Raw Intel

Americas SpaceX launched six US missile-detection satellites to low-Earth orbit on Wednesday. They include two Missile Defense Agency Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites and the final four Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 0 Tracking Layer satellites of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Of the 27 Tranche 0 satellites in orbit, 19 perform data […]View the full article

Americas The Air Force, along with with partners Lockheed Martin and Boeing, completed work on the last of 247 planes in the F-22 Structural Repair Program, officials at Hill Air Force Base in Utah announced on Wednesday. Structural modifications, made by the 574th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron of the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, to the F-22 Raptor added flying serviceability of the fighter plane by an estimated 8,000 hours, according to the Air Force. Lockheed Martin won a $11.4 million deal, which provides engineering and logistics services in support of the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft program to monitor and manage fatigue and obsolescence issues and op…

SSBN-X concept (click to view full) The US Navy needs new SSBN nuclear missile submarines. Their existing Ohio Class boats will begin to retire at a rate of 1 hull per year, beginning in 2027, as they reach the end of their 42-year operational lifetimes. Hence SSBN-X, also known as the Ohio Replacement Program for now. The first step toward recapitalization involved a new Common Missile Compartment and Advanced Launcher for current and future nuclear missiles. The next step involves finalizing a design that can serve effectively to 2080, without destroying the US Navy’s shipbuilding budget in the process. Good luck with that one, but they have to to try. The maintenanc…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $324.1 million contract modification, which exercises options to support calendar year 2022 modification and retrofit activities for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program to include the procurement of material modification kits as well as program management, non-recurring engineering, aircraft induction, contractor field, depot site and laser shock peening site support. The modification adds scope for the procurement of material kits as well as special tooling and test equipment necessary to support F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft retrofit and modification efforts for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-US Department of Defense partici…

Americas Leidos won a $12.5 million contract modification for the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory Autonomous Littoral Connector (ALC) project. The ALC project integrates autonomy onto connectors (vessels) to deliver equipment, fuel or supplies from ship-to-shore and throughout the littoral environment; improves autonomous beaching, well deck ops, payload integration; conducts an Amphibious Assault Direction System spiral; and adds autonomous navigation to multiple vessels. This modification provides for the execution of Option 7, Contract Line Item Number 0015, for an additional vessel (AV) and design, build and test of AV #1. Work will take place in Virginia and is e…

Americas Longbow Ltd. won a $32.2 million contract modification for generic spare parts kits for AH-64E Apache helicopters. The AH-64 Apache is a multirole combat helicopter with integrated avionics and weapons, as well as advanced digital communications to enable real-time, secure transfer of battlefield information to air and ground forces. The E-model Apache Guardian features enhanced performance, joint digital operability, improved survivability and cognitive decision aiding, and reduced operating and support costs, Boeing officials say. Work will take place in Orlando, Florida. Estimated completion date is April 30, 2024. The US Air Force’s Air Combat Command has ap…

Americas Rockwell Collins won a $15.6 million modification, which adds additional in-scope work to provide a virtual reality trade study, aircraft common equipment replacement/virtualization, aircraft flight management computer functional equivalent unit card development, and Beyond Line Of Sight (BLOS) chat software enhancements in support of the E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training System devices, as well as provides associated technical data, computer software, and computer software documentation for BLOS chat software enhancement efforts. Additionally this modification exercises an option to procure coupled mode capability in support of E-2D Aircrew Procedures Trainer Dev…

Americas After being grounded for over four years, F-15E Strike Eagle 91-0323 has made a triumphant return to operational status. The aircraft, stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, was restored to fighting form thanks to the dedication and tireless work of the 366th Fighter Wing maintenance team. This incredible feat of engineering and teamwork began over 1,500 days ago when the aircraft suffered damage to its landing gear during an incident. Master Sgt. Donald Root, the lead Production Superintendent at the 391st Fighter Generation Squadron, oversaw the initial recovery effort. He recounted the team’s swift action: “We coordinated with the fire squadron to…

Americas Shipyards could suffer if the US Navy does not order additional Arleigh Burke Class destroyers, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks was told this week. Hicks visited Bath Iron Works in Maine, a General Dynamics subsidiary founded in 1884 whose primary customer is the US Navy, and the Naval Sea Systems Command’s Portsmouth, Naval Shipyard, to discuss a decrease in orders for Navy destroyers, the Pentagon said. According to the Eglin Air Force Base, the US Air Force successfully detonated a hypersonic missile warhead for the first time this week. The Drive reported that the prototype warhead, designed for the in-development Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, …

