text:
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell voted in support of updated legislation to address the continued public health crisis and provide desperately needed support for struggling families and essential workers, with funds for testing and tracing measures, key support for frontline workers and strengthened assistance for the American people. The updated Heroes Act addresses needs that have developed since the House passed an earlier iteration and reflects negotiations between Democrats and Republicans
Dingell fought for and successfully included many provisions in the Heroes Act to support state and local governments, front-line healthcare workers, and hard-working men and women. Among The Heroes Act provisions Dingell led to keep in the update legislation are:
- A provision based on Dingell and Tlaib’s the Emergency Water is a Human Right Act, which would prohibit water shutoffs nationwide and provide financial assistance for low-income households to pay for drinking water and wastewater during the COVID-19 national emergency.
- Provisions modeled after Dingell’s Coronavirus Relief for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act. The Heroes Act includes a 10 percent Federal Medical Assistance Percentage increase for certain qualifying activities (e.g. increased pay for home health workers, improved assistive technology for those in need) to promote home and community-based services (HCBS) during the COVID-19 emergency. This is a historic investment in promoting HCBS and long-term care.
- Dingell and Tlaib pressed to ensure worker safety, by requiring OSHA to issue a strong, enforceable standards and implement infection control plans based on CDC expertise.
- Dingell co-led with Stevens, Bonamici, Young, and Veasey to increase funding for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and reduce barriers to LIHEAP participation during the COVID-19 emergency.
- Dingell joined Speier, Fitzpatrick, Moore, Kuster and 86 members to include increased funding for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs, including transitional housing assistance, legal assistance for victims, and support for families in the justice system. The updated Heroes Act includes $375 million for VAWA programs.
“Over the past four months we’ve seen the need for more action, more support, and more to combat the coronavirus crisis,” said Dingell. “We’ve seen disabled people evicted from their homes, kids returning to schools without funding to meet technology or sanitary needs, not to mention – the cases and deaths are devastating. We have a responsibility to take action to protect the health and well-being of all of our communities. The Heroes Act honors the service and sacrifice of our nation’s heroes and meet the needs of the American people today and through the coronavirus crisis. The Senate must act. Period. ”
The updated Heroes Act provides Michigan government and local communities on the frontlines of this crisis with robust, desperately needed funding to cover coronavirus-related outlays and revenue loss and pay our health care workers, police, fire, transportation, EMS, teachers and other vital workers who keep us safe and are in danger of losing their jobs. An analysis prepared by the Congressional Research Service estimates that the Heroes Act will provide:
- more than $7.47 billion to the State of Michigan,
- $458 million to Wayne County
- $99 million to Washtenaw County
- And $255 million for localities in or partially in Michigan’s 12th District, (breakdown by city available here)
The $2.2 trillion legislation protects lives, livelihoods and the life of our democracy. To address needs that have arisen since the House first acted, the updated legislation includes:
- Strong support for small businesses, by improving the Paycheck Protection Program to serve the smallest businesses and struggling non-profits, providing hard-hit businesses with second loans, and delivering targeted assistance for the struggling restaurant industry and independent live venue operators.
- Additional assistance for airline industry workers, extending the highly successful Payroll Support Program to keep airline industry workers paid.
- More funds to bolster education and child care, with $225 billion for education – including $182 billion for K-12 schools and nearly $39 billion for postsecondary education – and $57 billion to support child care for families.
In addition, it maintains key priorities from the legislation that passed the House in May. Among the bill’s many provisions, it:
- Honors our heroes, through $436 billion to provide one year’s worth of assistance to state, local, territorial and tribal governments who desperately need funds to pay vital workers like first responders and health workers who keep us safe and are in danger of losing their jobs.
- Supports testing, tracing and treatment, through $75 billion for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and isolation measures, with special attention to the disparities facing communities of color, ensuring every American can access free coronavirus treatment, and supporting hospitals and providers. The updated bill also includes $28 billion for procurement, distribution and education campaigns for a safe and effective vaccine.
- Provides additional direct payments, cushioning the economic blow of the coronavirus crisis with a more robust second round of economic impact payments of $1,200 per taxpayer and $500 per dependent.
- Protects payrolls, by enhancing the new employee retention tax credit that encourages employers to keep employees on payroll.
- Ensures worker safety, by requiring OSHA to issue a strong, enforceable standard within seven days to require all workplaces to develop and implement infection control plans based on CDC expertise.
- Preserves health coverage, protecting Americans losing their employer-provided health insurance by making unemployed Americans automatically receive the maximum ACA subsidy on the exchanges, as well as a special enrollment period in the ACA exchanges for uninsured Americans.
- Restores unemployment benefits, ensuring weekly $600 federal unemployment payments through next January and preventing unemployed workers from exhausting their eligibility, providing a vital safety net for the record number of Americans who are unemployed, including those connected to the gig-economy.
- Bolsters housing assistance, helping struggling families afford a safe place to live with tens of billions in new supports to assist renters and homeowners make monthly rent, mortgage and utility payments and other housing-related costs – preventing homelessness.
- Strengthens food security, addressing rising hunger with a 15 percent increase to the maximum SNAP benefit and additional funding for nutrition programs that help families put food on the table as well as targeted support for farmers and producers impacted by the crisis.
- Safeguards our democracy, with new resources to ensure safe elections, an accurate Census, and preserve the Postal Service.
The text of revised version of The Heroes Act is here. A one-pager on the legislation is here. A section-by-section summary is here. Additional information on the state and local relief provisions is here.

domain: law


Small-size ECR Ion Shower System For etching and other various purposes.
●Stable and high-density reactive ion beams, including oxygen, are available for a long-interval.
●As the EIS-200ER provides a high electron current density even at low acceleration voltages, procedures such as etching without giving serious damage to the substrate, and cleaning of the specimen surface, are possible.
●Equipped with a neutralization electrode, it allows for etching of insulators.
●Thin film deposition of metals with high melting points is possible.
●The ion gun of the EIS-200ER, which can be attached to various vacuum systems, is separately available.


text:
Workflow Considerations for Cannabis Operations Facility Design
Some of the largest expenses an operations-based cannabis company will make are related to the buildout of their facility(s). As such, it’s quite prudent for operations management to carefully plan the facility design, so that money and time are not wasted on inefficient build outs that have to be changed at a later date. As someone who has one foot in cannabis and the other in real estate development, I can tell you a well-known concept in the development world: the further into a project you are, the more expensive it is to make changes — sometimes exponentially so.
Given the frenetic pace of the industry and the relative lack of experience in many leadership teams, it’s understandable that companies often find themselves operating primarily through impulsive decisions rather than careful, procedural consideration. However, from a project management perspective in particular, this is a poor way to run the business and will result in loss of income, sunk costs and lots of frustration.
Having been involved in several cannabis facility build outs myself, some of which went well and others that didn’t, I have identified three primary differences between successful efforts and the failures:
- Having a tangible vs. theoretical grasp of the operations
- Planning for future vs. immediate needs
- Keeping realistic vs. fantastical expectations of the required budget
In the spirit of keeping this article as succinct as possible, I am only going to focus on the first bullet point for today and will expand on the other two in a future article.
Know Your Operations
It is crucial that the person ultimately in charge of making final design decisions understands the impact of those decisions as they pertain to the operations of the business. After all, the facility’s purpose is to serve the operations team as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, so if it’s not designed with that primary goal, then things are going to fall apart.
It’s also assumed that if a company is investing in a new facility, it’s being done to resolve issues with existing facilities — whether in the form of flaws that cannot be addressed effectively within the confines of the existing building, or simply to increase capacity for scaling purposes. When management doesn’t walk the floor of their existing facilities and develop an intimate understanding of the existing workflow (and its flaws), they miss the opportunity to eliminate the potential for these flaws to occur in the new facility, or to ensure maximum throughput.
Companies developing their very first operations facilities will encounter the exact same issues unless they’ve spent significant time in the facilities of other, similar companies with successful operations. Keep in mind, quick facility tours don’t cut it — those are great for drumming up investor cash by showing the shiny surface of the operations, but they’re useless for helping someone fully grasp the complexities of the processes — only witnessing them in their totality, over time, will accomplish this.
Assuming the decision maker has this knowledge, then the following questions are great jumping off points for making good decisions about a facility’s design.
Will the Facility be for a Single Function or Multiple Functions?
The good news is that due to the licensing requirements, state licensing authorities force companies to already have an answer to this question. If you want to open a manufacturing facility for example, you’ll need to apply for that specific license type and design the facility accordingly. If you design a distribution warehouse and then apply for a manufacturing license, the licensing authority is going to point out that the plans don’t match the purpose.
There will likely be substantial function-specific requirements at both the state and local levels, such as explosion-proofing and solvent storage for volatile manufacturers, quarantine barriers for distributors, and water preservation systems for cultivators. Planning for these elements during the design phase (rather than reacting to failed inspections during the build phase) will save time and money.
If you plan to have multiple licenses in a single building, you’ll still need to think about how to position each of those licenses. For example, take a facility that has cultivation, manufacturing and distribution all under one roof. With poor planning, the company could find itself needing to transport trim for extraction through the distribution portion of the facility to the manufacturing side. Not only would this convoluted workflow waste time due to the physical distance between the start and end point, but it would also probably be quite disruptive to distribution operations.
Again, this is why understanding operations in full is so important. For example, while trim would likely go directly to manufacturing, the flower would likely go directly to distribution for quarantine and testing. Thus, ensuring there is efficient access to both areas from cultivation will help reduce time wasting and disruptions.
Another consideration requiring tangible operational experience is what the projected shift headcount will be for a given process. Due to compliance restrictions in many states, personnel are limited in the areas they can access, making it potentially hard to have a lot of commonly-accessible areas like lunch rooms and bathrooms if the facility contains several license types. Knowing how many people will need to use a given set of facilities will help ensure that you don’t accidentally build 2 bathrooms for a workforce of 100 people, or a 20’x10’ break room that can only seat 10 people at a time.
A similar question to ask yourself is whether this facility will work in isolation or operate as part of a network of facilities in conjunction with each other. For example, you might have two manufacturing facilities, one of which is dedicated to extraction only, and the other which handles the post processing and packaging. The needs of each would be different, and this would affect how to best partition off each building.
What Will the Inventory Handling Look Like?
The question of how to handle, move and physically control inventory comes after the first question, as the type of inventory that needs to be accounted for and what types of movements it will make completely depends on the function of the facility. If the facility is for manufacturing, then there will be a need for the movement and storage of raw and work-in-process goods. You’ll need a method of getting the materials in and out of the building — if you plan to operate at scale, having easily-accessible loading docks for forklifts and pallets is critical.
The key with inventory-related layout planning is to make sure that there is as little unnecessary movement as possible. Materials should be stored as close as possible to the area where they will be used. Otherwise, there will be time wasted and constant disruptions to the employees as materials are moved from one side of the facility to the other, through unrelated workspaces. A good example of this is the quarantine, as it relates to both the processing area and the bulk flower storage area proximity-wise. A large distribution operation will be moving a ton of flower product between the quarantine area and storage, as well as to the packaging floor.
You also want to make it easy to keep track of inventory and minimize loss. Spending some time thinking through how you plan to organize materials on your racks — and making sure you have enough rack space to store all of your materials as your scale — is an important part of lean operations planning. This will keep the facility from getting cluttered, where time is wasted trying to find things because there’s no system in place defining exactly where it should be.
Typically, you will want to implement a first-in, first-out (FIFO) method of inventory control. In order to do this effectively you need to be able to have your back stock separated from your working stock in a logical way that prevents the employees from unwittingly pulling product from the incorrect stock location, but at the same time is close enough that refilling the working stock takes minimal time and energy.
One of the most important things for an effective construction project manager to learn is the concept that when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Barring extraneous, “Act of God”-type circumstances, there is a direct correlation between how well a project is executed and how much time and effort was put into the planning stage. This is because the further into a project one is, the more expensive and painful it is to make changes. It’s very simple to adjust a set of architectural plans, even more so if they’re preliminary plans. It’s much harder to make significant changes to the physical buildout once construction has started. It’s harder still to make changes once the company is actively operating in the facility.
Operations leaders have the fiscal responsibility to keep costs as low as possible, and capital expenditures play a big part in this. Additionally, minimizing disruptions to production (such as needing to vacate the work floor for several weeks to move walls around in an active facility) will help keep potential revenues maximized and avoid preventable inventory shortages. Leaders who focus on fully understanding operations first, and then on planning projects appropriately and avoiding impulsive decisions, will find that their experience rolling out new facilities is drastically better than leaders who fail to perform these preliminary steps.

