Raw Intel

Americas Boeing won a $3.5 billion deal for the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Program. The contract will provide support and sustainment services to the government product support manager/product support integrator for the C-17 weapon system. The contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, NATO Airlift Management Program Office, India, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Support includes: program management; sustaining logistics; material and equipment management; sustaining engineering; quality assurance; depot level aircraft maintenance and modifications; F117 propulsion system management; long-term sustainment plannin…

Americas Boeing won a $39.7 million contract modification for new-build AH-64E aircraft. The AH-64 Apache is a twin-engine, four bladed, multi-mission attack helicopter designed as a highly stable aerial weapons-delivery platform. The helicopter is designed as a weapons delivery platform and is equipped with: a M230E1, 30mm automatic gun, aerial rockets system, and point target weapons system. Work will take place in Mesa, Arizona. Estimated completion date is October 31, 2025. A US Air Force probe into its recent contract award to Boeing for Japan’s KC-46 tankers spare parts has raised concerns about unfair pricing. Service officials reportedly confirmed to Defense News…

Two of the greatest self-inflicted institutional failures of the USN in the last half-century were Tailhook 91 and Fat Leonard. They decimated a generation of leaders and the hard-won service reputation with the American people and their elected representatives that we are still trying to climb out of. While Tailhook 91’s failure was mostly in the response of senior uniformed and civilian leadership to the political pressure by feeding their young to Vaal hoping to save their own skins, Fat Leonard exposed a greater, more dangerous rot that tied in all the worst features of human nature; greed, lust, envy, and addiction. As much of Fat Leonard was avoidable if there were…

Americas Honeywell International won a $72.9 million deal for the repair of six weapon repairable assemblies in support of the V-22 aircraft. The V-22 Osprey aircraft, made by a joint venture between Boeing and Bell, is a multirole model designed for both vertical and short takeoff and landing. The V-22 operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. The Navy will use its annual working capital funds to finance task orders under the contract, as work runs through November 2025. Work will take place in California and Arizona. Estimated completion will by by No…

Redacted to protect the ... well ... you know. The answer appears to be, "In the finest traditions of the Naval service." Side note: you can add this to your file that, yes, what the Admiral is interested in, the Fleet will be interested in. It matters. That is why, in the end, if you are happy or unhappy with our Navy ... that is where you start to look for answers to the question, "why?" 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=EK3z1xbOwFA:e3zsmdfORs8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=EK3z1xbOwFA:e3zsmdfORs8:-…

Americas Raytheon won a $34.3 million contract, which provides engineering and test support services for the ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) currently in development for the Navy EA-18G aircraft. The scope includes H16/H18/H20/H22 software support for NGJ pod and integration including requirements analysis, design, development, integration, testing, training and tools related to and in support of ALQ-249 and advanced electronic warfare initiatives for Navy and Foreign Military Sales customers. The NGJ is an external jamming pod. The AN/ALQ-249 utilizes the latest digital, software-based, and Active Electronically Scanned Array technologies in order to address advance…

If it is early summer in the Black Sea, it is time for the annual Ukrainian hosted international exercise Sea Breeze. Why is this exercise important, who came along, and what does it tell us about the state of the Ukrainian Navy, maritime security in the contested eastern Black Sea, and some interesting responses from the Russians? Recently returning from the exercise and joining us for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern will be returning guest, Captain Chris Rawley, USNR CAPT Rawley is the Reserve Chief of Staff for US. Naval Forces Europe and Africa. Over his 29 year career, he has deployed to the Persian Gulf, Western Pacific, Iraq, Afghanistan, and across…

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jMxlWqNjWjs/U1nIwXMMBjI/AAAAAAAAIJ4/839fmIwW8yk/s320/Galanti-portrait-Newswk-cap.jpgI bumped into a post I did over six years ago on the passing of one of our greats. Phyllis. Thought I'd repost today ... because, she deserves it. Circumstances display character. Character comes often from places least expected - unless of course you know the best of military spouses; She said in a Richmond News Leader interview in 1971 that while Galanti was a POW, she just “wanted to be a housewife.” She wanted to “sink into oblivion” when he returned. By 1969, she had become active with other POW wives. In 1970, the wives group became the National Leag…

Thai tank crews operating the VT-4 main battle tank have raised sharp criticism over the platform’s reliability during real-world operations, citing repeated mechanical failures and design shortcomings encountered during active use, according to multiple accounts from serving personnel. Soldiers and officers familiar with the tank’s operation report that the VT-4 has suffered from frequent malfunctions […]View the full article

See that beautiful bird on the right? That was the late-great Pershing II of the Reagan Era that helped the Soviet Union fall apart. It was exceptionally good for a nuclear weapon delivery vehicle with a very impressive accuracy. As it was nuclear only and we made agreements with an empire that eventually went away - we let that capability go. The Chinese and others have not. They have hundreds of conventional short/intermediate/medium range ballistic missiles in their inventory ready to go. We have ... well ... pictures. In the four decades since we decommissioned the Pershing II, a lot has happened. The Communist Chinese have - with our willing help - risen to challe…

