#International Air Transport Association

[beingjellybeans]

A Look into the World's Busiest Airports and Their Operations

When the COVID-19 pandemic happened, travel came to a crashing halt. Airports that were usually one of the busiest of places in cities and urban areas became ghost towns where only the most essential travels are permitted to go through. These days, air travel is back in full swing, as it makes up for the lost 2 to 3 years of business. If you’re a student pilot in flight school, your prospects…

[mjitransportbahamas]

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[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As a train derailment and fire forced evacuations in Minnesota on Thursday, a trio of Democratic U.S. Senators introduced another piece of legislation inspired by the ongoing public health and environmental disaster in and around East Palestine, Ohio.

The Railway Accountability Act—led by Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)—would build on the bipartisan Railway Safety Act introduced at the beginning of March by Brown and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride derailed in the small Ohio community on February 3.

While welcoming "greater federal oversight and a crackdown on railroads that seem all too willing to trade safety for higher profits," Eddie Hall, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also warned just after the earlier bill was unveiled that "you can run a freight train through the loopholes."

The new bill is backed by unions including the Transport Workers of America (TWU), the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO), and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD).

"It is an honor and a privilege to introduce my first piece of legislation, the Railway Accountability Act, following the derailment affecting East Palestine, Ohio, and Darlington Township, Pennsylvania," Fetterman said in a statement. "This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes that endanger communities near railway infrastructure."

Fetterman, who is expected to return to the Senate in mid-April after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last month to be treated for clinical depression, asserted that "working Pennsylvanians have more than enough to think about already—they should never have been put in this horrible situation."

"Communities like Darlington Township and East Palestine are too often forgotten and overlooked by leaders in Washington and executives at big companies like Norfolk Southern who only care about making their millions," he added. "That's why I'm proud to be working with my colleagues to stand up for these communities and make clear that we're doing everything we can to prevent a disaster like this from happening again."

As Fetterman's office summarized, the Railway Accountability Act would:

• Direct the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to examine the causes of and potential mitigation strategies for wheel-related derailments and mechanical defects, and publish potential regulations that would improve avoidance of these defects;

• Ensure that employees can safely inspect trains by prohibiting trains from being moved during brake inspections;

• Require that the mechanic that actually inspects a locomotive or rail car attests to its safety;

• Direct the FRA to review regulations relating to the operation of trains in switchyards, and direct railroads to update their plans submitted under the FRA's existing Risk Reduction Program (RRP) to incorporate considerations regarding switchyard practices;

• Require the FRA to make Class 1 railroad safety waivers public in one online location;

• Require railroads to ensure that communication checks between the front and end of a train do not fail, and that emergency brake signals reach the end of a train;

• Ensure Class 1 railroad participation in the confidential Close Call Reporting System by requiring all railroads that have paid the maximum civil penalty for a safety violation to join; and

• Ensure that railroads provide warning equipment (such as white disks, red flags, or whistles) to railroad watchmen and lookouts.

A preliminary report released in late February by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests an overheated wheel bearing may have caused the disastrous derailment in Ohio. The initial findings added fuel to demands that federal lawmakers enact new rules for the rail industry.

"Rail lobbyists have fought for years to protect their profits at the expense of communities like East Palestine," Brown noted Thursday.

Casey stressed that "along with the Railway Safety Act, this bill will make freight rail safer and protect communities from preventable tragedies."

In addition to pushing those two bills, Brown, Casey, and Fetterman have responded to the East Palestine disaster by introducing the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act and—along with other colleagues—writing to Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan with various concerns and demands.

[a-d-nox]

what's a solar return?

any time the sun transits and becomes exactly conjunct your natal sun (it is in the exact sign and degree it was in when you were born), you undergo a solar return. solar returns happen every year on your birthday. my solar return is coming up this october, so i thought "why not?let's continue my thoughts about the return charts."

but what can a solar return chart show you?

literally everything about your year ahead. you just have to look at it and know what you are looking at/for. so let's break it down some of the basics...

sun

energy/aura, attention you receive this year, leadership opportunities, creativity, pride/ego/dignity, how generous you are, individuality, personal development, self-awareness, what makes you happy, celebrations, and self-expression.

moon

emotions / emotional responses, self-care, comfort zone / safe space, femininity, mothers / matriarchal / maternal instincts, family, nostalgia, pregnancy/fertility, baking/cooking, adaptability, menstruation, and habits/routines.

mercury

communication/gossiping, mindset / reasoning skills, perception, writing, social media / cellphone use, short trips, ground transportation, and mannerisms.

venus

romance, beauty/aestheticism, pleasure(s), art/entertainment, self-love, harmony, femininity, sentimentality, how you compromise, parties/celebrations, and possessions.

mars

passions/desires, self-confidence, ambition, anger/aggression, competitiveness, athletics / physical energy, impulsivity, courage/bravery, tasks, masculinity, assertiveness, sexuality, and violence.

jupiter

luck, abundance, wealth, success, opportunity, popularity, wisdom, air travel, ease, higher education (college/university), optimism, justice/retribution, law, and fulfillment.

saturn

work, achievement/mastery, challenges, karma, fathers / patriarchy / paternal instincts, fears, guilt, delays/limitations, discipline, responsibility, past issues that are prevalent this year, practicality, stability, endurance, maturity, and grudges.

uranus

friends/fans/followers, technology, fluctuation/change, rebellion, independence, originality, unexpected things / surprises, and chaos.

neptune

creativity, selflessness, escapism, intuition, hidden things, deception/lies/delusion, confusion, inspiration, and addiction/fascination.

pluto

change/transformation, power, sex/seduction, death, intensity/magnetism, obsessions, manipulation, and purging.

1h/asc

identity, approach/mindset this year, physical appearance, mannerisms, and your presence.

2h

money/finances this year, material possessions, self worth, what you are giving/receiving, and resources.

3h

communication/gossip, mind / method of thinking, sibling relationship(s), interests, ideas/information, ground transportation, social media / cellphone use, publishing, and short trips.

4h/ic

homes/houses, family matters, parents (mainly maternal figures), inner child work you do this year, inheritance, traditions you practice this year, self-care you do this year, and femininity.

5h

children, talents / hobbies / entertainment / creative pursuits, drama, short-term romances, pleasures/gifts, fertility, and joy/delight/jubilation

6h

daily routine, health/fitness/diet, work/duties, self-improvement / shadow work, hygiene, and pet(s).

7h/dsc

long-term relationships / marriage / partnerships, how you care for others (if you care for others), minor legal pursuits, contracts/negotiations, known enemies, close associates / business partners, and equality/harmony/sharing (how you promote it and how (if) you receive it).

8h

changes (external and internal), death (internal and external), shared finances, what you invest in, stocks/taxes/inheritance/loans/assets, intimacy (intellectual and physical), secrets/mystery, mental health / trauma you experience, and possible surgery/operations.

9h

wisdom you gain, major legal pursuits, new beliefs/ethics/philosophy milestones, college/university, and air travel / travel abroad.

10h/mc

career, public image / status / reputation in society, responsibilities towards society/others, authority, paternal figures, and your professional aspirations (the progress you make towards them this year).

11h

friends/companions/allies/groups, ideals/desires, how your different this year as opposed to years past, technology, networking/socializing, and parties (formal and informal).

12h

how you heal this year from you past / mental health journey, karma, sleeping habits, your experience with solitude/isolation this year, unknown enemies, illusions/delusions you have about your situation, fears / self-limitation, losses, and what you secretly/subconsciously want most this year.

