Raw Intel

Americas Sikorsky won a $116.5 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the Black Hawk main rotor blade. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. The UH-60 Black Hawk, developed by Sikorsky, has been operational in the US Army since 1978. In April 2001, the US Army approved an upgrade programme for more than 1,500 Black Hawks to UH-60M. The UH-60M features new wide chord composite spar main rotor blades, strengthened fuselage and advanced infrared suppression. Estimated completion date for this contract is August 15, 2026. Integral Aerospace won a $10 million contract for the repair of two parts associated with the 650 gallon fuel tanks in support of t…

Over the weekend, I hope this slide got your attention. As an old Operational Planner who just can’t quit the game, it got mine. The U.S. has shared intelligence including maps with European allies that shows a buildup of Russian troops and artillery to prepare for a rapid, large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple locations if President Vladimir Putin decided to invade, according to people familiar with the conversations. That intelligence has been conveyed to some NATO members over the past week to back up U.S. concerns about Putin’s possible intentions and an increasingly frantic diplomatic effort to deter him from any incursion, with European leaders engaging dir…

Even though it shouldn’t be necessary, I guess I should start this out by saying I actually support think tanks. I have a whole gaggle of acquaintances and friends who are associated with this think tank or another. They can produce good work – and even though some have clear biases in either their mission or their people – there is good value to read from smart people you disagree with on issues of substance. As long as you know they may or may not be objective – that is fine. As always, a serious read of contrary opinion will either by the strength of their argument make you reassess your previously held position, or by the weakness of their argument, further reinforce …

There are good things, smart things, happening in The Philippines; "Meetings have already been set and probably we may have the Japanese and the Australians join in," Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez told Reuters. "They would like to join in for joint patrols to make sure that there's the code of conduct and there's freedom of navigation," adding it was still "an idea under discussion". If the plan materializes, it will be the first time the Philippines has joined multilateral maritime patrols in the South China Sea, a move that would likely anger Beijing, which claims most of the sea as its territory. The United States - quietly and wit…

Americas The US Air Force has announced a milestone for its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The drone completed its first landing on a dirt landing strip, proving its enhanced operational capabilities and potential for future combat scenarios. The trial, conducted at a remote air strip in West Texas, was held by the 26th […]View the full article

Americas Canopy Aerospace has clinched a $2.8 million US Air Force funding to develop a more resilient hypersonic thermal protection system (TPS) based on transpiration-cooling. An integrated TPS shields hypersonic platforms from extreme heat at over Mach 5, with temperatures reaching 3,000 degrees Celsius. The Canopy system works on the same cooling principle as sweating or how plants cool themselves through evaporation. According to Breaking Defense, the US Army is testing out a slew of drones in an effort to help decide just what the future force needs and pave a path towards acquiring it, according to a pair of one-star generals. The aviation-focused Experimental Gate…

Americas American defense firm CoAspire has test-launched its 3D-printed Rapidly Adaptable Affordable Cruise Missile (RAACM) from a fighter jet. The missile has the same physical dimensions as a 500-pound (227-kilogram) class MK-82 general-purpose or GBU-38 guided bomb. CoAspire explained that the RAACM is designed for compatibility with any aircraft equipped to carry a GBU-38. Company-provided images show the system configured with several platforms, including the F-15E Strike Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and F-35 Lightning II. The US Army has put its precision strike capability on full display, successfully launching the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) fr…

A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel sustained heavy damage Monday following a collision with a Chinese Navy warship during a tense maritime encounter with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) near Bajo de Masinloc, also known internationally as Scarborough Shoal. According to the PCG, the incident occurred as it carried out its “Kadiwa Para sa Bagong […] The post Chinese warship, Coast Guard vessel collide near disputed shoal first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers from the 307th Bomb Wing, based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, arrived in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2025, to take part in Cobra Warrior 2025, a multi-nation air combat exercise hosted by the Royal Air Force. The large-scale exercise, designated CW 25-2, is led by […] The post U.S. sends heavy bombers for NATO drill first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Two United States Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers carried out another long-range patrol along the coast of Venezuela this week, maintaining a pattern of sustained American bomber activity in the southern Caribbean. The flight, tracked in real time by open-source aviation observers, took place at a distance of roughly 80 kilometers from Venezuelan airspace. The […]View the full article

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV-7 has released footage of a previously unseen air defense system during a recent live-fire training exercise in the Gobi Desert. The system, likely a short-range air defense platform, was shown launching surface-to-air missiles in what appeared to be high-precision strike tests. The new complex features a modular launcher mounted on a […]View the full article

Like I said in Monday’s post, Having a wide variety of inefficient and underutilized bases and facilities scattered around is a feature, not a bug. The future is unknown and an impatient lover. Do not test, taunt, or take her for granted. Reactivate more bases. Smart people in hard jobs with limited resources are doing their best to improve the odds in the place we have neglected almost as much as the Caribbean, the Pacific. Via Carter Johnson in a superb article in Newsweek: Across sleepy and remote islands in the Pacific, U.S. military engineers are working around the clock to revive strategically important airstrips that American troops first built under fire over 70 y…

The United States Army has awarded GM Defense LLC an $18 million contract for the delivery of 121 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV), along with anti-lock brake system and electronic stability control kits and vehicle storage covers, according to an official contract announcement. GM Defense, based in Detroit, Michigan, received the firm-fixed-price contract with a value […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has awarded Boeing a ceiling $900 million contract to sustain and support the T-38C Talon avionics system, extending support for one of the service’s core pilot training aircraft through March 31, 2036. The contract, awarded to Boeing’s St. Louis, Missouri, operations on March 31, 2026, covers total life-cycle support for […]View the full article

The U.S. Marine Corps awarded a $9.5 million contract to a British defense company to procure compact radio frequency jammers capable of neutralizing small drones — and the urgency language attached to the award signals that this is not routine procurement. Marine Corps System Command in Quantico, Virginia, awarded the $9,515,508 firm-fixed-price and cost reimbursement […]View the full article

U.S. Marines demonstrated a new airborne drone relay tactic during a recent exercise, using UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters as flying command posts to extend the range and lethality of first-person view strike drones well beyond what ground operators can achieve. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Air Group 39, and 3rd Marine […]View the full article

In what Air Force officials described as the earliest such integration in modern test history, an operational test pilot flew the B-21 Raider alongside a developmental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base in California, signaling that America’s next-generation nuclear bomber is transitioning from proving it can fly to proving it can fight. The flight […]View the full article

A Greek Air Force fighter pilot pulled off a landing gear failure Thursday afternoon that could have ended very differently, bringing an F-16 down on its belly at Zakynthos airport after the jet’s wheels refused to extend during a routine training flight. The Hellenic Air Force confirmed the emergency landing occurred around 1:45 p.m. local […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has put more money behind a flying bomb that can circle over a battlefield for an hour, watch its target the entire time, and abort the strike mid-flight if something looks wrong, one day after the weapon proved it could pass every test the Army threw at it. Mistral Inc. and Uvision […]View the full article

Ukraine has received its first RCH 155 wheeled howitzers, according to German Aid to Ukraine (GAU), an independent tracker of military assistance to Ukraine, which said September 5 it had confirmed the delivery through a source outside political and industry circles. The system arrives roughly four years after Germany first pledged it, in September 2022. […]View the full article