Raw Intel

A fire and a series of explosions tore through an ammunition storage site in central Bulgaria overnight into Saturday, September 12, 2026, roughly five weeks after fire and explosions destroyed a separate EMCO storage building near Belitsa, Bulgaria, on August 10. No injuries were reported in either incident. The blaze broke out near the village […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a $66 million order to retrofit MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones already in service with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force, bringing both fleets up to a common configuration. The firm-fixed-price delivery order covers engineering work, materials and spare parts to install 17 engineering change proposals […]View the full article

China and Russia sent military intelligence aircraft toward Japan on four consecutive days this week, prompting the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighters each day, as two Chinese Y-9 aircraft crossed the gap between Okinawa and Miyako-jima into the Pacific on Oct. 20 and 21 and Russian IL-20 aircraft flew over the Sea of […]View the full article

I am not sure if you have heard, but the Universal Pictures movie Battleship began filming last week in Hawaii. Based on the old board game Battleship, I admit I am skeptical. Noteworthy though, the movie has been given a budget of $200 million - which by any standard is an enormous amount of money for a movie. The other big entertainment news this week is that the Battle of Midway is heading back to the big screen too, this time in 3-D from the same folks who produced the recent award winning HBO mini-series "The Pacific." One of the themes on the blog has been the communication the Navy needs to have with the American people. How can people advocate for seapower…

Aborted landing (click to view full) In January 2005, the U.S. Navy selected the US101 as the new “Marine One” baseline helicopter, for use by the President of the United States. The US101 is an American variant of AgustaWestland’s successful AW101 multi-mission medium helicopter; it beat out Sikorsky’s S-92 Superhawk, which is already in use as a government VIP transport in countries like South Korea. That $1.7 billion victory was first endangered, and then destroyed, by ongoing changes from the White House staff. In 2008, the program’s ballooning costs and requirements got a temporary reprieve when US Navy agreed to proceed with the VH-71, despite a cost per aircraft…

Americas Bell Boeing won a $18 million contract modification, which exercises an option to provide systems integration, technical analysis, and engineering support for the V-22 aircraft. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft, which operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. Work will take place in Texas and Pennsylvania. Estimated completion is in December 2022. The Pentagon has given Northrop Grumman Corporation a task order to start engineering and planning work to reconfigure four EQ-4 Block 20 aircraft for…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $17.3 million deal for depot level repair. This follow-on contract includes: maintenance, modifications, repairs, alteration, upgrades of systems and spares for the AN/AQS-24 Sonar Detecting Set (all variants), Common Post Mission Analysis and Intermediate Level Test Equipment to support the Navy for the currently deployed airborne mine countermeasures legacy systems. The AQS-24A is a helicopter towed airborne Sonar mine countermeasure detection system equipped with a side scan sonar to detect and classify underwater mines. Work will take place in Maryland. Expected completion is in October 2026. The UH-60V variant has been inducted into …

Americas L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace won a $23.5 million modification, which extends services and adds hours for continued depot level maintenance, logistics, and sustaining engineering services in support of the C-12 Navy aircraft and the C-12 Marine Corps Reserve aircraft. The Beechcraft C-12 Huron is based on the Super King and 1900 series platforms and serves with the United States military as a utility transport among other roles. Work will take place in Louisiana, Japan, Bahrain, Cuba, North Carolina and Maryland. Estimated completion will be in January 2023. Boeing won an $18.7 million modification, which exercises options to procure the following aircraft…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won an $9 million deal for the manufacture of initiating propellant used on the MK48 heavyweight torpedo. This contract includes a three-year ordering period with no options. All work will be performed in Elkton, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by November 2025. Weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,203,980 will be issued for delivery order N00104-22-F-ZN01 that will be awarded concurrently with the contract and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In July 2017, Northrop was awarded a $50.1 million contract to manufacture 45 torpedo transducer array and nose shell assemblies for the heavyw…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $46.4 million deal for the digital expanded ultra-high frequency multiple input multiple output optimized radar. This contract provides for the development of advanced radar technology solutions applicable to both next generation platforms and current generation platforms (such as the E-2D). To support a rapid pace of development, the contractor will […]View the full article

