• Defence Notes

  Ajax adds to woeful litany of British Army procurement failures (Opinion)

  6th July 2021

  Given the latest delay to a key programme, how much confidence should there be in the underequipped British Army achieving key vehicle procurement ambitions laid out in the recent Integrated Review?

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UAV deal breaks new ground for Poland and Turkey

  27th May 2021

  The decision by Poland to buy 24 Bayraktar TB2 UAVs is significant for multiple reasons.

• Defence Notes

  Disruptive technology holds the key to multi-domain integration, says STRATCOM chief

  27th May 2021

  The UK must innovate and develop a ‘competitive edge’ with AI, quantum computing and other emerging technologies if it is to achieve effective multi-domain integration, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders told the RUSI Strategic Command Conference.

• Digital Battlespace

  US strives to address space cyber challenge

  9th June 2021

  Securing space assets from direct attack or hacking is an ever more important task — but is it impossible?

• Defence Notes

  Tankers sail into troubled waters

  17th May 2021

  How might Iran toughen its oil and shipping vessels in response to sabotage?

• Air Warfare

  Potential first Hürkuş-C export customer fails to obscure problems for Turkey

  17th May 2021

  Turkey may be selling the Hürkuş-C light attack aircraft abroad for the first time but Western sanctions pose problems for exporters.

• Land Warfare

  US Army stabilises in FY2022 budget

  3rd June 2021

  Modernisation of the US Army is taking place on a static budget, so it is slowing down procurement in some traditional areas to benefit its priority programmes for future systems and capabilities.

• Digital Battlespace

  India faces calls to shake up its space capabilities

  15th May 2021

  There is growing demand for India to enhance its space force structure to meet military needs.

• Defence Notes

  Myanmar earns perennial pariah status in SE Asia (Opinion)

  13th May 2021

  Is Myanmar descending into civil war as the country's ruthless military crack down on all opposition and continue to battle ethnic armed groups?

• Defence Helicopter

  Manila still hopes US can talk Turkey on T129

  21st May 2021

  The Philippines and Turkey remain hopeful of getting American engines for the T129 Atak.

• Digital Battlespace

  Radars look over the horizon in the High North

  7th May 2021

  Rezonans-N radar installations will include surveillance of vast areas of airspace over Norway and Finland.

• Digital Battlespace

  Unease grows in US over electromagnetic spectrum vulnerabilities

  5th April 2021

  As US dominance ebbs away, is it time for a DoD electromagnetic spectrum supremo?

• Air Warfare

  Russia looks ahead to 2024 for Okhotnik rollout

  5th May 2021

  Russian planners want multiple Okhotniks to be controlled from the cockpit of an Su-57 fighter.

• Land Warfare

  Ukraine bolsters its anti-materiel rifle inventory

  24th March 2021

  Domestic industry meets Ukrainian demand for sniper and anti-armour rifles.

• Air Warfare

  J-10 fighter gets local power boost

  19th May 2021

  Locally produced jet engines are now powering single-engine fighters of the PLAAF.

Programme Results - Defence Insight

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

  Akinci [Ukraine]

  Programme Background Two Export Contracts In January 2022, the Daily Sabah reported that Baykar had "recently" signed its first export contract for the Akinci. Haluk Bayraktar ...

• Tanks

  T-90S (Saudi Arabia)

  Programme Background.  The status of the Saudi Arabian T-90 deal is unclear, it is possible that these tanks may be purchased to replace stocks of ...

• Loitering munitions

  ZT-180 [Russia]

  Programme Background Claims On 23 February 2023, DER SPIEGEL reported that, according to information it had gathered, China and Russia were negotiating the purchase of 100 ZT-180 ...

• Loitering munitions

  Shahed-136 [Russia]

  Programme Background Iran's Involvement On 11 July 2022, according to US intelligence, Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor, announced during a statement that the Iranian ...

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

  Vector / Scorpion (Selected) [Ukraine]

  Programme Background 500 Systems Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Quantum-Systems has provided many drones to Ukraine. Over 400 units have been provided as aid ...

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

  SkyRanger R70 (Ukraine Aid) [Canada]

  Programme Background On 19 February 2024, the Canadian Defence Minister, Bill Blair, announced that the country would donate more than 800 SkyRanger R70 UAVs to ...

