Raw Intel

BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., based in Radford, Virginia, has been awarded a firm‑fixed‑price contract valued at $20,348,798 to procure and store 6.4 million pounds of sheeted cotton linters, a primary raw material used to produce nitrocellulose for propellant manufacturing at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. The award was issued on November 7, 2025. According […]View the full article

Americas The Royal Canadian Navy has commissioned its fourth Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and offshore patrol vessel, the HMCS William Hall, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Hall was built under Ottawa’s National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy to amplify the country’s naval forces against evolving threats in North America. The US Army is collecting feedback from its soldiers regarding the […]View the full article

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $38 million contract modification, which increases the contract ceiling to procure an additional 173 Tech Refresh Mission Computers (TRMC) and an additional 173 TRMC trays in support of the Army’s domestic production UH-60V aircraft. The UH-60V is an upgraded version of the current UH-60L aircraft. Instead of the UH-60L’s legacy cockpit, the newer version features a fully open, digital and integrated avionics suite. The changes increase the life and mission capabilities of the UH-60 platform. Work will take place in Utah and California. Expected completion date is December 2023. The US Navy has disclosed its plan to deactivate five expedit…

"Lost at sea." Sailors always get a little bit of the feels when they hear that phrase. The oceans are a large, beautiful, and terrifying place. People and ships can, and do, just disappear without a trace, especially at war. In time, some are found - and there is peace in that discovery. They found the USS Albacore (SS-218). NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) used information and imagery provided by Dr. Tamaki Ura, from the University of Tokyo, to confirm the identity of Albacore, which was lost at sea Nov. 7, 1944. “As the final resting place for Sailors who gave their life in defense of our nation, we sincerely thank and congratulate Dr. Ura and his team for …

Yes, progress towards a color blind society where individuals are seen as - individuals - who should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin (or other immutable characteristics) can be found here and there, but we have a long way to go. It appears that things will have to get worse - much worse - before they get better. Elections have consequences, and when one side conducts a full court press when they are in power, and then cow the other party to only stand still when they get their turn in power, you get what you get. Though it is happening on his watch and with his Executive Orders, this cannot be put squarely on the shoulders of P…

Americas The US Army has awarded Bell Textron a contract to provide three 412 EPX medium utility helicopters as part of the agency’s foreign military sales program. The $37.7-million order will be delivered to an undisclosed recipient due to “potential customer sensitivities,” the US Army Cargo Helicopters Project Office told FlightGlobal. Concurrently, a US Department of Defense representative confirmed that the platforms will be distributed to more than one buyer. The US Coast Guard has shipped the modified MH-60T Jayhawk medium-range recovery helicopter to the Air Station Astoria in Oregon under its service life extension program. The modernized aircraft is part of an …

Americas Boeing won a §200 million modification, which procures critical long lead material and associated efforts in support of maintaining the full rate production timeline for the congressionally added F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California (68.9%); St Louis, Missouri (20.2%); Goleta, California (2.5%); East Aurora, New York (1.7%); Blossom, Texas (1.3%); […]View the full article

Chinese state media on Friday criticized Palmer Luckey, founder of U.S. defense contractor Anduril Industries, after he publicly questioned the capabilities of China’s J-35 stealth fighter during a visit to the Singapore Airshow. Luckey posted an image on social media showing himself using a tape measure on a J-35A model displayed at the Aviation Industry […]View the full article

Americas According to Defense Post, the US Navy has awarded California-based Fuse Integration a contract to produce router systems for the service’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye tactical airborne early warning and control aircraft. The $16-million deal orders the company’s proprietary CORE 4.0 devices, which will upgrade the E-2D’s external networking systems into software-based connectivity. The equipment will employ a tactical edge network targeting a contested long-range environment or TENTaCLE architecture to bolster the aircraft’s network resiliency, according to the navy. The US Army has awarded Elbit Systems a $28-million contract for additional AN/PVS-14 monocular night …

Americas The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has finished the first flight of an artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) piloted XQ-58A Valkyrie jet drone at the Eglin Test and Training Complex in Florida. The three-hour sortie supports the air force’s ongoing Skyborg Vanguard and Autonomous Aircraft Experimentation programs seeking next-generation autonomous aircraft for operations in contested […]View the full article

