Raw Intel

BAE Systems will build electronic warfare systems for three more production lots of the F-35 Lightning II under a new contract from Lockheed Martin, the company said on Oct. 6. The contract covers AN/ASQ-239 systems for F-35 Lots 20 through 22, along with systems to retrofit and modernize older aircraft already in service. BAE Systems […]View the full article

Lockheed Martin has received a $114.6 million order to redesign two key navigation systems on the F-35 Lightning II, the GPS electronic unit and the NAV100 inertial navigation system, replacing electronic parts that are going out of production so the stealth fighter can keep rolling off the line. The cost-plus-fixed-fee order, announced on Oct. 23, […]View the full article

Activists, in all their forms, are an interesting sub-species of non-state maritime actors. We’ve discussed the Sea Shepherds here extensively, who have the closest thing to a fleet of any of the non-state maritime actors. Greenpeace, the Sea Shepherds' older, but slightly more docile sister organization, has also engaged in aggressive tactics throughout its history. Greenpeace's most recent campaign is designed to stop Arctic drilling. The involvement of Lucy Lawless, actress-turned-boarding officer, demonstrates how these direct action organizations have embraced celebrity endorsers to promote their cause, which is no different than many other political or environment…

From a little side-bar I was having with our buddy Galrahn - we wandered in the Royal Navy's VERY retro sounding Joint Concept Note 1/12: Future 'Black Swan' Class Sloop-of-War: A Group System. OK, the only retro use is "Sloop-of-War" - which I fully support. It ain't a corvette ... and it is almost more like the exceptionally poorly named LCS. Read the whole thing - but without picking it apart all over the place - right or wrong I like some of the intellectual work behind it. The Brits have done some good, modest, and reasonable intellectual ponderings; "122. The UK needs affordable solutions to deliver a balanced fleet. It requires the agility to adjust to a…

Americas DRS Systems won a $10.5 million contract modification for an engineering change to the Energy Magazine Prototype design for the DDG51 Class destroyer program. This award is for an engineering change proposal of the Energy Storage Module that will provide capability to supply power to a directed energy load and includes design, build and testing for a total of two prototype units. The Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) Class guided missile destroyers provide a wide range of warfighting capabilities in multi-threat air, surface and subsurface environments. Arleigh Burke class destroyers are equipped with the Navy’s Aegis Weapon System, the world’s foremost integrated naval wea…

Americas L3Harris Technologies won a $45.9 million deal, which provides engineering maintenance and repair support services for Advanced Self-Protection Jammer AN/ALQ-165, Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures AN/ALQ-214, and aircraft self-protection optimization software in support of F/A-18 series aircraft for the Navy and Foreign Military Sales customers. The AN/ALQ-214 is the next-generation radio frequency (RF) integrated countermeasure system. The legacy (V)3 version is currently deployed on the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F aircraft to provide self-protection. Work will take place in Clifton, New Jersey. Estimated completion will be in February 2026. Sikorsky won …

Americas Alliant Techsystems won a $41.2 million deal, which procures low rate initial production Lot One of the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER). This contract provides for the production and delivery of 16 AGM-88G AARGM-ER All Up Rounds, six AGM-88G AARGM-ER Captive Air Training Missiles, four Common Munitions BIT Reprogramming Equipment Plus interface devices, initial spares, and required supplies and support. Work will take place in California and West Virginia. Estimated completion will be in March 2024. Northrop Grumman won a $12.9 million contract modification, which provides for the retrofit of Airborne Electronic Attack …

As navalists are wont to do, first think I do when looking at the latest developments in Ukraine, I look to the Black Sea coast. In the run-up to the war, a lot of attention was given to the naval buildup on the area by the Russian Navy, especially with the bulk of their remaining amphibious warships. Besides a minor operation in the Sea of Azov early on, there has been little seen of them, much less a vaunted amphibious assault around Odessa. There are many tactical level details we just don’t know about at this date, so as we look to the sea, today we’ll keep this to the big pixels, specifically the fundamentals we already knew but may have forgotten to one degree or a…

