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German defense giant Rheinmetall has secured a contract worth just under €1 billion (roughly $1.1 billion) for its role in overhauling how the British Army trains its soldiers, part of a broader £2 billion (approximately $2.7 billion) government program that will replace traditional live exercises with a blended system of virtual, synthetic and data-driven training […]View the full article

A Ukrainian company that built its drone-detection network by listening for the sound of incoming Shahed attack drones has tried something its own engineers had never planned for, and it worked well enough to change how the technology might be deployed across NATO’s eastern flank. Zvook, a Ukrainian defense and space manufacturing company headquartered in […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has awarded four manufacturers a combined $149 million to build metal cases for large bunker-busting bombs, splitting the work across small forging and machining shops rather than a single prime contractor. Superior Forge and Steel of Lima, Ohio; Ellwood National Forge of Irvine, Pennsylvania; Faxon Machining LLC of Cincinnati, Ohio; and […]View the full article

Polish state-owned radar maker PIT-RADWAR has signed a contract to start rebuilding its plant in Czernica, near Wrocław, the first step in a nearly 90 million zloty (about $23 million) investment that the company links to Poland’s new counter-drone program. The first stage is worth nearly 21 million zlotys (about $5.5 million) before tax, and […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has raised the ceiling on Raytheon’s life cycle support contract for the GBU-53/B StormBreaker, also known as the Small Diameter Bomb II, by $350 million, bringing the total potential value of the deal to $950 million. The modification lifts the contract from $600 million and extends work at Raytheon’s plant in […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $138.8 contract modification, which adds scope to continue the development of pilot training device software to align the F-35 air system with continued capability development. Additionally, this modification provides for testing and continuous re-certification activities for dual capable F-35 aircraft as Block 4 capabilities are developed, matured and fielded in support of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft. Just recently it was reported, that by the end of …

I know that seems like a rather high bar to meet, but after a quarter century, TQL may have met its match. Details, if you can believe them, are over at USNIBlog. Come by and behold the madness. 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=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner…

Americas Sikorsky won a $35.3 million deal to procure long lead items for full-rate production, Lot 7, CH-53K aircraft. The Ch-53K Super Stallion can be fielded from amphibious assault ships for the transportation of personnel and equipment. It can be operated from austere and remote forward operating bases. Estimated completion is in December 2022. Work will take place in Connecticut. Raytheon won a contract for the repair of three ALE-50 towed decoy system components in support of the F/A-18E/F aircraft. The deal includes a five-year base period with no options. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the US Navy’s primary strike and air superiority aircraft. It is an updated ve…

The next questions is, who will throw their hat in the ring with them? From De Telegraph; The Netherlands has offered mine hunters to clear the way for grain ships from Ukraine. "If we can play a role, we are happy to do so," Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said at the NATO summit in Madrid. The Netherlands has offered Turkey, which mediates in the matter, help to clear the sea mines on the shipping routes. Then Russia and Ukraine will have to agree on a so-called maritime corridor, emphasizes Ollongren. Neighboring NATO member states such as Romania and Bulgaria are also in principle more eligible to supply minehunters, insiders say. The Koninklijke Marine has a half-d…

We have not had the chance to dig up LCS and gibbet it at the entrance of the harbor recently, so let's take a nice overview by Sam about the healthy churn between the Executive and Legislative Branches of government to see how it looks in the light of 2022; As part of the FY 2023 submission, the Pentagon proposed cutting warships from the Navy’s battleforce – including six cruisers, four Whidbey Island/Harper’s Ferry-class amphibious Dock Landing Ships, nine Littoral Combat Ships as well as Montford Point and John Glenn. The youngest ship on the list, USS St. Louis (LCS-19), commissioned in 2020. Years before LCS hull-1 was commissioned, we tried to warn the Navy what …

