Raw Intel

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia is accelerating efforts to transform Iranian-designed Shahed drones into jet-powered, remotely controlled weapons aimed at devastating cities and overwhelming air defenses, according to a new report from UNITED24. The Shahed drone, first developed in Iran and transferred to Russia in 2022, has become one of the Kremlin’s most […] The post UNITED24: Russia adds remote control to Shahed drones first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The U.S. Army has reached a new milestone in its long-range fires modernization effort, successfully completing the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 1 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) on September 26, 2025, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. According to the Army, four PrSM Increment 1 missiles were launched against targets positioned […] The post U.S. Army’s cutting-edge missile system moves closer to service first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) is evaluating the U.S.-developed Chaparral unmanned aerial system for logistics operations between islands, a move aimed at strengthening Japan’s ability to support remote units across its maritime domain. Developed by California-based Elroy Air, the Chaparral is a hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) cargo drone designed to perform autonomous […]View the full article

France has presented the newest evolution of its next-generation loitering munition capability, showcasing the MUTANT XL system at the Defense Innovation Forum 2025 held at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. The system is being developed under the French Larinae program through a partnership between MBDA and Delair. According to Delair, the MUTANT XL is designed […]View the full article

China’s People’s Liberation Army on Monday launched the “Justice Mission-2025” military drills around Taiwan without prior warning and announced upcoming live-fire exercises that will restrict air and maritime traffic in five designated areas starting Tuesday, prompting immediate condemnation from Taiwanese authorities. Taiwan’s Presidential Office, Foreign Ministry, and Ministry of National Defense responded within hours, describing […]View the full article

The United States Army has awarded Raytheon a $1.03 billion contract modification to continue production of the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), according to a contract announcement released this week. The modification covers Year Two production requirements for the LTAMDS program and brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $1,025,100,000. […]View the full article

The Italian Army’s 187th Paratroopers Regiment “Folgore” has begun operational integration testing of the IMRS “Wild Goose” Infantry Modular Robotic System, a remotely controlled robotic transport platform developed by Marom Dolphin. The evaluation phase focuses on assessing the system’s performance in supporting infantry operations across complex and difficult terrain. The testing effort aims to improve […]View the full article

An Iranian-backed militia carried out a drone strike on Camp Victory in Iraq, targeting a United States military installation and hitting multiple assets, according to video released on March 24 and open-source analysis. Footage shows a first-person view (FPV) attack drone striking a parked Black Hawk helicopter within the base perimeter. Open-source imagery from the […]View the full article

Videos and images circulating on the Chinese social media platform Weibo show a convoy of multiple mobile missile launchers traveling through what appears to be a Chinese city, with open-source analysts identifying the vehicles as probable transporter-erector-launchers associated with the DF-27 anti-ship ballistic missile system fitted with a hypersonic glide vehicle. The footage, captured by […]View the full article

Ethan Gossrow over at Naval News did a detailed look at the carrier portion of the 30-year shipbuilding plan that gives some texture for those who, like myself, are concerned about the slow approach to bringing new carriers online. Even though today is no different from any other day over the last half decade, there are those who will continue to try to explain why the USN’s CVNs are “obsolete” and not worth the investment. However, reality continues to get in their way, as he quotes from the Plan: “Underpinning Expanded Maritime Maneuver (EMM) the CVN serves as a persistent, survivable, mobile sea base that enables the Navy to dominate contested environments and deliver …

Ukrainian company Yartura has unveiled a fixed-wing drone interceptor capable of reaching 450 km/h (280 mph) and equipped with an AI-powered automatic target re-engagement system, developed specifically to counter the growing speed of Russian kamikaze drones, the Ukrainian defense outlet Oboronka reported, citing a company announcement. The system, designated Dancer 4.5.0, arrives as Ukraine’s drone […]View the full article

