Raw Intel

Americas Raytheon won a $7.8 million delivery order for the repair of 10 line items associated with the APY-10 radar system used in support of the P-8A aircraft. The AN/APY-10 is integrated into the Boeing mission control and display system aboard the Poseidon for control, display and data distribution. The radar also will provide ultra-high-resolution imaging modes for maritime and overland operations. The radar fits in the nose of the Poseidon. Work will take place in Florida and Texas. Estimated completion will be by May 2023. According to the US Navy, an at-sea experiment with emerging technologies brought over 100 scientists and military personnel together in Califo…

As I did once in a DivThu in 2017 when we looked again at the USCG's sad decline in to official sectarianism, there was once a time when the USCG Academy was a rare light where everyone was on an equal footing. There was no discrimination based on race, creed, color, or national origin. As we covered in 2010, not any more. A dozen years later, the USCG's diversity division is not through growing its empire well beyond the USCGA, expanding its grift. No, as was done in 2010, they are using their influence in Congress to find more positions for otherwise unemployable people who have but one job; don't solve problems, justify our grift. Let's have a little detailed …

WaPo is using the exactly correct phrase, "State Sponsored Hijacking;" Earlier Sunday, Ryanair Flight 4978 from Greece to Lithuania was over Belarusian airspace, when it was contacted by local air traffic control. The controllers claimed that there might be a bomb on board and ordered the plane to land in Minsk, Belarus’s capital city. The evidence suggests they were concerned with a very different threat — to the regime of Belarus’s longtime autocratic ruler, Alexander Lukashenko. One of the passengers on the plane was an opposition journalist, Roman Protasevich, whom Belarusian authorities wanted to take into custody. According to reported eyewitnesses: “One guy…

What is the reality of 2021 for those concerned with the direction of our nation's defense? With no constituency of any significant power in the Executive or Legislative branches of government willing to expend political capital for a larger defense budget, much less a larger Navy, everyone should accept that through at least mid-decade there will be flat to decreasing DOD budges. If you want to know where the low hanging fruit is from the perspective of those in the Biden Administration given responsibility for making policy in DOD, keep an eye on Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. She knows her business. This summary by Paul McCleary at Breaking Defense is so…

Since 17 of our Sailors drowned in berthing after the collisions of the summer of 2017 to now - we have covered almost the time it took from the attack on Pearl Harbor to victory in Tokyo Bay ... and yet ... what have we really done? Look at the metrics. That's what I did over at USNIBlog. Come and see. 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=g3oFD2hsujQ:40ZR1PD4JA8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=g3oFD2hsujQ:40ZR1PD4JA8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=g3oFD2hsujQ:40ZR1PD4JA8:V_sGLiPB…

In the 1970s we left the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) - a church my family had been members of through my matriarchal line since it appeared on the North American continent. We left because each Sunday became a running battle between the parishioners and the ministers over the church's support of the communists in Nicaragua. This was a tough sell in a part of a the country highly influenced by their Cuban neighbors' staunch first-person experience with that blood-soaked ideology - but PCUSA was well past the institutional capture turn and the Presbyterian Church of American (PCA) was yet widely known and Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States) didn't even exist. …

India’s new surface-to-air missile, the Akash, successfully struck an airborne target towed from a remote control aircraft in late November. The weapon is designed to hit aircraft up to 25 km away with a 55 kg warhead. Reuters: India Test-Fires Akash Missile Update July 12/21: IAF Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) signed a contract worth $67 million to provide Akash missiles to the Indian Air Force (IAF). A formal contract was signed by the Indian Ministry of Defense and BDL on July 8. Akash is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by BDL. February 15/2017: India’s Defence…

Some days - fullbore is just staying alive. It doesn't happen by accident; it takes you knowing your equipment, your procedures - and most importantly, your ability to think and act without delay. It also takes your Shipmates - known and unknown - who know their business.One of those days for Crusader pilot Cliff Judkins. Don't stop now - read it all.Hat tip SJS. First posted in JUL 2012 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=wouIm5jLdlQ:NDgCLInmsXs:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=wouIm5jLdlQ:NDgCLInmsXs:-BTjWOF_DHI …

All month I tried to ... no ... I asked myself to come up with something good at the 1-yr anniversary of the national humiliation that was our negotiated retreat/surrender of Kabul a year ago, but here I am the night of the 30th and the morning of the 31st ... and I have pretty much nothing. "Good?" No. I failed you and myself. I'm not all that happy about it either - but that kind of fits the moment. I looked at the subtitles of the posts I did a year ago on the 31st of August, 5th of September, and 7th of September of 2021; - the fault, shame and humiliation is all ours; all red, white, and blue; - the good in the shadows; - the people, promises, and reputation we le…

Americas Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s (NAWCAD) UX-24 Unmanned Test Squadron, teamed up with Military Sealift Command and the crew of MSC’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO 188) to test a new concept in material transportation, while the ship was underway in the Atlantic Ocean, July 15-16. The Blue Water logistics Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) carried out three test flights by transporting an internal cargo consisting of simulated repair parts. AeroVironment, Inc. introduced standardized modular payload interface kits for RQ-20B Puma tactical unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) recently. The Modular Payload Standard was established by US Sp…

