the company is awaiting the Peruvian government’s decision to allow it to move forward with the production of the HDS-1500 submarine.

• Land Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: AM General’s Hawkeye gains traction as JLTV A2 targets 2027 FRP

  17th June 2026

  AM General’s Hawkeye adds a howitzer to a light vehicle as the company highlights strong interest in the system following an order from Kosovo, with demonstrations scheduled for a dozen countries.

• Naval Warfare

  AUKUS heavyweight torpedo test raises questions over future armed UUV requirements

  8th October 2026

  A heavyweight torpedo firing from the Royal Navy’s uncrewed submarine XV Excalibur suggests a shift beyond surveillance, with allied navies eyeing strike roles for large autonomous undersea vessels.

• Air Warfare

  SOF Week 2026: US Army to conduct trials with Mountain Horse’s containerised drone launcher

  21st May 2026

  The Mountain Horse Containerised Autonomous Drone Delivery System has been engineered for dispersed, forward UAV operations. It can store, protect, charge, launch and recover drones.

• Defence Notes

  Golden Dome for America hits one-year mark but key questions remain on its progress

  26th February 2026

  Integration issues, bureaucracy and undefined policies and authorities could hamper the full implementation of the “shield” to defend the US territory against aerial threats.

• Defence Notes

  European Council to deliver at “pace and scale” on European defence readiness 2030 roadmap

  27th October 2025

  Two of the concrete projects outlined in the readiness report, the European Air Shield and Space Shield, will aim to be launched by Q2 2026.

• Air Warfare

  UK air focus: Drone spending trails European frontline states despite $10.46 billion valuation

  16th July 2026

  Despite the UK having the third-largest military UAV market in Europe, the country appears to be underinvesting in the capability relative to the size of its economy, particularly when compared with Baltic and eastern European states.

• Naval Warfare

  As uncrewed naval systems advance, capabilities to counter them are emerging

  28th April 2026

  Research programmes and system procurement efforts to counter uncrewed surface and underwater vehicle threats are accelerating as naval drone uptake spreads.

• Land Warfare

  2025 land market review: British Army woes, European heavy armour and US MBT progress

  18th December 2025

  The last year has seen several major procurements in the land market. Shephard’s Dr Peter Magill reviews the main trends and themes in land procurement of 2025.

• Air Warfare

  Eurosatory 2026: The H160M’s agnostic approach to drones draws global interest

  16th June 2026

  As Airbus Helicopters advances its H160M Guépard programme towards targeted first delivery in late 2028 for the French Army, the platform’s “agnostic” approach to drone integration could offer a window into how Western militaries are rethinking the relationship between crewed rotorcraft and uncrewed systems.

• Naval Warfare

  How could Rheinmetall’s GMF 140 fit with ongoing programmes in North America?

  14th September 2026

  With Canada committed to its River-class replacement and the USN pursuing a lower-cost frigate, Rheinmetall will need to demonstrate where the GMF 140 can fill a capability gap in the North American fleet.

• Air Warfare

  Only 25% of the US Pentagon’s F-35 fleet has been fully mission capable, GAO says

  18th June 2026

  The fighter jet remains a combat necessity, but sustainment challenges continue to limit its readiness. In the meantime, the US Air Force seeks billions in funding to improve the F-35's availability.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  V-Bat [Armenia]

  Background Announcment On 9 February 2026, in a press release from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan and JD Vance, US vice-president, ...

• Military UAS - small

  Vietnam - ScanEagle 2

  Programme Background The Vietnamese Coast Guard are receiving the ScanEagle 2's thought to be provided by the US under the Maritime Security Initiative (MSI) programme. This ...

• Frigates

  European Combat Vessel [Spain]

  Background Requirements The European Combat Vessel (ECV) is currently a conceptual project that seeks to design a European collaborative multi-mission, modular warship. As of March ...

• Military UAS - small

  Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) GUARD [Ireland]

  Background Problem As stated on the project’s website in 2022, Ireland is the “softest target in the EU for smugglers” due to its 3171km of ...

• Long Range Missile Defence Systems: > 90km range

  Land Ground Based Air Defence [UK]

  Background In November 2023, the UK published the Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) Prior Information Notice, which informed industry of the future direction of the ...

• Main battle tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Croatia]

  Programme Background Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Croatia became the latest in a string of Eastern/Central European countries to bolster its ...

• Military UAS - small

  Indonesia - ScanEagle 2

  Programme Background As part of a large scale programme, Indonesia was set to receive eight ScanEagle UAS drone Insitu provided by the US under the Maritime ...

