Raw Intel

Americas Bell Boeing won a $18 million contract modification, which exercises an option to provide systems integration, technical analysis, and engineering support for the V-22 aircraft. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft, which operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. Work will take place in Texas and Pennsylvania. Estimated completion is in December 2022. The Pentagon has given Northrop Grumman Corporation a task order to start engineering and planning work to reconfigure four EQ-4 Block 20 aircraft for…

Lithuania has a tough history, but they are a resilient people. Only 2.8 million souls in a bit of cold, flat, damp land on the Baltic roughly the size of West Virginia, but they exist as other peoples have vanished. They know tyranny, and they know the importance of letting small nations know that they don't stand alone. How much support will brave little Lithuania get from her NATO allies? China has told multinationals to sever ties with Lithuania or face being shut out of the Chinese market, a senior government official and an industry body told Reuters, dragging companies into a dispute between the Baltic state and Beijing. China downgraded its diplomatic ties with …

Americas General Dynamics won a $93.5 million deal for M1A2 Abrams engineering, manufacturing, design and production. The M1A2 is an improvement of the Abrams M1A1 main battle tank. It includes a commander’s independent thermal viewer, weapon station, position navigation equipment, and a full set of controls and displays linked by digital data bus. Work will take place in Ohio. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2025. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works won a $12.9 million modification for the accomplishment of planning yard efforts such as engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for DDG-1000 class destroyers post-delivery an…

Just a cursory glance at any map will tell you the United States of America is a maritime nation whose economic power and national security is intimately linked to the sea. This simple reality is not as well understood as one would expect. Command of the sea and access to the world’s oceans has never been easy or an entitlement for any nation. It is something that each generation must understand, resource, and be a steward of for the next. With domestic distractions and competing priorities combined with the accelerating challenge by the People’s Republic of China, bringing the topic of maritime power above the natsec ambient noise has never been more important. This fall…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $20.5 million contract modification, which adds scope to provide non-recurring engineering for the selected F-35 “Out the Window” replacement solution in support of full mission simulator production for the Air Force, Navy, and non-US Department of Defense participants. The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF) is a stealthy, supersonic multirole fighter. Its advanced sensor package is designed to gather, fuse and distribute more information than any fighter in history, giving operators a decisive advantage over all adversaries. The F-35’s engine produces 43,000 lbs of thrust and consists of a three-stage fan, a six-stage compressor, …

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-72_M51_zMsk/VodCoy1QaYI/AAAAAAAAKoo/9NX16NSlvdk/s320/migkill-014b.jpgI first ran this FbF right after a great man passed in 2016 and I feel bad it took so long for me to cover Mugs. Read the whole thing, but here is a lead in to the video below;Former Navy Capt. Ronald E. "Mugs" McKeown, a decorated fighter pilot who was the first commanding officer of the elite Top Gun academy, died Nov. 21 in a Hillcrest care facility. The cause was complications associated with Parkinson’s disease. He was 76. Mr. McKeown, whose boxing prowess earned him the nickname "Mugs," was chosen to command the newly commissioned Navy Fighter Weapons School, popularly k…

Americas Boeing won a $366 million contract modification, which increases the ceiling to extend the service life for up to 32 F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft. Boeing delivered the first Super Hornet to the US Navy in February 2020 under the Service Life Modification (SLM) Block III conversion programme. The initial Super Hornets delivered under SLM extended the aircraft’s service life from 6,000 to 7,500 flight hours. Work under the modification will take place in Texas and Missouri. Estimated completion is in May 2024. The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded a research contract to Stratolaunch for rapid-turnaround hypersonic flight testing. The company will use its…

For the last decade and a half or so of DivThu we've often discussed the "Diversity Industry" and tried to describe to those who have yet to encounter it, just how large of an industry it is. Instead of working towards a society that looks past the useless characteristics of race, creed, sex, color or national origin - they work towards division, promote segregation and unequal treatment ... on your dime. Sadly, the commissariat has only gotten larger as they have refined their business model of insertion and growth through threats, etho-masochism, well-meaning useful idiocy, leveraging institutional cowardice, and naked careerism to expand their empire. Few can or will s…

Americas L3Harris Technologies won a $45.8 million deal for development to integrate the AN/PRC-160 high frequency manpack radio in the MH-47 and MH-60 aircraft. The Boeing MH-47G is a special operations variant of the CH-47 Chinook multi-role, heavy-lift helicopter. It is in service with the US Army Special Operations Aviation Command (USASOC). The MH-60R Seahawk missions are Anti-Submarine Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, Surveillance, Communications Relay, Combat Search and Rescue, Naval Gunfire Support and logistics support. The MH-60S Seahawk missions are Anti-Surface Warfare, combat support, humanitarian disaster relief, Combat Search and Rescue, aero medical evacuati…

