Raw Intel

A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast near the ports of Varna and Burgas, a week after Russian drone attacks sank a cargo ship and damaged another in the area, flight tracking data shows. Tracking data published by the flight monitoring Itamilradar, using Flightradar24 data, shows the Boeing […]View the full article

Americas FlightSafety Services won a $13.9 million contract modification, which exercises an option to provide aircrew training services in support of the TH-57B/C community, including instruction, operation, and curriculum support. The TH-57 Sea Ranger is a derivative of the commercial Bell Jet Ranger 206. Although primarily used for training, these aircraft are also used for photo, chase and utility missions. The JetRanger was initially designed to compete in a US Army light observation helicopter competition. Bell lost that competition but the 206 was commercially successful. The TH-57 Sea Ranger provides advanced instrument flight rules (IFR) training to several hundr…

Americas North Star Scientific Corp. won a $9.6 million order, which provides for the production and delivery of 42 high power amplifier (HPA) units (13 HPA units for E-2D crypto modernization and frequency remapping aircraft retrofits; 10 HPA units for E-2D Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) production aircraft, 10 HPA units for spares; five HPA units for system configuration set-11 E-2C aircraft,; and four HPA units for E-2D TTNT aircraft retrofits) under Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) topic N06-125 titled, “L-Band Solid-State High Power Amplifier for Airborne Platforms.” Additionally, this order provides engineering and engineering data support for…

Americas The project manager for the US Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft(FLRAA) says the final request for proposal is to be released this summer. Col. David Phillips said the final document will not have any major changes relative to the draft proposal that was release late last year. Raytheon won a $16.5 million deal for the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) program for Gordian Knot (GK) application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) life-of-type buy. This effort provides for a life-of-type procurement of GK ASIC in support of production and sustainment through the AMRAAM program of record. The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, …

AN/APG-79 AESA Radar (click to view full) The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar began life as a replacement. Initial F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet production batches installed Raytheon’s all-weather, multimode AN/APG-73, but the APG-79 has intrinsic technical features that offered revolutionary increases in capability, reliability, image resolution, and range. Unlike the APG-73 that equipped the first Super Hornets, the APG-79’s AESA array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules that are fixed in place, eliminating a common cause of breakdowns. To move their beams, they rely on electronic changes in each module’s transmission…

Americas General Atomics Aeronautical Systems won a $103.2 million deal for the production of Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft systems, satellite airborne data terminals, and government furnished equipment maintenance. The MQ-1C Gray Eagle is an extended range / multipurpose (ER/MP) unmanned aircraft system developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the US Army. It has an endurance of 25 hours, speeds up to167 KTAS, can operate up to 29,000 feet, and carries 1,075 lb (488 kg) of internal and external payload. Raytheon won a $63.1 million modification, which exercises options to procure 19 AN/APG-79(V)4 radar systems and associated software in support of radar retr…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $53.1 million modification, which adds scope for non-recurring engineering, delivery and installation of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Pilot Training and Maintainer Training technical refresh hardware. Work will take place in Florida and Texas. Estimated completion date is January 2025. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. The aerospace firms of Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin have inked a “Teaming Agreement” on June 9 to jointly design, produce and promote an improved model of FA-50 in order to compete in the US market. The US Air Force and the US Navy plan to introduce about 280 …

Americas The US Navy awarded AAR Government Services an $114.5 million modification, which exercises an option to provide P-8A Poseidon aircraft depot scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, depot in-service repair/planner and estimator requirements, technical directive incorporation, airframe modifications, aircraft on ground support, and removal and replacement of engines in support of the Navy, the government of Australia, and Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed in October 2023. L3Harris has integrated its new advanced battlefield awareness systems onto Rheinmetall’s Lynx Optionally Manned F…

Last Friday we looked at the seven points we discussed a year earlier the day the Russo-Ukrainian War broke out. As promised, today we look at seven points a year in everyone needs to hoist onboard. Though I nibble on the edges a bit, these are not detailed, tactical “lessons learned.” Land combat details simply are not my bag. No, these a big pixel items. Mostly land centric like the war, but are directly transferrable to the maritime and other domains. 1. Short-War Snake Oil Salesmen are Worthy of Little but Scorn: a bit more muted than a year ago, even in winter of 2023, American short-war salesmen continue to push the WESTPAC 72-hour victory concept. In the run up to …

