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China has developed a new light, highly mobile rocket launcher built on an upgraded version of the Dongfeng Mengshi MV3 tactical truck, carrying a 20-round launch pod that can fire guided or unguided 122 mm rockets out to 40 km (25 miles), according to images and details shared by Chinese military commentator DS北风 on X. […]View the full article

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has opened a new national defense museum packed with the country’s missiles, rocket launchers and drones, and among the exhibits is a previously unseen 4×4 armored vehicle that closely resembles the Canadian-made Roshel Senator used by Ukraine. State news agency KCNA reported on Oct. 13 that Kim attended the […]View the full article

Russia has nearly finished the steel frames for the first three of 16 large aircraft shelters it is building at Engels-2, the main base for its strategic bomber fleet, satellite imagery published by open-source analysis group AviVector shows. An Airbus Defence and Space image dated Oct. 12 shows three side-by-side shelter frames standing on new […]View the full article

DARPA, the Pentagon’s research agency, has awarded Abram Scientific a contract worth up to $8.3 million to develop CoagCare, a handheld device that shows how well a wounded person’s blood is clotting in under 10 minutes from a single drop, so medics can decide on transfusions far from a hospital. The Defense Advanced Research Projects […]View the full article

BIRD Aerosystems has installed its Airborne Missile Protection System on a Bombardier Global 7500 business jet and received European Union Aviation Safety Agency certification for the installation, giving the long-range VIP aircraft protection against shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles. The Israeli company, part of U.S.-listed Ondas Holdings, announced the milestone on Oct. 12. EASA approval means the […]View the full article

Leonardo DRS has won a $63 million U.S. Army production order for its Family of Weapon Sights–Individual, a clip-on thermal sight that sends its image wirelessly to a soldier’s night vision goggles so a target can be found and aimed at without raising the rifle to the eye. DRS announced the order on Oct. 13, […]View the full article

Israel Aerospace Industries and SIG SAUER have completed a live-fire test of FIRE STORM 250, a vertical-takeoff drone armed with SIG SAUER’s M250 machine gun, in which the aircraft hovered over a simulated battlefield, picked out targets with its onboard camera and hit them in single-shot and semi-automatic modes. The companies announced the result on […]View the full article

Retired Rear Adm. John Meier, the first commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), has joined mining investor Appian Capital Advisory as a senior advisor on defense supply chains. Appian announced the hire on Oct. 13 together with two other appointments. Brian Greeley, who was chief banking officer at the […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman has teamed up with Barrett Firearms to build the launcher for its Precision Grenadier System, a shoulder-fired 25 mm grenade launcher meant to let infantry squads hit enemies hiding behind cover and shoot down small drones, the companies announced on Oct. 12 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington. […]View the full article

Norway’s Kongsberg will build a factory in northern Poland to manufacture and maintain counter-drone systems for the Polish SAN program, investing more than 200 million zlotys (about €45 million, or $51 million) in a plant that will create over 100 permanent jobs once it reaches full capacity, the company announced on Oct. 13 at the […]View the full article

A former Italian Navy mine warfare officer has launched Sentiq Defence, a company based in Bordighera on Italy’s Ligurian coast that will supply navies, coast guards and port and energy operators with uncrewed boats, underwater surveillance sonars, remotely operated submersibles and aerial drones, the company announced on Oct. 13. Sentiq starts out as an integrator, […]View the full article

MARTAC, the Florida maker of high-speed unmanned surface vessels used by the U.S. Navy, has selected SEA.AI’s maritime machine vision system for its drone boat fleet, adding cameras that spot and classify other vessels on their own without a human watching a video feed. SEA.AI announced the integration on Oct. 13, saying MARTAC has made […]View the full article

Radar maker Echodyne and Allen Control Systems have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to pair Echodyne’s EchoShield counter-drone radar with ACS’s Bullfrog autonomous weapon station, combining long-range radar tracking with an AI-guided gun that fires standard ammunition at drones on land and at sea. The companies announced the agreement on Oct. 13, saying they have […]View the full article

