Raw Intel

While a lot of the attention in unmanned systems the last two decades has been in the air, significant developments on and under the surface of the oceans were happening in parallel. From small mine hunting unmanned surface vessels and the development of the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel above the seas, to unmanned systems the size of lightweight torpedoes to midget submarines below the surface, unmanned maritime systems capabilities are growing each year. With each incremental advance in engineering automation to autonomous operations, their utility from maritime security to war fighting increases as well. For the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern our guest to dis…

When you read military history, you read all the time about "fighting retreats" and "rear guard actions" and with few exceptions, that is about the only mention they get, maybe a paragraph or two. That rarely does justice to the incredible sacrifice a few knowingly make to help save the many. Those ordered to be the rear guard, or to execute a holding action, know exactly what they are being asked to do - and yet they do it willingly through good discipline or simply duty. Often they are not even ordered to do it, local commanders see the need, know commander's intent, and do it. There are some well known events, Napoleon's Dutch engineers at Berezina is one, and for the …

Americas Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) cut the first steel plate for use on the US Navy’s fourth ship of the Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carrier Doris Miller (CVN 81) on Wednesday at its Newport News Shipbuilding division, marking the beginning of its construction. Doris Miller is the second ship of the two-carrier contract award HII received in January 2019 for the detail design and construction of the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers; Enterprise (CVN 80) being the first ship of the contract. The head of US Space Force says the nascent military branch has grown into a “warfighting force” after meeting key milestones. Army Gen. James Dickinson, US Space Com…

Time to pull out the Salamander wargame matrix. When I talk “wargame” I am not talking about something that is done with a board with a bunch of little pieces being moved around, that is a Tactical wargame. No, what I am talking about is a grey-matter wargame at the Operational and Strategic level. For those who don’t follow me on twitter, I outlined how this works a couple of weeks ago, For those not in "the guild" - "Blue" here are the good guys, the "Red" here are the bad guys. I'm only going to do 1 combination and 1 round. I'll define that for you; "1 combo" is how you run Blue vs. Red in the matrix you see here. You simplify Blue & Red in to two Courses of Act…

No, not your liberty stories ... but the front line nations facing China that aren't all that concerned, directly, about the crisis in Kabul. Taiwan and Japan ... tiny step by tiny step ... are getting closer. A few updates over at USNIBlog. Come by and give it a read. 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=lUHZfGepKDA:qOcc32tVzFc:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=lUHZfGepKDA:qOcc32tVzFc:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=lUHZfGepKDA:qOcc32tVzFc:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogs…

Americas The US Navy announced, that it has finished a test of its first littoral combat ship-based unmanned mine detection system. The Unmanned Influence Sweep System designed for the LCS has a mine countermeasures unmanned surface vehicle, or MCM USV, and a towed minesweeping payload to sweep magnetic or acoustic mines, the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has departed from Norfolk Naval Station to Newport News Shipyard for planned maintenance. According to a statement, the six-month maintenance period, called a Planned Incremental Availability, which includes modernization, maintenance …

For all those Afghan nationals who helped us and we promised we would take care of them, if they are not already out of the country, it looks like the Kabul airlift option is off the table; Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid gave a press briefing and asked the US not to encourage Afghan people to leave the country. He said the group is no longer allowing Afghan nationals to go to Kabul airport and called on crowds at the airport to go home. Mujahid said "our aim is to rebuild our country." "We are asking women to stay home at the moment," until security is guaranteed, the Taliban spokesperson said. He said Taliban fighters are not yet trained "how to deal with women.…

Americas Boeing won a $49.7 million deal for the inspection and overhaul of the CH-47 Chinook mechanical transmission. The CH-47D Chinook helicopter transports troops, artillery, supplies and equipment to the battlefield with other applications ranging from medical evacuation, aircraft recovery, parachute drop, search and rescue to disaster relief, firefighting and heavy construction. Work is estimated to be completed by August 23, 2025. The US Army, together with the Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) announced the successful first life fire of its Iron Dome air defense system engaging eight cruise missile targets. Soldiers from the Army’s 3-43 Air Defense Arti…

Americas Elbit Systems and L3 Technologies will compete for each order of the $92 million firm-fixed-price contract for the Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System III. The Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System III has Independent eye span adjustment and 25-mm relief eye piece accommodate eyeglasses and unique user requirements. Low-profile battery pack improves head mobility. Objective lens coatings filter glare from cockpit instrument lighting. Work is estimated to be completed by August 22, 2025. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) released a request for information (RFI) on August 18 to industry seeking technologies that would support its developme…

One thing the USA can do better than anyone else is move a lot of people quickly even in the most hazardous environment. As mentioned by MG Taylor, USA this AM, in the last 24-hrs 25 C-17, 3 C-130 and 61 commercial aircraft carried 16,000 people out of Kabul. The US military was responsible for a little under 11,000 of those. MG Taylor: As of this morning, 25 U.S. Military C-17s, 3 U.S. Military C-130s and 61 charter/commercial flights departed Kabul. The total passenger count for those flights was approximately 16,000. Of that number, the U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel. pic.twitter.com/wsZYBAa3Mh — Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) August…

