Raw Intel

Americas General Atomics won a $33.7 million contract, which provides for logistic support, maintenance services, supply chain and spares management, and sustainment support in support of the MQ-9 Reaper aircraft and its dual control mobile ground control station. The MQ-9 Reaper is the primary offensive strike unmanned aerial vehicle for the US Air Force. It is part of a remotely piloted aircraft system. A fully operational system consists of several sensor/weapon-equipped aircraft, ground control station, Predator Primary Satellite Link, and spare equipment along with operations and maintenance crews for deployed 24-hour missions. Work will take place in Arizona, Bahrai…

Just a little note that at least for the first half of this week, I will have limited access to internet to properly blog on what I’d like to, so things will be thin for a bit ... all is well ... thanks for you patience. 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=6aAsZbf8uYk:cbrvbY2VASg:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=6aAsZbf8uYk:cbrvbY2VASg:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=6aAsZbf8uYk:cbrvbY2VASg:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=6aAsZbf8uYk:cbrvbY2VASg:F7zBnMyn0Lo …

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $261.4 million contract modification, which increases scope for the procurement of long lead-time materials, parts, components, and efforts for the production of nine Lot 17 F-35C aircraft for the Navy, 13 Lot 17 F-35A aircraft and two Lot 17 F-35B aircraft for non-US Department of Defense participants. Work will take place in Texas, California, Maryland and Japan. Estimated completion is in May 2026. Boeing won a $55.5 million deal in support of the KC-46 program. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Boeing will deliver the entire KC-46 tanker fl…

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…

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

Americas The future USS Daniel Inouye completed builder’s trials after spending four days at sea off the coast of Maine last week, the Navy announced. The builder’s trials consist of a sequence of in-port and at-sea demonstrations allowing the Navy and the ship’s builder, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, to assess whether the ship is ready for delivery. The vessel will return to sea early in 2021 to conduct acceptance trials, during which all systems will be inspected and evaluated before the Navy can accept delivery. The Inouye is a Flight IIA destroyer equipped with the Aegis Baseline combat system, intended to deliver quick reaction time, high firepower and increased …

Americas F-35 fighter plane engines are in short supply, with the solution months away, causing the Defense Department to reduce its schedule of exhibition flights and to start planning for a shortage as soon as 2022. The Defense Department’s F-35 office has advised that about five to six percent of the US. F-35 fleet could be without useable engines by 2022, and up to 20 percent of the plane’s fleet could be sidelined by 2025. According to Defense News, the F-135 Heavy Maintenance Center, located at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, has been unable to process engines for repairs and maintenance, and catching up will take months. According to Lockheed Martin, the company …

A little different topic this Fullbore Friday as ... I want to make you mad. I won't be subtle or clever here ... thanks to a simple tweet from The Other Sal, I am just going to hit you right in the forehead with it. Here we are at the dawn of 2022 and all over the spectrum of American maritime "thought leaders" from the SECNAV, CNO, Congress, and ostensibly pro-Navy institutions - we have excuses, squid-ink cover stories, and simple defeatism flavored with a machoistic lust for decline. Decline is a choice, and bullsh1t to all that. We are a maritime and aerospace power by geography, economy, and national interest even if those who are trusted to maintain and leverage t…

Americas Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group ships are heading to the Mediterranean Sea for exercise Neptune Strike ’22, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says the deployment is not a response to increased tensions with Russia. He stressed that planning for Neptune Strike ’22 began in 2020. “The exercise itself is not designed against the kinds of scenarios that might happen with respect to Ukraine. It really is a NATO maritime exercise to test … really a wide range of maritime capabilities that we want to make sure we continue to improve.” The US Army Contracting Command Issued a Sources Sought notification for an organic small unit-level Lethal Miniatur…

Americas Sikorsky won a $40 million modification, which adds scope to provide production and installation of a VH-92A Flight Training Device (FTD) and updates to a previously delivered VH-92A FTD for the Marine Corps. The new Marine One, also referred to as VH-92A, is the next-generation presidential transport helicopter being developed for the US Marine Corps (USMC). Work will take place in New York, Florida, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah and various locations within the continental US. Expected completion will be in March 2024. The US Air Force Research Laboratory recently carried out an in-flight vapor purge test in a F-15E last month. The objective of the test by the 7…

