Raw Intel

Midrats regulars and all sound thinking navalists rejoiced earlier this year when one of our favorites were offered the honor to serve once again - in this case one of our favorite guests and all around great guy, Mark R. Vandroff, Captain, USN Ret. Mark found himself back in the mix with his appointment as Deputy Assistant to the President, Senior Director, Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council. Just in time for the holiday season, Mark will come visit us this Sunday from 5-6pm to talk about his experience so far at the NSC, the NSC in general, and other related topics that may come up in the process. A 1989 graduate of the United States Naval A…

Most people do not realize that one of the largest Pacific nation, if you measure by territorial seas, is France. She has a lot to lose in a world where fleets of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats in fleet movements go from place to place, strip mining already stressed fishing resources. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday France and South Pacific nations would launch a South Pacific coastguard network to counter "predatory" behaviour, which an adviser said was aimed at illegal fishing, as China expands its maritime reach. The United States and allies including France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, are actively expanding their activity in the Pacific…

LGM-30G Minuteman III (click to view full) For 50 years, land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) have been part of the US primary strategic deterrence capability, the nuclear-armed triad that also includes submarine-launched ballistic missiles and long range heavy bombers. Although the main target for the US deterrent – the Soviet Union – imploded in 1991, other threats – such as nuclear-armed rogue states and non-state actors – have emerged. To address these new threats, the US Air Force undertook a major ICBM modernization program. To carry out this program, the USAF awarded a 15-year ICBM Prime Integration Contract (F42610-98-C-0001) in 1997 to a tea…

Allow me a little self indulgence (again) this Friday. USNI triggered me this AM: #OTD in 1918, British Grand Fleet flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth celebrated Armistice Day by signaling to "Splice the mainbrace. Negative 6th B.S." The order meant that all sailors could have a drink except the Americans of the 6th Battle Squadron because U.S Navy ships were dry. pic.twitter.com/CglUoGvD6Y — U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) November 11, 2021It made me grin a bit because my paternal grandfather was a Sailor on the USS ARKANSAS (BB-33) with the 6th Battle Squadron that day. The Germans never made their last thunder run in 1918 as that horrible and useless war ground to a h…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $138.8 contract modification, which adds scope to continue the development of pilot training device software to align the F-35 air system with continued capability development. Additionally, this modification provides for testing and continuous re-certification activities for dual capable F-35 aircraft as Block 4 capabilities are developed, matured and fielded in support of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft. Just recently it was reported, that by the end of …

Americas General Dynamics won a $93.5 million deal for M1A2 Abrams engineering, manufacturing, design and production. The M1A2 is an improvement of the Abrams M1A1 main battle tank. It includes a commander’s independent thermal viewer, weapon station, position navigation equipment, and a full set of controls and displays linked by digital data bus. Work will take place in Ohio. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2025. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works won a $12.9 million modification for the accomplishment of planning yard efforts such as engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for DDG-1000 class destroyers post-delivery an…

In a sharp departure from the ideas that brought them to the fleet, the Navy, "...appears poised to sunset the MK VI and Cyclone-class patrol craft programs in rapid succession, with no replacements on the horizon." Why are these small craft in our Navy today, what missions are they doing, and what risk are we accepting if we let this capability go? What follow on craft could even do the job better? To discuss these and related issues this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern will be LCDR Jordan Bradford, USN. The starting point for our conversation will be his article from the May 2021 Proceedings, "The MK-VI id Dead - Long Live the MK VII." Lieutenant Commander Bradford is…

Americas Vertex Aerospace won an $8.7 million contract modification, which adds scope to provide intermediate-level maintenance and repair services and logistics support for the T-45 aircraft and T-45 support equipment in support of the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department for Chief of Naval Air Training aircraft, tenant activities, and transient aircraft. Work will take place in Texas, Florida and Mississippi. Expected completion is in September 2022. The Boeing-made KC-46A Pegasus multirole tanker has been given the green light to refuel all versions of F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, approved a third Interim Ca…

One aspect of the Afghanistan conflict that I think will stick in time's craw the hardest is what we allowed Pakistan to do. I was lucky enough to be at the table at C5F when this all kicked off - one of the many quiet O4s in the back of the room watching and listening as the big guys got us ready for what was to come. From almost day-1, a regular refrain - besides looking for sidearms and chem gear for all the terrorists with mustard gas mortar shells that intel told us could show up any day from Iraq ... ahem ... - was how we could not let Pakistan be for Afghanistan what Cambodia and Laos was for the North Vietnamese. "No safe havens!" we told ourselves literally…

Time to pull out the Salamander wargame matrix. When I talk “wargame” I am not talking about something that is done with a board with a bunch of little pieces being moved around, that is a Tactical wargame. No, what I am talking about is a grey-matter wargame at the Operational and Strategic level. For those who don’t follow me on twitter, I outlined how this works a couple of weeks ago, For those not in "the guild" - "Blue" here are the good guys, the "Red" here are the bad guys. I'm only going to do 1 combination and 1 round. I'll define that for you; "1 combo" is how you run Blue vs. Red in the matrix you see here. You simplify Blue & Red in to two Courses of Act…