Both history and common practice show that the most fundamental role of a major power’s naval forces is to “show the flag.” The world’s premier naval power has additional responsibilities if it wishes to remain the premier power; command of the seas. From material condition of our ships to failures of basic seamanship, the last few years have signaled that whatever we are doing, it isn’t being done in the best service of the nation or its Navy. As we face an accelerating challenge from the People’s Republic of China at sea, do we need a fundamental re-look at how we run our Navy? Our guest this Sunday from 4-5pm Eastern to discuss this and related topics he raises in the …

Americas Boeing won a $17.3 million contract modification for the US and United Kingdom to provide Strategic Weapon System Trident II (D5) Inertial Navigation equipment technical engineering support services. The Trident II D5 fleet ballistic missile (FBM) is a three-stage, solid-propellant, inertial-guided ballistic missile. In September 2021 the US Navy test-fired two unarmed Trident II missiles off the coast of Cape Canaveral, dubbing the launches a successful test of the operational readiness of the weapons system. Work will take place in California, Ohio, Washington, New York, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Scotland. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2022. …

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $51.8 million deal, which provides for program management support to include development of customer unique capabilities in support of the continued development of the air system for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program for a Foreign Military Sales customer. Work will take place in Texas, California and Florida. Estimated completion date will be in January 2024. The US Air Force has carried out wind tunnel testing of directed energy system turret earlier this year. “There is a growing interest for directed energy systems within the DOD for many purposes, especially defending our systems and personnel,” said Dr. Rich Roberts, c…

Ever wonder how fast things can come at you in combat ... and how fast you have to react to survive? Simply stunning video from the shootdown of a Russian S-25 in Ukraine: No other aircraft has been so valuable - and no aircraft has been shot down more - than the SU-25 in this conflict. Many regulars here are very familiar with "time compression" in such situations. Time slows down a lot. If you have not experienced that, you may wonder how he is able to eject so fast to survive a direct hit at 200-meters (about 600'). Well, training is one, but time compression is another. This slow-motion video makes it a little closer to what it felt like to the pilot. RUS Su…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $14.8 million contract modification, which is adding scope to provide depot level repair capabilities for the F-35 gun system in support of F-35 Lightning II low-rate initial production Lot 11 aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF) is a stealthy, supersonic multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company for the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and programme partners from the NATO and US allies. Work will take place in Varmint, Texas and Maine. Expected completion will be in November 2024. AAR Services won a $14.2…

We talked about them a little bit on yesterday's Midrats, but I can't keep them out of mind - so, we'll start out the week looking at one hell of a fleet the Japanese seem to be building; On the morning of September 1, the Japan Jiji News Agency suddenly reported news that the Japanese Ministry of Defense is preparing to build two new large warships. Its main features are: the standard displacement is about 20,000 tons, equipped with SPY-7 large radar originally used for land-based missile defense systems, equipped with American-made Standard-3 Block 2A anti-ballistic missiles, and Standard-6 long-range air defense missiles, made in Japan, Type 12 anti-ship missiles, and…

While it can be frustrating when "our friends" can be a tad difficult, but in adult friendships when people have independence you have to expect friends to have disagreements with you now and then, have other priorities, or are just one of those "challenging friends" that is a pain in the tail but when important things come up that count, they are there more often than not. Nations can be like people. While some nations are easy friends, there are nations who no one really likes. Sure, nations will do business with them and do their best to go along to get along. Even jerks have money and resources, so you do what you need to do, but as they seem more interested in takin…

No, not your liberty stories ... but the front line nations facing China that aren't all that concerned, directly, about the crisis in Kabul. Taiwan and Japan ... tiny step by tiny step ... are getting closer. A few updates over at USNIBlog. Come by and give it a read. 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=lUHZfGepKDA:qOcc32tVzFc:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=lUHZfGepKDA:qOcc32tVzFc:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=lUHZfGepKDA:qOcc32tVzFc:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogs…

Americas Lockheed Martin Space won a $558.8 million contract modification for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. The UGM-133A Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the American and British navies. Work is expected to be completed September 30, 2026. Fiscal 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $477,091,291; United Kingdom funds in the amount of $73,747,000; and fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) in the amount of $8,003,070 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fi…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won an $82 million contract, which provides for sustainment, engineering, logistics, test, mission control, and operator training systems support for MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This effort also includes procurement of field service representatives and technical support to ensure that the MQ-4C Triton UAS aircraft are mission-capable for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions supporting Triton’s early operational capability and initial operating capability. Work will take place in Maryland and California and Florida. Estimated completion will be in March 2022. General Electric won a $23.8 million contra…