Raw Intel

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $23 million contract modification adds scope for the development and stand up of the initial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter depot repair capability for the Weapon Bay Door Drive System and Hydraulic Power Generation System, as well as provides increased repair capacity for the Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System. Work will take place in the UK, California, Texas and Illinois. Estimated completion will be in April 2025. The US Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) has started testing its first adaptive cycle engine, the XA100 from General Electric. This is part of the Phase 2 testing program and the first phase was car…

It's been a couple of years since we visited Peter Zeihan, and two weeks ago he posted a video that just pulls it all together to make a solid point about the pivot point the Russo-Ukrainian war is ... at least for the Russians. The Ukrainian economic and demographic numbers are a nightmare on their own, but let's put that struggling people to the side for a moment and look at the Russians. As interesting and informative are the tactical level efforts and changing "supply convoy" of the day pictures, the real interesting and informative to ponder are the larger movements in play; economics, geography, and demographics. The real frightening part is at the end as it cover…

If it's April, it's time for a return visit by Ross Kennedy to Midrats! A little under a year ago, we had Ross on to discuss the impact of COVID and related structural issues to the global supply chain. A year later, we find conditions have not just remained, but with war in Ukraine and a new COVID variant working its way through coastal China, in many ways the global trade in essential items has turned for the worst. If you are worried about the cost and availability of fuel, food, and everyday items you've spent the last decade assuming were always going to be there at a price you're happy with, then you need to join us from 2-3pm Eastern this Sunday. Ross is a U.S.-bas…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $1.4 billion contract modification for the production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Interceptors and associated one-shot devices to support the US government and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Foreign Military Sales case requirements. The THAAD Interceptors and associated one-shot devices will be procured under fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract line items. Work will take place in Texas, California, Arkansas and Alabama. Estimated completion date is August 1, 2027. Lockheed Martin Space won a $18.6 million contract modification for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. Trident II D-5 is t…

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, …

Every time I access Google Earth or other open source imagery/mapping service, I am reminded what an amazing time we live in. As early as the 1990s for something as unclassified as hunting, you had to make extraordinary efforts to find good maps. I remember taking pictures with a film camera in the early 90s from a plane window that just happened to be flying over an area I duck hunted ... so I could see where the out of the way wood duck ponds were. Now, a click. On the much more serious note, the efforts made on the military side of the house to get overhead photographs or even good maps cost billions of dollars and the lives of unknown numbers of intelligence assets an…

Americas DynCorp International won a $100 million deal, which provides organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot level maintenance, as well as logistics support services for the Navy F/A-18C/D/E/F, EA-18G, MH-60S, E-2C, and F-16A/B/C/D aircraft. Work will take place in Nevada. Estimated completion will take place in September 2023. The South Carolina National Guard’s 1-151st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion recently took delivery of five AH-64E V6 attack helicopters. These helicopters arrived at McEntire Joint National Guard Base on March 24. “The arrival of the AH-64E model Apache Guardian to the South Carolina Army National Guard is a vast technological s…

Americas Boeing won a $16 million delivery order for the repair of various avionics equipment used on the F/A-18 aircraft. The F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather jet aircraft that is used by the US Navy and Marine Corps as both a fighter and attack platform. In its fighter mode, the F/A-18 is used primarily as a fighter escort and for fleet air defense; in its attack mode, it is used for force projection, interdiction and close and deep air support. The single-seat F/A-18/E and the two-seat F/A-18/F fly greater ranges with heavier payloads, have more powerful engines and provide greater survivability than its predecessor. Work will take place in California and Pennsylvania. …

You know the names; Guadalcanal, Savo Island, Cape Esperance, Santa Cruz, Tassafaronga. There were other less known fights during the Solomon Islands Campaign, but those are the major ones ... some even had USN warships named after them. During the campaign, the United States suffered over 10,600 killed, 40+ ships sunk, and over 800 aircraft lost. Imperial Japan suffered over 86,000 dead, 50+ ships sunk, and 1,500 aircraft lost. These islands are critical to control/protect the sea lines of communication from the Indian Ocean in to the Pacific Ocean - from the United States to Australia. After WWII, this was generally an Australian sphere of influence, but as always, the …

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $92.5 million contract modification for Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent efforts for the design, development, integration, test and delivery of Advanced Capability Build 20. The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system. It uses powerful computers, radar and digital signal processing algorithms to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. Work will take place in New Jersey. Expected completion is by December 2022. The Canadian government has decided that it will buy the Lockheed Martin F-35 to replace its CF-18s, in a joint announcement by Public Services and Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi and Defe…

The People's Republic of China does not have to aggressively take our status as the premier world power. It appears that we are willingly giving it to them, sooner more than later. As a maritime and aerospace power, especially when it comes to the challenge west of Wake, if you want to understand how serious our nation's national security nomenklatura is toward the clear threat to the place previous generations died by the hundreds of thousands to place us in the last century - just look at what we are spending our money on. Megan Eckstein over at DefenseNews has the summary for everyone. It isn't pleasant reading, especially for those who have their eyes on the world aro…

