Raw Intel

You were born to immigrant parents. At home you spoke a different language than outside the home. A language that in your adulthood would – by simply speaking it – be a source of hate. You were part of a small religious minority. You were smart though, and resourceful. You excelled in academics and were an accomplished engineer. You did dearly love your country and while in college decided to help serve it by joining what we would call the Army National Guard. By the end of three decades, people – peers, subordinates, historians and Field Marshalls alike - would say things like this about you; "a great bullock of a man... though his manners were pleasant and his behavio…

Americas Sikorsky won a $30.7 million contract modification by the US Navy, which increases the scope to procure 681 spare parts for the CH-53K low-rate initial production configuration aircraft. The CH-53K King Stallion is a large cargo helicopter designed to replace the Marine Corps fleet of CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters to help move Marines and their equipment from ships offshore onto attack beaches. The CH-53K is a general redesign of the CH-53E. Work will take place in Connecticut, France, Washington, Canada, Florida, West Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Georgia. Estimated completion date will be in December 2026. The Navy awarded General Atomi…

Americas Working together with the US Marine Corps, the 163rd Attack Wing has proven that the MQ-9 can be refueled on the ground while connected to an MV-22. The ground-breaking test was carried out in partnership with VMM-764 during Integrated Training Exercise 4-22 at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twenty-nine Palms last month. The refueling exercise was to help the Marines acquire tactics, techniques, and procedures to operate the MQ-9 in the future. The USMC has placed orders for the MQ-9. The US Navy contracted Schuyler Line Navigation with a $10.5 million deal with reimbursable elements to support Military Sealift Command’s Sealift Program for operation and…

Now and then the algorithm on YouTube rolls things in to my view it knows I cannot ... NOT ... watch. So, of course I watched an iconic scene and then remembered the man passed only 4.5 yrs ago and I have a FbF on him. Worthy an encore, no? Yes, he was THAT Brit officer holding the tanks in A Bridge Too Far. Even if the 25-year-old Captain in the Grenadier Guards had wanted to say a prayer, his voice would have been drowned out by the throbbing of the five Chrysler engines that powered his 40-ton Sherman tank. The young officer would have had good reason to call on the Almighty, because his troop of Shermans was about to cross the most dangerous bridge in Europe. There …

Americas Systems Planning and Analysis won a $90.8 million deal for Trident II Strategic Weapons System technical support services supporting the Common Missile Compartment program, D5 Life Extension 2 program, Strategic Systems Program (SSP) Facilities Management, Activation and Assessments, and Missile Systems program. This contract also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin Corp won a $3 billion modification to provide continued logistics support to include ground maintenance activities, action request solution, depot activities, automatic logistics information system operations and maintenance, reliability and maintainability, supply chain management, pilot training, maintainer training, and training system sustainment in support of delivered F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Air Systems for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-Department of Defense (DOD) program partners . The contract being modified was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Mary…

As Ukraine continues to use low-cost homemade drones to ignite Russian oil refineries, Moscow unleashed one of its most destructive missile and drone barrages on Kyiv in months, striking civilian neighborhoods in the heart of the capital. In the overnight assault of August 28, Russia fired hundreds of weapons — including ballistic and cruise missiles […] The post Ukraine’s cheap drones hit refineries, Russia bombs Kyiv first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Poland’s defense industry has taken a bold step into the future of land warfare with the development of GNOM, an innovative wheeled loitering munition designed to deliver precision strikes against armored targets. Developed by MACRO-SYSTEM and tested during the recent “Iron Gate 25” exercise with the 18th Mechanized Division, GNOM is emerging as one of […] The post Poland trials GNOM drone built to break armored assaults first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has been awarded a $68.3 million contract under the Department of War’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program to design and construct a next-generation facility for testing hypersonic materials, the company announced Thursday. The new facility—internally known as Project Helios—will feature a mid-tier arc jet system coupled with a high-powered […] The post Kratos wins $68M deal for hypersonic test site first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Ukrainian defense robotics company Air3F has launched full-scale production of its VARKHAN unmanned ground platform, designed for logistics, evacuation, and frontline support under extreme battlefield conditions. Ihor Berehovenko, Co‑founder and CPO of Air3F, announced that the company’s latest robotic ground system, known as VARKHAN, has entered serial production following a demanding period of development and […]View the full article

