Raw Intel

Americas The Pentagon has awarded QinetiQ a $13.3-million contract to supply its Vindicator II uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) target support services to the US Navy (USN). As QinetiQ Target Systems is based in Canada, the deal was facilitated by the Canadian Commercial Corporation as the prime contractor together with Public Services and Procurement Canada. The five-year deal – with a six-month extension provision – came into effect in December and includes Canadian personnel deployed to provide services to the USN. Lockheed Martin won a $678.4 million modification to support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft retrofit and modification efforts for the Air Force, Marin…

Thailand’s Air Force has conducted its first known combat use of South Korea’s KGGB precision guidance kits, adapting standard Mk.82 bombs for long-range strikes during ongoing clashes with Cambodian forces. According to reports, a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) F-16 fighter jet used the KGGB—a GPS-guided glide bomb kit developed by South Korea’s LIG Nex1—to […] The post Thailand uses South Korean precision bombs in border fight first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

NATO Air Command said on August 28 that two Italian F-35 fighter jets scrambled from Amari Air Base in Estonia to intercept a Russian military aircraft operating near Alliance airspace. According to the command, the jets were deployed under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission after radar systems detected the approach of a Russian An-124 Condor […] The post Italian F-35s intercept Russian An-124 heavy transport aircraft first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a Patriot air defense system previously stationed in Israel has been operating in Ukraine for the past month, strengthening the country’s ability to counter Russian missile and drone attacks. He also announced that Kyiv will receive two additional Patriot systems this fall as part of ongoing efforts to expand […] The post Israeli Patriot now active in Ukraine, Zelensky says first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Saronic Technologies has announced a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA aimed at accelerating the development of autonomous maritime systems and AI-driven shipbuilding. The partnership was disclosed on Friday in a company statement that outlined joint efforts to integrate NVIDIA’s advanced AI tools and compute platforms into Saronic’s naval technologies. “By combining Saronic’s deep expertise in maritime […] The post Saronic teams with NVIDIA on AI-powered ships first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

A new variant of China’s ZBD-04 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) equipped with an advanced active protection system (APS) has surfaced online, raising questions about the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) evolving approach to vehicle survivability and defensive countermeasures. Photos of the vehicle—reportedly the ZBD-04B—were released by the open-source monitoring group The Dead District. The images show […]View the full article

Turkish defense company ASELSAN has completed the integration and live-fire testing of two combat systems for Indonesia’s elite special forces. According to a statement published by ASELSAN Indonesia, the ASELSAN SARP 12.7 mm Remote Weapon Station and the ASELSAN SEDA Gunshot Detection System were successfully integrated on their designated platform and tested with live ammunition. […]View the full article

United States missile manufacturing is failing to keep pace with the tempo of modern warfare, raising concerns about how quickly the military can replace precision weapons in a high-intensity conflict. To examine where the bottlenecks lie and how they affect readiness, Defence Blog sought comment from John Borrego, Senior Vice President of Aerospace and Defense […]View the full article

Ukraine carried out a long-range strike overnight on February 21 targeting Russia’s Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Udmurtia, a key facility tied to Moscow’s ballistic missile production program. Explosions were reported shortly before midnight local time, followed by a large fire inside the industrial complex located roughly 1,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The attack […]View the full article

Ukrainian military personnel reported that a Russian combat helicopter was struck by a first-person-view (FPV) drone on the Pokrovsk axis, with the incident supported by released photos and video showing burning wreckage at the crash site. The hit was attributed to fighters of Ukraine’s 59th Separate Assault Brigade, who said the strike occurred during ongoing […]View the full article

The U.S. Army gave its most ambitious rotorcraft program a name to match its ambitions on April 15, officially designating Bell Textron’s MV-75 tiltrotor aircraft the Cheyenne II during the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual Warfighting Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. The naming honors two federally recognized nations: the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana and […]View the full article

Helsing, a German AI defense company, has conducted the first launch of its HX-2 strike drone from a coastal vessel in the waters off Plymouth, UK, the company announced, marking a new operational environment for a system it has been developing and deploying on the battlefield in Ukraine. The trial took place off a fast […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy is doubling down on what it considers its most capable air and missile defense radar at sea, committing $516 million to keep the system integrated, tested, and ready across the fleet. Raytheon Missiles and Defense, the Marlborough, Massachusetts-based defense arm of RTX Corporation, secured a $515.8 million contract modification this week to […]View the full article

With the first operational B-21 Raiders scheduled to arrive at Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $44 million construction contract to build the permanent outdoor shelters that will protect America’s most advanced stealth bomber from the harsh South Dakota winters, extending its service life and keeping […]View the full article

BAE Systems announced at the Farnborough International Airshow that it has signed a licensing agreement with an unnamed strategic defense partner to support local manufacture of the Light Gun artillery system inside Ukraine, giving Kyiv’s defense industry direct access to the technical know-how behind a weapon British and Commonwealth forces have relied on for half […]View the full article

Kongsberg has signed a contract worth NOK 1.1 billion, about $118.4 million, to supply additional PROTECTOR RS4 Remote Weapon Systems to General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada for the Canadian Army’s Armoured Combat Support Vehicle program. The Norwegian defense company said the deal is a follow-on order building on previous RS4 deliveries for the same program. Kongsberg […]View the full article

An Italian Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet was hit during an overnight attack on King Fahd Air Base near Ta’if, Saudi Arabia, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto confirmed Friday. Crosetto said the aircraft, designated F-2000 by the Italian Air Force, was parked in a remote area of the base when it was struck. No Italian personnel […]View the full article

A German environmental and human rights group has urged European leaders not to weaken sanctions on Russian energy after President Donald Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia to supply diesel fuel to the United States and global markets, a week before a new U.S. sanctions law on Russia reaches its […]View the full article

A Russian Navy intelligence-gathering ship sailed southwest through the Tsushima Strait between Japan and South Korea on Oct. 27 and 28 and headed into the East China Sea, Japan’s Joint Staff Office said. The Joint Staff identified the vessel as a Vishnya-class intelligence collection ship and released a map showing its hull number, 535. That […]View the full article

M3A3 Bradley CFV: Charge! (click to view full) In the 1970s, middle eastern wars demonstrated that tanks without infantry screens were vulnerable to infantry with anti-tank missiles. Unfortunately, armored personnel carriers were easy prey for enemy tanks, and sometimes had trouble just keeping up with friendly tanks like America’s 60+ ton, 50+ mph M1 Abrams. In response, the Americans rethought the armored personnel carrier, taking a page from the Soviet book. They created a more heavily armored, faster “Infantry Fighting Vehicle” named after WW2 General Omar “the soldier’s general” Bradley, and gave it an offensive punch of its own. M2/M3 tracked, armored IFVs can car…