A New Zealand-built drone boat became a moving radio-sensing platform during a British military trial at RMB Chivenor, where SYOS Aerospace supported the Trident Sprint series with its SM300 uncrewed surface vessel and helped integrate CRFS passive RF sensors into a wider battlefield network. The trial, led by the UK Ministry of Defence and MarWorks, […]View the full article

The U.S. Army reported that during Project Convergence-Capstone 6, a large-scale experimentation event hosted at Fort Irwin, California, Army Aviation demonstrated a networked strike sequence over the high desert in which two reconnaissance drones located and identified a threat before a third, weaponized drone flew in to finish it off, according to a story by […]View the full article

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jMxlWqNjWjs/U1nIwXMMBjI/AAAAAAAAIJ4/839fmIwW8yk/s320/Galanti-portrait-Newswk-cap.jpgI bumped into a post I did over six years ago on the passing of one of our greats. Phyllis. Thought I'd repost today ... because, she deserves it. Circumstances display character. Character comes often from places least expected - unless of course you know the best of military spouses; She said in a Richmond News Leader interview in 1971 that while Galanti was a POW, she just “wanted to be a housewife.” She wanted to “sink into oblivion” when he returned. By 1969, she had become active with other POW wives. In 1970, the wives group became the National Leag…

Americas HMX-1 and the White House Military Office is testing the VH-92A at Joint Base Charleston this week. The military says this is part of operational testing for Marine Helicopter Squadron One. It is unknown how much longer the process will last. The new Marine One, also referred to as VH-92A, is the next-generation presidential transport helicopter being developed for the US Marine Corps (USMC). Scheduled to enter service this year, the VH-92A helicopter will provide safe and reliable helicopter transportation for the US president and vice president. Raytheon won a $35.9 million deal, which provides for the procurement of follow-on software system architecture and…

There is no such thing as a "normal watch," especially on Nov. 22, 1975 onboard the USS BELKNAP (CG-26); We were on plane guard. They put us on a plane guard because their TACAN was down. We had been making this same maneuver to port eight or nine times a day – from the start of the turn to completion was 3600 yards. This time we made a turn to starboard. I’ve read the investigation report, so even though I was down in the fire room, I’ve since come to know what happened up on the bridge. With the lights of the carrier looking the same, there was confusion, and miscommunication, and we made a right-hand turn this time, and the arc was half of what it had been for the last…

Have you been waiting for more substantial push back by Congress about the Navy's self-deluding happy talk, their iffy deployment numbers, and sleepwalking in to disaster should war come? Do you see the disconnect between warfighting requirements west of Wake and the looming VLS cell issues in the Davidson Window? Are you concerned that not enough people - even in 2022 - see the Terrible 20s headwind? Behold from today's HASC hearing on FY23 Navy Budget. Mr. Secretary, your FY23 Navy Budget Book paints a rosy picture… that does not match reality. pic.twitter.com/sfQKxWAVqF — Rep. Elaine Luria (@RepElaineLuria) May 11, 2022 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=…

This is one of those DivThu that could be a, in a word, tome. As such, I am only going to pull a small portion of the things I normally would. You will have to do some reading yourself. Trust me on this, depending on your areas of concern, you will find many items worse than I will pull out on today's post. Poison wrapped in a few nice marshmallows...but poison nonetheless. The focus of this week's DivThu is what is going on at the US Naval Academy. I've had all sorts of people, from active duty to retired USNA alumni (and others...ahem) reach out to me - a NROTC guy - because they want to get the word out concerning what is going on. Not only do they love their school, t…

Americas The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has teamed up with California-based SentinelOne for the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative to “further support the US government’s strategy to secure the cyber ecosystem and critical infrastructure.” As part of the partnership, the company will provide its autonomous platform to assist in data collection, analysis, and sharing of […]View the full article

Americas Sikorsky won a $29.4 million modification, which exercises an option to provide logistics support analysis, logistics products and product data, technical publications resulting from production engineering changes, diminishing manufacturing sources, material shortages in support of CH-53K King Stallion aircraft production, and fielding for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut; Bohemia, […]View the full article