Raw Intel

Boeing and the Defense Logistics Agency have begun testing a new contract-and-delivery approach intended to shorten the time it takes for military aircraft parts to move from request to arrival. The model, known as Rapid Delivery Release, or RDR, is designed to cut the proposal and award cycle and enable immediate action once demand appears. […]View the full article

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has formally canceled its prototyping initiative for the Lightweight Machine Gun–Assault (LMG-A), a next-generation automatic weapon once expected to replace or supplement the aging Mk46/Mk48 and possibly the M249 SAW in special operations units. In a notice published December 7, the SOF Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics–Kinetic Requirements (SOF […]View the full article

The United States Navy on Tuesday awarded General Electric Aerospace a $1.42 billion contract modification to supply 277 T408-GE-400 turboshaft engines for Marine Corps CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters, finalizing multiple production lots through 2032. According to the Naval Air Systems Command, the agreement “definitizes Lots Nine and 10 and adds scope for Lots 11-13,” covering engine […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has banned the use of smart glasses by service members while in uniform, citing operational security concerns in an update to its uniform regulations issued on Jan. 9. The updated guidance explicitly prohibits smart glasses equipped with photo, video, or artificial intelligence capabilities. Task & Purpose reported that an Air […]View the full article

The United States Department of State has awarded a contract to Washington-based Echodyne for the provision of 360-degree, four-paneled tactical radar systems and related support services in Ukraine. The contract, valued at $14.9 million, was awarded on March 5, 2026, according to a federal contract award notice. The systems are intended to provide persistent situational […]View the full article

The Naval Postgraduate School, working with the Office of Naval Research, has awarded Anduril the Tactical Missile Innovation Prize Challenge, selecting the company’s proposal as the strongest approach for developing the next generation of tactical missile capabilities. The competition, launched in January 2026, was built around a different question than a traditional defense contract. Instead […]View the full article

Last week we started things off with a discussion of the 18 battle force and 16 non-battle force ships. Let’s look back at that. It may have taken nine years, but there was a post of mine from 2017 that finally got a smile: On the list of "unsexy but important" are many items from icebreakers, to command ships, to hospital ships, that every POM cycle get left on the cutting room floor by the gaggle of cats chasing laser pointers we have in charge of building our fleet. When you look at the list from last Monday and the news from last summer about icebreakers, we seemed to have one ship that still is not getting the investment it needs—command ships. We’re running out of t…

The first Boeing E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft destined for Royal Air Force service landed at RAF Lossiemouth in northern Scotland, beginning the final stretch of testing before the platform formally enters British military service. Registered as WT001, the aircraft flew north from STS Aviation Services at Birmingham Airport, piloted by a mixed crew […]View the full article

Shield AI, the San Diego-based defense technology company that has been supplying AI piloting software to U.S. military aircraft since 2019, is showcasing X-BAT at Eurosatory 2026. Eurosatory 2026, a major international defence and security exhibition held in Paris from June 15-19, gives Shield AI one of its most prominent European stages yet for a […]View the full article

For decades, only two American companies could build the powerful solid rocket motors that launch the Pentagon’s biggest missiles into the sky, and the Missile Defense Agency just handed nearly $11 million to a New Mexico firm trying to break that monopoly wide open. X-Bow Launch Systems, based in Albuquerque, won a competitive $10,981,581 contract […]View the full article

A British engineering company that spent decades building Formula 1 race cars has announced it will start delivering a weapon that flies faster than 460 mph, carries a 300-kilogram (661-pound) payload, and never comes back from its mission. MGI Engineering, a defense firm based in Witney, Oxfordshire, announced that its TigerShark autonomous strike drone is […]View the full article

