Raw Intel

Well, at least they have a full scale static display; The German defense ministry has forwarded a request to lawmakers seeking approval for almost 4,5 billion euros, or $5.3 billion, that would pay for the country’s contributions to the next stage of the Future Combat Air System. Lawmakers on the Bundestag’s Budget and Defense committees are scheduled to consider the request next week. It covers a collection of research and technology-development activities, collectively dubbed phases 1B and 2, between 2021 and 2027. During that time, officials want to begin regular test flights with a demonstrator, constructed under the auspices of France’s Dassault Aviation. I am…

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In the middle of Walter Russell Mead's article over at WJS, "The World Rejects the Wilsonian Order" there was an interesting insight for what the Russo-Ukrainian War revealed about the internal natsec divisions within the Democrat Party. While one could quibble around the edges, this seems sound; Within the Biden administration, the struggle is among three groups: liberal internationalists, who want America and the West to do what it takes to ensure that Russia loses the war; pragmatists who want to check Russia but fear Russian escalation and believe that the war will inevitably end in a compromise peace that falls short of Wilsonian hopes; and Asia-firsters who worry t…

DFA Systems, an Albuquerque, New Mexico–based startup, says it is developing the Precision Flying Grenade (PFG), a one-way attack drone it describes as simple enough for regular infantry to operate without specialist training. In a statement, the company said, “In order to be readily adopted by the US military, Group 1 sized one-way attack drones […] The post New Mexico startup develops “flying grenades” first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Americas A hypersonic missile data processing center is slated to be established at the Air National Guard base at Hector Field. This announcement was made by Senator John Hoeven, during the Grand Farm Autonomous Nation Conference at the Fargo Microsoft campus on August 29. The data center is a crucial component of the Sky Range […]View the full article

Americas A US Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter made a crash landing in coastal Virginia. The incident took place shortly before 11:30 am on January 12. Virginia State Police said the aircraft hit several trees on the way down. The MH-60S was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, based out of Naval Station Norfolk, roughly 30 miles southeast of Smithfield. Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division achieved the Aegis light-off milestone on the US Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke Class guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). The Flight III upgrade incorporates a number of design modifications that collectively provide signif…

As with many things in the last nine months, the bolt from the blue in the maritime national security world that was the September 2021 announcement of AUKUS - trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States - has faded from view as the more immediate and interesting Russo-Ukrainian War took the headlines. Even without the war, as with many long-term programs that start with a flash, AUKUS would have become a background issue anyway - which is a shame. Most are left remembering the interesting bit - nuclear submarines for the Royal Australian Navy - but is that really the most important thing about AUKUS? Our friend Alessio Patalano o…

If there was any concern that Russia might turn Germany as winter sets in cold and expensive, you can put that concern to the side;European leaders said Tuesday they believed dual explosions that damaged pipelines built to carry Russian natural gas to Europe were deliberate, and some officials blamed the Kremlin, suggesting the blasts were intended as a threat to the continent. The damage did not have an immediate impact on Europe’s energy supplies. Russia cut off flows earlier this month, and European countries had scrambled to build up stockpiles and secure alternative energy sources before that.With both Nordstream 1 and 2 now offline due to - well - "things," Russian …

One of the more difficult things for me to work through is a certain intolerance at my core that is easily triggered, and I have to make a conscious effort to not be petty, mean, and flinty towards people an institutions who put it in my face. To be more specific, I have a very short fuse when people act shocked today when something happens that they have been warned about - and even suffered from - in the past that they could have avoided repeating in the future if they took basic and clear steps to learn their lesson. Let's go back to 2011, almost a dozen years ago; Less than a month into the Libyan conflict, NATO is running short of precision bombs, highlighting the …

Americas Rolls-Royce won a $74.7 million deal, which procures 28 V-22 AE1107C engines (24 for production aircraft and 4 spare engines) in support of the V-22 Osprey for the Navy and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed in December 2023. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopters. Boeing is responsible for the fuselage, landing gear, avionics, electrical and hydraulic systems, performance and flying qualities. Bell Helicopter Textron is responsible for the wing and nacelle, propulsion, rotor, empennage (complete tail system), ramp, overw…

