Raw Intel

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $19 million modification for the procurement of material modification kits, and special test and tooling equipment necessary to support F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft retrofit and modification efforts for the Air Force, Marines, Navy, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in August 2027. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. US Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 311 (VMFA-311) is close to declaring Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the F-35C Lightning II, markin…

The Australian government has announced the selection of Japan’s upgraded Mogami-class frigate as the preferred platform for the Royal Australian Navy’s next-generation general purpose surface combatants. The decision, revealed on August 5, moves Canberra into the next stage of negotiations with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japanese government. According to the Albanese government, the […] The post Japan to supply Australia’s next-gen warships first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

ICEYE and the Finnish Defence Forces have finalized a €158 million ($185 million) contract for the acquisition of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. The agreement, signed on September 8 in Tampere by Brigadier General Engineering Juha-Matti Ylitalo of the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command and Seppo Aaltonen, Vice President Nordics & NATO at ICEYE, follows […] The post Finland signs $185M deal with ICEYE for SAR satellites first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

U.S. soldiers from the 1-16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division carried out live-fire exercises in Bulgaria from September 29 to October 5, 2025, conducting a week of intensive training with Abrams tanks aimed at enhancing precision, maneuvering, and team effectiveness on the battlefield. The training focused on engaging tactical targets […] The post U.S. Abrams crews sharpen skills in Bulgaria live-fire drills first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Newly elected Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wen, leader of Taiwan’s second-largest political party, sparked sharp debate after telling Deutsche Welle that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not a dictator,” arguing that he was “democratically elected” and that Russia has been “democratized for many years.” In her first interview with international media since assuming party leadership, […]View the full article

Aerospace giant Boeing has been awarded a $104 million delivery order by the U.S. Navy for the repair of advanced cockpit display systems used in F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft. According to a Department of War contract announcement, the order (N00383-26-F-0YY0) falls under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00383-22-G-YY01). The deal […]View the full article

Venezuela accused the United States of carrying out a “very serious military aggression” early Saturday, after explosions were reported in Caracas and surrounding regions, according to an official government statement. In a statement released in the early hours, the Venezuelan government said it “repudiates and denounces to the international community the very serious military aggression” […]View the full article

One of the foundation stones of any understanding of the national security requirements of the United States is a requirement to fully understand that we are primarily a maritime and aerospace power. That is our comparative advantage. Aerospace isn’t just air-breathing aircraft, it includes space. For far too long, narrow-thinking people for the most base reasons have neglected space. Like many things, we gained a huge advantage over everyone else, and then decided the money would be better spent buying votes and currying favor with…whoever was going to help buy votes. From Carter’s malaise to Obama’s obsession with using NASA for “Muslim outreach” when it wasn’t trying t…

Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that Ali Al Salem Air Base was targeted by multiple ballistic missiles earlier today, with Kuwaiti air defense forces successfully intercepting the incoming threats, according to an official military statement released Saturday. Debris from the interception reportedly fell in areas surrounding the base, but authorities said defensive systems neutralized the […]View the full article

An Iranian missile and drone attack on March 27 struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, wounding multiple United States service members and damaging several aircraft, including an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft and aerial refueling planes. According to Air & Space Forces Magazine, citing people familiar with the matter, […]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

Lockheed Martin has secured a $61 million U.S. Army contract to develop and demonstrate two of the most consequential near-term upgrades to the Patriot air defense system: a containerized missile launcher and a hemispherical guidance device that eliminates one of Patriot’s most significant tactical limitations, the inability to engage threats approaching from outside a fixed […]View the full article

The Ukrainian startup behind the autonomous Shahed interceptor system announced this week by Ukraine’s Defense Minister has a name, a price tag, and a detailed technical story: MaXon Systems, a Kyiv-based defense technology company, built an interceptor drone that kills Shaheds on autopilot for approximately $3,500 per unit, Defender Media reported in an exclusive interview […]View the full article

A firearm attachment once reserved almost exclusively for special operations units is quickly becoming standard-issue equipment for ordinary infantry soldiers worldwide, according to a July 3 report from German defense outlet hartpunkt. The report examines the growing military adoption of what the article calls signature reducers, the more technically accurate term for devices commonly known […]View the full article

An electric cargo drone that did not exist ten weeks ago just spent days flying nonstop supply runs for one of the U.S. Army’s biggest technology experiments, hauling everything from field rations to medical gear into locations a traditional cargo plane could never reach. Pyka, an autonomous aviation company based in Alameda, California, announced this […]View the full article

RENK Group inaugurated three new machining centers at its Rheine, Germany facility Monday, part of a plan to more than triple the company’s annual transmission output by 2030, the company said. RENK aims to grow production at its headquarters in Augsburg to exceed 2,000 transmission units per year by 2030. The company has been transferring […]View the full article

U.S. Army soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division took a mobile counter-drone system to India’s Rajasthan desert during exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026, showing Indian Army troops how it finds and defeats small drones. The system, the Mobile Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System, or M-LIDS, was set up at the Mahajan Field Firing […]View the full article

An unnamed foreign government is paying Lockheed Martin another $18.8 million to develop and integrate a version of the F-35 fighter jet built to its own specifications, the U.S. Department of War said on Oct. 15. The Pentagon’s daily contract announcement said the modification to an existing contract with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, […]View the full article

Facepalm. Just facepalm. Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state’s oil-soaked waters. Today, against the governor’s wishes, those barges sat idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore. “It’s the most frustrating thing,†the Republican governor said today in Buras, La. “Literally, yesterday morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges.â€â€¦ [T]he Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble conta…

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. William Kavanagh uses the optic lens on his M4 carbine to scan the area in the Kajak district of Afghanistan's Helmand province, Feb. 8, 2013. Kavanagh, a company executive officer, is assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kowshon Ye View the full article