Raw Intel

A known design flaw in the U.S. Air Force’s newest and most expensive aerial refueling tanker has now contributed to four separate midair accidents since 2022, including two incidents where the aircraft’s refueling boom, a 15-meter (50-foot) telescoping arm worth millions of dollars, was torn completely off the plane and fell into the ocean, Task […]View the full article

U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal has issued a request for information seeking contractors capable of providing total system sustainment for the HAWK missile system, according to a Sources Sought notice. The Army said it is not committed to issuing a solicitation or awarding a contract as a result of the announcement. Responses are […]View the full article

A New Zealand-built drone boat became a moving radio-sensing platform during a British military trial at RMB Chivenor, where SYOS Aerospace supported the Trident Sprint series with its SM300 uncrewed surface vessel and helped integrate CRFS passive RF sensors into a wider battlefield network. The trial, led by the UK Ministry of Defence and MarWorks, […]View the full article

A second prototype of France’s next military helicopter just left the ground for the first time, and it did so wearing an all-black paint job that makes the aircraft look considerably more menacing than the calm, ambulance-style rescue helicopters most people associate with the civilian version. Airbus Helicopters announced that Prototype 2 of the military […]View the full article

Rheinmetall has unveiled a warship built to outgun vessels twice its size, betting that a mid-sized frigate packed with the same missile defense technology found on America’s largest destroyers can win over navies looking to modernize without breaking their budgets. Rheinmetall, the German defense manufacturer, revealed the GMF 140, a next-generation guided missile frigate measuring […]View the full article

NATO has handed three American and European tech companies the chance to reshape how the alliance’s 32 member nations talk to each other during a real air war, awarding contracts to Anduril, Palantir, and French firm Athea SAS on July 7 as part of a competition to build the software backbone for the alliance’s next-generation […]View the full article

One of the least helpful aspects of the modern-day battleship debate is the fact it has been so highly politicized. Whenever an announcement of a milestone comes up, the first thing that has to be done in the search for useful information is to filter out the rabid partisans on the left and right who will support or oppose anything strictly through a partisan lens. Both sides have two subspecies: mindless partisans to just call names and flick spittle about, and the professional partisans who will make an argument based on fact or well-founded opinion…filtered, but useful in the broader discussion. One of the more valuable reference documents on most issues involving wa…

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced an additional $24 billion in funding for Türkiye’s Steel Dome air and missile defense project during the opening session of the NATO Summit in Ankara, according to Turkish defense outlet Ulusavunma. “We have taken measures to raise the ratio of our defense spending to 3.5 percent by 2030,” Erdoğan […]View the full article

U.S. Marines on a remote Pacific island just proved they can shoot down cruise missiles using a weapon system built around the same technology that has protected Israeli cities from rocket attacks for over a decade. Marines from III Marine Expeditionary Force successfully fired the Medium-Range Intercept Capability, or MRIC, system on June 30 during […]View the full article

AEVEX Corp. has won $20.5 million in new U.S. government contracts to build and develop one-way attack drones, the company announced September 9. AEVEX did not name the government agency behind the awards or specify which of its drone models are covered. The work includes delivering the aircraft themselves along with engineering, development and integration […]View the full article

U.S. Central Command struck dozens of targets across Iran on Sunday using one-way attack sea drones for the first time in the conflict, a new addition to a strike package that already included fighter aircraft, naval vessels, and one-way attack aerial drones, marking the fourth round of American strikes against Iran since Tehran resumed attacks […]View the full article

Leonardo DRS said its SGT STOUT M-SHORAD air defense system successfully defeated small drone threats during a government test, adding a capability the system was not originally built to handle. The company said the system defeated Group 1-2 unmanned aircraft, the military’s classification for small, low-altitude drones, during a U.S. government test event. SGT STOUT […]View the full article

One of the great frustrations about the military operations of the last few years has been the lack of storytelling. Both the usual suspects in the media and the insular turn in the military’s PAO apparatus of the last decade and a half are to blame. That is why about all you see are second-tier stories about whether the Army or Navy can put on better impromptu beach airshows or not, or worse—whatever the Pentagon Press Corps™ in exile feels like writing about that only interests their knitting circle socio-political fetishes within a Lime Bike ride of their 5th-floor apartment in Alexandria. You have to look elsewhere, unless you’re willing to be content with lazy and u…

Honeywell Aerospace tested an integrated counter-drone system against simulated aerial threats during EXTiC 26-2, a technology experimentation event run by U.S. Central Command. Honeywell served as lead systems integrator for the demonstration, pairing sensors and effectors with the company’s AI-driven counter-UAS software to detect, track and mitigate simulated drones while defending a simulated airfield. “As […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has awarded Elroy Air a $46 million contract to develop an autonomous, hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft for modular cargo delivery, according to a Department of War contract announcement. The Phase III Small Business Innovation Research award covers development of a Group IV unmanned aircraft system, a Pentagon classification for larger drones weighing more […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has handed a Georgia drone maker a contract worth up to $90 million to build small, expendable aircraft designed to deny enemies the ability to fly. Tandem Defense, based in Richmond Hill, Georgia, won a new contract, meaning the U.S. Air Force can order any quantity of equipment up to the […]View the full article

Lockheed Martin’s second quarter looked almost nothing like the same three months a year earlier, when the world’s largest defense contractor posted a jarring $1.6 billion in program losses. The company reported second-quarter 2026 net earnings of $1.8 billion, or $7.94 per share, a swing of more than $1.5 billion compared to the $342 million […]View the full article

Czech paratroopers in Chrudim have received their first U.S.-made Flyer 72 HD light tactical vehicles, beginning the replacement of aging Land Rover Defender Kajman vehicles that have served the unit since 2009 and giving the Czech Army’s airborne force a more mobile platform for raids, command tasks and combat operations across difficult terrain. The vehicles […]View the full article

A missile system old enough to have fought in Vietnam is getting locked in for at least three more years of service, and the Army has confirmed only one company is allowed to keep it running. The U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama published a presolicitation notice on July 1, 2026, announcing […]View the full article

A firearm attachment once reserved almost exclusively for special operations units is quickly becoming standard-issue equipment for ordinary infantry soldiers worldwide, according to a July 3 report from German defense outlet hartpunkt. The report examines the growing military adoption of what the article calls signature reducers, the more technically accurate term for devices commonly known […]View the full article