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© a-d-nox 2023 all rights reserved

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in September 2024

01/09 unofficial With Sir Tim Attended a church service at Crathie Kirk. ⛪️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

10/09 As Colonel-in-Chief, visited The King's Royal Hussars at Aliwal Barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire. 🪖

Sir Tim represented Princess Anne at a Service of Thanksgiving for Sir Clive Johnstone (National President of the Royal British Legion) which was held at St. Margaret's Church in Westminster, London. 🌹

11/09 Visited Estuary Services Limited and named a Pilot Vessel in Ramsgate Royal Harbour, followed by a Reception at Royal Temple Yacht Club. 🍾🚤

As Patron of the English Rural Housing Association, opened a new development at Carpenters Yard in Shepherdswell near Dover, Kent. 🌳🏠

12/09 As Patron of Citizens Advice Scotland, visited Penicuik Citizens Advice Bureau. ⚖️

As Patron of the International Sheep Dog Society, attended the International Sheep Dog Trials at Syde Farm in Lanarkshire. 🐑🐕

Unofficial Sir Tim attended the launch of the Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 🏙️

13/09 Attended the Southampton International Boat Show. 🚤

As Patron of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, visited the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Ilchester, to mark its 60th anniversary. ✈️⚓️

As Patron of Save the Children UK, attended a Concert at Cheap Street Church in Sherborne, to mark 30 years of support from the Cambridge Choral Scholars. 🎶

16/09 As President of Victim Support, visited the Bristol Service at St Werburghs Community Centre, to mark its 50th anniversary. 🤝

As Patron of Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union, attended the Annual Volunteer Awards Reception at Lockleaze Sports Centre in Bristol. 🏉

17/09 As Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Logistic Corps, visited the Joint Helicopter Support Squadron at A Hangar in Royal Air Force Benson. 🚁

As Patron of the National Transport Trust, attended the Annual Awards Ceremony at Fawley Hill Museum, in Henley-on-Thames. 🏆

As Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution, attended a 30th anniversary reception at the Corporation of Trinity House. 🍾

18/09 As President of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, visited ApparelTASKER Sustainable Garment Manufacturer in London. 👕👖

20/09 As Patron of the Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society, attended a Members' Development Day at Podehole Farm in Thorney. 🐮

21/09 Unofficial With Sir Tim Departed from Kemble Airfield and arrived at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. ✈️🇳🇱

With Sir Tim Attended a Reception at the Airborne Museum Hartenstein, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem. 🪂

22/09 With Sir Tim As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, attended the Annual Service of Commemoration at Oosterbeek Airborne Cemetery. 🪦🌹

With Sir Tim Visited the house of “the Angel of Arnhem” in Oosterbeek. 🏠👼🏻

Unofficial With Sir Tim, departed from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and arrived back at Kemble Airfield. ✈️🇬🇧

24/09 As President of the Scotch Chef’s Club, visited Hugh Black and Sons Limited in Stirling. 🥩🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

As Patron of the Royal Highland Education Trust, attended a Food and Farming Day at Solsgirth Home Farm in Dollar. 🎓🚜

As Patron of Opportunity International United Kingdom, held a Dinner at St James’s Palace. 🌍 🍽️

25/09 On behalf of The King, held an Investiture at Windsor Castle in the morning and afternoon.

26/09 As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, inaugurated the Loos British Cemetery extension and attended a Reburial Service of Unknown Soldiers. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🪦

Attended a Reception at the Town Hall, Place de la République in Loos-en-Gohelle, France. 🇫🇷🥂

As Patron of Sense International, attended a Dinner at Church House, Westminster, to mark the 30th anniversary of the charity. 🦯🦻🎂

27/09 Opened Hull Trinity House Academy in Hull, East Yorkshire. 🏫

As Patron of the Sailors’ Children’s Society, presented awards at the “Anchor of Celebration” ceremony at Hull Trinity House. 🏆⚓️

As Patron of the Spinal Injuries Association, attended a 50th anniversary reception at SIA House in Milton Keynes. 🦽🎂

30/09 With Sir Tim As Patron of the Minchinhampton Centre for the Elderly, visited Horsfall House, to mark its 30th Anniversary. 🏡🎂

As Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Logistic Corps, visited the Gurkha Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion to mark the redesignation of 170 Headquarters Squadron at Imjin Barracks. 🪖

Total official engagements for Anne in September: 33

2024 total so far: 313

Total official engagements accompanied/represented by Tim in September: 5

2024 total so far: 86

FYl - due to certain royal family members being off ill/in recovery I won't be posting everyone's engagement counts out of respect, I am continuing to count them and release the totals at the end of the year.

[capybaracorn]

Israel promised ‘limited’ operation. Two months on, Rafah turned to rubble

The Israeli military invites reporters into Rafah, the first time international media visit the city since it was invaded.

Israeli army vehicles transport a group of soldiers and journalists inside southern Gaza. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

(July 8th 2024)

Israel invaded Rafah on May 6 promising a “limited” operation against Hamas fighters, but two months on, the southern-most city has been turned into a dust-covered ghost town.

The Associated Press photojournalist was among the first foreign journalists allowed into the Palestinian city, which sheltered most of Gaza’s more than two million people displaced by Israel’s devastating war. Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently.

More than 150 Palestinian journalists, who have been reporting from the ground, have been killed in Israeli attacks, making it one of the deadliest conflicts for journalists.

Abandoned, bullet-ridden apartment buildings have blasted out walls and shattered windows. Bedrooms and kitchens are visible from roads dotted with rubble piles that tower over the Israeli military vehicles passing by. Very few civilians remain.

Israel, which has been accused of disproportionate use of force in Gaza, says it aimed for a complete defeat of Hamas. More than 70 percent of the enclave’s houses have been destroyed in Israeli air and ground offensive since October 7, 2023.

In the last week of May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to “immediately” halt its military assault on Rafah, which faced a humanitarian crisis due to the blocking of aid. In January, the top UN court had ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide.

Nearly 40,000 people have been killed, half of them children and women.

Rafah, an area of about 65sq km (25sq miles) bordering Egypt, was considered a safe zone where most Palestinians fleeing from Israeli bombardment took shelter. But Israel invaded the southern city despite international concerns, saying Hamas fighters had moved to the area. It provided no proof for its claims. Israel has repeatedly targeted areas designated as safe zones since the war began nine months ago.

An estimated 1.4 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah after fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere in Gaza. The UN estimates that about 50,000 remain in Rafah, which had a pre-war population of about 275,000. Last week, the United Nations said most of Gaza’s 2.4 million people are now displaced.

Most people are clustering in squalid tent camps along the beach with scant access to clean water, food, toilets and medical care.

Efforts to bring aid into southern Gaza have stalled as Israel closed down Rafah, one of two important crossings into the south of Gaza. The UN says little aid can enter from the other main crossing – Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) – because Israeli settlers have attacked aid trucks.

On Wednesday, a line of trucks on the Gaza side of Karem Abu Salem was visible, but the trucks were hardly moving – a sign of how Israel’s pledge to keep the route safe to facilitate the delivery of aid inside Gaza has fallen flat.

UN officials say some commercial trucks have braved the route into Rafah, but not without hired armed guards riding atop their convoys.

Israel says it is close to dismantling the group as an organised military force in Rafah. In a reflection of that confidence, soldiers brought journalists in open-air military vehicles down the road that leads into the heart of the city.

Along the way, debris lying by the side of the road made clear the perils of aid delivery: carcasses of trucks baking in the hot sun; dashboards covered in fencing meant to protect drivers; and aid pallets lying empty.

The longer the aid delivery is frozen, humanitarian groups say, the closer Gaza comes to running out of fuel, which is needed for hospitals, water desalination plants and vehicles. Most of the hospitals have been crippled by repeated Israeli attacks.

“The hospitals are once again short on fuel, risking disruption of critical services,” said Dr Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean. “Injured people are dying because the ambulance services are facing delays due to fuel shortages.”

As the humanitarian situation worsens, Israel is pushing ahead with its offensive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that any potential ceasefire deal should allow Israel to resume its operation in Gaza. The Hamas group wants an end to the war as part of any deal.

After journalists heard nearby gunshots on Wednesday, the soldiers told the group they would not be visiting the beach as planned.

