Raw Intel

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

Americas The Marine Corps and the Air Force successfully tested bi-directional data sharing on the F-22 and F-35 in exercises in Arizona and Nevada for the first time. The test was reportedly the latest demonstration of the network architecture underpinning its Advanced Battle Management System. Fifth-generation fighters are generally only able to communicate with each other and to command and control centers, but not with fighters in other classes because they use digital languages that aren’t compatible. But the gatewayONE system can translate between those formats, allowing the aircraft to more fully gather and share data and intelligence. The service announced that th…

Americas The US Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC) is planning to modify two KC-135s to equip them with a new communications, sensors and defensive pod. While tentatively called the Gladiator Pod, it is expected to enter flight testing on a few KC-135s in 2023. AATC intends to pack communication, defensive, and sensor technologies inside the shell of a Multipoint Refueling System (MPRS) Pod. The MPRS consists of a single refueling pod mounted on each wing of a KC-135 to support probe and drogue refueling. The communication systems that will be packed inside the Gladiator Pod will allow the KC-135 to act as a data node and host on the Advanced Battle M…

For coming up on two decades, the United States military has been engaged - if you want to call it by the medal they give everyone for it - a Global War on Terrorism. As we have invested two decades, trillions of dollars, and thousands dead across the globe in response to the attacks of September, 2001 - our best friends have been with us. They do this of their own free will, and share the good fortune and bad with us in our contact of the war. Today’s Midrats is a wide ranging discussion on the history, theory, and application of American leadership with our guest, Gray Connolly. Gray Connolly (Graham Alfred Frederick Connolly) is an Honors graduate in Arts and Law f…

Decades of peace and relative stability in Europe is suddenly shattered as armies start to mobilize on a scale not seen since WWII. No, not 2022...but 1987. What is there to learn for today from what could have happened at the end of the Cold War? In addition to the above teaser questions, this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern with our guest Michael Cee we will dive in to the research, tools, wargaming, and art of creating alternative historical fiction about what may have happened with the wrong people in the wrong positions of power at the wrong time in the late 1980s. Michael is the creator and author of World War III 1987, a blog that takes a detailed look at a hypothetical…

A pivot of history around a man. For over two decades the American military occupied a foreign country on the other side of the planet, supporting an oppressive local government that was mostly known for its anti-democratic habits and corruption. Over the two decades of occupation, thousands of Americans and her allies who also contributed forces died in order to keep a clear threat to global peace contained. During the previous presidential election in the USA, the candidate who won made repeated statements that he planned to withdraw all American forces from that country. Two decades were long enough, and he was insistent that he was a man of his word. The new president…

On Sept 30/08, “The USA’s National Cybersecurity Initiative” focused on the belated but growing reaction to recent uses of cyber-attacks as an adjunct to warfare, and by the growing rate of attempted intrusions into American systems from countries like China. “Secure Semiconductors: Sensible, or Sisiphyean?” discussed the growing realization within the US military that massive […]View the full article

Electro Optic Systems (EOS), the Australia-based defense technology firm, has announced its first international order for a 100-kilowatt-class high-power laser weapon system. According to a company release issued Tuesday, a European NATO member state has placed a €71.4 million (approximately $82 million) order for the system, which will be produced at EOS’s Singapore facility and […] The post Mystery NATO customer buys Australian-made laser weapon first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The United States will provide Ukraine with 65 Mobile Strike Force Vehicles (MSFV) under a new round of military assistance funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), according to a report from Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi. The vehicles will be manufactured by Textron Systems Corporation, which will also supply spare parts to support ongoing […] The post U.S. to send 65 MSFV armored vehicles to Ukraine first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The U.S. Air Force has acquired the wreckage of a downed UH-1 Iroquois helicopter and transported the iconic airframe to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, where it will serve as a hands-on teaching platform for accident investigation and flight safety courses. The helicopter, nicknamed “Huey,” crashed during a training mission at the Wyoming Air National […] The post U.S. Air Force buys crashed UH-1 helicopter first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

China’s state-owned defense conglomerate Norinco has developed a new low-cost suicide drone that mirrors the Iranian Shahed-136 in appearance and purpose, signaling Beijing’s drive to make mass-produced loitering munitions available for future conflicts. The Feilong-300D, revealed earlier at the Zhuhai Air Show, drew fresh international attention following reports that its unit price could be as […]View the full article

BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP has secured a $184.4 million contract modification from the U.S. Marine Corps for the production of 30 Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) variants equipped with medium caliber cannons. The award is part of a larger contract that could reach $3.86 billion if all options are exercised. The Department of War […]View the full article

The United States carried out strikes on multiple Venezuelan military and infrastructure targets on Friday, including air bases and port facilities in and around Caracas, according to local reports. Confirmed targets included Isla Margarita near La Guaira, Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base in Caracas, the port at La Guaira, El Libertador Air Base, Fort […]View the full article

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first Sentinel A4 radar from Low-Rate Initial Production 2 to the U.S. Army and completed the first phase of Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, the company said. As noted by Lockheed Martin, the delivery represents the first of 19 Sentinel A4 systems planned under the LRIP 2 phase. The company […]View the full article

A long-range Iranian Shahed-type one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle struck a radar system at the United States-operated Naval Support Activity Bahrain, according to video footage circulating online showing the moment of impact at the facility. Video footage reviewed by regional observers shows a low-flying unmanned aerial vehicle approaching the base area before striking what appears […]View the full article

Polish defense technology company FlyFocus has developed the KURIER unmanned helicopter, a 600-kilogram-class logistics platform. The heavy drone system is designed to deliver cargo autonomously to units operating beyond conventional resupply reach. According to the company, KURIER is capable of carrying more than 200 kilograms of cargo and is intended primarily to support special forces […]View the full article

It has taken a week since we first discussed the 34 ships on the way. Now, thanks to our friend Charlie B., we have additional details…with an extra special addition on weapons. Let’s see what Santa has in store for us…besides a really cute fireboat avatar. It is nice, four years after we asked the question, to finally have an answer about fireboats.. Is there anything really shocking here? No, not really, but I would draw your attention to the fact that it seems that we are diverting funds from aircraft carriers to battleships…despite the fact that events over the last year, especially but not exclusively, have proven once again we are woefully short of aircraft carriers…

General Dynamics Land Systems has secured a $229.6 million contract to produce 50 Stryker Double V-Hull (DVH) A1 armored vehicles for the U.S. Army, continuing a production line that has delivered one of the service’s most combat-proven wheeled infantry platforms through more than two decades of operational use across multiple theaters. Army Contracting Command at […]View the full article

An Israeli drone manufacturer whose production facility was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile just two months ago has announced that its G3 reconnaissance drone platform completed operational readiness and training activities with unnamed security organizations over the past two weeks, with photographs showing the aircraft carrying blurred external payloads that were obscured, apparently for […]View the full article

Britain’s Ministry of Defence is still sitting on 42 SEPECAT Jaguar attack jets nearly two decades after the Royal Air Force retired the type, and nine more have already been shipped off to India to keep that country’s aging combat fleet flying, the UK Defence Journal reported. The figures came from a written parliamentary answer […]View the full article