David Oliver

On 12 October, at its factory near Prague Aero Vodochody rolled out the latest incarnation of its L-39 Albatros jet trainer that first flew in November 1968. The L-39NG was the first of prototypes that is scheduled to make its first flight in December. The...

UK special operations vehicle developer, Supacat, displayed its HMT 600 Coyote tactical support vehicle in an anti-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) defence role for the first time at DVD at Millbrook in the UK. Chess Dynamics Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS), the only operationally proven counter-drone...

At DVD 2018 at the Millbrook Proving Ground, MBDA unveiled a company-funded low cost tiltrotor armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Sprectre. Designed to be an on-call organic capability for ground forces, it provides rapid close air support at sub-unit level in military organisations. It...

UK special forces vehicle designer and manufacturer, Supacat, part of SC Group, recently delivered the first production High Mobility Transporter (HMT) Extenda vehicle to the Norwegian Armed Forces. Supacat signed a $30.5 million (£23m) contract with The Norwegian Defence Material Agency (NDMA) to supply a new...

Shown for the first time at Eurosatory 2018 was the Yugoimport Strsljen (Hornet) X-01 rotary-wing unmanned air vehicle (UAV) which has recently begun flight trials. The 8.75 metre long air vehicle has an 7.6m diameter carbon-fibre two-blade main rotor with a tilt rotor head...

At ILA 2018, the Danish systems integrator Terma announced that the first Modular Aircraft Survivability Equipment (MASE) equipped Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) NH90 helicopter has successfully passed a comprehensive test programme and is now ready for operational use. Terma provides MASE pods for a...

US defence giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin went head-to-head at ILA Berlin 2018 in their efforts to replace Germany's existing fleet of Sikorsky CH-53G heavy-lift helicopters. Boeing is offering the proven CH-47F/G Chinook and with a potential order for between 40-60 helicopters. Both the US...

Making its defence show debut at SOFEX was the Oshkosh Defense Special Purpose All-Terrain Vehicle (S-ATV), a lightweight 4x4 designed for rapid deployment by Special Forces. Mike Ivy, senior vice president International Programs told Armada International that “ the concept was designed some years...

Another sign of the Royal Jordanian Air Force’s (RJAF) wide ranging modernisation programme is the comprehensive upgrade of 12 of its 20 plus extant Bell AH-1F/S Cobras, with one of the first delivered on display at SOFEX 2018. The work is being carried out...

In January, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the Russian Aerospace Forces are to receive more than 100 new and upgraded aircraft, including Sukhoi Su-35S and Su-30SM multi-role fighter aircraft, Su-34 attack fighter aircraft, Russian Helicopters Ka-52, Mi-28 and Mi-8 of various modifications,...