The group departed the city soon after, with clouds of dust kicked up by vehicles temporarily obscuring the mass of destruction behind them.

The Israeli military invited reporters for a tour of Rafah, which has witnessed widespread destruction since the invasion on May 6. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

Before invading Rafah, Israel said Hamas fighters had retreated there, though it provided no proof for its claims. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

Israel says it has nearly defeated Hamas in Rafah. But most of the city's population is displaced. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

Israeli tanks are seen next to destroyed buildings. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

Israeli army vehicles transport a group of soldiers and journalists. It has barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

Israel says it is close to dismantling Hamas as an organised military force in Rafah. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

Soldiers brought journalists in open-air military vehicles down the road that leads into the heart of Rafah. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

The UN estimates that about 50,000 Palestinians remain in Rafah, which sheltered more than 1.5 people displaced in the earlier phase of the war. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

As the humanitarian situation worsens, Israel is pushing ahead with its attacks. Combat in Rafah is ongoing. [Ohad Zwigenberg/AP Photo]

[athena5898]

LEBANON (PrR)(Al-Akhbar) — Washington and the US embassy in Lebanon did not allow Iraqi Airways to land at Beirut airport to establish an air bridge to provide aid for the displaced, insisting that the aid must pass through Jordan for inspection first.

Washington also threatened to sanction Middle East Airlines (MEA) if it transported wounded patients from the Israeli pager attacks, on 16 and 17 September, on its flights to receive treatment abroad.

The US embassy also reportedly receives a list of all passenger names traveling through Beirut International Airport from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

[usafphantom2]

Skunk Works’ Latest Stealthy Tanker Concept Revealed

The USAF is firming up requirements for a stealthy tanker to fit with its Next Generation Air Dominance ecosystem, which could change dramatically due to cost.

Joseph Trevithick Posted on Nov 6, 2024 7:35 PM EST

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works advanced projects division has put forward a new vision for a stealthy pilot-optional aerial refueling tanker.

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced projects division has put forward a new notional vision for a stealthy pilot-optional aerial refueling tanker. This comes as the U.S. Air Force is refining requirements for a future Next Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS) ‘system of systems’ and amid serious concerns about how the service expects to pay for that and other modernization priorities.

Skunk Works provided a rendering of its latest tanker concept refueling a pair of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, seen at the top of this story and below, to The War Zone. A different view of this same conceptual design was first shown publicly at the Airlift/Tanker Association’s (ATA) recently concluded annual symposium, as reported by Aviation Week.

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

The rendering shows an aircraft with swept main wings and horizontal stabilizers with canted outboard vertical stabilizers. The tanker also has stealthy (low-observable) features, including a chine line that wraps around the forward fuselage and continues on either side behind the wing roots and saw-tooth panel lines at various points. Low observable shaping on its wingtip pods is also evident. Where the aircraft’s engine intakes might be situated is not entirely clear, but there is a single large shrouded ‘platypus-like’ exhaust with serrated edges at the upper rear of the fuselage.

The tanker is shown with a pair of refueling booms extending from pod-like sponsons toward the end of each main wing. The boom refueling method is the U.S. Air Force’s preferred means of getting gas into other aircraft in flight. It is possible that the booms on Skunk Works’ new design concept could also be configured to provide fuel via the probe-and-drogue method, which the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps prefer. Probe-and-drogue is also used to refuel Air Force CV-22 tiltrotors, as well as helicopters across the U.S. military. This system is often installed internally on the centerline rear of large tankers, such as the Air Force’s KC-46 and now-retired KC-10, as well as the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT).

Whether or not the booms might be expected to collapse and/or retract when not in use is unclear. Though such a system could offer aerodynamic and radar signature-reducing benefits, it could also limit the strength of the boom. That, in turn, could present potential operational limitations and safety concerns. The booms on traditional tankers have been known to break under the wrong circumstances as happened just earlier this year in a mishap involving an Air Force KC-46 and an F-15E Strike Eagle combat jet, which you can read more about here. The KC-46, specifically, has been beset by various technical and other issues over the years, including a still unsolved “stiff boom” problem that prevents it from being used operationally to refuel A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft at all.

A KC-46 refuels an A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft during a test. USAF

Aviation Week had reported that Skunk Works’ notional design is pilot optional, with no clear provision for a crewed cockpit seen in the renderings available. It is possible that a cockpit could be fitted, as required, in place of a faired-over section on top of the forward fuselage. Another variation of the rendering might also exist showing a cockpit.

A pilot-optional design versus a completely uncrewed version does offer certain benefits. The War Zone previously explored this in detail after the emergence of the stealthy Model 437 Vanguard technology demonstrator jet from Northrop Grumman subsidiary scaled composites earlier this year, writing:

“Unmanned aircraft are still quite restricted as to where and how they can operate. A pilot totally changes this massive bottleneck and means the aircraft can be flown wherever it needs to go, to participate in any developmental flights or training exercises, no matter how complex. It can do this unburdened by typical drone airspace restrictions and the need for chase aircraft that can be required in certain situations. Just ferrying to a different location while manned, so it can access airspace where it can fly as if it were an unmanned aircraft, is a giant advantage.”

“For many tests, having a human onboard can accelerate the speed at which they can be accomplished. At its most basic, initial primary flight testing of the airframe will go far faster with a pilot at the controls. Overall, more risks can be taken when executing autonomous activities with a pilot there to take over and act as a safety backstop if needed.”

Skunk Works has publicly shown a number of other notional advanced crewed tankers in the past, including a boom-equipped one with an almost fighter-esque appearance just earlier this year, the features of which we previously explored in detail. Lockheed Martin has presented variations on a blended-wing-body design concept configured for boom and probe-and-drogue refueling, as well.

A rendering of a stealthy crewed tanker concept that Skunk Works distributed earlier this year. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

A model of a blend wing body aircraft concept that Lockheed Martin displayed in the late 2010s and said could be adaptable to meet future tanker requirements. Joseph Trevithick A model of a blend wing body aircraft concept that Lockheed martin displayed in the late 2010s and said could be adaptable to meet the requirements of what was then known as KC-Z. Joseph Trevithick

Lockheed Martin art from the late 2010s depicting stealthy blended wing body tankers fueling aircraft using the boom and probe-and-drogue methods. Lockheed Martin

“Our team continues to explore a variety of configurations that deliver mission effectiveness through a connected, affordable, survivable and autonomous next generation tanker capability,” a Skunk Works spokesperson told The War Zone when asked for more details about the newest notional design. “We look forward to providing the U.S. Air Force with the range and endurance needed to fulfill the future of NGAS as it continues to define requirements.”

As already noted, the Air Force currently describes NGAS as a proposed family of systems, which could include a crew or uncrewed stealthy tanker, or a pilot-optional design, or some combination thereof. Boeing has also been pitching a land-based derivative of the MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone that it is developing for the U.S. Navy as a possible option for NGAS.

The complete NGAS ‘system of system’ is also expected to include existing non-stealthy tankers like the KC-46 and the KC-135 with various self-defense and other upgrades. The Air Force has also been actively exploring ‘buddy store’ podded aerial refueling systems that can work with aircraft configured to use the boom, which would also allow other aircraft, including tactical jets, to contribute to this refueling ecosystem.

Uncrewed tankers could be paired with crewed ones in a hub-and-spoke arrangement, with the drones helping ferry fuel to areas closer to the tactical edge while reducing risks to human aircrews. It is worth noting here that Skunk Works’ new rendering shows a notional design that can be refueled in flight itself.

Other tactics, techniques, and procedures could also help reduce the vulnerability of key aerial refueling assets, including linking up with receivers at lower altitudes below an enemy’s radar horizon. This is something the Air Force’s special operations community already has experienced doing, including with a pocket fleet of specialized KC-135RT “receiver-tankers” that can refuel and be refueled in mid-air, which you can read more about here.

