Raw Intel

Americas FlightSafety International Defense Corp. won a $7.9 million modification for the exercise of the KC-46 Aircrew Training System. The contract modification will provide an additional weapon system trainer, additional learning management workstations, systems engineering and program management, as well as new refresher training scenarios. Work will be performed at Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and is […]View the full article

A trailer linked to the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system caught fire during transport on 15 August, sending seven soldiers to the hospital for evaluation. According to Fort Bliss, the incident occurred at about 1:20 p.m. on U.S. Highway 54 near mile marker 10. A military convoy belonging to the […] The post THAAD missile system catches fire in Texas first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Raytheon Missiles and Defense has been awarded a contract modification valued at more than $271 million to continue production of the TOW missile system, one of the U.S. Army’s longest-serving anti-armor weapons. According to a Department of Defense announcement, the $271,377,812 modification (PZ0015) to contract W31P4Q-23-C-0026 covers the full-rate production of the Tube-Launched Optically Tracked […] The post U.S. Army expands TOW missile production first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance has rejected the entire proposed budget for upgrading K1 tanks with air conditioning and positive pressure systems, despite internal temperatures reaching up to 50°C (122°F) during summer field evaluations. According to a briefing obtained by Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, during a test […] The post South Korean K1 tank crews endure extreme heat first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

For a decade and a half, since President Obama’s Pacific Pivot speech, there has been a rising tide in the conversation about the need to fix the US Navy’s shortfall to meet the challenge of the People’s Republic of China. Faced with systemic and cascading failures in everything from surface ship design to maintenance, and distractions as frivolous as Great Green Fleets at sea and as serious as the Islamic State ashore, navalists have been waiting for serious action on the waterfront to match the rising tide of the strategic situation. Rhetorically at least, the second Trump administration came in saying all the right things to give hope that, at last, we would turn into …

France’s military and internal security services are moving toward closer cooperation in unmanned aviation training, as the École des drones hosted senior leadership from the Gendarmerie’s Air Forces Command to discuss potential joint programs. According to a statement published by École des drones on LinkedIn, the visit took place under an existing memorandum of understanding […]View the full article

The United States State Department confirmed on January 15 that it approved a possible $1.5 billion Foreign Military Sale to Peru for the design and construction of new maritime and onshore facilities at the Callao Naval Base. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it has notified Congress of the determination. According to the agency, the […]View the full article

The United States Air Force is confronting growing scrutiny over the cost structure of the T-7A Red Hawk trainer aircraft program as it approaches the Milestone C decision phase, a key acquisition step that will determine whether the aircraft moves into full-rate production. The review comes amid continued schedule delays and ongoing efforts to stabilize […]View the full article

The United States Army recently conducted tests of a new 30 mm Aviation Proximity Explosive (APEX) round designed for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter at the Yuma Test Center at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The trials evaluated the munition’s ability to engage unmanned aerial systems using the Apache’s existing M230 automatic cannon. […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has begun early market research for the remanufacture of a key defensive electronic warfare component used on the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. A sources sought notice published April 10 by DLA Aviation in Oklahoma City identifies the requirement as the B-2 Receiver Countermeasure. Responses are due by April 17, making this […]View the full article

China’s state news agency Xinhua published footage showing the Type 100 main battle tank, the People’s Liberation Army’s next-generation armored platform, conducting field training exercises, marking the first time the tank has been shown in an operational training environment and offering the first brief glimpse of its interior. The footage shows the Type 100 maneuvering […]View the full article

Germany’s Bundeswehr has placed a second major order for Rheinmetall’s LLM-VarioRay Laser-Light-Module, committing to a six-figure quantity of the weapon-mounted targeting devices for delivery between 2026 and 2032, with the contract value running into several hundred million euros. The call-off, approved by the German parliament’s Budget Committee in December 2025 and formalized under a framework […]View the full article

Ukraine appears to have struck one of the more obscure but consequential nodes in Russia’s weapons manufacturing chain, hitting the Sborka plant in Voronezh, a facility that Ukrainian military intelligence identifies as a supplier of specialized semiconductor components to three of Russia’s most operationally significant weapons programs: the Kh-101 cruise missile, the Iskander-K ballistic missile […]View the full article

Ukraine’s government collapsed and a new ballistic missile flew successfully on the very same day, a coincidence the country’s outgoing defense chief made sure nobody missed. Mykhailo Fedorov, who stepped down as Ukraine’s Minister of Defense this week after just seven months in the post, announced that Ukraine conducted a successful test of a domestically […]View the full article

A Spanish F-18 fighter jet flying NATO air policing duty shot down a drone that crossed into Romanian airspace early Sunday, marking the fourth drone Romania has shot down this year, the country’s Ministry of National Defence said. Romanian radar systems detected the aircraft entering national airspace at 4:44 a.m. local time, arriving from neighboring […]View the full article

Retired Gen. David Petraeus said the Russian drone that struck a train near Ukraine’s border with Poland on September 13 was a jet-powered version of Russia’s Geran/Shahed attack drone, adding a detail Ukrainian officials had not specified in their own statements on the strike. Petraeus, a former CIA director and retired four-star U.S. Army general, […]View the full article

X-Bow Systems has won a prototype agreement worth up to $69.7 million to develop and qualify a solid rocket motor booster for a next-generation U.S. Navy weapon, and to tool a production line in Luling, Texas, that can build up to 500 motors a year, the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based company said on October 7. The […]View the full article

DARPA, a central research and development organization within the United States Department of War, put four autonomous unmanned ground vehicles through their first end-to-end test at Fort Knox, Kentucky, on Oct. 15, sending them as a team from a satellite-imagery tip all the way to a simulated strike on an enemy position, with a human […]View the full article

Reaper, ready… (click to view full) The MQ-9 Reaper UAV, once called “Predator B,” is somewhat similar to the famous Predator. Until you look at the tail. Or its size. Or its weapons. It’s called “Reaper” for a reason: while it packs the same surveillance gear, it’s much more of a hunter-killer design. Some have called it the first fielded Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). The Reaper UCAV will play a significant role in the future USAF, even though its capability set makes the MQ-9 considerably more expensive than MQ-1 Predators. Given these high-end capabilities and expenses, one may not have expected the MQ-9 to enjoy better export success than its famous cousin. N…

Americas The US Air Force is to contract Sikorsky to upgrade its HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter to improve on the 2012 requirements baseline. According to the service, the manufacturer is to bring the capabilities of the Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) up to today’s specifications, ahead of the commencement of full rate production in fiscal year 2022. Under the potential five-year deal for rolling capability upgrades to both the helicopter’s hardware and software systems, Sikorsky stands to receive up to $980 million. Work to integrate the AN/SPY-6 radar on the new Aegis Flight III guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (D…