Raw Intel

Americas The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) has down selected L3Harris Technologies and Martin UAV for the phase two demonstration of the MI2 technology demonstration. The program’s objective is to identify unmanned air vehicles capable of operating in austere deployed environments without ancillary support systems. Such drones must not require dedicated launch or recovery equipment. Phase 2 demonstrations will take place at Yuma Proving Ground from November 30 to December 18. BAE Systems won a $197.5 million deal for the execution of the USS Wasp (LHD 1) fiscal 2021 Chief of Naval Operations scheduled docking selected restricted availability. Thi…

While the rest of the world paused to focus on COVID-19 the last year, even though the pandemic started there, the People's Republic of China did not stop her long, steady push out to the world to take the place she feels she in entitled to. From the border of India to South America and back to the Western Pacific, China feels the wind at her back. Where is China signaling she will be be the greatest challenge to her neighbors and the global community? Returning to Midrats this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern for the full hour will be our guest Dean Cheng. Dean is the Senior Research Fellow for Chinese political and security affairs at the Asia Studies Center of The Her…

What are the of economic, demographic, and political forces driving China through this decade? What direction is her growth heading and where will she find herself at the end of the decade? Are the forces in play likely to move her towards a more peaceful or a more militaristic stance? Using the recent article he co-authored with Gabriel Collins in Foreign Policy, A Dangerous Decade of Chinese Power is Here, as a starting point, returning to Midrats for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern will be Andrew S. Erickson. Andrew is a professor of strategy in the U.S. Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute and a visiting scholar in full-time residence at …

What ever happened to Colonel Yuli Mamchor, Ukrainian Air Force? I've thought of him a few times since the war started and all my google fu tells me is that he dropped off after a short sting in politics. If you find anything, let us know in comments ... but until then, let's look back at a FbF from 2014. What does a leader do? When are you willing to put yourself and your troops on the line to make a point? How do you, unarmed, give the presence of leadership among your armed opponents? I give you a leader who simply, is. In another word; stud. I may quibble a bit about their historical regimental flag, but that would be a quibble. The point I was making about presence?…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $26.4 million contract modification for Triton electronic protection enhancements. Under this modification, the contractor will continue to work to further develop and demonstrate enabling technologies for the Triton MQ-4C Unmanned Aircraft System Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) radar systems. The proposed effort is for the non-recurring engineering required to establish the hardware baseline for the technical refresh for the MQ-4C Triton MFAS Radar Signal Processor (RSP) on the AN/ZPY-3(v) 2 Mercury Power Stream 7000 Signal Processor, 272K300G01 in order to implement advanced capabilities developed by the Office of Naval Research. Loc…

Americas Boeing won a $33 million deal for Small Diameter Bomb I sustainment and titled contractor logistics support. The deal provides for the SDB-I program and requires continuous contractor logistics support throughout production, fielding, and sustainment. The Small Diameter Bomb I (SDB I) is a type of precision-guided bomb used by military aircraft. It’s designed […]View the full article

Raytheon, an RTX business, has introduced a new variant of its Multispectral Targeting System (MTS), designed to enhance visual performance and targeting capability for U.S. Navy helicopters operating in maritime environments. According to a press release from the company, the new system—designated MTS-A HD—offers improved imaging clarity, targeting precision, and operational flexibility. The system is […] The post Raytheon develops new targeting system for Navy helicopters first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The Pentagon announced Monday that Raytheon has been awarded a $5.04 billion contract to supply the U.S. Army with its Coyote missile system, a combat-proven counter-drone weapon designed to intercept and destroy unmanned aerial threats, including drone swarms. According to the Department of War, Raytheon Co. of Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for […] The post Pentagon awards $5B deal to Raytheon for Coyote drone interceptors first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

I’m old enough to remember when the Fourth Fleet AOR was the sleepy island of misfit toys. Well, as the irreplaceable Ian Ellis informs us, America’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), departed Split, Croatia, en route to SOUTHCOM. After the carrier strike group crosses the Atlantic, ~19-23% of the deployed US Navy fleet will be in theater. As expected, his graphic tells the story. We are all hearing things and seeing things. Best stick to what is in open source. For every hand you see, there are ten more moving. At this moment, there is one place the U.S. military is taking consistent military action. That place is in the Western Hem…

French forces deployed to the United Arab Emirates completed three days of high-intensity military training in desert conditions, operating Leclerc tanks, CAESAR artillery systems, and VBCI infantry fighting vehicles as part of a broader joint exercise with Emirati partners, according to material released by the French military. The training included maneuver drills, live-fire sequences, and […]View the full article

Hydra Drones, a British small and medium-sized enterprise that designs and builds hybrid-powered uncrewed aircraft, has opened a new £4 million ($5.4 million) investment round as it moves toward final development and industrialization of its heavy-lift HYDRA-400 platform. According to the company, the funding will be used to complete the last phase of research and […]View the full article

Sweden’s Armed Forces detected two Russian Su-35S fighter jets and one Tu-22M3 bomber flying over the Baltic Sea on January 23, prompting a response by Swedish Air Force quick reaction alert aircraft. According to a statement published by the Swedish Armed Forces, the aircraft were identified by Sweden’s incident readiness forces, which were scrambled to […]View the full article

The United States Army has issued a Special Notice announcing an Industry Day for the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 4 program, outlining plans for a rapid prototyping effort that will culminate in a competitive missile fly-off scheduled for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2028. The event, organized by the Army’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive […]View the full article

The ZEUS unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Poland-based Ekolot Aerospace & Defense (EAD) in cooperation with Spain’s UAV Navigation-Grupo Oesía has completed its first flights, according to EPKR Spotters. The ZEUS platform is designed to combine fixed-wing endurance with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), addressing operational needs where traditional runways are unavailable. EPKR Spotters wrote: […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $44.4 million contract modification to continue upgrading its Stryker Double V-Hull A1 vehicles. The award, announced by the Department of War, provides $44,394,688 to the Sterling Heights, Michigan-based manufacturer under modification PZ0004 to contract W912CH-25-D-0025. The work is scheduled to continue through Feb. 20, 2030, […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded a $9 million contract to Ohio-based ARCTOS Technology Solutions to develop next-generation aerothermoelastic structures technologies for high-speed airbreathing vehicles, a research program that addresses one of the most demanding unsolved engineering problems in hypersonic flight. The contract, awarded competitively after two offers were received, runs through June […]View the full article

Four of Greece’s American-made standoff missiles need fixing, and the U.S. Navy is about to pay the only company on Earth capable of repairing them to do exactly that. The procurement notice, published June 4, 2026, signals that Greece’s air force is keeping its American-supplied precision strike arsenal in fighting shape at a moment when […]View the full article

Poland signed a $4.83 billion contract with Sweden’s Saab on June 29, 2026, for three A26 Blekinge-class submarines under its long-running Orka program, completing seven months of tense negotiations that at several points threatened to collapse over industrial offset demands, and delivering NATO its most significant Baltic Sea undersea capability expansion since the Cold War. […]View the full article

A Formula 1 engineering firm has unveiled a nearly supersonic combat drone designed to fly wing to wing with fighter jets, and it costs less than a fraction of what those crewed aircraft run. MGI Engineering announced the launch of the T-022 Vortex, describing it as the first UK-built Autonomous Collaborative Platform of its kind, […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Independence Day parade in Kyiv on August 24 included a new naval drone, the MV11, from the Ukrainian company UFORCE. It is the largest vessel yet built in the company’s MAGURA family, an unmanned surface vessel line credited with helping push Russia’s Black Sea Fleet back from Ukrainian waters. The parade marked the first […]View the full article