Raw Intel

The top American general in South Korea described the Korean Peninsula as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s perspective, and China’s embassy in Seoul responded by publicly telling him he had crossed the line, injecting a pointed diplomatic confrontation into a week already complicated by the broader state of U.S.-China relations. General […]View the full article

A simply outstanding summary of the state of play in the re-vitalization of—and in parts re-imagining of—defense production capabilities can be found in an article in the June 5, 2026 Investors Business Daily, above the fold on page 1, by Harrison Miller and Paolo Confino. The White House is seeking expanded manufacturing commitments from defense contractors, is pressing automakers to convert spare production capacity to defense, and is urging NATO partners to supplement weapons production. The Trump administration aims not simply to rebuild stockpiles depleted by the war against Iran. It wants to revamp large segments of the traditional military industrial complex. Unlik…

A Ukrainian government official just told the country’s electronic warfare industry to stop overselling itself, and the missiles falling on Kyiv this month are the reason why. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine’s Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, posted a blunt public rebuke this week aimed at claims that Ukrainian jamming technology can reliably knock Russian ballistic missiles off […]View the full article

A Patriot air defense battery inside Ukraine has sat with empty launch tubes for weeks, its crew unable to fire because the country has nearly exhausted its stock of interceptor missiles, CNN reported after gaining rare access to the system. CNN was the first outlet allowed to visit an operational Patriot unit on Ukrainian territory, […]View the full article

A U.S. Navy warship built to carry Marines ashore just wrapped up a stop at one of America’s most important Pacific outposts. USS San Diego (LPD 22), an amphibious transport dock, departed Naval Base Guam on September 12, 2026, after transiting Apra Harbor during what the Navy described as routine operations in the U.S. 7th […]View the full article

General Dynamics Land Systems will show a version of its M-SHORAD Increment 4 air defense system mounted on a Ford Ranger pickup truck at the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington, D.C., which runs October 12 to 14. The display puts a short-range air defense and counter-drone package on a commercial pickup, […]View the full article

A computer simulation run by South Korean and U.S. forces during this summer’s Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise ended with North Korean troops breaking through allied defensive lines and advancing to the outskirts of Seoul, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, a result that has deepened a dispute over when Seoul should take wartime command of […]View the full article

CF-18: which way? (click to see clearly) The F/A-18 Hornet is the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet‘s predecessor, with the first models introduced in the late 1970s as a spinoff of the USAF’s YF-17 lightweight fighter competitor. Hornets are currently flown by the US Marine Corps as their front-line fighter, by the US Navy as a second-tier fighter behind its larger F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, and by 7 international customers: Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, and Switzerland. The USA’s aircraft were expected to have a service life of 20 years, but that was based on 100 carrier landings per year. The US Navy and Marines have been rather busy during the Hornets’ s…

So, as Russian hackers go after our supply chains, the Chinese fleet expands across the globe, hard drugs flood our cities via the sea, as piracy and Islamic inspired terrorism expands around the African littorals, what do you want the Office of Naval Intelligence to focus their finite attention on? The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) has established an “Artwork Working Group” to develop more inclusive artwork for Naval offices. Internal communications obtained by The Daily Wire show that ONI created a “diversity and inclusion artwork working group” to “address the issue” of inclusion in artwork within the naval offices. According to emails, the group began after…

You know the names; Guadalcanal, Savo Island, Cape Esperance, Santa Cruz, Tassafaronga. There were other less known fights during the Solomon Islands Campaign, but those are the major ones ... some even had USN warships named after them. During the campaign, the United States suffered over 10,600 killed, 40+ ships sunk, and over 800 aircraft lost. Imperial Japan suffered over 86,000 dead, 50+ ships sunk, and 1,500 aircraft lost. These islands are critical to control/protect the sea lines of communication from the Indian Ocean in to the Pacific Ocean - from the United States to Australia. After WWII, this was generally an Australian sphere of influence, but as always, the …

There are occasions where even the most rah-rah supporters of all things DOD need to pause and wonder, “Are we really getting our best where they need to be?” At the very top of the list of dysfunctions in the American officer corps is the culture of happy-talk. From FITREPS to Decision Briefings, the layer on top of layer of not telling hard truths bleeds over into areas that are not just irritating, but dangerous. Regulars here are familiar with our almost two-decades long series “The Long Game” but for the new folks lets pull out one of the defining reason the series even exists; for reasons of economic greed, political expediency, historical ignorance, and even nation…

Americas The US Marine Corps finished the first flight of its XQ-58A Valkyrie military aerial drone at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The test is part of the Penetrating Affordable Autonomous Collaborative Killer – Portfolio (PAACK-P) initiative, a program seeking an “agile, expeditionary, and lethal” drone to support the marines and the joint force in austere […]View the full article

Americas Thales Defense & Security Inc. won a $16 million deal for the repair of three items that are part of the H-1 Optimized Top Owl system. All work will be performed in Valbonne, France, and work is expected to be completed by October 2024. Annual working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $11,933,292 […]View the full article

This summer, the fourth summer of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in the winter of 2022, we find the first serious and determined effort towards a genuine negotiation to end this grinding war in Eastern Europe. The experiences and lessons of this war aren’t only changing how nations throughout the world prepare for their next war, it has forced even greater changes on both combatants how they fight now and plan structuring their national defense post-war. Returning to Midrats again to discuss this and related issues this Sunday at 5 pm Eastern will be Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg, a Senior Research Scientist in the Strategy, Policy, Plans, and Programs division of CNA, wher…

His Majesty King Charles III formally welcomed the Royal Navy’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine, HMS Agamemnon, into service during a commissioning ceremony at BAE Systems’ yard in Barrow-in-Furness. The milestone event marked the sixth Astute-class submarine to join the fleet. The King, departing from naval tradition, personally read the commissioning warrant, declaring the vessel ready […] The post Royal Navy commissions Astute-class attack submarine first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

A growing scandal has erupted in Russia surrounding Kremlin television host and chief propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, after accusations surfaced that his foundation misused millions of rubles collected under the pretext of helping Russian troops. According to pro-war blogger Pozdnyakov, Solovyov’s SVR personal foundation collected over 100 million rubles ($1.2 million) from Russian citizens, supposedly to […] The post Russian Army gets $1.2M DIY carts instead of combat buggies first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Russia has delivered the first two Su‑57E Felon fifth-generation fighter jets to an undisclosed foreign customer, marking the first known export of the advanced stealth aircraft, according to statements made by Russian defense officials at the Dubai Airshow 2025. Vadim Badekha, CEO of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), confirmed the handover and stated that the […]View the full article

Rolls-Royce has begun testing its AE 1107F engines to support delivery of prototypes for the U.S. Army’s MV-75 Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), the company said. According to a company statement, the AE 1107 engine test campaign is intended to support prototype aircraft for the MV-75 FLRAA, a next-generation platform designed to provide greater […]View the full article

An Israeli defense entity has placed its first purchase order for ParaZero Technologies’ DefendAir counter-unmanned aerial system, the company announced, confirming a new procurement of anti-drone equipment amid heightened drone activity identified in recent conflicts. The order represents ParaZero’s first direct contract with a main Israeli defense organization for its DefendAir system and includes delivery […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has released details of a $145 million contract action to develop and integrate an Air-to-Air Dual Mode weapon based on the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) designed to counter large groups of unmanned aerial systems, according to an official Justification and Approval document published February 13, 2026. The approval […]View the full article