Raw Intel

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

Peru has ordered a fifth C-27J Spartan tactical airlifter, and the contract carries significance well beyond Lima. The purchase pushes the total number of C-27Js sold worldwide to 100, a milestone that Leonardo, the Italian aerospace and defense company that produces the aircraft, marked publicly on May 14, confirming the order through an official program […]View the full article

A Lithuanian defense firm that has been developing hybrid electric military vehicles since 2020 demonstrated its latest capability to the Lithuanian Armed Forces last week: a remote-control system that can turn virtually any vehicle into an unmanned ground platform, tested during the military experimentation exercise Vanguard 2026 at the Rūdninkai Training Area. Ostara, the Vilnius-based […]View the full article

A wheeled cannon that looks nothing like traditional artillery has fired live rounds on camera for the first time, and the footage shows exactly why the U.S. Army is betting on it to solve one of modern warfare’s most expensive problems. BAE Systems released new test footage on July 2, 2026, showing its Multi-Domain Artillery […]View the full article

Amazing how a good night’s sleep can change the flavor of a post. On Tuesday when I read this spoof-worthy weak-cheese hit piece on the Chief of Naval Operations by Greg Jaffe and Kate Kelly over at the New York Times, I was—to be blunt—pissed. It was so clear what this was and the goal of it all. After a Wednesday at the paying gig that got too busy to finish the post, I found myself Wednesday night as I doing my final editing, feeling a bit bad. Not for Admiral Caudle—he’ll be fine as this smear is so lame—but for Jaffe and Kelly. It is such a poorly constructed hatchet-job that it couldn’t be something that a pair—a pair—of reporters would take to their editor and sa…

Uzbekistan’s state television broadcast footage of a Chengdu J-10CE fighter jet on the ground during coverage of the country’s 35th independence anniversary celebrations, confirming for the first time that Uzbekistan has received the Chinese-made aircraft. The footage aired on Uzbekistan 24, a state channel, and showed the jet taxiing on a runway. The first batch […]View the full article

Latvia is working to buy Anduril’s Barracuda long-range cruise missiles, President Edgars Rinkēvičs said after visiting the American defense company and meeting its founder, Palmer Luckey. Rinkēvičs wrote that he looked forward to completing the acquisition of the missiles and to further defense industry cooperation. During the visit he also witnessed the signing of memoranda […]View the full article

Türkiye’s state-owned defense company MKE has delivered three more E-ZPT electric armored personnel carriers to the Turkish Land Forces Command, adding to a small fleet of rebuilt M113s that run on battery power instead of a diesel engine alone. MKE announced the handover in a post on X on Oct. 15, describing the E-ZPT as […]View the full article

F-35A (click to view full) In December 2011, Japan picked Lockheed Martin’s new F-35A stealth fighter as its next fighter aircraft, to replace its aging F-4 “Kai” Phantom fleet. The F-35 was actually their 2nd choice. Back in February 2006, Inside The Air Force (ITAF) reported that momentum was building within the USAF to sell the ultra-advanced F-22A Raptor abroad to trusted US allies, as a way of increasing numbers and production. Japan clearly wanted them, and the Raptor was a topic of diplomatic discussions in several venues, including a 2007 summit meeting. In the end, however, US politics denied export permission for downgraded export variants of the F-22, and it…

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 Long Game" series has been running here since 2004. 18-years. I'm starting to wonder if the title is all that accurate anymore. That which we have been warning about since the dawn of this blog is - if you are a believer that the PLAN is more than a job's program - here. Well, we're sticking with as it is what it is. If nothing else, you have to give a nod of respect to the People's Republic of China. They had a good plan and stuck with it. Sadly, we still have over 51% of the people who have access to levers of national power who don't get it. Things are getting better, but ... faster please. We are getting closer and closer to the critical mass needed to effecti…

AH-64 in Afghanistan (click to view full) The AH-64 Apache will remain the US Army’s primary armed helicopter for several more decades, thanks to the collapse of the RAH-66 Comanche program, and the retirement sans replacement of the US Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH). Apaches also serve with a number of American allies, some of whom have already expressed interest in upgrading or expanding their fleets. The AH-64E Guardian Block III (AB3) is the helicopter’s next big step forward. It incorporates 26 key new-technology insertions that cover flight performance, maintenance costs, sensors & electronics, and even the ability to control UAVs as part of man…

Civil wars are nasty and unpredictable things. The longer they go, the more the thin veneer of civilization starts to strip away for even the most advanced nations and their people. Less advanced nations devolve to Madmaxistan rather quickly. All governmental efforts, money, and attention goes towards weapons, food, and fuel. Industries, infrastructure, and parts of civil society that do not support that get left as if frozen in aspic. If you don't live in a nation suffering that civil war, it is easy not to pay attention to that which does not effect you. There is one aspect of the Yemen civil war that no one should ignore - and it is at sea. This isn't a disaster that a…

Americas General Dynamics won a $15.7 million deal for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia class submarines. Work will be performed in the continental US and is expected to be completed by June 2026. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,715,111 will […]View the full article

Americas Bell Boeing won a $21.3 million order, which provides for the production and delivery of 59 line clearance kits, 18 integrated aircraft survivability equipment (IASE) A-Kits, and installation of 16 IASE A-Kits, allowing increased infrared countermeasure and radar warning capability and aircraft survivability, in support of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft sustainment efforts for the […]View the full article

Americas Northrop Grumman has received a $1.5-billion contract to deliver E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to the US Navy and Japan. A recent US Department of Defense announcement states that the company will produce nine new Hawkeyes – four for the navy and five for Tokyo. It will also provide associated support services to both customers. Most work for the contract will be performed in Florida, with an estimated completion date of March 2029. Bollinger Shipyards announced that its Pascagoula Mississippi shipyard now exceeds 1,000 employees, touting the milestone as it gears up to make the first heavy icebreaker in the US in more than 50 years – vessels Washington is keen …

Americas The US Navy Reserve’s KC-130T Hercules fleet, upgraded with the NP2000 propeller system, is now cleared to aerially refuel a significantly wider range of aircraft across the carrier airwing following envelope expansion testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) which concluded in early 2025. Originally, the KC-130T aircraft were primarily used for cargo missions. However, recognising the increasing need to refuel more assets in the air, the Navy initiated a project to regain aerial refuelling capabilities across the fleet. Kira AAR Logistics Services JV LLC has been awarded a contract worth up to $98 million to provide in-flight training f…

A new image circulating on Chinese social media appears to show another next-generation combat aircraft undergoing flight testing—marking the third such design spotted in recent months, and underscoring China’s rapid expansion of its advanced airpower programs. The photo, which lacks a confirmed location or timestamp, shows a sharp-edged delta-wing aircraft with a distinct elongated nose […] The post New Chinese stealth aircraft spotted in test flight first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Australian-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS) has revealed the name and expanded capabilities of its next-generation high-energy laser weapon—Apollo—marking a critical step forward in directed-energy systems as global militaries race to counter the growing threat posed by drones. In a statement ahead of the DSEI defense exhibition in London, EOS confirmed that its 100-kilowatt-class High Energy […] The post EOS unveils Apollo laser weapon first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Russia’s state-owned United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has delivered another batch of Su-34 fighter-bombers to the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to a statement from Rostec, the aircraft have successfully completed all required ground and flight tests and have now been handed over to their military operator. The company said production remains on schedule and emphasized the […] The post New wave of Su-34 bombers joins Russian strike fleet first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article