Raw Intel

The United States Navy has awarded Gentex Corporation a $22.6 million contract to deliver more than 5,000 Next-Generation Fixed Wing Helmet systems and associated spares to support fleet-wide fielding across Navy fixed-wing aircraft, the service announced. The firm-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers the production and delivery of the Next-Generation Fixed Wing Helmet, known as NGFWH, and […]View the full article

United States Marines with the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division are operating Rheinmetall Mission Master Silent Partner autonomous ground vehicles during field operations at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, as part of a combined Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation. According to a statement from the Marine Corps, the Mission Master Silent Partner vehicles were […]View the full article

The Department of State has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Singapore for M30A2 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System-Alternative Warhead rockets in a deal valued at an estimated $83 million. The proposed sale covers forty-five M30A2 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System-Alternative Warhead pods, along with telemetry kits, engineering services, technical assistance, and associated logistics […]View the full article

General Dynamics Land Systems quietly crossed a significant threshold this week, pulling in a $13.5 million contract modification that pushed its Abrams technical support contract past the $1 billion mark — a milestone that underscores just how much the U.S. Army spends keeping its primary battle tank operationally ready. Army Contracting Command at Detroit Arsenal […]View the full article

Ukrainian forces have tested an unusual tactic that could significantly extend the reach of the Hornet strike drone: launching it from a tethered aerostat at high altitude rather than from a ground-based catapult, a combination that Ukrainian sources claim nearly doubles the weapon’s effective range. The test, details of which circulated through Ukrainian military channels, […]View the full article

One of America’s most iconic warplanes went down Monday morning at a military base in the California desert, setting off a large fire visible from miles away and triggering an immediate emergency response. Edwards Air Force Base, the sprawling flight test installation located in the Mojave Desert roughly 160 km (100 miles) north of Los […]View the full article

The scientists and technicians who build America’s newest nuclear bomb just finished a critical manufacturing step three months ahead of schedule, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration announced, marking another milestone in what officials describe as one of the fastest nuclear weapons development efforts since the Cold War. NNSA said its Y-12 […]View the full article

A laser sight small enough to mount on a rifle just got its moment on Capitol Hill, and the story behind how it got there says a lot about how the Pentagon is trying to fix a problem that has quietly killed off some of America’s most promising defense technology for years. B.E. Meyers & […]View the full article

Sweden has finalized a deal to buy Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket artillery system, Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson announced Monday, with deliveries set to begin in 2027. The contract covers roughly 10 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems along with ammunition, valued at about 7 billion Swedish kronor ($728.8 million), Jonson told reporters. Ammunition for […]View the full article

Astroscale UK, the British arm of the Japanese company building spacecraft to clear junk from orbit, has earned an international information security certification as it prepares a planned debris removal mission and a defense program for the UK Ministry of Defence. The company said on Sept. 30 that it achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification after an […]View the full article

Lockheed Martin is promoting the idea of a special version of the F-16 fighter built around Ukraine’s needs, with longer range, a new AESA radar and stronger air defense capabilities, sources at the company told The Defence Blog. The idea is being floated as the U.S. defense giant expands its work with Kyiv, and it […]View the full article

There are some DivThu that simply write themselves … and there are some Thursdays that I simply don’t know what to post because there is so much … often from the same place. This DivThu let’s turn our attention to USNA. Some of you may think I’m going to get involved with the 1/C MIDN who got a bit over his skis on twitter, but RedState covered it in great detail. Read it all here - but focus on the comments and actions of uniformed leadership and the interplay of football. It speaks loudly how much USNA has brought inside its lifelines all the worst aspects of civilian universities from the warping effects of alumni sports fetishes to fear of the Woke Red Guards. I’m…

You know about The Long Game, you know about comparative shipbuilding numbers between the USN and the PLAN ... but have you seen the pictures? Behold the graphs I've put over at USNIBlog. Regulars here will not be shocked ... but if anyone tells you all is well in WESTPAC, they are fools or think you are one. Check it out. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=DPbEJ2TsanA:utLp9GvKxP8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=DPbEJ2TsanA:utLp9GvKxP8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=DPbEJ2TsanA:ut…

Latest updates: Battle for Oshkosh: Will FHTV re-bid copy FMTV mistake? THAAD on HEMTT (click to view full) In 2009, with its bridge buy of FMTV medium trucks in place, and initial awards for the potential JLTV Hummer replacement designs underway, the next order of business on the US Army’s agenda was a new Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles multi-year contract: FHTV-III. That multi-billion dollar FHTV-III contract has been awarded – not as a re-compete like FMTV, but as a single-source solicitation. Oshkosh has provided the core of this capability for over 20 yeas now. Its Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) and their 13-ton payloads are the mainstay of …

That is, of course, a subject question. However, there are objective facts that stand independent of that subjectivity.Where you are in time and place is important. In the area of national security, disconnects and discontinuities in time and place caused by a desire for reality to be what we want it to be consume the finite resources of time, money, and focus from actions to address what reality actual is. Denial fed by delusional distractions, as it were. Take a moment to back up a bit and think about the top national security concerns of 2021. What do they signal to you as the most important parts of the United States’ national security infrastructure needs to inve…

For a decade and a half here we have yelled, begged, pleaded for Continental European NATO - especially Germany - to rise to the challenge of the 21st Century and pull their fair share of the load to keep peace in Europe. I have warned even longer IRL until it has become tiresome that they do not realize that the American public is just one election away from shrugging being Europe's security blanket. Everything regresses to the mean, and at our heart we are a mercantile republic, not an empire. WWII and the Cold War warped the nature of our relationship with Europe, and the force of regressing back to our natural state will bring us back across the Atlantic and looking t…

Some developments on the "Diversity Statement" front ... or "DEI Statement" or "DEIA Statement" or whatever they are calling it this week. How do you connect the U.S. Naval Academy to the University of South Carolina, Florida, VMI, and the University of North Carolina System? Let's check in where the other school's are, and then we'll finish up what is happening at our Navy's undergrad institution. Thanks to John Sailer we have a look behind the curtain at the not so innocent "Diversity Statements" that so many colleges are making people fill out when applying for a teaching or tenure track position. Sure, they may tell you that there is no correct answer ... but ... …

Americas Boeing won a $22.5 million deal for CH-47 long lead items by the US Army. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of September 30, 2024. The CH-47F is an advanced multi-mission helicopter for the US Army and international […]View the full article

Americas Austal USA has teamed with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. and Pearlson Shiplift to design and construct a new part of its manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama. The “major expansion” will see the development of a hub at the southern portion of Austal’s existing waterfront yard. Three branches of the US military have joined forces for […]View the full article

United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has handed over new Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers to the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to UAC, the aircraft completed the full cycle of factory testing, were verified across multiple operating modes, and have already flown to their home airfield. The Su-34 is designed to strike ground, surface, and air targets — […] The post Russian Air Force receives new Su-34 combat aircraft first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article