Americas General Dynamics was awarded a $10.6 million modification to exercise options under a previously awarded contract (N0003022C1005) for the US and United Kingdom Trident II (D-5) SSBN Fire Control System and SSGN Attack Weapon Control System support. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (98%); and Rhode Island. Work is expected to be completed […]View the full article

M3A3 Bradley CFV: Charge! (click to view full) In the 1970s, middle eastern wars demonstrated that tanks without infantry screens were vulnerable to infantry with anti-tank missiles. Unfortunately, armored personnel carriers were easy prey for enemy tanks, and sometimes had trouble just keeping up with friendly tanks like America’s 60+ ton, 50+ mph M1 Abrams. […]View the full article

Americas The US Army has awarded Elbit Systems a $28-million contract for additional AN/PVS-14 monocular night vision devices. A helmet-mounted device, the AN/PVS-14 reportedly allows soldiers to move rapidly at night without the need for multiple specialized equipment. It incorporates high-magnification lenses and an infrared illuminator for capturing clear images in low-light conditions. The US Department of Defense has awarded Battelle a $53-million contract to develop a nerve agent countermeasure solution for soldiers. For the initiative, the firm will create a Reactivating Nerve Agent Treatment System (RNATS) to “enhance the current standard of care” for troops and i…

Americas The New Zealand Defense Force has finalized the sale of four retired Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130H Hercules aircraft to American aerial firefighting company Coulson Aviation for $9 million. The deal, announced on April 11, marks a new chapter for the venerable aircraft that were officially retired from military service earlier this year. The aircraft will be prepared for flight and flown to Coulson’s Maintenance Base in Thermal, California by a commercial crew over the next few months, where they will undergo substantial upgrades and conversion to firefighting tankers. Bell Textron, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has received a contract extension worth about $1…

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has completed development trials of its new-generation Zorawar light tank and will begin user trials in September 2025, DRDO chief Dr. Samir V. Kamat said. The Zorawar, developed jointly by DRDO and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is designed to meet the Indian Army’s requirement for a highly mobile, […] The post India prepares to field new Zorawar light tank first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Russia has conducted a simulated missile strike on Polish territory as part of its large-scale joint military exercise with Belarus, known as Zapad 2025. The drill scenario involved the use of Iskander ballistic missile systems deployed from the Kaliningrad region. According to the exercise script, Russian missile units moved to designated launch positions with the […] The post Russia simulates missile strike on Poland first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The Midrats Podcast is BACK LIVE this week with an ever-popular Midrats Melee format. We’ll cover the waterfront from the Pacific to the Caribbean and whatever else pops up in between. We’ll go LIVE at 5 pm Eastern this Sunday. You can join us LIVE at this link. The chat room is always open, so if there are questions you have for Mark and me, or a topic you’d like us to pontificate about…hop in the chat room and join the conversation. If you are reading this after the one-hour show, check back later on Sunday when I’ll update the Substack link with the links to the recorded podcast. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider be…

A prominent Russian military analyst says Russia continues to face major technical obstacles in developing and fielding an effective active protection system (APS) for its armored vehicles, despite decades of effort and the growing use of drones on the battlefield. In a detailed technical commentary, Russian defense expert Viktor Murakhovsky described ongoing difficulties with the […]View the full article

Castelion, a fast-moving defense technology firm founded by SpaceX alumni, announced it has raised $350 million in Series B funding to accelerate production of its Blackbeard hypersonic weapon and expand U.S. industrial capacity for next-generation munitions. The company says this funding will support construction of a large-scale manufacturing facility and operational integration with Army and […]View the full article

Chinese state media on Friday criticized Palmer Luckey, founder of U.S. defense contractor Anduril Industries, after he publicly questioned the capabilities of China’s J-35 stealth fighter during a visit to the Singapore Airshow. Luckey posted an image on social media showing himself using a tape measure on a J-35A model displayed at the Aviation Industry […]View the full article

The United States Navy is seeking industry input on software upgrades for the Large Aircraft Infra-Red Counter Measures (LAIRCM) system used on the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, according to a presolicitation notice released by the Naval Air Systems Command. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), through its Program Executive Office for Maritime Patrol and […]View the full article