For the last two decades here we have reminded people that - as much as one can on this net - they need to look hard at their magazine inventory and bounce that off REALISTIC (not official) expected wartime expenditures. Congress is mostly kept in the dark on this, and worse - people in uniform pimp vignettes and wargames that almost seem designed to minimize requirements. Our concerns have been hand-waved for years, often by the people you would usually rely on to push warfighting concerns to the front. The cold hard fact is we simply cannot sustain a large conflict for very long - especially with our best, most accurate and long-legged standoff weapons. One of the best…

Americas Marshall Aerospace has launched the ARC-Radar, a modular sensor suite that can transform a tactical transport aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles using the Leonardo Osprey 30 radar. The Marshall ARC-Radar is a role-fit palletised solution that requires no permanent integration or aircraft modifications, and utilises only existing aircraft power outlets. The […]View the full article

Americas An F-35B fighter assigned to US Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) has crashed north of North Charleston. The mishap aircraft was part of a two-ship flight that took off from MCAS Beaufort. The second F-35B landed safely at Joint Base Charleston. Officials are now trying to find the F-35B that went down […]View the full article

Americas Raytheon won a $287 million modification, which adds scope to provide for recertification and modernization of 166 Tomahawk Block IV All-Up-Round Missiles (142 for the Navy and 24 for Foreign Military Sales customers) in support of enabling the missiles to be operational for up to an additional 15 years of service. Additionally, this modification […]View the full article

Americas Northrup Grumman won a $30.7 million modification, which exercises options to procure continued manufacturing and installation efforts necessary to retrofit the aerial refueling capability on 25 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye fleet aircraft for the Navy. Work is expected to be completed in August 2025. Fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,692,100 will be obligated at the time of award of which none will expire at the end of the fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Laurel Technologies won a $7.5 million firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of common frequency generator assembli…

Americas The US Army has officially closed its M10 Booker armored infantry support vehicle program, which had been set for full-rate production. The termination appears rooted in the tank’s design, which was conceptualized as a light, air-deployable system that eventually evolved into a heavier, less agile platform. The resolution comes after the US Department of Defense’s planned shift to a “leaner, more lethal force,” a large part of which is diverting investment priorities from “outdated, redundant, and inefficient” programs to modern initiatives. Swedish defense company Saab has announced a strategic partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to develop air…

Show LinksGaza COA Decision Brief, 11 October, 2023 We're Burning Another Amphib: this time the USS New Orleans (LPD 18) The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century, by Kenneth F. McKenzie Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South Hardcover, by Elizabeth Varon (Author) SummaryIn this episode, Sal discusses various pressing top… Read more View the full article

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence announced that its special unit “Phantoms” struck Russian aircraft in occupied Crimea on September 21, hitting two Beriev Be-12 amphibious planes and a Mi-8AMTSh-VN helicopter. The operation was carried out with strike drones, marking the first recorded destruction of Be-12 aircraft in history. “On September 21, 2025, in the territory of temporarily […] The post Ukrainian drones destroy Russian Be-12 flying boats first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that on October 17, Russian forces launched the highest number of guided aerial bombs in a single day since the beginning of their use in the war —268 in total. The primary delivery platform for the bombs was the Su-34 fighter-bomber, which conducted strikes from […] The post Russia launches record bombing campaign first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Goodrich, a Raytheon company headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $197.2 million delivery order for the production and delivery of MS-110 airborne reconnaissance systems under a Foreign Military Sales contract with Poland. The award was made by the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The contract […]View the full article

China may have begun construction of its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at a major shipyard in northeastern China, according to an analysis of satellite imagery obtained by a Japanese think tank, raising new questions about Beijing’s long-term naval ambitions in the Pacific. According to the National Institute for Basic Policy Research (NIPPR), satellite images taken […]View the full article

Israel has deployed additional air-defense systems across several cities as of January 14 in response to growing concerns about a possible strike from Iran, according to multiple local reports. Residents in Haifa, Jerusalem, Netanya and Caesarea observed the movement and emplacement of new batteries that form part of Israel’s nationwide protection network against rocket and […]View the full article