Raw Intel

South Korea’s Navy has selected GE Aerospace to supply gas turbine engines for its next-generation KDDX destroyer program, with GE Marine set to deliver 12 LM2500+G4 engines to power six ships, the company said. Each destroyer will carry two LM2500+G4 engines, integrated into a full electric propulsion configuration. GE Aerospace said the setup is intended […]View the full article

The U.S. Department of War is setting up a permanent team inside the Pentagon comptroller’s office to find programs and processes it considers wasteful, inefficient or duplicative and recommend cutting, merging or reshaping them, under a memo signed by Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg. The new Force Agility and Streamlining Team, or FAST, will […]View the full article

The U.S. Army has activated a new sustainment brigade for the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska, giving the Arctic-focused division its own formation to keep troops supplied and supported in some of the harshest conditions the U.S. military operates in. The 11th Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade (Arctic) uncased its colors on Oct. 16, 2026, at […]View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $35.6 million contract modification for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system. Under this contract modification, Lockheed Martin will provide 36 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTTs) A2 as a lifetime buy to support the THAAD weapon system. Work will take place in California, Texas and Wisconsin. Estimated completion date is August 4, 2021. Skydweller Aero has been given $5 million by the US Navy to demonstrate its unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that is based on the Solar Impulse 2. The US-Spanish startup has tested and flown autonomous flight software on the Solar Impulse 2. The company hopes to fly the plane …

I am, generally, not all that taken in by large memorials to the fallen. Perhaps it is just me, but I find them cold, a bit off-putting, and many - but not all by any measure - seem to be more about something else than the memory of fathers, mothers, daughter, sons, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and friends who answered the call of their nation and never came back. Like the little neighborhood memorial back when I lived in Norfolk I've written about before, I find the smaller ones speak to me more - they have an intangible quality to them. For this Memorial Day weekend I'm reaching out of the USA and in to a lost world that is still remembered. Well off the beaten p…

Don't think this is just a problem with the US Air Force Academy. No, all our services academies are worm-ridden with the worst ideas infesting academia from the "diversity" cult. You need to read the full thing, but to give you a taste of what is going on, I do have three slides for you to review; So, in the USAF you are a bad person if you are "colorblind" or state "I don't see color." Even worse, you are not allowed to think that "we're all just people." To draw that out, it appears that the USAF wants everyone to judge people by the color of their skin first of all. If that isn't racist and retrograde, I'm not sure what is. Callsigns and nicknames are bad too, it ap…

Over at DVIDS, a nice series of pictures that represents one part of our Navy that doesn't get to see the light of day often enough. Those who have served know it, probably been part of it, and nothing is more memorable that being right in the crunch of it all. When you are well trained and well led with the right climate - things, in this case it really did, can come out of the blue that you haven't EXACTLY trained for, but ... you've done some things kind of like it. You look at your Sailors, and you say, "Yes sir, we can do that." One of the best communities for such responses are the Navy's EOD pros. Nice to see a little love heading their way, as much of what they do…

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $23 million modification for Global Hawk (RQ-4) aircraft sustainment. The contract modification is for the purchase of replenishment spares for operational use and to support depot repair. This modification also provides an option for procurement of an additional quantity of spares. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of […]View the full article

Americas Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions won a $15 million modification, which exercises options for the Delta Software System Configuration-5 retrofit effort of Weapons Systems Trainer (WST)-1 and WST-2, to include associated training, technical data, computer software, and computer software documentation for each WST in support of the E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training Systems for the Navy. Work will be performed in Point Mugu, California and is expected to be completed in September 2027. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. The Canadian military has announced plans to acquire new helicopters…

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has taken delivery of its first F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) fighter at Nyutabaru Air Base. The aircraft arrived at the base earlier today following delays linked to software development. Originally scheduled for delivery by the end of the last fiscal year, the handover was postponed due […] The post Japan receives first F-35B jets amid delays first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Korean Air is developing KUS-FX collaborative combat aircraft, a compact unmanned system that effectively functions as a lightweight cruise missile. Designed for both air- and ground-based launch, the KUS-FX is intended to strike high-value targets at distances up to 600 kilometers, while also supporting reconnaissance and deception missions in contested airspace. The KUS-FX combines features […] The post Korean Air develops KUS-FX drone for deep strike first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Show LinksIan Ellis’s outline of Caribbean U.S. Navy deployment The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century, by Kenneth F. McKenzie SummaryIn this conversation, Sal discusses various geopolitical issues, including a potential peace deal in Israel and Gaza, the implications of Iran’s weakened position, reflections on General McKenzie’s book… Read more View the full article

China’s newest and most advanced amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, has been spotted dockside ahead of its expected first sea trials. Known as the Type 076 landing helicopter dock (LHD) — and referred to by NATO as the Yulan-class landing helicopter assault ship — the Sichuan is the first amphibious ship in the world designed […]View the full article

Japan is moving forward with live trials of its new 100-kilowatt-class laser weapon system aboard a military test ship. The high-energy laser was recently installed on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s (JMSDF) testbed vessel Asuka and is now being readied for sea-based testing at Japan Marine United’s shipyard. The newly fitted laser system—developed by the […]View the full article

Ukrainian military have found a Russian Shahed-type one-way attack drone equipped with a man-portable air-defense system, marking the first confirmed observation of such a configuration. Serhii Beskrestnov, known by the call sign “Flash,” said the modified drone was identified on January 4. He reported that Russian forces mounted the portable surface-to-air missile system on the […]View the full article

Leonardo announced at the Singapore Airshow that it has signed a Letter of Intent with PT ESystem Solutions Indonesia and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia to cooperate on the supply and support of M-346F “Block 20” aircraft for the Indonesian Air Force. According to Leonardo, the Letter of Intent follows the […]View the full article

As we are at D+2 and spent a full hour yesterday discussing Operation Epic Fury on the Midrats Podcast, I’m not going to review what we know so far—if you’d like Mark and my take, give the episode a listen. What I would like to do is dive into a topic that I hinted at in the show: my historical support for the punitive expedition. The target is valid, and the method has been underused for way too long. I support the strikes on Iran because it firmly fits into a view I have held on the use of national military power for decades, based on thousands of years of military practice. If you are not up to speed with the thousands of Americans dead and maimed by the Islamic Repub…

The Lebanese Armed Forces received 39 VAB armored personnel carriers donated by France during a ceremony held Tuesday at the Port of Beirut, according to an official statement from the army. The handover took place on March 31 and was attended by French Minister Delegate for Veterans and Armed Forces Affairs Alice Rufo, Lebanese Chief […]View the full article

French defense-electronics firm Thales announced on April 21 that Denmark has signed a contract for the SAMP/T NG long-range air and missile defense system — the first export deal ever signed for the next-generation Franco-Italian platform. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2028, and the agreement makes Denmark the third country to operate the system, […]View the full article

A U.S. drone company has secured its first international defense contract, winning an order from the Royal Australian Navy to supply Transwing vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft systems for maritime distributed logistics operations, with deliveries of the initial P4 variant scheduled for spring 2026. PteroDynamics Inc., a California-based developer of autonomous VTOL aircraft, announced […]View the full article