Raw Intel

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $324.1 million contract modification, which exercises options to support calendar year 2022 modification and retrofit activities for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program to include the procurement of material modification kits as well as program management, non-recurring engineering, aircraft induction, contractor field, depot site and laser shock peening site support. The modification adds scope for the procurement of material kits as well as special tooling and test equipment necessary to support F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft retrofit and modification efforts for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-US Department of Defense partici…

Americas Boeing won a $239.6 million deal for the Apache Improved Turbine Engine Integration Phase II. The US Army plans to use the next-generation engine in all Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter engines. The service is also planning on using it on Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft it plans to field in the 2030s. Work will take place in Arizona. Estimated completion date is December 31. Raytheon won a $250 million deal for a StormBreaker Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) integrated engineering change proposal. The StormBreaker bomb is an air-launched precision strike weapon manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems for the US Air Force and the US Navy. Work will ta…

May the Christmas spirit find you where ever you may may be. The US Navy wishes you peace on this day, but if you don't want peace ... well ... in the finest traditions back to George Washington, we can handle that too. 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=OMcBgSuXY-Y:gLo1h91AncI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OMcBgSuXY-Y:gLo1h91AncI:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OMcBgSuXY-Y:gLo1h91AncI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OMcBgSuXY-Y:gLo1h91AncI:F7zBnMyn0Lo…

Simply a superb almost 8-minutes from The Guardian of all places. Take some time to listen to the people who are living - and fighting - in eastern Ukraine. I find the part of the interview with Senior Lieutenant Misha Novitskyi starting at the 05:56 point especially to the point. Ukraine wants to be part of the 21st Century. Russia wants to drag her back to the 20th. 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=EfTO_YjToTQ:Tvoh-lNX8Xs:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=EfTO_YjToTQ:Tvoh-lNX8Xs:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedbur…

Americas Sikorsky won a $29.5, which procures logistics support analysis and products resulting from production engineering changes and diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages to include technical publications, logistics support analysis and logistics product data in support of CH-53K aircraft production and fielding. The Super Stallion can be fielded from amphibious assault ships for the transportation of personnel and equipment. Estimated completion date is in December 2022. Work will be performed in Connecticut and the US. Northrop Grumman won a $245.8 million contract modification, which provides for the exercise of five option contract line items to…

Americas Boeing won a $30.3 million delivery order for the repair of 93 EA horizontal stabilizers used on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft. The period of performance for this delivery order begins January 2022 and will be completed by September 2023 with no option periods. Work will take place in Florida and Missouri. The period of performance for this delivery order begins January 2022 and will be completed by September 2023 with no option periods. The US Air Force is working on placing USB ports on the B-52 bomber, Bossier Now reports. This will allow the crew to charge their electronic tabs on long-distance flights without having to resort to ba…

I guess to answer this post's title question, we could start by listing to what they are telling us. It really could be that simple. If things went sideways in Ukraine, what have the Russians been working on? They've told us and in places, showed us. Are we ready? I'm pondering over at USNIBlog. Come by and see what the General of the Army has to say. 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=z2xSGKgpjc4:U8jshxJr-zg:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=z2xSGKgpjc4:U8jshxJr-zg:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogs…

Desire and will are powerful things. With luck, hard work, and good timing ... really wanting something enough can be the key to making things you desire come to pass. Little warning though ... wanting something by itself is not enough. It has to match with reality. Few things are more real than being cold, being able to produce products at market prices, and to be in control of the energy you need to be a modern nation. Germany is about to see if desire - to be a "green superpower" fully dedicated to the carbon-neutral pagan god - is enough. Germany is set to close almost half of its nuclear power capacity before the end of the year, putting further strain on European g…

Americas Nammo Defense Systems won a $498 million contract for the full rate production of M72 Light Assault Weapon variants and components for shoulder-launched munitions training systems. The M72 LAW is a portable, one-shot 66mm unguided anti-tank weapon and was adopted by the US Army and Marine Corps as their primary individual infantry anti-tank weapon in 1963, Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Estimated completion date is December 19, 2026. The US Navy and Boeing have successfully maneuvered the T1 test asset on an aircraft carrier for the first time – an early step forward in ensuring the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueler will seamlessly integrat…

To start out with, as this is the topic of the WaPo opinion bit I’m about to snipe at, if you did not read my thoughts about the events of January 6th, 2021 – you can read my thoughts I wrote that very day. I stand by them and they are fairly self-explanatory. Now on to the opinion bit in question by; Paul D. Eaton is a retired U.S. Army major general and a senior adviser to VoteVets. Antonio M. Taguba is a retired Army major general, with 34 years of active duty service. Steven M. Anderson is a retired brigadier general who served in the U.S. Army for 31 years. Executive summary: these three men – all Army I might add (not historically insignificant) – are one of two t…

