Raw Intel

German drone maker STARK and Thales Australia have agreed to fit STARK’s Cascade loitering munition to the Bushmaster armored vehicle, giving the Australian-built truck a launcher for one-way attack drones that the company says can hit targets up to 100 km (62 miles) away. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 7 […]View the full article

Aeon Industrial, a Texas company that already makes low-cost drone fuzes in volume, has unveiled the Armory, a planned 140,000-square-foot (13,000-square-meter) factory for missile systems, interceptors, high-voltage fuzes, seekers and other critical components, saying it wants to add production capacity where the U.S. munitions supply chain depends on too few suppliers. The company said the […]View the full article

I was very surprised a couple of days ago when a friend of my sent me this NY Times Article and asked me if I contributed to it. Varyag has certainly come a long way from the day when it got dragged to Macau to be a floating casino. I've posted many photos of Varyag in the past, but its progress has finally even attracted the attention of major Western newspaper. Of course, there are also plenty of activities around other Chinese shipyards. First of all, we see some new photos showing three different 052Cs under different stage of construction at JN shipyard. To be frank, the first photo (third 052C) has not seemed to have made too much progress, but JN shipyard c…

Americas The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Agile Combat Support Directorate started the process of replacing its existing inventory of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), also known as Humvees, with the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). The service has a need for 3,230 vehicles and they will be bought via an Army contract with Oshkosh Corporation. However, not all HMMWVs will be replaced, the current process is to swap out the up-armored variant. Air Force units are expected to start receiving the new JLTVs starting from September 2021, after having mission specific equipment installed at Naval Information Warfare Center. Developed by …

This is the 4th and a half draft of this week's DivThu ... a much more simplified version. I did have a very long post, but decided that was unnecessary. It was better, especially with Part 2 - the Navy's Reading List - added below, to keep this rather simple as I think it speaks for itself. Let's go. Part 1: Navy Task Force One. If you were going to try to get the temperature of race relations in our nation, probably the worst time to do it in the last 35 years would have been over the summer and fall of 2020. As our Navy reflects the society it comes from, it would be only natural that the high emotions, cultural climate, and all that happened in that time period w…

Americas The deputy head of Air Mobility Command has revealed that the next Gremlins test flight is set to take place between October to November. Steve Fendley, president of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, told Military.com that the Pentagon has added a new requirement for the Gremlins to be able to rearm in flight and redeploy out of a C-130. Kratos builds the airframe of the Gremlins. Fendley added that around 20 Gremlins will be deployed on a typical mission. Northrop Grumman won a $53.7 million deal to provide continuing operator, maintenance, logistics and sustainment engineering support, to include training, supply chain and spares management for peculiar items,…

Two of the greatest self-inflicted institutional failures of the USN in the last half-century were Tailhook 91 and Fat Leonard. They decimated a generation of leaders and the hard-won service reputation with the American people and their elected representatives that we are still trying to climb out of. While Tailhook 91’s failure was mostly in the response of senior uniformed and civilian leadership to the political pressure by feeding their young to Vaal hoping to save their own skins, Fat Leonard exposed a greater, more dangerous rot that tied in all the worst features of human nature; greed, lust, envy, and addiction. As much of Fat Leonard was avoidable if there were…

Americas Boeing won a $239.6 million deal for the Apache Improved Turbine Engine Integration Phase II. The US Army plans to use the next-generation engine in all Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter engines. The service is also planning on using it on Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft it plans to field in the 2030s. Work will take place in Arizona. Estimated completion date is December 31. Raytheon won a $250 million deal for a StormBreaker Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) integrated engineering change proposal. The StormBreaker bomb is an air-launched precision strike weapon manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems for the US Air Force and the US Navy. Work will ta…

Americas The US Navy has selected L3Harris Technologies to develop an F/A-18 next-generation electronic warfare (EW) system. L3Harris is one of two companies selected for the $80 million prototype development contract, with follow-on development and production contracts expected in 2026. The US Space Force has announced 21 new launch missions through 2024 under the National Security […]View the full article

