Raw Intel

Thing about Lou is that just a few years before, he was just another dude trying to figure it all out. Instead, he became something even a fiction writer would have trouble making up; 1 of only 3 US Aces to claim kills agains all 3 Axis powers, (3 main powers: Germany, Japan & Italy). The ONLY one to shoot down a USAAF plane as well, and definitely the only one to shoot down his girl friend He was a POW for awhile to boot. There are a lot of stories out there about Lou, but this one from AcesOfWWII catches it about right; Lt. Curdes was circling low over one of his P-51 pilots who was bobbing in his dinghy just off Jap field Batan Island. Another pilot whose plane ha…

Huntington Ingalls Industries has secured nearly $37 million to keep its Lionfish underwater drone rolling off the production line, with the U.S. Navy exercising a contract option that locks in delivery through May 2027. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington awarded the $36,9 million modification to HII’s Unmanned Systems division on the existing contract […]View the full article

Slovenia’s Valhalla Turrets unveiled the MANGART 25 AD short-range air defense turret in its most operationally significant configuration yet, presenting the system integrated on a Patria 8×8 wheeled armored vehicle during a ceremony marking the Slovenian Armed Forces Air Defence Regiment’s 35th anniversary. The company announced the milestone on Friday, describing it as the first […]View the full article

Pakistan publicly unveiled the Fatah-3 supersonic cruise missile, a road-mobile precision strike weapon that pushes the country’s Fatah missile family into a new performance tier and positions Islamabad with a direct regional counter to India’s BrahMos, according to reporting by Clash Report. The Fatah-3 has been identified as a localized derivative of China’s HD-1 missile […]View the full article

Yuma Test Center has installed and fired a Proof Gun System for the first time, giving the U.S. Army a dedicated artillery testing platform that can swap gun tubes in and out without ever needing a complete howitzer on the range. The Proof Gun System was developed by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command […]View the full article

Helsing, a German AI defense company, has conducted the first launch of its HX-2 strike drone from a coastal vessel in the waters off Plymouth, UK, the company announced, marking a new operational environment for a system it has been developing and deploying on the battlefield in Ukraine. The trial took place off a fast […]View the full article

Saab UK has completed its 100th Giraffe 1X radar at its Fareham facility and opened a new Integration and Verification testing facility at the same site, the company announced. The Fareham site in Hampshire serves as Saab’s UK centre of excellence for radar engineering, supporting production of the Giraffe 1X alongside the Giraffe AMB and […]View the full article

GM Defense took to social media to show off its Infantry Squad Vehicle’s sling load capability, posting footage of two ISVs being transported simultaneously by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during training at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in March 29, as part of preparations for Operation Pathways 2026. The exercise involved soldiers from Alpha Company, 2nd […]View the full article

Aerostats, the tethered observation balloons that most people associate with World War II convoy protection, are getting a serious second look from the U.S. Army as a platform for counter-drone defense. One company’s second-generation tactical aerostat is now being evaluated as the foundation for a complete anti-drone architecture that could eventually carry and launch drone […]View the full article

Iranian forces attacked three U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz on May 7 with missiles, drones, and small boats, and U.S. forces struck back, hitting Iranian missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes. U.S. Central Command announced that USS Truxtun (DDG 103), USS Rafael […]View the full article

The U.S. Army is evaluating a low-cost counter-drone system developed by SAIC in collaboration with Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, installed on a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle chassis during Project Flytrap in Lithuania. The system, known as the Reconfigurable Air Defense system or RAD, is being tested as part of Project Flytrap, a counter-UAS exercise running […]View the full article

Northrop Grumman announced on May 7 that the B-21 Raider Combined Test Force cut its 180-day test plan to 73 days and secured $11.8 billion, with half the missions completed. “The B-21 Raider Combined Test Force, a partnership with the U.S. Air Force, cut a 180-day test plan to 73 days, securing $11.8B with half […]View the full article

Ukraine’s defense forces struck a Russian missile corvette in the Caspian Sea overnight on May 7, hitting a Karakurt-class vessel capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles at its base in Kaspiysk, Republic of Dagestan, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced. “In the area of the basing point ‘Kaspiysk’ (Kaspiysk, Republic of […]View the full article

It has been just about a year since the “new normal” following the defenestration of the divisive and sectarian secular religion of DEI from the Pentagon. Riding on a wave of court cases that continue to take apart decades of sanctioned bigotry, the change was abrupt and— except for the high priests and rent seekers whose entire worldview was bounded by their religion—not really missed all that much. Do not be complacent. It is easy to think that this is a permanent “new normal” but that would be an error. The action in the courts are important. The new leadership’s priorities in the Executive Branch are also important. However, without legislation, the latter is epheme…

Ukraine’s Celebra Tech has integrated its Tryzub laser system into a mobile counter-drone platform capable of engaging targets from FPV drones to reconnaissance unmanned aircraft, the company told Militarny. The Tryzub (the Ukrainian word for trident) was first publicly mentioned in December 2024 by Vadym Sukharevsky, the first commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. Since […]View the full article

New Zealand has identified Japan’s Mogami-class frigate and Britain’s Type 31 as the two candidates under consideration for its naval frigate replacement program, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced on May 7, 2026, putting Tokyo’s warship design in contention for a second Pacific ally’s fleet within months of Australia selecting the same platform. New Zealand Defence […]View the full article

A Chinese vehicle-mounted laser weapon system designed for counter-drone operations has been spotted at the Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, images circulating in open-source defense channels show, marking an apparent export of Chinese directed-energy technology to a Gulf state that has been actively expanding its counter-UAS capabilities. The system visible in the […]View the full article

F-22 Raptors from Alaska and Virginia have arrived at Kadena Air Base in Japan, the latest rotation of America’s premier air superiority fighter through the island base that sits at the geographic center of U.S. air power in the Western Pacific. The aircraft come from two squadrons: the 90th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, […]View the full article

U.S. Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum have begun training with the Bumblebee V1, a first-person-view counter-drone system that its users are already discovering does considerably more than shoot down enemy unmanned aircraft. The training brought together soldiers from different units across the division to operate a system that Joint Interagency Task […]View the full article

The U.S. Army is buying a Draganfly commercial, heavy lift drone system for Fort Drum, New York, with the Mission Installation Contracting Command posting a combined synopsis and solicitation on May 6, 2026, for a complete unmanned aerial system package that includes communications hardware, a ground control station, delivery box, batteries, and a sensor gimbal. […]View the full article