• Self-propelled guns

  Land Ground Based Air Defence (SHORAD) [UK]

  Background In November 2023 the UK published the Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) Prior Information Notice which informed industry of the future direction of the ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  Army Armoured Combat System (A2CS) [Italy]

  Background The Italian Army has identified a requirement for new tracked IFVs to equip its armoured and mechanised brigades. These new vehicles will replace 200 ...

• Military UAS - small

  V-Bat [Romania]

  Programme Background Modernisation According to HotNews, a Romanian news outlet reporting on 25 February 2025, the Romanian MoD announced to journalists that it would focus on ...

• Military UAS - small

  Garmoosha [Brazil]

  Background Four-Day Tour On 3 August 2023, EDGE Group announced that it had hosted a four-day delegation from the Brazilian Marine Corps, showing it its ...

• Submarines: conventional/attack

  Project ORKA [Poland]

  Background Requirements The Orka-class submarine programme for the Polish Navy is intended to provide three new replacements for the remaining Kobben-class and Kilo-class SSKs. Poland ...

• Submarines: conventional/attack

  U-212 Near Future Submarine (3) [Italy]

  Background Requirements Italy currently has four U-212A-class SSKs in its inventory following an initial programme launched in 1998. The German-designed submarines were a joint cooperation ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Nordic Mini-UAV [Denmark]

  Background Nordic Micro Procurement The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) announced that Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden had signed two procurement agreements in October 2025. ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Nordic Mini-UAV [Norway]

  Background Nordic Micro Procurement The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) announced that Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden had signed two procurement agreements in October 2025. ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Land: COMINT and ELINT systems

  Smartscan- MEWS

  MEWS (Modular Electronic Warfare System) is a software-driven spectrum surveillance system covering two megahertz to three gigahertz. It is designed to detect, collect and geolocate ...

• Land: battle management systems, Major networking projects, Naval: Combat Management Systems

  DOOB (HARBIYE)

  Defence out of a Box (DOOB, also marketed as HARBIYE) is a C4I system family developed by Havelsan as an integrated defence solution aiming for ...

• Subsystems: software

  Simulation Engine II

  The Simulation Engine II (SE II) commercial game engine is the first PC-based game engine to be developed by Sonalysts as a commercial product and ...

• Air: mission management systems

  Naval Command Center

  The Elbit Systems Naval Command Center (NCC) provides the infrastructure, systems and functionality required to achieve maritime domain awareness in conjunction with applicable means, evaluating ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  JTRS Increment 1 Waveforms

  A number of waveforms are set to be implemented under JTRS Increment 1: WNW with OFDM and anti-jam; SRW (ground domain); joint airborne network-tactical edge ...

• Sea: procedural training

  Submarine Simulator

  A multi-domain simulation system for submarines, covering all vessel systems and subsystems: Submarine Tactical Trainer (STT); Submarine Diving and Steering Simulator (SDS) in a cockpit; Surface Navigation Simulator ...

• Air: mission management systems

  I-JOCCS

  Integrated Joint Operational Command and Control Services (I-JOCCS) is designed for interoperability among coalition forces including the UK and US. The capability supports fixed-site installations ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  GMS Cross-Domain Systems (CDS) Family

  At AUSA 2024, General Micro Systems (GMS Computing Engines) unveiled four new cross-domain systems (CDS) designed to give air and land forces ultra-secure, real-time gigabit ...

• Air: COMINT and ELINT systems

  ELK-7065

  The ELK-7065 ground and naval HF COMINT direction-finding system was unveiled in 2013, with a compact, lightweight airborne version launched in September 2017. The sensor was ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  JTRS Domains

  The former JTRS ‘clusters’, that had become separate disjointed programmes, have been replaced with centrally managed domain programme management offices. The construct comprises four JTRS ...

• Land: battle management systems

  AMDWS

  AMDWS (Air and Missile Defense Work Station), is a collaborative battlespace awareness information management system developed by Northrop Grumman to meet the requirements of the ...

• Major networking projects

  TNE

  Trusted Network Environment (TNE) is used by the US DoD and federal agencies where multiple coalitions of interest need trusted information brokers to let them ...

• Major networking projects

  GIG

  Global Information Grid (GIG) is a DoD-wide programme, managed by OSD Network Information Infrastructure and integrated by the Defense Information Systems Agency, to support all ...

• Land: air defence radar

  Hawkeye AD

  Hawkeye Air Defence (AD) is an integrated sensor suite optimised for acquisition, tracking, classification and engagement of air targets from fixed and mobile platforms. The ...

• Land: air defence radar

  3D Primary Surveillance Radar

  The Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) 3D is part of the Lanza family of 3D radar systems. It has been designed especially for airport and air ...