"Have I missed the mark, or, like true archer, do I strike my quarry? Or am I prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door?" - Cassaandra, from Aeschylus’s, Agamemnon Sometimes, WaPo puts something out that makes you realize that, in spite of all its sub-optimal performance as the DC town paper, there is still a lot of talent there. Case in point, in Monday’s opinion section, The U.S. cannot afford a major war. What if one comes anyway? For a whole host of reasons, I read it and thought, “Damn. This is good.” First of all, let’s set the table. In 2026, we are in a much better place than we would have been otherwise for the next big war for two reasons. Both have bought …

Americas A new active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar from Raytheon that will be installed on the B-52H bomber might allow the US Air Force to reduce the number of people operating the bomber from five to four. Maj. Gen. Andrew Gebara, director of strategic plans, programs, and requirements for Air Force Global Strike Command, said the decision in not “imminent.” Replacing the AN/APQ-166 radar will also lead to a new radome. And the new one might forgo the AN/ASQ-151 Electro-Optical Viewing System (EVS), which consisted of a low light level television (LLLTV) and a forward looking infrared (FLIR) system mounted in blisters under the nose. Its capability is curre…

Tejas LCA (click to view full) India’s Light Combat Aircraft program is meant to boost its aviation industry, but it must also solve a pressing military problem. The IAF’s fighter strength has been declining as the MiG-21s that form the bulk of its fleet are lost in crashes, or retired due to age and wear. Most of India’s other Cold War vintage aircraft face similar problems. In response, some MiG-21s have been modernized to MiG-21 ‘Bison’ configuration, and other current fighter types are undergoing modernization programs of their own. The IAF’s hope is that they can maintain an adequate force until the multi-billion dollar 126+ plane MMRCA competition delivers replac…

Americas Elbit Systems and L3 Technologies will compete for each order of the $92 million firm-fixed-price contract for the Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System III. The Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System III has Independent eye span adjustment and 25-mm relief eye piece accommodate eyeglasses and unique user requirements. Low-profile battery pack improves head mobility. Objective lens coatings filter glare from cockpit instrument lighting. Work is estimated to be completed by August 22, 2025. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) released a request for information (RFI) on August 18 to industry seeking technologies that would support its developme…

Americas General Dynamics won an $18.1 million deal to provide US Trident II Strategic Weapon System Kings Bay Trident Trainer Facility kit and engineering support services. The Trident II Strategic Weapons System is an improved SLBM with greater accuracy, payload, and range than the earlier Trident C-4. It is a key element of the US strategic nuclear triad and strengthens US strategic deterrence.Work will take place in Connecticut, Georgia and Florida.Estimated completion date is December 31, 2025 The last three remaining RQ-4A BAMS-D unmanned air vehicles that belonged to the US Navy have been transferred to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. The ground control e…

Americas The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks a high-speed, runway-independent next-generation aircraft demonstrator. DARPA is working with the US Special Operations Command on the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane program to validate scalable concepts and technologies for different size military aircraft. The SPRINT project intends to develop an air platform […]View the full article

Americas Raytheon won a $10 million spares delivery order for the procurement of one APY-10 radar system weapon repairable assemblies (WRAs), for a total quantity on 11 WRAs, in support of the P-8A aircraft. The delivery order does not include an option period. All work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and work is expected […]View the full article

Americas The US Army and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems have opened a new load, assemble, and pack facility in Camden, Arkansas, to produce 155mm high-explosive artillery projectiles. The facility will manage the final stage of ammunition production, where two active lines will produce about 50,000 units per month. Advanced automation, digital quality tracking, and more new manufacturing technologies will be incorporated into the new site. Saft America Inc., based in Valdosta, Georgia, has won a contract worth up to $7. 5 million to provide storage batteries for H1, Seahawk, and CH-53 helicopters. The contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity agr…

Raytheon has been awarded a $258 million contract to advance the engineering, manufacturing, and development of the Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IIICU All Up Round, the Department of Defense announced. The deal covers the follow-on integration and test phase of a program already under contract and includes options that could raise its value to […] The post U.S. Navy awards Raytheon contract for next-gen SM-2 interceptors first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article