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Mighty 25
THE FIT Plan
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U.S. threatens to expand sanctions on Nord Stream 2 as Russia moves to complete pipeline
Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
Posted On July 16, 2020 19:05:18
The Russian pipe-laying vessel Akademik Cherskiy at anchor in northern Germany on May 10.
WASHINGTON — The United States has threatened to sanction any individual or company helping Russia build a controversial natural gas pipeline to Germany as the Kremlin moves to complete the last kilometers of the nearly $11 billion project.
"Get out now — or risk the consequences," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said July 15 during a press conference in Washington announcing the new sanction guidelines for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The State Department essentially removed language that excluded the pipeline from the powerful Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which was passed in 2017.
Unable to use CAATSA, the United States in December passed legislation to sanction any vessel laying underwater pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, forcing Swiss-based Allseas to quit the project with just about 160 kilometers remaining.
The pipeline, which consists of two parallel lines running under the Baltic Sea, is a combined 1,230 kilometers in length.
Russia is now trying to use its own vessels to finish Nord Stream 2 after receiving permission from Denmark earlier this month. The unfinished portion of the pipeline lies in Denmark's economic waters.
However, the Russian ship would still need to use the services of Western companies, such as port facilities and insurance, giving the United States the potential to hamper their efforts.
CAATSA allowed Congress to sanction Russian energy export pipelines but contained guidance put in by Pompeo's predecessor, Rex Tillerson, that grandfathered in Nord Stream 2 and the second leg of TurkStream, which runs under the Black Sea to Turkey.
Pompeo said the State Department is updating the public guidance for CAATSA authorities to include the two Russian-led projects, which he described as "Kremlin tools" to expand European dependence on Russian energy supplies and undermine Ukraine.
Pompeo is set to visit Denmark on July 22 to discuss the pipeline, among other issues.
Nord Stream 2 would pump up to 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Germany annually upon its completion, doubling the European nation's import of Russian gas.
The project enables Moscow to significantly reduce natural gas shipments through Ukraine, which currently earns billions of dollars annually in transit fees.
"They are winding up and laying the ground for the imposition of additional sanctions if Russia attempts to deploy its pipe-laying vessels," said Dan Vajdic, an adviser to Ukraine's state-owned energy firm Naftogaz, which lobbied Washington to impose more sanctions.
The United States is seeking to export more natural gas to Europe while helping Eastern and Central Europe develop the necessary infrastructure to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Congress last year approved up to id="listicle-2646417365″ billion in financing for energy infrastructure projects in the region.
James Carafano, a national security and foreign policy fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told a congressional hearing on July 14 that the completion of Nord Stream 2 would destroy the economic rationale for such U.S.-backed projects.
The State Department has denied that the threat of new sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream are designed to help U.S. exporters of natural gas.
Nonetheless, State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told RFE/RL in an interview that Russia and Gazprom are in a "difficult position" to be able to finish Nord Stream 2.
"Companies basically have to choose – you can do business with the Russians and Gazprom or you can do business with the United States. We think that companies will make the decision that it is more lucrative to do business with the United States," she said.
Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) urged Congress to give the White House more firepower to stop Nord Stream 2 by passing legislation that would impose more sanctions on the pipeline, including on insurance and certification companies.
"The Kremlin will no doubt continue its frantic efforts to circumvent American sanctions, and so it is imperative that Congress provide the administration the broadest possible authorities to counter these ever-changing attempts at evasion," he said in a statement.
Cruz's home state of Texas is the largest producer of natural gas in the United States and a key energy exporter.
This article originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Follow @RFERL on Twitter.
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Russia threatens to arm secret submarine with nuclear 'doomsday device'
Posted On April 29, 2020 15:48:20
Russia will deploy what's been described as the deadliest nuclear weapon ever aboard mysterious submarines by 2020, Russian state media said, citing a Russian defense-industry source.
The "Poseidon" nuclear-powered torpedo — reputed to carry a 100 megaton nuclear warhead and meant to erupt underwater for maximum effect — will reportedly deploy aboard the Project 09852 sub Belgorod, which is a converted nuclear-powered cruise-missile sub expected to go on combat duty in 2020.
