From robotic combat vehicles to AI-enhanced loitering munitions and hybrid main battle tanks, 2025 has marked a pivotal year for military technology. This curated list of the top 10 defense products reflects major leaps in lethality, survivability, and autonomy—many already entering operational service or undergoing final trials. These systems signal a shift toward multi-domain integration and battlefield digitization.
Hybrid Main Battle Tanks Redefining Armored Warfare
Among the most anticipated breakthroughs of 2025 is KNDS’s EMBT (Enhanced Main Battle Tank), a Franco-German project combining the Leopard 2A7 chassis with a Leclerc turret. The EMBT integrates a hybrid propulsion system for reduced thermal signature and improved fuel efficiency—key for extended operations in contested environments. It also features a fully digitized fire control system with AI-aided target recognition.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem unveiled its K3 MBT prototype with active protection systems (APS), modular armor packages, and unmanned turret options. These platforms are designed for high-intensity peer conflict scenarios while offering reduced crew exposure through automation.
Robotic Infantry Fighting Vehicles Enter the Fray
The U.S. Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program reached a milestone in 2025 with prototypes from American Rheinmetall Vehicle (Lynx OMFV) and General Dynamics Land Systems undergoing soldier touchpoints. These robotic-capable IFVs feature modular open systems architecture (MOSA), allowing rapid sensor/weapon swaps.
Israel’s Elbit Systems also debuted its “Sabrah-R” unmanned IFV variant equipped with an autonomous navigation suite and remote weapon station (RWS). Designed for urban combat and ISR missions, it aligns with IDF’s push toward manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T).
AI-Enabled Loitering Munitions Expand Tactical Options
Loitering munitions continued their evolution in 2025 with several models integrating onboard AI for target discrimination. EDGE Group’s “Hunter-5” from the UAE features swarm coordination protocols and autonomous engagement logic under human-on-the-loop supervision.
Poland’s WB Group released an upgraded Warmate-TX variant with improved EO/IR sensors and encrypted datalinks compatible with NATO C4ISR networks. With ranges exceeding 50 km and anti-armor warheads, these loiterers provide organic precision strike capability at platoon level.
Counter-UAS Systems Mature into Layered Defenses
The proliferation of Group I–III drones has driven rapid development of counter-UAS systems. In 2025, Rheinmetall showcased its Skyranger 30 SHORAD platform on Boxer chassis—a mobile turret integrating AESA radar, EO/IR sensors, programmable airburst munitions (ABMs), and laser effector options.
Meanwhile, Leonardo’s DRS-MK4 C-UAS suite offers soft-kill capabilities via GNSS spoofing/jamming alongside kinetic interceptors like the Hit-to-Kill Mini-Missile (HKMM). Deployed by several NATO forces on forward bases in Eastern Europe, these systems reflect a shift toward layered drone denial architectures.
Tactical UAVs Get Smarter—and Deadlier
Tactical UAVs saw significant upgrades in autonomy and survivability this year. Baykar’s TB3 UCAV conducted successful carrier-based trials aboard Turkey’s TCG Anadolu LHD platform. With folding wings and SATCOM links enabling beyond-line-of-sight operations, TB3 expands maritime strike options for middle powers.
The U.S.-developed ALTIUS-700M by Anduril Industries entered limited production after successful DARPA testing under the LongShot program. Featuring modular payload bays for EW jamming or kinetic strike modules—and capable of being air-launched from fighters—it exemplifies multi-role expendable UAV design trends.
Modular Artillery Systems Enhance Mobility & Firepower
Nexter’s CAESAR MkII entered serial production in early 2025 with enhanced armor protection (STANAG Level II), automated loading system upgrades, and improved mobility via Scania engines. Already ordered by France and Belgium under joint procurement frameworks.
Larsen & Toubro’s ATAGS (Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System) from India progressed toward full-rate production after successful summer trials at high altitudes along the LAC border. With a range exceeding 48 km using ERFB-BB rounds and digital fire control integration via BEL-developed FCS software suite.
Dismounted Soldier Tech Gets Networked
The Thales SYNAPS-S tactical radio system saw wide adoption across European forces this year as part of NATO’s push toward integrated soldier networks under Federated Mission Networking (FMN). Operating across VHF/UHF/L-band spectrums with waveform agility to resist jamming/spoofing threats.
Meanwhile Rheinmetall Canada launched ARGUS—a wearable soldier system integrating helmet-mounted displays (HMD), body-worn sensors for health monitoring, GPS-denied navigation tools using inertial measurement units (IMUs), all feeding into dismounted BMS nodes compatible with Link-16 gateways.
Naval Surface Combatants Embrace Stealth & Modularity
Babcock International delivered its first Arrowhead-140 frigate to Indonesia based on UK Type-31 design—featuring stealth shaping, open architecture CMS from Thales TACTICOS family, Mk41 VLS cells supporting ESSM Block II or NSM missiles depending on configuration.
South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding launched its KDDX destroyer prototype equipped with integrated mast housing multifunction radar arrays from Hanwha Systems; electric propulsion enables quiet ASW operations while reducing IR signature—key against modern cruise missile threats.
Directed Energy Weapons Edge Toward Field Deployment
The U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities Office fielded several platoons of DE M-SHORAD Stryker variants equipped with Raytheon-developed HELWS lasers rated at ~50 kW output power—capable of neutralizing Class I/II drones within seconds during live-fire testing at Yuma Proving Ground in Q1 2025.
This marks one of the first operational deployments of tactical laser weapons integrated into maneuver units—signaling growing maturity in beam control optics/cooling subsystems that have long constrained field use until now.
Aerospace Survivability Enhanced via EW Pods & Decoys
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block III received upgraded NGJ-MB pods from Raytheon under Navy IOC declaration in mid-2025—offering broadband jamming against modern SAM radars including S-400 class threats using DRFM techniques combined with cyber payloads.
Meanwhile Saab introduced its Arexis-X decoy pod family designed for Gripen E/F platforms; featuring active RF decoy emitters alongside passive RWR/ESM modules feeding into pilot situational awareness via cockpit fusion displays—enhancing survivability during SEAD missions without escort assets.
Toward Multi-Domain Convergence
The top defense products of 2025 reflect not just technological innovation but doctrinal shifts toward multi-domain operations where air/land/naval/cyber domains are increasingly fused through data sharing architectures and autonomous systems. As great power competition intensifies across Eurasia-Pacific theaters—the race to integrate these technologies into scalable force structures will define future battlefield dominance far more than any single platform alone can achieve.
