Raw Intel

Americas BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services won a $12 billion deal for Integration Support Contract (ISC) 2.0. The main function of ISC 2.0 is to support the government as the lead systems integrator and augment government resources for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) weapon system systems engineering and integration and professional services. According to solicitation documents, the Integration Support Contract 2.0 covers support for Minuteman III and the next-generation ground-based strategic deterrent missile or any future ICBM weapon system developed throughout the duration of the contract. Work will take place at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and …

Over at The Tablet, Jeremy Stern has a real meaty article on “our” German problem. I lived in and around Germans for years and still try to get a grasp on what they want and why. As you would expect being that Germans contribute more to America’s DNA than any other group, there is a familiarity to Germans and Germany … but that only get you so far until you find yourself in an “uncanny valley” where you realize that you are not quite in sync with those around you. They are not us, and likewise…and that should be fine and good for everyone. America’s view of their relationship with Germany and what we think Germany’s relationship with Russia should be is just that – Americ…

While everyone is distracted by the Russo-Ukrainian War, the People’s Republic of China continues to work to solidify her ability to control the South China Sea and to bring more nations in to her orbit. Though not a cold war, it is a struggle for presence, influence, and setting the conditions for advantage should conflict come. The United States and her Navy are not required to be in a passive posture, allowing China to shape the environment without pushback. This episode of Midrats will focus on American options and actions we can take to blunt Chinese influence and to prevent her from setting up the Western Pacific to her advantage relative to the United States and he…

Americas The US Navy awarded Raytheon $78.7 million to exercise options for additional fiscal 2022 guided missile assemblies in support of the fiscal 2021-2023 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 full rate production requirements. The Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile is a medium-range, surface-to-air missile designed and manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems. Work will take place in Arizona, Australia, California, Canada, New Hampshire, Norway, Germany, New York, Turkey and Denmark. Estimated completion will be by March 2025. Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture won a $33.4 million contract modification for the low-rate initial production of lightweight com…

They found the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). More than 22,600 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean lies a WWII US Navy destroyer that has been named the world’s deepest shipwreck. The USS Destroyer Escort Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), known as the Sammy B, was located on Wednesday in the Philippine Sea. The vessel went down during the Battle Off Samar in the Philippine Sea in October 1944 after it was hit by Japanese fire. 89 Sailors were lost when she sank. This counts as the world's deepest war grave. Unlike a lot of shallow wrecks in this part of the world - the salvagers won't be able to get to her. Over the years we've used her story for FbF ... so this is a go…

Today's DivThu is a twofer. Stick to the end, I'll leave you with a positive, upbeat feeling. You signal to me what you care about by what you measure and inspect. You tell me what you don't care about by what you ignore. When someone in the Navy says they value "diversity" because they believe that "different ideas and perspectives create better organizations" it tells me one of two things: 1) They have no idea what the Navy actually does.2) They are lying. Now and then I find it useful to put things out there that demonstrate, especially (2) above, because hidden in plain sight is the official documentation that shows that when it comes to promotions, the Navy does not …

Americas Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control won a $130.5 million modification for the Advanced Radar Threat System – Variant 2 (ARTS-V2) systems. The contract modification is to provide for the exercise of Options 3 and 4 for an additional quantity of eight ARTS-V2 systems being produced under the basic contract. Work will take place in Texas. Expected completion date is June 16, 2024. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. Jane’s reports that Boeing sees foreign partners as potential customers for its updated MQ-25A Stingray drones. The MQ-25 UAV is designed to refuel carrier-based aircraft. The UK, France,…

Americas Canadian government documents have disclosed that Lockheed Martin is required to deliver nine F-35s to Canada by December 1, 2027. The last aircraft will have to be delivered before December 31, 2031. The Liberal government plans to purchase 88 U.S.-built F-35s as part of a project expected to cost taxpayers between $15 billion and $19 billion. Critics of the purchase have noted, however, the full lifecycle cost for the planes is estimated at $77 billion. According to Defense News, Argentina has kicked-started the process for procuring four Boeing-made CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters from the US. Aimed at fulfilling a requirement first issued in 2011, the h…

Deer hunters who own their own land and hunt it for years on end know a fun little detail few others know. Deer trails are a constant, regardless of what is happening on the land. They remain on their track for ... well ... perhaps centuries. You can have a deer trail you've hunted in second growth forest and then have either timber harvest or fire remove all the trees on that parcel. Even though the land is barren, the deer will use the same trail, only slightly modified if an obstacle like an old fallen tree is gone, but besides that, the track remains unchanged. As the now barren land transitions over time from forbs, to scrub, to brush, and back to forest over a decad…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won a $20.5 million contract modification, which provides additional labor and material to incorporate production engineering change proposals that modify MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system production assets (B13-B15) to an Integrated Functional Capability 4.0 multiple intelligence configuration for the Navy. Work will take place in California, Virginia, New York, Utah, Wisconsin, North Dakota and various other locations within the continental US. Expected completion is in April 2023. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. The US Air Force will swap the A-10 mission computer with a new on…