A mid-air refueling capable KC-135RT about to link up with a regular KC-135 tanker. USAF

The War Zone has been highlighting the increasingly critical need for stealthy or otherwise more survivable tankers for years now. Expanding and evolving air defense threats, especially in the context of potential high-fight with China have only underscored this reality and are key drivers behind the Air Force’s current NGAS planning.

“Essentially the threat, China again, has reached out with new counter-air systems that could threaten our aircraft, especially tankers, at longer ranges, beyond the ranges which we normally would refuel fighter planes,” Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in a keynote address at the same ATA symposium where Skunk Works first rolled out its new tanker rendering. “This put our whole tanker acquisition strategy in question. It is still in question, but we are working to resolve the uncertainty as quickly as possible.”

Critical factors in this ongoing debate are range considerations, which are particularly pronounced in the Pacific region, together with the typically short combat radii of America’s current tactical combat jet fleets. This, in turn, puts existing tankers dangerously close to, if not inside anti-access/area denial bubbles near-peer competitors like China have already established and continue to expand.

Stealthy tankers that are not meant to penetrate deep into high-threat airspace, but to persist and operate on the edges of those zones, allowing existing tactical airpower and newer platforms to make it to their targets, could be part of changing that equation. Air Force plans for a new sixth-generation crewed stealth combat jet and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative have been set to have significant impacts in all this, with discussions about their expected ranges (and other capabilities) also tied in with how NGAS evolves. Procurement of a stealth tanker could help trade range and thus the complexity and cost of these new tactical platforms, while also keeping existing ones more relevant. The NGAD combat jet program is currently undergoing a deep review and the outcome of that reassessment will also have direct ramifications for the NGAS and CCA efforts.

In addition, “unfortunately, any new [tanker] design cannot be fielded for several years at best, even if affordable,” Kendall warned while speaking at the ATA gathering, highlighting potential lower cost-near term alternatives, such as upgrading existing tankers.

An artist’s depiction of a blended wing body concept aircraft employed in the tanker role. This art was produced in relation to a program called Speed Agile in the late 2000s-early 2010s. Public Domain An artist’s depiction of a Speed Agile concept aircraft employed in the tanker role. Public Domain

The Air Force’s top civilian also added new and even more dire remarks to a growing chorus of concerns about the affordability of a host of next-generation modernization efforts beyond NGAS that the service has previously described as essential for fighting and winning future high-end conflicts.

“The variable that concerns me most as we go through this analysis and produce a range of alternatives is going to be [the availability of adequate resources.] … to pursue any combination of those new designs,” Kendall said, referring to the NGAD combat jet and CCA drones, as well as NGAS.

You can read more about this brewing budgetary crisis here.

The Air Force is hoping to have firmer understanding of its NGAS requirements before the year is out. At that point, it may be clearer whether or not something like Skunk Works’ newest design concept is what the service is looking for to meet its future aerial refueling needs, if it can afford them.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Latest in U.S. Air Force

[iww-gnv]

OMAHA, Neb. -- United Pacific railroad has reached a tentative deal with a major union regarding paid sick leave. The railroad and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers said that the deal reached over the weekend provides up to eight paid sick leave days to around 5,900 railroad employees. While all Union Pacific employees receive some form of paid leave, the proposed agreement will provide the union members an additional five paid sick days annually, prorated for 2023. Starting next year, they also will have the ability to convert up to three paid leave days for use as paid sick time. If ratified by workers, Union Pacific, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, will have paid sick leave agreements in place with all 13 of its labor unions, making it the second railroad in the industry to to do so.

[thehopefuljournalist]

In the previous post I introduced Greenpeace. These are some wins from June posted on their website.

- Hyundai Construction Equipment commits to help stopping illegal mining in the Amazon

Greenpeace East Asia released the Stop the Excavators report in April of this year, calling to heavy machinery manufacturers to take measures that prevent their equipment being used illegally, in ways that cause violations of human rights.

This exposé revealed that Hyundai Construction Equipment is apparently the favoured brand used in illegal mining in Indigenous Lands in the Amazon.

Hyundai has now announced a series of measures to protect the forest, and will act to prevent this in the future.

- ReconAfrica suspends oil drilling in Okavango Delta

The Canadian oil company ReconAfrica has stopped drilling in Namibia’s Okavango Delta, after it was faced with lawsuits and environmental concerns. For now, the drillings have only been suspended, but this is a step in the right direction, proving that people power can work wonders.

In 2019, ReconAfrica announced fracking in some of Africa's most sensitive (both in terms of water supplies and as livelihoods for the communities in the area) environmental areas. Namibian youth climate activists, indigenous, environmental and human rights groups have been working since then to prevent this from happening.

- ASEAN steps up commitment to end forced labour and human trafficking practices of migrant fishers

In May 2023, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders officially adopted the first ASEAN Declaration on Migrant Fishers Protection in history. This declaration follows many years of active campaigning by human rights advocates and civil society organizations. The campaign aims to push stronger policies to protect Southeast Asian migrants working in fisheries and their rights.

This declaration emphasised that protecting and fulfilling the rights of migrant fishers is an entire migration cycle (recruitment, placement, and repatriation), and so is a shared responsibility among the ASEAN states.

- Local fishers and civil society join forces to reforest mangroves in Senegal

The local community in the traditional fishing town Joal in Senegal started reforesting mangroves in a show of what direct action is really about.

Joal is located near mangrove forests, that are essential breeding grounds for many fish species, and are vital therefore for the fishing communities in those areas. They also store more carbon than tropical forests, and are capable of curbing climate impacts such as floods.

- Dutch creative agencies choose to no longer work with fossil fuel companies

23+ creative agencies in The Netherlands put together a Fossil No Deal, stating that they will stop working with fossil companies and no longer encourage fossil passenger transport. They call it verdrag verantwoord verleiden, a treaty for responsible seduction.

- Thailand applies new PM2.5 ambient standard

In the beginning of June, the new PM2.5 ambient standard was officially applied in Thailand. 

The new standard is now 15 μg/m3 for the annual standard and 37.5 μg/m3 for 24-hour standard, which is in keeping with the revised WHO air quality guidelines. This is a big step in the right direction to help reduce PM2.5 and solve air pollution in the country.

Greenpeace Thailand is still not at rest, though, and are continuing to fight to get the PM2.5 at its source, that is from the industries.

- In New Zealand, FSC abandons plans for ‘GE learning’ process

Greenpeace Aotearoa and other environmental organizations have been pressuring the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme to abandon its plans for a ‘Genetic Engineering (GE) learning’ process.

The long-standing principle of not certifying GE trees came under threat  after pressure from FSC certified plantation  company Suzano from Brazil that has a subsidiary doing GE eucalyptus tree research trials (for glyphosate resistance). 

- Citizens say yes to net zero emissions in Switzerland

 Swiss citizens have voted in favour of a new law to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The new climate law, which was initiated seven years ago, passed a referendum with about 59% of the voters.

Net zero is now enshrined in the “federal law on climate protection, innovation and strengthening energy security“.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see, news from your own countries, or if you'd like to add anything or share.

I'm also here to listen, my DMs and Asks are always open :)

Love you all, and see you next time, be safe!

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA seeks innovative Artemis lunar logistics, mobility solutions

NASA is asking U.S. industry to submit innovative architecture solutions that could help the agency land and move cargo on the lunar surface during future Artemis missions. Released in September, the agency's request for proposal also supports NASA's broader Moon to Mars Objectives.

Previously, NASA published two white papers outlining lunar logistics and mobility gaps as part of its Moon to Mars architecture development effort that augmented an earlier white paper on logistics considerations. The current ask, Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies, expects proposing companies to consider these publications, which describe NASA's future needs for logistics and mobility.

