Raw Intel

ARX Robotics is expanding its deployed fleet in Ukraine to five times its initial size, the European unmanned ground vehicle maker announced in May 2026, securing a new contract to supply several hundred additional GEREON uncrewed ground vehicles to Ukraine’s Defense Forces and cementing its position as the largest supplier of Western UGVs to Ukraine. […]View the full article

Ukrainian strike drones hit two Russian Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft on the ground at Taganrog military airfield on the night of May 29-30, 2026, with video released by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces showing the aircraft catching fire after multiple direct hits, marking the latest in a sustained campaign to destroy Russian military aviation assets far […]View the full article

A Ukrainian defense firm has developed a hand-launched reconnaissance drone capable of flying 150 km (93 miles) into enemy territory while resisting electronic jamming, with serial deliveries expected to begin this autumn, the Ukrainian defense outlet Militarny reported. The drone is called Sweetheart, and the company behind it is General Chereshnya, a Ukrainian developer whose […]View the full article

A U.S. Navy security boat escorted an unfamiliar uncrewed vessel out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, and the open-source account Aviation and Naval Assets shared photos and video of a boat that does not match any publicly known U.S. Navy drone design currently in service. The account, which tracks military aviation and naval hardware […]View the full article

Thirteen Democratic senators sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a letter Monday demanding written answers about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose deployment has stretched past 250 days with more than 200 of those days without a port call. The letter was led by Sens. Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, both Michigan Democrats, and signed […]View the full article

The U.S. Army is putting another $818 million into production of the vehicle meant to replace its Vietnam-era M113 troop carriers, part of a contract with BAE Systems that has now grown past $3.3 billion. The Department of War said the $818 million award is a modification to BAE’s existing contract for the Armored Multi-Purpose […]View the full article

The Sparrows Point Shipyard outside Baltimore has a history dating back to 1887. She is one of the many neglected and underused monuments to a once great industrial power just waiting for the right people with the right vision to return. I think we have it. Via Howard Altman and the good people at TWZ, …the Trump administration on Tuesday announced that Anduril is building a new two-million-square-foot facility in Baltimore designed to help speed up the production of Virginia class nuclear-powered attack submarines. The plant, dubbed Arsenal-2, will eventually produce components like torpedo tubes and spherical air flasks, which will then be sent to the two shipyards that…

Americas General Electric won a $483.1 million contract, which procures spare F414 engines and various spare engine modules in support of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler production aircraft. Boeing announced the delivery of the first two operational F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets in the Block III configuration to the US Navy on September 27. The service will use these aircraft to help complete an ongoing test and evaluation program for these updates, as well as support the development of new tactics, techniques, and procedures to go with them. Work will take place in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Kentucky, Canada, Germany and North Carolina. Es…

The Chief of Naval Operation's 2022 Navigation Plan is out ... and besides a couple of expected errata points I'll cover at the end ... I like it. It answers the bell. I'm not going to go paragraph by paragraph as I want you to read the whole thing. The document is important because the CNO is the boss, and this is the Ref. A everyone needs to align with. It will drive discussions, efforts, focus, and defines the four corners for any argument the Navy will make. As such, read it if you want to understand what everything for the next year or more is going to be built around. It is just a couple of dozen and change pages. Lots of pictures and side-bars, so it is a quick rea…

If you are an American who lived on the European Continent, specifically Western Europe, you’re very familiar with an exceptionally sharp strain of anti-Americanism that resides in a significant percentage of their ruling elite – and adult version of the middle school mean girls. Though present in all nations to one degree to another, it is especially acute in Germany and France for slightly different reasons but are all working towards the same goal; degrade American influence in Europe. The best way for this political and corporate anti-Americanism to find a lever of power is through the the trans-national and anti-democratic modern iteration of the European Union – mad…

Americas Boeing won a $26.7 million order, which provides for the design, development, and test of software and ancillary hardware required in support of the retrofit integration of the MK 54 Mod 2 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo on the P-8A aircraft for the Navy. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington; Patuxent River, Maryland; and St. […]View the full article

Americas Canada will boost its military and diplomatic presence in the Arctic to counter what it calls threats from Russia and others seeking a foothold in the far north, as part of a new doctrine unveiled Friday. The government envisions the deployment of new patrol ships and navy destroyers, ice breakers and submarines capable of operating beneath ice sheets, as well as more aircraft and drones. The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $590-million contract for continued work on the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band (NGJ-MB) system. This is part of a follow-on production effort to enhance the electronic warfare capabilities of the EA-18G Growler aircraft used by the US Navy and…

The French military announced a joint air surveillance operation over the Black Sea on July 24, conducted in close coordination with British and Belgian forces. The operation aimed to enhance regional stability and safeguard the security of Europe’s southeastern flank amid ongoing concerns about access to international airspace and maritime freedom. The surveillance mission, conducted […] The post France, UK, Belgium jets patrol Black Sea first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) has commenced production of the Finnish Navy’s third multi-purpose corvette under the Squadron 2020 program. The milestone was marked on August 26 with a traditional steel cutting ceremony at the Rauma shipyard. With this step, three of the four Pohjanmaa-class corvettes are now in production. RMC said the progress demonstrates both […] The post RMC starts building third multi-role corvette first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

BIRD Aerosystems has announced a major step forward in its airborne defense portfolio with the certification of a new Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the KING AIR 350C platform, granted by the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority (CAAI). The certification enables a range of upgrades that expand the aircraft’s capabilities for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and […] The post BIRD Aerosystems certifies enhanced KING AIR 350C for spy missions first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Croatian robotics firm DOK-ING and Slovenian turret specialist Valhalla have unveiled a new integrated unmanned ground combat system, pairing the MV-8 Komodo robotic platform with the Mangart 25 AD remote-controlled turret. The joint system made its world debut this week during the SIDEC defense exhibition in Slovenia, backed by support from the Slovenian Armed Forces […] The post New robotic combat vehicle debuts at SIDEC show first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The U.S. Army is exploring new robotic systems designed to engage enemy armor autonomously, with recent field trials showcasing the potential of coordinated unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to support future combat operations. From October 27 to 29, 2025, the Army’s Transformation and Training Command (T2COM) hosted the xTechOverwatch for Unmanned Systems event at the Bush […]View the full article

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) has emerged as the U.S. Navy’s first Flight III warship, introducing a new generation of surface combatant capability centered on advanced radar, power, and combat systems. Commissioned on October 7, 2023, Jack H. Lucas has been designated by the Chief of Naval Operations as […]View the full article

There was a lot to get excited about at last week’s Surface Navy Association confab, and I’ll get to that in a minute, but it would be wise to temper one’s expectations. 20 years seems like a long time, but in many ways it is not. As we look forward to what our fleet will look like at mid-century, we should look back to what we were all promised in January of 2005 that was going to transform into the Navy of the 21st century. There were four ship classes that were going to be the surface fleet that we were promised at the time, were going to ensure America’s dominance at sea for the next half century. (NB: most of the hypertext links below go to the tags from my OG Blog t…

This opening graphic from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) report by Alexander Kolyandr from last week, Death Without Glory: Russia’s Message to the Frontline Soldier, tells a story. The numbers are staggering. A CSIS report in January estimated Russia has lost up to 325,000 men dead and close to 900,000 wounded, the greatest losses recorded by any major power in any war since World War II. For a country already suffering an acute demographic decline and which has seen perhaps a million emigrate since the war began, this cannot be sustainable, at least in the medium-term. The first thing that came to mind was the low numbers in the VERY ethnic Russian areas,…