Raw Intel

One thing the USA can do better than anyone else is move a lot of people quickly even in the most hazardous environment. As mentioned by MG Taylor, USA this AM, in the last 24-hrs 25 C-17, 3 C-130 and 61 commercial aircraft carried 16,000 people out of Kabul. The US military was responsible for a little under 11,000 of those. MG Taylor: As of this morning, 25 U.S. Military C-17s, 3 U.S. Military C-130s and 61 charter/commercial flights departed Kabul. The total passenger count for those flights was approximately 16,000. Of that number, the U.S. military transported just under 11,000 personnel. pic.twitter.com/wsZYBAa3Mh — Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) August…

Americas Raytheon won a $7 million modification in support of the evolved Seasparrow Missile Block II life of type buy of parts for the NATO Seasparrow Consortium. The Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) (RIM-162) is a medium-range, surface-to-air missile designed and manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems. It offers naval combatants reliable self-defense and high fire-power. Work will take place in California and Arizona. Estimated completion date is in October 2021. Boeing won a $487 million deal for Apache AH-64 engineering services and technical support. The AH-64E Apache is designed and equipped with an open systems architecture including the latest communications,…

I’m not sure where today’s Midrats will take us. Our co-host is getting a little underway time, so this will be just you and me. As the initial stage of the collapse of Kabul unfolded last weekend, a lot of Midrats loyalists reached out to me to ask, “Where is this week’s Midrats?” In hindsight, perhaps I should have brought up a show, but last Sunday was just not a good time to put a microphone in front of me,. By Monday I was ready, and my posts last week covered much of the thoughts bouncing around my head then. Today from 5-6pm Eastern we’re going to free-form this together. The chat room is open for questions or points of order, and the studio phone line is open as w…

Captain Lindsey S. McCarthy, USN giving a hot wash-up to the crew after USS Newport News (CA-148) and USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) engage shore batteries in North Vietnam 19 December 1967. Interesting this if you go to the YouTube page, comments from crew members and their families in the years since 2013 since I first posted it. 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=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:OICxYQQy4NA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QKrxdM53SkM:…

Americas Boeing won a $10 million modification for F-15C and F-15E Mission Training Centers (MTC). The contract modification provides for updates to the F-15 MTC training systems in order to achieve training service objectives. Boeing is upgrading USAF F-15C and F-15E MTCs with the Suite 9.1 Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System. Work will take place in Idaho, North Carolina, Nevada, Japan and England. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) tested its three-setting 2,000-pound (nearly 910 kg) Dialable Effects Munition (DEM) recently. The Air Force says that this capability will give it the ability to prosecute targets more effectively in high-end fights,…

We know that friends and competitors alike are questioning our nation's competence right now. If our warships pulled in to their port looking like this, would that help or hinder concerns they have - rightfully - after our horrible humiliation in Afghanistan? Sometimes the first step in solving complex, hard challenges is to respond in a simple, straightforward way. I'm pondering over at USNIBlog. Come by and tell me what you think. 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=D_Z5627fF6A:yWRdy0xfYcs:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blog…

Americas The US Marine Corps has used its Navy/Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) to attack a target ship more than 100 nautical miles away during a test in Hawaii. The actual firing of the Naval Strike Missile was carried out by engineers from Marine Corps Systems Command as the NMESIS is not an operational system yet. Two missiles were launched during the test on August 15. Raytheon won an $11.5 million order, which provides for the upgrade of 10 AN/APG-79 radars from Configuration A to Configuration B and continuing required efforts to repair Weapons Replaceable Assemblies identified as nonfunctioning following baseline testing. AN/APG-79 pro…

AN/APG-79 AESA Radar (click to view full) The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar began life as a replacement. Initial F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet production batches installed Raytheon’s all-weather, multimode AN/APG-73, but the APG-79 has intrinsic technical features that offered revolutionary increases in capability, reliability, image resolution, and range. Unlike the APG-73 that equipped the first Super Hornets, the APG-79’s AESA array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules that are fixed in place, eliminating a common cause of breakdowns. To move their beams, they rely on electronic changes in each module’s transmission…

Americas Sikorsky won a $116.5 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the Black Hawk main rotor blade. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. The UH-60 Black Hawk, developed by Sikorsky, has been operational in the US Army since 1978. In April 2001, the US Army approved an upgrade programme for more than 1,500 Black Hawks to UH-60M. The UH-60M features new wide chord composite spar main rotor blades, strengthened fuselage and advanced infrared suppression. Estimated completion date for this contract is August 15, 2026. Integral Aerospace won a $10 million contract for the repair of two parts associated with the 650 gallon fuel tanks in support of t…

