Raw Intel

FN Herstal unveiled a modernized variant of the FN MAG general-purpose machine gun, introducing a Long Rail Conversion Kit that brings integrated day, night, and thermal optic capability to one of the most widely fielded belt-fed weapons in military history. The update, announced from the company’s headquarters in Herstal, Belgium, targets the growing gap between […]View the full article

Dutch Military Vehicles introduced the DMV Tasman as the newest addition to its vehicle family this week, presenting the militarized pickup to a select audience from the Netherlands Ministry of Defence and industry partners after months of preparation. The Tasman, built on a KIA Special Vehicles base platform with a gross vehicle weight of 3,500 […]View the full article

The U.S. Marine Corps awarded Polaris Government and Defense a new contract worth up to $98 million to continue producing its MRZR Alpha Ultra-Light Tactical Vehicle, locking in up to five years of additional deliveries for a platform that has become central to how the Corps moves small units through terrain that heavier vehicles cannot […]View the full article

X-Bow Systems has delivered its 600th rocket-assisted takeoff motor to AEVEX Aerospace under a $12.2 million contract to supply thousands of RATO kits and solid rocket motors for the Disruptor strike drone, giving the U.S. Army’s newest long-range unmanned system the ability to launch from unprepared surfaces and confined spaces without a fixed catapult or […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has officially confirmed the integration of the AEVEX Disruptor strike drone into operational training, publicly acknowledging for the first time a system that spent years in deep classification, according to a report by Anthony Buchanan and Scott Thovson published May 21, 2026. The confirmation came through Exercise Arcane Thunder 26 at the […]View the full article

Ukraine’s 190th Training Center of the Unmanned Systems Forces released footage showing personnel being trained to intercept enemy drones using the Merops AS-3 Surveyor system, offering the first detailed public look at how Ukrainian units are institutionalizing interceptor drone tactics developed through two years of active combat against Russia’s Shahed campaign. The training footage shows […]View the full article

Sudan’s military shot down an enemy combat drone using one of its own unmanned aircraft, with the Sudanese Armed Forces deploying a Bayraktar Akıncı drone to fire an air-to-air missile and destroy the target, according to footage released by Clash Report. The engagement marks a notable moment in the ongoing Sudanese civil war, which erupted […]View the full article

Every few years I repost this little bit from 2005. It has been a half decade. It is time again, with some slight improvements. In a culture where more often than not, all your neighbors are really just transients - they move in and out every few years, chasing whatever opportunity or ambition pulls them next. Their families are scattered hither and yon; few really related to anyone. I've wondered for a while what impact the reality of the rolling, self-imposed Internally Displaced Persons has had on our nation - perhaps causing us to miss something. Is it a net gain, or a net loss? Well, perhaps I’m projecting; I have always thought I was missing something. Sure, p…

The first Boeing E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft destined for Royal Air Force service landed at RAF Lossiemouth in northern Scotland, beginning the final stretch of testing before the platform formally enters British military service. Registered as WT001, the aircraft flew north from STS Aviation Services at Birmingham Airport, piloted by a mixed crew […]View the full article

A South Korean-developed remote-controlled weapon station capable of networking three or more units into a single coordinated fire system represents a significant step forward for the country’s homegrown defense industry, according to KFN Plus. The system, known as an RCWS, is a remotely operated weapon turret mounted on light tactical vehicles and wheeled armored personnel […]View the full article

Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met Wednesday with the CEO of GCAP’s joint venture design company to declare the three-nation next-generation fighter program “an extremely important project that will determine Japan’s future air capabilities,” Nikkei reported. The meeting, held at the Japanese parliament, brought Koizumi together with Marco Zoff, chief executive of Edgewing, the private […]View the full article

South Korea finalized a $352 million deal on Friday to acquire American SM-6 shipborne missile interceptors for its Aegis destroyer fleet, with the weapons scheduled to reach operational service by 2034, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration reported. The approval, granted by the Defense Project Promotion Committee, South Korea’s senior arms procurement decision-making body, covers […]View the full article

A U.S. Army artillery battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado fired its last rounds as a Paladin unit on May 7, closing out 43 years of service with the self-propelled howitzer while simultaneously becoming the first Paladin formation in the Army to fire using the new Artillery Execution Suite, the Army reported. The 3rd Battalion, 29th […]View the full article

Monocrystal, once one of the world’s three largest producers of synthetic sapphire and a supplier of optical components used in Russian missiles and drones, has notified creditors of its intention to file for bankruptcy with the Arbitration Court of Russia’s Stavropol Krai, The Moscow Times reported. The collapse of the Stavropol-based manufacturer, a subsidiary of […]View the full article

The U.S. Army published a request for information on May 21, asking defense industry companies whether they can build a next-generation long-range optical targeting sensor that would replace two aging systems currently in service with reconnaissance and fire support units across the force. The program, called the Future Advanced Long-range Common Optical/Netted-fires Sensor and going […]View the full article

The U.S. Space Force expanded a contract with Geost LLC on May 13, 2026, by nearly $90 million, pushing the total value of the Oculus Host program to $196 million and extending its completion date to May 2033, a significant commitment that reflects how central space domain awareness in geosynchronous orbit has become to American […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy awarded Science Applications International Corporation, known as SAIC, a $112 million contract modification to continue producing components for the MK 48 Mod 7 heavyweight torpedo, the primary submarine-launched weapon of the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy. The work covers production of torpedo components, spare parts, production support materials, engineering support, and […]View the full article

The Netherlands is overhauling its entire fleet of 200 Boxer armored vehicles with new drone-killing weapon stations, updated IT systems, and critical spare parts fixes, hartpunkt reported, citing a Dutch Ministry of Defense announcement. The upgrade program covers vehicles that entered Dutch service starting in 2013, making the oldest units now more than a decade […]View the full article

It was a dozen years ago that...we thought—really thought—that with the X-47B we could move from crawl to walk with large unmanned systems. From the OG Blog in July, 2017: I'm interested in how many can I physically wedge on to a carrier deck and/or hangar bay. I'll waive the flight control issue etc - but once you know how many you can actually pack in your helmet bag and carry (given tradeoffs for other aircraft etc) - then we can start to plan orbits, sorties, loss-rate mitigation, etc. Now, if there were a way to stack them like so many Pringles ..... Ponder. Of course, by the end of the year, the usual suspects killed it for all the worst reasons. We could have had…

GE Aerospace secured a three-year engine support contract from Boeing Defence UK to maintain the T700-GE-T701D turboshaft engines powering the British Army’s fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The contract places a GE Aerospace field service representative permanently on-site at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk, the British Army’s primary Apache base, and routes engine repair […]View the full article