Raw Intel

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $26 million contract to provide Foreign Military Sales (FMS) support for Ukraine’s F-16 fighter program, the Pentagon announced. The contract will fund the creation of country-specific technical orders tailored to Ukraine’s fleet of Fighting Falcons. The agreement, issued as a firm-fixed-price and time-and-materials contract, falls under […] The post Lockheed wins $26M Ukraine F-16 support deal first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Germany is preparing to order an additional 15 F-35 fighter jets from U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, according to Spiegel. The deal, reportedly valued at around €2.5 billion (approximately $2.9 billion), is expected to be presented to the Bundestag’s budget committee for approval. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius plans to expand Germany’s F-35 fleet beyond the […] The post Germany plans to buy 15 more F-35 fighter jets first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The U.S. Army has deployed its C100 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) 26-01 in Hawaii, highlighting efforts to integrate next-generation reconnaissance drones into complex multinational training operations across jungle and archipelagic terrain. The C100, assigned to the Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, was launched […]View the full article

Denmark has signed a contract with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to acquire the Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defence System. According to a press release from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace dated December 17, 2025, the Danish government finalized the agreement for the NSM Coastal Defence System, known as NSM CDS. The contract is valued at more […]View the full article

The SM-2 Block IIIC/CU medium-range surface-to-air missile was showcased publicly for the first time at the Surface Navy Association (SNA) 2026 symposium, bringing new visibility to the next-generation interceptor developed for U.S. Navy surface combatants. Footage from the exhibition shows the SM-2 Block IIIC/CU, designated RIM-66P by Raytheon, displayed as part of ongoing efforts to […]View the full article

Russia’s Taganrog Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex named after Beriev (TANTK Beriev) reported a net loss of more than 5 billion rubles, or approximately $65 million, in 2025, according to financial statements published on Interfax. The results represent a sharp reversal from 2024, when the company posted a profit of 1.19 billion rubles (about $15.4 million). Financial […]View the full article

The Missile Defense Agency has awarded Raytheon a nearly $267 million contract modification for the production of additional Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB interceptors, according to a contract announcement. The work will support the procurement and delivery of 23 additional SM-3 Block IB missiles, bringing the total under the contract to 78 interceptors. The modification […]View the full article

Lockheed Martin has secured a $4.761 billion U.S. Army contract to produce Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, or PAC-3 MSE, interceptors, one of the most widely deployed high-end air and missile defense missiles in current service. The Department of War announced that Lockheed Martin Corp., based in Grand Prairie, Texas, received the firm-fixed-price award […]View the full article

Indian drone manufacturer Hoverit has completed vehicle-mounted launch trials of its Divyastra Mk-2, a long-range one-way attack drone in the same class as Iran’s Shahed series. The ground trial milestone follows an earlier high-speed taxi trial, with the company confirming in its announcement that vehicle-based launch has now been completed. “After successful High Speed Taxi […]View the full article

The U.S. Army awarded BAE Systems a program of record contract to equip ground combat vehicles with an electronic warfare system that jams and confuses incoming missiles and drones before they can reach their targets, the company announced May 27. The Soft Kill Active Protection System program centers on BAE Systems’ ROOK system, a soft-kill […]View the full article

Training photographs circulating from a Ukrainian Special Operations Forces unit show what appears to be a large-format acoustic hailing device mounted on top of a tactical vehicle, a system that analysts assessing the images tentatively identify as consistent with the LRAD 1950XL-RT manufactured by California-based defense technology company Genasys. The images represent the first observed […]View the full article

We’re going to stick with the theme we started yesterday…the fight now. Today, something unique and special is taking place. I am hoping video will be uploaded later. If so, I will update the post. Via Mike Schuler at gCaptain: Two Military Sealift Command ships have earned the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) for the first time in the command’s 77-year history, recognizing the civilian-crewed vessels for their role supporting the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group during Operation Epic Fury. Military Sealift Command announced Tuesday that fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO 196) and dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12) received the prest…

