Raw Intel

Americas The US Air Force Research Laboratory has partnered with ThermAvant Technologies and Maxar Technologies to develop and deploy the next generation of spacecraft thermal control technology. The groundbreaking technology, Oscillating Heat Pipes (OHPs), provides lightweight and highly efficient temperature control on higher power yet smaller spacecraft. The OHP was recently launched in the second quarter of 2021 on a Maxar-built satellite. The United States conducted the launch of a precision sounding rocket on October 20 to accelerate the development of advanced hypersonic weapons. The High Operational Tempo for Hypersonics flight campaign was conducted by the Navy …

Over the last few years, I have come to the firm opinion that both structurally and culturally, the US Navy is incapable of fixing itself. We have run out of time and are actually past time. To continue to work inside the same infrastructure, policies, laws, and personalities and expect a different result is insanity. We need relief from Congress. Yes, that Congress. We need a new law and mindset towards acquisition and program management in line with a Goldwater-Nichols replacement. The latest datapoint is the absolute state of our cruiser fleet. Like so many of the problems we have with the quality, quantity, and utility of the fleet we have today, this was all una…

Americas General Dynamics won a $25.1 million contract modification for additional fiscal 2021 development studies and design efforts for Virginia Class submarines. The Virginia Class new attack submarine is an advanced stealth multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and littoral (shallow water) operations. The Virginia-Class submarines are being built by a partnership between Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division and General Dynamics Electric Boat. General Dynamics Electric Boat built the first of the class,Virginia (SSN 774), and Northrop Grumman Newport News the second,Texas (SSN 775). Work will take plac…

Americas Raytheon won an $8.4 million deal, which provides for software product updates and qualification testing for the CV-22 Silent Knight Radar (SKR) Joint Services Vertical Lift Aircraft Experimental (JVX) Avionics System Software (JASS) instrumentation build, the SKR JASS Functional Requirements Document (FRD) 8 port forward, and the SKR JASS FRD 9 port forward in support of the V-22 Joint Program Office. Work will take place in Indiana. Expected completion will be in May 2024. The Canadian Ministry of National Defence has contracted Quebec-based Logistik Unicorp to deliver operational clothing and footwear to the Canadian Armed Forces. The agreement covers more th…

Ship inactivation, are, in a way, sad things to see. Especially for those who served on them, these ships represent untold hours of dedication, hard work, love, sacrifice, and memories of long, boring watches and flashing rushes of adrenaline. Each story is unique, but in aggregate they tell other, perhaps more meaningful stories about the naval service they represent, and the nation they serve. For those focused on capability, the question should always be twofold; 1) Are we commissioning more or less of what are are decommissioning?; 2) Are we going to have more capabilities tomorrow than we have today? For those focused on the Navy's stewardship of the taxpaye…

P-3 Orion, armed – note Sidewinder (click to view full) The P-3 Orion remains the USA’s main maritime patrol aircraft, and is also finding use in overland surveillance roles despite the fleet’s age. Earlier DID articles have noted the extra effort required to preserve the USA’s P-3C Orion maritime surveillance & patrol aircraft, along with radar and weapons upgrades to improve the fleet. Lockheed has even opened a new production line, to deal with planes whose wings that are so aged and worn that they need a full replacement. The SMIP (Sustainment, Modification, and Installation Program) is intensive depot-level inspection and repair process that includes P-3 airf…

Latest updates: 3rd squadron stands up in the south. Indian Heron UAV (click to view larger) In November 2005, media reports claimed that India was set to purchase some 50 Heron MALE (Medium Altitude, Long Endurance) UAVs from Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) in a deal worth $220 million. They would be put to use carrying out reconnaissance missions on India’s mountainous borders with China and Pakistan, and along India’s long coastal waters. India was said to have been close to sealing the deal in 2004, but it was postponed due to the change in governments in New Delhi. The Heron’s performance during the December 2004 tsunami apparently clinched the deal. Its perfo…

Americas The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has successfully completed its third and final round of Full Ship Shock Trials. According to the Naval Sea Systems Command statement. The third explosive event was conducted Sunday off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. A research paper by a team from the US Air Force Institute of Technology describes how a tanker-centric stereo vision system can be used for automated aerial refueling (AAR). Currently, differential GPS is used so that the tanker and receiver are on a stable flight path for the transfer of fuel. The authors argued that by having a vision-based system can improve the integrity of the process…

Home is thousands of miles away on the other side of the great Pacific Ocean. A deadly and relentless enemy is challenging ships and sailors for every island, cove, sea and shipping lane. There is no time – or yardspace – for damaged ships for travel home for repairs or resupply. Large shore facilities and ports anywhere near the fight are either under enemy control, or too dangerous and damaged to be useful. How can the US Navy fight and win under these circumstances? We know the answer. We’ve been here before. How can the war games of a century ago, and the war they helped win less than two decades later, help us today as we face another rising power in the Wester…

