Raw Intel

Textron Aviation Defense has finalized its first contract to deliver the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II integrated training system to Japan. According to a press release dated Dec. 21, Textron Aviation Defense confirmed it has completed an initial agreement to supply the Beechcraft T-6JP Texan II to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The contract was coordinated […]View the full article

The United States has increased deliveries of weapons systems, ammunition, and military equipment to the Middle East since late 2025, with U.S. Air Force transport aircraft conducting intensified flights from the continental United States to European logistics hubs and onward to bases in Jordan, Israel, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, according to open-source flight tracking and […]View the full article

The United States Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Exyte US, based in Albany, New York, a $96,2 million contract to support infrastructure construction and aircraft bed-down for Israel’s incoming CH-53K King Stallion helicopters, according to an official contract announcement. The work will be performed in Israel with an estimated completion date of March 23, […]View the full article

Ukraine has deployed a towed version of its domestically produced 155mm artillery system, known as the Bohdana-BG, with the weapon now in active service for at least a year in frontline artillery units, according to reporting by Ukrainian outlet Oboronka. The system is currently operated by the 147th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Air Assault […]View the full article

On Monday, we discussed the announcement earlier this month of 34 ships and the $65.8 billion coming Navy’s way to buy them. What I’ve been trying to get a firm grasp on are what those 18 battle force ships and 16 non-battle force ships will be. I thought by now I’d find a “Ref. A” for those numbers, but no joy. So, I reached out to a real professional and friend to the blog (who will remain on the DL) for some help. Trust me on this—if anyone can figure it out, he can. Even he admits that it’s hard to find the numbers. The biggest issue is that the only budget document for ships we can get ahold of right now is the Department of War’s Procurement Programs (P-1) Brief for…

Pakistan publicly unveiled the Fatah-3 supersonic cruise missile, a road-mobile precision strike weapon that pushes the country’s Fatah missile family into a new performance tier and positions Islamabad with a direct regional counter to India’s BrahMos, according to reporting by Clash Report. The Fatah-3 has been identified as a localized derivative of China’s HD-1 missile […]View the full article

Finland’s next generation of warships is getting armored protection from a specialist composite materials company, with Integris selected to supply advanced naval ballistic protection systems for all four Pohjanmaa-class corvettes currently under construction at Rauma Marine Constructions’ shipyard in Rauma, Finland. The partnership began at the earliest stages of ship design rather than as a […]View the full article

Russian media published footage of a Geran-4 kamikaze drone striking a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 as the aircraft prepared for a mission at an airfield in southern Ukraine, destroying it completely. Ukrainian sources confirmed the aircraft was lost but said no personnel died in the strike. Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force Command confirmed in an […]View the full article

The British defense giant unveiled BlackThorn, a new family of modular warheads built specifically for the current wave of cheap, mass-produced weapons reshaping modern warfare, from autonomous drones and one-way attack munitions to counter-drone interceptors, missiles and unmanned ground vehicles. BAE Systems designed the warhead family to be modular, meaning the same core technology can […]View the full article

After a summer where more and more people’s eyes have been opened to the divisive, sectarian, and even racist nature of Critical Race Theory and have risen in opposition to it and similar race-essentialist world view in to our schools, the next logical step is how people feel about it becoming an essential part of taxpayer supported public education. As we’ve discussed it in detail here, we know there is a problem in the US Navy where the Chief of Naval Operations has enthusiastically supported the works of one of the most high-profile advocates of the most cancerous forms of Critical Race Theory, Ibram X. Kendi. With that top cover, it was only a matter of time until its…

Americas The Saab Gripen E was inducted into operational service at Anápolis Air Base, Brazil on December 19. Brazil marked the milestone during a 19 December ceremony at Anapolis air base, the home to its First Air Defense Group. During the event, two of its locally designated F-39Es (registrations 4103 and 4104) were displayed before being parked alongside a Dassault Mirage 2000C – the already retired type that they are replacing. Northrop demonstrated the inflight integration of two of its most advanced sensor and communication systems, enhancing the survivability and lethality of the US Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) platforms. The demonstration saw a UH-60 Black …

(click to view full) In March 2008, the Bell Boeing Joint Project Office in Amarillo, TX received a $10.4 billion modification that converted the previous N00019-07-C-0001 advance acquisition contract to a fixed-price-incentive-fee, multi-year contract. The new contract rose to $10.92 billion, and was used to buy 143 MV-22 (for USMC) and 31 CV-22 (Air Force […]View the full article

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday that General Alexus Grynkewich, the newly appointed NATO commander in Europe, confirmed U.S. assessments that Russia could be ready for a confrontation with Europe as early as 2027. “There is no reason to frighten each other, but we must be truly vigilant and focused,” Tusk said in a […] The post Poland warned: Russian confrontation possible by 2027 first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft conducted a surveillance mission near Russia’s northern region on August 28, according to a report from the defense outlet Militarnyi. The Boeing RC-135V Rivet Joint was detected on the online flight tracking platform Flightradar24 as it operated close to the Murmansk area. The aircraft, equipped with advanced sensors and […] The post U.S. Air Force spy plane tracked off Russia’s northern coast first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has received a $10.8 billion contract from the U.S. Navy to produce up to 99 CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps over the next five years. The agreement, the largest-quantity order for the platform to date, will support deliveries between 2029 and 2034 and sustain thousands […] The post U.S. Navy awards $10.8B contract for heavy-lift helicopters first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

How are naval shipbuilding, commercial shipbuilding, and commercial shipping linked together to create a healthy and effective national seapower ecosystem? What did the 1990s “Last Supper” get wrong, and what can be done to correct the error? This Sunday, LIVE from 5-6 pm Eastern, Hunter Stires will be returning to Midrats to discuss this and more. We will be using as a starting point for our discussion the recent article that he co-wrote with Steve Brock at CIMSEC, Maritime Statecraft and its Future. You can listen live at this link. If you are reading this after the show, reload this Substack page later Sunday as the podcast audio will be here. Hunter Stires served as…

China has developed a next-generation 25mm handheld grenade launcher featuring programmable airburst munitions, a compact electronic fire control system, and modular construction, according to an article published in the military magazine Ordnance Knowledge. The report introduces a new experimental 25mm airburst grenade launcher designed for individual use, combining advanced fuze programming with a high level […]View the full article

Lockheed Martin has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hungary’s 4iG Space and Defence Technologies to develop a long-range rocket artillery system tailored to Hungarian military requirements. According to a statement from Lockheed Martin, the agreement focuses on integrating the company’s Artillery Rocket System Launcher Loader Module onto trucks built in Hungary. The resulting system […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has confirmed that the 56th Rescue Generation Squadron (RGS) has received its final HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter, completing the unit’s transition to the service’s newest combat rescue platform, according to a service update released this week. The final aircraft was delivered to Aviano Air Base, Italy, where the 56th […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces released combat footage showing the detection and destruction of a Russian 300-mm Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system during an operation conducted on occupied territory in the Zaporizhzhia region. The strike was carried out by operators of the “Ptahi” unit from the 1st Separate Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces, coordinated by […]View the full article