domain: design


Call for Price
Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT)
ICAO defines an Emergency locator transmitter (ELT) as equipment which broadcasts distinctive...
Brought to you by:
Aircraft & Marine Spares Parts
Emergency position-indicating radio beacon station:
An emergency position-indicating radio beacon station is a distress radio beacon, a tracking...
Increase the storage capacity of your Dell system with Solid State Hard Drive from Dell. It...
Increase the storage capacity of your system with the 320 GB hard drive from Dell. Offering a...
Increase the storage capacity of your Dell System with 800 GB Solid State Hard Drive from Dell....
Increase the storage capacity of your Dell system with 600 GB Hard Drive from Dell. It boasts a...
My Passport Ultra delivers USB 3.0 performance and high capacity in a sleek design. It features...
Increase the storage capacity of your Dell System with 200 GB Solid State Hard Drive from Dell....
Kingston's enterprise-class E100 solid-state drive is ideal for mission-critical environments...
The 120 GB GoDrive Series SATA III Solid State Drive from VisionTek brings reliable performance...
Engineered for those that need super tough protection for their data, the Aegis Bio 3.0 SSD fuses...
Kingston's SSDNow V310 solid-state drive dramatically improves the responsiveness of your system....
Increase the storage capacity of your system with the 300 GB Hard Drive from Dell. Offering a...
The Emulex LPE-16002 HBA from Dell offers an exceptional performance and advanced management...
Designed to deliver the perfect combination of style, portability, and performance, the VisionTek...
The Backup Plus portable drive from Seagate is the simple way to protect and share your entire...
The Dell hard drive offers an ideal data storage solution for your Dell systems. This hard drive...
Our next generation solid state drive (SSD) is designed to meet the increasingly demanding needs...
This rpm Nearline SAS drive is designed from the ground up specifically for enterprise-class...
Achieve the ultimate read/write performance to maximize your everyday computing experience with...
The Canvio Connect lets you store your files in a centralized place next to your computer, giving...
Increase the storage capacity of your Dell System with 1.6 TB Solid State Hard Drive from Dell....
Increase storage capacity of your Dell system with this Serial ATA Hard Drive from Dell. With...
The Seagate Business Storage NAS is a complete network storage solution designed to keep...
Finally, a cloud of your own. Save everything in one place and access it anywhere from computers,...
Upgrade your laptop to high-performance and extend its battery life with the reliable SanDisk...


text:
Unlock this Exclusive Story by signing up for free
Get exclusive Industry Insights and Analysis through our “Exclusive” Stories brought to you by our award-winning journalists
The Karnataka government on Saturday announced new relaxations to the Covid lockdown in 16 districts where the infection positivity rate has dropped to less than 5 percent, allowing restaurants to operate with 50 percent capacity. The 16 districts include Bengaluru city.
Businesses in the city re-opened after nearly two months. However, most restaurants reported very low footfall. "We're thrilled to resume dine-in operations across our SOCIAL and Smoke House Deli outposts in Bengaluru. Our restaurants will be operational from 9 am to 5 pm and we're following all government-mandated SOPs for safety and hygiene, including 50 percent capacity, socially distant tables with acrylic partitions, as well as the use of digital menus and payment gateways. While it is too soon to gauge a response, given current restrictions on time and occupancy, business is bound to be slow,” Ranveer Sabhani, Business Head - South, Impresario Handmade Restaurants commented on the situation.
A majority of the SOCIAL and Smoke House Deli’s revenue comes from early evening/dinner hours so that will continue to take a hit. “We do not anticipate considerable numbers of people stepping out during the day on weekdays, and weekends will continue to remain closed. We expect revenue to rise only when we are allowed to serve liquor again," added Sabhani.
Lazy Suzy in Bengaluru is currently not witnessing immediate footfalls. Chef Udayshankar Shenoy, Owner and Chef of the restaurant commented that people are reluctant to come out as they witnessed a terrifying second wave and with talks of a third wave, people are being careful and prefer eating at home.
It’s been more than a year since they have started ordering in food extensively and have become quite comfortable ordering their favourite food and enjoying it from the comfort of their own four walls, Shenoy feels. “And I feel the safety aspect will make people continue to be sceptical and it will take months before people start dining out the way they used to,” he further commented.

domain: news


text:
Lindsay Lohan has claimed to have been "clean and sober" for some time now.
NBC's Today has premiered an exclusive clip of Matt Lauer's interview with Lohan, which will air in full on Thursday (March 1) on the morning show.
Lohan assured Lauer in the chat that she is trying to "continue [moving] forward and in the right direction" following her rehab stint and the jail term she served for allegedly stealing a necklace from an LA boutique.
"[Partying is] not my thing anymore. I went out, actually, a few months ago with a friend. And I was so uncomfortable," she admitted. "Not because I felt tempted, just because it was just the same thing that it always was before. And it just wasn't fun for me. I've become more of a homebody. And I like that."
Lohan also spoke about attempting to resurrect her acting career. She said hosting this weekend's Saturday Night Live is the first step in re-establishing the impressive reputation she earned in films like Mean Girls and Machete.
"I think that that's gonna take - I think that takes time. And I think that it's actions," she explained.
The star continued: "People can say things all they want, but I think I still need to go through the process of proving myself, you know, with SNL, being on time, being, you know, keeping my - can't say the word - but stuff together."
Musical guest Jack White joins Lohan on this weekend's Saturday Night Live, airing at 11.30/10.30c on NBC.
Watch Lindsay Lohan's Saturday Night Live promo below:

domain: celebrity


text:
Hi crafty friends! Here's a sneak peek of my card for Sunny Studio blog post today. Go straight to the blog to see the whole post and the proccess behind it. Just look at those sweet little faces, I just can't resist them all.
I hope you have a wonderful day!

domain: artistic


text:
This setting of the well-known Elizabethan poem utilizes contemporary harmonies and a tightly knit choral fabric to exude the emotions of the text. River-themed ostinati and cascading sixteenth notes in the
A minimum quantity of 5 is required on this title.
A tender text, a sweet melody, and warm harmonies come together in this gentle lullaby for SSA choirs. The tessitura is well chosen, allowing your girls to sing in the sweet spot of their voices. Fun fact:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." The timeless poetry of Robert Frost is poignantly captured in this beautiful setting for mixed
"Yet one thing I can tell you, still one thing that I know: Wherever fortune calls me, then that's where I must go!" A bold statement of the courage to persevere and to follow one's heart against all odds
"Deep peace of a soft white dove to you; Deep peace of a quiet rain; Deep peace of the ebbing wave to you. Deep peace I send to you." This incredibly beautiful and heartrending setting of a precious text by
Inspired by "The Jungle Book", Kipling's tender thoughts for the baby seal, Kotick, mirror the feelings of all parents for their precious children. Full of beautiful choral harmonies and lyrical voice
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." The iconic Robert Frost poem is set to the familiar British folk tune O Waly Waly, and the result
BE THE FIRST TO KNOW
Sign up for emails to stay informed about the best new music, events, and everything you need for the upcoming season.


THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA heat island effect. Among all the sustainable design measures and strategies, Bonnie and Derek still believe passive design measures are among the most valuable. Furthermore, ZO1 is open to responding to the new ideas and the visions of their clients. For example, at the behest of a customer, they are now designing a 30-storey residential tower in Downtown Hamilton, of which the tower is going to be constructed in precast structure. They believe that project could be one of pioneer precast structured highrises in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. ZO1 also embraces urban design principles in each project they work on. The firm’s architecture not only focuses on healthy intensification of the site but also on creating an appropriate built forms and forming positive neighborhood relationships. In the early design and planning stage of a job, they start considering various design options such as creating sufficient separation with neighbour, landscape area, shadow impacts, wind study, use of materials in harmony with neighbourhood character, generating activated street frontage, weather protected overhang for positive pedestrian experience, and massing articulation. Bonnie and Derek believethat good architecture is not defined by how luxurious it is decorated but by how well the building and end users’ living space i into the neighbourhood.


text:
Sponsored by Lincad
13 Feb 19. Helicopter issues hamper Jordanian air force. According to the Royal Jordanian Air Force’s (RJAF) Brig Gen Pilot, Adham Belal Asendar, the service’s helicopters do not currently have weapons integrated with surveillance and reconnaissance systems, which has created difficulties.
‘The RJAF’s helicopter force is not equipped with offensive ISR suites which is causing some headaches,’ the commander told Shephard.
He explained that instead their helicopters were focused ‘on supporting border operations, counter insurgency and smuggling while being integrated with ground forces’.
‘They are needed to ensure a stable border, provide a quick response to any attack within Jordan, and train with land forces for support and fires,’ he outlined.
The RJAF uses three main rotary-winged assets for such sorties: UH-60A/L/M Black Hawks, AH-1F Cobras equipped with L3 Wescam MX-15 EO/IR turrets and MD530F Little Birds.
Asendar continued: ‘We rely on our intelligence specialists and ground force ISR joint terminal air controllers [JTACs] for target coordination so the helicopters can find and fix the targets. We carry out intelligence ops with rotary assets but focus on battlefield surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting. We believe that it is important to operate as a whole-force, due to the limitations we have faced over the years.’
Asendar, who is assistant to the Chief for Operations and Training continued: ‘We operate in a highly challenging hybrid threat environment that is far different from the operational scenarios, like large scale nation to nation conflict that many of us were trained in.’
This is one of many challenges that faces the RJAF, as Asendar outlined to Shephard: ‘This new environment sees us our forces working with cross agencies in counter-terrorist ops, in built up areas where civilians are in close proximity to the targets. Another issue to consider is cyber, where the enemy will jamming our military systems which is a real problem.
‘We do have forward looking infra-red [FLIR] turrets in the UH-60L, but we rely on our Cessna 208 Caravan and the Schiebel S100 Camcopter and six CASC CH-4B UAVs for the airborne ISR ops.’
The RJAF initially operated 12 S100s but that has been reduced to ten – one was brought down by jamming and the other had an accident, according to Asendar.
He also told Shephard that the CH-4Bs have not been as successful as the RJAF hoped, due to maintenance and other issues which he would not discuss, and are being retired.
The helicopters are limited to what they can see while operating at night, have relatively short duration and speed limitations that reduces the time over targets thus hindering the ISR mission.
‘Our helicopters mainly operate in low risk environment out of the way of MANPADs and small air arms that are out there. We fully understand the environment we are working in and have developed procedures for joint ops – we are working with our colleagues to create plans.
‘We are trying to adapt our tasks, assets and aircraft to work together better as an integrated force. We have learnt from the past few years to operate all the helicopters under one command, and train and equip our forces to be fully joint.
‘So the advances we are developing include a unified helicopter command, as well as ISR and targeting capabilities for our attack helicopters [which will include the Cobra being upgraded with MX-15DI camera and designator] while in the future we aim to develop the UH-60M as a common operation multirole platform and have a rotary command and control platform that can work with troops on the ground. This could lead to the sale of the existing UH-60Ls.’
Asendar also told Shephard that the four L3Technologies AT-802 Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA) delivered in 2016 are now no longer required, and are being put up for sale.
Instead they are hoping to seal a deal with IOMAX, when the budget becomes available, to upgrade the six ex-UAEAF&AD AT802i BPAs that were delivered in 2013, to armed Archangel status.
A question mark also hangs over the future of its armed CN235Ms, converted by the Prince Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau in co-ordination with ATK Orbital. The options, according to the brigadier general, are to withdraw them from use or continue with an upgrade.
‘The Grob 120TPs which replaced the Fireflies, are among the best aircraft we have acquired to replace the Bulldogs. The Grob is a good aircraft for the pilots to transition to PC-21 which is marvellous, it’s a good start.’ (Source: Shephard)
14 Feb 19. Sudan adapts to Western allies over Yemen. Trying to get Sudan’s Su-24Ms to work with the rest of the Saudi-led coalition during the Yemen War has led to the Sudanese Air Force putting a Western transponder in the fighter-bomber. The Sudan Air Force Commander, Lt Gen Pilot (PSC) Salah Eldin Abdelkhaliq Saeed told Shephard: ‘We have four Su-24Ms based at Khamis Mushayt in Saudi and after the fix we can work and communicate with all the foreign aircraft, even the AWACS during the allied effort.’ Sudan has been supporting the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis since the allied war effort commenced in March 2015. As well as deployed Su-24Ms, Sudan has also sent troops.
Saeed continued: ‘Our Su-24Ms are operating in the reconnaissance role and are flying up to ten hours every day to monitor one particular sector [he wouldn’t say which one]. The imagery is being downlinked using our own data link system used by all the SAF’s aircraft.’
To smooth out the rules of engagement and interoperability issues, the Sudan and Saudi Arabia air forces participated in the ‘Blue Shield’ joint exercise in April 2017.
The manoeuvres took place at Meroe Air Base, around 150 miles north of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. It involved 450 Sudan Air Force personnel as well as MiG-29 Fulcrums, Su-24 Fencers, Su-25 Frogfoots and Mi-17 Hip helicopters and 250 Saudis working alongside Typhoons and F-15s.
‘We learned a lot,’ said Saeed. ‘We changed our rules of engagements, and renewed all our doctrine to cope with today’s modern threats. We were also trained on the close air support role and taught tactics to avert collateral damage, that led to the acquisition of precision guided munitions. In the reconnaissance role our personnel were taught how to analyse the targets and become part of the kill-chain.’
On acquisitions, he confirmed that the Sudan Air Force was now operating Chinese CH-3s.
‘We really have no option because of the sanctions that we are battling with. The Chinese are not perfect but they have tried to help us.’ Last year also saw six FTC-2000s delivered for both tactical operations and training.
‘We are also looking to acquire the Sukhoi Su-30/-35 but it all depends upon the budget. We would of course like to work with the west but we can’t because of restrictions.’
Sudan’s SAFAT Aviation Complex, a relatively new name in the aerospace industry, produces both the SAFAT 02 helicopter and the SAFAT-03 trainer.
At Dubai Air Show 2017, the commander flew the latter in the flying display and not too surprisingly is a fan of the aircraft.
‘We have delivered around three to the Sudan Air Force Academy, which will eventually phase out the Nanchang PT-6s.’
On the SAFAT 02, the commander said none had yet been delivered, but the SAF is hoping to acquire 15 to replace the Mi-2 Hoplite currently used for basic helicopter training. (Source: Shephard)
13 Feb 19. Naval Group at IDEX 2019 and NAVDEX 2019. From 17th to 21th February 2019, Naval Group participates to IDEX 2019 and NAVDEX 2019 in Abu Dhabi. Naval Group will showcase the state-of-art innovations created for modern navies, demonstrating its capabilities in modern military ship and submarine building along with high tech solutions for systems and competence as leading naval integrator.
Come and meet us at booth 07-B15 on IDEX and B-019 on NAVDEX
Contributing to naval and industrial autonomy in the Middle East
Naval Group’s has been present in the Middle East for decades and has built trustful partnerships with many navies in the region.
Naval Group has a commitment to its customers to provide high performance naval military capacities and to stand by them on the long term. It supports its partners in developing national security through transfer of technology for the production and maintenance of their defence systems and contributes to their self-reliance and sovereignty.
Naval Group presents its leading technologies at IDEX and NAVDEX
Naval Group is a naval systems provider and integrator, one of the few companies in the world with the ability to deliver complete warships with their combat systems and all the critical equipment necessary to engage naval power in a theatre of operations. It is involved at every stage in the product life cycle, from design to in-service support.
The stands on IDEX and NAVDEX will reflect this comprehensive offer with a focus on surface ships and innovative solutions.
Gowind®: a sea-proven international success
Gowind® is Naval Group’s response to 21st century defence and security challenges. The platform combines high survivability characteristics with outstanding anti-air (AAW), anti-surface (ASW) and anti-submarine (ASuW) warfare performances thanks to the MU90 and to the CANTO®-V.
The MU90 is the sole totally new lightweight torpedo in the world. Designed and built with the most advanced technology, it is capable to counter any type of nuclear or conventional submarine even acoustically coated, deep diving, fast evasive, deploying anti-torpedo effectors
or bottomed in littoral areas. The CANTO®-V represents a breakthrough in the field of anti-torpedo defence. Based on dilution/confusion concept, it is the only solution capable of protecting surface vessels against both the most advanced and the previous generation torpedoes.
The Gowind® is operated with the SETIS®. This state-of-the-art combat is combat-proven on the French Navy’s FREMM frigates and interoperable with NATO systems. It provides the operator with the best management and decision-making aids, ensuring the Gowind® supremacy over conventional and asymmetric threats.
Nine of the ten Gowind® vessels contracted are being built with foreign partners in Malaysia and Egypt. The first Gowind® built in Egypt was launched on September 6, 2018.
BELHARRA®: the digital multi-mission combatant
Belharra® is the answer from Naval Group to navies looking for a compact frigate to perform a large range of missions, stand-alone or within a task force, for high sea duration missions or for shallow water operation in congested and contested operational environment.
Belharra® benefits from Naval Group centuries of experience ensuring unmatched stealth and outstanding detection capabilities. It features a robust platform, resilient systems and recoverability features that will enable it to retain operational capability following damage.
This new frigate features high level capabilities in anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine, and asymmetric warfare domains as well as the access to deep strike capability.
Its original design features consider the fast pace of change of information technology and the ongoing need for technical upgrades. It is also the first frigate to include architecture and systems to counter next-generation threats, such as cyber and asymmetrical warfare.
In April 2017, the French Defence Ministry awarded a contract to Naval Group for the construction of five Belharra® frigates for the French Navy. The first of class of this powerful multi-mission surface combatant is to be delivered in 2023.
SMX® 31: “the electric”
SMX® 31 is a showcase of developments Naval Group is studying for the next generation submarine. This resolutely digital submarine, designed to operate in a highly demanding environment, will carry out information gathering missions and will be more than ever capable of forceful actions that will result, either by using adapted weapons, or by “special” action modes (disruptive action modes adapted to different situations).
SMX® 31 is fitted with significantly increased energy power which allows remaining submerged, stealth and manoeuvring during very extended periods. The whole combat system and platform management system is fully integrated. It’s taken benefit of the latest developments in terms of Artificial Intelligence (AI). With a perfect hydrodynamic shape (inspired by biomimicry), specially designed for stealth versus active acoustic means, SMX® 31 is totally undetectable.
Training and simulation innovative solutions
Naval Group’s offer in Training and Simulation is part of its sovereignty enabling activities and services, drawn from unrivalled experience acquired together with the French Navy, and its Naval Group international customers and partners. Embracing operation, maintenance and industrial simulation and training, this offer is composed of progressive and customised programs, during every stage of ship’s life cycle, from a basic familiarisation and overview to on board training.
Naval Group’s “Ship inside concept” aims to train through an innovative and immersive 3D scenario, adapted to each pedagogical process and the necessary attractiveness for the new generations.
12 Feb 19. IDEX 2019 – One of the largest and most important global defence trade shows will open its gates in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this forthcoming Sunday. It will be a show-of-possibilities that will mainly be aimed at the Arab, Asian and Australian markets. In addition to the two trade shows that alternate each year – DSEI in London and Eurosatory in Paris – for the European market and AUSA in Washington for the American market, IDEX is the biennial meeting place where companies can present their solutions to the markets of Asia and Oceania. Almost more important than the Arab market, which consists of only a few countries, is IDEX’s impact on Asia and Oceania. It is purely a trade show, and only government representatives, the military and industry are allowed in. This year around 1,200 exhibitors will be taking part, and over 200,000 visitors are expected. IDEX 2017 was attended by 172 official international delegations from 142 countries, including defence ministers, armament directors and inspectors-general. These figures show that it is a global industry exhibition and not a regional Arab event. From a geographical point of view alone, Abu Dhabi can be regarded as a mediator between Europe and Asia. The largest guest nation for years has been the USA.
