Raw Intel

Americas L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace won a $23.5 million modification, which extends services and adds hours for continued depot level maintenance, logistics, and sustaining engineering services in support of the C-12 Navy aircraft and the C-12 Marine Corps Reserve aircraft. The Beechcraft C-12 Huron is based on the Super King and 1900 series platforms and serves with the United States military as a utility transport among other roles. Work will take place in Louisiana, Japan, Bahrain, Cuba, North Carolina and Maryland. Estimated completion will be in January 2023. Boeing won an $18.7 million modification, which exercises options to procure the following aircraft…

Some warning will only be given so many times. We were warned a few months in to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We were warned again five years later when we were trying to source what was needed to support the uplift in forces in Afghanistan while Iraq still had high demands. Our allies pretty much went Winchester in the 2011 operations against Libya. We can barely partially source small and medium sized conflicts ... we are not ready for a larger one. That is a simple fact that seems too painful for people to clearly look at. Like the US Navy excels in damage control by design and training, in theory the US military writ large excels in logistics. What good is the culture…

Americas Sikorsky Aircraft won a $32.6 million order, which procures one CH-53K containerized flight training device based on low-rate initial production Lot 4 configuration in support of CH-53K phase II training system efforts. The CH-53K King Stallion is a new-build helicopter that will expand the fleet’s ability to move more material, more rapidly throughout the area of responsibility using proven and mature technologies. There are four System Development Test Article CH-53K with Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1). The squadron completed Initial Operational Test and Evaluation of the aircraft in 2022. There are 46 aircraft on contract, includi…

Americas The US Navy’s MQ-8C has tested the Single System Multi-Mission Airborne Mine Detection (SMAMD) system for the first time. Testing took place at Eglin Air Force Base in May, according to Naval Air System Command. “The team successfully demonstrated that the prototype SMAMD System effectively operates as designed aboard the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter in relevant real world environments,” said Capt. Thomas Lansley, Fire Scout program director. “This cutting-edge technology could really enhance Fire Scout’s capability going forward.” Carrying out the tests in day and night, the team gathered data on drifting, tethered, and moored mines throughout beach zone…

Few navalists can look around them and feel content that their peers, government, and the American people understand - or for that matter seem to care - that our nation's wealth, health, and security is all based on the fact that we are a maritime and aerospace republic. Without excellence, mastery, and control of these two areas in the face of the challenge from China, all else is in danger. Inside and outside government, what needs to be done to create the conditions so we can provide for those generations who follow us the place and the world previous generations earned for us? Making a return to visit, our guest for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern to d…

It is a beautiful place today when you drive by it, but then you notice a curious red dragon facing a wood. The Welsh soldiers were just seven months out of training when they entered into combat at Mametz Wood. Many had never fired a round in combat, and used broomsticks rather than rifles at drill practice. In sharp contrast they faced the elite Lehr Regiment of Prussian Guards - highly-trained professional soldiers who were deeply entrenched in the dense woods. Their trenches were dug into chalk and thick wire stretched through the battleground, while the wood was heavily fortified with machine guns.As part of the Battle of the Somme was the Battle of Mametz Wood; Ma…

Today let's look not at tactical, operational, or even strategic challenges. No, let's instead look at the political, bureaucratic, and industrial structures that exist to enable everything else. There is a lot of money floating around the USA's defense budget and yet in the post-Cold War period no one feels we are making progress. On the naval surface side of the house, the promised future seems to underperform (LCS), be stillborn (DDG-1000), never arrive (CG(X)), or become limping testimony of institutional arrogance (FORD). On the land side, any attempt to move beyond Cold War era platforms fail to transition past prototype from self-propelled howitzers to amphibious a…

Americas General Dynamics Land Systems won a maximum $145.5 million deal for multiple spare parts in the Abrams Main Battle Tank, Stryker Family of Vehicles, Light Armored Vehicle Family of Vehicles, Cougar, Buffalo and RG-31. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The M1 Abrams entered service in 1980 and currently serves as the main battle tank of the United States Army and formerly the Marine Corps. Work will take place in Florida. Estimated completion date is July 29, 2029. Booz Allen Hamilton won a $15.5 million contract modification to exercise Option Year Four for analysis…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $22.6 million contract modification, which adds scope to procure 22 Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System shipsets for Distributed Aperture System for Technology Refresh-3 developmental and operational testing, Block 4 testing, the Electromagnetic Environmental Effects aircraft, and a spare sensor set provision in support of F-35 Lightning II next generation capabilities. Work will take place in Texas. Estimated completion will be by July 2023. MH Systems won a $24.7 million deal for the purchase of aircraft painters manpower support. This contract provides for the augmentation of 402d Aircraft Maintenance Group organic forces for dep…

Americas The Iowa Air National Guard has repainted an F-16A static display in a gold paint scheme. This scheme replicates the F-16C that was painted in gold back in 1996 to commemorate the 185th Fighter Wing’s 50th anniversary back then. The original F-16C #85-1565 is now a QF-16 and will eventually be destroyed during live-fire training exercise. Northrop Grumman won a $337.9 million deal, which provides researching alternatives, investigating and documenting new capabilities and anomalies related to H-1 avionics and weapons; and the development, integration, verification, validation, and testing of H-1 Integrated Avionics Systems, as well as identifies maintenance capa…

