Raw Intel

KC-390 refuels AMXs (click to view full) Global competition in the 20-ton air transport segment continues to intensify, with Brazil’s launch of its KC-390 program. Embraer figures reportedly place the global C-130 replacement market at around 700 aircraft. In response, it will develop a jet-powered rival to compete with Lockheed Martin’s C-130J, the larger Airbus A400M, Russia’s AN-12 and its Chinese copy the Yun-8/9, and the bi-national Irkut/HAL MRTA project. Smaller aircraft like the EADS-CASA C-295M, and Alenia’s C-27J, represent indirect competition. Embraer is extending its efforts and markets by crafting a jet-powered medium transport with a cargo capacity of ar…

Harpoon in flight (click to view full) The sub-sonic, wave-skimming GM-84 Harpoon is the US Navy’s sole anti-shipping missile, with the minor exception of small helicopter-borne AGM-119B Penguin missiles. The Harpoon has been adapted into several variants, and exported to many navies around the world. At present, the Harpoon family includes AGM-84 air, RGM-84 sea/land, and UGM-84 submarine-launched versions. Variants such as the Joint Standoff Land Attack Missiles and the upgraded AGM-84K SLAM – Expanded Response will also be covered in this DID FOCUS Article. It describes the missiles themselves, and covers global contracts involving this family. The Harpoon family’s …

Today we're going to build off of last week's DivThu that was focused on the CNO, Admiral Giday, USN. We are going to tie in the connection between Critical Race Theory, Antiracism, and Marxism - topics everyone is talking around for reasons best explained by them if you can get them to actually answer a question. If you missed last week, click here and read it, watch the videos, then come back, We'll leave last week at the House, and go to the CNO in the Senate in this remarkable exchange with Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR). The CNO did not answer the question. He just repeated talking points from last week. He brings up unrelated topics ... as if Kendi's work has anythi…

This may get lost in the background noise, but if you are concerned about the rule of law, democratic governance and security in the Pacific, you would be hard pressed to find more important news than this; Australia and Japan are set to sign a treaty to beef up defence and security cooperation at a virtual summit on Thursday, in the latest move to strengthen ties amid China's rising military power and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the two leaders will sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement, which will for the first time set out a framework for the two countries' defence forces to cooperate with each other. What do t…

Americas Huntington Ingalls won a 41.7 million contract modification to exercise options for accomplishment of follow yard services for the DDG 51 Class destroyer program. The DDG 51 class guided missile destroyers are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. Destroyers can operate independently or as part of Carrier Strike Groups, Surface Action Groups, and Expeditionary Strike Groups. Work under the modification will take place in Mississippi, Washington DC and Maine. Estimated completion will be by April 2023. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $23 million deal, which provides initial product support maintenance of the F-35 Lightning II…

Americas BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems won a $13.5 million order, which provides for the ALR-56M radar warning receiver, C-130J Block Cycle F, Operational Flight Program and Mission Data File Generation updates and system services. Work will be performed in Totowa, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed August 9, 2024. Boeing won a $278 million ordering agreement for the procurement of F/A-18 aircraft consumable parts. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. The performance completion date is August 8, 2027. Using military service is the Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2022 through 2027 defense working capital funds…

December 7th is always a good moment to remember that sometimes the world pivots at its own time and place of choosing. View the full article

Americas Raytheon won $151.5 million for AIM-9X Block II and II+ sustainment. The contract provides for integrated logistics support and repairs. The AIM-9X Sidewinder missile is an infrared air-to-air short-range missile. It entered service in November 2003. The Block II variant, which completed its first test firing in November 2008, has a redesigned fuse and […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $22.7 million modification to exercise an option for industrial post-delivery availability support for the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Cleveland (LCS 31). Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin, and is expected to be completed by March 2025. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. Green Expert […]View the full article

Americas The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks to develop quantum sensors for moving military platforms. Quantum sensors use quantum mechanics to sense minute variances in motion and electric and magnetic fields, achieving greater accuracy than conventional sensors. In technical terms, they extract information from individual atoms rather than from a collection of atoms and are less vulnerable to signal jamming and other electromagnetic interference that traditional light- and sound-based data sensors are vulnerable to. The Marine Corps has awarded Forterra a contract to integrate its autonomy package on the Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Exped…

Polish defense company Mesko, in partnership with France’s Eurenco, has announced the start of production of modular propelling charges for 155 mm artillery. The new assembly line is located in Pionki, Poland, and is expected to produce up to 100,000 charges annually. The development was reported by Adam Swierkowski of Defence24. The project began in […] The post Poland begins 155mm artillery charge production first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) is planning a major organizational restructuring, with two new large-scale formations expected to be established in fiscal year 2026. According to media reports, the plans include elevating the existing 15th Brigade on Okinawa to a division and consolidating the JGSDF’s elite special operations units into a dedicated brigade. The restructuring […] The post Japan to reorganize army structure with new large-scale formations first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Ukrainian unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) developers are accelerating battlefield innovation through hands-on testing with frontline troops, using feedback from the recent Strike UGV Crash Test to refine their platforms for real combat conditions. Organized by the Snake Island Institute, AB3 TECH, the 3rd Assault Brigade’s NC13 Strike UGV Company, and the 3rd Army Corps, the […] The post Ukraine puts UGVs through battlefield stress test first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

In the last week there is a topic that I’ve covered on the UNCLAS Read Board Podcast last Wednesday, and this Sunday on the Midrats Podcast, that it is still stuck in my craw—so let’s start the week with it as I think it has the potential to have an even worse second-order effect than I thought. I am, of course, referring to one of the most irresponsible collective acts by our elected representatives who once wore the uniform or served in our intelligence services since, well, I’m having trouble coming up with something else this gross. A group of six Democratic lawmakers with military or national security backgrounds released a video in November 2025 urging U.S. service …

The Italian Army has taken delivery of its first Skynex air defense system from Rheinmetall. According to a press release from Rheinmetall, the first Skynex battery was officially handed over on Dec. 18, 2025, at the Italian Army’s Air Defence Artillery Command in Sabaudia. The system gives Italy the ability to defend against air attacks […]View the full article

The United States has delivered the first MC-55A Peregrine aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force, L3Harris Technologies confirmed on January 24, 2026. The aircraft was handed over by the U.S. Air Force following completion of integration and mission system testing, according to the company. The delivery is part of Australia’s Peregrine program, which is […]View the full article

New satellite imagery has confirmed extensive destruction at Russia’s Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a key missile production hub in the Udmurt Republic, following a Ukrainian strike carried out on the night of February 21, according to independent open-source analysts. The confirmation through satellite imagery provides the first visual assessment of damage at one of Russia’s […]View the full article

A newly published presolicitation notice shows the United States Air Force is preparing to award a sole-source contract to Northrop Grumman for support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s AN/APG-81 radar and AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System. The notice, issued on March 19, 2026, outlines plans to expand software engineering and sustainment capabilities tied to the […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force’s B-21 Raider stealth bomber has successfully conducted aerial refueling with a KC-135 Stratotanker as part of its ongoing flight test campaign, the Department of the Air Force announced on April 14, 2026. The milestone, achieved during the program’s rigorous test and evaluation program at Edwards Air Force Base, California, was presented […]View the full article

Aerostats, the tethered observation balloons that most people associate with World War II convoy protection, are getting a serious second look from the U.S. Army as a platform for counter-drone defense. One company’s second-generation tactical aerostat is now being evaluated as the foundation for a complete anti-drone architecture that could eventually carry and launch drone […]View the full article