The Honourable Christopher Pyne, Minister for Defence, Australia, stated: “The International Defence Conference adds a new dimension to the disruptive innovations in the fields of defence and security. Australia looks forward to working with new partners in the area of defence systems due to the significant importance we attach to developing defence applications and sharing our knowledge with friendly countries.”
His Excellency Mohammed Al Bowari, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, UAE, stressed: “The conference provides a unique opportunity to further the development of defence capabilities. We will discuss the latest advancements in technology with a special focus on disruptive technology and their impact on our armed forces.”
Accordingly, the opening of IDEX 2017 was marked by the presence of the most prominent players in the defence sector. The exhibi-tion was opened by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (photo), Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Similar celebrities are also expected to attend this year’s opening ceremony.
As a precursor to IDEX the International Defence Conference (IDC) 2019, will be held from February 14-16 at Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi. Over 1,200 global defence specialists are expected to this event and for the first time, IDC will be combined with the Abu Dhabi International Offset Conference (ADIOC). With this the organizers aim to create a comprehensive global forum covering all defence and security issues as well as the relevant innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with this year’s theme “Shaping Our Shared Future: Strengthening Our Security and Prosperity through Innovation.”
His Excellency Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of the Tawazun Economic Council, explained that the events were merged due to the common resolve of both towards developing a robust defence technological and industrial base that will serve and drive economic development in the UAE: “The conference will tackle highly interesting and relevant topics addressing current developments in the defence, security and offset sectors, and how these sectors are impacted by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly in terms of strategy to deal with 4IR, innovation, manufacturing and training.”
The conference’s agenda will feature interactive discussions on four key focus areas: offset, security and stability, knowledge economy, and innovation and artificial intelligence. The event will also seek to strengthen the leading status of the UAE as a global hub for such specialised conferences. (Source: ESD Spotlight)
11 Feb 19. Royal Bahraini Air Force battles on all fronts. The Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF) has ‘some serious issues to address right now’, the service’s commander, Maj Gen Hamad bin Abdullah al Khalifah, told Shephard. ‘We are still engaged with the Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition in Yemen, where our F-16s provide close air support along Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen. We have flown more than 10,000 hours and in excess of 3,500 sorties in that role over the past three and a half years,’ the commander explained.
Along with its allied partners, Bahrain is also combating terrorism, and this is all being played out in the face of budget pressures and ageing equipment.
‘But we will still modernise our systems and maintain high readiness to face the challenges of our more aggressive neighbour [Iran] which continues to threat and destabilise the region.’
On the threat from Iran, he argued that: ‘They have been threatening for a long time not only as a country but through militias who are followers or believers of Iran. The GCC is doing much better to counter that threat and we are pleased the international coalition now understands.’
It is not surprising, therefore, that the shadow of Iran is playing a major role in shaping the RBAF, which, along with its Gulf state allies, recognises the importance of defending air, sea and land with the help of its western allies.
‘In order to strengthen the role of the future GCC air power, we must continue to integrate in all aspects of operations, leadership, doctrine, training, personnel facilities and materials,’ the commander continued.
‘And we need to modernise because the security challenges we face today cannot be addressed with yesterday’s capabilities.’
In a major step to upgrade the RBAF’s combat air capabilities, the commander announced a $912m deal for 12 AH-1Z Vipers at the Bahrain International Air Show in mid-November.
Al Khalifa told Shephard ‘that the world’s most advanced attack helicopter will continue to secure the country’.
‘Deliveries will start in the second half of 2022 and completed in early 2023, they will significantly improve our share in the growth and security of the Gulf region,’ he explained.
‘They will work alongside the current Cobra fleet and help to improve our share of the responsibility in the growth and security of the Gulf region.’
The existing fleet of AH-1s is currently made up of 18 AH-1Fs and around six TAH-1P Cobra trainers. The commander noted that the AH-1Z has been marinised to protect the systems and fuselage from salty sea conditions.
‘We decided to add the AH-1Zs to the fleet so we could have an additional maritime capability, which the others do not.’
Turkish Aerospace is upgrading the existing 18 AH-1Fs as part of a $25m deal agreed in June 2015, with an avionics upgrade based on systems already operational on Turkey’s T129 advanced attack and reconnaissance (ATAK) helicopter.
The commander confirmed he was upgrading the older Cobras ‘to give them a better night fighting capability,’ adding ‘we are half way through the process and that by the end of 2019, all would be modified’.
Integration of the ASELFLIR 400 turret into the attack helicopter’s nose is one major improvement as well as an enhanced weapons delivery set-up and an NVG compatible cockpit.
The commander was not too keen to discuss the upgrade because of the deterioration in the relationship between its ally Saudi Arabia, which is likely to be paying for the work, and Turkey after the deal was done. He would only tell Shephard that the deal covered a ‘good number’ of helicopters.
In a further procurement, in July 2018 the Bahraini government signed a $2.8bn FMS deal with its US counterpart for 16 new Block 70 F-16C/Ds and their support. The major general, who has been the air force commander for more than a decade, is looking forward to their arrival in 2022.
‘These new F-16s will add to our current capability and will be integrated with the assets of other allied air forces.’
Lockheed Martin had aspirations to upgrade the kingdom’s existing 20 F-16C/Ds to a similar standard as the new Block 70s, known as the F-16V. However, the RBAF baulked at the $1.1bn price.
‘Our priorities lie with the 16 new Block 70s. Our current fleet has been modernised to a very high standard and are extremely capable, until the Block 70s arrive. What happens after that we don’t yet know.’
The funds which might have been earmarked for the upgrade appear to have been spent on acquiring attack helicopters.
With all these new acquisitions, the chief acknowledge that he needs more pilots.
‘The selection process is now underway, and we have a good number now being trained. We started preparing for the arrival of new F-16s two years ago, and on the Cobras we started a few months ago with the selection of pilots and technicians.’ (Source: Shephard)
11 Feb 19. US defence companies retain top export status in Middle East. The Middle East and North Africa is home to seven out of the top ten nations in the world when it comes to defence spending as a percentage of GDP. US defence companies are the top exporters to the region, however, Russian and French companies are also making inroads. (Source: Shephard)
10 Feb 19. BAE Systems latest technology of land sea and air defence products. BAE Systems at IDEX 2019, the International Defense Exhibition in Abu Dhabi (UAE) is a 451.5 square metre, with two storey stand. IDEX is the only international defence exhibition and conference in the MENA region, enabling the demonstration of the latest technology across the land, sea and air sectors of defence.
IDEX takes place biennially at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, located in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. It is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
The edition 2019 of IDEX will take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the 17 to 21 February 2019. Army Recognition Group Company with its online Defense and Security magazine will provide the Official News Online of IDEX 2019 including Web TV. Follow all activities of IDEX 2019, with our latest news, coverage, reports and videos.
BAE Systyems stand at IDEX 2019 will have two full size combat vehicles including the M109A6+ and a Bradley Fighting Vehicle. These exhibits will be complemented by a range of products and capabilities from our Land, Maritime and Electronic Systems businesses. (Source: Google/https://www.armyrecognition.com)
10 Feb 19. Lockheed Martin will showcase latest defense products and solutions. Lockheed Martin, the American-based global technology leader, is set to showcase its latest advanced defense technology solutions at the 14th edition of the International Defense Exhibition and Conference IDEX that will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 17 to 21 February 2019.
At IDEX, U.S. Company Lockheed Martin will highlight a diverse portfolio of defense capabilities, products and services at the event, including its integrated air and missile defense technology, tactical aircraft, rotary systems, unmanned vehicles, and beyond.
“At Lockheed Martin, we recognize that next-generation technological innovations shape the future of global security and progress,” said Robert S. Harward, Chief Executive for Lockheed Martin in the Middle East. “As such, our core focus is to create and develop advanced defense capabilities, which will support all our regional partners in ensuring the safety of their citizens and stability of their nations against evolving threats in this modern age. IDEX provides the perfect stage for us to engage with both our regional and international customers, and to exhibit the most advanced solutions that will help us navigate today’s complex security landscape.”
“We are very proud to share a long history of over 50 years of close collaboration with our partners here in the Middle East, and we remain committed to strengthening this relationship for decades to come,” Harward added.
Lockheed Martin’s team of global business experts will be present at Stand 01-A11 inside the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), where the company will be displaying its world-class innovations during IDEX 2019. (Source: armyrecognition.com)
18 Dec 18. ADNEC Signs Strategic Partnership Agreements to Support IDEX and NAVDEX 2019. Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) today signed strategic agreements with a number of specialised national defense companies to support the upcoming editions of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) and the Naval Defence Exhibition (NAVDEX).
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 will run at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 17 to 21 February, 2019.
The agreements were signed in the presence of His Excellency Staff Major General Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Organising Committee of IDEX and NAVDEX; His Excellency Major-General Staff Pilot Ishaq Al Balushi, Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee; Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of ADNEC; Omar Al Faresi, Chief Financial Officer of Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC); Mohamed Hawas Al Sadid, Chief Executive Officer of the SEHA Ambulatory Healthcare Services; and Saeed Al Mansouri, Director of IDEX and NAVDEX 2019.
The agreement endorsed EDIC as the strategic partner for IDEX and NAVDEX 2019, Tawazun Holding as the principle partner for IDEX 2019, Abu Dhabi Shipping Building as the principle partner for NAVDEX 2019 and SEHA Ambulatory Healthcare Services as the official healthcare services provider for IDEX and NAVDEX 2019.
His Excellency Staff Major General Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Organising Committee of IDEX and NAVDEX, said: “We are proud of the support that IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 have received from leading national defence companies from both the public and private sectors, demonstrating the importance of both events in advancing the country’s defence industries”.
Al Mazrouei added: “The remarkable progress achieved by our national defense companies would not have been possible without the unwavering support extended by our wise leadership led by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and their Highnesses Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates and Crown Princes.
His Excellency Major-General Staff Pilot Ishaq Al Balushi, Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee, said: “As IDEX will mark its 25 anniversary, this upcoming edition will draw a record participation from specialised local and international defense companies. This will further reinforce the event’s prominent status on regional and international defence map.”
Al Balushi added: “The Organising Committee of IDEX and NAVDEX is working around the clock in preparation for the largest edition in the event’s history. The committee comprises under its umbrella several national institutions from both public and private sectors that have come together to ensure the success of both events in a manner befitting the stature and reputation of the UAE “.
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, CEO of ADNEC Group, said: “We are delighted with the tremendous support IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 have received from our partners as the upcoming edition is set to become the largest since IDEX was launched in1993. At ADNEC, we are implementing an ambitious strategy to support specialised exhibitions and conferences that serve key economic sectors identified by Abu Dhabi Economic Vision and Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, including the defense industry. ”
Al Dhaheri added: “ADNEC teams have been utilising their full potentials to ensure the success of IDEX and NAVDEX 2019. We thank our partners from both public and private sectors for their continued support for IDEX and NAVDEX, which will enhance the events’ competitiveness and ability to attract top exhibitors and decision makers from major defense companies worldwide.”
Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, Chairman of Emirates Defense Companies Council (EDCC) and Chief Executive Officer of Tawazun Economic Council, said: “The rapid growth achieved by our national defense industry is a manifestation of the huge potentials held by the UAE in various sectors. Our partnership with IDEX 2019 presents a perfect model of strategic collaboration between two important sectors, the exhibition and defense, to showcase the UAE’s unique competencies and capabilities in this vital sector.”
Omar Al Faresi, Chief Financil Officer of Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC), said: “Our strategic partnership with IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 is built on the solid foundation of close relationship and collaboration between defense and exhibition sectors. IDEX and NAVDEX serve as a leading platform for showcasing the latest developments and innovation in defense sector thanks to the continued support extended by the country’s wise leadership to this vital industry to embrace the latest technologies.”
Mattar Al Shamsi, Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company, said: “The maritime defense industry has witnessed a paradigm shift in the UAE through possessing advanced technologies and building superior indigenous capabilities. At Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company, we consider NAVDEX 2019 a unique opportunity to highlight the considerable growth achieved by the maritime industry in the UAE.”
