Raw Intel

The naval variant of the military’s fighter jet of the future arrived at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., on Nov. 6, a development that means the Navy and its industry partners are satisfied that the jet can safely perform basic flight maneuvers and is ready to tackle more demanding tests. Behind the scenes, however, the Navy is struggling to remedy a significant design oversight that poses a major potential hindrance to its ability to successfully deploy and maintain the F-35C Lightning II, the carrier-based variant of the joint strike fighter: Its powerful single engine, when packed for shipping, is too large to be transported to sea by normal means when r…

DDG 1000's composite deckhouse was revealed this week down in Gulfport. The uniquely angled 48.8m long, by 21.3m wide, by 19.8m high balsa-wood core carbon fiber super-structure is designed to provide the Navy's newest guided-missile destroyer a low radar and infrared signature. The deckhouse, combined with a low-profile tumblehome hull will likely achieve this goal, but is it truly fair to say that this design is "stealthy?" Today's enemies will not operate long range maritime patrol aircraft and radar satellites like the Soviet Union did to locate U.S. fleets on the open ocean 30 years ago. They will, however, use a network of tattletale fishing dhows equipped wit…

South African JAS-39D (click to view full) As a neutral country with a long history of providing for its own defense against all comers, Sweden also has a long tradition of building excellent high-performance fighters with a distinctive look. From the long-serving Saab-35 Draken (“Dragon,” 1955-2005) to the Mach 2, canard-winged Saab-37 Viggen (“Thunderbolt,” 1971-2005), Swedish fighters have stressed short-field launch from dispersed/improvised air fields, world-class performance, and leading-edge design. This record of consistent project success is nothing short of amazing, especially for a country whose population over this period has ranged from 7-9 million people. …

At least on the Navy side, it seems that many have learned the hard lessons of the Rumsfeld Era Transformationalism mistakes that still hobble our Navy. Sadly, it seems the head of the USMC and USAF have not learned that lesson. Head on over to USNIBlog to see the return of the snakeoil. 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=3p1oFyDYCWU:2CHqSe84a_E:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=3p1oFyDYCWU:2CHqSe84a_E:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=3p1oFyDYCWU:2CHqSe84a_E:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.f…

Are we giving China an opening in one of the last places we would want them to be? Maybe ... but if not, at least someone just decided to put down a marker on an important bit of forgotten real estate. Details over at USNIBlog. 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=zbWS1ByajDQ:sTdiSLvjIIQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=zbWS1ByajDQ:sTdiSLvjIIQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=zbWS1ByajDQ:sTdiSLvjIIQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=zbWS1ByajDQ:sTdiSLvjIIQ:F7z…

CNN’s summary of Sunday’s 2-hr documentary on Afghanistan has some interesting quotes from the commanders – and a few errors – I thought we should start the week out with. What is most interesting here are three individuals speaking out who have mostly stayed in the background: Barno, McNeill, and McKiernan. You’ll come away wanting to hear more from them. No longer in uniform, Gens. Stanley McChrystal, David Petraeus, Joseph Dunford, John Allen, David McKiernan, Dan McNeill, and Lt. Gens. Eikenberry and David Barno, speak frankly. First, as always – let’s pull out the appropriate graphic. Time and context matters. In the article, they don’t do like they should and go ch…

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, …

Time for a quick revisit to the most important DivThu related Supreme Court case we have seen since we started this series. We first touched on in 2018, and most recently back in August. This case has forced everyone to take the mask off concerning what anyone who has served on active duty for the last few decades has known as a truth; the US military actively discriminates based on race and ethnicity.So, we now have Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard College & the University of North Carolina. If you need the details of that case, click here. We have a 2022 amici curiae for this case as well with Joe Reeder and his law firm again at the …

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $120 million modification, which exercises an option to provide continued engineering, maintenance, logistics, and material support in support of the development, production, and sustainment of software builds, as well as to execute developmental flight tests in support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, […]View the full article

Americas Raytheon Technologies won a $220.9 million deal, which provides material and support equipment, program administrative, labor, supplies, services, planning, and unit level support equipment for F135 propulsion depot maintenance, non-recurring sustainment activities, and depot activations in support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Military Sealift Command, […]View the full article