The last 12 months have been good for our Navy. Regardless of what you think of this year’s operations against Iran and her proxies: Our surface forces built off their years of success in the Red Sea over the last year and have a level of experience in actual warfighting not seen since…well…WWII really. We saw a little bit of a threat in Korea, Vietnam, and a spot of bother now and then…but a sustained threat like this? Not seen in generations. Everything from low-speed drones to anti-ship cruise missiles to anti-ship ballistic missiles was thrown at our Aegis destroyers and our remaining cruisers…and nothing got through to them or the carriers and auxiliaries they supported. They sent a lot of ordnance downrange to top it all off. Speaking of auxiliaries, our merchant mariners started this conflict short of mariners and ships, but they supported sustained combat operations at sea with limited access to good and safe ports in a way that, again, we only have a whisper of understanding of. We have a lot of lessons here, and I hope to see action on them soon. In line with the above, we only know the wafer-thin details of the strikes Navy and Marine Corps aviation conducted. Everything from strafing runs to anti-mine work to sinking submarines. Our submarines managed to sink an enemy destroyer… in case you forgot… and I’m sure they did all sorts of fun things we’ll read about in 2040. Ditto our Marines and Naval Special Warfare bubbas. We saw hints of what you were doing if we knew where to look…but we don’t need the details. Tip of the hat. Long deployments, extended combat operations, few safe and friendly ports to support them…and still…they excelled in everything that was asked of them. Excellence was expected and provided. It was clear that we practiced until we were perfect, and then practiced perfection...or as close as we humans can get to it. Oh, did you forget we took down the Marxist dictatorship in Venezuela and sent the Cubans, Chinese, and Russians packing? Yes, a joint operation…but…from the sea. We are starting to see movement on the industrial front in shipbuilding, shipyards, and new programs. The Primes are being challenged by nimble, and quick-moving new players. The competition will be good for everyone…and a net positive for the tools our Sailors will take with them the next time their nation asks them to go in harm’s way. There are 364 other days of the year when we can look at areas that need improvement or discuss some sub-optimal people or activities…but today is as good a day as any to say what is clear to see: Navy had a good year. May the next year be even better. Speaking of birthday presents…if you have not already pulled the trigger to be an underwriter of the CDR Salamander Substack, well, maybe today is your day! In celebration of our Navy’s birthday, we’re offering a 20% discount on monthly and annual paid subscriptions today only. Your subscription will provide you with… My undying gratitude and thanks for supporting what we do here. Extra attention to your comments…as I know you are invested in the creative friction we try to promote here. Access to the paid-subscriber-only UNCLAS Read Board Podcast. You have until midnight Eastern Time to claim your discount. Click here. Leave a comment Share This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. View the full article

Turkish state defense company MKE has destroyed a drone at a distance of 760 meters (about 2,500 feet) with a new 20-kilowatt fiber laser weapon developed for its TOLGA close-in air defense system, scoring a direct hit during the Ateş Serbest-2026 live-fire event at Polatlı, west of Ankara. MKE announced the result on X on […]View the full article

Oshkosh Defense has started building the first prototype of the Dutch Expeditionary Patrol Vehicle, a version of its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle known in the Netherlands as the Kaaiman, for the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, the company said on Oct. 13. The Netherlands Ministry of Defence ordered 150 of the vehicles in June 2025 at […]View the full article

Footage said to be from Libya shows dozens of Turkish-made BMC AMAZON 4×4 armored vehicles in service with Libyan elite units, fitted with remote-controlled weapon stations and jamming systems, according to Turkish defense analyst Ahmet Alemdar, who shared the images on X. Alemdar described the vehicles as being operated by “elite units” but did not […]View the full article

Czech air defense troops have test-fired a remotely operated twin machine gun mounted on SVOS’s Mars 4×4 armored vehicle against small drones, as Czech industry offers the vehicle as a cheaper counter-drone option alongside the missile-armed version the Army of the Czech Republic has already ordered. Soldiers from the 25th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment in Strakonice […]View the full article

Denver-based AZAK has been added as a seventh company to the U.S. Army’s Infantry Last Tactical Mile program, a competition for uncrewed ground vehicles that would carry supplies to front-line infantry, evacuate wounded soldiers and extend radio networks near the forward line of troops, the company said. AZAK announced the news in a LinkedIn post […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has given its new wheeled howitzer an official name, the XM1776 Mobile Tactical Cannon, and has raised its prototype order from Hanwha Defense USA to nine systems, with an option for nine more. The Army and Hanwha unveiled the designation at a naming ceremony at the company’s booth at the Association of […]View the full article

Japan’s Ministry of Defense is considering leaving the Type 10 main battle tank out of its fiscal 2027 budget request, after a shell exploded inside one of the tanks in April and killed three soldiers, according to Japanese defense newspaper Asagumo. Gen. Masayoshi Arai, chief of staff of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, disclosed the […]View the full article

L3Harris Technologies has won a $250 million contract from Lockheed Martin to build solid rocket motors for standard-range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets, the largest quantity ordered in the program’s history, the company said Oct. 12. The motors will be built at L3Harris’ new 60,000-square-foot (5,600-square-meter) plant in Camden, Arkansas, which the company says […]View the full article

An uncrewed hybrid truck built by California’s Harbinger is powering a 30-kilowatt AeroVironment counter-drone laser at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington this week, shown at American Rheinmetall’s booth. Harbinger CEO John Henry Harris said in a LinkedIn post on Oct. 12 that the company’s Praesidia vehicle is supplying power to […]View the full article

AEVEX is showing a full-size model of Specter, its new jet-powered one-way attack drone, at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington this week, along with a maritime drone line built from its recent purchase of BlackSea Technologies. The California-based company announced Specter on Sept. 23 as a high-speed, turbojet-powered autonomous strike […]View the full article

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine did not strike any energy facilities inside Russia overnight into Oct. 12, after President Donald Trump announced an immediate halt to attacks on energy targets, but that Russia kept hitting Ukraine’s gas and power infrastructure. Zelenskyy made the comments in a live interview with Fox News on Monday. Trump […]View the full article