Raw Intel

Presented for comment. Confirmed by multiple sources, this is the very latest from OMB to the DoD regarding aircraft carriers and FY13: The navy has proposed an additional 2-year schedule slip to its newest carrier, CVN79, which would extend the funding profile from the original 8 yrs to 12 yrs. The Navy would initiate the 4-yr construction process in FY15 after 8 years of advance procurement activities. Given the challenges of implementing the BCA caps, OMB allows the additional 2 year slip to CVN-79. However, the Navy should request authorization to commence regular CVN-79 construction in FY13 and continuing through FY18. The CVN-79 funding profile does not change,…

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…

As a former recidivist staff weenie, one thing that I keep thinking about when it comes to watching the performance of the Russians in Ukraine is the clearly deficient staff work. I've touched on it a bit here, over on Midrats and my visit to Bill Roggio's podcast, so regulars here are familiar with my take; this is a textbook case of the real world impact of a dysfunctional staff culture. No staff can do their job without clear and well thought out Commander's Intent and higher Direction and Guidance, but more importantly, the staff needs to be able to produce an honest Estimate of the Situation and Joint Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace. These cannot be allow…

Americas The Iowa Air National Guard has repainted an F-16A static display in a gold paint scheme. This scheme replicates the F-16C that was painted in gold back in 1996 to commemorate the 185th Fighter Wing’s 50th anniversary back then. The original F-16C #85-1565 is now a QF-16 and will eventually be destroyed during live-fire training exercise. Northrop Grumman won a $337.9 million deal, which provides researching alternatives, investigating and documenting new capabilities and anomalies related to H-1 avionics and weapons; and the development, integration, verification, validation, and testing of H-1 Integrated Avionics Systems, as well as identifies maintenance capa…

Americas Sikorsky won a $280.4 million modification, which exercises an option to procure long lead items in support of full rate production Lot 8, CH-53K aircraft. CH-53K King Stallion is a next-generation heavy-lift cargo helicopter. Work will take place in Connecticut. Expected completion will be in December 2023. General Electric won a $1 billion requirements contract for repair, replacement, and program support of 784 F414 engine components in support of F/A-18 aircraft. This contract includes a five-year base with no options. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support is the contracting activity. Work will take place in various continental US contractor lo…

There was a topic as a JO in the 1990s that we bandied about when we started to think about what we wanted to see show up in the fleet before we had to fight a no kidding war at sea for any length of time. Of course, at the end of the Cold War when "there was no other place I'd want to be" was in the air with the world waking up from history etc ... no one was really interested in spending the shrinking Clinton Era defense budget on something that, at best, maybe should be on the bottom of the unfunded priorities list from the perspective of the Potomac Flotilla. At the end of the decade and the experience of Desert Fox, the requirement came in to even sharper relief. Wit…

Americas A hypersonic missile data processing center is slated to be established at the Air National Guard base at Hector Field. This announcement was made by Senator John Hoeven, during the Grand Farm Autonomous Nation Conference at the Fargo Microsoft campus on August 29. The data center is a crucial component of the Sky Range […]View the full article

Americas The Navy awarded a $536 million contract to NorthStar Maritime Dismantlement Service to dismantle, recycle and dispose of the former aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN-65), a four-year undertaking that will set precedents for future nuclear-powered ship disposals. “Under this contract CVN-65 will be dismantled in its entirety, and all resulting materials will be properly recycled or disposed of. Specifically, hazardous materials, including low-level radioactive waste, will be packaged and safely transported for disposal at authorized licensed sites,” according to a May 30 contract announcement. Hermeus has flight-tested its Quarterhorse Mk 1 remotely piloted drone …

