Raw Intel

Ukraine’s Pegasus Arms has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Rohde & Schwarz to jointly develop new airborne reconnaissance and electronic support systems for military drones, the companies announced. According to the companies, the partnership will combine Pegasus Arms’ drone platforms with Rohde & Schwarz technologies to expand the operational capabilities of unmanned systems […]View the full article

The last four years’ conflicts from the Strait of Hormuz through the Red Sea to the Black Sea have presented a raft of lessons to the navies of Europe. How are they positioned to address the lessons, and what moves are already taking place? Returning to the Midrats Podcast LIVE today at 5 pm Eastern to discuss this and related topics will be Alessio Patalano. You can join the studio and the live chat at this link. If you’re reading this after the show, refresh the Substack page later Sunday for updated links to the uploaded audio. Alessio is a Professor of War and Strategy in East Asia and senior fellow at the Center for Statecraft and National Security at King’s College…

Russia announced missile tests at the Kura test range in Kamchatka scheduled from May 6 to 10, a window that brackets its Victory Day parade in Moscow and which analysts at Militarny are reading as a deliberate nuclear signaling move timed to deter any Ukrainian strike on Red Square. The announcement came from the Emergency […]View the full article

A Ukrainian air defense system built by the U.S. defense company Sierra Nevada Corporation was destroyed in Kharkiv region by a Russian first-person-view (FPV) drone operated by the “Sever” (North) assault grouping, marking what appears to be the first confirmed combat loss of the MAAWLR anti-drone missile launcher in the war. The MAAWLR, which stands […]View the full article

U.S.-based aerospace firm X-Bow Systems announced it will exhibit at the Farnborough International Airshow, running July 20 through 24 in Hampshire, England, setting up in the Texas USA Pavilion to pitch itself as a faster, more scalable alternative to the handful of companies that have controlled America’s solid rocket motor supply for decades. Solid rocket […]View the full article

Japan’s Coast Guard confirmed a South Korean survey ship, the Tamhae 3, was conducting an unauthorized marine survey inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone west of the Takeshima islets on August 7, prompting formal protests from Tokyo, Japan’s Foreign Ministry and Coast Guard said. A Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel spotted the Tamhae 3 at around […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has awarded Lockheed Martin $1.21 billion to keep developing an upgraded version of its long-range strike missile, work that comes as the Army tries to rebuild a stockpile it drained fighting Iran earlier this year. A Department of War announcement said the contract funds early operational capability work on the Precision Strike […]View the full article

BLADE, the robotics company formerly known as HDT, said its Hunter WOLF unmanned ground vehicle has been selected for the second phase of GroundBreaker 1, a U.S. Department of War demonstration in which service members will put industry-built ground robots through field trials at Camp Grafton, North Dakota, on Oct. 19-23. The company said Hunter […]View the full article

In 1QFY2026, there cannot be anyone in Europe or North America—much less anyone in a NATO nation—who still thinks that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a good-faith business partner unless they are compromised or thick as a brick. Let’s speak as adults. Yes, there is a large percentage of mercantilists on both sides of the Atlantic who will happily sell the rope used to hang them. There are equally significant numbers of people who refuse to accept any of the lessons of history and are as happy to sell off their national industrial capital to the PRC and buy all their hydrocarbons from Russia. They neither care nor are curious to know why others do care. All they …

Are you as frustrated as everyone else the inefficiency and petty squabbling in our natsec ecosystem? There are things that are due to change. I'm pondering over at USNIBlog. Come over and give it the smell test. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=81_K0132AiU:vrFhPdfGAV8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=81_K0132AiU:vrFhPdfGAV8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=81_K0132AiU:vrFhPdfGAV8:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=81_K0132AiU:vrFhPdfGAV8:F7zBnMyn0Lo http:…

Americas Raytheon won a $14.9 million contract modification, which increases the scope and provides updates to the CV-22 mission planning system to support the suite of integrated radio frequency countermeasures. Additionally, this modification provides capability defect package problem reports in support of the V-22 software support activity. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopters. The US Air Force and US Navy variants are equipped with a Raytheon AN/APQ-186 terrain-following, multimode radar. Work will take place in Indiana and estimated completion will be in September 2022. The aircraf…

