SEE THE B-1 LANCER CARRY A CRUISE MISSILE ON THE OUTSIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME

Boeing's Apache Attack Helos (Made in Mesa)

Made in Mesa:

First AH-64E Apaches Arrive In UK, Will Serve As New Carriers’ Other Strike Capability

Part of Britain’s new-look attack helicopter force, the AH-64E gunships will also be able to team with drones.

ByThomas NewdickNovember 27, 2020

 

"The first pair of AH-64E Apache gunships have been delivered to the United Kingdom, kicking off a long-awaited modernization of the British Army’s attack helicopter capability. The initial pair of E-models, also referred to as Apache Guardians, boasts a host of new features and will start replacement of the United Kingdom’s legacy Apache fleet. . .

The United Kingdom is in the process of acquiring 50 of the latest AH-64Es as part of a plan that calls for the final retirement of the legacy British Army WAH-64D Apaches, also known as Apache AH1s in U.K. service, in 2024.

US ARMY VIA @MIL_STD

A schematic diagram of the AH-64 components that have received an upgrade under Version 6. 

Version 6 offers notable advantages over the initial blocks of AH-64Es and its emphasis on over-water combat is something that the British Army will likely have paid particular attention to. Among official plans for the future air wings of the Royal Navy’s two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers is a so-called Littoral Manoeuvre setup that combines Apaches with a variety of assault transport and support helicopters. Since it’s also planned for the air wings to be tailored for combinations of Carrier Strike and Littoral Manoeuvre capabilities if required, it’s also possible that the new Apaches will eventually go to sea alongside the F-35B Lightning jet fighter, to provide a two-pronged offensive-oriented air complement . . .

The British Army’s plans call for the AH-64E to operate as an Attack Reconnaissance Team (ART) with the Wildcat AH1 within 1 Aviation Brigade. The Wildcat AH1 is the battlefield reconnaissance version of the Leonardo AW159 helicopter, 34 of which are in service and which can act as airborne forward air controllers, or FACs, directing fire from fast jets, naval and field artillery, as well as attack helicopters.

 

Crown Copyright

A British Army Air Corps door gunner poses alongside a Wildcat AH1 helicopter fitted with a 50-caliber Browning M3M machine gun.

Co-operative exercises involving Apache AH1s and Wildcat AH1s have included 2018 maneuvers at Aberporth, Wales, in which a Wildcat laser-designated a target for a pair of Apaches, which then engaged it using two Hellfire missiles and without using their own laser designators, helping prove the ART concept.  

The reference to manned-unmanned teaming, which is a key part of the overall Version 6 package, suggests the British Army Version 6 AH-64E may be fitted with, or have provision for, the U.S. Army’s Manned-Unmanned Teaming-Extended (MUMT-X) system, which increases the range at which the helicopter can share data with drones.

The United Kingdom is increasingly looking to expand its UAS capabilities, including swarming drones. Recent trials conducted by Leonardo may also provide an indication of the types of UAS that the British Army’s AH-64E may be adapted to work with in the future. The British AH-64Es could also harness their manned-unmanned teaming ability to cooperate with the Royal Air Force’s forthcoming Protector drones, essentially mimicking the way that U.S. Army Apaches and MQ-1C Gray Eagles work together. 

The last British Apache unit to deploy to Afghanistan flew top cover for the final withdrawal of British troops from Camp Bastion in October 2014. In the meantime, the British Army Apaches also went to war in Libya in 2011, as part of the NATO-led coalition. 

In May 2017, the United Kingdom placed a $488.1-million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) order with Boeing, a modification of an existing deal, to remanufacture 38 Apache AH1s to AH-64E standard as part of a wider Lot 7-11 production run, as well as to procure three Longbow crew trainers and associated spares. This work was scheduled to be completed at the Boeing plant in Mesa, Arizona, by May 31, 2024.

Although there were rumors they might be dropped as a cost-saving measure, the remaining final 12 AH-64Es for the United Kingdom were eventually covered by a separate $565.5-million contract issued in December 2019, another modification of an existing FMS award, which included the rework of a total of 47 aircraft, including others for the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates. The estimated completion date for this work is March 1, 2025.

By mid-2019, 16 Apache AH1s had been delivered to Mesa for the AH-64E remanufacture program and the first British E-model was flown from Mesa, Arizona, to the US Army facility at Redstone Army Airfield, Alabama, to begin testing, last summer

Major Hit to the Ozone, Earth's Magnetic Shift, Solar Forcing | S0 News ...

Peter Schiff And Jim Rickards On Inflation, Economy And More

El-Erian talks markets, coronavirus, stimulus, Biden, and 'the bumpy jou...

