Raw Intel

South Korea has handed its first mass-production contract for a multipurpose military robot to Hanwha Aerospace, and the real story behind that decision has less to do with cutting-edge robotics than with a shrinking pool of young men available to serve in uniform, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics firm that tracks defense industry […]View the full article

An F-35B fighter squadron from South Carolina has taken over rotational duty in Japan, replacing a Hornet squadron under a U.S. Marine Corps program that keeps U.S.-based units cycling through the Pacific. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 533, known as the Hawks, arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on September 5 under the Unit Deployment […]View the full article

Argentina’s armed forces have formally taken on their first IWI ARAD 5 and ARAD 7 rifles from Israel, the start of a program to replace the FN FAL and M-16 rifles now carried by troops in all three services. Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Carlos Presti presided over the Sept. 29 ceremony after the Joint Staff […]View the full article

German drone maker Quantum Systems says its Apex Recordhunter, a battery-powered experimental drone, flew at 777 km/h (483 mph) in a record attempt this week, faster than any battery-electric drone has flown before and well above the speed of Russia’s jet-powered attack drones. Martin Karkour, the company’s chief revenue officer, announced the run, saying the […]View the full article

The rest of your fleet has left you behind. The enemy is everywhere. You have little defensive or offensive weapons - and you are painfully slow - but you have your ship and your Sailors and your mission, which at this point, is simply to survive. What do you do? Well ... never underestimate a Dutchman; The ship was based at Surabaya in the Netherlands East Indies when Japan invaded in 1941. Following the Allied defeats at the Battles of the Java Sea and Sunda Strait in late March 1942, all Allied ships were ordered to withdraw to Australia. Abraham Crijnssen was meant to sail with three other warships, but found herself proceeding alone. To escape detection by Japan…

If you are only reading commentary about Russian President Putin's speech of 21 Feb 2022 or watching short clips, you are doing yourself a disservice. While some reporting is good, there is a lot of spin, narrative shaping, and just plain lazy reporting. If you want to try to understand if not what is in Putin's head, but what he wants the Russian people to think is in his head, you need to read and watch the speech yourself. When someone tells you what they're thinking, listen to them. Putin isn't trying to bring back the Soviet Union, he's focused on something much deeper and meaningful, the Russian Empire...build back better, as it were. You can clearly see that he i…

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9GgO7_AJaPY/Uz6Ta8stBsI/AAAAAAAAIF0/BmY1-pVg-Qo/s1600/DentonwithA6.jpgWhen you honor a great man's passing, use the time to measure yourself against the man at his best. If in his shoes, what would you have done? How would history and the man in the mirror evaluate your actions? It is a little more than eight years since one of the greats passed. Jeremiah Denton, the Vietnam War POW who has died at age 89, uttered one of the great statements of defiance in American history. In 1965, he was shot down in his A-6 during a bombing run over North Vietnam. He became a captive for more than seven years and endured an unimaginable regime of torture, hu…

Americas The US Army has exercised a $76.1-million option to provide extended support for its Shadow tactical aerial drones. Under the agreement, Shadow developer Textron Systems will continue to supply maintenance, logistics, and field services for the fleet through 2023. The effort is being coordinated with the Shadow systems’ ongoing transition to the Block III configuration, […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin has delivered the combat systems software for the future FFG 62 Constellation-class lead warship. Lockheed has customized the Aegis Weapon System Baseline 10 (BL 10) variant software to the guided-missile frigate’s unique requirements, delivering it through the common source library (CSL). The US State Department has cleared the Canadian government to purchase […]View the full article

Americas Stellant Systemswon a $9.4 million delivery order for the purchase of 22 electron tubes used on the F/A-18 aircraft. All work will be performed in Torrance, California, and work is expected to be completed by December 2026. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $4,606,000 will be obligated at time of award, and […]View the full article

Americas Austal USA has christened the US Navy’s sixth Navajo-class towing, salvage, and rescue vessel, the USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11), in Mobile, Alabama. The ceremony is part of a 10-ship development program to replace the force’s Powhatan-class ocean tugs and Safeguard-class rescue vessels, which have been operational since the 1980s. The new system was named after a Nisqually tribal member and Korean War veteran awarded the Albert Schweitzer Prize for humanitarianism, Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Service Award, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom for more than three decades of service to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. Fairbanks Morse Defense a…

This fall, the U.S. Army will launch a new online marketplace for purchasing unmanned systems — an “Amazon-like” platform that will allow units to select vetted solutions by price and performance, bypassing the lengthy bureaucratic acquisition process. The U.S. Army will roll out a new online platform designed to classify and purchase unmanned aerial systems […] The post U.S. Army to launch ‘Amazon-like’ drone marketplace first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Poland has taken delivery of another shipment of American-made Abrams tanks. According to Defence24, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed the arrival of 52 armored vehicles purchased from the United States. The shipment includes 38 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tanks and 14 M88A2 HERCULES armored recovery vehicles. The latest […] The post Poland receives new batch of Abrams tanks first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

DFA Systems, an Albuquerque, New Mexico–based startup, says it is developing the Precision Flying Grenade (PFG), a one-way attack drone it describes as simple enough for regular infantry to operate without specialist training. In a statement, the company said, “In order to be readily adopted by the US military, Group 1 sized one-way attack drones […] The post New Mexico startup develops “flying grenades” first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

China has formally commissioned its first aircraft carrier equipped with an electromagnetic catapult launch system, the Fujian, during a ceremony held at a naval base in Sanya, Hainan. General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, State President, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping presided over the commissioning and presented the unit […]View the full article

General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and AeroVironment (AV) have successfully demonstrated the integration of Switchblade loitering munitions into frontline combat platforms using a new modular launcher system known as PERCH. The Precision Effects & Reconnaissance, Canister-Housed (PERCH) system was tested at the U.S. Army’s Machine Assisted Rugged Sapper (MARS) event held at Fort Hood, Texas, […]View the full article

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon’s research and technology arm, released a new program solicitation on January 6, 2026, for the Frosty effort to develop technology that enables new radar-based sensing modes in the Arctic environment. The notice invites industry to submit proposals by January 30, 2026, for solutions that improve detection […]View the full article

Australian-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS) on Feb. 6, 2026, officially opened a new manufacturing and integration facility in Singapore, establishing a regional hub to support the production, testing, and sustainment of high-energy laser weapon systems for customers across Asia and Europe. According to a press release from the company, the new site will serve as […]View the full article

Russian forces likely shot down one of their own military helicopters in the Rostov region during a Ukrainian drone attack late on March 3, according to reports cited by the Militarnyi. The incident reportedly occurred near the town of Millerovo, where Russian air defenses were responding to a large wave of unmanned aerial vehicles. Crew […]View the full article

United States Central Command has released new footage from strikes on Iran as part of Operation Epic, with the video appearing to show the destruction of an Iranian Shahed-171 Simorgh stealth drone or its Shahed-191 version, one of Tehran’s most advanced unmanned aerial platforms. The footage was released as the campaign entered its fifth week, […]View the full article