Americas Bell Boeing won a $14 million modification to provide continued post-production systems engineering and program management support for the V-22 Common Configuration Readiness and Modernization retrofit program for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania; and Fort Worth, Texas and is expected to be completed in September 2024. Naval Air […]View the full article

Whenever you walk around base, you may not be aware that—should fate call them—you are passing holders of Medal of Honor, Navy Cross and other heroes. Sure, they don’t have it now, but should circumstances allow—their true character will be revealed. When you join the service, you have no idea what will find you in the course of your service, or when just another boring duty day turns into something immortal. In the horrible tragedy over the weekend in Texas, we saw an example of this in the person of USCG rescue swimmer, Petty Officer Third Class Scott Ruskan. Via USA Today’s Lori Comstock Ruskan, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer from Oxford, New Jersey, is being credi…

Polish defense company MACRO-SYSTEM has unveiled its GNOM loitering munition during live demonstrations at DALO Industry Days and Uncrewed Innovation Day in Denmark. In a statement, the company said: “During the DALO Industry Days and the Uncrewed Innovation Day demonstrations in Denmark, we had the opportunity to showcase our GNOM loitering munition in action. We […] The post Polish firm showcases ground kamikaze drone first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Raytheon Missile Defense has secured a new U.S. Army contract worth more than half a billion dollars to produce Stinger surface-to-air missiles, ancillary equipment, and associated support through 2031. The $578 million agreement, awarded to Raytheon’s facility in Tucson, Arizona, was announced this week by the Department of War. Bids for the program were solicited […] The post U.S. Army places new order for Stinger missiles first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Ukrainian defense news outlet Militarnyi has released a comprehensive analysis of classified procurement documents outlining the true cost and production volumes of Russia’s long-range missile arsenal. According to the report, the documents shed new light on the scale and financial scope of missile deliveries to the Russian Armed Forces between 2024 and 2027, breaking through […] The post Analysts break down real cost of Russian missiles first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

KNDS has officially rolled out the new Leopard 2A8 main battle tank and upgraded PzH 2000 howitzer for the Bundeswehr, along with the Leopard 2A8 variant for the Norwegian Armed Forces, during a presentation held on November 19 at the company’s site in Munich. The unveiling took place in the presence of German Defense Minister […]View the full article

An unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle has crashed in an empty field in the Manyas district of Balıkesir province in western Türkiye. According to open-source intelligence analysis, the drone was recovered largely intact and transferred to Ankara for detailed examination. Initial assessments suggest the aircraft may be a Russian-made Merlin-VR reconnaissance drone, a long-range, low-noise intelligence, […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed that Russian forces used a Zircon hypersonic missile during a recent overnight strike, marking another documented combat employment of the advanced weapon against targets on Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian Air Force Command said the missile was launched from the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, likely from a ground-based launcher. According to […]View the full article

Bulgaria has received the first batch of Stryker armored vehicles, with five combat vehicles arriving at the port of Burgas on Feb. 14, 2026, marking the start of deliveries under the country’s military modernization program, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense announced. The shipment represents the initial phase of a broader procurement effort conducted through international […]View the full article

Big Japanese defense manufacturer Kawasaki Heavy Industries has confirmed that it is studying the development of two types of collaborative unmanned aircraft, including a missile-like system and an aircraft-type platform. According to comments by Hiroyoshi Shimokawa, president of Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Aerospace Systems Company, the firm is currently developing a concept known as the Collaborative […]View the full article

Certo Aerospace has demonstrated a new anti-submarine warfare capability for the Royal Navy, using its CAPSTONE vertical take-off and landing drone in a flight test at Keevil Airfield on Feb. 23. The trial, conducted under the Navy’s ATLANTIC BASTION technology demonstration program, focused on the aircraft’s ability to detect, locate, and track underwater targets using […]View the full article