Apaches Take A Stand on Sacred Lands Against Claims by Resolution Copper

2 recent reports:

1 The Guardian on Nov 24 

This land is your land

Arizona

Revealed: Trump officials rush to mine desert haven native tribes consider holy

Administration seeks to transfer ownership of Arizona area to mining company with ties to the destruction of an Aboriginal site

Revealed: Trump officials rush to mine desert haven native tribes consider holy

Annette McGivney

the Guardian | Tue 24 Nov 2020 04.23 EST Last modified on Thu 26 Nov 2020 13.09 EST

Since January, San Carlos Apache tribal member Wendsler Nosie Sr has been sleeping in a teepee at a campground insouth-eastern Arizona’s Oak Flat, a sprawling high desert oasis filled with groves of ancient oaks and towering rock spires.

It is a protest in defense of “holy ground” where the Apache have prayed and performed ceremonies for centuries.

A dozen south-western Native American tribes have strong cultural ties to Oak Flat. But the Trump administration, in its waning days, has embarked on a rushed effort to transfer ownership of the area to a mining company with ties to the destruction of an Aboriginal site in Australia, the Guardian has learned.

“We were in the fourth quarter with two minutes left in the game. And then Trump cheated so now we only have one minute left,” said Nosie, who was a football quarterback in high school. “Everybody has to mobilize now to fight this.”

 

2 Vice News on

Trump Is About to Hand Over Sacred Apache Land to a Mining Company

Geoff Dembicki

vice.com |

Trump officials are rushing to hand over Oak Flat in Arizona to Resolution Copper by next month, a full year ahead of schedule—while they still can.

The desertous and otherworldly Oak Flat in Arizona has been a highly contested area for more than two decades. Photo courtesy of Russ McSpadden/Center for Biological Diversity

Tipping Point covers environmental justice stories about and, where possible, written by people in the communities experiencing the stark reality of our changing planet.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sped up a process that will hand over the rights to a sacred Apache Indigenous area outside of Phoenix, Arizona, to a mining company by next month—a full year ahead of schedule.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to release its official environmental impact statement that will give the go-ahead to transfer Oak Flat in the Tonto National Forest to the mining company Resolution Copper, a joint venture by mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP, a year before its planned December 2021 date. 

The announcement came just days after the Trump administration issued an executive order that declared the U.S. dependence on China for “critical minerals” a national emergency and vowed to “cut down on unnecessary delays in permitting actions.” 

Some see the expedited process to mine the Oak Flat as part of a final push to weaken environmental regulations and fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to bring back mining jobs from abroad.

More Phony Happy Talk All About A Dramatic Unique Shade Structure

Here's East Valley Tribune staff writer Jim Walsh at it again - and it only took him 9 days after the fact (what happened on one item at a Mesa City Council Study Session on November 16,2020) - to get this story out. . . He just does what he's told to to write

City Council approved spending $481,000 to build this unique shade structure over the Mesa City Plaza downtown.

Special to the Tribune

• SMS
A dramatic, artistic shade structure over the new Mesa City Plaza won rave reviews despite adding $481,000 to the facility’s $6.7 million cost.

Mayor John Giles and Councilwoman Jen Duff said the artistic shade structure, which will cover a concrete area used for an ice-skating rink in the winter, is worth the money and will become a symbol for the new downtown Mesa.

“It’s a brilliant addition to this proposal,’’ Giles said. “This will become the postcard photograph of downtown Mesa.’’

Giles described how he was captivated when he watched a contractor demonstrate how a massive, 30x70 high-resolution video screen on the front of the ASU building will work.

"This park is going to be a loved asset by our community,’’ he said. “We have a cool downtown. This is going to really elevate that.’’

Duff said that shade will allow the concrete pad used for the annual Merry Main Street skating rink each winter to be converted into year-round recreational uses even during the summer

“I do love the design of the shade structure. I think really that it makes a wow statement,’’ Duff said. “The shade structure, creating an artistic element especially at night, is an attraction.’’

The “signature shade element’’ is a canopy draped over the skating rink with suspended wires, made out of tensile material – similar to what was used to cover a splash pad at Pioneer Park

Duff, a Mesa native, said downtown was the place to hang out when she was growing up and that the plaza will draw people back for the first time in decades.

“This park is truly a gathering space where we can all be together,’’ she said, without entering a building. “I think it will be well received.’’

Mesa officials are developing a series of new rules to address the homeless problem in parks and cameras have been installed to monitor the issue.

City Manager Chris Brady said a police officer is assigned to the Mesa City Plaza area and that security will be beefed up when the new plaza and ASU building open.