Americas HDT Global has confirmed the selection of its Hunter Wolf 6×6 unmanned ground system for trials under the US Army’s Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET) program. S-MET is an ongoing effort to integrate modern autonomous platforms into service, decreasing risks to warfighters deployed in austere environments. Austal USA has launched the construction of a new submarine module production center in Mobile, Alabama, to further support the US Navy’s submarine programs. The future indoor facility will support the US Navy’s plan to obtain one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines annually, according to the company. It will encompass 369,600 square fe…

Americas Roshel has signed an agreement with Singapore’s ST Engineering to produce the ExtremV amphibious all-terrain vehicle in Canada. The ExtremV is a key candidate for Canada’s Domestic Arctic Mobility Enhancement program, which seeks a replacement for the aging BV206 fleet for military and emergency response teams. Roshel will lead the vehicle’s domestic production and engage Canadian-owned businesses to procure key components. MD Helicopters is pitching its five-bladed MD 530F as the US Army’s next training platform to prepare the next generation of military pilots. The aircraft, designed to replicate the operational characteristics of rotorcraft like the UH-60M Bla…

The U.S. Navy has concluded an experimental port damage repair exercise in Gulfport, Mississippi, reflecting growing attention to the vulnerability of maritime infrastructure in large-scale conflicts. The limited objective experiment, held August 15, 2025, brought together multiple expeditionary combat units to simulate restoring a pier under hostile conditions. The Navy Expeditionary Warfighting Development Center (NEXWDC) […] The post U.S. Navy simulates combat port repairs after Ukraine lessons first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Yes, September is Australian Appreciation Month on the Midrats Podcast. Building on our discussion earlier this month with Liz Buchanan, we are returning to the perspective from the Antipodes with returning guest, Gray Connolly. From Afghanistan, to the Antarctic, we’ll have a broad-reaching discussion of allied national security concerns from the Australian perspective. You can listen at this link, or via Spotify widget below. Gray Connolly served as a Naval Intelligence officer in the Royal Australian Navy. He graduated from the Royal Australian Naval College and holds the King’s Commission. Gray is a graduate in Arts (Honours - History) from the University of Sydney a…

NATO has begun its annual nuclear deterrence training exercise, Steadfast Noon 25, involving 70 aircraft and approximately 2,000 personnel from 14 Allied nations, the alliance confirmed this week. The long-scheduled drill, which runs from October 13 to 24, is part of NATO’s recurring efforts to validate its nuclear posture and joint force readiness. The exercise […] The post NATO conducts exercises for fighter-based nuclear roles first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

I published this two decades ago on the OG Blog. As the subject of this has been making the rounds as of late, I’ve decided to plant this flag firmly in the ground here on Substack. Especially in the popular press, “hero” is a word thrown around way too much. Often it is applied to those who make no real sacrifice or effort, or those who parade around Our Fallen like some gibbeted prop in an obscene political street theater. It is a shame. There are real heroes out there. Most of the time they don’t wear a uniform. The vast majority of the time, they aren’t Americans. Now and then, they are Germans from the mid-1900s. Hey, whodathunk—they might even be Christian. Bravo …

Being that we know that the Constellation Class FFG is going to stop at just two ships and we’re waiting to see what the plans are for the “smaller than an Arleigh Burke Flight III” warship to displace water before the end of the decade, what other designs are close to displacing water that might be fun to argue about? The end of last week saw some speculation that we could just “grey hull” the Legend Class USCG cutter, AKA National Security Cutter. Well, I don’t know if that would look that good given recent news on Hull-11; The Department of Homeland Security cancelled the stalled production of a 11th Legend-class National Security Cutter for the Coast Guard, citing a y…

The United States Navy awarded Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin company, a not-to-exceed $21.6 million order on January 13 to support transient engine torque test and certification work for the VH-92A Patriot fleet. The undefinitized order, issued under an existing basic ordering agreement, funds engineering and test efforts required for modifications to the aircraft now […]View the full article

Saudi Arabia has officially signed a contract for four C-27J Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), becoming the global launch customer for the armed maritime patrol variant of the C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft developed by Italy’s Leonardo. The announcement confirms Riyadh’s acquisition of the new configuration designed specifically for maritime surveillance and combat operations. The aircraft […]View the full article

Germany-based Quantum Systems on March 11 announced a partnership with Daimler Truck aimed at developing unmanned military logistics vehicles with the MOSAIC Ground Autonomy Kit. The announcement was made during the LogNet 2026 conference in Koblenz, where the companies outlined plans to integrate autonomous driving and teleoperation technologies into military truck platforms. According to Quantum […]View the full article