Raw Intel

California-based Saildrone has announced a new class of unmanned surface vessel called Spectre, a 52-meter (170-foot) platform capable of reaching speeds up to 30 knots and designed to deliver persistent anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and strike capability to naval operations. The announcement, made at the Sea Air Space conference, marks the most ambitious […]View the full article

Romanian manufacturer IRUM has unveiled the IRON-690, a modular autonomous ground drone designed for defensive support operations, at the Black Sea Defense and Aerospace exhibition in Bucharest. The prototype was presented at BSDA on May 13, 2026, according to IRUM’s press release. The IRON-690 is not a conventional vehicle but an adaptable autonomous platform configurable […]View the full article

It is far past time to pick up the conversation point we last visited back in September: AUKUS. Just to refresh everyone on my position that I’ve held since this program was announced a half-decade ago: this is one of the most important military and diplomatic initiatives of this century. There are a host of reasons we discuss this on a regular basis. They are also why I have been emphatic that it not only must work, but must come online as early as possible. Australia is one of our most critical allies. She is one of our most reliable allies. She occupies one of the most strategic positions in the world. Our greatest adversary—and hers—are aggressively attempting to subd…

Echodyne’s counter-drone radar has become one of the most widely deployed sensors on modern battlefields, showing up on test ranges in the United States, at military training grounds in Lithuania, and in active combat use in Ukraine, and the Kirkland, Washington company told The Defence Blog in a written interview that it is now racing […]View the full article

The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit recently fielded the Light Marine Air-Defense Integrated System, known as LMADIS, and immediately began working it into underway training aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island off the California coast, Staff Sgt. Michael Virtue reported for the 13th MEU. Marines assigned to the 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense […]View the full article

It has been a bit more than four years ago that navalists were in their second month of excitement about the prospects for a larger Navy with the incoming Trump Administration. As most did not expect him to win in 2016, few of us paid any more than passing attention that he picked up on work already done under Obama’s SECNAV Mabus to mark “350-355” as the number needed given the realities of the evolving global security situation – specifically China’s not so peaceful rise. Not fully appreciated at the time, partisanship and incomplete information led many to not give credit to the Obama team for their work prior to the election. Likewise, in a few years the larger f…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won a $195 million contract modification to a previously awarded fixed-price incentive (firm-target) contract (N0001918C1037). This modification exercises options to provide support services to include non-recurring engineering, software support activity and product support in support of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) Lot 9 full rate production (FRP) aircraft. In addition, this modification adds scope to procure one E-2D AHE CV-22B variation in quantity aircraft Lot 10 FRP aircraft. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) is the newest variant of the E-2 aircraft platform. It features a state-of-the-art radar with a two-generation leap in capability…

Tired of hearing "DELTA" related to COVID, when in a good and just world when you heard that word it would be used to talk about old Russian Soviet Era SSBN or 2-seater all weather F-18s? Well, we're not sure we'll cover either of those topics on today's episode or that we'll totally ignore COVID's impact in the natsec arena, but it's a melee - so you never know what will come up in the maritime national security conversation. We do have a few topics to get the conversation started; giving Deming a second look, the CNO admits what everyone knew about FORD for over a decade, China rattles the nuclear saber at Japan, and our friends return to the Pacific. Remember, with …

...and there she goes. Laid down when Eisenhower was CINC. Commissioned when Kennedy was CINC. Decommissioned 49 years later when Obama was CINC. The Vietnam War, most of the Cold War and almost two decades after it ended, was in movies such a Seven Days in May and The Final Countdown, from A-1s to F/A-18s, all the way through to the conflicts in Africa, Southwest and Central Asia of this century. Our last conventional carrier to be decommissioned, and now she's off to the breakers; The USS Kitty Hawk, the nation's last oil-fired aircraft carrier, departed Bremerton on Saturday for a 16,000-mile journey around South America for its ultimate fate: scrapping at a Texas…

