Raw Intel

...and there she goes. Laid down when Eisenhower was CINC. Commissioned when Kennedy was CINC. Decommissioned 49 years later when Obama was CINC. The Vietnam War, most of the Cold War and almost two decades after it ended, was in movies such a Seven Days in May and The Final Countdown, from A-1s to F/A-18s, all the way through to the conflicts in Africa, Southwest and Central Asia of this century. Our last conventional carrier to be decommissioned, and now she's off to the breakers; The USS Kitty Hawk, the nation's last oil-fired aircraft carrier, departed Bremerton on Saturday for a 16,000-mile journey around South America for its ultimate fate: scrapping at a Texas…

Americas The US Navy deployed the MQ-8C Fire Scout next generation ship-based autonomous helicopter system operationally on December 14, 2021. Deployed with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22, Detachment 5 (HSC-22 DET 5) aboard USS Milwaukee (LCS-5), Fire Scout provides greater organic intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISR&T) capabilities for the US Navy, manufacturer of the UAV said in a statement. The US Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Lockheed Martin Corporation’s $4.4 billion proposed vertical acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc, the last independent US supplier of missile propulsion systems. The FTC will file a compla…

Some ships are just cursed, snakebit, or ... well ... just a LCS. Light a candle for the crew of USS Little Rock (LCS-9). Our friend Megan Eckstein doesn't mean to pick on the handicapped, but she's a professional and has a job to do; Littoral combat ship Little Rock lost power while operating at sea and had to return to port on Jan. 22, according to a Navy spokesman. The four-year-old LCS was conducting sea trials following a 19-month maintenance period in the dry dock at BAE Systems Shipyard in Jacksonville, Fla. The ship departed Naval Station Mayport on Jan. 21 for the contractor’s trials, LCS Squadron 2 spokesman Lt. Anthony Junco told Defense News. During the oper…

Words work, until they don't. The world finds itself where it is today because soft words were not backed up with very hard iron. The crisis in Ukraine did not start in the last year ... it was only a matter of time. Come take a trip down memory lane with me 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=JwUcCFCB2jA:VtvQ85_WSAQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JwUcCFCB2jA:VtvQ85_WSAQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=JwUcCFCB2jA:VtvQ85_WSAQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $10.5 million contract modification, which adds scope to procure 55 Link 16 A-kits, to include 26 each for AH-1Z and UH-1Y production aircraft; two spares for AH-1Z aircraft; and one spare for UH-1Y aircraft, as well as one A-kit test stand for the Navy. The Naval Air Systems Command ist the contracting activity. The United States Marine Corps replaced the two-bladed AH-1W Super Cobra with the AH-1Z Viper, which features a new, four-bladed composite rotor system, performance-matched transmission, four-bladed tail rotor, upgraded landing gear and a fully integrated glass cockpit. The AH-1Z is equipped with an integrated advanced fire control…

Americas General Dynamics won a $47.7 million deal for a dry-docking selected restricted availability in support of the USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) to accomplish maintenance, repair, and modernization of the ship prior to the its next deployment. The USS Curtis Wilbur is the 4th Arleigh Burke Class missile destroyer. The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers is the USN’s first class of destroyers built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion will be by September 2023. Raytheon Missiles and Defense won a $92 million contract modification for StormBreaker (SDBII, GBU…

Well, if you are German, all it takes is this; The head of the German navy resigned late Saturday after coming under fire at home and abroad for comments he made on Ukraine and Russia. Speaking at an event in India on Friday, vice admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach had said Ukraine would not regain the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Schoenbach also said it was important to have Russia on the same side against China, and suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved “respect."At some point in my career spending 9 of my 21 years on GOFO staffs, I was told that it is best to make sure that the principal not be allowed too much "free swim" time if the…

Americas Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group ships are heading to the Mediterranean Sea for exercise Neptune Strike ’22, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says the deployment is not a response to increased tensions with Russia. He stressed that planning for Neptune Strike ’22 began in 2020. “The exercise itself is not designed against the kinds of scenarios that might happen with respect to Ukraine. It really is a NATO maritime exercise to test … really a wide range of maritime capabilities that we want to make sure we continue to improve.” The US Army Contracting Command Issued a Sources Sought notification for an organic small unit-level Lethal Miniatur…

The words of former SECDEF Gates was on my mind all weekend; Moscow has deployed some 100,000 troops to the borders of Ukraine. What now? Putin finds himself in a situation where Russian success is defined as either a change of government in Kyiv (with the successor aligned with Moscow) or conquest of the country. The 18th-century French diplomat Talleyrand is meant to have said: “You can do anything you like with bayonets except sit on them.” Putin must use those troops soon or face the humiliation of withdrawing them without achieving anything except pushing Ukraine closer to the west. In either case, he has placed himself in a difficult position at home and abroad. Th…

