Raw Intel

Americas The US Missile Defense Agency announced that the Flight Test Aegis Weapon System 31 Event 1 has failed. Two SM-6 missile interceptors were supposed to intercept a medium range ballistic missile target as the test object. The agency said “an intercept was not achieved.” It also failed to revealed the location of the test and the warship involved. A review to determine the cause of any problems has been initiated. Despite a 2017 order for managing fatigue after several ship collisions, few Navy officers get adequate sleep, a Government Accountability Office report says. The 81-page report on Navy readiness was released on Thursday, and notes that only 14 percent o…

The Front Porch got some nice top-cover to start the week off. This is good. As we covered here and on Midrats, sadly, the US Navy’s uniformed and civilian leadership over the last decade left a record of a serial inability to plan for the future of our Navy and worse, clearly define its importance to the security of our republic. Compounding the errors at the dawn of this century in the Age of Transformationalism, in the middle of the last decade it became clear to me in stark relief that the key to avoid further compounded errors lies in Congressional action. We need to identify and support Representatives and Senators of all parties (remember, there are (I) in the …

Americas Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division launched the amphibious transport dock Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) being built for the US Navy. Richard M. McCool Jr., the 13th LPD in the San Antonio class of amphibious assault force ships, will support US amphibious assault, special operations and expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st century. The Argentinian Ministry of Defense has approved the purchase of two Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters for the Argentinian Navy. The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by …

Americas Bath Iron Works won a $35.4 million contract modification for lead yard support effort for the DDG-51 Class Guided Missile Destroyer program. Work will take place in Maine. Estimated completion will be in June 2023. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics won a $59.8 million modification for multiple items used in the Abrams Main Battle Tank, Stryker Family of Vehicles, Light Armored Vehicle Family of Vehicles, Cougar, Buffalo and RG-31. The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense and named for General Creighton Abrams. Work will take place in Florida. Estimated c…

The slow building crisis in Ukraine is reaching a point of critical mass. I think a decision point in coming in mid-Feb. I'm pondering in more detail over at USNIBlog. Come by and give it a read. 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=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

The last year has seen a growing bi-partisan consensus that the United States and the People's Republic of China are in competition to set the global order for the next century. After a year to firmly set in the minds of national security leaders on both sides of the aisle, we find ourselves at a moment when Congress and the Executive branch of government are both in the mood to strengthen our nation and expand job opportunities by opening the door for more spending. Why haven't we seen the logical connection between the two? To explain the importance of this moment in time is returning guest poster, Bryan McGrath. Bryan, over to you. In a speech in Pittsburgh Wed…

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…

Americas The US Navy’s future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. landing platform dock has received an enterprise air surveillance radar (EASR) antenna. Also known as the SPY-6(V)2, the EASR integrates the service’s aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ships with a uniform hardware and software radar platform. The installation finalizes the delivery of EASR systems for the […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems won a $12.6 million order, which provides non-recurring engineering for the development of preliminary software design, software coding, maturation, test, and integration for Link 16 Advanced Capabilities with the Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System into the MH-60R/S aircraft for the Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. The MH-60R Seahawk is a multi-mission helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It is considered to be the world’s most advanced maritime helicopter. Work will take place in New York. Completion date is in February 2024. The United States Marine Cor…

Americas The State Department announced it has reached a $13 million settlement with US defense contractor Honeywell International over allegations it exported technical data concerning fighter jets and other military vehicles to foreign countries, including China. The settlement resolves 34 charges the State Department leveled against the company for disclosing dozens of engineering prints showing dimensions, geometries and layouts for manufacturing parts for aircraft, gas turbine engines and military electronics. The 174th Attack Wing is working with multiple Pentagon contractors and academic researchers to establish new capabilities for the MQ-9 Reaper drone aircraft,…

The big navalist news over the weekend was unquestionably what appears to be a successful attack on the Russian Navy at Sevastopol by remotely piloted surface craft by the Ukrainians. Some reports call them "drones" or other such descriptors, but really they appear to be an upscaled militarized remotely piloted surface vessel on a one way trip. There is a lot of expected hyperbole about the attack, and that is what I wanted to address today. I am concerned that the overhype by the ignorant, click hunting, or agenda driven people in the public space will cause us to miss the most important lesson here. This attack was not historically significant in a larger sense, no more…