The Russian state news agency TASS said the new Belgorod subs could carry six of the Poseidon nuclear torpedoes, which are sometimes described as drones.
But Russia will reportedly not operate the mysterious submarine alongside its regular armed forces or other nuclear-powered subs. The Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research will run the ship, according to H.I. Sutton, who said the Belgorod would conduct covert missions with a smaller submarine in tow.
Silhouette of soviet Oscar-II class guided-missile submarine, or Project 949A, "Antey."
"Russia operates a small number of very small, nuclear-powered submarines that are capable of diving in excess of several thousand meters," Andrew Metrick, a research associate in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in 2016.
"It's probably the most shadowy part of the Russian undersea apparatus," he added.
The new Belgorod submarine is "not operated by their navy. It's operated by a separate branch of their ministry of defense," Metrick said.
In addition to six Poseidon torpedoes that experts say could wipe out almost all life on earth, Metrick and Sutton speculated the Belgorod could carry a smaller sub that could dive deeper to cut undersea cables and dramatically disrupt international communications and national economies.
A briefing slide of the alleged Status-6 nuclear torpedo seen on Russian television in 2015.
Unstoppable 3rd-strike vengeance weapon
Russian President Vladimir Putin initially announced the Poseidon in a March 1, 2018, speech, in which he said US defenses could not stop it. Of course, the US has no defenses against any full-scale Russian nuclear attack, but in the case of undersea defenses, the US appears not to have even explored this avenue.
In that speech, Putin confirmed the existence of the Poseidon, which has horrified experts since images of it first leaked in 2015.
The US and other countries field nuclear-powered submarines capable of firing nuclear missiles, but the Poseidon represents a unique danger to life on earth. Most nuclear weapons seek to minimize radioactive fallout and simply destroy military targets. Russia took the opposite approach with the Poseidon.
The weapon is said to use a warhead, perhaps the strongest ever, designed to come into direct contact with water, marine animals, and the ocean floor, kicking up a radioactive tsunami that could spread deadly radiation over hundreds of thousands of miles of land and sea, and render them uninhabitable for decades.
In short, while most nuclear weapons can end a city, Russia's Poseidon could end a continent.
Russia has also repeatedly threatened the US and Europe with the weapon, which it said it could park off a coast and detonate at a time of its choosing.
(Screenshot/YouTube via Russian Defense Ministry)
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, previously told Business Insider that rather than a first- or second-strike weapon, he sees Russia's new torpedo as a "third-strike vengeance weapon" designed to shatter NATO.
While a nuclear exchange between the US and Russia would cause incredible death and destruction, and plunge much of the world into the dark ages, a stealthy submarine designed to launch six "doomsday" devices would be the most deadly weapon in human history and pose a direct threat to life on earth.
The inclusion of a mini-sub, which experts speculate could destroy vital undersea cables and is operated by a shadowy branch of Russia's military, suggests another clandestine purpose for this weapon.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.
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China is trying to expand its military reach with the biggest plane in the world
A recent deal between Beijing and Ukraine's Antonov Company to restart production of the largest-ever cargo plane could potentially remedy the logistical woes of China's People's Liberation Army.
China's military, still largely dependent on railroads for moving troops and heavy freight, could gain a lot from having the gigantic aircraft.
The plane, the AN-225 Mriya, holds 240 world records for its size and strength. It has six massive engines creating over 300,000 pounds of thrust, and the plane can reportedly carry a 200-ton load nearly 2,500 miles.
An-225 Mriya | Creative Commons photo by Dmitry A. Mottl
Such capability would be game-changing for the People's Republic of China.
"It would provide China with the large and global lift that not even the US has possessed, except by rental," wrote Peter Singer, an avid China watcher on Popular Science. "It's large enough to carry helicopters, tanks, artillery, even other aircraft."
For the most part, as Singer mentioned, China will rent the massive planes, but the agreement does allow for China to domestically build An-225s.