Americas Bell Boeing won a $72 million contract modification, which exercises options to procure 15 Nacelle improvements kits, rotatable pool components and interim spares. The modification also provides for the installation of eight kits in conjunction with conversion area harness, electrical wiring interconnect system assessments, sustaining engineering, and over and above requirements for the CV-22 fleet aircraft. Work will take place in Texas and Pennsylvania. Estimated completion is in June 2025. A successful Rapid Dragon test flight was concluded on November 6, according the US Air Force Research Laboratory. Conducted at White Sands Missile Range, a MC-130J airdrop…

What do the numbers tell us about the USN's expected fleet during the rest of what we call the Terrible 20s? We are going to spend an hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern digging in to that question with returning guest Matthew Hipple, active duty Surface Warfare Officer & former president of the Center for International Maritime Security. As a starting point for our conversation we will reference his May 9th article over at CIMSEC, "20 Years of Naval Trends Guarantee a FY23 Shipbuilding Plan Failure." "The FY23 Shipbuilding Plan proposes a 10-year drop in fleet numbers that deviates in spirit from every shipbuilding plan since 2012. During this dangerous decade, the…

Americas Black Construction won an $83.7 million deal for design and construction of wharf improvements at Naval Base Guam. The work to be performed includes the renovation and modernization of Berth 2 to provide full capability to support two loaded T-AKE vessels with the proper depth of water, sufficient wharf length, and power and utilities. The Lewis and Clark Class T-AKE is a dry cargo/ammunition ship, totaling 14 ships. Designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea while providing underway replenishment services, the T-AKE directly contributes to the ability of the Navy to maintain a forward presence. Work will take place in Guam. Expected completion…

A lot of you are experiencing official discrimination on a regular basis and share what you are going through with me. The vast majority of it I don't share because it is sent on background to me as people are terrified of being found out by the diversity zampolits. The most scared people - even more than those in the military - are those in academia. It isn't just the college admission process, it is the red in tooth and claw discrimination in hiring faculty giving special consideration to some racial and ethnic groups while at the same time taking specific negative action against other racial and ethic groups. I've written way too much in a rambling way on the topic ov…

Americas The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency chose 3 teams of researchers led by Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Northrop Grumman. They have been selected to develop event-based infrared (IR) camera technologies. The project was awarded under the agency’s Fast Event-based Neuromorphic Camera and Electronics program. Event-based cameras are an emerging class of sensors with demonstrated advantages relative to traditional imagers. These advanced models operate asynchronously and only transmit information about pixels that have changed. This means they produce significantly less data and operate with much lower latency and power. The US Army’s new Infantry Squad Veh…

Americas Northrop Grumman Aerospace won a $298.2 million contract modification to repair common unmanned aircraft system components for the US Air Force. The deal provides for repair services for “common items” for both the RQ-4B and MQ-4C Triton. It will support reparable National Stock Numbers (NSNs) which encompass the Air Vehicle, multiple sensor packages, Mission Control Element, and Launch and Recovery Element. In addition, this effort includes support engineering services covered under the engineering delegation authority for NSNs transferred to and under the management of the 407 Supply Chain Management Squadron. Work will take place in California, Utah, Virginia,…

Americas Llamas Plastics won a $14.2 million deal for V-22 windscreens. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft. The aircraft operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date is October 28, 2026. Raytheon won a $48.2 million contract modification to exercise options for DDG 1000 class engineering support, material and other direct costs in support of the engineering efforts. Developed under the DD(X) destroyer program, the Zumwalt class destroyer (DDG 1000)…

There was not a sea battle to be fought in that little war ... but there are lessons for our Navy all in it. I ponder my #1 lesson over at USNIBlog. Come by and ponder with me. 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=2ouXuomqzRQ:332CV29lP8w:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=2ouXuomqzRQ:332CV29lP8w:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=2ouXuomqzRQ:332CV29lP8w:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=2ouXuomqzRQ:332CV29lP8w:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/…

The Navy's hate-hate relationship with its fleet of small ships would be a comedy if it were not so tragic. As recorded here in the opening years of this blog, one of the greatest errors of the last 40-yrs was the Navy's retreat from its exceptional riverine force it learned it needed the hard way in Vietnam. At the end of the 1990s, we disestablished the vestige of this once great capability in the Navy Reserve just a half decade before they would be desperately needed in Iraq. Untold numbers of American and allied personnel were killed and maimed because we invaded a nation whose central geographical feature were two great rivers that we could not, for years, gain e…

For centuries, since first in England and then in the United Kingdom, there was a habit/tradition in the English speaking world of getting involved in wars on the continent, directly or indirectly, for the simple reason of wanting to ensure a balance - or at least - a disaggregated power on Continental Europe. There is also a strong connection more than just language in the "Five Eyes" nations of Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We all share a certain view of our place in the world we helped create. The rebellious child of the USA can be late to the game on occasion, but when the Mother Country goes to war, CAN, AUS, NZL go with her.…