To paraphrase Papa Salamander's favorite saying, "No one owes you a Navy." It has been eight decades since there was such a great gulf between the Navy our republic needs to meet a growing threat and the Navy its leadership was planning to have. As we discussed a month ago, the institutions everyone is relying on to make the future fleet have failed their moment in time. Another reminder broke above the ambient noise last week, and it wasn't an easy read for navalists looking for firm leadership who - at least in words - give the impression that they have not given up the fight for what we know we need should conflict come in the next decade west of Wake. Good thing I l…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $14.5 million contract modification to exercise options for Machinery Control System production shipsets in support of both the DDG 51 modernization program and the DDG 51 new construction program. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by June 202. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington DC, is the contracting activity. Sikorsky Aircraft won a $12.3 million modification, which exercises an option to provide production system engineering and program management support in support of CH-53K low-rate initial production. Work will take place in Connecticut. Expected completion will be in May 2023. The Nava…

I find it fun, and helpful, to read refreshed think pieces on carrier vulnerability like our friend and always pleasant read Robert Farley put out last week at 19fortyfive, The U.S. Navy’s Nightmare: 5 Ways To Kill An Aircraft Carrier. From their very birth, carriers have been vulnerable. They are delicate but deadly creatures. Expensive to own and operate, but valuable beyond measure at war. Recall that one of the reason the Guadalcanal Campaign had so many surface actions was because there were just not that many carriers available to sustain casualties because ... well, they're vulnerable. Everyone wants to kill them not just because they are so vulnerable, but becaus…

From lay observers to professionals in the national security arena, for the last year most have been waiting to see what our Indo-Pacific Strategy would be. Words matter, especially in national strategy where those words drive funding, effort, and the attentions of industry and the national security apparatus. For reasons best known to those who made the decision, it was delivered last Friday, buried in a general Friday news dump before the Super Bowl weekend and Russia on the brink of invading Ukraine. You would be hard pressed to pick a worse time, but it is what it is. The timing does not take away our responsibility to read and comment, and this week we are going to …

Time for a quick revisit to the most important DivThu related Supreme Court case we have seen since we started this series. We first touched on in 2018, and most recently back in August. This case has forced everyone to take the mask off concerning what anyone who has served on active duty for the last few decades has known as a truth; the US military actively discriminates based on race and ethnicity.So, we now have Students for Fair Admission v. President and Fellows of Harvard College & the University of North Carolina. If you need the details of that case, click here. We have a 2022 amici curiae for this case as well with Joe Reeder and his law firm again at the …

Americas The US Navy’s MQ-8C has tested the Single System Multi-Mission Airborne Mine Detection (SMAMD) system for the first time. Testing took place at Eglin Air Force Base in May, according to Naval Air System Command. “The team successfully demonstrated that the prototype SMAMD System effectively operates as designed aboard the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter in relevant real world environments,” said Capt. Thomas Lansley, Fire Scout program director. “This cutting-edge technology could really enhance Fire Scout’s capability going forward.” Carrying out the tests in day and night, the team gathered data on drifting, tethered, and moored mines throughout beach zone…

What can just a few Marines do? In March 1982, Thomsen was days from returning home from the small Royal Marine Falklands garrison when he was ordered to take eight men to South Georgia to monitor a group of Argentinian scrap dealers who had landed illegally and raised the Argentine flag, the incident which was to lead to full-blown war in the Falklands. Along with 12 other Marines under Lieutenant Keith Mills they arrived on the desolate island in mid-March. Two weeks later the crisis erupted when the Argentines invaded the Falklands. Section commander Thomsen and his comrades knew a large enemy force would descend on them within hours. With no hope of reinforcements, …

We think we know the future, we don't. We thought our leadership would learn from killing 17 Sailors in the summer of 2017, but it didn't. We thought our Navy would be ready for war sometime this decade, but we've decided to taunt fate and push two decades down the road. Pray for peace. Details over at USNIBlog. 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=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:…

Americas The US Army is testing the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle-mounted Modular Turreted Mortar System (MTMS) prototype. Trials have been ongoing since January to ensure the expected performance from the system before an upcoming demonstration at Fort Moore, Georgia, in September. “We are diligently verifying its advertised capabilities and making sure it is safe for the […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $102.4 million deal for production and delivery of hardware components and spares of the Apache Attack Helicopter Modernized Target Acquisition Designation/Pilot Night Vision Sensor System. The Apache Arrowhead (also Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor or M-TADS/PNVS), is an integrated targeting and night vision system developed by Lockheed Martin for the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is July 31, 2024. General Atomics won a $69.9 million deal that provides non-recurring engineering and program manageme…