What is this jewel? The future is often just an updated past. Drop on by USNIBlog and see some of the smart things going on in WESTPAC. 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=L57jkdTmt18:yIIMLqwzEw0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=L57jkdTmt18:yIIMLqwzEw0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=L57jkdTmt18:yIIMLqwzEw0:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=L57jkdTmt18:yIIMLqwzEw0:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

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…

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=aY2wJAgRIKY:hv9jyAWbQrc:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=aY2wJAgRIKY:hv9jyAWbQrc:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=aY2wJAgRIKY:hv9jyAWbQrc:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=aY2wJAgRIKY:hv9jyAWbQrc:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

I found two things curious about the response to this news over the weekend; China is looking to create its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean, on the coast of the small African nation Equatorial Guinea, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal based on classified U.S. intelligence. Though officials did not describe China's plans in detail, they said China's presence on Africa's Atlantic coast would enhance the possible threat to the U.S., as it would give Chinese warships a place to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast, the Journal reported. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who serves as commander of U.S. Africa Command, told the Senate in April …

Americas Cracks have been found on the tails of Canada’s CH-148 fleet, the problem affects 19 out of the 23 helicopters. The issue surfaced on November 26 when one of the helicopter underwent scheduled maintenance and the cracks were discovered. Subsequent checks on three more rotorcraft also found cracks on those aircraft. So far only two were unaffected and two more are yet to be inspected. Segers Aero won a $9.6 million contract action for the establishment of the T-56 Engine and Quick Engine Change Intermediate Level Maintenance Facility. The deal provides for training for the maintenance, repair and overhaul repairs of the T-56 engine. Work will take place Alabama a…

Both history and common practice show that the most fundamental role of a major power’s naval forces is to “show the flag.” The world’s premier naval power has additional responsibilities if it wishes to remain the premier power; command of the seas. From material condition of our ships to failures of basic seamanship, the last few years have signaled that whatever we are doing, it isn’t being done in the best service of the nation or its Navy. As we face an accelerating challenge from the People’s Republic of China at sea, do we need a fundamental re-look at how we run our Navy? Our guest this Sunday from 4-5pm Eastern to discuss this and related topics he raises in the …

Americas Bell Boeing won a $9.3 million contract modification, which exercises an option to procure 68 Conversion Area Harness (CAH) base kits, 53 CAH supplemental kits, two hardware kits and two consumable kits in support of the Marine Corps MV-22 aircraft, the Air Force CV-22 aircraft, the Navy CMV-22 aircraft, and the government of Japan V-22 aircraft. Additionally, this modification provides for electrical wiring interconnect system assessments for the CV-22 fleet aircraft. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft. The aircraft operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once…

Back in 2014 we took a day to give a nod to MA2 Mayo, USN. A year later friends at USNI News posted the final report. Make sure and read the VCNO's endorsement below. Lots to ponder there, and in honor of Perry Officer Mayo, you should give it a read. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4hf-CRLxgLo/UzTjvaOFojI/AAAAAAAAIEA/ipwhck5s4AI/s320/Killed-Sailor-from-USS-Mahan-Shooting-Identified-495x278.jpgIn port. Just another watch on the pier. Tic. Toc. Yawn. It's 23:20. Watch is almost over. Thing is, there is no such thing as a normal watch. You never know when the call comes. You don't even have to be at sea. You don't even have to be overseas. You can just be at the largest nava…

Americas Aechelon Technology won a $7.8 million order, which provides for the production, delivery and integration of four P8 Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS) next generation databases on to four AAS Weapons Tactic Trainers. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date will be in October 2022. The US Air Force has ordered 15 Silent Arrow Precision Guided Bundle (SA-PGB) for testing. They will be shipped to Pendleton UAS Test Range for flight testing in 2022. The SA-PGB is based on the Silver Arrow’s GD-2000 cargo delivery unmanned air system (UAS). It has been scaled down to deliver a 350-pound payload after being dropped from an aircraft, that could range…

Well ... I think over at the Severn School for Wayward Boys and Girls at the end of November, I think we found out. I'm not sure more commentary on my part is needed or wise ... I'll just say BZ to the MIDN who gave the feedback in bold. We need more pushback like that. ...and yes, I think we'd all like to see the 13 suggested topics...for scientific purposes, of course. 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=TPfcobvLBSU:rhT6j_daVis:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=TPfcobvLBSU:rhT6j_daVis:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.f…

Americas Boeing won an $85 million deal for overhaul of 40 ship-sets for the F-18 landing gear system, which includes a left side and right side main landing gear and nose landing gear assembly in support of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircrafts. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the Navy’s highest priority aviation modernization program. It is replacing Navy F/A-18C/D Hornet combat aircraft. The Growler is a derivative of the two-seat F/A-18 Hornet, the US Navy’s maritime strike aircraft. Its primary missions are are electronic attack (EA) and suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD), particularly at the start and ongoing early stages of hostilities. Work will take place in Can…