Raw Intel

Airbus said Monday that its Bird of Prey counter-drone interceptor completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. The test used a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by defense startup Frankenburg Technologies, marking the first public demonstration of the system in a realistic military scenario. Airbus said the demonstration was […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has requested $5.47 billion to buy ammunition in Fiscal Year 2027 — everything from 5.56mm rifle cartridges to 155mm artillery shells to tank rounds — according to the Department of the Army’s official budget document submitted to Congress in April 2026. It is the largest single-year Army ammunition request in recent memory, […]View the full article

A British aerospace startup that had positioned itself as a potential future replacement for the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows display team has collapsed into administration, citing sustained cashflow pressure caused by repeated delays to the UK Defence Investment Plan and geopolitical factors affecting its funding sources. Aeralis Limited, the developer of a modular light […]View the full article

Ukraine struck a Russian defense electronics factory for the second time in five weeks on Tuesday, hitting the same Cheboksary facility with domestically developed Flamingo cruise missiles, demonstrating both the growing reach of Ukrainian long-range weapons and the persistent vulnerability of Russian military industry to attacks that Moscow’s air defenses cannot reliably stop. The target […]View the full article

A Swedish aerospace startup has let journalists watch its foot-long, carbon-fiber interceptor drone chase down and destroy a target aircraft in real time, the first live public demonstration of a system the company hopes will help defend against the wave of cheap attack drones reshaping modern warfare. Nordic Air Defence held what it called a […]View the full article

Rheinmetall has unveiled a warship built to outgun vessels twice its size, betting that a mid-sized frigate packed with the same missile defense technology found on America’s largest destroyers can win over navies looking to modernize without breaking their budgets. Rheinmetall, the German defense manufacturer, revealed the GMF 140, a next-generation guided missile frigate measuring […]View the full article

First of all, let’s set the stage a bit here. Back in March of this year, the following was announced to the world. The War Department has launched a task force to ensure the curriculum at its institutions of higher learning is structured to build warfighters rather than social justice warriors, said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. “At the Department of War, we have a duty to ensure that our professional military education develops real leaders, warfighters who dominate into the future,” Hegseth said. “We’re committed to making our own senior service colleges maintain the highest of standards, that those places align with President [Donald J.] Trump’s commitment to the Ame…

Japanese radar satellite company Synspective has signed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to launch two of its StriX satellites on Japan’s H3 rocket in 2027, moving part of a constellation that feeds imagery to Japan’s Ministry of Defense onto a domestic launcher for the first time. The company announced the agreement Sept. 18. The […]View the full article

The British Army’s new Challenger 3 tank has now driven 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and fired more than 200 main gun rounds in testing, and it is set to start a tougher phase of trials in November, according to its builder, Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land. RBSL, the British-German joint venture building the tank, shared the […]View the full article

Call me juvenile, but if they ever make a movie of the Libyan intervention, this has to be in it: A U.S. Navy P-3C Maritime Patrol aircraft, a U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft and guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) engaged Libyan Coast Guard vessel Vittoria and two smaller crafts after confirmed reports that Vittoria and accompanying craft were firing indiscriminately at merchant vessels in the port of Misrata, Libya, during the evening March 28, 2011. The P-3C fired at Vittoria with AGM-65F Maverick missiles after multiple explosions were observed in the vicinity of the port rendering the 12-meter patrol vessel ineffective and forcing i…

2020 has been a year … that is an understatement. From the maritime and national security perspective what were the bold-faced items that changed the outlook the most. While COVID-19 absorbed much of everyone’s time, the world kept turning and history kept moving. Using our ever-popular melee format – open topic, open chat room and open phones for Midrats’ end of the year review. We’ll be live and hope you’ll join us this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern. DON’T MISS IT! If you use iTunes, you can add Midrats to your podcast list simply by clicking the iTunes button at the main showpage - or you can just click here. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8z…

We picked Option A it appears. I remember when we thought about Option C and believed Option B was too long. I have extended thoughts on the Afghanistan withdraw announcement today over at USNIBlog. It's been a long time coming ... but regular readers here know that. Come on by and give me your thoughts. 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=A_rxYai-AN4:JiIqTl4iUrM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=A_rxYai-AN4:JiIqTl4iUrM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=A_rxYai-AN4:JiIqTl4iUrM:V_sGLiPB…

You're a reader of CDRSalamander ... so I know that you not only find port clearing sexy ... but you know it's important. Do you know the story of Umm Qasr in 2003? Well, head on over to USNIBlog 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=9b9wbfxCB0I:6VtvehTZbSA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9b9wbfxCB0I:6VtvehTZbSA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9b9wbfxCB0I:6VtvehTZbSA:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=9b9wbfxCB0I:6VtvehTZbSA:F7zBnMyn0Lo htt…

Americas System High Corp won a $104.9 million deal, which provides program services for the F-35 Joint Program Office to include program management, general security, information security, information security, industrial security, physical security, personnel security, counter-intelligence and foreign disclosure support. The deal also provides special security studies, program protection cybersecurity and security control assessments as well as and engineering services support. Work will take place in Virginia, Ohio, Germany, Texas, Maryland and Florida. Expected completion date is in February 2027. The US Navy has fired the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missi…

Sometimes at gaff is just the truth spoken out of turn. Yesterday, President Biden said something that isn’t that surprising to those who have been pondering this for a while; Of course, there are those who will come out to “clarify” etc., but we nearing the point where we need to pause a bit and talk clearly to each other as adults; we need to be ready for the war to come because if we don’t, come it surely will. We need to move past the comfortable strategic ambiguity of the past and move forward based on the clear intent by the Commander in Chief. We should take the Commander in Chief at this word, the leadership of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). They will act a…

Americas General Dynamics won a $414.8 million contract modification with one four-year option period 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. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/definite-quantity contract. Estimated completion date is September 28, 2029. Boeing won a $51.7 million contract to procure the final 51 Advanced Capabilities Mission Computers retrofit kits (49 kits for EA-18G aircraft and two kits for software integration labs) in support of meeting the Navy’s mission requirements for the EA-18G aircraft. Work will take place in Minnesota…

Americas Bae Systems won a $651.6 million contract for sustaining engineering services. This contract provides for services support for both the Minuteman III and Sentinel Systems Directorates to ensure the integration of current and future hardware, software, testing, and modifications with the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Weapon Systems. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, […]View the full article

Americas Rolls Royce Marine North America won a $66.7 million deal in support of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the global engineering and technical support of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) Freedom Variant MT30 gas turbine engines. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would not increase the cumulative value of this contract above […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $101.5 million deal for AEGIS development and test sites operation and maintenance. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey and is expected to be completed by January 2028. The Aegis Combat System is an advanced integrated naval weapons system developed by the United States. It is primarily designed for […]View the full article

Americas General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has been selected as the Lead Systems Integrator for Project Red 5, a US. Department of Defense initiative aimed at developing advanced autonomous air-to-air capabilities. The $98 million contract will see GA-ASI utilize two MQ-20 Avenger unmanned aircraft systems to prototype full-profile autonomous air-to-air missions. GA-ASI will equip the MQ-20 Avengers with cutting-edge sensors, data links, and mission systems to enable complex air-to-air maneuvers. BlueHalo, a leading provider of counter-uncrewed aerial system (C-UAS) solutions, announced a significant milestone in the development of its Freedom Eagle (FE-…