We live in an era where in the blink of an eye we've gone from flip-phones to smart phones with the capabilities of both supercomputers a generation ago and entire movie studios in your back pocket. In that same time frame, what happened to the promised integration and operational utilization of aircraft carrier based drones - or Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or whatever we are calling them this week? This Sunday we are going to dive deep in to the topic and problem with our guests Trevor Phillips-Levine, Noah Spataro, and Andrew Tenbusch. We will use as the starting point for our conversation their recent article in War on the Rocks, "Winged Luddites: Aviators are the Bigge…

Americas Rolls Royce won a $96.3 million vehicle requirements contract modification. The modification incorporates an additional five-month option period to maintain continuity of services for the C-130 engine repairs. The contract modification incorporates an additional five-month option period to maintain continuity of services for the C-130 engine repairs. The C-130 operates throughout the US Air Force, serving with Air Mobility Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command, US Air Forces in Europe, Pacific Air Forces, Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve Command, fulfilling a wide range of operational missions in both peace and war situati…

The war is only 10 months old and two months after the defeat at the Battle of Savo Island. The night action of 10-11 OCT, sometimes know as the Second Battle of Savo Island - but usually as The Battle of Cape Esperance, is an excellent example of the critical importance of training, flexibility, initiative, and aggression - combined with a measure of luck. Luck is always essential, as even the most simple plans become complicated once the battle begins. First background. DIVISION 6 of the Imperial Japanese Navy was pretty pleased with itself following its engagement with the Americans off Savo the night of August 8-9, and perhaps with reason. The Japanese felt that they …

USAF Gets Upgraded 105mm For The AC-130 Gunship | Arrow-3 Successfully Flight Tested | Saab To Deliver New Camouflage System To French DGA Americas Rockwell Collins won a $32.4 million deal for the manufacture of ballistic signal transmission devices and canopy severance assemblies in support of the egress system of the V22 aircraft. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft. The aircraft operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. Work will take place in Iowa. Fiscal 2022 procurement of aircraft (Navy) funds; FMS …

The slow building crisis in Ukraine is reaching a point of critical mass. I think a decision point in coming in mid-Feb. I'm pondering in more detail over at USNIBlog. Come by and give it a read. 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=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas General Dynamics Electric Boat won an $11.5 million contract modification to support the Virginia Class Common Weapon Launcher (CWL) technology insertion advanced processor build efforts for all variants. The Virginia Class submarine is the Navy’s latest fast-attack submarine and is capable of targeting, controlling, and launching MK 48 torpedoes and Tomahawk land-attack missiles (TLAMs). Work will take place in Connecticut. Estimated completion will be by September 20, 2022. The US Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $22.2 million deal for additional labor hours for smart start maintenance, repair, and modernization efforts in support of the USS Hartf…

Americas The Pentagon’s blue-sky research agency recently announced that it selected 10 organizations to develop enhanced, less bulky night vision goggles to keep the crimp out of servicemembers’ necks. And so they can see better at night. The program, dubbed Enhanced Night Vision in Eyeglass Form (ENVision), will be divided to solve those problems in two separate technical areas. The five organizations selected in the first technical area will try to reduce the size and volume of night vision goggles. The Netherlands will base its soon-to-be received MQ-9A Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles in the Caribbean region. The Royal Netherlands Air F…

With the growing tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border (and Belorussian while we are at it) when Midrats regular Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg writes something, you need to pay attention. He recently co-authored an article with Michael Kofman at the Washington Post titled, "Here’s what we know about Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine." What is the nature of Russia’s military buildup? And how long can Russia keep its forces in these forward positions? Our research on Russia’s military capabilities offers some clues. This is a solid snapshot and quick read of what the Ukrainians are facing. Russian forces near Ukraine total at most 60 battalion tactical groups (BTGs), alon…

Americas General Electric won a $12 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The UH-60 Blackhawk is a multi-mission medium lift helicopter. The primary mission of the Blackhawk helicopter is as a troop carrier and logistical support aircraft. The helicopter can also be configured to carry out medical evacuation, command-and-control, search-and-rescue, armed escort, electronic warfare and executive transport missions. Estimated completion date is January 14, 2027. The Air Force awarded L-3 Communications Integrated Systems a $24 million deal for C-130H program depot maintenance. The deal provides for the services required to complete C-…

At last week’s SNA, an initial concept for DDG(X) was put up on a slide for all to see; Don’t get too excited though; ...the hull form shown in the concept image is not representative of the ship and that the service has not settled on a specific design yet. ...The program office isn’t committed to a specific hull design but presented a swept, angular, bulbous bow design reminiscent of an Arleigh Burke rather than the tumblehome, wave-piercing design of the Zumwalts. “We haven’t actually locked down the hull form, yet. That’s a concept,” Connelly said, referring to the concept drawing the office presented. “It is one of the many options still in play. … We as the de…

Americas The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will soon start testing unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) on par with human-piloted vehicles being built under the Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program. The DARPA RACER program will develop and demonstrate autonomy technologies that enable unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to maneuver in unstructured off-road terrain at the limit of the vehicle’s mechanical systems and at, or beyond, human-driven speeds and efficiencies. The US Space Development Agency is planning to deploy 144 transport layer satellites and 28 tracking satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) by 2024 to detect mane…