As a mercantile republic - that is our natural state, don't forget that - our ultimate power is not our military. It is the byproduct of our system of government and the values we like to believe our nation was founded on. It is something that for too long was taken for granted. Yes, there is much ruin in a nation, and the substance of that ruin is the hard work of generations that came before. Work to build a stable society, a vibrant economy where people who work hard are rewarded with the fruits of their labor. As secure society where people can plan their lives and that of their children in the knowledge that threats both foreign and domestic will be kept at bay. Almo…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won a $458 million deal for fiscal 2022-2026 shipyard field operations, program management, systems engineering, documentation, logistics and hardware production activities in support of the Columbia and Dreadnought Fleet Ballistic Missile Program. The contract action contains option line items. Work will take in California, Washington, Florida, Maryland, Georgia and the UK. Work will take place in November 30, 2027. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems won a $62 million deal for fiscal 2022 AEGIS modernization, DDG new construction, and Frigate new construction production requirements. Work will take in New Jersey and Florida. Est…

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kcH8VE_NEvU/U__5GZlYeuI/AAAAAAAAImQ/bUmQEYfEGI4/s320/horba1.jpgWhen do you accept defeat? When do you allow your morale to be beaten down? Think you have an excuse to complain about things in your military career that are beyond your control? Really? Years ago Pawel sent me a link to one of the many unsung (at least in the Anglosphere) heroes from Poland who fought on the Western front. I've always had a soft spot for their story, but we've discussed them here mostly in their ground component support. Simply an amazing story of so many who fought for their nation only see it liberated from one occupier to be handed to another. Those who survive…

Americas The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) published a request for information on June 14 seeking industry feedback on a concept to wirelessly recharge unmanned air vehicles using a high-powered laser mounted on an external pod. Agency officials want industry feedback on the possibility of retrofitting aerial refueling aircraft like the Air Force’s KC-46 and KC-135 with “an underwing power beaming pod” to wirelessly recharge a fleet of unmanned aerial systems. The benefits of having drones recharge their batteries in mid-air include extended range and having small energy storage capacities. The installation of AN/APG-83 radars on 72 Air National Guard…

Under the prior Democratic administration, we saw seabags full of personal and institutional capital - not to mention a lot of actual capital - expended on the farcical "Great Green Fleet." As it is with all non-value added political vanity projects (remember "Lean-In Circles"), the Navy doesn't keep them across administrations because they are just foolish and wasteful in addition to being just domestic policy objectives and personal positioning on the Navy's dime. With the Biden Administration, the Gaia cult has returned and sadly the present SECNAV feels that he needs to make another run with the same talking points supporting a neo-pagan doomsday cult that has been wa…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $15 million contract modification, which provides additional labor and material to incorporate production engineering change proposals that modify MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system production assets to an Integrated Functional Capability 4.0 multiple intelligence configuration for the Navy and the government of Australia. Work will take place in California, New York, North Dakotaand various locations within the continental. Expected completion will be in April 2025 The Air Force contracted Lockheed Martin with $450 million for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) production support. The contract will provide lifecycle support …

Bofors Archer system (click to view full) BAE Systems Bofors’ Archer is a light, air-portable, and highly automated 155/52 light mobile artillery system. Archer began as a Swedish project, administered by their FMV procurement agency. Funding was provided for system development and some initial production, but the project’s future had been shadowed by anemic Swedish defense budgets. In May 2007, however, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Norway’s FLO procurement agency, which evolved into a joint production venture. Just as initial production moved the Archer system from concept to imminent reality, however, Norway left the program. Why? The Archer Syste…

For a decade and a half here we have yelled, begged, pleaded for Continental European NATO - especially Germany - to rise to the challenge of the 21st Century and pull their fair share of the load to keep peace in Europe. I have warned even longer IRL until it has become tiresome that they do not realize that the American public is just one election away from shrugging being Europe's security blanket. Everything regresses to the mean, and at our heart we are a mercantile republic, not an empire. WWII and the Cold War warped the nature of our relationship with Europe, and the force of regressing back to our natural state will bring us back across the Atlantic and looking t…

Americas Raytheon proposed an upgrade to the main sensor of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). The company is offering the GhostEye MR radar for the air defense missile system. “With the addition of GhostEye MR, we extend battlespace coverage to the full kinematic envelope, or reachable area, of the AMRAAM?ER effector,” said Lindsay Viana, director of ground?based air defense on Raytheon Missiles & Defense’s Requirements and Capabilities team. Defense News reports that Lockheed Martin is evaluating how its Joint Air-to-Ground Missile can be configured for mobile, short-range air defense. “It’s a concept we have. We think it will have applic…

JAGM infographic (click to view full) The AGM-114 Hellfire missile remains a mainstay for the US military and its allies around the world, and efforts to replace it have repeatedly stalled. The Joint Common Missile (JCM) was meant to offer new guidance options, and use on fast jets as well as helicopters and UAVs. It performed well, but was canceled. It returned from the procurement dead as JAGM, a program that has undergone several major changes within itself. While other air forces field fast-jet solutions like MBDA’s Brimstone, JAGM will initially be limited to helicopters and UAVs, as a dual-mode guidance upgrade to current model Hellfire missiles. The JAGM Pro…