Raw Intel

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

The United States Army has awarded Colt’s Manufacturing almost $41 contract to produce M4 and M4A1 carbines for Foreign Military Sales to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Macedonia, and Tunisia, according to a contract notice released this week. The award, issued to Colt’s West Hartford, Connecticut-based operations, carries a total cumulative face value of $40,863,564 and […]View the full article

The Defence Blog is publishing this statement to document a pattern of conduct by EOS Defense Systems USA, Inc. and its parent company, Electro Optic Systems (ASX: EOS), that we consider a direct affront to press freedom and independent defence journalism. On April 21, 2026, Electro Optic Systems published a press release announcing the demonstration […]View the full article

GE Aerospace secured a three-year engine support contract from Boeing Defence UK to maintain the T700-GE-T701D turboshaft engines powering the British Army’s fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The contract places a GE Aerospace field service representative permanently on-site at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk, the British Army’s primary Apache base, and routes engine repair […]View the full article

Soldiers from a Michigan Army National Guard unit spent June 10, 2026 at Camp Grayling firing one of the most iconic heavy machine guns in American military history through a brand-new optic system that no other unit in the entire U.S. Army had fielded before them. The 126th Theater Public Affairs Support Element, a Michigan […]View the full article

Once a bad theory is adopted because it makes sense to one cohort (GOFOs who went to a two-week MBA camp) and is encouraged by others (influential civilian companies looking for another income stream), at the expense of what the first cohort should have been focused on but is an unpopular topic (winning wars), it spreads and develops its inertia. Even when one area discovers the theory does not survive contact with reality, other areas carry on because, well, going along is easier than admitting error and changing. When the maintenance CONOPS for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) came out in the mid-00s with its reliance on civilian contractors and OEMs being responsible for…

One of the least helpful aspects of the modern-day battleship debate is the fact it has been so highly politicized. Whenever an announcement of a milestone comes up, the first thing that has to be done in the search for useful information is to filter out the rabid partisans on the left and right who will support or oppose anything strictly through a partisan lens. Both sides have two subspecies: mindless partisans to just call names and flick spittle about, and the professional partisans who will make an argument based on fact or well-founded opinion…filtered, but useful in the broader discussion. One of the more valuable reference documents on most issues involving wa…

Photos taken at an air show in Novosibirsk captured a newly built Su-34 fighter-bomber still in factory gray primer, adding to a steady stream of the twin-seat jets Russia has produced for its air force even as it continues fighting in Ukraine. The aircraft was spotted at Mochishche Aerodrome in Novosibirsk during the 15th annual […]View the full article

I won’t lie, I really wanted the successor to the Grumman Iron Works, Northrop Grumman, to get the award…just to have that legacy back on the flight deck…but…I am not emperor. Boeing it is, …the Department of War announces a contract awarded by the U.S. Navy to Boeing for the Sixth-Generation F/A-XX Strike Fighter under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. The contract is valued at more than $20B for the full-scale development phase. The contract procures multiple test aircraft for ground, airworthiness, systems, and weapons integration testing. Boeing already has the USAF’s F-47 contract…so I will assume there will be a fair bit of commonality. Perhaps a sim…

Ukrainian drone operators playing the enemy in a U.S. Army training exercise in Germany caused about 70% of an American armored brigade’s casualties in the first three days, according to an account by the brigade’s own commander and staff. The figures come from an article in Military Review, the U.S. Army’s professional journal, written by […]View the full article

PJ-10 BrahMos (click to view full) Back in November 2005, The Hindu newspaper reported that India’s government had given the go-ahead for exporting missiles, and that India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was looking to market several of its products internationally. The missile systems in question included several products from the decades-long Integrated Guided Missile Program (IGMP) set of development programs, and one new success that used a very different approach. DRDO has led the long, turbulent development histories of the Trishul (“trident”) short-range surface-air missile (SAM), the Akash (“sky”) medium-range SAM, and the Nag (“cobra”) v…

Though I blend in well with the populations of Europe who have ready access to the North Sea, my bloodline has been unconnected to Europe for four centuries. I am an unalloyed North American, yet as our culture is an offshoot of Europe, I keep an eye on the goings on there. You have to as Europe continues to be a source of conflict. Their waring ethno-states generate more national security problems than can be consumed internally. That manages to bring North America in to their scrimmages. Beyond and more impactful today than military , Europe is a source for trends that impact cultural, social, economic, and military change throughout the globe. China is trying to c…

E-7A Wedgetail over New South Wales (click to view full) The island continent of Australia faces a number of unique security challenges that stem from its geography. The continent may be separated from its neighbors by large expanses of ocean, but it also resides within a potential arc of instability, and has a number of important offshore resource sites to protect. Full awareness of what is going on around them, and the ability to push that awareness well offshore, are critical security requirements. “Project Wedgetail” had 3 finalists, and the winner was a new variant of Boeing’s 737-700, fitted with an MESA (multirole electronically scanned array) radar from Northr…

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…