Raw Intel

We talked a bit about the national dysfunction that is our shipbuilding in the USA a bit on the last Midrats Podcast, and the amazing reality of how much we need South Korea’s expertise in an area we once were the world standard. Demonstrating the strong pace of collaboration, in early October, the two companies agreed to jointly pursue the U.S. Navy’s next-generation logistics ship (NGLS) design contract. Leveraging HII’s complex shipbuilding experience and HHI’s expertise with proven designs in use with the Royal New Zealand and South Korean navies, the two companies will team to respond to the U.S. Navy’s recent request for proposal (RFP) for the concept design phase o…

Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) has released new details on an advanced uncrewed aircraft research program designed to enable future drones to operate alongside manned combat aircraft. The update comes after ATLA published footage on Nov. 21 showing flight tests involving an experimental uncrewed aircraft and a manned helicopter. According to ATLA’s Aeronautical […]View the full article

The U.S. Army said one of its forward-deployed artillery units in South Korea has carried out the first live-fire exercise of the modernized M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System on the Korean Peninsula, a move aimed at strengthening deterrence against North Korea. According to the U.S. Army, Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment, assigned […]View the full article

United States Army aviation units assigned to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade staged multiple CH-47F Chinook and AH-64E Apache helicopters at Katterbach Army Airfield in Germany on Jan. 26, 2026, as crews worked to clear flight lines during a heavy winter storm, the service confirmed. According to U.S. Army imagery and unit statements, helicopters from […]View the full article

Russia’s three-day special military operation is now entering its fifth year (even longer if you consider this just picking up after 2014 unfinished business). This war has many lessons, but at the top has to be the dangers of a military led by leaders who enable the compounding errors of optimism filters, and having senior political leadership who are not wise enough—or brave enough—to ensure they have a staff that is willing to ask the smart, hard questions before deciding to take their nation into the dark room that is war. Another thing history will tell us is that the resistance of the Ukrainian people against Russia is a story of the ages. On paper, Ukraine should …

Lockheed Martin has signed executive agreements with Poland’s Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze No. 1 (WZL-1) in Lodz, part of the PGZ Group, to support key components of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The agreements, valued at approximately 300 million zloty ($81 million), cover maintenance, repair, and testing of critical systems. According to the agreement, the Lodz facility […]View the full article

Washington-based investment syndicate Pravo Ventures has invested in Ukrainian aerostat developer Aerobavovna, backing a company already supplying airborne platforms to Ukrainian forces for communications and sensing tasks. In a statement, Pravo Ventures said Aerobavovna is “building critical aerostat-based capabilities for Ukraine and its allies,” adding that it is “excited about the team’s continued growth and […]View the full article

Pratt & Whitney has completed a fully digital assembly readiness review for its XA103 adaptive engine, clearing the last major design-phase hurdle before the company begins procuring physical hardware for the first test build of an engine it says will outperform anything currently flying. The review, conducted entirely within Pratt & Whitney’s digital engineering environment, […]View the full article

France has fired its next-generation air-to-air missile from a Rafale at supersonic speed for the first time, clearing one of the most demanding technical hurdles in the weapon’s qualification program and moving MBDA’s MICA NG significantly closer to operational service. The second development firing of the MICA NG, which stands for Missile for Interception, Combat, […]View the full article

Palladyne AI’s subsidiary GuideTech secured a $2.3 million contract with an unnamed defense prime contractor to supply its BRAIN flight computer and FLEX flight software framework for a low-cost kinetic counter-UAS interceptor system, the company announced June 29, 2026. The deal represents a direct product sale of GuideTech’s hardware and software, with the prime contractor […]View the full article

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency awarded Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems, a Fort Worth, Texas company, an estimated $333 million contract to supply spare parts and repair services for the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, a fighter pilot’s helmet that doubles as a targeting computer. The system, known in defense circles by its acronym JHMCS, […]View the full article

The U.S. Army awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $54,281,616 contract to provide sustainment support for the Stryker vehicle fleet, the Department of War announced August 24. The cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers field-level maintenance, field service representative support and fielding activities. The contract specifically applies when interactive electronic technical manuals and logistics products have not […]View the full article

U.S. Air Force officers studying at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) are testing whether small drones can scout a damaged airfield before engineers walk onto it. The research targets a job that still depends mostly on people. After an attack, U.S. Air Force civil engineers have to reopen runways while dealing with unexploded […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman has teamed up with Barrett Firearms to build the launcher for its Precision Grenadier System, a shoulder-fired 25 mm grenade launcher meant to let infantry squads hit enemies hiding behind cover and shoot down small drones, the companies announced on Oct. 12 at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington. […]View the full article

Paul made this observation in an email; If this is for real, it makes the Tomcat look petite He's got a good point. Look at the size of the people relative to the aircraft. More importantly; check out that weapons bay. Unlike other internal weapons bays for internal air-to-air missiles - the J-20s is massive. Give it a look. Looks deep. That almost seems less a weapons bay than an old school bomb bay with plenty of room for all sorts of toys. How far back does it go behind that huge access door that is down? Perhaps, because it is a single, vice a folding door like the F-22, it just seems big. But ... the J-20 is a big bird. Ar…

The opposition we have voiced here towards the sectarianian agenda of the Navy's Diversity Bullies is just our part of a much larger socio-political scam.The nastier side effects of the Diversity Industry we have all seen, but for better or worse, it is good to see that it isn't just the Navy's issue - but one of our larger society. Running parallel to our arguments here over the years, Victor Davis Hanson wraps it up well. Read it all. For anyone familiar with the American university and its gospel of multicultural diversity, the revelation that Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren exploited her 1/32 Cherokee ancestry to pass as a minority is a dog-bites-ma…

It is time to see what a few years of pressure on NATO nations to do better has done. There is good news, but also some storms on the horizon. I have graphs and pretty pictures over at USNIBlog. Come on by and see where your favorite NATO nation lies on Salamander's Grid. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=BiWnsToqOIQ:GaAiY97Q4AA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=BiWnsToqOIQ:GaAiY97Q4AA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=BiWnsToqOIQ:GaAiY97Q4AA:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f…

Can things really be as bad as this picture? Yes, and much worse. Head on over to USNIBlog to find out who met this ship as a guest. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9QCQlreOwDU:oaxwAcIe3kQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9QCQlreOwDU:oaxwAcIe3kQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9QCQlreOwDU:oaxwAcIe3kQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9QCQlreOwDU:oaxwAcIe3kQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/9QCQlreOwDUView the full article

Americas General Electric won a $12 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The UH-60 Blackhawk is a multi-mission medium lift helicopter. The primary mission of the Blackhawk helicopter is as a troop carrier and logistical support aircraft. The helicopter can also be configured to carry out medical evacuation, command-and-control, search-and-rescue, armed escort, electronic warfare and executive transport missions. Estimated completion date is January 14, 2027. The Air Force awarded L-3 Communications Integrated Systems a $24 million deal for C-130H program depot maintenance. The deal provides for the services required to complete C-…

The commercial folks sure would like it;The world's largest shipping management firm has requested that NATO provide naval escorts for shipping in the Black Sea amid concerns that vessels could be at risk as a result of conflict in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported. The CEO of V.Group, René Kofod-Olsen, told the outlet that NATO intervention is merited due to the region's importance for shipments of food. According to the paper, the conflict in Ukraine has made the northernmost third of the Black Sea unsafe for shipping. "We should demand that our seafaring and marine traffic is being protected in international waters. I'm sure Nato and others have a role to play in t…