As most regulars here know, on the 13th, President Trump issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM), which was known in previous administrations as a National Security Memorandum. Most are aware of it because almost immediately there was much gnashing of teeth, rending of clothes, and general knee-bent running about concerning the future USS Doris Miller (CVN 81) having its EMALS replaced with steam and returning to hydraulics over a lot of the problematic electrical motors used in various elevators, etc. We’ll return to that in a bit—and it is but a small fraction of the story—but let’s make sure everyone understands what an NSPM is. It operates with the …

As we like to point out, if you pay proper attention, small and medium-sized wars will show you what works, what doesn’t, and probably what you will need should war come your way at some point in the future on a larger scale. Prior to WWI, you had the Boer Wars. Prior to WWII, you had the Spanish Civil War. Right now, we are blessed—or cursed, depending on your focus—with a flood of lessons in the offensive use and defense against swarms of the many, affordable, and massed long-range attack drones, cruise missiles, and conventional ballistic missiles. The Russo-Ukrainian War since 2022 and the U.S.-Israeli conflict against Iran and her proxies since the Hamas invasion of …

New U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress pilots are now making contact with a refueling tanker on their first live training flight, a skill that once took students several sorties to master, after the bomber’s training unit at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, built its air refueling instruction around a virtual reality trainer. A peer-reviewed study […]View the full article

No, you don’t want to put up Halloween decorations this afternoon, you want to continue to avoid it until the last minute…and instead plan to join Mark and me from 5-6 PM for another LIVE Midrats Podcast! If its happening in the national security arena and its worth talking about, we’ll cover it. You can listen live and join the studio chat at this link. If you are reading this after the show, check back on the Substack page later Sunday night for the podcast audio links. Leave a comment Share This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. View the full article

So, the day after the election, what does the USCG really want its officers performance evaluated on? Of course. Para 3 covers it. R 041533 NOV 20 FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-1// TO ALCOAST UNCLAS //N01000// ALCOAST 399/20 COMDTNOTE 1000 SUBJ: GUIDANCE FOR TARGETED MID-TERM COUNSELING FOR OFFICERS A. Officer Accessions, Evaluations, and Promotions, COMDTINST M1000.3 (series) B. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 041026 NOV 20/ACN 129/20 C. COMDT’s Guidance to Officer Boards and Panels D. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 251640 JUN 20/ALCOAST 252/20 1. All reported on officers (ROOs) must receive mid-term counseling as required by REF (A) and as updated by REF (B).…

KAL A330-200 (click to view full) South Korea is moving to buy 4 long-range aerial refueling tankers with secondary transport capabilities, with a budget of WON 2 billion (about $1.8 billion). That capability isn’t a huge priority on the Korean peninsula itself, but it’s very useful for international operations. It’s useful as a way of projecting regional power, as territorial disputes flare with China. As Asian economies grow and militaries modernize, these factors have made long-range aerial refueling a growing regional priority. China, India, Pakistan and China deploy the Russian IL-78. Japan fields 4 Boeing KC-767As, and may raise that to 8 under recent plans. Simi…

Arrow test concept (click to view full) In a dawning age of rogue states, ballistic missile defenses are steadily become a widely accepted necessity. Iran is widely believed to be developing nuclear capabilities, and Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be “wiped off the map” (the fact that America was also placed in that category went largely uncovered). Because missile defenses are so important, states like India and Israel have taken steps to ensure that they have the ability to build many of the key pieces. The Arrow project is a collaboration between Boeing and IAI to produce the missile interceptors that a…

With the expected losses due to enemy action and mechanical failure, how do we plan to rescue aviators out of the water in the western Pacific? What few subs we have will be fully employed elsewhere and really shouldn’t show themselves in a lot of those waters. We don’t have a lot of surface ships with helos either to spare. As the USMC desires to make every island possible a fighting position, how do you supply them when their airfields – such that the are – are cratered by the PLARF conventional S//M/IRBM at D+1? If your major airfields are unusable due to enemy military action or host nation political uncertainty ... how do you conduct long range ASW and reconnaissance…