Raw Intel

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…

It is 1944 near Cagny in northern France. You are leading a section of two 33-ton M4 Sherman tanks when, all of a sudden, you find yourself facing a Panther, a Tiger I, an old Mark IV — and one70-ton King Tiger. What does an army lieutenant do? Become a naval officer. From the excellent War History Online; Gorman found himself at the top of a ridge, looking down at a field in which the German tanks were gathered. Only 900 feet (274 meters) of open ground stood between him and the feared Königstiger. He knew that if he didn’t act immediately, his two Sherman tanks would likely be taken out. This was when he decided to put a naval tactic to good use. By then, the Germ…

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 General Dynamics won a $21.4 million contract modification to exercise options hours for Abrams Systems technical support. M1A1/2 Abrams main battle tank is manufactured by General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS). The first M1 tank was produced in 1978, the M1A1 in 1985 and the M1A2 in 1986. Abrams M1A2 SEPV3 (System Enhanced Package) is a modernized configuration of the Abrams main battle tank (MBT) in service with the US Army. Work will take place in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2022. General Atomics has tested its newly developed Self-Protection Pod (SPP) on the MQ-9 last year at the Yuma Proving Grounds (YPG). During the tes…

Well, it should be. My thoughts, updates, and observations over at USNIBlog. Come on by and get a peek at a possible future imperfect. 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=pxNXai9TYZg:-hbSu87eDOQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pxNXai9TYZg:-hbSu87eDOQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pxNXai9TYZg:-hbSu87eDOQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pxNXai9TYZg:-hbSu87eDOQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/pxNXai9TYZgView the full article

Our comfortable, modern life exists on a delicate fabric of global transportation, laws, and lines of communication supported by assumptions of stability, peace, and professional competence. Over the last twelve months, from COVID-19 to EVER GIVEN in the Suez, the delicate nature off the global system of trade that allows affordable technology, food, and the full spectrum of consumer goods has broken in to the open for everyone to see. Is the global system of trade as delicate as it seems? Where are its weakest points, and how robust is it to various disruptions? Our guest this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern for the full hour to discuss this and related topics will be …

C-5 Galaxy (click to view full) When it was introduced, back in 1970, the C-5 Galaxy was the largest plane in the world. It also has the highest operating cost of any US Air Force weapon system, owing to extremely high maintenance demands as well as poor fuel economy. Worse, availability rates routinely hover near 50%. To add insult to injury, the Russians not only built a bigger plane (the AN-124), they sold it off at the end of the Cold War to semi-private operators, turning it into a commercial success whose customer list now includes… NATO. Meanwhile, the USA still needs long-range, heavy load airlift. The AN-124’s commercial success may get its production line res…

Americas Bell Boeing won a $1.6 billion deal for the repair, replacement, required availability, configuration management, and inventory management for supply support for 228 MV-22B (Marine); CMV-22 (Navy); and CV-22 (Air Force) Osprey aircraft components. The V-22 Osprey is a family of multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical as well as short takeoff and landing capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft. Work will take place e in Texas and Pennsylvania. Estimated completion will be by December 2026. Peraton Inc., a company that pro…

Americas Dyncorp International won a $30.3 million modification, which exercises an option to extend services to provide continued organizational level aircraft maintenance and logistics support for aircrew systems and subsystems, search and rescue equipment, and support equipment for the P-3 Orion, C-130 Hercules, F/A-18 Hornet, E/A-18 Growler, AV-8B Harrier II, H-60 Seahawk, and E-2D Hawkeye aircraft in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Naval Test Wing Pacific. Work will take place in California, Hawaii, Florida, New Mexico and Maryland. Estimated completion will be in April 2023. A recent US Army Futures Command live-flight demonstratio…

The U.S. Army has awarded software firm Palantir a $10 billion enterprise agreement aimed at consolidating and expanding its role across multiple defense programs involving artificial intelligence, data integration, and digital battlefield systems. The firm-fixed-price contract was issued on July 31 by Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, under solicitation number W519TC-25-D-0039. The […] The post Palantir wins $10B U.S. Army AI contract first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

One of the best things a military can do - it actually is a requirement - it to look at the most recent conflicts of other nations at a similar technological stage for hints at what does and does not work at war. Theories and exercises at peace can be dangerously misleading. Only by looking at what happens at war can you be prepared for when it is your turn. The most recent iteration of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is one such example. How could this inform Taiwan? Eric Chan over at The Diplomat looked at that angle; However, the first and most obvious lesson of the Armenia-Azerbaijan war is that through massed unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), it is possible f…

