Raw Intel

Americas The US Army has officially closed its M10 Booker armored infantry support vehicle program, which had been set for full-rate production. The termination appears rooted in the tank’s design, which was conceptualized as a light, air-deployable system that eventually evolved into a heavier, less agile platform. The resolution comes after the US Department of Defense’s planned shift to a “leaner, more lethal force,” a large part of which is diverting investment priorities from “outdated, redundant, and inefficient” programs to modern initiatives. Swedish defense company Saab has announced a strategic partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to develop air…

Show LinksGaza COA Decision Brief, 11 October, 2023 We're Burning Another Amphib: this time the USS New Orleans (LPD 18) The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century, by Kenneth F. McKenzie Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South Hardcover, by Elizabeth Varon (Author) SummaryIn this episode, Sal discusses various pressing top… Read more View the full article

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence announced that its special unit “Phantoms” struck Russian aircraft in occupied Crimea on September 21, hitting two Beriev Be-12 amphibious planes and a Mi-8AMTSh-VN helicopter. The operation was carried out with strike drones, marking the first recorded destruction of Be-12 aircraft in history. “On September 21, 2025, in the territory of temporarily […] The post Ukrainian drones destroy Russian Be-12 flying boats first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that on October 17, Russian forces launched the highest number of guided aerial bombs in a single day since the beginning of their use in the war —268 in total. The primary delivery platform for the bombs was the Su-34 fighter-bomber, which conducted strikes from […] The post Russia launches record bombing campaign first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Goodrich, a Raytheon company headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $197.2 million delivery order for the production and delivery of MS-110 airborne reconnaissance systems under a Foreign Military Sales contract with Poland. The award was made by the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The contract […]View the full article

China may have begun construction of its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at a major shipyard in northeastern China, according to an analysis of satellite imagery obtained by a Japanese think tank, raising new questions about Beijing’s long-term naval ambitions in the Pacific. According to the National Institute for Basic Policy Research (NIPPR), satellite images taken […]View the full article

Israel has deployed additional air-defense systems across several cities as of January 14 in response to growing concerns about a possible strike from Iran, according to multiple local reports. Residents in Haifa, Jerusalem, Netanya and Caesarea observed the movement and emplacement of new batteries that form part of Israel’s nationwide protection network against rocket and […]View the full article

Türkiye has delivered M48 and M60 Patton main battle tanks to Somalia, with footage published Feb. 14 by Clash Report showing the armored vehicles moving in convoy through Mogadishu after being unloaded from a Turkish naval vessel. Clash Report reported that the tanks were transported aboard the Turkish Navy landing ship TCG Sancaktar and offloaded […]View the full article

As Ajay Patel outlines in his white paper, …the United States Navy’s Constellation-class frigate program (was) not as a case of technical failure or flawed contracting, but as a breakdown in sustained stewardship over a sound acquisition construct. The program was conceived to adapt a mature, serially produced parent design; expand the U.S. surface-combatant industrial base; and impose cost discipline through a fixed-price structure that depended on preserving design stability and commonality. That construct remained coherent through early execution and even through extraordinary external disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic. The program did not fail because it proved …

What was the most unexpectedly valuable ship in the U.S. Navy over the last 12 months, as measured by the delta between what Big Navy and the usual suspects said it could do, and what the real world asked it to do? Well, of course, it was our Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB). Why? It is its inherent flexibility and “white space” that future-proofs the ship and lets it function as a multi-tool for the fleet commander to modify as needed to scratch the tactical itch at the moment. Flexibility…just a more mundane way of saying, “modular, multi-mission capable eleventy”. They are not complicated. They aren’t exquisitely designed. They don’t have some extreme requirement, like lud…

Time to catch up on what’s making a buzz on the waterfront. Join us this Sunday at 5 PM Eastern for a Midrats Podcast May Day Weekend Maritime Melee! You can join LIVE at this link. If you are reading this after the show, refresh the Substack page for the podcast links. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Share Leave a comment View the full article

North Korea tested three different weapons systems on May 26 under the personal supervision of leader Kim Jong Un, including a lightweight multipurpose missile launcher that analysts have compared to the American HIMARS rocket artillery system, a new 240mm guided rocket with expanded range, and a tactical cruise missile that Pyongyang claims can hit any […]View the full article

Britain’s military is exploring a radical new concept for its naval missile defenses, one where warships and robotic vessels can sit armed and ready to fire for a month at a time with nobody on board to maintain them, and the UK Ministry of Defence is now asking the defense industry to help figure out […]View the full article

Ukraine now builds roughly 10 million drones a year, a tenfold jump from the target President Volodymyr Zelenskyy first announced just three years ago, Radio Svoboda, the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported. Zelenskyy delivered the figure during a ceremony in Kyiv marking Ukrainian Statehood Day, framing it as proof that a goal […]View the full article

Avidrone Aerospace said this week it will develop a new version of Katana, the single-rotor helicopter drone that won the top prize at DARPA’s Lift Challenge earlier this month in Dayton, Ohio. Katana carried a 51-kilogram (112.4-pound) payload aboard a 13.3-kilogram (29.3-pound) airframe, producing an official payload-to-aircraft-weight ratio of 3.84 to 1, Avidrone said. The […]View the full article

Aborted landing (click to view full) In January 2005, the U.S. Navy selected the US101 as the new “Marine One” baseline helicopter, for use by the President of the United States. The US101 is an American variant of AgustaWestland’s successful AW101 multi-mission medium helicopter; it beat out Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk, which is already in use as a government VIP transport in countries like South Korea. That $1.7 billion victory was first endangered, and then destroyed, by ongoing changes from the White House staff. In 2008, the program’s ballooning costs and requirements got a temporary reprieve when US Navy agreed to proceed with the VH-71, despite a cost per aircraft…

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…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $17.3 million deal for depot level repair. This follow-on contract includes: maintenance, modifications, repairs, alteration, upgrades of systems and spares for the AN/AQS-24 Sonar Detecting Set (all variants), Common Post Mission Analysis and Intermediate Level Test Equipment to support the Navy for the currently deployed airborne mine countermeasures legacy systems. The AQS-24A is a helicopter towed airborne Sonar mine countermeasure detection system equipped with a side scan sonar to detect and classify underwater mines. Work will take place in Maryland. Expected completion is in October 2026. The UH-60V variant has been inducted into …

Americas L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace won a $23.5 million modification, which extends services and adds hours for continued depot level maintenance, logistics, and sustaining engineering services in support of the C-12 Navy aircraft and the C-12 Marine Corps Reserve aircraft. The Beechcraft C-12 Huron is based on the Super King and 1900 series platforms and serves with the United States military as a utility transport among other roles. Work will take place in Louisiana, Japan, Bahrain, Cuba, North Carolina and Maryland. Estimated completion will be in January 2023. Boeing won an $18.7 million modification, which exercises options to procure the following aircraft…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won an $9 million deal for the manufacture of initiating propellant used on the MK48 heavyweight torpedo. This contract includes a three-year ordering period with no options. All work will be performed in Elkton, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by November 2025. Weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,203,980 will be issued for delivery order N00104-22-F-ZN01 that will be awarded concurrently with the contract and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In July 2017, Northrop was awarded a $50.1 million contract to manufacture 45 torpedo transducer array and nose shell assemblies for the heavyw…