Raw Intel

In the second half of the last Midrats Podcast, Mark and I discussed the recently released Maritime Action Plan. I still don’t understand why we release such documents on a Friday before a three-day weekend, but whoever makes that call should be left with the next bar tab. To their great credit however, the April 2025 Executive Order demanded a deliverable, and they got it done on time. If you are looking for a naval strategy or other “this type of system doing that” report, you won’t find it here, and nor should you. This is signed by Marco Rubio as National Security Advisor and Russ Vought as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It is best seen as an eco…

Turkish drone maker Baykar has unveiled a new loitering munition known as the K2 kamikaze, presenting the system in a promotional video released Saturday that showcased the drone’s artificial intelligence–based flight, navigation, and targeting capabilities. The introduction of the K2 reflects the rapid expansion of loitering munition technology, which has become a central tool in […]View the full article

Peraton has landed a U.S. Navy contract worth up to $90.7 million to keep the MK 18 family of explosive ordnance disposal underwater drones operational across fleet commands at home and at key overseas locations, with work running from San Diego to Spain, Bahrain, and Okinawa. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific awarded the cost-reimbursement contract […]View the full article

A Canadian armored vehicle manufacturer unveiled an image of a new mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle at CANSEC 2026 in Ottawa, revealing the full technical specifications of the Admiral MRAP, a jointly developed platform built in partnership with South African defense firm Panzer following Roshel’s acquisition of the KF411 MRAP design in 2024. The Admiral represents […]View the full article

Estonia took delivery of its first medium-range air defense missile system on June 22, 2026, when the Estonian Air Defence Wing received the IRIS-T SLM at Ämari Air Base, giving a NATO member that shares a 294-kilometer (183-mile) border with Russia the ability to engage aircraft, cruise missiles, and helicopters at ranges and altitudes that […]View the full article

Germany and France just reduced one of Europe’s most ambitious tank programs to a single, carefully worded sentence about “platform-independent technology,” and defense analysts reading between the lines say that sentence effectively confirms the joint program is dead in everything but name, Waldemar Geiger reported for the German defense outlet hartpunkt. The Main Ground Combat […]View the full article

Honeywell Aerospace tested an integrated counter-drone system against simulated aerial threats during EXTiC 26-2, a technology experimentation event run by U.S. Central Command. Honeywell served as lead systems integrator for the demonstration, pairing sensors and effectors with the company’s AI-driven counter-UAS software to detect, track and mitigate simulated drones while defending a simulated airfield. “As […]View the full article

Chinese state television has aired the first semi-official acknowledgment of the country’s massive intercontinental ballistic missile silo fields in a documentary marking the 99th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army. The program, produced by China’s national broadcaster CCTV, features an army engineer describing years of work building what he calls “houses for missiles” in the […]View the full article

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency plans to pay a Utah company to build a prototype four-legged robot that can walk into hazardous areas on its own and produce a live 3D map of dangerous gases, according to a contract notice the agency posted on October 7. DTRA, the U.S. Department of War agency responsible for […]View the full article

Israel’s Elbit Systems has won contracts worth about $200 million from an unnamed country in the Asia-Pacific region to supply helicopter targeting sensors, cockpit head-up displays and support for airborne combat training systems, the company announced on Oct. 26. The work will be carried out over up to five years. Elbit did not identify the […]View the full article

Americas The US Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $9.5 billion contract modification for the construction and test of the lead and second ships of the Columbia Class. The contract modifies a $5 billion deal awarded in 2017. It exercises an option to test the ships and to provide design and engineering support. „This modification to the integrated product and process development (IPPD) contract supports the fiscal 2021 construction start of the lead ship (SSBN 826) and advance procurement, advance construction, coordinated material buys and full construction of the follow hull (SSBN 827) in fiscal 2024“, the Pentagon said in a statement. The original contract w…

Americas Northrop Grumman announced on February 16 that it has carried out the first major design review event for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD). The GBSD is being develop to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The review took place in November, 2020 over a period of three-days by a team from Northrop Grumman and the US Air Force. The US Marine Corps 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit declared that the air wing on board amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) has air operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve from February 13. VMM-164 (Reinforced) is providing close air support operations and defensive counter air sup…

