Raw Intel

Mark Felton is a treasure. He has produced an enviable series of historical videos over the years. Pretty much everything he puts out is a must-watch. He also covers current issues, and this episode, to me, was a patriotic act for a British subject, and an important review that should concern everyone in the West. It is a good follow-on to yesterday’s post. Next to the U.S. Navy, the West has always assumed that the Royal Navy would be there to help preserve the assumptions the rest of the planet has about the access to the high seas. In 2026, the first question is not ‘will’ but ‘can’ they Royal Navy be of use. Too many people who should don’t know the state of the Royal…

Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of War, unveiled the Trump administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget on Thursday, calling it a “generational down payment” on American national security and framing it as the most ambitious military investment in modern history. The announcement, made via Hegseth’s official social media account and accompanied by a promotional […]View the full article

A Russian satellite network built to rival Starlink has quietly reached a threshold Ukrainian defense officials have been dreading, providing at least two reliable windows of connectivity over Ukrainian territory every single day, each lasting more than an hour, Militarnyi reported, citing satellite communications expert Volodymyr Stepanets. The system, called Rassvet, is being built by […]View the full article

Daimler Truck AG announced on March 3, 2026, that its Mercedes-Benz Zetros defense vehicles successfully completed intensive winter testing in the Finnish Arctic Circle, where temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius and road conditions were largely icy and snow-covered. The testing campaign was conducted to verify that the Zetros defense vehicle series can maintain […]View the full article

A German autonomous systems company has demonstrated what it claims is the world’s first fully automatic drone launch and recovery system capable of operating from a moving vessel without any human intervention, and unveiled the commercial product at the Combined Naval Event in Farnborough, United Kingdom. CiS, a European developer of autonomous aerial systems, announced […]View the full article

Kazakhstan’s defense industry has revealed serial production of the Barys 6×6 armored combat vehicle at the Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering facility, showcasing locally manufactured mine-resistant vehicles designed for military and security operations. The vehicle represents a localized version of the South African Mbombe 6 platform adapted for use by the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan. The unveiling […]View the full article

Russia has publicly released video footage of range trials of an unmanned ground combat system designated “Kuryer,” fitted with a newly disclosed automated mortar module called “Bagunlnik-82.” The footage, published by the NRTK channel, which covers Russian ground robotics development, shows the system operating with a rotating turret housing both the mortar tube and an […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has published a solicitation announcing its intent to award a sole-source contract to Boeing for the remanufacture of a critical guidance component inside the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile, keeping the nuclear-capable weapon operational for nearly another decade. The solicitation, posted April 6, 2026, by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center […]View the full article

The Royal Australian Navy has formally established and named the Maritime Autonomous Systems Unit — known as MASU — a dedicated command structure built to develop, integrate, and operationally employ a new generation of uncrewed maritime platforms. The unit’s activation marks one of the most concrete organizational steps the Navy has taken toward embedding autonomous […]View the full article

A British laser weapon capable of destroying drones for roughly $13 a shot is on track to be installed aboard Royal Navy destroyers in 2027, making the UK the first European NATO member to field an operational shipborne directed-energy weapon, and the system’s makers used a major NATO industry forum in Portsmouth last week to […]View the full article

The United States has approved a Foreign Military Sales case valued at up to $1 billion to provide submarine combat systems support, technical assistance, and embedded personnel to the United Kingdom as part of the AUKUS security partnership. The notification, released by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on March 20, 2026, expands a previously approved […]View the full article

Show LinksNYT article on U.S. buildup around Iran. CSIS Graph mentioned by Shashank Joshi 2017 Navy Times article on Ford-class toilets Captain Luther’s note circa 2011/12 on the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)’s plumbing issues Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 2011 article on same issue SummarySal discusses the current military and geopolitical situation, focu… Read more View the full article

Iran’s military has reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, closing the critical waterway to shipping just hours after briefly allowing transit, according to Iranian state media. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Saturday that control of the strait had returned “to its previous state,” placing the passage back under what it described as strict […]View the full article

Russia has publicly revealed the production process of its new Khishchnik (Predator) 4×4 armored vehicles during a high-profile visit by an elite Russian Armed Forces unit and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to the Remdiesel manufacturing facility in Naberezhnye Chelny. According to publicly released footage and statements from Russian officials, the delegation inspected assembly lines producing […]View the full article

Yesterday’s mention of the USS Tennessee (BB 43) had me thinking of other survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. That was when I remembered a FbF from a long time ago whose photo I like so much. There she is above, USS Pennsylvania (BB 38). Well worth an encore FbF. This is more of a reading assignment than anything else - this “summary” describes a ship’s life in full. When most people think of her, they think of her at her lowest point. At 0755 on the morning of December 7, 1941, the USS PENNSYLVANIA was sitting in dry-dock in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Her screws had been removed from their shafts and were resting on the bottom of the dock. She had been scheduled …

Explosions were reported across multiple Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran, after the United States and Israel carried out coordinated military strikes early Saturday, according to official statements and media reports. United States President Donald Trump described the operation as a “massive and ongoing” military campaign aimed at countering threats posed by Iran. The strikes […]View the full article

Ukraine’s 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine released footage showing a strike on Russian drone operators and launch systems identified as “Gerbera.” The unit said the attack was conducted before the drones could be launched toward Ukrainian cities. The strike appears aimed at intercepting drone attacks at […]View the full article

The United States Navy commissioned the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Massachusetts (SSN 798) during a ceremony held on March 28 in Boston Harbor. According to the Navy, USS Massachusetts is the seventh Block IV Virginia-class submarine and was built under a teaming agreement between General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII-Newport News Shipbuilding. The submarine was […]View the full article

The United States has continued elevated air and maritime military activity in the Caribbean region following Saturday’s U.S. operation in Venezuela, with fighter aircraft and naval assets operating near Venezuelan borders, according to local reports. Residents of Puerto Rico, where one of the United States’ operational military bases in the region is located, reported sustained […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman on March 31 showcased the autonomous mission capabilities of its Lumberjack Group 3 uncrewed aircraft system during the United States Army 101st Airborne Division’s Operation Lethal Eagle exercise. According to NG, the Lumberjack drone demonstrated full autonomous mission control through the U.S. Army’s Maven Smart System, allowing Army personnel to test how the […]View the full article