It is with nations as with people; they will show you what they value by what they spend their money on. Details always matter in a budget, but with inflationary pressures unseen in decades, a significant land war in Europe, and an accelerated naval challenge by the People’s Republic of China, the actual buying power of a budget and where you spend it matters more than usual. Few are better positioned to explain the bold faced concerns with the 2024 Defense Budget to navalists than our friend Bryan McGrath, returning again for a guest post that will bring you up to speed. Over to you Bryan. Last week, the Biden Administration delivered its 2024 Defense Budget to Capitol …

Americas The US Army is developing a new off-road, high-speed unmanned ground vehicle prototype for urban reconnaissance and natural disaster relief missions. Called the “Deep Orange 14,” the robotic vehicle will be produced in collaboration with South Carolina-based research institution, Clemson University. According to the university, the prototype will be able to navigate through unknown and […]View the full article

Americas Epsilon Inc. won a $184.5 million deal to procure IT and cyber security (CS) support for the classified IT networks to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity of the F-35 Joint Program Office ensuring the range of IT and CS are maintained within Department of Defense (DOD), Special Access Programs, and US Cyber Command security standards and mandates. Work is expected to be completed in October 2029. This contract was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin has announced an increase in the production of key equipment across its facilities in the US. In particular, the company …

Americas Mass Virtual Inc. has launched an extended reality (XR) solution at Fort Bliss to optimize the training of US Army aerial intelligence units. The project covers the installation of the Florida-based company’s proprietary MassXR simulator, which provides “high-fidelity” and “repeatable” virtual lessons on the operation and sustainment of critical sensors and surveillance aboard an aircraft. It’s now part of the Virtual Aerial Systems Trainer (VAST) program, which trains future aircrews for ATHENA and HADES surveillance aircraft. The US Air Force is bringing cutting-edge helmet display technology to its veteran fighter fleet, announcing a contract with Thales for S…

Raytheon, an RTX business, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Diehl Defence to co-produce key elements of the Stinger missile in Europe. The agreement, announced by the companies, sets the stage for extending Stinger production at Diehl Defence facilities as part of the firm’s expansion plan. “Stinger is the surface-to-air missile of choice […] The post Raytheon and Diehl to build Stinger missiles in Europe first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

With people talking about who is getting canceled where and for what back in the news, it had me thinking of all the gnashing of teeth and rending of clothes we’ve read this year about President Trump’s team shaping the uniformed leadership, moving along a few senior uniformed personnel who had a track record, that, well, indicated they probably would not have the full trust and confidence of the CINC. All Presidents do this in their own way, but from the sounds of things over the last six months, you’d think anyone who wasn’t a documented contributor to the Trump ‘16, ‘20, and ‘24 campaigns for President and could not dance to Y.M.C.A. was being fired, forced to retire, …

DEUTZ, a German system provider for mobility and energy solutions, and ARX Robotics, a European defense technology company developing next-generation unmanned ground systems, have announced plans for a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating Europe’s defense innovation. According to a joint statement issued on October 16, DEUTZ intends to become the lead investor in an upcoming […] The post DEUTZ and ARX Robotics announce strategic defense partnership first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

India has successfully conducted a static test of the Project K-5 Stage-2 rocket motor, a major step toward the country’s next-generation submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability. The test took place on September 12, 2025, at the Advanced Centre for Energetic Materials (ACEM) in Nasik, confirming the performance of key propulsion systems designed for deep-sea deterrence […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman, working with the U.S. Air Force, has completed a key flight test of the Stand-in Attack Weapon, or SiAW, validating the missile’s safe separation from an F-16 aircraft, the company announced. According to a press release from Northrop Grumman, the separation test was conducted recently and focused on confirming flight safety and aerodynamic […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has awarded Trust Automation a $490 million contract to research, develop, prototype, and produce counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) technologies, the company announced on January 12, 2026. According to Trust Automation, the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract will support the rapid development and transition of unmanned and counter-unmanned aircraft capabilities. Work will take […]View the full article