Breakthrough… (click to view full) The US Navy flies the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighters, and has begun operating the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare & strike aircraft. Many of these buys have been managed out of common multi-year procurement (MYP) contracts, which aim to reduce overall costs by offering longer-term production commitments, so contractors can […]View the full article

Super Tucano Embraer’s EMB-314 Super Tucano trainer and light attack turboprop continues to rack up global orders, solidifying its position as the globe’s pre-eminent manned counter-insurgency aircraft. The latest order set of about $180 million expands the plane’s footprint into 3 African states: Angola, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. They join Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Indonesia as customers for this aircraft. The Super Tucano is known as the A-29 or ALX in Brazil, but abroad, it’s the EMB 314 successor to Embraer’s widely-used EMB 312 Tucano trainer. A-29 is better for marketing, though, and Embraer is trying to shift the designatio…

Super Tucano Embraer’s EMB-314 Super Tucano trainer and light attack turboprop continues to rack up global orders, solidifying its position as the globe’s pre-eminent manned counter-insurgency aircraft. The latest order set of about $180 million expands the plane’s footprint into 3 African states: Angola, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. They join Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican […]View the full article

Air Force One (click to view full) The USA’s fleet of 2 “VC-25” 747-200 derivatives is unique in several respects. It’s more popularly known as the latest incarnation of the “Air Force One” fleet that transports the President of the United States around the world, though the planes themselves only acquire the “Air Force One” call sign when the President is on board. The VC-25 can also serve as a secondary command post, thanks to a suite of advanced communications and electronics gear that’s both highly encrypted, and protected from the Electro-Magnetic Pulse effects of nuclear detonations. The 89th Airlift Wing operates them from Andrews AFB, MD. During the Cold War, i…

Top Gun, redux (click to view full) In the 1980s movie Top Gun, the revolutionary “MiG-28s” operated by the enemy air force were actually painted F-5E Tiger IIs, derived from a family of fighters whose design concept dates back to the mid 1950s. The F-5 family of aircraft were produced in large numbers, as they were an extremely popular export item. Many are still operated by countries around the world, and the US Air Force used them for many years as “aggressor” aircraft in Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT). They remain excellent for simulating similarly small, low profile adversaries like the MiG-21s and MiG-19s that gave American pilots such trouble over Vietnam.…

Bofors Archer system (click to view full) BAE Systems Bofors’ Archer is a light, air-portable, and highly automated 155/52 light mobile artillery system. Archer began as a Swedish project, administered by their FMV procurement agency. Funding was provided for system development and some initial production, but the project’s future had been shadowed by anemic Swedish defense budgets. In May 2007, however, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Norway’s FLO procurement agency, which evolved into a joint production venture. Just as initial production moved the Archer system from concept to imminent reality, however, Norway left the program. Why? The Archer Syste…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won an $9 million deal for the manufacture of initiating propellant used on the MK48 heavyweight torpedo. This contract includes a three-year ordering period with no options. All work will be performed in Elkton, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by November 2025. Weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,203,980 will be issued for delivery order N00104-22-F-ZN01 that will be awarded concurrently with the contract and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In July 2017, Northrop was awarded a $50.1 million contract to manufacture 45 torpedo transducer array and nose shell assemblies for the heavyw…

Americas Alabama Shipyard won a $22 million deal for a 123-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of the Military Sealift Command’s dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE 2). This contract includes a base period and options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $22,163,078. Work will […]View the full article

Americas The US Air Force has awarded Raytheon a $39 million contract to develop a command and control software prototype for an air base air defense system. Raytheon will develop the Battle Management Command and Control (BC3) software tested on a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System in 2022. The prototype employs artificial intelligence and machine learning […]View the full article

Americas The US Navy’s Tactical Combat Training System Increment II (TCTS II) pod made its first flight on December 11, 2020. A flight with the pod on two F/A-18Es took place on December 15. The TCTS II system, developed by Collins, is the first certified encrypted, multi-level security training pod that communicates with both airborne and ground equipment. The Boeing F-15EX fighter jet completed its first flight Tuesday, paving the way for the early delivery of the first two of the new fighter jet to the Air Force later this quarter, Boeing announced. According to the company, the jet took off from St. Louis Lambert International Airport and completed a 90-minute test f…

Americas Raytheon won a $21.6 million modification, which adds hours to finalize the design, integration, and to conduct test and evaluation in support of Phase Two for the Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) rapid deployment capability. Additionally, this effort provides for joint flight test to be performed which will provide additional data for MST integration of […]View the full article