Raw Intel

Ukrainian long-range drones struck a chemical plant in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk in Russia’s Kirov region, according to local reports describing a nighttime attack on an industrial facility located more than 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The strike reportedly targeted the Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Combine, a major industrial complex situated at the confluence of the […]View the full article

Great news via Matt White at T&P. A Marine who single-handedly destroyed a major bridge in Vietnam, swinging hand-over-hand across its steel girders to plant explosive charges even as an enemy tank fired at him, now appears set to receive the Medal of Honor. Marine Capt. John Ripley’s three-hour, one-man assault on the Dong Ha Bridge in April 1972 has long been a hallowed story in the Marine Corps. Fellow Marines, friends, and advocates have pushed for decades to see the Navy Cross he was awarded for the battle upgraded to a Medal of Honor. Those efforts appear to be nearing success, after the Senate approved special legislation that cleared the way for the award to b…

United States special operations forces rescued a wounded American colonel from deep inside Iranian territory in the early hours of Sunday, April 5, completing one of the most complex and costly combat search-and-rescue operations in modern American military history. The officer, the weapons system officer aboard an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down by Iranian forces […]View the full article

Ukrainian defense manufacturer Inguar Defence has developed a new pickup variant of its Inguar-3 armored vehicle designed specifically for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crews, the company announced this week. The new configuration, described by the manufacturer as an “Inguar-3 Pickup for UAV crews,” was developed “in strict compliance with the operational requirements defined by Lasar’s […]View the full article

U.S. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted an extensive series of combined arms training exercises at Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico, throughout March 2026, integrating light armored vehicles, attack and reconnaissance drones, vehicle-mounted mortar systems, and MV-22B Osprey assault operations into a sustained training package that tested the unit’s full expeditionary combat capability. The […]View the full article

Russia’s state defense conglomerate Rostec unveiled a new short-range air defense system called the ZAK-30 Tsitadel at the First International Security Forum, presenting a 30mm autocannon platform designed to destroy drones using programmable proximity-fuzed shrapnel shells that detonate at a calculated point along the target’s flight path rather than requiring a direct hit. The system, […]View the full article

I like to bring back old FbF from the OB Blog—I’ve been doing them for over two decades…there are a lot—for the thousands of new subscribers (nothumble brag) who have not seen them. As one of the kids and I just finished all three Lord of the Rings movies in the extended director’s cut, I remembered that I did an FbF a dozen years ago about Christopher Lee (who played Saruman). I know there is some controversy about what he did or did not do. All that being said, what was verified was quite enough to deserve an FbF. Of the many reasons I left blogspot for Substack is that google owns blogspot, and at the height of wokeness, they started hiding or putting some of my post…

The United States Navy awarded Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin company, a not-to-exceed $21.6 million order on January 13 to support transient engine torque test and certification work for the VH-92A Patriot fleet. The undefinitized order, issued under an existing basic ordering agreement, funds engineering and test efforts required for modifications to the aircraft now […]View the full article

Ukraine’s drone interceptor fleet destroyed more than 33,000 enemy unmanned aerial vehicles in March, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Wednesday — double the number taken down the previous month and the highest monthly total recorded since the program’s launch. Fedorov met with Ukrainian interceptor drone manufacturers to collect market feedback and determine next steps for […]View the full article

The United States Navy has awarded a $19.5 million contract modification to General Dynamics Bath Iron Works to continue engineering and technical support for the Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers, according to a contract announcement. Most of the work will take place in Bath, Maine, and is scheduled to run through March 2027. The contract allows the […]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

North Korea may have generated as much as $14.4 billion in revenue through troop deployments and military equipment exports to Russia during the war in Ukraine, according to a report released March 13 by a South Korean security research institute. The analysis was published by the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul and examines […]View the full article

Israel’s defense company Elbit Systems reported record global demand in 2025 for its Laser Target Designator (LTD) systems across both land and airborne military platforms, reflecting growing reliance on precision targeting and networked battlefield operations, according to company statements and The Jerusalem Post. The company said its LTD portfolio, compliant with NATO laser-coding standards, is […]View the full article

The United States Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command announced plans on March 16 to pursue a sole-source contract with Boeing for software updates to the Harpoon missile support system, according to a presolicitation notice. The effort focuses on updating the Common Munitions BIT/Reprogramming Equipment Mission Application Program, a system used to support and maintain Harpoon […]View the full article

Japan’s fiscal year 2026 defense budget, enacted on April 7, includes ¥11.1 billion ($69.7 million) earmarked for the acquisition of five “wide-area UAVs” for the Ground Self-Defense Force, according to budget documents published by the Ministry of Defense. The budget line describes the wide-area UAV as a system capable of detecting surface vessels and other targets […]View the full article

As of Monday night, after a bunch of OSIT accounts said that the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) had passed through Gibraltar, more and more reports indicate the contrary, she and her escorts are off Namibia, about to head around the Cape of Good Hope instead. It was kind of fun watching the competing reports. There are quite a few reasons to do this. We’ll find out the reason this time at some point, but don’t get lost in the details. It isn’t nothing. As usual, The Other Sal went to the chartroom to make sure everyone understood the state of play. Stop for a second—there is a gift here if we are willing to accept it. Remember one of the fundamentals we like to revisit her…

Raytheon, an RTX business, has signed a $3.7 billion contract to supply Patriot GEM-T interceptors for Ukraine, the company announced. The agreement covers the delivery of Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical interceptors, one of the Patriot missile variants used by both U.S. operators and international customers. Raytheon said the missiles are intended to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to […]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

Dynetics, a subsidiary of the American defense giant Leidos, has been awarded a $617 million contract to produce Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment Two systems for the U.S. Army, the Department of War announced on April 14, 2026. The award covers the fiscal year 2026 production buy of one of the Army’s most closely watched […]View the full article

Anyone who has visited major military and aerospace exhibitions such as the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget in France, Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom, IDEX in the UAE, or AUSA in the United States has likely noticed the many display models that stand out for their detail and close resemblance to real […]View the full article