Americas The United States Air Force (USAF) tested a current inventory cruise missile armed with a live warhead as part of the Rapid Dragon program to demonstrate the ability to employ weapons using standard airdrop procedures from cargo aircraft. During the test on December 16, a MC-130J flown by an Air Force Special Operations Command operational flight crew, received new targeting data while in flight which was then routed to the cruise missile flight test vehicle (FTV). Defense and security company Saab inked a contract for multi-role Sea Giraffe AMB naval radar antenna kits, for the upgrade of the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates. The upgrade is based on…

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sea-Giraffe-1X_slideshowpic1-300x169.jpg Sea Giraffe 1X 3D (click to view full) Swedish defense giant Saab is to offer its Sea Giraffe 1X 3D, active electronically scanned array (AESA) naval radar to the US market, showcasing it at the Maritime Security East Conference in Norfolk, Virginia this week. At 650 pounds, the radar is suitable for small patrol boats, giving them the ability to detect unmanned aerial vehicles for the first time. With no forced cooling requirements, and a minimal number of line-replaceable units (LRUs), it requires little power or upkeep. All maintenance, including LRU repair, can b…

Americas L3 Technologies won a $9.5 million deal to develop a Weapon Data Link prototype for the Joint Air Force to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). JASSM is a cruise missile built by Lockheed Martin and designed to counter both fixed and relocatable targets from long ranges. Work will take place in Utah. Estimate completion date is July 1, 2022. The Pentagon awarded AgustaWestland USA a $159,4 million deal for the production and delivery of 36 TH-73A helicopters Lot III and initial spares in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System program. The TH-73A is the aircraft portion of the Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS). AHTS improves pilot training and s…

JASSM-ER from B-1B (click to view full) The 2,000 pound AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) is intended to be a stealthy, inexpensive GPS/IIR (Global Positioning system/ Imaging InfraRed) guided cruise missile. It’s designed to attack well-defended targets without putting its carrier aircraft in the crosshairs of new long-range surface to air missile systems. JASSM has experienced a rocky development history, due to long-standing reliability issues. In 2005 it was threatened with cancellation following a series of poor test results. The program went through 2007 on an ongoing roller coaster of ups and downs, and by May 2009 it appeared the program was …

More than a few times the last month I have found myself referring to the Sailors of the FITZGERALD and McCain. I've dug in to the archives from the summer of 2017 to look again at some of the things I wrote while things were fresh. This week, let's look back to AUG 2017 when I first wrote this. There can be only one FbF today, nothing else comes close. The supplemental preliminary inquiry into the collision involving the USS FITZGERALD (DDG 62) and the ACX CRYSTAL from 17 JUN of this year is out. The report is dated 11 AUG 17. You can get it from the SECNAV's site here, or read the whole thing posted below. I wanted to pull one extended quote from it for your review. I…

Americas Boeing won an $11.4 million contract modification for the repair of B-52 Control Assembly contract line item numbers 0003 and 0004.The B-52H is the US Air Force’s long-range, large-payload multirole bomber and is known as the Stratofortress or the Buff (short for big ugly fat fellow). Work will take place in Missouri. Estimated completion date is February 28, 2024. Raytheon won a $15.1 million delivery order for the repair of pod aircraft unit components of the advanced targeting forward-looking infrared radar system in support of the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. The F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather jet aircraft that is used by the US Navy and Marine Corps as both a f…

Before you watch the below clip, light a candle for poor Admiral Christopher Grady, USN. Here he is, a very serious man up for a very serious job, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – and yet here is a Senator who decides to invest her time with the Admiral – headed to the #2 position in our military as we face the greatest military challenge since the fall of the Soviet Union three decades ago, and … well … BEHOLD! "The role of a gender adviser is a way to attack a very significant issue, and ... I look forward to leveraging those advisers who can make me think better and smarter about the issues," Grady said when asked how he intends to implement "women, peac…

Americas Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $9.3 million contract modification, which increases the ceiling to partially definitize fiscal 2021 air vehicle initial spares, to include global spares packages, base spares packages, deployment spares packages, and afloat spares packages in support F-35 Lightning II Air Vehicle deliveries for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, non-US Department of Defense participants, and Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will take place in Texas. Estimated completion is in December 2021. Raytheon won a $13.9 million deal to procure contractor logistics support maintainers and engineering reach back support of the AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Gen…

Bit by bit, you can start to see the role of lasers in naval warfare. While much of the conversation is about how we can use them, over at USNIBlog while pondering the latest tests, I'm starting to wonder ... how much thought are we putting in to how to counter and protect ourselves from incoming fire? Come by and ponder with me a bit. 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=4uL7FvJb2B4:YB2Hb5GsRKU:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4uL7FvJb2B4:YB2Hb5GsRKU:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4uL…

A little over a decade ago, we coined "The Terrible 20s" to describe what we saw as the challenge we are experiencing now. A point I made then still applies; if you want a preview of the USN in a decade, look at the Royal Navy today; Look at what the Royal Navy is dealing with today, and it isn't a stretch to see similar challenges for ourselves. Look and learn - and perhaps we can mitigate the pain. Have you seen the absolute state of what the Royal Navy is looking at towards the end of this decade? From the summary report of the recent report out of the House of Commons, “We’re going to need a bigger Navy;” Towards the end of the decade in 2027–28 the Navy will begin …