Raw Intel

Palantir’s Shyam Sankar continues to offer some of the clearest and most precise ideas on how we need to shift our mindset if we want to set the foundation for the next big war. I’m not going to ask too much of your time today. Nope, just a bit over a minute to ponder Shyam’s four Sputnik moments. The 1 minute and 19 seconds is an incredibly powerful boil-down of what should drive a lot of our thinking. Really, we should already be well down the road in acting on it. Here’s the video that starts the bit I’d like folks to ponder on today starting at the 41:05 moment, but if you have time on your commute, give the full interview from the Hudson Institute’s 11 March upload a…

The United States Navy sent the dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) to sea trials from Naval Station Norfolk, marking the vessel’s first time underway since 2014 following an extended modernization effort. The trials are intended to verify that the ship’s upgraded systems and engineering improvements are fully operational, as the Navy works to […]View the full article

The United States Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command announced plans on March 16 to pursue a sole-source contract with Boeing for software updates to the Harpoon missile support system, according to a presolicitation notice. The effort focuses on updating the Common Munitions BIT/Reprogramming Equipment Mission Application Program, a system used to support and maintain Harpoon […]View the full article

The United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) issued a Request for Information on March 16, 2026, seeking industry solutions to develop an automated system for extracting geospatial features from imagery and maps as part of its Foundation Digital Twin program. The agency is exploring Automated Feature Extraction (AFE) technologies that can detect, extract, and classify […]View the full article

Poland’s Operational Command of the Armed Forces said that on Friday, March 13, 2026, a pair of Polish Air Force MiG-29 fighter jets intercepted and escorted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea. The interception reflects ongoing efforts by NATO members to monitor and control airspace activity near allied territory, particularly as Russian […]View the full article

Ukrainian long-range one-way attack drones struck two major aviation facilities in Russia in recent days, targeting the Aviastar aircraft plant in Ulyanovsk and the 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant in Staraya Russa. The attacks come as Ukraine continues efforts to disrupt Russia’s military aviation production and maintenance capacity, focusing on facilities linked to transport aircraft and […]View the full article

The United States Army deployed its Indirect Fire Protection Capability Inc 2 (IFPC) air defense system on March 16 during the Freedom Shield 26 exercise in South Korea, according to the Eighth Army. The system was positioned at a training site as part of combined drills on the Korean Peninsula. The deployment comes as the […]View the full article

South Korea’s defense community is placing renewed attention on anti-aircraft guns as an effective response to the growing threat posed by mass drone attacks on modern battlefields. The shift reflects increasing concern among military planners that traditional missile-based air defense systems alone may struggle to counter large numbers of low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles. The renewed […]View the full article

North Korea may have generated as much as $14.4 billion in revenue through troop deployments and military equipment exports to Russia during the war in Ukraine, according to a report released March 13 by a South Korean security research institute. The analysis was published by the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul and examines […]View the full article

The United States and South Korean militaries conducted joint river-crossing drills on Saturday in Yeoncheon County near the inter-Korean border, as part of the annual Freedom Shield exercise designed to improve interoperability between allied forces. The training brought together engineering units from both countries to practice bridging operations across complex terrain in a region close […]View the full article

At the end of last week, things were a’buzz’n about ‘ole silent-but-deadly…MINES! There is a lot of bad and in some places intentionally misleading reporting from traditional media on down over this weekend, so let’s do a quick summary. The NYT got the ball rolling. Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf channel that carries 20 percent of the world’s oil, according to U.S. officials, an effort that could further complicate American efforts to restart shipping there. While the U.S. military said it had destroyed larger Iranian naval vessels that could be used to quickly lay mines in the strait, Iran began using smaller boats for the operation…

Here we find ourselves approaching the fifth spring of the Russo-Ukrainian War of 2022. As the rest of the world’s geopolitical landscape changes dramatically, Russia’s “friend group” shrinks, and Ukraine’s friends grow weary and distracted, where is the war moving and where could we expect Russia to adjust for another year of conflict? Returning to Midrats again to discuss this and related issues is Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg, a Senior Research Scientist in the Strategy, Policy, Plans, and Programs division of CNA, where he has worked since 2000. You can listen live at this link from 5-6 PM Eastern. If you are reading this after then, refresh the Substack Sunday night for the …

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 14 that developing a domestic air defense system has become a top priority for Ukraine’s defense leadership, tasking Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov with leading efforts to strengthen the country’s ability to protect its airspace. Speaking to journalists, Zelenskyy said Ukraine must pursue several parallel options to improve air defense, […]View the full article

The United States Navy confirmed plans to increase production of the Hammerhead anti-submarine mine system through a contract modification expected to be awarded to General Dynamics Mission Systems, according to a presolicitation notice released by Naval Sea Systems Command on March 13. The notice states that the Navy intends to modify an existing contract to […]View the full article

The United States Air Force has awarded Raytheon a contract modification worth up to $2.01 billion to continue work on the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) terminal, a key communications system used to support secure military satellite networks, according to a contract announcement released March 13. The modification increases the total value of the existing […]View the full article

The United States Army has awarded a contract valued at up to $20 billion to Anduril Industries to consolidate a wide range of artificial intelligence–driven battlefield technologies into a unified operational system built around the company’s Lattice software platform. The agreement, announced in the Pentagon’s daily contract notices for March 13, was issued by U.S. […]View the full article

Turkish drone maker Baykar has unveiled a new loitering munition known as the K2 kamikaze, presenting the system in a promotional video released Saturday that showcased the drone’s artificial intelligence–based flight, navigation, and targeting capabilities. The introduction of the K2 reflects the rapid expansion of loitering munition technology, which has become a central tool in […]View the full article

The British Army has taken another step toward introducing its new long-range artillery capability after Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) awarded a £53 million ($70 million) contract to ARTEC GmbH for the production of 37 weapon systems for the Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 (RCH 155). The contract supports the British Army’s effort to field […]View the full article

Russia launched a large-scale combined missile and drone strike against Ukraine overnight on March 14, targeting critical infrastructure across several regions of the country. Ukrainian authorities said the attack began at 18:00 on March 13 and involved nearly 500 aerial weapons, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hundreds of attack drones. According to the Ukrainian […]View the full article

The United States Army concluded the xTech|Edge Strike: Ground competition on March 13 in Vilseck, Germany, where three autonomy technology companies tested unmanned ground systems built on tactical vehicles from Polaris Government and Defense. The event evaluated autonomous vehicle technologies designed for military logistics, reconnaissance, and casualty evacuation missions. The competition is part of the […]View the full article