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 L3Harris Interstate Electronics won a $15.1 million for TRIDENT II (D5) Flight Test Instrumentation systems support. This contract award also benefits a foreign military sale to the United Kingdom. Work is expected to be completed by February 8, 2027. This contract is being awarded on a sole source basis under 10 US Code 3204(a)(1) […]View the full article

Hydras & Hellfires (click to view full) The versatile Hydra 70mm rocket family is primed for a new lease on life, thanks to widespread programs aimed at converting these ubiquitous rockets into cheap laser-guided precision weapons. Conversion benefits include cost, use on both helicopters and fighters, more precision weapons per platform, low collateral damage, and the activation of large weapon stockpiles that couldn’t be used under strict rules of engagement. Firms all over the world have grasped this opportunity, which explains why strong competition has emerged from all points of the compass. America’s “Advanced Precision-Kill Weapon System (APKWS)” is one of t…

Happy New Year everyone on The Front Porch! 2022 will be 18th year that we've been meeting together here at CDRSalamander ... come July my alter-ego will be legal to vote. Damn, time flies. So many of you I see here have been with us from the beginning. I've only had the pleasure of meeting a few of you IRL, but I do appreciate you taking time from your busy lives to visit here, see what I think you might find interesting, and add your flavor to the stew. Some of you I count as friends, and almost all friendly acquaintances. I really do appreciate all of you and enjoy our exchanges here ... even when you tell me I'm wrong. I learn more from you as a collective than anyth…

No, I’m not going to let this go. Yes, I am going to throw this in your face. What message does this send to friend or foe? BEHOLD! Want to see the absolute state of it all, in detail? Well, in another recent pic - this just happened to be the first one I could find - you can download the hi-res here, if you zoom in to just one section, you can see the long-term damage being done to the ship. This isn't just cosmetic. This is what is being sold; This is what is actually being seen by anyone who sees this ship: "This is a slowly degrading force sent by a declining empire. They send their warships to impress us, but all I see is a nation and its nav…

Americas General Electric won a $1.6 billion deal including all options for the F-15EX Lots 2+ propulsion system procurement. This contract provides for 29 F110-GE-129 engines (installs and spares) for the F-15EX fleet. The contract also provides seven option lots for a most probable quantity of 329 total engines if all options are exercised. The F-15EX is a ready-now replacement for the F-15C that includes best-in-class payload, range and speed. Work will take place in Ohio and Texas. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2031. Lockheed Martin won a $30.5 million modification, which exercises options to provide operation and maintenance support of F-35 Joint Strike Figh…

Americas Serco won a $22 million contract action in support of the Program Executive Office (PEO) “SHIPS” PMS 400D mission to design, build, outfit and test all DDG 51 guided-missile destroyer-class ships, increasing the design performance capability of the DDG 51 class ships. The Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) class guided missile destroyers provide a wide range of warfighting capabilities in multi-threat air, surface and subsurface environments. The US Navy currently has seven new DDG 51 Flight III destroyers under construction, Work will take place in Washington DC. Estimated completion date is September 8, 2022. JF Taylor won an $8 million deal for F-35 high fidelity crewsta…

Americas Raytheon won an $80.3 million modification, which adds scope to provide non-recurring tooling, equipment, and associated support required to increase the annual AIM-9X missile production capacity for the Navy. Work will be performed in St. Albans, Vermont; Simsbury, Connecticut; Keyser, West Virginia; Tucson, Arizona; Murrieta, California; St. Petersburg, Florida; Midland, Ontario, Canada; Anniston, Alabama […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $67.5 million contract modification to exercise an option for the Advanced Electronic Guidance and Instrumentation System (AEGIS) — Combat System Engineering agent efforts for the design, development, integration, test, and delivery of the Advanced Capability Build 20. The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. Work will take place in New Jersey. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2021. Rolls-Royce won a $26.5 million modification, which exercises an option that provides for the production and delivery of eight…

Israel-based Aero-Sentinel has developed the G2 Premium unmanned aerial vehicle, a reconnaissance drone designed for extended endurance, near-silent operation, and advanced algorithmic tracking for defense and security missions. According to Aero-Sentinel, the G2 Premium is engineered to meet the demands of covert surveillance in contested environments. The system combines 80 minutes of flight endurance with […] The post Aero-Sentinel’s G2 Premium drone redefines covert reconnaissance first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article