The Military Tech Show

We have rare access to one of the biggest names in military hi-tech, BAE Systems. At their research centre in Kent, they're developing the futuristic Striker II helmet giving fighter pilots the edge in aerial combat, and the flight-deck Inceptor Sticks offering tactile feedback; we explore 3D printing for Royal Navy drones; the tech spec for Britain's new stealth jet, the F35B.

In a live-firing exercise in Louisiana, American and British troops put Virtus, a new body armor, to the test; with defense procurement and research never more important, discover the latest innovations in kit and equipment at the key military and security exhibition in the UK; Lockheed Martin's heat-seeking Indago drone; and the tech spec on the British Army's new armored vehicle, the AJAX.

The innovative combination of 3D video and drone technology gives infantry soldiers an accurate battlefield picture. Northrop Grumman's top European executive shares their predictions on how technology will change the way we fight. The Orcasub is a two-man submarine complete with collision-avoidance sonar that can dive to a mile deep to protect vulnerable pipelines.

We reveal eye-witness intelligence on the USS Zumwalt, America's ultra-hi tech, four billion dollar guided missile destroyer. Learn more about the British firm who've developed Minerva, an ingenious, low-cost but realistic tank simulator. We test drive Supacat's LRV-400, the off-road reconnaissance vehicle for special forces; and the University of Birmingham's bomb disposal simulator.

In a world exclusive, The Military Tech Show captures the moment when BAE System's radical new pilot helmet, the Striker II, goes operational for the first time in a Typhoon fighter aircraft; how interactive technology is helping train military combat medics; and we're on board one of America's biggest war machines, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

European manufacturer MBDA give a hands-on demonstration of their state-of-the-art missile, the Spear 3. Learn how scientists are using a virtual reality headset to see the battlefield in a revealing new way. Discover the immersive innovations at the key international exhibition for simulation and training. There is a new miniature spy-drone based on 300 million years of research and development.

We have rare access to the German Aerospace Center outside Munich where scientists are using new forms of radar for surveillance and detecting land mines. Top US author Mary Roach visits the Imperial War Museum in London and discusses her best-selling book Grunt, which tackles the science behind soldiers' more unusual adversaries.

We're at Royal Air Force station Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, where we've been given an exclusive look at the RAF's ground-breaking, multi-role refuelling and transporter aircraft, the Voyager. We're with the pilots in the flight deck, the engineers delivering the highest level of maintenance and take to the skies on the aircraft as a squadron of Typhoon fighter jets queue up to refuel.

We reveal an experimental sensor, monitoring and targeting system developed for troops by the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and Roke Manor Research. The iXblue Marins navigation black box guides navy ships. The Elbit Seagull seagoing is an unmanned surface vessel, a low price and effective challenge to expensive enemy ships.

We visit NATO's Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation in La Spezia, Italy. We learn how the world's oceans are one of the last places that military technology can be hidden from prying eyes, and how the Centre is exploring solutions to keeping the world's shipping lanes safer and open to global trade. As one of their scientists explains: no shipping, no shopping.

With an increasing terrorist threat to ports and shipping, the Swedish manufacturer SAAB has developed the Sea Wasp, an under-water robot for detecting explosive devices. The iXblue Phins, an inertial system powered by fibre-optic gyroscopes aids underwater navigation. We meet the researcher at Nottingham Trent University developing a life-like human body made of silicon for combat medic training.

We're in Scotland for Unmanned Warrior, the key international military exercise using unmanned underwater, surface and airborne vehicles. We visit the Italian textile manufacturer who's kitting out British special forces in clothing made from a revolutionary new form of wool. And we learn about the Russian T14 Armata tank claiming to be the most advanced armored war machine in the world.