Raw Intel

Ukrainian armored vehicle maker Inguar Defence has developed a medevac variant of its Inguar-3 in a short development timeline. The medevac version keeps the Inguar-3’s proven armored shell but departs significantly from the baseline configuration inside. The new vehicle features specialized medical equipment, a redesigned floor layout, different mounting points, and a ramp for fast […]View the full article

One of America’s most battle-tested rocket artillery systems just got a new round of engineering investment, with the U.S. Army awarding Lockheed Martin a $14 million contract modification to sustain and improve the Multiple Launch Rocket System across all its production variants. The award, issued by Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, brings the […]View the full article

Russia laid the keel of a new nuclear-powered attack submarine on June 17, 2026, the first vessel of its class to enter construction in six years and a signal that Moscow is pressing ahead with its most capable undersea weapons program despite the enormous financial and industrial strain of the war in Ukraine. The ceremony […]View the full article

Germany approved more weapons for export in six months than most countries manage in years, and the country that received the single biggest share of that approval, once again, is not a NATO member at all. It’s Ukraine. Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the government agency responsible for reviewing and approving […]View the full article

Oshkosh Defense and the Marine Corps’ Marine Depot Maintenance Command manufactured an identical, approved replacement part for a Marine Corps heavy truck at two separate production sites, one in Japan and one in Georgia, using the same secure digital blueprint during Exercise Valiant Shield 2026, the company said in a release. Oshkosh Defense, an Oshkosh […]View the full article

The world’s nine nuclear-armed states expanded their arsenals in 2025, according to a new assessment from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Researchers Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda found that most countries deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapons during the year, even as the overall number of warheads in the world continued to decline. […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $209 million contract modification to keep building the AN/SLQ-32(V)6, the electronic warfare system that warns U.S. Navy surface ships of incoming anti-ship missiles and the radars guiding them. The U.S. Department of War announced the award, made Sept. 30. The modification includes options that, if exercised, would […]View the full article

Kadena Air Base in Okinawa will bar all vehicles made by Chinese electric carmaker BYD from entering the installation starting Oct. 26 over concerns that the cars could expose sensitive military information, Kangnam Times reported. The ban covers privately owned cars as well as contractor vehicles, taxis, delivery vans and other commercial vehicles. The 18th […]View the full article

More evidence that we need a new "elite" and our defense and diplomacy nomenklatura is worm-ridden with people better suited for anything else. Few thing are more cost effective and strategically additive than our military attaché cadre. If anything, it should be expanded and being one made a top-shelf career enhancer than its status today. When done and funded correctly, attachés can be instrumental in helping build partnerships and relationships throughout the world that can pay orders of magnitude greater returns down the road. We have a huge military and as a former manpower guy, I see this for exactly what it is - screwed up priorities and myopic leadership. Th…

I wish I made the observation first, but last week I noted another's spot on commentary on LCS that was simply damning in its simplicity; LCS-1 will be decommissioned before any of the mission modules it were to carry are FMC. All that being said, LCS will be with us for awhile, and good people in hard jobs are doing their best to squeeze some utility out of them. That is great ... but we have so little actual experience with LCS besides a few bespoke deployments that we need to be very careful thinking we can transfer "lessons" to new classes, like FFG-62, that will be used in very different ways ... like useful ways ... but I digress. That won't stop some people, it…

Americas Foster Miller won a $10.7 million contract modification to exercise Option Year One for production, engineering support and post production support of the MK 2 Man Transportable Robotic System (MTRS) series systems and Talon systems. The services under this contract cover the production of systems, depot level repair parts, initial spares kits, consumables, repair parts and approved accessories. Engineering support services such as configuration management, engineering enhancements, reviews, reporting and shipping are also included. The MTRS MK2 provides a man-transportable capability to remotely perform reconnaissance. Estimated completion will be by March 2026.…

We opened Midrats last Sunday with a question to our guest Jimmy Drennan about what lessons he's taken so from from a maritime perspective during the Russo-Ukrainian War. This is a question I would like all of our navalists to think hard about. One constant we see throughout history is that small to medium wars will signal to you what you need to be ready for when the big war comes - and come it will. They always do. Well, yesterday another Midrats alumnus, Dr. James Kraska has a tightly written overview of some takeaways for him, and as always with Kraska's work ... his observations deserve close consideration. The setback for Russia was apparently tied to the oldest of…

Americas A US Navy warship intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile using software-upgraded SM-6 missiles in a recent trial. The test, conducted in cooperation with the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), aimed to demonstrate the capability of the USS Daniel Inouye in detecting, tracking, and engaging a medium-range ballistic missile target. The US Air Force’s 71st […]View the full article

Americas BAE Systems Technology won a $67 million deal to exercise fiscal 2024 options to provide support services for the US Trident II D5 Strategic Weapon Systems program, the Attack Weapon System program, and the Nuclear Weapon Security program. This contract award also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. Work will be […]View the full article

Americas The US Army has awarded Bell Textron a contract to provide three 412 EPX medium utility helicopters as part of the agency’s foreign military sales program. The $37.7-million order will be delivered to an undisclosed recipient due to “potential customer sensitivities,” the US Army Cargo Helicopters Project Office told FlightGlobal. Concurrently, a US Department of Defense representative confirmed that the platforms will be distributed to more than one buyer. The US Coast Guard has shipped the modified MH-60T Jayhawk medium-range recovery helicopter to the Air Station Astoria in Oregon under its service life extension program. The modernized aircraft is part of an …

Americas Raytheon won a $2.6 million modification to procure test equipment and spares, and to exercise options for Evolved SeaSparrow Missile Block 2 Guided Missile Assemblies. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls won a $60 million cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-25-C-2127 for advance planning and long-lead-time material procurement to prepare and make ready for the accomplishment of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) inactivation and defueling. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by March 2026. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance (Navy)…

Footage broadcast on Chinese state television has revealed new training exercises featuring unmanned ground vehicles armed with rocket launchers. According to observer of Chinese military developments Jesus Roman, the exercises involved an armored infantry squad from the 83rd Group Army, part of the Central Theater Command. The unit conducted semi-urban assault drills using Type 08 […] The post China tests new ground drones with rocket launchers first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

For a long time running, it has been an eye-rolling joke how off-the-rails, political, and nonsensical ship naming and classifications conventions have become. The classic example is from many of the navies in Europe where everything has to be a frigate. Even when clearly some are destroyers or even light cruisers: frigate. All over the place, civilian politicians who are high on the emotion and low on the reason scale of things—and are beset with almost no knowledge of sea power or naval history—think they can make everything soft-soft by not seeming too “belligerent” with their <checks notes> military. They are haunted by other generations’ ghosts and bad academi…

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense issued a sharp warning to Washington on Friday over provisions in the newly passed U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that include expanded military support for Taiwan, calling the move a provocative escalation that threatens regional stability. Speaking in Beijing, Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang criticized the Taiwan-related elements […] The post China slams U.S. over Taiwan defense bill first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Romania will purchase nearly 300 Lynx infantry fighting vehicles from German defense company Rheinmetall, with part of the production planned to take place on Romanian territory. The deal was finalized following meetings between Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger and senior Romanian officials, including Minister of Economy Radu Miruță and Minister of Defense Ionuț Moșteanu, Euronews has […]View the full article