Americas Following the closure of the F-15C Weapons Instructor Course at Nellis Air Force Base, the Eagles assigned to the base have started to depart for other bases. The final course, Weapons Instructor Course 21-B, flew its last flights on December 8, 2021. Sikorsky won a $25.6 million order, which provides non-recurring engineering efforts to integrate, test, and qualify re-designed data concentrator and blade fold distributor units that will mitigate component obsolescence and outdated test equipment used for the CH-53K aircraft. The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. It can be fielded from amphibious assault ships for t…

Arrow test concept (click to view full) In a dawning age of rogue states, ballistic missile defenses are steadily become a widely accepted necessity. Iran is widely believed to be developing nuclear capabilities, and Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be “wiped off the map” (the fact that America was also placed in that category went largely uncovered). Because missile defenses are so important, states like India and Israel have taken steps to ensure that they have the ability to build many of the key pieces. The Arrow project is a collaboration between Boeing and IAI to produce the missile interceptors that a…

If you care about the truth, if you care about our ability to deter war west of Wake, then it is time to stand against one of the most destructive attempts to sideline our nation’s military power seen in a long time, the consultant-speakish concept being pimped throughout the Beltway, “Integrated Deterrence.” As we must, let’s go to the source for a first-person definition. As per DODNews back in December; Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, fleshed out the concept ... He said the concept "will inform almost everything that we do." Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has spoken about the concept since taking office last January. He calls it a new w…

Americas Boeing won a $71.8 million contract modification, which adds scope to provide segregable effort support, unknown obsolescence, Class I change assessments and obsolescence monitoring in support of the P-8A Multi-mission Maritime aircraft Lot 12 production line. Work will take place in Washington, California and Colorado. Estimated completion will be by April 2025. Raytheon won a $40.4 million contract modification. This modification exercises an option to integrate, produce, qualify, test and field 29 Lot Two low-rate production Maritime Strike Tomahawk seeker suites and all subsystems required to provide midcourse and terminal guidance to a modernized Tactical T…

An encore FbF because, well ... it sings to me ... and it is always good to see the Navy-Marine Corps work together as designed. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3522978114_d92fd9321c_m.jpg One. Hundred. Feet. Then pull closer. The two steam cutters were fitted out as mini-gunboats to provide the sailing launches with covering fire and pin down the Spanish soldiers firing from the rifle pits along the beach and from the surrounding hills. For this purpose, each of the steam cutters, in addition to its crew of five, carried a sergeant and six Marines to act as sharpshooters. To supplement the Marines and provide greater firepower, additional armaments were added. A one-…

No one really knows for sure what caused the explosion this AM on the Russian Navy's 54-yr old Alligator Class LST Orsk in the Port of Berdyansk. What we do know was the accident/attack was livestreamed. This video captures it best.Time-lapse video showing the events at the port of Berdyansk this morning. Two LSTs left the port, one of them was on fire. pic.twitter.com/5HljSBOhbQ — C O U P S U R E (@COUPSURE) March 24, 2022 Just as a professional side note: BZ to the crews of the two Ropucha Class LSD for getting underway and out of the way - both of which seems to have fires of their own to fight. What we do know is that the Russians liked to store a lot of things on th…

Americas The United States aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk headed to a scrapyard in Texas and too large to slip through the Panama Canal, reports MercoPress. The ship must sail around South America. In her 16,000-mile trip this weekend the impressive vessel “rested” for a few hours in Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile as she was crossing the Magellan Strait towed by a couple of tugs. Jane’s reported, that the Brazilian Navy is in the process of receiving its seventh and final modernised Skyhawk fighter jet. The acceptance of the AF-1B jet, tail number N-1004, was initiated on March 7 and is expected to take three to four weeks. Five AF-1 single-seat and two AF-1A twin…

Americas The US Space Force wants to send a satellite to the moon in order to help detect, track and identify artificial objects operating there. A draft Request for Proposals was published recently for the spacecraft, called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System (CHPS) satellite. The satellite will expand the Space Force’s space domain awareness by one thousand times. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate will be in charge of developing CHPS. The Defense Department (DoD) is ending a study on how to streamline and better protect its vast array of often incompatible ground terminals for satellite communications to introduce some changes next y…

Here and on Midrats over the years we've discussed the embarrassingly dangerous maladministration of the US merchant fleet, but we're not alone. We are putting a lot of emphasis on our growing partnership in security with Australia. How are things down under? Australia faces a “national emergency” unless it re-establishes a sovereign commercial shipping fleet to ensure critical goods flow during times of war and economic sanctions. The war in Ukraine, alongside Canberra’s geopolitical tensions with Beijing, has highlighted the vulnerability of Australia’s security and economy given its supply chain is almost completely reliant on ships registered to other countries. The …