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

  T-150 (Ukraine)

  Programme Background Virtual Address On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. On 3 May 2022, the UK's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, virtually addressed the Ukrainian ...

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

  Black Hornet 3 (Ukraine Aid) [UK & Norway]

  Programme Background Russo-Ukraine War Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, UAVs have proved vital to the country's defence. Consequently, as in this programme, the ...

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

  Quantix Recon (Ukraine)

  Programme Background April Meeting In mid-April, just shy of two months after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, the Ambassador and the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Ukraine met ...

• Tanks

  Leopard 2A8 [Germany]

  Programme Background Germany has operated the domestically produced Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Leopard 2 since its inception in the 1970s. Spanning now eight versions, the Leopard 2A8 is the ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  Air: Radio and SATCOM | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

  The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

• Data links

  Data links | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

  The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

• Air: Head-up displays

  Air: Head-up displays | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

  The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

• Transponders and IFF

  Transponders and IFF | E-7 Wedgetail - UK (Second Order)

  The UK MoD signed a £1.51 billion ($1.98 billion) deal to purchase five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft from Boeing for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in ...

• Military helicopters - transport/heavy lift

  Heavy Lift Helicopter [Philippines]

  Programme Background Procurement from Russia In November 2021, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that a contract had been signed to acquire 16 Mi-171 heavy ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Tanks

  T-80UD

  The 125mm-armed T-80UD MBT is a variant of the T-80 which was in production in Ukraine when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. An ...

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

  Supercam S350/S350F

  The Supercam S350/S350F is a mini fixed-wing that Supercam Unmanned Systems Group manufactures. The Russian UAV features a modular design and has been primarily designed ...

• Transport

  An-140

  The An-140 is a light turboprop military transport aircraft developed from the An-140 regional airliner, which first flew in September 1997. It is designed to ...

• Loitering munitions

  AQV 100 Scalpel

  The AQV 100 Scalpel, or AQV-100, is a low-cost loitering munition manufactured by One Way Aerospace.  The drone is operated using a first-person view and ...

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

  Mini 2

  The Mini 2 is a micro rotary-wing drone from DJI. It features a 3-axis gimbaled 12MP camera for photographs and 4k/30fps for video capture. Shephard believes ...

• Loitering munitions

  Shahed-136

  The Shahed-136 is an Iranian loitering munition. The aircraft has a delta-wing configuration and is launched through a Rocket-Assist Take-off (RATO) method. Russia operates the platform and ...

• Fighter - ground attack

  Su-25

  The Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) is a single-seat ground attack aircraft developed for close combat air support missions. Production of the Su-25 began in ...

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

  Orlan-10/10E

  Developed by the Russia-based Special Technology Center, the Orlan-10 is a medium-range UAS with many variants, such as the 10E, an export version introduced in 2017. The ...

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

  Matrice 300 RTK

  The Matrice 300 RTK is a rotary-wing UAV manufactured by DJI. Despite being primarily aimed at industrial applications, militaries utilise it for ISR tasks.  In ...

• Fighter - air superiority

  MiG-29

  The MiG-29 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum) is an air superiority fighter aircraft designed to engage air targets in any weather, day and night.  The production ...

• Air: Helmet-mounted displays

  SURA HMTDS

  SURA is a helmet-mounted display system produced in Ukraine. Notably, it offers off-boresight acquisition capability to pilots and can cue the aircraft's sensor systems using ...

• Transport

  An-22

  The largest transport aircraft of the time, the An-22 Antei (NATO reporting name Cock) is a heavy military transport aircraft developed by Antonov in the ...

• Transport

  An-148

  Developed by Antonov, the An-148 is intended for passenger, mixed cargo-passenger and cargo transport operations for both military and civilian roles. Its maiden flight took ...

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

  Eleron T-16

  The Eleron T-16, or Valdai, is a small fixed-wing Russian drone.  Multiple media outlets in August 2023 reported that the first Russian Eleron T-16 had ...

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

  Orion / Orion-E

  The Orion, sometimes called the Inokhodets, is the first Russian-manufactured MALE UAV that has been designed to carry out a wide variety of military surveillance applications. Russia has ...