Mohamed Hawas Al Sadid, Chief Executive Officer of the SEHA Ambulatory Healthcare Services, said: “Our partnership with IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 highlights the importance of synergy between national organisations to advance the country’s vitally important economic sectors including healthcare. At SEHA, we are proud to be the official healthcare provider of this definitive global defense event and to deliver the highest quality of healthcare services.”
The previous edition of IDEX and NAVDEX drew the participation of over 1,235 local and international exhibitors as well as more than 105,000 visitors from across the region and world. The event also facilitated defense deals value at AED19.1bn.
IDEX and NAVDEX 2017 convened top dignitaries, decision-makers, defense ministers, military commanders, representatives of diplomatic missions, and military and civilian delegations from brotherly and friendly countries.
07 Jan 19. Record International Participation at NAVDEX 2019. The next edition of NAVDEX 2019, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, will witness a record number of international and local participant companies specialised in the maritime defence industry. Held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) concurrently with the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) from 17-21 February, the number of participating military units for NAVDEX is expected to increase by 66 per cent to 20 units from 15 countries. Displays will range from frigates, supply vessels and transport vessels to naval minehunters and naval patrol boats.
The 2019 edition will also see the participation of four countries for the first time including China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and South Korea.
A transportation shuttle will link events held in the free port area, where large ships will dock, and the exhibition site and marine channel. This edition will also open the ships for visitors wanting to climb aboard the ships to learn about their capabilities.
NAVDEX, the most important maritime defence exhibition in the Middle East, is expected to showcase the most advanced maritime defence systems in addition to displaying marine defence units and equipment. More than 100 companies will be on site to present their most sophisticated products to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the exhibition for deals and partnerships between international companies.
His Excellency Staff Major General Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of Higher Organising Committee of IDEX and NAVDEX 2019, said: “The significance of NAVDEX as an international exhibition specialised in maritime defense is steadily increasing. The maritime defence sector is witnessing rapid development in terms of modern innovations and advanced technologies that compels professionals and personnel in this strategic sector to stay informed of the latest developments and technologies in maritime systems and equipment. NAVDEX offers that opportunity”.
His Excellency added: “We look forward to this larger version of NAVDEX with wider international and local participation that reflect the extent of developments by the UAE defence industries, now one of the leaders of this field in the region thanks to the support and directions of the UAE wise leadership”.
- Event held concurrently with the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX)
- Participating naval units increases 66% and the area allocated for shows increases 20%
- More than 100 exhibitors from 23 countries
For his part, Hamid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), said: “As part of ADNEC’s strategy to promote the status and future of all exhibitions and the conferences organised and held by the company at its various centres, ADNEC has worked on placing appropriate emphasis on the development of NAVDEX by expanding and developing the infrastructure of Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre marine channel to increase the space allocated for presentations by 20 per cent to reach approximately 40,000 square metres. This allows us to provide an ideal platform for participating companies to display their products and meet their needs, both in the exhibition halls and through ADNEC marine channel.
Al Dhaheri added: “The unprecedented interest shown by specialised global defense firms to participate in the upcoming editions of NAVDEX is the outcome of our comprehensive strategy which involved intensive marketing efforts to promote the exhibition at major international events. This has helped us attract several international companies that will mark their debut participation or expand presence in the forthcoming edition.”
Al Dhaheri also noted that NAVDEX is a real platform to showcase the latest products in the maritime defense sector due to its great global interest and the participation of various delegations and dignitaries, such as leaders of armies, decision-makers and those interested in maritime affairs in most countries of the world. This is reflected positively by the participation of our exhibitors, and adds value to this vital sector.
NAVDEX 2019 is sponsored by a group of national companies specialised in the defence industry, most notably the Emirates Defense Industries Company (EDIC), the strategic partner of the IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 exhibitions, in addition to the Abu Dhabi Ship Building Company (ADSB), the main partner of NAVDEX 2019.
Held on over 133,000 sqm. of internal and external area, the 2019 edition of NAVDEX and IDEX are expected to be the largest in their history as IDEX is set to mark its silver jubilee. It is worth noting that the previous edition saw the participation of more than 1,235 participating companies from 57 countries and produced concluding deals valued at more than AED19.7bn.
15 Jan 19. International Defence Conference 2019 to Convene 1,200 Defence Specialists. The International Defence Conference (IDC) 2019, being held 14 to 16 February at Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi, is expected to draw the participation of over 1,200 global defence specialists. For the first time, IDC will be combined with the Abu Dhabi International Offset Conference (ADIOC) with the aim of creating a comprehensive global forum covering all defence and security issues as well as the relevant innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with this year’s theme — ‘Shaping Our Shared Future: Strengthening Our Security and Prosperity through Innovation’.
His Excellency Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of the Tawazun Economic Council, explained that the events were merged due to the common resolve of both towards developing a robust defence technological and industrial base that will serve and drive economic development in the UAE.
His Excellency Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of the Tawazun Economic Council, said: “The conference will tackle highly interesting and relevant topics addressing current developments in the defence, security and offset sectors, and how these sectors are impacted by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, particularly in terms of strategy to deal with 4IR, innovation, manufacturing and training.”
His Excellency added that the Tawazun Economic Council is looking forward to seeing benefit from the conference outcomes in drawing-up strategies to contribute to comprehensive development drive, enable defence and security industries, promote constructive partnerships, facilitate technology transfer and to build capabilities.
The conference’s agenda will feature interactive discussions on four key focus areas: offset, security and stability, knowledge economy, and innovation and artificial intelligence. The event will also seek to strengthen the leading status of the UAE as a global hub for such specialised conferences.
His Excellency Staff Major General Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee of IDEX and NAVDEX 2019, said: “The arrival of 4IR and its advanced technologies, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, requires devising innovative strategies to utilise its high-tech capabilities in an optimal manner to ensure global stability, security and peace. Every advance in science and technology brings with it a wealth of opportunities and challenges that need addressing – and that is the objective of IDC 2019.”
Added His Excellency: “We attribute the significant growth of IDC, IDEX and NAVDEX, and their ability to keep pace with the latest developments in the defence industry to the guidance of our wise leadership, whose strategic vision continues to inspire our current and future generations.”
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), the event organiser, said: “The new format of IDC demonstrates the breadth of our strategic collaboration with our partners in the defence industry. Through merging IDC with ADIOC into one event, we seek to create an integrated platform that combines economic, defence and security disciplines with innovation to enable us to reap the full benefits of 4IR. The merger will enhance the global significance of this conference while fulfilling the urgent need to provide a holistic international perspective.”
This year’s event will also serve as a precursor to the 2019 edition of IDEX/NAVDEX being held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 17 to 21 February. Occurring biennially, IDEX/NAVDEX are held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Added Al Dhaheri: “The 2017 edition of IDEX/NAVDEX drew 105,000 attendees as well as 1,235 exhibitors from the defence industry. The strong participation of influential personalities and decision-makers from the defence sector underlines the status of the UAE in general, and Abu Dhabi in particular, as a leading global destination for hosting such high-calibre events.”
Al Dhaheri also noted that the conference agenda will include a tour of Abu Dhabi’s major tourism sites and cultural landmarks for the participating delegates, aimed at promoting the rich culture and history of the emirate.
27 Nov 18. IDEX 2019 secures 95 per cent booking as global platform puts spotlight on AI & Fourth Industrial Revolution. Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has announced that bookings for both indoor and outdoor spaces for the upcoming editions of the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) 2019 and the Naval Defence Exhibition (NAVDEX) 2019 have already reached 95 per cent, revealing the shows’ global importance and advanced preparations of the world’s leading players in the security and defence industries to take part in its silver jubilee edition. Under the patronage of His Highness (H.H.) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, the events will run from 17th to 21stFebruary 2019 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
Organised by (ADNEC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and UAE Armed Forces, the two exhibitions will showcase the latest defence developments featuring technology trends from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and artificial intelligence and the vital role of these technologies in advancing the defence sector and its relevant industries. Themed ‘Defence for Security and Safety’, the event will also highlight the UAE’s leading initiatives in achieving digital transformation in line with the country’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy aimed at enhancing government’s performance and contributing to achieving the goals of UAE Centennial 2071 to become the best country in the world in all fields
IDEX will celebrate its silver jubilee in the upcoming edition, having completed 25 years since its inception in 1993. The global platform for the defence sector is set to attract the world’s leading defence and security companies which will display their latest innovations, as well as feature international experts. Participants will also witness the latest developments within the local and regional defence industries.
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of ADNEC has confirmed that the coming edition of IDEX and NAVDEX 2019 is set to prove once again its leading position as a global platform to showcase the latest leading developments in security and defence, in line with the global technological trends such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Al Dhaheri added that the event consolidates its global reputation as one of the most prominent specialized exhibitions for defence industries and contributes in reflecting the continues efforts of the UAE’s wise leadership in advancing the present and future of the country’s defence sector position it on the world’s global map.
Al Dhaheri further emphasized that IDEX and NAVDEX remain proactive in boosting their capabilities as effective platforms that support national companies in marketing and exploring expansion opportunities for their products and services, in line with Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 aimed at economic diversification, sustainable growth and supporting the non-oil sectors.
“We look forward to witness wide participation of leading manufacturers, defence systems companies, government officials, decision-makers, defence and security leaders and global specialists, as well as major international companies in the coming edition of the exhibition,” Al Dhaheri added.
Held on the side-lines of IDEX, NAVDEX 2019 is set to bring together industry leaders from around the world, to discuss and share innovative ideas and concepts in the field of naval defence and security. The exhibition will contribute in further consolidating UAE’s position as a key maritime player in the region and a leading hub for shipbuilding, maintenance, repair and restoration of warships. It provides a strategic platform to showcase the latest innovations by local and regional maritime companies and organizations in naval security and coastal protection.
IDEX & NAVDEX 2017 welcomed more than 105,000 visitors and witnessed the participation of more than 1,200 local, regional and international companies. The events also paved way for the signing of strategic deals with a combined value of AED 19.17bn.
Lincad is a leading expert in the design and manufacture of batteries, chargers and associated products for a range of applications across a number of different sectors. With a heritage spanning more than three decades in the defence and security sectors, Lincad has particular expertise in the development of reliable, ruggedised products with high environmental, thermal and electromagnetic performance. With a dedicated team of engineers and production staff, all product is designed and manufactured in-house at Lincad’s facility in Ash Vale, Surrey. Lincad is ISO 9001 and TickITplus accredited and works closely with its customers to satisfy their power management requirements.
Lincad is also a member of the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register (JOSCAR), the accreditation system for the aerospace, defence and security sectors, and is certified with Cyber Essentials, the government-backed, industry supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks. The majority of Lincad’s products contain high energy density lithium-ion technology, but the most suitable technology for each customer requirement is employed, based on Lincad’s extensive knowledge of available electrochemistries. Lincad offers full life cycle product support services that include repairs and upgrades from point of introduction into service, through to disposal at the end of a product’s life. From product inception, through to delivery and in-service product support, Lincad offers the high quality service that customers expect from a recognised British supplier.