Want to take a break from the Second Russo-Ukrainian War? Good, so do I. As we (well at least I) impatiently wait for the USS Constellation (FFG 62) and her sisters to start displacing water, it is interesting to see the design decisions other nations have made to meet their frigate requirements. As our new FFG will be the USN version of the French and Italian FREMM, it is natural to compare it to other European designs, but what about our friends in the Pacific? What are the South Koreans building? Let's take a quick side-by-side look at their Daegu-class frigate presently under serial production. Of course, different nations have different requirements, and you can s…

Americas BAE Systems has finished a successful test of its APKWS laser-guidance kits, showcasing the weapon’s versatility and accuracy in engaging a broad set of targets. The rockets went “three on three against fortified targets,” firing direct shots and defeating well-armored targets such as a steel plate and an armored military vehicle. “We’re giving our customers more in-mission options for precision strikes against tougher targets,” BAE program manager Sam Kirsh said. The US Air Force has contracted Northrop Grumman to outfit two more E-11A Bombardier business jets with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system. The service already operates three su…

This was only a matter of time given the events and personalities in the last couple of years. The foundation has been built over the last decade for something much larger to be built. It is a cliché, but it is true; nations don't have friends - they have interests. Saudi Arabia is rich in two things; hydrocarbons and problems. They have a human capital problem, a religious problem, and a Persian problem - not to mention their troublesome neighborhood. All both support and threaten the power of thee House of Saud. They need good friends who will help them on the outside with trade and military assistance, but will not interfere with their delicate domestic concerns. In p…

Americas Mercury Mission Systems won a $16.8 million modification, which exercises an option to procure 48 data transfer units and 121 high-definition video recorders for retrofit on F/A-18C-F Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircrafts in support of Small Business Innovation Research Phase III topic N102-0129 titled, “Automatic Real-Time, Reconfigurable Interface Generalization Hardware Multiprotocol Data Recorder”. Work […]View the full article

Americas According to news reports in Israel, the United States had approached Israel to release its stockpile of MIM-23 HAWK air defense missiles and transfer them to Ukraine. But the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s political-Military Bureau, Dror Shalom, reportedly told the Pentagon that Israel has not changed its policy of not sending weapons […]View the full article

RAAF C-130J-30, flares (click to view full) The C-130 Hercules remains one of the longest-running aerospace manufacturing programs of all time. Since 1956, over 40 models and variants have served as the tactical airlift backbone for over 50 nations. The C-130J looks similar, but the number of changes almost makes it a new aircraft. Those […]View the full article

DZYNE Technologies today introduced its new Dronebuster vehicle kits at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., expanding its existing counter-drone offerings to mobile platforms. The company says the new systems will bring fast-deploying, vehicle-integrated protection against unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for use across convoys, mobile command posts, and […] The post Vehicle-based Dronebuster system goes public at AUSA first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

"The German Problem" when it comes to their reliance on Russia over the last few decades for their energy needs - a huge strategic error of the first order - has been a regular topic since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War. In fits and starts, each passing month makes it harder for the Germans to not change in at least the medium term and hopefully will have a lasting effect on the German view of Russia for at least a few generations. I am a believer that eventually things will regress to the mean, and for centuries Russia has not been anything but ... Russia - so humility in the face of history may help the Germans in this regard. How many times must the Germans be r…

Americas General Dynamics won an $18.8 million contract modification for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia-class submarines.The Virginia-class attack submarine is an advanced stealth multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep ocean anti-submarine warfare and littoral, or shallow water, operations. Work will take place in Arizona, California and Pennsylvania. Expected completion will be by November 2024. Lockheed Martin announced it has terminated its agreement to acquire rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. for $4.4 billion. The decision to terminate the agreement follows the US Federal Trade Commission…

A lesson as old as the human condition was again proved in February of this year; weakness invites aggression. From demographers to strategists, a variety of disciplines see the second half of this decade through the first half of the next as a window of exceptional vulnerability for a war with China in the Western Pacific. We have discussed this emerging threat there for almost two decades and the time is here. Are we ready? No. If you agree with this window, then you also must agree with the following: no magic system or capability is going to fight and win this war for us and our allies. There is nothing that isn’t at least IOC today that will be available to the fleet…