So, you think you've had some memorable cruises, eh? What do you think about this record?DATEVESSEL SUNKAPR 26, 1944T29 Torpedo BoatAPR 29, 1944T27 Torpedo BoatJUN 9, 1944ZH1 DestroyerJUN 9, 1944Z32 DestroyerJUN 24, 1944U971 U-BoatJUN 15, 1944UJ1420/UJ1421 TrawlerJUN 6, 1944M486 MinesweeperAUG 6, 1944SG-3CSEPT 6, 1944VEDETTE Patrol BoatI give to you MHCS Haida, a Tribal Class destroyer who sank all those ships within 13-months of her commissioning. As Jerry Proc so simply put;HAIDA distinguished herself as Canada's most active warship by sinking no less than nine German ships in the period from April to September 1944. She was also involved in numerous other actions resul…

Americas The United States Air Force (USAF) tested a current inventory cruise missile armed with a live warhead as part of the Rapid Dragon program to demonstrate the ability to employ weapons using standard airdrop procedures from cargo aircraft. During the test on December 16, a MC-130J flown by an Air Force Special Operations Command operational flight crew, received new targeting data while in flight which was then routed to the cruise missile flight test vehicle (FTV). Defense and security company Saab inked a contract for multi-role Sea Giraffe AMB naval radar antenna kits, for the upgrade of the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigates. The upgrade is based on…

What can just a few Marines do? In March 1982, Thomsen was days from returning home from the small Royal Marine Falklands garrison when he was ordered to take eight men to South Georgia to monitor a group of Argentinian scrap dealers who had landed illegally and raised the Argentine flag, the incident which was to lead to full-blown war in the Falklands. Along with 12 other Marines under Lieutenant Keith Mills they arrived on the desolate island in mid-March. Two weeks later the crisis erupted when the Argentines invaded the Falklands. Section commander Thomsen and his comrades knew a large enemy force would descend on them within hours. With no hope of reinforcements, …

We've been doing "Diversity Thursday" on a regular basis since 2008 or so. Not my favorite topic, not a popular topic among some segments ... but we persist. We covered the military's drift towards racial essentialism earlier, but the "Diversity Thursday" segment really only became a regular thing about 15-yrs ago. We tried to warn everyone ... and here we find ourselves in the thick of it ... but now we are getting real and substantial advocates kicking back against the diversity cadre including out in the open in the Senate and House of Representatives and in the larger culture. You love to see it. One thing the left has always been better at than most is organizing. T…

OK, not really sure what to call this ... and I don't think the Portuguese do either. It is a scientific ship, which will be a kind of base on the high seas, equipped with scientific laboratories, accommodation for 90 people permanently and another 100 if necessary, for example in a situation of emergency evacuation, ramps for boarding and disembarking of vehicles, heliport, runways for aerial drones, a stall for submarine drones and speedboats, various cranes In its candidacy for the PRR, the Navy stressed that "this ship, idealized under a new concept of operation, has no military requirements and is not armed. Its main functions are environmental monitoring, in parti…

Americas Fidelity Technologies won an $18.7 million deal for the design and procurement of a UH-60M flight simulator. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Slovakia, with an estimated completion date of September 13, 2027. UH-60 Black Hawk is a multi-mission helicopter developed by Sikorsky that has been […]View the full article

Americas The US Navy marks a new chapter in multi-engine pilot training with the arrival of its first two T-54A trainer aircraft at Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi on Apr. 18th. The T-54A, a modified Beechcraft King Air 260 designated for the Navy, replaces the T-44C Pegasus, which has served faithfully since 1977. The […]View the full article

Neither rust nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) sleep. They are determined, persistent, and keep the long-term view—especially when it comes to their neo-mercantilist drive to dominate global trade and the ports. Remember when early on in the Trump Administration it seemed that BlackRock was going to buy back some of the critical port infrastructure that the PRC grabbed hold of while the world was distracted and pockets got itchy? Well, don’t think all is taken care of. Via James T. Areddy, Daniel Kiss & Ming Li in last Saturday’s WSJ: When a Hong Kong conglomerate set plans this year to sell its global network of shipping ports to an American-led investment gro…