A top-secret US government body called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) published a formal program announcement on April 7, 2026, launching a new research initiative called the Mathematics of Boosting Agentic Communication, or MATHBAC, which aims to develop the mathematical and scientific foundations needed to make networks of artificial intelligence agents collaborate more effectively […]View the full article

People are policy. That explains a lot. What an amazing bit of commentary that really reads like parody, but it isn’t. Given the history of the UN from Rwanda to Haiti, you would think there would be a bit more of a humble attitude from the UN, but amazingly, no. Some of these people seem like they never left the Model UN camp they went to while they waited to take their AP History exams. One guy, Eide, I remember from my time in Kabul, so let’s do things in reverse and show you the CV of the authors of this article; Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, served as the United Nations secretary general’s special representative for Afghanistan from 2008 to 2010. Tadamichi Y…

Americas Teledyne Brown Engineering won a $39.2 million contract modification for the production of MK11 shallow water combat submersibles. The Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS) is a manned submersible and a type of swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV). In the US Navy, SWCS, designated as Mark 11 SDV, will replace the current Mark 8 SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV). It is also requested by the Royal Navy’s Special Boat Service (SBS), which currently operates 3 SDV’s. Work will take place in Huntsville, Alabama. Expected completion will be by September 2024. The US Navy plans to integrate anti-ship missiles aboard its amphibious ships, it announced this month, part of a larger…

Still wondering exactly what "Integrated Deterrence" means? Do you feel comfortable understanding the different deterrence schools of punishment vs. denial? If strategy and resources are aligned, does that necessarily make the results themselves "good?" You're going to know all the above better than most of the people you'll see trying to discuss them after reading today's guest post by our friend Bryan McGrath, returning here to ring the school bell. Simply superb and worth reading twice. Bryan, over to you. There are few more pitiful creatures than seapower/maritime strategists (I will use these phrases interchangeably, pedants be damned), a group of thinkers and advoc…

Americas CAE USA-Mission Solutions won a $10.8 million contract modification for the F-15E, F-16 and F-22A contract aircrew training and courseware development contract. The modification is for exercising Option Year Four. The Boeing F-15E dual-role fighter is an advanced long-range interdiction fighter and tactical aircraft. The F-15E is the latest version of the Eagle, a Mach 2.5-class twin-engine fighter. The F-16, the mainstay of the Air Force aerial combat fleet, has been adapted to complete a number of missions, including air-to-air fighting, ground attack and electronic warfare. The F-22A Raptor is an advanced tactical fighter aircraft. Work will be performed at Jo…

What are you willing to do to get your squadron mates home ... or at least a chance? How far are you willing to push yourself and your equipment? How well do you know the capabilities - written and unwritten - of your equipment? Ponder Pardo's Push via Air and Space; The air strike that March day in 1967 was on the ferociously well-defended Thai Nguyen steel mill, north of Hanoi, North Vietnam. One of the attacking U.S. Air Force McDonnell F-4C Phantoms was hit twice by anti-aircraft fire, and gas was streaming from the fuselage. Pilot Earl Aman and weapons systems officer Bob Houghton no longer had enough fuel to return to safe territory. The airplane Bob Pardo an…

Yesterday, SECDEF Austin put out the memo we all knew was coming. General Mark A. Milley, USA, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, followed up with his own memo that had a handwritten note at the bottom. (NB: old trick knowing that most military eyes will glaze over the typed world, but if in a hurry, will read what is written by hand by the author). His note is, really, all you need to know. “Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a key force protection and readiness issue.” The military has a long history of over compensating when it comes to vaccinations. I have been vaccinated against everything from chicken pox to small pox and everything in between. Whe…

I guess this is submarine week at CDR Salamander, because right after the Wednesday post, the Anglosphere decided to wake everyone up; Joint Leaders Statement on AUKUS SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 STATEMENTS AND RELEASES As leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, guided by our enduring ideals and shared commitment to the international rules-based order, we resolve to deepen diplomatic, security, and defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, including by working with partners, to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. As part of this effort, we are announcing the creation of an enhanced trilateral security partnership called “AUKUS” — Austra…

Americas J.I. Gascia Construction won a $7.6 million task order under a multiple award construction contract for a design-build KC-46A mission planning center at Travis Air Force Base, California.The work to be performed will provide a facility to support KC-46A mission planning. The contract contains four options, which requires the contractor to repair sewer line, construct the window infill, perform hazardous material remediation, and construct physical security upgrades at the mechanical yard. The KC-46A is a wide-body, multi-mission aircraft capable of transporting fuel, cargo, passengers, and patients. Work will take place in California. Expected completion will be …

Americas Boeing won a $49.7 million deal for the inspection and overhaul of the CH-47 Chinook mechanical transmission. The CH-47D Chinook helicopter transports troops, artillery, supplies and equipment to the battlefield with other applications ranging from medical evacuation, aircraft recovery, parachute drop, search and rescue to disaster relief, firefighting and heavy construction. Work is estimated to be completed by August 23, 2025. The US Army, together with the Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) announced the successful first life fire of its Iron Dome air defense system engaging eight cruise missile targets. Soldiers from the Army’s 3-43 Air Defense Arti…