Additionally, the Center for Strategic and International Studies uncovered the fact that China has been developing large, military-grade runways, as well as military hardened hangars on it's reclaimed islands in the South China Sea. Having massively improved freight dynamics in the region could greatly benefit China.
But the herculean plane lends itself to civil applications too. China could easily use it to move construction supplies, to offload its glut of steel, or to bring supplies to its several building projects as part of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.
As Marcus Weisgerber at DefenseOne points out, the adoption of old, soviet-era technology from Ukraine is an instance of history repeating itself, as China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is also a refurbished Ukrainian hull.
MIGHTY MILSPOUSE
3 important lessons for navigating marriage after the military
Hope Griffin
Posted On August 25, 2020 14:05:15
(Becca Tapert)
I awake with a start. John isn't in bed beside me. Throughout his military career, I never could grow used to an empty bed. Unlike before, I hear him breathing. He is in his recliner on the other side of the room. Either insomnia, a migraine or back spasms have pulled him away from me tonight. I ask if he is ok before realizing he is sound asleep. The rhythmic sound of his breath lolls me back to sleep as well.
There was a time, early in our marriage, where we both craved one another's attention. We never wanted to leave each other's side. Twenty years later, three kids, two deployments and many many nights apart, we've become more accustomed to absence then togetherness.
We are relearning what it looks like to be together, always.
Quarantine and Retirement
I've been hearing from friends whose spouses are either recently retired or working from home currently with no end in sight. The struggles are similar. Our routine at home is now chaotic. It's similar to the disruption of reintegration but for a much lengthier stretch.
These three hard truths about what marriage is like after the military, apply just as much to what marriage is like during quarantine. But don't panic! You will get through this, and it is possible to still like one another by the end of this long stretch of too much time together.
Here are a few things I have learned:
1. Be flexible and forgiving
It is extremely difficult to continue forward with the routine when there is a new person in your space. Knowing that your spouse is just one room away while you are trying to get your to-do list complete is frustrating. It would be much more fun to join in watching that movie or whatever else is happening. I mean after all isn't more time together what you craved during that last deployment?
Look, it's ok not to want to be together 24/7 even if that's all you were craving in the normality of 2019. For many of us, 2020 has brought more together time then we could have imagined. It's ok not to spend every second together. It's also equally ok to not finish that crazy to-do list and just enjoy some extra time with your soldier.
Drop the guilt. Everyone right now understands the need to focus on mental health. Plus, there's no need to worry about unexpected guests dropping by, so yes, the dishes and laundry can wait.
2. Find time to be alone, even if you have to hide in a closet
I am an introvert. I used to wake at 0500 to see John off to PT and soak up the quiet early morning with a book and a cup of coffee before the kids woke up. Our new normal means that this house is never empty. The kids are doing e-learning and even the hobbies that once took John out of the house after retirement have ceased. There is much togetherness going on.
Don't get me wrong. I love the extra time with one another, but sometimes it can be too much. In those moments, I need a timeout. I need to recharge by being alone.
What does this look like when the whole world is shut down?
Here are a few ways I've figured out how to get my alone time.
Long drives through backroads with the radio cranked all the way up
Walks through the neighborhood
Adult coloring books while listening to an audiobook
Noise-canceling headphones while writing
Longer showers
Sitting in the closet with the lights off enjoying the silence
3. Open communication makes all the difference
Communication while in the military had its challenges. We spent ten years learning how to communicate long distance, how to keep the dialogue going across oceans, and then how to understand one another after surviving vastly different challenges. My world of toddlers was not the same as his of war. It took effort to hear what the other was saying and the perspective we each brought to the conversation. The same is true now.
One of the things we've learned since retirement is that just because we've been married twenty years doesn't mean we actually know the other person well. We may have been married but we inhabited very different spaces during that time.
All of this togetherness now is giving us the opportunity to get to know one another for who we are today. We are learning how to ask questions and how to listen in new ways. It's a little like dating, the excitement and frustration are there. The only difference being the commitment to keep doing this, to keep trying, to keep growing together, and to maybe come out of this year closer then we were when it began.
