Raw Intel

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

Divergent Technologies and Mach Industries announced on Feb. 17, 2026, in Los Angeles that they have jointly launched Venom, an autonomous strike aircraft prototype developed and brought to flight readiness in 71 days, demonstrating rapid hardware development enabled by digital manufacturing and modular system design. According to a joint announcement from the companies, the Venom […]View the full article

The United States Navy sent the dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) to sea trials from Naval Station Norfolk, marking the vessel’s first time underway since 2014 following an extended modernization effort. The trials are intended to verify that the ship’s upgraded systems and engineering improvements are fully operational, as the Navy works to […]View the full article

Ukrainian operators of the MIM-104 Patriot air defense system are intercepting ballistic missile targets using a single interceptor missile rather than the two to four missiles that standard engagement doctrine typically calls for, according to a statement from Ukraine’s Air Force reported by Militarny. The disclosure came from a unit commander whose formation operates Patriot […]View the full article

A Virginia-based counter-UAS training company has launched a program focused on the phase of a drone incident that most training programs ignore entirely: what to do after the drone is already on the ground. 38 Sierra announced Drone Incident Response Training, known as DIRT, on May 5, 2026, from Barboursville, Virginia, positioning it as a […]View the full article

A Slovak defense engineering company has signed a framework agreement worth up to $580 million with Slovakia’s Ministry of Defence for military excavator systems, structured under the European Union’s new SAFE financing program in a way that allows any other EU member state to join the contract without running its own separate procurement competition. CSM […]View the full article

A Munich-based artificial intelligence startup called SE3 Labs stepped out of stealth mode on June 26, 2026, announcing that its spatial AI platform is already under contract with the German Bundeswehr and operational in military exercises across Europe, where the company says it has reduced the time between detecting a target and engaging it by […]View the full article

China stole a march on us. In any multiplayer game, you cannot get scope-locked. While you may focus on one enemy or one particular part of the game, others are not standing by idly, politely waiting their turn to move. No, they will encourage your distraction. They will let you indulge yourself in other problems. Meanwhile, they move through the unguarded gates into fertile fields. We live on a large, round ball—but we think right and left because that is what our maps look like on our wall, across our screens. North-up, head-down, obsessing about the grind off some hot, dry, legacy concern or wet tropical island no one has heard of. Where are moves taking place we are n…

Poland’s Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday that its armed forces maintain various air and missile defense capabilities to protect designated targets, including cities, pushing back against public criticism that Polish urban centers lack air defense coverage. The ministry did not name the source of the criticism directly, but the statement follows weeks of political […]View the full article

Government forces in Yemen have hit Houthi positions with a series of airstrikes around the port city of Mocha and the nearby town of Dhubab, with Saudi aircraft flying in support, according to Yemeni army media. Both towns sit on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow chokepoint that ships […]View the full article

The Javelin Joint Venture, the Lockheed Martin and Raytheon partnership that builds the Javelin anti-tank missile, says it has nearly doubled its annual production capacity for complete Javelin rounds over the past two years to keep up with demand from the U.S. military and foreign customers. Lockheed Martin announced the milestone on Oct. 8 but […]View the full article

Photos have emerged of Russia’s newest version of the Geran-5 light cruise missile, known as the Geran-5 K5-K and often described in the media as a jet-powered drone, lying in a field somewhere in Ukraine’s Odesa region after it came down during an attack, with the serial number ANS-3031 visible on the airframe. It is […]View the full article

Americas A US Marine Corps AH-1W gunship now retired to Picatinny Arsenal. It will be used as a laboratory for the XM915 20mm Gatling gun. The Bell AH-1W Super Cobra was flown from NAS Joint Reserve Base New Orleans to Picatinny Arsenal by Marines Lt. Col. Mark Diss and Capt. Garrett Peirce. The US Army plans to fit the XM915 on its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. The Super Cobra, a twin-engine attack helicopter, is the first aviation aircraft to be housed on post for research and development purposes at the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center, also known as DEVCOM. The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) procured a …