Raw Intel

Americas With a backorder for 128 jets, the Lockheed Martin F-16 could be flying in 2070s, Air Force Magazine reports. The last aircraft in this order is not expected to be delivered until 2026, with a service of more than 40 years, this last aircraft could be flying well into 2070. To be manufactured at Greenville, South Carolina, these aircraft are destined for Bahrain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan and an unnamed customer. These customers have indicated they are keen to follow on with new orders. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is the first to deploy the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System from the East Coast, a Marines statement said. The amphibious attack unit, re…

WaPo is using the exactly correct phrase, "State Sponsored Hijacking;" Earlier Sunday, Ryanair Flight 4978 from Greece to Lithuania was over Belarusian airspace, when it was contacted by local air traffic control. The controllers claimed that there might be a bomb on board and ordered the plane to land in Minsk, Belarus’s capital city. The evidence suggests they were concerned with a very different threat — to the regime of Belarus’s longtime autocratic ruler, Alexander Lukashenko. One of the passengers on the plane was an opposition journalist, Roman Protasevich, whom Belarusian authorities wanted to take into custody. According to reported eyewitnesses: “One guy…

Americas Boeing won an $18.9 million order, which provides for the production and delivery of 48 automatic backup oxygen system retrofit kits for the T-45 aircraft, to include installation tooling, engineering reach back, spares and support equipment. The T-45A Goshawk is a tandem-seat, carrier capable, jet trainer whose mission is to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots. Work will take place in Texas and Missouri. Expected completion is in September 2022. Sikorsky won a $25.8 million deal for the repair/overhaul of the refueling probes on the HH-60G helicopter. The HH-60G Pave Hawk is the US Air Force’s primary combat search and rescue helicopter used by Air Force special…

After two decades of a low boil, but highly demanding series of conflicts in Asia required an extensive focus on the now - in both funding and leadership time. America finds herself facing the 2020s with a rested, increasingly well equipped and confident People's Republic of China on the other side of the Pacific stretching herself on a global scale. Advances of the last few decades that were made were focused on the fight at hand, but they may not be the right equipment for the expected fight to come. What does the USA need to start investing in now to ensure we are better positioned at the end of this decade than we were entering it? This Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern, …

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bofj1zka7Tc/T4CfKmxTi9I/AAAAAAAABrg/ovZNCx9QrWY/s320/Thatcher_Pinochet.jpgPeople think they know the story of General Pinochet. 95% don't. In many respects, all you have to do is look at the political and economic stability he left Chile and compare it to the leftist dictators' legacy in Latin America. It speaks for itself. My long time readers know my views; no reason to go over them again. There is a lesser known story that all should know, and fleshed out the debt Britain owes the General. The following is from a man I wish we could have as our Secretary of the Treasury or Federal reserve; the great man José Piñera.General Pinochet and the F…

Americas Boeing won a $7.6 million contract modification for integration of the legacy strap pack assembly for remanufactured AH-64E aircraft. The AH-64 Apache is a twin-engine, four bladed, multi-mission attack helicopter designed as a highly stable aerial weapons-delivery platform. The AH-64E features improved digital connectivity, the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System, more powerful T700-GE-701D engines with upgraded face gear transmission to accommodate more power, capability to control UAVs, full IFR capability, and improved landing gear. Work will take place in Mesa, Arizona. Estimated completion date is January 31, 2024. An exoskeleton, worn by US Air…

I know that seems like a rather high bar to meet, but after a quarter century, TQL may have met its match. Details, if you can believe them, are over at USNIBlog. Come by and behold the madness. 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=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Ehtqiu1HydE:TRdoLYDABgk:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won a $75.5 million contract for the Global Hawk RQ-4 UAV. The contractor will provide multi-country aircrew and maintenance training consisting of program management support, courseware modification and development, pilot training, sensor operator training, and airframe and ground maintenance training to support the US government and Air Force Security Assistance Training international partners’ mission objectives. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds will be obligated at the time of task order award. The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system with an integrated sensor suite that provides intelligence,…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $194.7 million contract modification, which adds scope to provide non-recurring engineering, integration and testing of the aircraft interface module in support of ASQ-239 electronic warfare/countermeasures system upgrades planned for F-35 Lot 17 aircraft deliveries for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and non-Department of Defense participants. The AN/ASQ-239 provides offensive and defensive options to enable the F-35 to identify, monitor, analyze, and respond to threats like radar-guided anti-aircraft missile batteries and air-search radars. Work will take place in New Hampshire and Texas. Expected completion will be in April 2024. Babc…

Many of our NATO allies have their own concerns in the Pacific independent of the USA's, with significant territorial possessions and economic interests from the African Indian Ocean coast to the Eastern Pacific. When they do good and responsible activities there, we get a nice secondary security benefit. France always seems to want to have an outsized presence on the international scene, and they are making a new play for more influence in the Indo-Pacific theater. We should welcome that. Via The Diplomat: Largely by virtue of its considerable strategic real estate in the mega-region, in the Pacific as well as the Indian Ocean, Paris is increasingly becoming the par…

