Raw Intel

Americas BAE Systems Controls Inc., based in Endicott, New York, has received a contract modification to repair the KC-135 Stratotanker’s fuel management panel and integrated fuel management computer. This fixed-price modification increases the total contract value from $5.2 million to $7.6 million and extends the contract term. The work will continue in Endicott, New York, with completion expected by March 14, 2026. Currently, no additional funds are being allocated for this extension. Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma oversees the contracting activities. Raytheon Co. has been awarded an $18.5 million contract modification for the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) and NA…

Motorola Solutions has completed its acquisition of Los Angeles-based Silvus Technologies, a company known for developing advanced mobile ad-hoc networking (MANET) systems used by defense and public safety agencies across the globe. According to a press release from Motorola Solutions, the acquisition will integrate Silvus’ low-latency, infrastructure-independent communications systems into Motorola’s existing suite of land […] The post Motorola Solutions buys Silvus for battlefield networking edge first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Swedish defense startup Nordic Air Defence and military vehicle manufacturer Volvo Defense have announced a joint effort to develop a new mobile counter-unmanned aircraft system (CUAS), aimed at protecting military vehicles against the growing threat of cheap, weaponized drones. According to the two companies, the system—called VIPRO—will integrate Nordic’s Kreuger 100XR drone interceptor into Volvo’s […] The post Volvo, Nordic Air Defence team up on new anti-drone pod first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Epirus unveiled a new high-power microwave counter-drone system mounted on a tracked robotic vehicle ahead of its formal debut at AUSA in Washington, the company said, presenting the combination as a mobile, software-defined option for defending bases and forces against swarming drones. “Introducing Leonidas Autonomous Robotic, powered by GDLS TRX: a mobile counter-UAS capability featuring […] The post Epirus unveils robotic Leonidas microwave weapon first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

One of the great global political failures of the last century and a half—a failure drenched with blood and suffering—is Communism. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Manifesto of the Communist Party in 1848, roughly 178 years ago. History has measured it and found it wanting. It is hanging on in corners, but it is a spent force on the global stage. Communism isn’t dead. Though it fails everywhere it is tried, its adherents still survive in academia and left-wing parties around the world (NYC just elected one as mayor), but you can count the nations remaining under the yoke of that disproven theory on one hand: The People’s Republic of China (PRC), Cuba, North K…

SummaryIn this episode, Sal discusses various pressing topics including the ongoing drug war, military operations, the situation in Ukraine, and the recent controversy surrounding the Pentagon press pool. He expresses gratitude to his subscribers and reflects on the complexities of military decisions, the implications of the war in Ukraine, and the impo… Read more View the full article

North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Sunday morning, according to South Korea’s military, marking Pyongyang’s first missile launches of the year. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from an area near Pyongyang at about 7:50 a.m. local time and traveled approximately 900 kilometers before landing […]View the full article

Ukrainian forces are increasingly employing German-made HX-2 one-way strike drones along multiple frontline sectors, according to reporting by Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi. Militarnyi reported that HX-2 drones developed by German defense technology company Helsing are now being used on several operational axes to conduct strikes inside Russian-controlled rear zones. According to the outlet, the drones […]View the full article

The United States Army has conducted evaluation testing of a lightweight one-way attack drone known as the Hornet DE-2 in Germany. According to the 7th Army Training Command, the demonstration took place at its Grafenwoehr Training Area and focused on how artificial intelligence-enabled one-way attack systems can integrate with Army fires formations. In an official […]View the full article

Washington has approved a $214 million sale of AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II missiles to Lithuania, the U.S. Department of State announced, handing the NATO ally a significant boost to its short-range air defense arsenal. The deal covers 152 additional AIM-9X Block II tactical missiles, eight tactical guidance units, and six captive air training missiles — […]View the full article

The Syrian cargo aircraft that flight-tracking data and Russian media suggest carried Bashar al-Assad and regime officials out of Damascus on the night his government collapsed has returned to Syria, landing at Damascus International Airport on May 14, 2026, after sitting idle at Russia’s Hmeimim Air Base for more than a year and a half. […]View the full article