Americas Raytheon won a $96.2 million contract modification for maintenance & recertifications in support of the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and NATO SeaSparrow Missile Systems programs. The SEASPARROW Missile is a radar-guided, surface-to-air missile based on the Navy and Marine Corps AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile. The SEASPARROW has a cylindrical body with four mid-body wings and four tail fins. Work will take place in Arizona, Canada and Germany. Estimated completion will be by December 2022. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. Unionized workers at three Boeing military aircraft factories in and near St Louis, Missouri, have a…

Peace is the ultimate goal and is a wonderful thing – but what makes it so special is that peace is not the natural state of things for our species. If you are lucky, you might get a couple of decades of peace before the next conflict of significance. More than that is a blessing few get to enjoy. That is the human benefit of peace, but peace also has a heavy price. As eventually wars come, nations have to be ready for them. From the time the first band of men walked in to your valley, you heard the horses of the steppe archers in the distance, or the tank rumbled through your local gas station – war comes and demands you join it immediately. You go to war with the peopl…

Have you been surprised that Iran and her Houthi proxies in Yemen have not gone after the Saudi's oil industry more? What are your thoughts on home-grown cruise missiles and mines? I'm pondering both over at USNIBlog. Come on over and give it a read. 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=qWHO6_ftgkg:PonTraVb97A:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=qWHO6_ftgkg:PonTraVb97A:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=qWHO6_ftgkg:PonTraVb97A:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=qWHO…

Americas Boeing won a $13.6 million contract modification, which exercises an option to perform 24 modifications in support of the Increment Three Block One retrofit as well as the procurement, manufacture and assembly of 25 additional retrofit kits supporting engineering change five for existing P8-A Poseidon aircraft. The P-8A Poseidon is the US Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft. It is capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations, and is also successful at search and rescue. Work will take place in Washington. Expected completion date is in December 2023. An annual air exercise between South Korea and the United States kicked off secretly on November 1. The ex…

Americas L3Harris won a maximum $13 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Army Chinook CH-47 helicopter spare parts production and repair. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Performance completion date is June 8, 2027. Northrop Grumman Systems won a $40.7 million order, which provides Full Scale Fatigue Test (FSFT) and Effects of Defects (EoD) for the Triton MQ-4C unmanned aircraft system, to include testing, analyzing, and documenting the results of both the FSFT and EoD test, as well as identifying post-test activities in…

Some FbF are so good ... you have to bring them back every few years. After a couple of week's FbF on other subjects, let's catch up with the Battle Off Samar. This time the USS HEERMANN (DD-532). HEERMANN screened transports and landing ships safely to the beaches of Leyte and then joined Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's Escort Carrier Task Group 77.4 which was made up of three escort carrier task units, known as the three "Taffies" because of their radio call signs: "Taffy 1", "Taffy 2", and "Taffy 3". Destroyers HOEL and JOHNSTON joined her in screening Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague's unit, "Taffy 3" which also included his flagship FANSHAW BAY (CVE-70) and thre…

Americas Raytheon won a $48.8 million deal for the repair of 10 forward-looking infrared components in support of the V-22 and CH-53 helicopters. This contract includes a five-year base period with no options. Work will take place in McKinney, Texas (40%); El Segundo, California (30%); Jacksonville, Florida (15%); and Goleta, California (15%). Work is expected […]View the full article

Americas General Dynamics won a $23.1 million deal for additional fiscal 2021 development studies, design efforts and material for Virginia Class submarines. The contract modification provides additional development studies and design efforts related to Virginia Class submarine design and design improvements. The contractor will continue development studies, design efforts and procurement of material required to fully evaluate new technologies for Virginia Class submarines. The Virginia Class attack submarine is an advanced stealth multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and littoral (shallow water) operations. The US Navy awarded seve…

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BRmsJF5OaUI/U8iUfbR92HI/AAAAAAAAIXI/VoI93S9dJF0/s200/220px-Yi_Sun-sin_1.jpg Have you ever heard of Admiral Yi of the Royal Korean Navy? Shame ... he was a complete stud ... and completely Fullbore. This is also instructive for those who think the whole Korea vs Japan thingy just has to do with WWII. No ... a lot deeper than that. It is hard to find good articles online about him outside Wikipedia - so I at least have to use their description of him for the uninitiated - it really is good; Yi Sun-shin (Hangul: 이순신; hanja: 李舜臣; April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy du…