Raw Intel

The United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) at Fort Benning launched the first pilot of the Robotic Autonomous Systems Leader Tactics Course (RASLT) on Feb. 10 as part of Army-wide Transforming in Contact initiatives. The three-week course is designed to prepare Army leaders for future conflicts in which autonomous and robotic systems will […]View the full article

The United States Department of War has awarded BAE Systems a contract with a ceiling of $145 million for the development, manufacturing, and delivery of Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems weapon systems, the department announced Feb. 11, 2026. The contract includes an initial delivery order valued at $66,673,298 under FA8681-26-F-B012. Work will be performed in Hudson, […]View the full article

United States Air Force F-15 fighter jets were spotted flying at low altitude over the eastern Aleppo countryside in northern Syria as Syrian government forces moved into the towns of Deir Hafer and Maskana following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) units from the area. The flights were observed as Syrian army units entered […]View the full article

One of the great things about writing for so long on the maritime beat—2004 in my case—is that I’ve had the chance to travel along this path with other people who have been in the game as long or longer than I have. In the November 2007 issue of The Atlantic, Robert D. Kaplan published an essay, America's Elegant Decline. I first mentioned it ten months after its publication while I was in Afghanistan, and then only briefly. It was more or less taken aboard as background info. Fifteen years after its publication, I revisited its points and covered some of it in detail. It says something for Kaplan that a decade and a half later, it still popped into my nogg’n for consider…

The United States Air Force used the Skiron X hybrid unmanned aircraft as a simulated enemy drone during counter-UAS training at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany on Feb. 19, 2026, according to a statement from the 7th Army Training Command. Instructors supporting the Air Force’s Joint Multi-Domain Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operator Course flew […]View the full article

The United States Air Force conducted Exercise Dragon Shield at Beale Air Force Base, California, in 2026, testing the ability of maintenance units to launch and recover U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft under simulated contested conditions, the service said in a released update. The exercise focused on the 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (AMXS), which was tasked […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces released combat footage showing the detection and destruction of a Russian 300-mm Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system during an operation conducted on occupied territory in the Zaporizhzhia region. The strike was carried out by operators of the “Ptahi” unit from the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces, coordinated by […]View the full article

Elbit Systems of America said its SIGMA self-propelled wheeled howitzer will be on display at the AUSA Global Force Symposium and Exhibition in Huntsville, Alabama, from March 24 to 26. The company said SIGMA is its fielded offering for the Army’s Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization program and will appear in Oshkosh Defense’s booth 411 at the […]View the full article

American Ordnance has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract valued at nearly $15 million for new facility construction, marking another step in the U.S. Army’s effort to expand and modernize its industrial base. According to a contract announcement, American Ordnance LLC, based in Middletown, Iowa, received a $14,970,440 award for construction work tied to new facilities. […]View the full article

Ukrainian air defense personnel engaged in intercepting Russian Shahed series of long-range one-way attack drones have published footage showing multiple examples of the weapons literally disintegrating in the air before reaching their targets — a visible sign of deepening manufacturing failures at Russia’s Alabuga drone production complex. The video, published by Ukrainian Wild Hornets drone […]View the full article

The ZEUS unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Poland-based Ekolot Aerospace & Defense (EAD) in cooperation with Spain’s UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía has completed its first flights, according to EPKR Spotters. The ZEUS platform is designed to combine fixed-wing endurance with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), addressing operational needs where traditional runways are unavailable. EPKR Spotters wrote: […]View the full article

The United States Marine Corps has begun training and certifying small attack drone operators at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, as part of a new course focused on the combat employment of first-person view (FPV) drones. The course, hosted by 1st Marine Division Schools, trains Marines to operate small attack drones for identifying and […]View the full article

United States Army aviation units assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade staged multiple CH-47F Chinook and AH-64E Apache helicopters at Katterbach Army Airfield in Germany on Jan. 26, 2026, as crews worked to clear flight lines during a heavy winter storm, the service confirmed. According to U.S. Army imagery and unit statements, helicopters from […]View the full article

Sailors aboard the littoral combat ship USS Wichita (LCS 13) completed multiple major engineering repairs while deployed in the U.S. Fourth Fleet area of operations, restoring propulsion and power systems and keeping the ship fully mission capable, the U.S. Navy said. According to the Navy, the Freedom-variant warship’s crew repaired a ship’s service diesel generator, […]View the full article

Initial reports claimed that Ukraine’s Air Force had shot down a Russian Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft during operations over southern Ukraine, with the incident initially linked to combat activity near the Black Sea region. The aircraft was first believed to have been engaged during a combat mission in the south, where Russian tactical aviation has […]View the full article

A Chinese naval amphibious ship group has carried out multi-subject, combat-oriented training in offshore waters, testing integrated air defense, electronic warfare, and amphibious assault operations, according to a report published by the PLA Daily. The report said multiple vessels, including the Type 075 Hubei ship, formed a task group and sailed to a designated sea […]View the full article

President Donald Trump approved U.S. military strikes in Venezuela days before the operation was carried out, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters. The officials said the president gave the U.S. military authorization to conduct land strikes in Venezuela several days ahead of […]View the full article

A United States Army reconnaissance and attack helicopter squadron stationed in South Korea was deactivated last month as part of a service-wide transformation effort, according to a congressional report released Thursday. The U.S. Army deactivated the 5th Air Cavalry Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment (5-17 ACS) at Camp Humphreys on Dec. 15, according to a recent […]View the full article

France said the military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro violates international law, as Paris reiterated opposition to the use of force and warned of broader consequences for global security. In a statement posted Saturday, French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot said Maduro had “confiscated power from […]View the full article

Turkey-based ARCA Savunma plans to build a large ammunition production facility in Estonia’s Põhja-Kiviõli defense industry zone, with production expected to begin in 2028 under a program valued at about €300 million ($352 million). The project, named “ARCA Baltic,” will establish a fully integrated manufacturing site capable of producing several types of munitions in large […]View the full article