text:
Viewers of the Coronation Concert were gutted as a member of the Royal family was missing from tonight's show.
A huge concert was staged on Sunday to mark the coronation of King Charles III. 20,000 people gathered on the East Lawn of Windsor Castle to enjoy a star-studded gig to commemorate the occasion.
Acts such as Lionel Richie, Olly Murs and Take That took to the stage for the event. However, some viewers were disappointed as the King took his seat at the show.
The King and Queen Camilla were greeted at their seats by Prince William, Princess Kate and their two children, George and Charlotte. A BBC announcement confirmed their youngest son, Louis, was not in attendance at the show.
Kirsty Young said: "Little Louis is only five and it way past his bedtime and he had a pretty busy day yesterday." Louis' cheeky antics at public events have been a hit with Royal fans.
Viewers following the concert on Twitter were gutted the Prince wasn't there at tonight's show.
Laura said: "Gutted no Louis"
Helen added: "Where is Louis?? We need his dance moves!
Jo Jo commented: "Prince Louis would've been the HIGHLIGHT of the night for sure if he was her"
Jen tweeted: "Gutted star of the show Prince Louis isn't there, love that tiny terror he'd liven this up"
Emma posted: "Where’s the little legend Louis?!"
Receive newsletters with the biggest and breaking TV and showbiz news by signing up here
For more celeb news, videos and pictures follow our designated Facebook page HERE


