Raw Intel

A Russian military An-26 transport aircraft was crashed in occupied Crimea on Tuesday evening after communication with the aircraft was severed during a scheduled flight, according to statements from Russia’s Ministry of Defense and military-linked sources. The fate of the crew and passengers remains unknown, with search-and-rescue teams dispatched to the suspected crash area. The […]View the full article

Overland AI has integrated its autonomous driving system onto the U.S. Marine Corps’ Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires platform, demonstrating the ability to maneuver an unmanned ground vehicle through contested terrain without human intervention. The Seattle-based company announced the milestone on April 23, 2026, marking its first publicly confirmed work with the Marine […]View the full article

Japan’s Ministry of Defense has released a comprehensive briefing document outlining its space domain defense buildup, revealing a sweeping expansion of military space capabilities that includes a dedicated Space Operations Group growing to 880 personnel, a space defense budget that has surged more than threefold since 2022, and an ambitious program to field satellites capable […]View the full article

Australia is investing $72 million to establish domestic production of 155 mm M795 projectiles at Maryborough, reducing the country’s dependence on foreign ammunition supply chains for a critical artillery munition used across its ground combat platforms. The Albanese Government has signed a $72 million contract with Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions, a joint venture between German defense […]View the full article

Every precision strike, every navigation-guided munition, and every soldier’s handheld GPS unit ultimately depends on a network of ground stations most Americans will never see, and the Space Force just handed Lockheed Martin $105 million to keep that invisible backbone working for the next generation of GPS satellites. The contract, awarded July 7, covers modifications […]View the full article

A defense think tank is telling the British government to reverse a decision it already made twice, warning that four of the Army’s armored infantry battalions are about to be left without any working vehicle at all, the UK Defence Journal reported, citing a new policy paper from the 878 Institute. The paper, titled Britain’s […]View the full article

U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded Boeing a $55.4 million order to supply Active Parallel Actuator Systems and related parts for the MH-47G special operations helicopter fleet, according to a Department of War contract announcement. The order, issued under a basic ordering agreement, will be performed primarily at Boeing’s Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, facility and is […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy is paying Raytheon up to $30.2 million to line up additional suppliers for key parts of the AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile, including the cooling engine for its heat-seeking sensor and its warhead components. The undefinitized contract modification, announced by the U.S. Department of War, covers engineering work to qualify new manufacturing sources […]View the full article

Video published online shows Ukraine using an interceptor version of its Bars jet-powered drone to destroy a Russian Geran-5, the first footage of the Ukrainian missile-drone being used against Russia’s own jet-powered attack drones. The clip, shared by the Ukrainian military, shows the interceptor launched from a ground launcher before it strikes the Geran-5. The […]View the full article

OK, that may be a stretch but we may have an opening to discuss the logistics and maintenance holes that everyone else was ignoring this century. I'm not a fan of all he has plans for 2021, but I am encouraged by a recent statement. Details over at USNIBlog. Come on by and tell me your thoughts. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:V_sGLiPBpWU http:…

Americas A second F-15EX has arrived at Eglin Air Force Base and the aircraft will be flown by the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron. This is also the final F-15EX delivery to the US Air Force for FY21. The F-15EX will make its exercise debut at Northern Edge 2021. The two F-15EXs and testers from the 40th Flight Test Squadron and 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron will work together in integrated developmental and operational test, effectively expediting the test timeline. Northrop Grumman won a $2 billion deal for sustaining engineering support and program management support services for the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) propulsion subsystem. The deal with a…

Yesterday, SECDEF Austin put out the memo we all knew was coming. General Mark A. Milley, USA, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, followed up with his own memo that had a handwritten note at the bottom. (NB: old trick knowing that most military eyes will glaze over the typed world, but if in a hurry, will read what is written by hand by the author). His note is, really, all you need to know. “Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a key force protection and readiness issue.” The military has a long history of over compensating when it comes to vaccinations. I have been vaccinated against everything from chicken pox to small pox and everything in between. Whe…

Americas The Government of Canada has awarded Bell Textron Canada Limited (BTCL) of Mirabel, Quebec, a contract valued at nearly $800 million for the extension of the life of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CH-146 Griffon helicopter fleet into the mid-2030s. The contract affects 85 helicopters. According to the contract, BTCL will modify the first 9 helicopters and then manage a competitive process to award subcontracts to suppliers to modify the remaining 76 helicopters. Lockheed Martin won a $34.7 million contract modification for the C-5 Super Galaxy Replacement Multi-Functional Control Display Program. The modification provides for engineering and technical services t…

With what looks like sabotage of the Nordstream 1 & 2 pipelines under the Baltic Sea bringing a momentary focus on critical infrastructure on the seabed, now is the perfect time point everyone to Pierre Morcos and Colin Wall's 2021 CSIS commentary, Invisible and Vital: Undersea Cables and Transatlantic Security. In the national security arena, when conflicts arise people will discuss Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC) and Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) - concepts military professionals concerned with keeping beans, bullets, lawyers, guns, and money flowing have focused on for all of human written history. In our age, where so much of what goes over GLOC and SLOC…

Americas The US Navy’s future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. landing platform dock has received an enterprise air surveillance radar (EASR) antenna. Also known as the SPY-6(V)2, the EASR integrates the service’s aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ships with a uniform hardware and software radar platform. The installation finalizes the delivery of EASR systems for the […]View the full article

Americas Boeing won a $27.6 million modification to a cost-plus-fixed-fee-order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. This modification exercises an option to procure three retrofit A-Kits for Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A aircraft with Increment Three Engineering Change Proposal Six Capabilities. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (79.6%); San Antonio, Texas (10.9%); and Mesa, Arizona (9.5%), and is expected to be completed October 2026. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $130-million contract modification to ramp up the production of Joint Air-to-Surfa…

At RAF Lakenheath, England, a U.S. Air Force F-15B Eagle fighter jet has been taken out of service in a process that leaves the aircraft permanently unusable. Last month, a contractor carried out the demilitarization on behalf of the 48th Maintenance Group, using heavy equipment to crush and shred the airframe. The aircraft had been […] The post U.S. Air Force destroys F-15 jet at base in Britain first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

The U.S. Army’s next-generation battlefield sensor system, known as Launched Effects, is one step closer to entering service after a live demonstration involving active-duty forces at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in August 2025. Launched Effects is a term the Army uses to describe a class of compact systems—such as the Atlas 600 from AEVEX Aerospace—that […] The post U.S. Forces simulate strike on Russian howitzer during trials first appeared on Defence Blog.View the full article

Do you always fight to win at all costs? When do you retreat? If you find yourself in Maryland, you are surrounded by the War of 1812, and you may not even know it. A few years ago, this got my attention, Aboard a pontoon boat chugging past the marshland of Maryland’s upper Patuxent River on a recent Saturday, Ralph Eshelman pointed to the spot where the muddy brown water hides a shipwreck nearly two centuries old, part of the American flotilla that defended the Chesapeake Bay when the British burned Washington during the War of 1812. That only hints at the story. Before we get to the war story, let’s look at the man - and the questions his story asks. When do you sto…

Reports and videos circulating on social media in recent days show U.S. military vehicles and MV-22 Osprey aircraft operating in Trinidad and Tobago, prompting questions about an ongoing deployment near the coast of Venezuela. The footage was shared by OSINTdefender, which wrote, “Military equipment, possibly with the U.S. Marine Corps’ 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22nd […]View the full article