"NASA relies on collaborations from diverse partners to develop its exploration architecture," said Nujoud Merancy, deputy associate administrator, strategy and architecture in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Studies like this allow the agency to leverage the incredible expertise in the commercial aerospace community."

Lunar logistics drivers, needs

Logistics items, including food, water, air, and spare parts, comprise a relatively large portion of the cargo NASA expects to need to move around on the moon, including at the lunar South Pole where the agency plans to send crew in the future.

The Lunar Logistics Drivers and Needs white paper outlines the importance of accurately predicting logistics resupply needs, as they can heavily influence the overall architecture and design of exploration missions.

As the agency progresses into more complex lunar missions, NASA will require more and more lunar logistics as the agency increases mission frequency and duration. This current proposal seeks industry studies that could help inform NASA's approach to this growing need.

Lunar mobility drivers, needs

The white paper discusses the transportation of landed cargo and exploration assets from where they are delivered to where they are used, such as to locations with ideal lighting, away from ascent vehicle landing sites, or near other assets. These distances can range from yards to miles away from landing locations, and the ability to move around landing sites easily and quickly are key to exploring the lunar surface efficiently.

NASA's current planned lunar mobility elements, such as the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and Pressurized Rover, have a capability limit of about 1,760 pounds (800 kilograms) and will primarily be used to transport astronauts around the lunar surface. However, future missions could include a need to move cargo totaling around 4,400 to 13,000 pounds (2,000 to 6,000 kg). To meet this demand, NASA must develop new mobility capabilities with its partners.

Lunar surface cargo

The Lunar Surface Cargo white paper characterizes lunar surface cargo delivery needs, compares those needs with current cargo lander capabilities, and outlines considerations for fulfilling this capability gap. While cargo delivery capabilities currently included in the Moon to Mars architecture—like CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) and human-class delivery landers—can meet near-term needs, there are substantial gaps for future needs.

Access to a diverse fleet of cargo landers would empower a larger lunar exploration footprint. A combination of international partnerships and U.S. industry-provided landers could supply the concepts and capabilities to meet this need. The request for proposals doesn't explicitly seek new lander concepts but does ask for integrated assessments of logistics that can include transportation elements.

"We're looking for industry to offer creative insights that can inform our logistics and mobility strategy," said Brooke Thornton, industry engagement lead for NASA's Strategy and Architecture Office. "Ultimately, we're hoping to grow our awareness of the unique capabilities that are or could become a part of the commercial lunar marketplace."

This is the latest appendix to NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2). Solicitations under NextSTEP seek commercial development of capabilities that empower crewed exploration in deep space. NASA published the latest NextSTEP omnibus, NextSTEP-3, on Sept. 27.

IMAGE: Illustration of logistics elements on the lunar surface. Credit: NASA

[mariacallous]

Amazon deliveries could be headed for some turbulence in the new year. Pilots for US-based Air Transport International, a cargo airline that ferries Amazon packages from its fulfillment centers to airports nearer to its customers, voted to authorize a strike last month. During the three and a half years the union has been negotiating with ATI, wages in the industry have soared, and ATI’s pilots complain that their pay has fallen behind. Meanwhile, they say ATI is facing record attrition as pilots jump ship to better-paying carriers.

A strike could throw a wrench in Amazon’s logistics network. ATI, owned by holding company ATSG, operates half of the 80 US aircraft currently in service for Amazon, according to an estimate by Planespotters. But the pilots, who are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association union, can’t walk out until at least next year.

Federal law requires airline labor disputes to be mediated by the US government’s National Mediation Board, which will implement a 30-day cooling-off period if it determines the parties have reached an impasse and they refuse arbitration. If a resolution isn’t reached during that time, the pilots can walk off the job or the airline can lock them out. Some 98 percent of ATI’s 640 pilots participated in the vote and only one didn’t vote to authorize the strike.

Amazon outsources the operation of its air service, which it calls Amazon Air, to a small network of cargo airlines whose pilots fly Amazon-branded planes. In the US alone, they collectively operate more than 330 daily flights for Amazon between more than 50 airports, according to the logistics consultancy MWPVL International.

Most airlines that work with Amazon also devote a large share of their businesses to transporting cargo for other customers, including DHL and the US military. In recent years, ATI has gone all-in on the retailer, however. Amazon deliveries now comprise 94 percent of ATI’s flying hours, according to the pilots’ union, making the company and its workers dependent on the ecommerce giant.

ATI’s pilots’ union says that more than a third of the airline’s pilots have left so far this year, after 27 percent of them departed last year. The union says 42 percent of its pilots are currently on probation, meaning they’re in their first year of service. “We’re watching our carrier disintegrate,” says Mike Sterling, chair of the ATI pilots’ union.

The pilots’ union says they have delivered a 98 percent on-time performance rate, but the rapid turnover and declining experience levels are threatening that. “This market is highly competitive, and ATSG is diminishing its ability to provide quality service to Amazon,” says Sterling. “We think this is a conversation that needs to be had between all three parties.” Amazon and ATI did not respond to requests for comment. During an earnings call in May, ATSG’s former CEO said that ATI’s service quality remained outstanding, but acknowledged that training replacements for departing pilots had raised costs for the airline.

When the pilots’ union negotiated a contract with the company in 2018, pilots’ pay, benefits, and schedules were competitive with similar airlines, says Josh Hoy, a captain who started at the airline seven years ago. He initially looked at the job as just a stepping stone but decided to stick around when ATI’s relationship with Amazon took off. “It was a really exciting time, being on the ground floor of that kind of growth,” he says. “I started to have the conversation with my wife and said, ‘I think this might be the place to stay.’”

However, “as time went on, we’ve fallen far behind,” Hoy says. ATI’s union says its pilots are paid less on an hourly basis than those at all of Amazon’s seven other carriers. “We operate under the same rules, in the same airspace, on the exact same routes. The airplanes cost the exact same to operate,” says Hoy. “Everything is exactly the same, except for our pay.”

No Fondness for Labor

Amazon generally goes to great lengths to avoid engaging with unions and to deter its employees or those who work for its contractors from joining them. The company spent the last year and a half unsuccessfully challenging the first and only union victory at a US Amazon warehouse. When employees of a delivery contractor in Southern California unionized earlier this year, Amazon refused to jointly bargain with the workers and terminated its agreement with the contractor. “Amazon has not demonstrated a real fondness for labor,” Sterling acknowledges. “I would love to change that narrative with them.”

The last and only time Amazon faced a strike by one of its air carriers was in 2016, during the early days of its air cargo operation, when 250 pilots for ABX Air walked off the job. A judge deemed the strike illegal, however, and ordered the pilots back to work the following day. Nonetheless, a former Amazon Air employee told WIRED last year that Amazon suspended its business with ABX for several weeks after the strike ended to demonstrate the relative power it held in the relationship, which soon soured.

ATI’s pilots are taking a less antagonistic tone in hopes of bringing Amazon to the negotiating table. “What we don’t want to do is affect our customers,” says Sterling. “We’ve done a lot to protect our obsession with Amazon.” However, he says the intransigence of ATSG’s management has left the pilots with no choice but to call a strike.

“This side of Amazon’s network is the most vulnerable to labor strikes,” says Marc Wulfraat, president of logistics consultancy MWPVL. If drivers or warehouse workers strike, the company can shift the flow of products and packages to one of its many nearby warehouses, but airports are fewer in number and farther apart.

Amazon could compensate for a walkout at ATI by shifting volume to other air carriers under the Amazon Air umbrella, but only if they have the capacity to handle the influx at all of the airports. It could also transport some of its packages by truck instead, which it did during the brief 2016 strike. However, this could result in slower shipping times and reduced service, says Wulfraat, which flies in the face of Amazon’s mantra of customer obsession.