text:
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – Authorities say three people were injured in a shooting in the 6400 block of Greens Hollow Lane just after midnight Sunday.
When offices arrived at the scene, no victims were located but multiple vehicles were damaged by gunfire.
The victims were later located at three different hospitals. Each victim’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. One man sustained a gunshot wound to the hand, another to the foot and a woman was shot in the leg.
Authorities say the shots were fired in a parking lot at an apartment complex on Greens Hollow Lane.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.
More headlines from CBS17.com:
- 14-year-old girl wins $25,000 prize for research on potential coronavirus cure
- Man hospitalized after multiple bullet holes found in parked car, Durham police say
- In North Carolina, churches and businesses are supposed to enforce mask use, but many don’t
- NC woman told to pay back nearly $15,000 in unemployment benefits
- North Carolina woman goes to vote; told she’s ineligible because she’s dead


text:
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PROGRAM
Is it right for you & your business?
Our in office Employee Benefit Program might be right for your business if any of these situations apply to you:
You are you a small business owner
You are looking for ways to attract and retain employees
You are looking for quality dental care for your business
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
2 Routine Cleanings
Not including Periodontal
2 Fluoride Treatments
2 Cancer screenings
2 Periodontal Screening
All x-rays as needed
Plus 50% off CBCT scan, 20% off additional treatments, 50% night-guards, $500 off Invisalign, and $250 off Zoom Whitening
First Member: $528.00
Second Member: $506.00
Third Member: $484.00
Additional Members: $462.00
Save one month of payments when you choose to pay yearly.
First Member: $48.00
Second Member: $46.00
Third Member: $44.00
Additional Members: $42.00
Add 5 members and get the 6th one free!
HOW IT WORKS
You can now offer our in-house Patient Benefit Plan as part of your small business employee benefit package. This benefit is available to you, your employees, and their dependents.
The subscription cost for our plan is simple and affordable. Once you sign up, you and your employees will receive your benefits immediately. As the employer you can cover the cost of the membership or you can offer the benefit program as a group discount plan that your employees can pay for.
Sign up is easy! You can sign up in minutes by contacting our front office at 208.788.4900
Start saving today by joining our dental membership program.
Sign up 5 members and get the 6th membership for free!

domain: finance


text:
What you need to remember is that Taris is an ecumenopolis - an entire planet covered in cityscape. Very few full planets, even in Star Wars, boast the same - Coruscant, Corellia, Alsakan and Anaxes are some of the few. Even Nar Shaddaa is merely a moon, far smaller than Taris.
The resources required to recolonize and reconstitute Taris are a microfraction of the resources required to create an entire ecumenopolis even on an already mostly urbanized planet. The original infrastructure is, according to several NPCs, "Surprisingly intact" as well.
Actually incorrect about Corellia. It is not a city planet. It simply has some GIGANTIC cities. But much of the planet is open and even has mountains.

domain: geography


text:
The story of the Cornwall and West Devon
Mining Landscape World Heritage Site
- 'Cornish Mining'
The Site consists of the most authentic and historically significant
surviving components of the Cornwall and west Devon mining landscape
from the period 1700 to 1914. This
cultural landscape is a testament to the profoundly important process of
pioneering metal mining, to its industrialisation, and to the
innovations which occurred here and had fundamental influence on the
mining world at large during the nineteenth century. There are
ten Areas in the site whose landscapes represent former mining
districts, ancillary industrial concentrations and associated
settlements. They share a common identity despite having developed
separately from one another. The story of 'Cornish Mining'
incorporates the following important elements:
Natural Landscapes - the backdrop
against which 'Cornish Mining' took place and without
whose mineralogical resource it could not have taken place.
History - Industrialisation shaped and
made possible modern global society. Cornwall and west Devon were one
of the areas where this process began.
Technological Advances - Remarkable
advances in mining and engineering technologies were made during the
18th and 19th centuries and exported all around the world.
People and Cultural traditions
- Thousands of ordinary men, women and children contributed to the
industrial revolution, transforming the landscape, forging
strong community identities, innovating technological advances and
Physical Monuments - the distinctive
and authentic remains of industrialisation can be found
throughout the region. Imposing engine houses, mine sites, industrial
harbours and tramways, foundries, fuseworks, town and villages,
nonconformist chapels, grand houses and gardens of the mineral lords,
miners' smallholdings, technology schools and institutes are all
recognisable features of the 'Cornish Mining' landscape.


text:
Play any type of Game at Y8.com. The biggest Game Collection to play free online. Flash, Unity 3D, Html5, Android, Java and Shockwave.
We invite you to cook various recipes of pizza and then delivered to customers in your shop. Prepare pizzas following the original recipe and follow exactly the ingredients, choose from the bar located at the top the required products and ingredients in the recipe.
Use the mouse to interact with these cooking games.

domain: food


text:
Bursting onto our TV screens back in 2008 during the BBC’s Last Choir Standing, Brighton’s Gay Men’s Chorus has gone on to represent Brighton and the gay choral tradition in a number of ways.
Here, on the eve of its Pride performance, Rod Edmunds, the chorus’ chairman, reveals all…
Tell us a little about how Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus started.
Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus (Brighton GMC) sprung into life in 1995. It was the brainchild of a group of former members of the London Gay Men’s Chorus. When they moved down to live in our glorious City by the sea, they were surprised to discover that Brighton did not already have its own gay male-voice choir. Five years on and the Brighton GMC has in excess of 60 members, making us the largest male gay Chorus outside London.
It’s your fifth anniversary, how’s the celebration going?
So far it’s been hectic, but terrific fun; and, surprise, surprise, we have decided to keep on partying through to the start of the next year! We kicked off with a birthday concert, “Now We Are Five”, both a retrospective and also a “first” for us. It marked our first concert promotion as part of Brighton’s Fringe festival: It was a sell-out!
The Last Choir Standing performance was fantastic, what’s happened since?
You are so right – we had an absolute ball! Representing Brighton and the gay choral tradition on prime time BBC Saturday night television, and reaching into the living rooms of 7.4 million viewers, was an amazing experience. And it has brought Brighton GMC any number of wonderful opportunities – some of the these include being invited to support Spymonkey’s national tour of “Moby Dick” when it came to last year’s Brighton Comedy Festival, and sharing the stage at the Dome with “Only Men Aloud” (the winners of Last Choir Standing) were in town. Then, just before last Christmas, 60s Icon Sandie Shaw joined us to be our special guest when we playing to nearly 2,000 people in our Christmas extravaganza, “Make the Yuletide Gay”, at London’s Barbican Hall. We have also been thrilled to be invited to perform live (and on CD) with the legendary 1970s punk band, The Damned.
What do you look for in would-be choristers?
There is no blueprint. If there is one overriding hallmark, then it is a desire to give enthusiastic performances – for, as Russell Watson noted, we are “showmen”. We aim to have fun and transmit that vibe so that we can send our audiences home thoroughly entertained. Our members come from all walks of life and span a broad age spectrum. Part of our mission – enshrined in our Constitution – is that membership should be open to anybody who wants to join, irrespective of musical training or vocal ability.
Pride is just around the corner, anything planned?
Yes, we are hard at work putting the finishing touches to our show, “A Cheap Gay Return!” which will help launch the weeklong Pride celebrations at 8 pm on July 30th and July 31st at St George’s Church, Kemptown. The show follows the staff who work at, and the revellers who pass through, Mrs Bennet’s station tea rooms at Brighton Junction on Pride day itself. The audience will be treated to a range of numbers including, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”; “Angels”; “I Will Follow Him”; and “Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart”. During Pride week we are appearing on the bill of “MindOut for the Laughs”, MindOut’s next fundraiser at the Komedia (7.30 on August 5th). And to round off the first half of our birthday year, we have a stall Pride in the Park (so, come and say hello).
What is it about living and singing in Brighton that is so special?
Ah, there really is nowhere in the UK to match Brighton; the mix of people, the sea, a laid back sense of acceptance. It all makes for something truly special. But important as it is for us to be able to make our distinctive musical contribution as part of this City’s vibrant gay culture and its history, our singing lives are made all the more special because in this City our appeal and our audiences is not confined by any narrow or prescriptive labels to do with sexual identity.
As a choir, you must have a favourite tune…
Put 60 gay chorus members in a concert hall and you are likely to get as many, if not more, nominations for our favourite tune! But here’s a couple of all-time favourites: “Dancing Queen”, Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and of course, “I Am What I Am”.Share on Facebook