Americas Raytheon won a $7 million modification in support of the evolved Seasparrow Missile Block II life of type buy of parts for the NATO Seasparrow Consortium. The Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) (RIM-162) is a medium-range, surface-to-air missile designed and manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems. It offers naval combatants reliable self-defense and high fire-power. Work will take place in California and Arizona. Estimated completion date is in October 2021. Boeing won a $487 million deal for Apache AH-64 engineering services and technical support. The AH-64E Apache is designed and equipped with an open systems architecture including the latest communications,…

I’m not sure where today’s Midrats will take us. Our co-host is getting a little underway time, so this will be just you and me. As the initial stage of the collapse of Kabul unfolded last weekend, a lot of Midrats loyalists reached out to me to ask, “Where is this week’s Midrats?” In hindsight, perhaps I should have brought up a show, but last Sunday was just not a good time to put a microphone in front of me,. By Monday I was ready, and my posts last week covered much of the thoughts bouncing around my head then. Today from 5-6pm Eastern we’re going to free-form this together. The chat room is open for questions or points of order, and the studio phone line is open as w…

Captain Lindsey S. McCarthy, USN giving a hot wash-up to the crew after USS Newport News (CA-148) and USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) engage shore batteries in North Vietnam 19 December 1967. Interesting this if you go to the YouTube page, comments from crew members and their families in the years since 2013 since I first posted it. 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=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:…

Americas Boeing won a $10 million modification for F-15C and F-15E Mission Training Centers (MTC). The contract modification provides for updates to the F-15 MTC training systems in order to achieve training service objectives. Boeing is upgrading USAF F-15C and F-15E MTCs with the Suite 9.1 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System. Work will take place in Idaho, North Carolina, Nevada, Japan and England. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) tested its three-setting 2,000-pound (nearly 910 kg) Dialable Effects Munition (DEM) recently. The Air Force says that this capability will give it the ability to prosecute targets more effectively in high-end fights,…

We know that friends and competitors alike are questioning our nation's competence right now. If our warships pulled in to their port looking like this, would that help or hinder concerns they have - rightfully - after our horrible humiliation in Afghanistan? Sometimes the first step in solving complex, hard challenges is to respond in a simple, straightforward way. I'm pondering over at USNIBlog. Come by and tell me what you think. 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=D_Z5627fF6A:yWRdy0xfYcs:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blog…

Americas The US Marine Corps has used its Navy/Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) to attack a target ship more than 100 nautical miles away during a test in Hawaii. The actual firing of the Naval Strike Missile was carried out by engineers from Marine Corps Systems Command as the NMESIS is not an operational system yet. Two missiles were launched during the test on August 15. Raytheon won an $11.5 million order, which provides for the upgrade of 10 AN/APG-79 radars from Configuration A to Configuration B and continuing required efforts to repair Weapons Replaceable Assemblies identified as nonfunctioning following baseline testing. AN/APG-79 pro…

AN/APG-79 AESA Radar (click to view full) The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar began life as a replacement. Initial F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet production batches installed Raytheon’s all-weather, multimode AN/APG-73, but the APG-79 has intrinsic technical features that offered revolutionary increases in capability, reliability, image resolution, and range. Unlike the APG-73 that equipped the first Super Hornets, the APG-79’s AESA array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules that are fixed in place, eliminating a common cause of breakdowns. To move their beams, they rely on electronic changes in each module’s transmission…

Americas Sikorsky won a $116.5 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the Black Hawk main rotor blade. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. The UH-60 Black Hawk, developed by Sikorsky, has been operational in the US Army since 1978. In April 2001, the US Army approved an upgrade programme for more than 1,500 Black Hawks to UH-60M. The UH-60M features new wide chord composite spar main rotor blades, strengthened fuselage and advanced infrared suppression. Estimated completion date for this contract is August 15, 2026. Integral Aerospace won a $10 million contract for the repair of two parts associated with the 650 gallon fuel tanks in support of t…

The Afghan army and government the Soviet Union left behind lasted over 3-yrs. The Afghan army and government the USA left behind lasted barely 1 month. This is a nugget everyone needs to hoist onboard. It is bolded and underlined for a reason. For those in the elder GenX cohort and older, we remember vividly all the comments made, especially after its fall, of the failures of the Soviet Union. We liked to talk about its stifling bureaucracy, oppressive government nomenklatura, busy body rules, crumbling infrastructure, military infested with political officers pushing ideology, corruption, and almost comical government officials - all so assured of their power, such bel…

Americas The Defense Department’s Space Development Agency (SDA) plans to launch an experimental payload, developed together with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), to study the infrared background created by the Earth. The experiment is called Prototype Infrared Payload or PIRPL and is foundational for developing DoD capabilities to detect and track dim, fast-flying hypersonic missiles, SDA officials said in a briefing last week. The US Army says it’s developed a combat-capable prototype of a high-energy laser weapon. According to an army press release, the laser can be mounted on a Stryker military vehicle and used to defend troops against drones as well as rockets, art…