There are many fine traditions in the naval service, especially in the Anglosphere. One of the best was summarized by Admiral Nelson, RN. When in doubt, attack. That bias for action in the face of a threat is an admirable trait, especially when contrasted with a more common human reaction – to freeze. As we have evolved as a species, other reactions developed past these Upper-Paleolithic instincts of Homo Sapiens. Indeed, in the modern evolution of Homo Bureaucraticus, scapegoating and blame-shifting, have sadly become more common through natural selection. In Ottomanesque bureaucracies, game recognizes game, and such responses are rewarded and passed along generation af…

Americas The US Air Force contracted Boeing with $14.5 million for KC-135 engineering sustainment services. The contract modification provides for recurring engineering services for sustainment of the KC-135 aircraft for one option year. Work will take place in Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama and Florida. Estimated completion date is March 31, 2022. Tactical Air Support won a $265.3 million deal, which provides non-recurring engineering, inspection, modification, and block upgrade efforts for 16 F-5E and six F-5F Tiger II aircraft from a Swiss Confederation configuration to a Navy/Marine Corps N+/F+ configuration. Additionally, this contract procures eight block upgrade retrofi…

Americas Federal Contracting won a $92.4 million deal for a B-21 Combined Mission Operations Planning Facility and Field Training Detachment Facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. The B-21 is a new high-tech bomber slated to replace or complement the US Air Force’s aging fleet of B-52s, B-1s, and B-2 bombers, and represents the first new US bomber design in 30 years. As with its predecessors, it is designed to be long-range, highly survivable and capable of carrying a mix of conventional and nuclear ordnance and be a key part of the US nuclear triad. Work will take place in South Dakota. Estimated completion date is September 7, 2024. Edwards…

B-52H, B-1B & B-2A (click to view full) The good news? 2006 saw a convergence of opinion within the USAF that a new long-range strike platform was needed. This is understandable given the B-52H Stratofortress fleet’s age (40-50 years), the B-1B Lancer’s internal power and electronics issues, both of these platforms’ low survivability against advanced air defense systems, and the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber’s very small numbers (21, of which 7-12 are generally operational). The unmanned J-UCAS program, meanwhile was seen as having inadequate range and payload (Boeing X-45C: 1,400 mile radius with 8 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs). The USAF decided that J-UCAS wasn’t a so…

Often we refer to WWII as being "....on the edge of living memory." We are reaching the point where we may need to start saying, "...just outside living memory." We reached an inflection point at the end of June; Medal of Honor Recipient and World War II Veteran Hershel “Woody” Williams, 98 has died on Wednesday. Williams was born on Oct. 2, 1923, and grew up in Quiet Dell in Marion County, West Virginia. Williams was the last living WWII Medal of Honor recipient. He joined the United States Marine Corps and served in the Battle of Iwo Jima with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division. Williams received the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1945, from President Harry S. Truman f…

The next questions is, who will throw their hat in the ring with them? From De Telegraph; The Netherlands has offered mine hunters to clear the way for grain ships from Ukraine. "If we can play a role, we are happy to do so," Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said at the NATO summit in Madrid. The Netherlands has offered Turkey, which mediates in the matter, help to clear the sea mines on the shipping routes. Then Russia and Ukraine will have to agree on a so-called maritime corridor, emphasizes Ollongren. Neighboring NATO member states such as Romania and Bulgaria are also in principle more eligible to supply minehunters, insiders say. The Koninklijke Marine has a half-d…

Americas Sikorsky won a $429.2 million deal from the US Army for maintenance and overhaul of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 28, 2027. Raytheon won a $57.9 million contract modification to exercise options and incrementally fund existing contract line items for fiscal 2022 Standard Missile-2 Block IIIC low rate initial production and spares. The SM-2 missile is a surface-to-air missile primarily intended for fleet area air defence and ship self-defense. Work will take place in Alabama and Arizona. Expected completi…

General Sir Patrick Sanders, GBR A, Chief of the General Staff (GBR), made a statement, in part, this week that at first I thought was a bit of an exaggeration; "This is our 1937 moment," the army chief said, referring to the crucial period leading up to World War Two. "We are not at war - but must act rapidly so that we aren't drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion… I will do everything in my power to ensure that the British Army plays its part in averting war." The challenge means the army must modernise, embracing new technologies such as cyber warfare and long-range missiles, but also retain traditional soldiering skills. General Sanders s…

Americas Sikorsky Aircraft won a $2.3 billion deal for procurement of 120 H-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related support for fiscal years 2022-2026, including options for an additional 135 aircraft. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. With more than 2,100 H-60 variants in the US Army’s inventory, the Black Hawk remains the workhorse and backbone of US Army aviation. As the US Army continues to develop its Futura Vertical Lift (FVL) programs – in which the company competes with its Raider X and SB-1 Defiant – they will continue to operate the H-60M for decades to come and alongside its future replacements. According to the US Department of Defense pub…

Industrial capacity feeds logistics. Logistics win wars. Logistics is math. Math is unforgiving to the complacent. If you are looking for early lessons of the Russo-Ukrainian War, there are two that need to be underlined today. Lesson 1: Don’t Fall for the Short War Fallacy: This is a known fallacy throughout human history, but every generation must be reminded of it, sometimes more than once. At peace, people will find reasons – either phycological or financial – to promote the promise of a short war either through their superior ideas or exquisite weapons. Good people desiring good things are easily seduced by this peace-time siren’s song. The Russians thought that the…