Raw Intel

Britain’s military aircraft fleet, from Typhoon fighter jets to Chinook helicopters currently flying combat support missions in the Middle East, will stay in the air under a new contract that ensures a steady supply of the thousands of small consumable parts that keep modern warplanes mission-ready. The National Armaments Director Group, the UK defence procurement […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force awarded Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, the Norwegian company that builds the weapon, $98.4 million to produce the next batch of Joint Strike Missiles, with work taking place at Kongsberg’s factory in Norway and wrapping up by June 30, 2030. The Joint Strike Missile, known by its American designation AGM-184A, solves a […]View the full article

AM General has been awarded a new indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to build High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles for the Army, with this initial action valued at $82.2 million against a cumulative ceiling of up to $754.6 million, the Department of War announced Aug. 13. Work locations and funding will be determined with each individual order […]View the full article

Saar 5: INS Hanit (click to view full) The 1,227t/ 1,350 ton Sa’ar 5 Eilat Class corvettes were built by Northrop Grumman in the 1990s for about $260 million each. It’s a decent performer in a number of roles, from air defense to anti-submarine work, to coastal patrol and special forces support. In 2006, the Israelis went looking for a next-generation vessel with better high-end capabilities. Six years later, Israel had nothing to show for its search. In the meantime, massive natural gas deposits have been discovered within Israel’s coastal waters, adding considerable urgency to their search. The USA is Israel’s logical supplier, but given Israel’s size and cost requir…

Americas Raytheon Technologies won a $49.2 million deal, which provides for one conventional take-off and landing and two short take-off/vertical landing F135 engines to support F-35 Lightning II Block Four developmental testing program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. The Pratt & Whitney F135 is an afterburning turbofan developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Last week Raytheon was awarded a $290 million contract, which provides material and support equipment for depot maintenance facilities, program administrative labor for non-recurring sustainment activities, mockup engines and modules for tes…

Here and on Midrats over the years we've discussed the embarrassingly dangerous maladministration of the US merchant fleet, but we're not alone. We are putting a lot of emphasis on our growing partnership in security with Australia. How are things down under? Australia faces a “national emergency” unless it re-establishes a sovereign commercial shipping fleet to ensure critical goods flow during times of war and economic sanctions. The war in Ukraine, alongside Canberra’s geopolitical tensions with Beijing, has highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s security and economy given its supply chain is almost completely reliant on ships registered to other countries. The …

Americas The US Navy and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are wrapping up a five-year joint effort to develop high-power microwave technology capable of knocking out adversary electronics. The High-Powered Joint Electromagnetic Non-Kinetic Strike (HiJENKS) weapon is undergoing a two-month test at Naval Air Station China Lake, California. The Royal Canadian Navy will have to continue relying on allies and a private firm to refuel its ships at seas after a project to build a new fleet of supply vessels was hit with more delays. The service was supposed to receive its first joint support ship next year, but that delivery is delayed because of pandemic-related work issue…

Americas AeroVironment won an $86.4 million deal for the RQ-20B All Environment 3 and the Long Endurance Puma unmanned aircraft systems. RQ-20B is a block 2 upgrade of the Pointer Upgraded Mission Ability-All Environment (Puma AE) small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) designed and built by AeroVironment. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date ist September 29, 2023. The 40th Flight Test Squadron has taken delivery of the first of two government-owned Kratos XQ?58A unmanned aircraft. The Autonomous Aircraft Experimentation team will take use the aircraft for developmental ground and flight testing. The first flight is scheduled later this month. The …

Americas BAE Systems won a $23.5 million deal for logistics engineering and integration support services for Trident II Strategic Weapon System and the Submarine Submersible Guided Missile Attack Weapon System. This contract award also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Rockville, Maryland; […]View the full article

Americas The US Navy plans to mount a high-powered microwave-based counter-air defense system prototype on one of its vessels in 2026. The Meteor will be the navy’s first high-powered microwave (HPM) project to counter targets such as drones and anti-ship missiles, USNI News wrote, citing the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget documents. The US Army and the US […]View the full article

Americas Swedish defense contractor Saab has made an offer for the sale of its JAS 39 Gripen light supersonic aircraft to the Republic of Colombia. The potential contract of an undisclosed number of Gripens with Bogotá was first revealed unofficially by Swedish public news agency Sveriges Radio, according to a report by Reuters. In a recent interview, Saab CEO Micael Johansson confirmed this, saying that the Stockholm-based company committed to a “full-fledged” proposal to the Latin American country. The US Army has awarded Florida-based Repkon a $435-million contract to develop and commission a TNT factory in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. TNT is used for ammunition and ex…

Americas A new poll suggests Americans of all political stripes, including MAGA adherents, seek more US leadership on the international stage, not less. “The preference for American global leadership over a more isolationist approach is on the rise, up from 40 [percent] in 2022 to 64 [percent]” this year, the 2025 Reagan Institute Summer Survey showed, according to the institute. “Americans are not retreating from the world; they are rallying around a foreign policy grounded in peace through strength.” Among specific geopolitical issues rated by the poll — which was conducted before the US launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend — it found an overw…

Two German defense technology companies, STARK and Quantum Systems, have demonstrated a new integrated reconnaissance-strike capability in Ukraine, combining the VECTOR intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drone with the VIRTUS precision strike system. According to the companies, the concept allows operators to move from target identification to destruction within minutes, bridging the gap between surveillance […] The post German tech firms show drone-strike integration in Ukraine first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Gabler, a German defense company best known for its submarine technologies, has introduced concepts for two new uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) designed for torpedo tube launch. The announcement came on the opening day of the 27th DWT Naval Workshop in Dobbin-Linstow, where the company also revealed its updated corporate identity. The platforms, developed in partnership […] The post Gabler develops torpedo-tube launched uncrewed vessels first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has deployed its latest JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan to participate in the bilateral air combat exercise Indus Shield Alpha, the service announced via its official channels on Sunday. The exercise, hosted in Azerbaijan, brings together air and ground crews from both nations for an intensive aerial training […] The post Pakistan deploys JF-17 fighter jets to Azerbaijan first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has received an $84.7 million contract modification to support Foreign Military Sales (FMS) production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), the Department of War said in a release. The award is a modification (P00011) to the previously awarded contract FA8682-24-C-B001 and brings the total contract value to $9.58 […]View the full article

BAE Systems’ Norfolk Ship Repair facility in Virginia has been awarded a $117.7 million contract modification to carry out maintenance, modernization, and repair work on the guided-missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), according to a contract announcement. According to a release, the modification was issued under a previously awarded contract and provides funding for […]View the full article

The United States Missile Defense Agency has awarded Iridium Communications a contract on January 15, 2026, for work under the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, or SHIELD, program. The company said the award carries a ceiling of $151 billion and covers a wide set of work areas intended to field new capabilities for U.S. […]View the full article

German unmanned systems manufacturer Quantum Systems announced that it secured a €150 million financing package — equivalent to approximately $178 million — backed by the European Investment Bank and major European commercial lenders to support industrial expansion and technology development. The agreement was presented during a joint press conference at the company’s headquarters in Gilching, […]View the full article

The United States Navy resumed testing of its electromagnetic railgun weapon system in February 2025 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, according to a recent review published by Naval Sea Systems Command. The renewed testing effort comes after the railgun program had largely been paused for several years due to budget constraints […]View the full article