Raw Intel

Americas GE Aviation Systems won a $63 million deal for KC-135 aircraft integrated data acquisition recorder systems. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The KC-135 Stratotanker provides the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and has excelled in this role for more than 60 years. This unique asset enhances the Air Force’s capability to accomplish its primary mission of global reach. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. The KC-135 is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pa…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $22 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. This modification adds scope to provide continued maintenance and sustainment operations of the US Reprogramming Laboratory facilities and partner support complex facilities and systems, to include consumables and field service representative support for the F-35 Lighting II programs for the Department of Defense (DOD), non-DOD partners and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work is expected to be completed in April 2026. This contract action was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. The US Air Force h…

Israel’s Elbit Systems Ltd. announced it has secured a $1.635 billion contract to provide a broad range of advanced defense systems to an undisclosed European country. The contract, set to run over five years, encompasses long-range precision strike capabilities, unmanned aerial systems, and state-of-the-art intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) technologies. According to the […] The post Israel’s Elbit wins $1.6B deal from undisclosed European buyer first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Ukraine’s defense innovation platform Brave1 has completed final testing of new long-range one-way attack drones, best known as kamikaze drones, capable of striking targets over 40 kilometers away, even in the presence of Russian electronic warfare systems. According to a statement from Brave1, the newly tested loitering munitions are engineered to be “cheap, scalable, and […] The post Ukraine set to field new kamikaze drones first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Brisbane-based Skyborne Technologies has unveiled its CODiAQ robotic weapons platform at AUSA 2025, introducing a new class of autonomous ground systems that combine four-legged mobility with modular lethality and AI-assisted targeting. The system — formally named Controller-Operated Direct-Action Quadruped (CODiAQ) — is designed to deliver direct-fire precision using Skyborne’s proprietary payloads while remaining lightweight, low-cost, […] The post Australian firm arms robotic dog with grenade launcher first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

United States Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said the Army plans to acquire at least one million drones within the next two to three years, with the potential to purchase between half a million and one million drones annually afterward. He detailed the plan in an interview with Reuters, describing it as a major expansion of […]View the full article

A Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet was lost during a combat mission on December 8 in the eastern region of the country, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed in a public statement. “At noon on December 8, 2025, in the eastern direction, during the execution of a combat mission in a Su-27 aircraft, the senior navigator of […]View the full article

Castelion, a California-based defense technology firm founded by former SpaceX engineers, confirmed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited the company’s headquarters this week. According to the company, Hegseth met with engineers working on rapid-production missile technologies designed to restore industrial agility and increase the pace at which U.S. forces can field advanced weapons. During […]View the full article

Russia has revealed a new factory-produced munition for FPV drones known as Kaplya, which Russian military sources say is intended to defeat armored vehicles fitted with cope cage armor and roof-mounted anti-drone canopies. The munition was presented by Dmitry Kulko, a military correspondent for Russia’s Channel One, who released video and images of the payload […]View the full article

Merlin Labs announced that it has completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its C-130J autonomy program with United States Special Operations Command, a milestone that advances development of an autonomous flight system for the military transport aircraft. The announcement was made by Merlin Labs Chief Executive Officer Matt George in a company statement released […]View the full article

The United States Army has opened a competition for a new ammunition resupply system to support its next-generation Mobile Tactical Cannon. The call for solutions, issued by Army Contracting Command–Detroit Arsenal, seeks one or more prototype concepts for moving 155mm ammunition to the new self-propelled howitzer that is expected to replace the M777 towed gun. […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest fast-attack submarine, USS Idaho, at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut on April 25, 2026 — adding a boat built for undersea warfare, surveillance, and special operations to a fleet that its leadership describes as operating forward every hour of every day. The ceremony at Groton brought […]View the full article

South Korea finalized a $352 million deal on Friday to acquire American SM-6 shipborne missile interceptors for its Aegis destroyer fleet, with the weapons scheduled to reach operational service by 2034, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration reported. The approval, granted by the Defense Project Promotion Committee, South Korea’s senior arms procurement decision-making body, covers […]View the full article

The satellite communication network that Ukrainian forces depend on to coordinate everything from drone strikes to artillery fire has a new enemy, and Ukraine is already destroying it. Ukrainian defense advisor Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a widely followed open-source intelligence analyst who tracks electronic warfare developments along the front, has publicly identified a Russian electronic warfare […]View the full article

The U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division posted a sources sought notice on July 9 seeking companies capable of building a deployable cleaning system to remove what officials call “clutch sludge” from the F-35B’s short takeoff and vertical landing lift fan clutch cooling system, with responses due within just seven business days, by July […]View the full article

An Israeli drone maker best known for building some of the quietest tactical aircraft in the sky is now pouring fresh money into scaling up how many of them it can actually build, ramping up serial production at home while pushing into new markets across Europe and Asia, Israel Defense reported in an article by […]View the full article

AeroVironment has received its first international order for the LOCUST laser weapon system, a purchase worth more than $50 million, the company announced September 8. The direct commercial sale covers an initial batch of LOCUST systems and support services. AeroVironment did not disclose the buying country, the number of units included, or a delivery date. […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has awarded British-owned MSI Defence Systems a $197 million contract for 30mm deck gun mounts and the electro-optical sights that aim them, the weapons the service is fitting to its warships to shoot down small drones and fast attack boats. The firm-fixed-price contract, issued by Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division […]View the full article

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation is looking at artificial intelligence and other new software to speed up the design of future aircraft and cut the cost of developing new versions of existing ones, the state-owned planemaker said in a statement on its social media. UAC, which builds nearly all of Russia’s military and civil aircraft, from […]View the full article

I'd love to bring you good news to help you try to move pass this horrible year, but that is not to be. I posted on this topic back in June at USNIBlog, but I re-read it again last night and it seems to have become even more clear and I wanted to bring it back here. You all know the warning I gave a decade ago about the upcoming "Terrible 20s" for our military, well it appears that there is a similar issue on the civilian side, the ‘Turbulent Twenties’ Read again Jack Goldstone and Peter Turchin's observations; Top leadership matters. Leaders who aim to be inclusive and solve national problems can manage conflicts and defer a crisis. However, leaders who see…