Pilots also have the advantage of being generally in a strong position across the airline industry. “It’s still a very, very hot job market” for pilots, says Geoff Murray, a partner who works on aerospace at management consultancy Oliver Wyman. Plummeting demand for passenger pilots during the pandemic sent many into early retirement, worsening an existing pilot shortage that got more acute as the industry bounced back. Wages have soared. Oliver Wyman estimates that captains’ pay at the US mainline carriers, such as Delta and UPS, has increased 46 percent since 2020, while regional carriers have increased pay by 86 percent.

Pilot Drew Patterson came to ATI in 2021, attracted by the work-life balance the airline offered, but as the carrier lost pilots, he has seen his workload creep up and his schedule become more unpredictable. With fewer crews to operate the same number of flights, “everybody else's schedule gets compressed,” he says. “Sometimes you can be away from home for a long time.”

Long-term, he thinks Amazon’s continued growth should be a good thing for ATI and its employees, so he’s been willing to stick it out. But he’s not so sure all of his colleagues will feel the same about current conditions at the company.

“All of this has a real house-of-cards feeling to it,” says Sterling. “We just can’t sustain what we’re doing.”

[collapsedsquid]

On the evening of Monday, July 15, while traveling to Zanjan for the Muharram religious mourning ceremony, the ex-president's chief security officer noticed that the air conditioner in his primary vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, was malfunctioning, the London-based Iran International TV network reported. He then advised the former president to switch to another car. While in transit, the SUV spun out of control, collided with another vehicle in the convoy, and eventually stopped after hitting another car. The incident was reported to the authorities five days later. Ahmadinejad's chief security officer discovered the ongoing A/C issue and requested that Ahmadinejad use a different vehicle, per the report. The Land Cruiser was instead used to transport Ahmadinejad's associates and bodyguards when it spun out.

Fucking GenZ assassins can't get the job done apparently

[jcmarchi]

Study finds health risks in switching ships from diesel to ammonia fuel

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/study-finds-health-risks-in-switching-ships-from-diesel-to-ammonia-fuel/

Study finds health risks in switching ships from diesel to ammonia fuel

As container ships the size of city blocks cross the oceans to deliver cargo, their huge diesel engines emit large quantities of air pollutants that drive climate change and have human health impacts. It has been estimated that maritime shipping accounts for almost 3 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and the industry’s negative impacts on air quality cause about 100,000 premature deaths each year.

Decarbonizing shipping to reduce these detrimental effects is a goal of the International Maritime Organization, a U.N. agency that regulates maritime transport. One potential solution is switching the global fleet from fossil fuels to sustainable fuels such as ammonia, which could be nearly carbon-free when considering its production and use.

But in a new study, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from MIT and elsewhere caution that burning ammonia for maritime fuel could worsen air quality further and lead to devastating public health impacts, unless it is adopted alongside strengthened emissions regulations.

Ammonia combustion generates nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas that is about 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It also emits nitrogen in the form of nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2, referred to as NOx), and unburnt ammonia may slip out, which eventually forms fine particulate matter in the atmosphere. These tiny particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing health problems like heart attacks, strokes, and asthma.

The new study indicates that, under current legislation, switching the global fleet to ammonia fuel could cause up to about 600,000 additional premature deaths each year. However, with stronger regulations and cleaner engine technology, the switch could lead to about 66,000 fewer premature deaths than currently caused by maritime shipping emissions, with far less impact on global warming.

“Not all climate solutions are created equal. There is almost always some price to pay. We have to take a more holistic approach and consider all the costs and benefits of different climate solutions, rather than just their potential to decarbonize,” says Anthony Wong, a postdoc in the MIT Center for Global Change Science and lead author of the study.

His co-authors include Noelle Selin, an MIT professor in the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS); Sebastian Eastham, a former principal research scientist who is now a senior lecturer at Imperial College London; Christine Mounaïm-Rouselle, a professor at the University of Orléans in France; Yiqi Zhang, a researcher at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and Florian Allroggen, a research scientist in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The research appears this week in Environmental Research Letters.

Greener, cleaner ammonia

Traditionally, ammonia is made by stripping hydrogen from natural gas and then combining it with nitrogen at extremely high temperatures. This process is often associated with a large carbon footprint. The maritime shipping industry is betting on the development of “green ammonia,” which is produced by using renewable energy to make hydrogen via electrolysis and to generate heat.

“In theory, if you are burning green ammonia in a ship engine, the carbon emissions are almost zero,” Wong says.

But even the greenest ammonia generates nitrous oxide (N2O), nitrogen oxides (NOx) when combusted, and some of the ammonia may slip out, unburnt. This nitrous oxide would escape into the atmosphere, where the greenhouse gas would remain for more than 100 years. At the same time, the nitrogen emitted as NOx and ammonia would fall to Earth, damaging fragile ecosystems. As these emissions are digested by bacteria, additional N2O  is produced.

NOx and ammonia also mix with gases in the air to form fine particulate matter. A primary contributor to air pollution, fine particulate matter kills an estimated 4 million people each year.

“Saying that ammonia is a ‘clean’ fuel is a bit of an overstretch. Just because it is carbon-free doesn’t necessarily mean it is clean and good for public health,” Wong says.

A multifaceted model

The researchers wanted to paint the whole picture, capturing the environmental and public health impacts of switching the global fleet to ammonia fuel. To do so, they designed scenarios to measure how pollutant impacts change under certain technology and policy assumptions.

From a technological point of view, they considered two ship engines. The first burns pure ammonia, which generates higher levels of unburnt ammonia but emits fewer nitrogen oxides. The second engine technology involves mixing ammonia with hydrogen to improve combustion and optimize the performance of a catalytic converter, which controls both nitrogen oxides and unburnt ammonia pollution.

They also considered three policy scenarios: current regulations, which only limit NOx emissions in some parts of the world; a scenario that adds ammonia emission limits over North America and Western Europe; and a scenario that adds global limits on ammonia and NOx emissions.

The researchers used a ship track model to calculate how pollutant emissions change under each scenario and then fed the results into an air quality model. The air quality model calculates the impact of ship emissions on particulate matter and ozone pollution. Finally, they estimated the effects on global public health.

One of the biggest challenges came from a lack of real-world data, since no ammonia-powered ships are yet sailing the seas. Instead, the researchers relied on experimental ammonia combustion data from collaborators to build their model.

“We had to come up with some clever ways to make that data useful and informative to both the technology and regulatory situations,” he says.

A range of outcomes

In the end, they found that with no new regulations and ship engines that burn pure ammonia, switching the entire fleet would cause 681,000 additional premature deaths each year.

“While a scenario with no new regulations is not very realistic, it serves as a good warning of how dangerous ammonia emissions could be. And unlike NOx, ammonia emissions from shipping are currently unregulated,” Wong says.

However, even without new regulations, using cleaner engine technology would cut the number of premature deaths down to about 80,000, which is about 20,000 fewer than are currently attributed to maritime shipping emissions. With stronger global regulations and cleaner engine technology, the number of people killed by air pollution from shipping could be reduced by about 66,000.

“The results of this study show the importance of developing policies alongside new technologies,” Selin says. “There is a potential for ammonia in shipping to be beneficial for both climate and air quality, but that requires that regulations be designed to address the entire range of potential impacts, including both climate and air quality.”

Ammonia’s air quality impacts would not be felt uniformly across the globe, and addressing them fully would require coordinated strategies across very different contexts. Most premature deaths would occur in East Asia, since air quality regulations are less stringent in this region. Higher levels of existing air pollution cause the formation of more particulate matter from ammonia emissions. In addition, shipping volume over East Asia is far greater than elsewhere on Earth, compounding these negative effects.

In the future, the researchers want to continue refining their analysis. They hope to use these findings as a starting point to urge the marine industry to share engine data they can use to better evaluate air quality and climate impacts. They also hope to inform policymakers about the importance and urgency of updating shipping emission regulations.

This research was funded by the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium.