You simply cannot buy PR like this. For the last couple of days, I’ve had a big smile on my face for the good people from Saronic. Bravo Zulu fellas. Bravo Zulu. Via Brandi Vincent at Defense Scoop: The American military deployed an autonomous Corsair maritime drone built by Saronic to find and recover two soldiers who were stranded near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after their Army AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed during a patrol operation, U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told DefenseScoop. The confirmation of this unique rescue mission comes as military tensions are surging in the Middle East amid the United States-Iran conflict. It marks the U.S. …

A steady flow of American personnel moving in and out of Wuhan Camp in Longtan, Taoyuan, some driving civilian rental cars and others on foot, has drawn renewed attention to the scale of the U.S. military’s ongoing special operations presence in Taiwan, according to a report circulating from United Daily News (UDN) article and amplified […]View the full article

A construction company has won a $37.6 million contract to build a facility so secure it needs its own classification category, part of a sprawling effort to turn a small Arkansas Air National Guard base into an international training hub for the world’s most advanced fighter jet. BL Harbert International LLC, based in Birmingham, Alabama, […]View the full article

Remember when we raised the issue of lasers earlier this year? Half decade ago, I wrote this, Lasers are not “new” – they have been growing in power and efficiency incrementally for decades. Each year they are and will increase along the same path. As they do, they will carve out more and more of a utility wedge for defensive and naturally offensive operations. Will they be a wonder weapon that will solve our problems? No. The torpedo wasn’t either … but it did change behavior, tactics, and design of warships. There is another warning from the history of torpedo development; you cannot classify technology or math. Smart nations with resources will see something that work…

For the last Monday of 2020, we are bringing in one of our favorite regulars guests, Bryan McGrath. Bryan offers one of the better situation reports of where our Navy finds itself in the first year of what will be an incredibly challenging decade. Get a fresh cup of coffee and dig in. He doesn't just provide the solid analysis of where we are, he offers a way forward. Bryan, over to you. Coming as it has on the heels of scandal, tragedy, leadership failure, and pandemic, recent news of plans for a dramatically larger Navy seemed to be a lifeline to an organization that has had a few difficult years. That this planned Navy comes after a year of intense scrutiny fro…

Americas The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded three contracts this week to design a nuclear thermal propulsion system that will operate above low Earth orbit in 2025. General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are the prime contractors for the deal, according to a DARPA new release. The Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program has the potential to achieve rapid maneuver in space, which has been challenging because current electric and chemical space propulsion systems have drawbacks in thrust-to-weight and propellent efficiency, respectively, according to the agency. MBDA will equip the Royal Canadian Navy’s new Canadian S…

As described on Amazon, "Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17, 2001. They are Team Alpha, an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory. Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again."Most may be familiar with one member of that team, Mike Spann. This Sunday we will spend the hour talking about that Team, the first few months of the Afghanistan conflict, and what the war and its future looked like early on as described in the recent book, First Casualty: The Untold Story of the C…

The People's Republic of China isn't hiding anything. Their plan is right there for all to see. If you can't quite understand what I mean at the end of May of 2022, the North American treasure who is Cleo Pascal will show you and tell you the story; Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, every island can get up to 200 nautical miles off its coast as an EEZ in which it controls resources, say, fisheries. That means, for example, Pacific Island Country (PIC) Kiribati may have a population of around 120,000, but, with its EEZ, it covers as much of the planet as India. Now let’s colour in the EEZs of the countries being visited at the moment by China’s Foreign Minist…

Before diving into today’s post, as we have reached a lot of new readers in the last year, I would beg the indulgence of long-term members of The Front Porch to allow me to review some long-standing positions of mine. On the foreign policy front, especially for the last decade, I have liked to consider myself a realist. I do not expect perfection in my personal friends, nor expect perfection in my nation’s friends. I am not an isolationist by any stretch, but I do find myself much closer to John Quincy Adams’s; …admonition that “Americans should not go abroad to slay dragons they do not understand in the name of democracy.” …than I am to that mindset that brought us to t…