The Afghan army and government the Soviet Union left behind lasted over 3-yrs. The Afghan army and government the USA left behind lasted barely 1 month. This is a nugget everyone needs to hoist onboard. It is bolded and underlined for a reason. For those in the elder GenX cohort and older, we remember vividly all the comments made, especially after its fall, of the failures of the Soviet Union. We liked to talk about its stifling bureaucracy, oppressive government nomenklatura, busy body rules, crumbling infrastructure, military infested with political officers pushing ideology, corruption, and almost comical government officials - all so assured of their power, such bel…

Americas The Defense Department’s Space Development Agency (SDA) plans to launch an experimental payload, developed together with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), to study the infrared background created by the Earth. The experiment is called Prototype Infrared Payload or PIRPL and is foundational for developing DoD capabilities to detect and track dim, fast-flying hypersonic missiles, SDA officials said in a briefing last week. The US Army says it’s developed a combat-capable prototype of a high-energy laser weapon. According to an army press release, the laser can be mounted on a Stryker military vehicle and used to defend troops against drones as well as rockets, art…

After the events of this weekend, I'm not really up to writing something to kick Monday off. It isn't that I did not have time, it is just that I wanted to invest it in something else. While there are a lot of entities who need some self-reflection, I think for today we need to look back at the senior in-theater leadership of the military effort in Afghanistan. We'll talk in more detail later. This works best on full screen, and you only have 10 seconds a slide, so don't dilly-dally. Ponder. 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=WkAN3tHqTP4:K…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $8.4 million delivery order for support of the E2-D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft program avionics flight management computers. The E-2D provides broad area coverage resulting in broader range capabilities. With the E-2D’s enhanced ability to work in the littoral and over land, the platform provides a critical capability to protect our nation’s interests. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date is February 5, 2025. Great Eastern won a $9.1 modification to exercise and fund the second 12-month option on a firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements for the offshore support vessel Hercules. This vessel will be util…

SBX-1, Pearl Harbor (click to view full) As rogue state proliferation by the likes of North Korea made missile defense a growing priority for nations including the USA, Japan, and Israel, the USA began to look at the linchpin of any defense: powerful radars that could both track ballistic missiles, and guide interceptors. The USA has its BMEWS tracking system, but that would not serve. America’s Safeguard ABM system was dismantled long ago – though Russia still maintains its counterpart System A-135 network around Moscow. Something new would be needed. Enter Raytheon’s new XBR radar, based on an SBX-1 platform that looks a lot like a mobile oil drilling rig. Basing the…

There is no FbF today. This is no time for such things. This is a weekend to think of other things. 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=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0okd9FN63u8:dNaj1DChDSM:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/0okd9FN63u8View the full article

Americas Textron Systems won an $11.3 million deal for the logistics and repair support of MV-22B, CMV-22 (Navy) and CV-22 (Air Force) Osprey components in support of the Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester system. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopters. Work will take place in Maryland. Estimated completion will be by August 2026. An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test re-entry vehicle was launched by Airmen from the Global Strike Command on August 11. During this launch, a Hi Fidelity Joint Test Assembly re-entry vehicle that detonate…

So, PERS-41, the Director of Surface Officer Assignments, is coming to give everyone a brief. Great! For you career minded folks who want to see what is expected of you, there is no better source. So, what's on the agenda? Of course, you can almost feel the oxygen leave the room. Of course. This is 2021, and as you have not had the Diversity Industry talking points thrown at you every 15-seconds, after the, "Why I am Interesting" introduction, PERS-41 will lead with that. Of course. Before we get to those slides, I want you to remember something for me. As this is 2021, at the very highest levels the mask has slipped - like we saw last week. Welcome this fact. It makes i…

Americas $1 million in funding from the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC) has been awarded to RE2 Robotics to develop a robotic system that can autonomously refuel AH-64 Apache helicopters in the field. Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, California, is managing the project entitled Remote Robotic Refueling for Extended Missions (R3EM), which is part of the Autonomous and Robotic Remote Refueling Point (AR3P) program. Lockheed Martin won a $11 million unpriced letter contract for long-lead material and the labor, planning, and scheduling necessary to support the fiscal 2022 Trid…

For this decade, the US Navy has to be ready to match any military challenge by the People’s Republic of China with the fleet we roughly have now. Any clear-eyed look at budgets, priorities, or plans makes that clear. If so, how do we best keep an aggressive China at risk with the forces we realistically have? What can we do to best deter war, and if that fails, transition to war best positioned to win? Today we turn over the conversation to Bryan Clark and Bryan McGrath. Gentlemen, over to you.Naval leaders, civilian and military, face difficult choices when confronting the threat posed by China. The fleet must be kept in readiness for combat, it must be modernized an…

Do you get a little worried when people seem to be a bit overexcited at the prospects of such a large percentage of our fleet being unmanned in the near future? Are you worried that too few hard questions are being asked and answered? Me too. Head on over to USNIBlog and help ask more hard questions. 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=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=OZhvXGLvdIc:OGIWOlg6xDM:V_sGLiPBpWU http:…