Raw Intel

The Russian military has ordered two battalions of the new Sarma mobile precision-guided multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), according to leaked procurement documents obtained by Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi. The 300mm Sarma, developed by Motovilikha Plants and mounted on a KamAZ-63501 8×8 chassis, was officially unveiled earlier this year as part of Russia’s effort to […]View the full article

Pakistan has carried out a successful at-sea test of its new SMASH Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile, a weapon described by Islamabad as an indigenous Mach-8-class system designed for rapid, high-energy strikes against surface targets. According to information released by Pakistani defense sources, the test marked the first operational launch of the SMASH missile from a naval […]View the full article

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on December 26 that equipment positioned in Belarus near the Ukrainian border is helping Russian forces guide Shahed-type drones toward targets in Ukraine’s western regions. According to Zelenskyy, this equipment enables Russian drone operators to bypass Ukraine’s interception lines and direct attacks deeper into western areas of the country, including […]View the full article

Unconfirmed reports emerged late on Wednesday that a Russian Su-30SM fighter jet was shot down over the Black Sea near southern Ukraine, according to multiple Ukrainian sources familiar with the situation. The reports state that the aircraft belonged to the Russian Armed Forces and was lost in the maritime area south of Ukraine’s coastline. Several […]View the full article

A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed near a highway in western Turkey early Wednesday, killing its pilot, Turkish military authorities confirmed. The aircraft had taken off from the 9th Main Jet Base Command in Balıkesir before contact was lost shortly after midnight, according to an official statement. The incident occurred at approximately 00:56 […]View the full article

AZAK said it will present its second-generation unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) at the AUSA Global Force Symposium & Exposition in Huntsville, Alabama, from March 24 to 26, 2026. The Denver-based company confirmed it will bring its latest platform to the event following recent progress in U.S. Army-linked innovation programs. According to the company, the deployment […]View the full article

Indra Land Vehicles and IDV, a Leonardo Company, signed a strategic agreement on April 17, 2026, to deliver the new Marine Infantry Amphibious Combat Vehicle — known by its Spanish acronym VACIM — to the Spanish Armed Forces under a Special Modernization Program commissioned by the Spanish Ministry of Defence. The contract covers the supply […]View the full article

HDT Robotics has delivered Hunter WOLF unmanned ground vehicles to the U.S. Army’s 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Polk, Louisiana, as part of the Army’s Ground Optionally Autonomous Transport program. The delivery supports a week-long Operator New Equipment Training event at which HDT will train soldiers to operate, employ, and maintain the platform […]View the full article

Listening to what the enemy is saying on the radio, the phone, or any other communications channel has been one of the most consistently decisive intelligence advantages in modern warfare, and the U.S. Army has invested nearly $10 million to make sure its capability to do exactly that stays current. The deal, awarded to a […]View the full article

AEVEX Corp. secured a $50 million contract from the United States Air Force on June 30, 2026, to continue expanding unmanned mission-support capabilities for current operations, with $27 million in initial funding committed at award. The Solana Beach, California-based company, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AVEX, will use the […]View the full article

Uzbekistan’s president just got a firsthand look at armored personnel carriers, a self-propelled howitzer, and an upgraded Soviet-era tank rolling out of a factory that barely existed five years ago, and the visit signals a country quietly building its own domestic arms industry from scratch. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev toured the Nurafshon Makhsus Tekhnika enterprise in […]View the full article

A European company plans to build a $233 million explosives and warhead factory in Latvia, a NATO ally that sits just 175 miles (280 km) from Russia’s border, in a project aimed at closing a supply gap that has left Europe dependent on outside sources for the raw materials behind its weapons. Wolfram Europa announced […]View the full article

Assistant Secretary of War for Critical Technologies Michael Dodd said the Department of War needs to move directed energy weapons out of testing and into the field, arguing in a Sept. 22 post on X that high-energy laser programs have proven the technology works and now need ruggedized, deployable systems for air and missile defense. […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon a contract worth up to $8 billion to modernize and restart production of the satellite communications terminals that link the president and military commanders to U.S. nuclear forces, the U.S. Department of War announced on Oct. 13. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covers development work to modernize the Air […]View the full article

One of the core reasons more people have not joined the LCS bandwagon has been the ongoing contradictions and contrary sales points by its strongest advocates.Earlier this week we bounced the CNO's "not in harms way" off The Under's "LCS will be like Taffy 3" strange rally cry.Well - there is more to chew on that will help explain why LCS just cannot get traction. "If we needed a frigate, we would build a frigate." --- Undersecretary of the Navy Bob Work at the CATO forum: The Future of the U.S. Navy Surface Fleet. P 50 Section 2 of U.S. Navy Program Guide 2012 "Decommissioning of the remaining 26 FFGs is scheduled to occur prior to FY 2019. The LCS will repl…

Latest updates: New 2011-2014 contract; Long-lead buy for AGM-114Rs under previous contract. Hellfire II cutaway (click to view full) Hellfire I/II missiles are the USA’s preferred aerial anti-armor missile, and are widely deployed with America’s allies. All use semi-active laser guidance as their base mode. They equip its helicopter fleets (AH-64, AH-1, OH-58D, MH-60S/R), AH-64 and S-70 helicopters flown by its allies, and even Australia and France’s Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters. Range is officially listed as 9,000 meters, or about 5.6 miles. While Hellfires lack the fast-jet launch capabilities – and correspondingly extended maximum range – of the UK’s MBDA…

Ship inactivation, are, in a way, sad things to see. Especially for those who served on them, these ships represent untold hours of dedication, hard work, love, sacrifice, and memories of long, boring watches and flashing rushes of adrenaline. Each story is unique, but in aggregate they tell other, perhaps more meaningful stories about the naval service they represent, and the nation they serve. For those focused on capability, the question should always be twofold; 1) Are we commissioning more or less of what are are decommissioning?; 2) Are we going to have more capabilities tomorrow than we have today? For those focused on the Navy's stewardship of the taxpaye…

"What fresh he11 hath Sal brought this week?" you ask almost every Thursday. Oh my dear, sweet summer child ... there is always a fresh he11 on this septic isle of a topic. There are Collateral Duties ... and then there are Collateral Duties. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy - just imagine being "that guy." Almost as bad are having to sit and listen to "that guy." While you are reading the below pull quotes - actually you should read the whole "Solicitation: Become a Certified Diversity and Inclusion Change Agent" article - I want you to ponder the hours and money invested Coast Guard wide to do this. It isn't like the USCG cadre is big and overmanned (if one is sti…

Over at Defense News, Megan Eckstein has your must read to start your week. I hope she does not mind, but I'm going to pull a lot from her article. Read it in full, but there is so much here that validates what we have spent the last two decades on the Front Porch and on Midrats discussing, we need to spend some time to take a deep dive. Back in 2009 we warned everyone that the Navy's decision to classify INSURV was nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the results of bad decisions on maintaining the readiness of our Navy from the taxpayers and allowed senior leadership to play other games as opposed to their core responsibilities. To say that almost two decades after t…

The U.S. Army has tested a modernized Stryker-mounted reconnaissance vehicle designed to detect chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, featuring an integrated drone system equipped with Teledyne FLIR’s SkyRaider unmanned aerial system. According to a statement from the Joint Program Executive Office for CBRN Defense, the Joint Project Manager for CBRN Sensors team recently […] The post U.S. Army tests upgraded CBRN recon vehicle first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article