Raw Intel

Europe’s defense industry has faced a growing series of fires, explosions and deliberate attacks in 2026, many of them affecting companies that manufacture weapons, ammunition, drones or other equipment for Ukraine. Western intelligence sources increasingly view the incidents as part of a Russian campaign intended to disrupt military supply chains, intimidate manufacturers and test how […]View the full article

The European Commission approved €6.1 billion ($7.12 billion) in new defense procurement funding for Ukraine on August 24, 2026, the same day Ukraine marked its Independence Day. The money covers air and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition and radars. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tied the timing directly to the war. “On Ukraine’s Independence […]View the full article

French drone maker Cavok UAS is developing a containerized launch system designed to deploy swarms of its Skydart5 interceptor drones, an effort flagged by Counter Unmanned Systems on X after Cavok UAS described the concept. Cavok UAS, based in Sainte-Menehould in France’s Marne region, posted a schematic image of the dispenser alongside a description of […]View the full article

Austal USA delivered LCU 1710 to the U.S. Navy on August 14, 2026, the first vessel completed under the Navy’s LCU 1700-class program and the first steel-hulled ship the shipbuilder has ever delivered to the service. Austal USA, based in Mobile, Alabama, has built its Navy business primarily on aluminum vessels, including Independence-variant littoral combat […]View the full article

Ukraine has mounted interceptor drone launchers on a Mi-8 helicopter, with footage of the system shown in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Independence Day address, Militarnyi reported. The footage shows an interceptor launching from beneath one of the helicopter’s hardpoints, using simple metal launch rails mounted under the airframe. The drone is likely controlled either from inside […]View the full article

Rows of black, Shahed-shaped airframes stretch across a production floor in newly released footage marking Ukraine’s Independence Day, offering the clearest public look yet at how many Behemoth “mid-range” one-way attack drones the country is now building at once. The video shows dozens of the drones mounted on wooden and metal stands, wingtip to wingtip, […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has ordered another $51 million worth of Switchblade 600 loitering munitions from AeroVironment, the company announced Wednesday. The delivery order covers additional Switchblade 600 Block 2 systems and also includes Switchblade 600 Block 1 systems tied to a Foreign Military Sale for an unnamed U.S. ally. It was issued under the Army’s […]View the full article

Cambridge Pixel will show its software for uncrewed and autonomous surface vessels at SMM 2026, a maritime trade fair running September 1-4 in Hamburg, Germany. The UK-based company will set up at Hall B1, Stand 321, where it plans to demonstrate radar, camera and sensor processing modules used for tracking, data fusion, display, control, recording […]View the full article

A European company plans to build a $233 million explosives and warhead factory in Latvia, a NATO ally that sits just 175 miles (280 km) from Russia’s border, in a project aimed at closing a supply gap that has left Europe dependent on outside sources for the raw materials behind its weapons. Wolfram Europa announced […]View the full article

The U.S. Army is preparing to select a new infantry fighting vehicle that will replace the Bradley after more than 40 years in service and serve as the backbone of the Army’s armored formations for decades to come. Known as XM30, the program has two finalists, General Dynamics Land Systems and American Rheinmetall Vehicles, both […]View the full article

Y Combinator-backed startup IMPACT Drones says it built a working prototype of its high-speed interceptor drone, called SABLE, in two weeks, according to posts by the company’s two co-founders on social media. Jasper Lortije, whom the company lists as CEO, and Alessandro Fiume, listed as founder, both posted about the prototype this week. IMPACT Drones […]View the full article

More than 2,500 government, industry and academic representatives gathered in Novi, Michigan, August 11-13 for the 18th annual Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium, where U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center leaders outlined how the command is using integrated experimentation to speed new technology toward soldiers, according to a DEVCOM […]View the full article

Yesterday saw the fifth anniversary of the slaughter at Abbey Gate. Two years ago, I reposted what I wrote on that day as the news came in. I think it is time again. I will not forget. I found myself on X having a few contentious back-and-forths with people about Afghanistan this week, but on Wednesday night, a post from our friend Kristina just brought it all back to me. Good. Bit by bit, perhaps some wrongs can be made right, but much still needs to be done. Those in senior civilian leadership positions five years ago still have not been held to account. Some of the senior military leadership still avoid the topic, or try to discuss what a great NEO they conducted. Sti…

Spain’s first two S-80 Plus class submarines put to sea together for the first time this week, the Spanish Navy said. The Isaac Peral (S-81) and the Narciso Monturiol (S-82) represent what the Navy described as another step in Spain’s strategic autonomy and its submarine force’s deterrent capability. Isaac Peral, the lead boat of the […]View the full article

MSI Defence Systems has won a £16.6 million ($22.6 million) contract to supply three 30mm naval gun systems to an unnamed NATO country, according to Navy Lookout. The deal includes MSI-DS’s own radar and optical fire-control system, which the company says allows the gun mounts to engage aircraft, drones, surface vessels and semi-submersible threats. Deliveries […]View the full article

Latvia tested a new way to protect its infantry vehicles from one of the biggest threats on today’s battlefield: cheap, swarming drones. The country’s Ministry of Defence held a demonstration Thursday at the Ādaži military base, mounting counter-drone systems onto its new Hunter infantry fighting vehicle to see how well they work. The systems came […]View the full article

Russia fired an upgraded ballistic missile at Kyiv for the first time this summer, one with roughly 40 percent more range than the version Moscow has used against Ukraine for years, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said this week. The agency, known as HUR, said the missile is called the 9M723-2. It’s an upgraded version of […]View the full article

REGENT Craft has raised $240 million in Series B funding, split evenly between equity and debt, the Rhode Island-based seaglider manufacturer announced Thursday. The round was co-led by investment firms Mare Liberum and AE Ventures, with debt capital provided by Erebor Bank. The new funding brings REGENT’s total raised to date, across equity and debt, […]View the full article

A Ukrainian defense expert has flagged an apparent discrepancy in a promotional video from American drone maker AeroVironment, saying footage the company presented as a successful Switchblade 600 strike actually shows the Ukrainian-made RAM-2X strike drone in action. Bohdan Miroshnychenko, military analyst and editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian defense outlet Oboronka, raised the discrepancy in a […]View the full article

Finnish defense manufacturer Patria remotely operated an AMV armored vehicle located in Finland from a control desk in Tokyo, a distance of more than 7,800 kilometers (4,847 miles), the company said this week. The demonstration took place August 25-26, hosted by the Embassy of Finland in Japan. The Patria AMV was positioned at the Parola […]View the full article