Americas Airbus US Space & Defense won a $119.8 million contract modification for an extension of contractor logistics support services for the UH-72 Lakota. The UH-72A Lakota is a light utility helicopter. UH-72A Lakota helicopters were acquired to replace the UH-1H Iroquois and OH-58 A/C Kiowa helicopters. Work will take place in Grand Prairie, Texas. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2022. The US Marine Corps (USMC) has flown the first AH-1Z flight that has Link-16 capability. Bell says a two-way connection was completed from the helicopter to a ground station. Bell added that the Link-16 package from Northrop Grumman adds a new digital moving map, a new secur…

Americas Sikorsky won a $29.5, which procures logistics support analysis and products resulting from production engineering changes and diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages to include technical publications, logistics support analysis and logistics product data in support of CH-53K aircraft production and fielding. The Super Stallion can be fielded from amphibious assault ships for the transportation of personnel and equipment. Estimated completion date is in December 2022. Work will be performed in Connecticut and the US. Northrop Grumman won a $245.8 million contract modification, which provides for the exercise of five option contract line items to…

Americas Westinghouse Government Services LLC won a $56 million hybrid deal for decommissioning and dismantlement of the SM-1A deactivated nuclear power plant. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received.The nuclear power plant at Fort Greely in Alaska last provided power in 1972. Work will take place in Alaska. Estimated completion date is July 27, 2028. Lockheed Martin won a 23.2 million deal for engineering services in support of Sentinel A4 Radar and other air and missile defense programs. 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 July 23, 20…

Americas Lockheed Martin Space won a $49.9 million modification for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. The contract award also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. Work will take place in Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Maryland and various other locations. Work is expected to be completed on September 30, 2027. Fiscal 2023 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $49,942,303 will be obligated. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Raytheon won a $397.7 million modification from the US Navy to exercise options for fiscal 2023 guided missile as…

When it comes to the A-1H Skyraider vs. MiG-17s, some are familiar with the story from 1966, but have you heard it first person right after it took place? This story, which I first covered back in 2009, is a classic and brings us back to a man we honored in another FbF last month: Lieutenant Pete Russell, USN. That’s him on the right in the picture above, with LTJg. Tom Patton, USN as they discuss the story below. LCDR Leo Cook and his wingman LTJG Wiley were the lead section of Skyraiders working to locate and hopefully rescue a downed US pilot in North Vietnam. While maneuvering at low altitude between ridges and cloud layers, they were jumped by what turned out to be t…

There was something in the air about JCIDS in the spring. I’d encourage you to review my Substack from March then come back. I’ll do one of my favorite things and quote myself from the above post. The process has become the product. It is no longer fit for purpose, if it ever was. As we have often discussed, the accretions encumbered acquisition process that has become the greatest impediment to a military prepared to face the world’s threats. No serious person without a stake in the current system supports keeping it. It stifles innovation, is comically bureaucratic, and is intentionally designed to get between those who have to fight our wars and the equipment they need…

Ukrainian forces have carried out a precision drone strike on a Russian airbase in occupied Crimea, destroying two An-26 military transport aircraft and damaging critical radar infrastructure, the country’s defense intelligence agency said. According to a statement from the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR), Ukrainian special operations units conducted a raid on the peninsula, targeting […] The post Ukrainian drones destroy two Russian An-26 aircraft in Crimea first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The Republic of Korea Navy has launched its first Changbogo-III Batch-II class submarine, the Jang Yeong-sil (SS-087), during a formal ceremony held Wednesday at Hanwha Ocean’s shipyard in Geoje. The vessel is the lead boat in the second batch of South Korea’s indigenously developed diesel-electric submarines and is expected to enhance the country’s underwater deterrence […] The post South Korea launches new indigenous attack submarine first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Portugal’s Air Force has taken delivery of its first A-29N Super Tucano aircraft, marking the introduction of a new training and light combat capability and making Portugal the first European operator of the platform in its NATO-configured version. The delivery ceremony took place on December 17 at the facilities of OGMA, Portugal’s aerospace company, in […]View the full article