Italy has been a laggard in defense spending for a while. Although Italy claims, through some accounting tricks, to reach 2% of GDP, in reality, she is at ~1.5%, which still amounts to about $34 billion—right between Poland and Australia. Italy is not a 3rd-tier economy. So, let’s accept that Italy will be Italy. She won’t get to 5% of GDP on defense like some will (Poland for instance). We should give her some credit, and she decides to match the USA at ~3% of GDP. With the numbers we have on our cocktail napkin that would get us another …. $34 billion? A doubling? No, that is too optimistic. We can’t realistically expect that. We are talking about Italy here. We can’t …

China has reached a new threshold in its fifth-generation fighter program, confirming the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) now fields at least 300 Chengdu J-20 stealth aircraft. The expansion underscores Beijing’s rapid pace in deploying advanced combat aircraft and places China second only to the United States in operational fifth-generation fleets. The confirmation came […] The post China closes gap with U.S. in fifth-gen fighter race first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

A previously unseen image of Russia’s Su-57 multirole fighter has surfaced on pro-Kremlin social media channels, showing the aircraft’s internal tail-mounted weapons bay in detail. The release appears to be part of a broader effort by Moscow to promote the export potential of the fifth-generation jet as it seeks foreign funding to complete development. The […] The post Rare photo reveals Su-57’s hidden weapon bay first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

EDGE and Anduril have announced plans to form a major joint venture aimed at accelerating the design and production of autonomous systems for civil and defense use across the Middle East. The companies describe the initiative as a step that deepens the long-standing U.S.–UAE defense partnership by placing advanced, software-defined capabilities into regional production and […]View the full article

Thai naval infantry units have retaken a disputed border area in Trat province following intense fighting with Cambodian forces, reasserting Thai control over the territory and raising the national flag to signal restored sovereignty, the Royal Thai Navy said. According to a statement released by the Royal Thai Navy, forces under the Chanthaburi–Trat Border Defense […]View the full article

United States Army soldiers from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division conducted Bradley Fighting Vehicle gunnery on Jan. 11-12 at the General Silvestras Zukauskas Training Area in Pabrade, Lithuania. The training involved live-fire exercises designed to validate crew performance and maintain readiness along NATO’s eastern flank. According to the U.S. Army, the […]View the full article

United States Army Yuma Proving Ground is conducting live-fire tests of the Next Generation Rocket Assisted Projectile, a new 155mm artillery round designed to replace the legacy M549A1 and extend the range of current howitzer systems. According to officials at YPG, the Next Generation Rocket Assisted Projectile, or NGRAP, is intended to dramatically increase the […]View the full article

The United States has begun relocating Patriot and THAAD missile defense assets from South Korea to the Middle East, according to South Korean media reports. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung acknowledged the movement of United States Forces Korea (USFK) air defense equipment during a cabinet meeting, stating that the redeployment reflects U.S. military requirements tied […]View the full article

South Korea and Indonesia have tentatively agreed to transfer one of Seoul’s six KF-21 Boramae fighter jet prototypes to Jakarta, bringing their long-running joint fighter program closer to its final stage. The agreement was reached during working-level talks in February, according to documents submitted by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration and cited Tuesday by […]View the full article

U.S. Army soldiers evaluated an autonomous 81mm mortar system mounted on an Infantry Squad Vehicle during a live-fire exercise at Fort Magsaysay in the Philippines. The exercise was part of Balikatan 2026, the annual U.S.-Philippine combined arms exercise that has become one of the Indo-Pacific’s most tactically substantive training events. The soldiers conducting the evaluation […]View the full article

Three American defense companies have been selected to compete in the Phase II qualifier of the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program in June 2026 at Camp Grayling, Michigan, putting them in contention for a share of a program that aims to deliver more than 300,000 drones to U.S. forces by 2027 under a total budget of […]View the full article

A Canadian armored vehicle manufacturer has unveiled a new generation of one of its most versatile protected vehicles, building it on an entirely new platform and pushing its payload capacity to levels the company says are the highest in its class, at a moment when demand for light protected mobility has rarely been stronger. Roshel, […]View the full article