The modern international classification of deformable aluminum alloys It is a digital classification of the American Aluminum Association, introduced in 1954 year, according to which each alloy is assigned "number" of the 4-digit.
International designations aluminum alloys
- The first digit indicates the major alloying element, which forms a series (group) of alloys with similar properties.
- The last two digits are assigned to the next in this series alloy.
- The second digit indicates alloy modification. for instance, alloy 6463 Alloy modification is 6063 with somewhat more rigid restrictions on the contents of certain alloying elements and impurities, such as iron, manganese and chromium, to obtain a better quality in the final surface finish, for example, when anodizing.
International and European standards
The international standard ISO 209-1 and European Standard EN 573 include, in addition to digital signage is also an additional "chemical" designation.
Table 1 – Designation of wrought aluminium alloys
1xxx – technical aluminum
This series is designed for commercially pure aluminum with an aluminum content of not less than 99 %. Designations 1xxx series alloys are assigned depending on the degree of purity of aluminum and the type of impurities, the most important of which are iron and silicon. The main applications of this alloy series are electrical conductors, and chemical equipment, as distinctive properties of alloys of this series are a good conductivity and corrosion resistance.
- The last two digits of the alloy designation indicate two digits to the right of the decimal point (comma) of the percentage of aluminum. for instance, 1050 denotes alloy, in which the aluminum content is 99,50 %.
2xxx – Aluminum alloys with copper
The main alloying element of this series is copper, alloy which provides high strength, but results in a reduced corrosion resistance.
- These alloys have been among the first aluminum alloy of duralumin and they were named.
- Alloy 2024 is an, probably, the best known and most widely used "airplane" alloy.
- Currently, most of the alloys in this series have lost their former popularity, because they have insufficient corrosion resistance when working outdoors without a protective coating, as well as difficult to weld.
3xxx – Aluminum alloys with manganese
Manganese is the principal alloying element 3xxx series, increasing strength unalloyed aluminum somewhere on 20 %. The corrosion resistance and workability of these alloys is very high. The most popular series alloy - 3003. Alloys of this series is often used in construction, rain gutters at the device, roofing and cladding of buildings.
4xxx – siliceous aluminum alloys
This is a pretty exotic series of alloys has a major alloying element silicon. Copper, magnesium and beryllium may be added as additional alloying elements. The vast majority of alloys of this series are netermouprochnyaemymi, but there are exceptions. The silicon content may be as high 13,5 % for reducing the onset of melting temperature and improve yield, It is very important, since most of these alloys are used for the manufacture of wire and rod for welding and brazing.
5xxx – aluminum alloys with magnesium
In alloys series 5xxx main alloying element – magnesium,. The result is a strong, corrosion-resistant, good weldable aluminum alloys. These alloys are used for the manufacture of ship hulls and other marine equipment, wire and welded tanks. Strength of the alloys of this series is directly proportional to the content of magnesium, which can reach 6 %.
6xxx – aluminum alloys with magnesium and silicon
Alloys of this series contain magnesium and silicon from 0,2 to 1,8 % in proportions to form magnesium silicide, Mg2Si. These alloys have a good balance of corrosion resistance and strength.
- A popular construction material is an alloy 6061, which is close to the yield strength of mild steel.
- The vast majority of profiles made from aluminum alloy similar 6060 and 6063. All aluminum building envelopes (facades, windows and doors).
7xxx – aluminum-zinc alloys
The main alloying element of this series of alloys - zinc. The 7xxx series includes two types of alloys:
- alloys of Al-Zn–Mg, for example, alloy 7005 and
- alloys Al–Zn-Mg-Cu, for example, alloy 7075.
Additives to copper alloys Al-Zn–Mg, together with small amounts of chromium and manganese give the highest, which is available only for aluminum alloys. In certain alloys the tensile strength can exceed 600 MPa. Although copper and reduces the overall corrosion resistance, it improves corrosion resistance under stress.
8xxx – all other aluminum alloys
This series includes the newly developed alloys, the main alloying elements which are different from the main elements of other series or for other reasons can not be included in the "traditional" series. for instance, in this series included, including
- lithium alloys for the aerospace industry (e.g., 8090);
- iron alloys containing more 1 % for the manufacture of aluminum foil (eg, 8006, 8011, 8079, 8111);
- alloys, are used for the production aluminum wires (eg, 8017, 8030, 8076, 8177).
Lithium has a significantly lower density, than aluminum (0.53 g / cm³), and its solubility in aluminum is relatively large. Therefore, it can be doped with aluminum in large quantities and provide a significant reduction in density aluminum alloy - to 10 % compared to other aluminum alloys.


‘Ghostbusters’ 2020 finalizing deal with Paul Rudd
Late last year we found out that Jason Reitman, whose father Ivan Reitman directed the original “Ghostbusters,” will step into the director’s chair. He co-wrote the screenplay with Gil Kenan and plans to shoot the film later this summer.
Now more good news has surfaced. It‘s being said that Paul Rudd is in final negotiations to join Sony’s latest installment of “Ghostbusters.”
“I’ve been wanting to work with Paul Rudd since my short film opened for ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ at Sundance. I’m thrilled he’ll be joining this new chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe,” said Jason Reitman.
Sony wouldn’t comment on plot details, but insiders say the story will be an extension of the original “Ghostbusters” and focus on a single mom and her family, with Coon playing the mom and Wolfhard playing her son. It’s unknown how exactly it connects to the original Ghostbusters series. Sigourney Weaver is also rumored to return as Dana Barrett.
The “Ghostbusters” sequel will produced by Ivan Reitman.
The sci-fi comedy been a huge priority for the studio, where it’s been secretly developed using the codename “Rust City.” When Reitman was announced as director in January, a teaser trailer and release date were ready the next day.
Rudd, is coming off a Marvel-ous stretch with “Avengers: Endgame.” He is also on board to star in the Netflix series “Living With Yourself,” which he is about to start filming.
“Ghostbusters 2020” is expected to hit theaters in summer of next year. We will keep all you CritiX up to speed as more develops!


Bayfront plan on Chula Vista council agenda
Chula Vista Port Commissioner Ann Moore will update the City Council today on the proposed $520 million expansion of San Diego’s downtown convention center, along with providing strategy for the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, including information about the Chula Vista Nature Center. The council is also set to consider dissolving its redevelopment corporation, and approving a land swap of a 9.3-acre parcel adjacent to state Route 125.
The council meets at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 276 Fourth Ave.
Wendy Fry • U-T


US wind energy: Parity with fossil fuels is getting closer
CW columnist and composites industry consultant Dale Brosius says a recent report issued by the US DoE offers reasons for optimism about US composite-industry prospects in the wind energy industry even without the stimulus from the Production Tax Credit.
#outofautoclave #sheetmoldingcompound #adhesives
Several times each year, I make the three-hour drive from my home in Indianapolis to visit Chicago. About halfway in the trip, the Meadow Lake Wind Farm (IN, US) appears and stretches for miles in each direction off Interstate 65. It’s a mesmerizing sight, these very long rows of large, white turbines (1.5 to 2.1 MW each), rotating in unison as they harvest the Midwest breeze. There are 303 turbines and 500 MW of capacity. Plans are to double capacity to more than 1 GW in the coming years. Beneath the graceful turbines, the local farmers sow and harvest their crops as they have always done. Some things in Indiana remain constant, even as new technology advances.
The planned expansion at Meadow Lake will depend, however, on a number of factors, one of which could be the nonrenewal of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) by the U.S. Congress. The PTC expired at the end of 2012, was temporarily renewed in 2013, and then expired at the end of 2013, only to be retroactively renewed for 2014 with two weeks to go in the year. The PTC provides a tax credit of $0.023 per kW/hr, enabling wind energy to be more competitive with electricity generated by fossil fuels. According to the American Wind Energy Assn. (Washington, DC, US), US wind energy capacity increased by a record 13 GW in 2012, but the annual increase dropped to only 1.1 GW in 2013, recovering only a little in 2014 to around 5 GW. The current belief is that the PTC will not be renewed for the foreseeable future. By contrast, European and Asian governments have much more stable energy policies concerning wind power, and installations in those regions have been fairly steady over these same years.
So is the wind energy industry in the U.S. headed for extinction? A recent report, Wind Vision: A New Era for Wind Power in the United States, issued by the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office of the US Department of Energy (DoE), offers reasons for optimism, even without the stimulus provided by the PTC. The report notes that wind energy provided 4.5% of US energy demand in 2013, up from only 1.5% in 2008. Both Iowa and South Dakota now generate more than 25% of their needed electricity from wind. Improved designs and larger rotors have reduced generation costs from $0.071 per kWh in 2008 to $0.045 per kWh in 2013 for regions where wind speeds are reliable. The report projects a further 24% reduction by 2020 and 33% by 2030 based on improvements in turbine technology and operations. These kinds of improvements might give natural gas, even with its current low market price, a real challenge. The DoE envisions that wind will meet 10% of U.S. demand for electricity by 2020, 20% by 2030 and 35% by 2050. These are some pretty aggressive targets.
Readers of this magazine know that builders of wind turbine blades are substantial users of composite materials, so this level of growth bodes well — if it happens. I visited a major wind blade factory in February, getting the in-depth tour engineers crave. I was able to witness every step of the manufacturing process for blades that exceed 50m in length, so we are talking large tools and very large parts. Having visited factories making large carbon fiber aircraft components and high-volume SMC automotive parts, I was immediately struck by how different the manufacturing process is for turbine blades. Teams of people move from mold to mold, laying fabric and core by hand, then bagging the part for resin infusion. Adhesives are applied manually rather than robotically. Tolerances for fiber angle and bond thickness are much more lenient than in aerospace. Nonetheless, what comes out of the factory is a very robust, durable product that is designed to operate for 25 years or more. While one might think automated fabric layup and adhesive application would be a natural fit, cost analysis has determined that such machines would have to lay up well over 1 MT per hour to be competitive with manual labor.
So what is likely to drive the costs of wind energy down? From the blade perspective, several technologies have promise: Building longer but segmented blades (to overcome current transport limitations) and joining them at the installation site; low-cost, high-volume carbon fiber for critical stiffening elements, such as spar caps, especially as blades get longer; improved modeling and simulation to optimize design and reduce material usage yet maximize performance; and the use of high-speed NDE techniques to ensure quality.
As it turns out, cost (especially that of carbon fiber), modeling, simulation and NDE are basically the same issues aerospace and automotive engineers face. Maybe not so different after all?
Oven-cured, vacuum-bagged prepregs show promise in production primary structures.
Fast-reacting resins and speedier processes are making economical volume manufacturing possible.
Commercial production of recycled carbon fiber currently outpaces applications for it, but materials characterization and new technology demonstrations promise to close the gap.