Time to raise a topic we first brought up the first year of this blog over 17-years ago; riverine. As we discussed at the time, we invaded a nation, Iraq, dominated by major river systems, yet because of the stupidity of the 1990s defense policies, we divested of our riverine forces. The last units left the reserves just a few years before we would need them again. As a result, we not only did not have the ability to take advantage of the unique mobility riverine environments can provide for our own military operations, we surrendered the waters to the enemy's use unopposed. The requirement was still there, we just ignored it in DC while the US Army did what it could wit…

Americas Boeing won an $8 million modification, which exercises an option to provide cyber security services to support the physical security of the P-8 aircrew trainers and facilities, including cyber scanning and remediation, cyber security updates, and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance for the Navy. Work will take place in Missouri and California. Estimated completion will be in September 2023. Lockheed Martin is working with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to lift a delivery pause of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) combat aircraft following the recent discovery of material from China. The F-35 program office has assessed that the Chinese alloy doe…

Officially the Navy may have a “new mission” but it is just putting in to law what has been in existence since the first Stone Age man outfitted his fishing canoe as a war canoe. In a modern society, words mean things and even what is self-evident must on occasion be put in writing. What is “Title 10?” That is what tells our Navy what it’s mission is. We now have newTitle 10 language, in Section 8062(a):“The Navy, within the Department of the Navy, includes, in general, naval combat and service forces and such aviation as may be organic therein. The Navy shall be organized, trained, and equipped for the peacetime promotion of the national security interests and prosperity…

Americas Capella Space won a $14 million firm-fixed-price contract to provide Synthetic Aperture RADAR satellite system capabilities and integrate them into Air Force Research Laboratory’s Global Unification Environment. Work will be performed at Kirkland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by December 1, 2026. The Air Force Research Lab, Kirkland AFB, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. The US Army, in conjunction with NATO allies, has successfully conducted a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) Rapid Infiltration (HIRAIN) operation utilizing an Airbus A400M transport aircraft for the first time. This groundbreaking achievement mar…

Ukraine’s 28th Mechanized Brigade has developed a robotic air defense platform that combines a 4×4 unmanned ground vehicle with a shoulder-fired Igla man-portable air defense system (MANPADS), according to a report from Militarnyi. The short-range air defense unit was developed independently by the brigade’s engineering team and is already credited with a combat success. “It […] The post Ukrainian soldiers develop robotic air defense system first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Friday accused the United States of seeking a violent regime change in Venezuela and across Latin America, warning President Donald Trump to reject what he described as a misguided and destabilizing strategy. In a televised address during an operational ceremony of Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Militia, Maduro said, “The United States […] The post Venezuela warns U.S. against military pressure first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

American and British armored forces came together this week in Estonia for a joint promotion ceremony that doubled as a powerful demonstration of allied cooperation. On October 1, 2025, U.S. soldiers from the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and British soldiers from AJAX Squadron showcased their main […] The post Abrams meets Challenger 2 on NATO’s eastern flank first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The armed forces of Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States carried out a Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone from October 30 to 31, 2025, demonstrating a shared commitment to regional stability and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific. According to a statement, the two-day exercise was […]View the full article

A Russian military blogger affiliated with the Russian Aerospace Forces has triggered a wave of criticism in China after publicly suggesting the use of Kh-31A anti-ship missiles to sink China’s newest and largest amphibious assault ship, the Type 076 Sichuan. The remarks were posted on Telegram by Ilya Tumanov, a well-known Russian blogger writing under […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has awarded Strategic Test Solutions LLC a $1.87 billion service contract to support operations and maintenance at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, according to an official contract award notice released this week. Strategic Test Solutions LLC, based in Huntsville, Alabama, received a contract valued at $1,868,902,857 for the Eglin […]View the full article

Russia delivered military products to more than 30 countries in 2025 and earned over $15 billion in foreign currency revenue from arms exports, President Vladimir Putin said on January 30 during a meeting of the Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation with foreign states. Speaking at the session, Putin said Russia’s system of military-technical cooperation continued to […]View the full article