Raw Intel

Baltimore-based BlackSea Technologies publicly unveiled its Comet unmanned surface vessel at the Sea-Air-Space exposition, displaying the platform armed with missiles for both air defense and surface strike missions. The company announced its presence at Dock D2, making Comet one of the most heavily armed unmanned surface vessels shown publicly by a U.S. manufacturer. Photographs of […]View the full article

Chinese-made FN-16 man-portable air defense systems have appeared in service with soldiers of the air defense battalion of Ukraine’s 160th Mechanized Brigade, photographs published by the brigade’s press service confirm. The brigade’s press service published the imagery alongside a statement describing the unit’s around-the-clock mission. “Fighters of the anti-aircraft missile battalion keep the sky under […]View the full article

On Sweden’s National Day, a country that spent more than two centuries avoiding military alliances took formal command of a NATO battlegroup positioned at the edge of the Arctic, placing its soldiers under the alliance’s direct authority for the first time and completing a strategic transformation that would have been unimaginable before Russia’s invasion of […]View the full article

Nineteen companies have survived a brutal, weeks-long elimination round built to answer one question the Pentagon considers existential: can American industry build enough cheap, lethal drones fast enough to matter in a real war. The Drone Dominance Program, a Pentagon initiative jointly run by the Test Resource Management Center and the Defense Innovation Unit, announced […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy handed a brand-new missile maker $70 million to build a cheap cruise missile, and it says this is only the opening move. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition confirmed that PAE Munitions, the Navy’s precision-strike acquisition arm, awarded CoAspire, a company it described as […]View the full article

Ukraine’s Security Service struck a Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber at the Engels-2 airbase in Russia’s Saratov region overnight Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, citing operations by the agency’s Alpha special operations unit, Militarnyi reported. The strike marks the second time in roughly six weeks that Ukrainian drones operated by the SBU’s “Alpha” Center for Special […]View the full article

Midrats regulars and all sound thinking navalists rejoiced earlier this year when one of our favorites were offered the honor to serve once again - in this case one of our favorite guests and all around great guy, Mark R. Vandroff, Captain, USN Ret. Mark found himself back in the mix with his appointment as Deputy Assistant to the President, Senior Director, Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council. Just in time for the holiday season, Mark will come visit us this Sunday from 5-6pm to talk about his experience so far at the NSC, the NSC in general, and other related topics that may come up in the process. A 1989 graduate of the United States Naval A…

At last, our great mercantilist nightmare has ended (almost, kind of). The mammoth cargo ship blocking one of the world’s most vital maritime arteries was wrenched from the shoreline and finally set free on Monday, raising hopes that traffic could soon resume in the Suez Canal and limit the economic fallout of the disruption. Salvage teams, working on land and water for five days and nights, were ultimately assisted by forces more powerful than any machine rushed to the scene: the moon and the tides. The ship was ultimately set free at around 3 p.m., according to shipping officials. Horns blared in celebration as images emerged on social media of the once stuck shi…

Americas General Atomics has announced the availability of a short takeoff and landing (STOL) wing and tail kit for the MQ-9B. The American company had demonstrated STOL capability on a modified Gray Eagle Extended Range platform last year under its Mojave initiative. The new MQ-9B STOL kit can fold upwards so that the unmanned air vehicle can be parked on the deck or in the hangar bay, of an aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship. Raytheon won a $272.7 million performance-based logistics requirements contract to provide logistics, repair, and upgrade support for 15 Multi-Spectral Targeting System Forward-Looking Infrared components in support of MH-60R and MH-60S h…

Americas Boeing won a $2 billion contract modification for KC-46A Air Force Production Lot 8 aircraft, subscriptions and licenses. The contract modification provides for the exercise of an option for an additional quantity of 15 KC-46A aircraft, data, subscriptions and licenses being produced under the basic contract. Work will take place in Washington. Expected completion date is November 30, 2025. Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control deal for the purchase of Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Systems components and hardware for the Apache attack helicopter. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Estimated completi…

(click to view full) Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-capable “mini-AWACS” aircraft, designed to give long-range warning of incoming aerial threats. Secondary roles include strike command and control, land and maritime surveillance, search and rescue, communications relay, and even civil air traffic control during emergencies. E-2C Hawkeyes began replacing previous Hawkeye versions in 1973. […]View the full article

Americas Raytheon Co. in McKinney, Texas, has received a contract worth $48.5 million to supply JANUS II systems. This contract includes a multi-mission optical sensor, a multi-spectral targeting system pedestal enclosure system, and additional hardware and software needed to support these systems. The contract was awarded as a sole source action, meaning Raytheon was the only company that could meet the Navy’s needs. The work will take place at Raytheon’s facilities in McKinney and is expected to be completed by February 2030. The funding for this contract comes from the Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance budget for the Navy, with $4,169,000 allocated at the time of …

The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $139.6 million contract modification for continued production of the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), a key platform replacing aging M113s across Armored Brigade Combat Teams. The award, announced under contract W56HZV-23-C-0024, brings the total value of the AMPV program to over $2.28 billion. According to the Department of […] The post U.S. Army buys more AMPV tracked vehicles first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Turkey has entered a new phase in its defense modernization as serial production of the Altay main battle tank officially began at BMC’s new facility in the capital. The launch represents what Turkish officials have described as the realization of a “100-year dream” for the nation’s defense industry. According to Anadolu Ajansı, the Altay tank […] The post Turkey begins serial production of Altay tanks first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Russia carried out another large-scale missile strike against Ukraine overnight on October 3, employing a new tactic that relied heavily on ground-launched cruise missiles from the Iskander system rather than its usual air- or sea-launched weapons, according to a report from the Air Force of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force said that during the assault, […] The post Ukraine hit by wave of ground-launched Iskander cruise missiles first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

An unpainted, stripped-down hull of an M1 Abrams tank was recently seen being transported on a gooseneck trailer near Birmingham, Alabama, sparking speculation that it may be headed for an upgrade under the U.S. Army’s Abrams modernization program for Poland. The photographed tank hull, lacking a turret and covered by a tarp, drew attention online […]View the full article

A Canadian-made unmanned aircraft originally developed for civilian medical logistics is being positioned for potential military use as modern conflict zones demand faster, quieter and more survivable small-scale resupply capabilities. Volatus Aerospace says its Canary unmanned aircraft system (UAS), now used for hospital-to-hospital medical transport, can be adapted for frontline logistics where traditional supply routes […]View the full article

China’s People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force uses mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers disguised as civilian cranes produced by Zoomlion, according to images and descriptions circulated this week. The disclosure centers on mobile launch platforms for China’s Dongfeng series ballistic missiles that are concealed to resemble commercial crane vehicles. The approach is intended to mask the […]View the full article

Belarus has received a new batch of Su-30SM2 fighter jets, with the aircraft arriving at one of the country’s airbases, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus announced on January 29. According to the ministry, the newly delivered fighters are part of ongoing rearmament of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces. […]View the full article

Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted a drone strike against an ammonium nitrate production plant in Dorogobuzh, Russia, destroying key industrial infrastructure used for both civilian industry and military supply chains, according to newly released satellite imagery analyzed by the OSINT project CyberBoroshno. The attack was carried out using Ukrainian FP-1 unmanned aerial vehicles, with imagery published […]View the full article