A reboot from almost four years ago. We have a new class of FFG to name ... we need a USS ENGLAND. What can one small ship, well trained, well led, and well armed do when she finds herself in the right place at the right time? I give you the USS ENGLAND, (DE 635), via Michael Peck at TheNationalInterest; The saga of the England began on May 18, 1944, when the England and two other destroyer escorts received orders to find a Japanese submarine reported heading toward the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. On the afternoon of May 19, the England's sonar detected the submarine I-16. What happened next is detailed in an account written by Captain John Williamson, who …

Problems with accessing this content on facebook - mostly due to OPFOR action, has been longstanding and hard to fix. On NMCI and some other platforms, there are issues with the entire blogspot domain ... again, longstanding. As such, while I am not changing platforms as of yet, from here on out I am going to be crossposting to the CDR Salamander page on Substack. I've decided to let Bryan's post be the test run as FB now won't let anyone link to my stuff, and NMCI trolls have done there work there as well. Some of you may like that format, and through the years many of you have asked if I had a "tip jar." I have not moved to pay subscriptions, but may add that in the n…

Americas Raytheon Technologies won a $49.2 million deal, which provides for one conventional take-off and landing and two short take-off/vertical landing F135 engines to support F-35 Lightning II Block Four developmental testing program for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. The Pratt & Whitney F135 is an afterburning turbofan developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Last week Raytheon was awarded a $290 million contract, which provides material and support equipment for depot maintenance facilities, program administrative labor for non-recurring sustainment activities, mockup engines and modules for tes…

...and a special thanks to everyone at sea who puts in that extra effort to bring a proper Thanksgiving meal to their Shipmates. View the full article

Americas The US Air Force has decided to add an active duty component to the 168th Air Refueling Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base. The move will add four additional KC-135s and up to 220 additional active duty personnel. This will make the squadron a total force unit as it increases the total KC-135 aircraft to 12. The personnel will be reassigned from within the Air Force. F-35A, AF-1, has successfully carried out the in-flight release of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) over at Edwards Air Force Base last month. Forsvarsmateriell, the Norwegian Defense Material Agency, was responsible for conducting successful test drops of the JSM missile from the F-35A in the desert …

Americas Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control won a $2.8 billion contract for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) Alternative Warhead rocket pods, GMLRS Unitary Warhead rocket pods, Low-Cost Reduced Range Practice rocket pods, cybersecurity services, integrated product support and other services. The company describes the Guided MLRS as a “rapidly-deployable, long-range, surface-to-surface, precision-strike capability.” It is fired from both the MLRS M270 family of launchers and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers. Six Guided MLRS rockets per launch pod, with 2 pods carried by the M270 launchers and 1 pod carried by the HIMARS launc…

I like well hidden history, especially those with good shoes. There are many stories out there that we are only now hearing about ... and this is one. From DailyMail, If the story sounds interesting, click the link above for an extended summary, or you can get the details in Operation Kronstadt: The True Story of Honor, Espionage, and the Rescue of Britain's Greatest Spy The Man with a Hundred Faces by Harry Ferguson.Wouldn't it make a great movie ... if Hollywood still made movies of this type? Wrong heroes, I guess.Originally posted JUL10.If you want to hear more, and I know you do, historian Justin Reay has almost an hour for you on a man who two world wars later wou…

Five years ago, an exceptional American Army NCO from WWII passed away, Technician 5th grade (E4) from the 103rd Infantry Division, awarded the Bronze Star by the USA and Légion d'honneur from France. He lived 102 years, and with him passed the last war chief of the Crow Tribe. A great American, Joe Medicine Crow; According to Crow tradition, a man must fulfill certain requirements to become chief of the tribe: command a war party successfully, enter an enemy camp at night and steal a horse, wrestle a weapon away from his enemy and touch the first enemy fallen, without killing him. Joe Medicine Crow was the last person to meet that code, though far from the windswe…

Americas According to Bloomberg News, a Pentagon testing report dated September 28 for the VH-92A Marine One helicopter says the helicopter is not effective for “contingency operation mission,” which means the rotor craft cannot be used during an emergency. For administrative missions, the helicopter is still operational effective, the internal memo said. The Canadian government informed Boeing that its Super Hornet does not meet the country’s requirements for the fighter competition to replace the F/A-18 legacy Hornet. Three anonymous sources said that the American aerospace company was informed of the decision on November 24. Middle East & Africa NATO’s Operation …