Americas The US Army’s Apache helicopter is once again facing public scrutiny after a crash Monday night at a military base in Washington state. A Boeing-made AH-64E attack chopper assigned to the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade plunged to the ground while participating in a routine training exercise, injuring its two pilots. A spokesperson at the […]View the full article

Americas The US Navy has announced a life service extension for 12 Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided-missile destroyers beyond their expected 35-year operability. Ships selected involve Flight I systems commissioned between 1991 and 1997, which incorporate older designs and components, particularly in their primary anti-submarine warfare helicopter support capabilities. The Peruvian Air Force has received the first of two Beechcraft King Air 360C air ambulance aircraft for medical evacuation missions. Acquiring the jets will strengthen the country’s light transport, aeromedical evacuation, disaster response, and risk management capabilities. The aircraft is assigned to …

Americas R&M Government Services, Las Cruces, New Mexico, has been awarded a maximum $9.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for KC135 aircraft fastener parts kits. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. The performance completion date is June 15, 2030. Using military services are Army, Navy and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2025 through 2030 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4A7-25-D-0257). The US Army has contracted American Rheinmetall to supply M1 Abrams main battle tan…

Via Brian McElhiney and Keishi Koja at Stars and Stripes: Japan’s coast guard and military are helping the Navy battle a blaze that broke out aboard an amphibious transport docking ship off Okinawa’s southeastern coast on Wednesday evening. “Crews are responding to a fire aboard USS New Orleans (LPD 18) this evening, Aug. 20, (Japan time) which is in the vicinity of Okinawa, Japan,” U.S. 7th Fleet wrote in an unsigned statement emailed to Stars and Stripes. “We will provide more details as they become available.” … The fire started in the front part of the 684-foot-long vessel, a coast guard spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday. “We do not know if it starte…

China’s Eastern Theater Command Navy has conducted a series of realistic combat exercises involving coastal defense missile forces, focusing on rapid deployment, strike coordination, and multi-layered air defense against unmanned aerial threats. The drills, held in unfamiliar terrain, were designed to test and improve the unit’s battlefield adaptability under high-tempo conditions. According to Chinese military […] The post China conducts coastal strike drills in eastern theater first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

L3 Technologies has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract worth $20,5 million for the production of AN/PEQ-15 infrared illuminators, also known as Advanced Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Lights (ATPIAL). The U.S. Army Contracting Command at Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, made the award on October 21, 2025. According to contract details, the procurement was conducted through a competitive process, with […]View the full article

Footage shared on social media this week by Indian defense journalist Sandeep Unnithan shows what appears to be a kamikaze drone intercepted by Indian Army air defenses during Operation Sindoor. “Turkish YIHA-III drone shot down by Indian Army during #OperationSindoor on display at the army chief’s residence for the Vijay Diwas celebrations,” Unnithan wrote in […]View the full article

Over at WSJ, recent Midrats Podcast guest and former Congressman Mike Gallagher, along with Kevin Wallsten remind us where we were just a year ago in their article, How DEI Caused a Military Recruitment Crisis. So much progress has been made over the last year in a move away from sanctioned sectarianism and institutional racial discrimination that it is easy to forget how bad things were. We should not forget. Much of the progress is based on executive action, not legislation or significant new action in the courts. With the courts, quite a few firewalls have been put in, but not enough. Without proper legislation, we are just one election away from returning to this. Und…

Lockheed Martin successfully conducted a 112-kilometer flight test of its Extended-Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the company announced. The test marked the first time an M270A2 launcher fired the Alternative Warhead (AW) configuration of the ER GMLRS rocket, validating launcher integration, precision performance, and lethality. […]View the full article

HDT Robotics announced that it has deployed several Hunter WOLF unmanned ground vehicles for military training and operational evaluation activities, introducing soldiers to the robotic platform in field-based scenarios. The deployment is intended to familiarize military operators with the Hunter WOLF system and demonstrate how unmanned ground vehicles can support soldiers by transporting equipment, generating […]View the full article