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in September 2023

02/09 The King and Queen, Princess Anne and Sir Tim attended the Braemar Gathering at the Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

03/09 (not counted) The King, Queen, Princess Anne, Sir Tim, PM Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murphy attended the Divine Service at Crathie Kirk Church. ⛪️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

06/09 (unofficial) Princess Anne, along with the Prince and Princess of Wales recorded a special episode of the Good, the Bad and the Rugby, with Mike Tindall, James Haskell and Alex Payne at Windsor Castle. 🏉

07/09 As President of the Riding for the Disabled Association, visited Digswell Place Group, Digswell Place Stables, Welwyn Garden City, to mark its 50th Anniversary. 🐎

As President of UK Fashion and Textile Association, visited MAES London Womenswear Manufacturer. 👗

Sir Tim represented Princess Anne at a Service of Thanksgiving for Sir Matthew Farrer (former Solicitor to the Late Queen) at St Magnus-The-Martyr Church in London. ⛪️

As Patron of the South Georgia Heritage Trust Princess Anne and Sir Tim, attended the Return of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Quest Crow’s Nest Service at All Hallows by the Tower, followed by a Dinner at Trinity House. 🗺️🍽️

08/09 Participated in a Meeting via video link in her role of Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Members Election Commission. 🎥💻

11/09 At Gatcombe Park;

Presented The Princess Royal Award and Royal Dairy Innovation Award. 🏆

Held a Management Team Meeting for the Chaffinch Trust. 💼

Held a Management Team Meeting for Give Them a Sporting Chance. 🏏

12/09 As Patron of the Boston Stump Restoration and Development Appeal, visited completed restoration work at St Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire. ⛪️

As Patron of Magpas Air Ambulance Capital Campaign, opened a new Air Base at Alconbury Weald. 🚁

As Patron of Maritime UK, attended the London International Shipping Week Tenth Anniversary Reception at Mansion House. 🚢

13/09 In Northern Ireland Princess Anne;

Attended the Department for Business and Trade’s Northern Ireland Business Summit at the International Conference Centre Belfast. 💼

As Patron of the International Sheep Dog Society, lattended the World Sheep Dog Trials at Gill Hall Estate, Dromore. 🐑🐶

Unveiled a Royal British Legion Community Bench in Dromore Square, Dromore. 🌹

Attended the Department for Business and Trade’s Northern Ireland Business Summit Reception at Hillsborough Castle. 👔🇮🇪

14/09 Attended the British Equine Veterinary Association 2023 Congress at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. 🩺🐴

As Patron of the Butler Trust visited Stonnall Road Approved Premises in Walsall. 🏠

Opened the Firefly Woods at Dorothy House Hospice, Winsley House. She unveiled a firefly dedicated to her late parents. 💡

15/09 As Patron of the Restorative Justice Council, opened the Restorative Justice Council Inaugural Northern Ireland Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 🇮🇪⚖️

As Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands, attended the North, West and Hebrides Annual Graduation Ceremony and Celebration of Success and Achievement at St Peter’s and St Andrew’s Church, Thurso. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎓

18/09 The Princess Royal, As Guardian of Give Them A Sporting Chance, visited the Rivertime Boat Trust at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley on Thames. 🦽🚣‍♀️

As Patron of the National Transport Trust, attended the Annual Awards Ceremony at Fawley Hill Transport Museum, Henley-on-Thames. 🚂🥇

19/09 Visited the Our Cow Molly icecream parlour and dairy farm at Cliffe House Farm, Dungworth, Sheffield. 🍦🐮

Launched the Ethel Trust Community Barge PEARL at Victoria Quays and attended a Reception at the Quays Hotel Sheffield. 🚤

As Patron of the Royal College of Midwives, visited Doncaster Royal Infirmary Women’s and Children’s Hospital. 👶🤰

20/09 As Patron of Police Treatment Centres, visited the St Andrews Centre in Harrogate. 👮‍♀️

Visited Claro Enterprises Community Workshop, Harrogate, to mark its 30th anniversary. 🎂

Visited Woods of Harrogate Limited Fine Linens Company in Harrogate. 🧖‍♀️

Visited Hollybank Trust Care Centre, in Mirfield, to mark its 70th Anniversary. 🩺

21/09 Visited Jaguar Land Rover Halewood Vehicle Plant to mark the 60th anniversary of its opening in Liverpool. 🚙

As President of the British Olympic Association, attended an Executive Board Meeting in London W1. 💼

22/09 With Sir Tim opened the Aberdeen South Harbour Expansion Project at the Port of Aberdeen. ⛴️

26/09 Held an Investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

Opened the renovated Old War Office Building, Whitehall in London. 🏢

Attended the Royal Warrant Holders Association’s President’s Reception at Westminster Abbey. 📑🍾

As Patron of Mercy Ships International, attended a 45th Anniversary Dinner onboard The Elizabethan, sailing on the River Thames. 🛥️🍽️

27/09 Held two Investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

As President of World Horse Welfare, attended a Reception at Hyde Park Barracks, Knightsbridge, London. 🐎

As Patron of Opportunity International UK, attended a Dinner at Evercore in London. 🌍

28/09 As President of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, attended the Sustainability in UK Textiles Conference at Drapers’ Hall, London. 👗

As Founders’ Patron and President, of the Benenden School & Society, attended the Centenary Global Conference “Inspiring Future Female Leaders”, opened the Seniors’ Courtyard, launched “Benenden 100” Centenary Book and attended the Benenden Society Reception at Benenden School in Kent. 🏫

29/09 Attended the Rededication Service of Southport War Memorial. 🫡

Total official engagements for Anne in July: 47

2023 total so far: 353

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in July: 5

2023 total so far: 75

[myangelgarden]

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Associated Press investigation finds military weapons vanish, appear on streets

Associated PressJune 15, 202118min

Air ForceAPArmor Piercing GrenadesArmyAssociated PressDepartment Of DefenseGunsHandgunsMachine GunsMarinesMilitaryNavyPistolsRiflesShotgunsStreetsViolent CrimeWeapons

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Military pistols, machine guns, assault rifles, armor-piercing grenades were lost or stolen.

At least 1,900 U.S. military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s, with some resurfacing in violent crimes, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Because some armed services have suppressed the release of basic information, AP’s total is a certain undercount.

Government records covering the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force show pistols, machine guns, shotguns and automatic assault rifles have vanished from armories, supply warehouses, Navy warships, firing ranges and other places where they were used, stored or transported. These weapons of war disappeared because of unlocked doors, sleeping troops, a surveillance system that didn’t record, break-ins and other security lapses that, until now, have not been publicly reported.

While AP’s focus was firearms, military explosives also were lost or stolen, including armor-piercing grenades that went missing while being transported from Blount Island, the U.S. Marine Corps depot in Jacksonville, to Letterkenny Army Depot in Pennsylvania. They were found in an Atlanta backyard eight months later.

Weapon theft or loss spanned the military’s global footprint, touching installations from coast to coast, as well as overseas. In Afghanistan, someone cut the padlock on an Army container and stole 65 Beretta M9s. The theft went undetected for at least two weeks, when empty pistol boxes were discovered in the compound. The weapons were not recovered.

Even elite units are not immune. A former member of a Marines special operations unit was busted with two stolen guns. A Navy SEAL lost his pistol during a fight in a restaurant in Lebanon.

The Pentagon used to share annual updates about stolen weapons with Congress, but the requirement to do so ended years ago and public accountability has slipped. The Army and Air Force, for example, couldn’t readily tell AP how many weapons were lost or stolen from 2010 through 2019. So the AP built its own database, using extensive federal Freedom of Information Act requests to review hundreds of military criminal case files or property loss reports, as well as internal military analysis and data from registries of small arms.

Sometimes, weapons disappear without a paper trail. Military investigators regularly close cases without finding the firearms or person responsible because shoddy records lead to dead ends.