Americas BAE Systems won a $15.7 million contract modificationfor spare parts necessary for initial training and fielding for Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles. The Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) is a family of next generation, highly survivable vehicles essential to the future of the US Army. The AMPV is to replace the Vietnam War-era and legacy M113 Family of Vehicles. The program is a part of the future of the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). The AMPV will be integrated with the ABCT and is required to operate alongside the M1 Abrams tank and the M2 Bradley infantry vehicle. Work will take place in Pennsylvania. Estimated completion date is January 1, 2023. The …

No, it is not.Today, no nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis. We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does…climate change is making the world more unsafe, and we need to act. - Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at the Leaders Summit on Climate, April 22, 2021 As a species, humans have thrived under drastically higher and lower sea levels; colder and warmer climates. The slow changes we are seeing now are not existential. Not even close. It is a challenge - maybe in some areas a mounting crisis, but not existential. It is something that, even if a mounti…

Americas Textron Systems won a $15.8 million contract for a one-time mid-life upgrade engineering change proposal for the advanced boresight equipment (ABE) system to modernize and bring 100 fielded domestic and Foreign Military Sales units up to the current commercial off the shelf configuration. Additionally, this contract procures depot repair and upgrade support for the ABE currently installed on AH-1Z, AH-1W and MH-60R combat aircraft, ashore and afloat. Depot repair and upgrade support includes tear down and evaluation of ABE, as well as restoration, modification, and procurement of spare parts in support of ABE component and assembly repairs and upgrades. Work will…

RIM-162: sections (click to view full) The RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) is used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft, and is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. Compared to the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, ESSM is effectively a new missile with a larger, more powerful rocket motor for increased range, a different aerodynamic layout for improved agility, and the latest missile guidance technology. Testing has even shown the ESSM to be effective against fast surface craft, an option that greatly expands the missile’s utility. As a further bonus, the RIM-162 ESSM has the ability to be “quad-packed” in the Mk 41 vertical launc…

USS Helena (CL-50). Nothing "Light" about the Helena. Tough, hard fighter she was - with a lot to fire with. Armament : 5 - Triple 6"/47 main battery 4 - Dual 5"/38 DP secondary 8 - .50 caliber AA 4 - Curtiss SOC-2 Seagulls (Aircraft) on 2 Aft catapults. Yes kiddies - that is 15 6" guns and 8 5" guns. The Japanese (who if nothing else in WWII had no problem honoring a good fighter) said she had "6-inch machine guns." Read all about her here - but let's look at her final battle, the Battle of Kula Gulf. Background On 5 July, Task Group 36.1, commanded by Rear Admiral Walden L. Ainsworth, and consisting of light cruisers USS Helena, USS Honolulu, and USS St. Louis, plu…

Americas Huntington-Ingalls Industries won a $115 million contract modification for engineering and technical support for USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79). The USS John F. Kennedy is the second Gerald R. Ford Class aircraft carrier. The ship was launched on October 29, 2019. Work will take place in Newport News, Virginia. Expected completion will be by June 2024. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. According to Defense News, the Missile Defense Agency aims to get the first one Next Generation Interceptor by 2028. It will replace the current ground-based interceptors that make up the ballistic missile defense system of the United States…

Known to all on and considered to be part of the Front Part is friend to the blog, Midrats, and me personally, is Dr. Claude Berube; reserve Naval Officer, author, professor, and all-around good guy. After a long record of service teaching political science and history at the United States Naval Academy and director of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Claude is moving on to start a new chapter. In a highly enjoyable retrospective of his time in Annapolis, Claude becomes a guest on the podcast he started, Preble Hall, as interviews by Dr. Marcus Faulkner. Enjoy. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=…

Americas Sikorsky won a $17.3 million contract modification, that adds scope to provide production system engineering and program management support in support of CH-53K aircraft low-rate initial production. The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. The CH-53K is a new-build helicopter that will expand the fleet’s ability to move more material, more rapidly throughout the area of responsibility using proven and mature technologies. Work will take place in Stratford, Connecticut and is expected to be finished in June 2022. The US Navy issued Northrop Grumman with a prototype and risk reduction contract for the development …

Yes, we will continue to discuss LCS because we don't seem to have quiet fully realized the many lessons ... hard, expensive lessons ... of the program. Thanks to the GAO, we have some great info on the maintenance nightmare ... and a kind admission from the CNO that, yes, the anti-transformationalist were correct. Details over at USNIBlog. 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=43cRkrT8qZM:A7awAYnzeR0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=43cRkrT8qZM:A7awAYnzeR0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV…

Americas According to a statement, the US Army awarded FLIR Systems a $15.4 million contract to procure Black Hornet 3 palm-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The army has placed several orders for the Black Hornet 3 totalling more than $85 million, FLIR Systems said. These include the first order, a $2.6 million contract awarded in 2018. US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee on May 7 that his service now has more F-35As compared to the A-10, F-15C/D and F-15E fleet. With 283 jets delivered, the fleet of stealth fighters is second only to the F-16. Middle East & Africa Israel’s army said that it ha…