Raw Intel

The U.S. Navy has formally requested approximately $3.009 billion to procure 785 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in its Fiscal Year 2027 President’s Budget, as sustained combat operations against Iran continue to drain one of the military’s most critical long-range strike assets. The request represents one of the starkest single-year escalations in cruise missile procurement the […]View the full article

Sion Power has introduced two lithium-metal battery cells built for unmanned military systems, aiming to extend flight time and increase payload capacity for drones used across modern operations. The new products, called Licerion Strike and Licerion Echo, deliver energy density exceeding 500 watt-hours per kilogram, a level that goes beyond current lithium-ion technology. The company […]View the full article

Turkey-based ARCA Savunma plans to build a large ammunition production facility in Estonia’s Põhja-Kiviõli defense industry zone, with production expected to begin in 2028 under a program valued at about €300 million ($352 million). The project, named “ARCA Baltic,” will establish a fully integrated manufacturing site capable of producing several types of munitions in large […]View the full article

A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier appears to have been operating north of Madagascar en route to the Arabian Sea after an onboard aircraft transmitted its position, according to open-source flight tracking data. Data from Flightradar24 shows a Bell-Boeing CMV-22B Osprey with the callsign “CHOSEN2” flying near the Comoros Islands earlier in the day. The aircraft, […]View the full article

The Australian government announced Tuesday it will allocate up to $7 billion for counter-drone capabilities within the Australian Defence Force over the next decade, with two initial contracts awarded to Australian companies as the first step under a new accelerated procurement mission. The announcement, made by Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, represents more than a […]View the full article

Three members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force were killed Tuesday morning when a shell detonated inside a tank during a live-fire exercise at the Hijudai training area in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan. The incident, one of the most serious training accidents to affect the GSDF in recent memory, also left a fourth soldier seriously wounded. […]View the full article

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has completed the initial flight series of a new J85 engine-powered variant of its Firejet unmanned aerial system, the company said. Developed in coordination with the U.S. Army’s Target Systems Management Office, the new configuration — designated Mk1 Firejet — represents the second major variant of the Firejet platform and […]View the full article

I mentioned in passing on Sunday’s Midrats Podcast a graph attributed to Bloomberg that wandered into my feed right before the show. Here it is. It’s not new. It came out a few years ago. I’ve looked for the original article, but no joy. However, it has been picked up in quite a few places with no challenge, so let’s assume it is ligit. The implications here are absolutely critical, as it should impact a lot of the planning assumptions people have been using as they look at a rising China and the moment that it passes the U.S. economically. Not wanting to get head-faked, I looked around for other data that might show similar data. There’s more. That shows the same inflec…

The core technical problem IARPA is trying to solve is straightforward in concept but formidable in execution: build drone engines and motors out of materials that perform reliably during a mission, then break down on their own afterward, leaving little or no physical trace. Current drone propulsion components — turbine blades, motor housings, combustion chambers, […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has issued a Sources Sought notice for TEAL Drones’ Black Widow small unmanned aerial system, signaling potential procurement of the specialized tactical drone capable of feeding live targeting data directly to airborne F-35 fighters. The notice, published April 20, 2026, by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center under Air […]View the full article

Boeing has been awarded a $11.95 million contract modification to install an Increment 3 retrofit kit on a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The award exercises an option under an existing cost-plus-fixed-fee order and covers both the retrofit kit installation and associated ancillary support to upgrade the aircraft’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities. Naval Air […]View the full article

Raytheon Missiles and Defense has been awarded a $213.4 million contract modification to continue combat system work aboard the U.S. Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyers, the Department of War announced on April 20, 2026. The award exercises options under a previously issued contract and covers installation, integration, development, testing, correction, maintenance, and modernization of Zumwalt-class mission systems […]View the full article

Austin-based defense startup Aeon has carried out another successful test of its Zeus advanced tactical weapon system, the company announced, continuing a rapid development cycle that has seen the small firm push its guided mini-missile through repeated build-and-iterate testing rounds. Aeon founder and CEO Naweed Tahmas confirmed the test in a public statement: “Another day, […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy conducted a live-fire test of AeroVironment’s LOCUST Laser Weapon System aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). Military technology writer Jared Keller, author of the Los Angeles-based Laser Wars newsletter, was among the first to flag the test after official imagery surfaced publicly. Photos published to DVIDSHub show […]View the full article

The United States Air Force will keep the A-10 Thunderbolt II, known as the “Warthog,” in service until around 2030, extending the lifespan of a close air support aircraft that has been slated for retirement for years. The decision was announced by the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, which confirmed the move […]View the full article

AeroVironment said on April 20 it has secured a $14.6 million production contract from the U.S. Army for its VAPOR Compact Long Endurance unmanned aircraft system, an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing platform built for small-unit operations. The award falls under the Army’s Company-Level Directed Requirement Small Uncrewed Aircraft System program, Tranche 2, and is […]View the full article

Swedish fighter jets were scrambled Monday to intercept two Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers flying over the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Air Force said. The bombers were accompanied by two Su-30 fighter jets, and the mission was carried out under Sweden’s Quick Reaction Alert system in coordination with NATO allies. The aircraft were operating in international […]View the full article

Leonardo DRS has successfully integrated its Maritime Mission Equipment Package onto an autonomous unmanned surface vessel, delivering a new counter-drone capability designed to detect, track, identify, and defeat aerial unmanned threats in the maritime domain. The company announced the integration ahead of its showcase at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Symposium, where the M-MEP will be […]View the full article

Soldiers from the Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company, 3rd Mobile Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), trained with the Tactical Electronic Warfare System–Infantry mounted on an Infantry Squad Vehicle for the first time during a Joint Readiness Training Center rotation held April 7–17, 2026. The exercise marked the first field evaluation of TEWS-I integrated onto the ISV […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy successfully completed two demonstration flights of the Joint Direct Attack Munition Long Range variant in early April, clearing a significant milestone in the weapon’s development path toward fleet service. The test events validated safe separation from the launching aircraft, confirmed compatibility with existing aircraft interfaces, and demonstrated controlled powered free-flight and navigation […]View the full article