The military’s weapons are especially vulnerable to corrupt insiders responsible for securing them. They know how to exploit weak points within armories or the military’s enormous supply chains. Often from lower ranks, they may see a chance to make a buck from a military that can afford it.

“It’s about the money, right?” said Brig. Gen. Duane Miller, who as deputy provost marshal general is the Army’s No. 2 law enforcement official.

Theft or loss happens more than the Army has publicly acknowledged. During an initial interview, Miller significantly understated the extent to which weapons disappear, citing records that report only a few hundred missing rifles and handguns. But an internal analysis AP obtained, done by the Army’s Office of the Provost Marshal General, tallied 1,303 firearms.

In a second interview, Miller said he wasn’t aware of the memos, which had been distributed throughout the Army, until AP pointed them out following the first interview. “If I had the information in front of me,” Miller said, “I would share it with you.” Other Army officials said the internal analysis might overstate some losses.

The AP’s investigation began a decade ago. From the start, the Army has given conflicting information on a subject with the potential to embarrass — and that’s when it has provided information at all. A former insider described how Army officials resisted releasing details of missing guns when AP first inquired, and indeed that information was never provided.

Top officials within the Army, Marines and Secretary of Defense’s office said that weapon accountability is a high priority, and when the military knows a weapon is missing it does trigger a concerted response to recover it. The officials also said missing weapons are not a widespread problem and noted that the number is a tiny fraction of the military’s stockpile.

“We have a very large inventory of several million of these weapons,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in an interview. “We take this very seriously and we think we do a very good job. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t losses. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t mistakes made.”

While AP’s analysis covered the 2010s, incidents persist.

In May, an Army trainee who fled Fort Jackson in South Carolina with an M4 rifle hijacked a school bus full of children, pointing his unloaded assault weapon at the driver before eventually letting everyone go.

Last October, police in San Diego were startled to find a military grenade launcher on the front seat of a car they pulled over for expired license plates. The driver and his passenger were middle-aged men with criminal records.

Stolen military guns have been sold to street gang members, recovered on felons and used in violent crimes.

The AP identified eight instances in which five different stolen military firearms were used in a civilian shooting or other violent crime, and others in which felons were caught possessing weapons. To find these cases, AP combed investigative and court records, as well as published reports. Federal restrictions on sharing firearms information publicly mean the case total is certainly an undercount.

The military requires itself to inform civilian law enforcement when a gun is lost or stolen, and the services help in subsequent investigations. The Pentagon does not track crime guns, and spokesman Kirby said his office was unaware of any stolen firearms used in civilian crimes.

The closest AP could find to an independent tally was done by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services. It said 22 guns issued by the U.S. military were used in a felony during the 2010s. That total could include surplus weapons the military sells to the public or loans to civilian law enforcement.

Those FBI records also appear to be undercount. They say that no military-issue gun was used in a felony in 2018, but at least one was.

Meanwhile, authorities in central California are still finding AK-74 assault rifles that were among 26 stolen from Fort Irwin a decade ago. Military police officers stole the guns from the Army base, selling some to the Fresno Bulldogs street gang.

At least nine of the AKs have not been recovered.

The people with easiest access to military firearms are those who handle and secure them.

In the Army, they are often junior soldiers assigned to armories or arms rooms, according to Col. Kenneth Williams, director of supply under the Army’s G-4 Logistics branch.

“This is a young guy or gal,” Williams said. “This is a person normally on their first tour of duty. So you can see that we put great responsibility on our soldiers immediately when they come in.”

Armorers have access both to firearms and the spare parts kept for repairs. These upper receivers, lower receivers and trigger assemblies can be used to make new guns or enhance existing ones.

“We’ve seen issues like that in the past where an armorer might build an M16” automatic assault rifle from military parts, said Mark Ridley, a former deputy director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. “You have to be really concerned with certain armorers and how they build small arms and small weapons.”

In 2014, NCIS began investigating the theft of weapons parts from Special Boat Team Twelve, a Navy unit based in Coronado, California. Four M4 trigger assemblies that could make a civilian AR-15 fully automatic were missing. Investigators found an armory inventory manager was manipulating electronic records by moving items or claiming they had been transferred. The parts were never recovered and the case was closed after federal prosecutors declined to file charges.

Weapons enter the public three main ways: direct sales from thieves to buyers, through pawn shops and surplus stores, and online.

Investigators have found sensitive and restricted parts for military weapons on sites including eBay, which said in a statement it has “zero tolerance” for stolen military gear on its site.

At Fort Campbell, Kentucky, soldiers stole machine gun parts and other items that ended up with online buyers in Russia, China, Mexico and elsewhere. The civilian ringleader, who was found with a warehouse of items, was convicted. Authorities said he made hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Often though, recovering a weapon can prove hard.

When an M203 grenade launcher couldn’t be found during a 2019 inventory at a Marine Corps supply base in Albany, Georgia, investigators sought surveillance camera footage. It didn’t exist. The warehouse manager said the system couldn’t be played back at the time.

An analysis of 45 firearms-only investigations in the Navy and Marines found that in 55% of cases, no suspect could be found and weapons remained missing. In those unresolved cases, investigators found records were destroyed or falsified, armories lacked basic security and inventories weren’t completed for weeks or months.

“Gun-decking” is Navy slang for faking work. In the case of the USS Comstock, gun-decking led to the disappearance of three pistols.

AP learned that the Army, the largest of the armed services, is responsible for about 3.1 million small arms. Across all four branches, the U.S. military has an estimated 4.5 million firearms, according to the nonprofit organization Small Arms Survey.

In its accounting, whenever possible AP eliminated cases in which firearms were lost in combat, during accidents such as aircraft crashes and similar incidents where a weapon’s fate was known.

Unlike the Army and Air Force, which could not answer basic questions about missing weapons, the Marines and Navy were able to produce data covering the 2010s.

The Navy data showed that 211 firearms were reported lost or stolen. In addition, 63 firearms previously considered missing were recovered.

According to AP’s analysis of data from the Marines, 204 firearms were lost or stolen, with 14 later recovered.

To account for missing weapons, the Pentagon relies on incident reports from the services, which it keeps for only three years.

Pentagon officials said that approximately 100 firearms were unaccounted for in both 2019 and 2018. A majority of those were attributable to accidents or combat losses, they said. Even though AP’s total excluded accidents and combat losses whenever known, it was higher than what the services reported to the Pentagon.

The officials said they could only discuss how many weapons were missing dating to 2018. The reason: They aren’t required to keep earlier records.

The Air Force was the only service branch not to release data. It first responded to several Freedom of Information Act requests by saying no records existed. Air Force representatives then said they would not provide details until yet another FOIA request, filed 1.5 years ago, was fully processed.

The Army sought to suppress information on missing weapons and gave misleading numbers that contradict internal memos.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Brandon Kelley said the service’s property inventory systems don’t readily track how many weapons have been lost or stolen. Army officials said the most accurate count could be found in criminal investigative summaries released under yet another federal records request.

AP’s reading of these investigative records showed 230 lost or stolen rifles or handguns between 2010 and 2019 — a clear undercount. Internal documents show just how much Army officials were downplaying the problem.

The AP obtained two memos covering 2013 through 2019 in which the Army tallied 1,303 stolen or lost rifles and handguns, with theft the primary reason for losses. That number, which Army officials said is imperfect because it includes some combat losses and recoveries, and may include some duplications, was based on criminal investigations and incident reports.

The internal memos are not “an authoritative document,” Kelley said, and were not closely checked with public release in mind. As such, he said, the 1,303 total could be inaccurate.

The investigative records Kelley cited show 62 lost or stolen rifles or handguns from 2013 through 2019. Some of those, like the Beretta M9 used in four shootings in Albany, New York, were recovered.

___

Republished with permission from The Associated Press.

Associated Press

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One comment

john

June 15, 2021 at 3:21 pm

easy remedy. Disarm the military. They don’t need guns. Guns bad!

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