Egypt has reportedly signed a contract worth about $400 million to acquire 10 Chinese-made WJ-700 unmanned combat aerial vehicles. According to information circulating in Chinese and Arabic defense reporting, the agreement was signed in June 2025. If the deal is fully implemented, Egypt would become the second operator of the WJ-700 following Algeria, marking another […]View the full article

Textron Systems said on January 20, 2026, that it has been awarded a $163.4 million contract to deliver 65 COMMANDO Select Mobile Strike Force Vehicles to support Ukraine under the U.S. Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, using the Foreign Military Sales mechanism, according to a company announcement. The three-year, firm fixed-price contract was awarded through the […]View the full article

Florida-based Petrel Technologies announced new performance results for its AERO Sky hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, confirming the unmanned system achieved six hours of flight endurance and extended reconnaissance reach during recent testing, the company said in a statement released in February 2026. According to the company, the hybrid-electric aircraft demonstrated sustained airborne […]View the full article

The Royal Netherlands Navy has acquired 12 V-BAT unmanned aerial systems following operational testing, including trials conducted during the Cold Response exercise off Norway. According to the Dutch Navy, the V-BAT drones are equipped with radar and camera systems designed to conduct reconnaissance and gather intelligence over extended periods. The platform can operate for several […]View the full article

U.S. Central Command announced Sunday that American forces would begin enforcing a full naval blockade of all Iranian ports effective April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, acting under a presidential proclamation issued by President Donald Trump. The operation is narrowly focused on Iranian ports and coastal areas, while allowing international shipping to continue transiting the […]View the full article

General Dynamics Mission Systems has won a contract worth up to $69.7 million to produce the KIV-78A cryptographic device, a piece of hardware that sits at the heart of how allied military aircraft identify each other in contested airspace, with the contract covering Foreign Military Sales to 18 countries across NATO, the Indo-Pacific, and the […]View the full article

Pakistan’s Chinese-made J-10CE fighter jets went undefeated against Qatar’s Eurofighter Typhoons in nine simulated air combat engagements during a joint exercise in 2024, with China’s state broadcaster CCTV confirming the result last week without identifying the specific drill or the countries involved, according to an analysis by Harrison Kass published by The National Interest. Pakistani […]View the full article

DARPA, the Pentagon’s advanced research agency responsible for some of the most consequential technological breakthroughs in American military history, has issued a request for information targeting metals producers, ceramics manufacturers, and composites makers with an unusual proposition: share your production data, and we will give you AI tools that make your factory perform better than […]View the full article

The U.S. Marine Corps’ Program Manager Light Armored Vehicles held what the service calls a Marine Touchpoint event last month for the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle, letting Light Armored Reconnaissance Marines get hands-on time with the new vehicle, including a test drive, months before the program reaches its next major design review. The Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle, […]View the full article

No more complaining about a long Sea & Anchor detail. What a great story about a frigate ... and three hurricanes. Read the full thing, but here is how it starts; THE 24-gun frigate H.M.S. Experiment was built in 1740 by Henry Bird of Rotherhithe. She sailed on her maiden voyage on 21 July 1740 from Spithead to join Vice-Admiral Vernon’s squadron in the West Indies. Her captain was James Rentone, who had piloted Vernon’s squadron into Portobello Harbour and had been given the honour of bearing the news of Vernon’s victory to the king. George II had rewarded him with a present of 200 guineas and the promise of a 6o-gun ship. Under his command H.M.S. Experiment had n…