Raw Intel

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

Ukrainian forces have successfully intercepted and destroyed a Russian Orion unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near the Russian border using a drone-based interceptor system, according to a report from Militarnyi. The Russian combat-reconnaissance drone was brought down by the “Topot” team from the 414th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Systems. In a statement, Militarnyi noted that this […] The post Ukrainian drone takes down Russian Orion first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

A new fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has departed from Qingdao, a military port in eastern Shandong Province, to assume escort duties in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, according to Chinese state media. The deployment, announced by Xinhua on October 11, is the 48th such rotation since China launched […] The post China sends warships to Gulf of Aden first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Discussions between the United States and Egypt over a potential sale of F-15 fighter jets have entered a renewed phase, but no agreement has been finalized, according to a report describing the status of ongoing negotiations. The talks, which regained attention in November 2025, follow months of delays and uncertainty about whether the deal will […]View the full article

The United States Navy has awarded Saronic a $392 million production contract to rapidly deliver drone boats under the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) framework. Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan said nearly $200 million of that total has already been obligated, as the service pushes forward with a new model of fast-paced, open-competition procurement […]View the full article

The U.S. State Department has approved Denmark’s request to purchase AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and related equipment in a potential foreign military sale valued at $45 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Thursday. According to the agency, Denmark requested up to 100 AGM-114R missiles, along with three Captive Air Test Missiles, six M299 launchers, […]View the full article

Taiwan’s Republic of China Air Force has confirmed plans to procure 10 C-130J transport aircraft from the United States, canceling a previously planned upgrade program for its aging C-130H fleet. According to local media, the decision reflects a cost-based reassessment of how best to sustain and modernize its airlift capability as existing C-130H aircraft exceed […]View the full article

The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new program aimed at accelerating the production of heat-resistant structures used in hypersonic weapons. The initiative, called Carbon Crunch, focuses on developing faster manufacturing methods for carbon-carbon aeroshells that protect hypersonic vehicles during flight. The effort is intended to address a major production challenge […]View the full article

The United States Marine Corps has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems and Textron Systems Corporation a second rapid prototyping contract for the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV), pushing forward one of its most important modernization programs to replace the aging Light Armored Vehicle fleet. Under the new award, both companies will move into a second prototyping […]View the full article

Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate has published a detailed technical breakdown of a previously obscure Russian cruise missile developed specifically for the Su-57 stealth fighter, revealing not only the weapon’s architecture and capabilities but the extensive network of foreign components — American, Chinese, Swiss, Japanese, German, Taiwanese, and Irish — that made it possible to build. […]View the full article

A South Korean-developed remote-controlled weapon station capable of networking three or more units into a single coordinated fire system represents a significant step forward for the country’s homegrown defense industry, according to KFN Plus. The system, known as an RCWS, is a remotely operated weapon turret mounted on light tactical vehicles and wheeled armored personnel […]View the full article

Remember, we must revisit the failures of the past in order that they shall not be repeated. Well, that’s the theory. Of all the disastrous series of failures this century to build a surface combatant, none were as unnecessary and avoidable as the failure of the Constellation Class FFG. Over six years ago, we found out that we were going to build a U.S. version of the Franco-Italian FREMM in a push to finally get a proper frigate into the fleet. I was ecstatic…but wary. Throughout the process, we had indications and warnings that the same institutional circus and its convoy of clown cars, which begat LCS, CG(X), and DDG-1000, had a hand on the wheel of what was then FFG(X…

The U.S. Navy awarded Norwegian defense manufacturer Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace a contract modification worth roughly $50.3 million on July 2 to buy more launcher missile modules for what the Pentagon calls its “over-the-horizon weapons system,” the hardware behind a Marine Corps program that lets troops sink enemy warships from land without ever putting a […]View the full article

Out of 61 Russian cruise missiles fired at Ukraine in a single wave, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 54, and F-16 fighter jets alone accounted for 38 of those kills, Militarnyi reported, citing a statement from Yevhenii Karzhau, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Air Force. The figures place the American-made jets at the center of one […]View the full article

Germany will supply Ukraine with several thousand more IRIS-T guided missiles, funded through the European Union’s 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan package for Kyiv, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said September 8. Pistorius made the announcement ahead of a video conference of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the Ramstein-format meeting of Kyiv’s international backers, […]View the full article

A previously unseen version of Russia’s jet-powered Shahed attack drone has appeared in Ukraine fitted with whisker-like rods on its nose, a modification that Ukrainian volunteer Serhii Sternenko says is designed to detonate the warhead on contact with high-voltage power lines. Sternenko, a Ukrainian volunteer and activist who runs one of the country’s largest drone […]View the full article

Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets 442 times between April 1 and Sept. 30, about two-thirds more than the 265 scrambles in the same period last year, according to Joint Staff Office figures reported by USNI News. The rise came as Chinese and Russian military aircraft flew near Japan far more often, and the […]View the full article

The Korean crisis is turning into a case study on escalation control. With the arrival of Bill Richardson to North Korea on Thursday, North Korea decided on Friday to wave their deterrent, again, in our direction. North Korea warned Friday that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear arms and spread beyond the peninsula, upping the ante as a prominent U.S. politician and a top U.S. nuclear envoy each visited Pyongyang and Seoul to defuse tension. Uriminzokkiri, the communist state's official Web site, also said in a commentary that war on the Korean Peninsula is only a matter of time, stoking already high tensions after the North shelled a western So…

Sigh. Her sporty older sister is in the background too. I still think we made a huge mistake not going with the F-14D new production. Range, range, range; payload, payload, payload. H/T B. View the full article

Sea Shepherd appears to have executed another successful anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Ocean. "Japan's Fisheries Agency said the fleet was on its way home from the Antarctic 'on schedule', but admitted that at 267 the catch was way down on expectations. Whalers killed 266 minke whales and one fin whale, the agency said, well below the approximately 900 they had been aiming for when they left Japan in December." The Agency official goes on to blame bad weather and "sabotage acts by activists," as the reason for the lower than expected haul. At USNI's blog, LCDR Claude Berube, a Naval Academy professor and one of the subject matter experts on non-state maritime …