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. William Kavanagh uses the optic lens on his M4 carbine to scan the area in the Kajak district of Afghanistan's Helmand province, Feb. 8, 2013. Kavanagh, a company executive officer, is assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kowshon Ye View the full article

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…

OK all you history buffs, all you former and active Harpoon players - all those who love their Navy and a good video game at the same time. Think about what, in even a modest manner, you would like to see for the official US Navy's first mobile gaming product. Let that warm and excited feeling soak in for a bit. Now, brace yourselves and head on over to my post at USNIBlog for the details. Gird your loins. As a side note, if you read this blog and are not also a member of the US Naval Institute, you should really consider joining. Look on the right side of the page for the widget, give it a click and find a few shekels. View the full article

Americas The Canadian government has taken the first step in allocating funds for modernizing the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD). “This funding will enable the enhancement of all-domain surveillance of our northern approaches and renewed investment in continental defence more broadly,” said the spokesperson for Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan. The US and Canada created NORAD in the 1950s to protect North America from a Soviet nuclear attack. Strings of radars and air bases were built to detect and stop incoming missiles and bombers, and placed under a unique joint command. All of the 57 active US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers were indefinitely grounded this week…

Successor Class (click to view full) “We are committed to working towards a safer world in which there is no requirement for nuclear weapons… However, the continuing risk from the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the certainty that a number of other countries will retain substantial nuclear arsenals, mean that our minimum nuclear deterrent capability, currently represented by Trident, is likely to remain a necessary element of our security.” — UK SDSR, 1998 Britain has a big decision to make: do they remain a nuclear weapons power, or not? In an age of collapsing public finances and an uncertain long-term economic future, the money needed to design new nuclear…

Americas US Air Force “Orange Flag” and “Black Flag” exercises this week tested mission planning with cross-domain data gathering, the Air Force said. The exercises involved the Air Force Test Center’s 412nd Test Wing, headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and the 53rd Wing of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in achieving what the Air Force terms All-Domain Command and Control. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved a request to extend the deployment of National Guard members in the Capitol through late May, the Department of Defense announced. Per a statement from Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, about 2,300 National Guard personnel will continue to suppo…

Americas Airbus US Space & Defense won a $119.8 million contract modification for an extension of contractor logistics support services for the UH-72 Lakota. The UH-72A Lakota is a light utility helicopter. UH-72A Lakota helicopters were acquired to replace the UH-1H Iroquois and OH-58 A/C Kiowa helicopters. Work will take place in Grand Prairie, Texas. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2022. The US Marine Corps (USMC) has flown the first AH-1Z flight that has Link-16 capability. Bell says a two-way connection was completed from the helicopter to a ground station. Bell added that the Link-16 package from Northrop Grumman adds a new digital moving map, a new secur…

Americas Haight Bey & Associates won a $35.9 million deal for for AN/TMQ-53 Tactical Meteorological Observing System contractor logistics support. The TMQ-53 is a portable, automated weather station that can take observations in up to one minute intervals, enabling flying missions around the world. The AN/TMQ-53 collects weather data, that includes wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, cloud height, precipitation and lightning. The data it produces can be utilized by a weather observer in the field or by the Air Force Weather community using satellite communications. Work will take place in West Haven, Utah and is expected to be finished by July 2027. The …

In the very serious and expensive game of national defense, words matter. Even more than words, published documents with the President or Cabinet Secretaries' signatures are the source code of what our government will do as a matter of effort and expenditure. They are the "Ref. A." and regardless of their readability or subjective goodness, they require serious understanding and careful reading. Readers could not ask for a better mind to look at the most recent National Defense Strategy than our friend and occasional guest poster, Bryan McGrath. Refresh your drink of choice and dive in to his overview below. Bryan, over to you. Following close on the heels of the Bid…

Once again we are faced with two options: 1) the CNO is fighting as best he can to slow roll the forces of hate and division that are trying to turn his service in to an organization beset by strife, division, and sectarianism by saying the right words to keep the worst at bay while waiting for the tides to shift or; 2) the CNO is a true believer, more woke than woke – and he is going to drag everyone down with him. I am open to either option – or perhaps a 3rd “useful idiot” – but the CNO is not an idiot. He is a smart, hardworking, and talented man. As such, we must default to 1 or 2. Things are leaning towards 2. “My goal is to put the Navy in a place over the next 2…

China has overtaken Russia as the world’s second-largest operator of nuclear-powered submarines, according to an updated 2026 assessment. The new figures indicate that China fields an estimated 32 active nuclear submarines, surpassing Russia’s 25–28 operational boats. According to the updated force structure, China currently operates nine Type 093/093A Shang-class attack submarines, which form the core […]View the full article