The most important lesson I've learned during this time of increased togetherness and struggling to get everything done in the weirdness of 2020 is to be kind to myself. It's time to drop the guilt because it isn't mine to carry.
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First naval aviators graduate new USAF pilot training program
The first two student naval aviators graduated from the U.S. Air Force's Pilot Training Next (PTN) program at Randolph Air Force Base (AFB) just outside of San Antonio, Aug. 29, 2019.
The PTN program is a course of instruction designed to train military pilots at a lower cost, in a shorter amount of time, and with a higher level of proficiency leveraging emerging technologies to create a dynamic training environment.
The PTN program individualizes training, adjusting to each student pilot's strengths and weaknesses. It integrates virtual reality (VR), advanced biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI), and immersive training devices (ITD) with traditional methods of learning.
"The most appealing part of this program is we step away from the common denominator or one-size-fits-all training that has to be done on a certain timeline," Det. 24 Commander U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Riley said. "With PTN we have been able to focus more on competencies and the focus of the individual student. We tailor the training to you, and that is a very different mindset shift and that is what I am most excited about."
A T-6A Texan II aircraft prepares to conduct a tough-and-go landing on Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st. Lt. Pawel Puczko)
Navy instructors selected Ensigns Charles Hills and Seth Murphy-Sweet for the PTN program in lieu of the standard Navy Primary Flight Training phase. This joint training effort is a step toward integrating emerging technologies into Navy's flight training curriculum. Now Hill and Murphy-Sweet are ready to move forward to the advanced stage of flight training with the Navy's Training Air Wing 2 at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas.
"I think a big thing with this program was the ability to utilize the VR, get the experience and pacing down for each flight realtime," Hill said. "This benefited all the students – being able to chair fly while being able to see the whole flight rather than to have to use your imagination. This helped in getting the motor skills while we were able test it out in VR and see how the exact input corresponds to a correct output."
The relatively new program is being improved with each iteration and allows a more tailored approach to learning in comparison to traditional flight training from the instructor's perspective. Instructors use a collaborative learning environment to evaluate and analyze students and subsequently make corrections and improvements.
Ensign Charles Hill (left) and Ensign Seth Murphy-Sweet stand with their graduating Pilot Training Next (PTN) class on Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
PTN First Assignment Instructor Pilot (FAIP) U.S. Air Force Capt. Jake Pothula shared his views on just how the program differs from the traditional syllabus.
"I went through traditional training," he said. "The biggest difference with the PTN program is the fact that we aren't tied to a very rigid, unforgiving syllabus, so students have the ability to choose their own training or have it be molded by instructor pilots who have the students' individual best interest in mind. In traditional Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) you get more flying hours, but PTN students get a lot more simulator time. The students probably get three times as many hours in the sim than a traditional UPT student would. It's something they could do at their own pace and choose what they want to do. I would say that these students have a very different set of skills. They excel at understanding their place in a larger mission and understanding what their aircraft is going to do especially in the cases of large field or large force exercises. I feel they definitely have a better grasp on more abstract concept such as mission management."
Integrating new technologies such as ITDs allows students to gain experience using real-world scenarios. Students can not only fly the strict patterns and procedures they learn from their books, but also integrate air traffic control decondition as well as other aircraft.
"I think the unique and most exciting aspect with where PTN is going is the partnership with the Navy and Air Force," Riley said. "With this partnership the Navy has loaned us eight T-6B Texan II aircraft. The manufacturer modified the avionics to what we call the T-6B plus, which has software specifically built for the PTN program mission."
Commander Air Force Recruiting Brig. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt speaking at the Pilot Training Next (PTN) class graduation on Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
Adding Navy instructors and students to the PTN program brings a unique perspective since training in the T-6B Texan II is new to the Air Force. VR simulators add a new and exciting element to the PTN program and draws parallels to the gaming industry, which could help attract new accessions.
Today the Navy's Primary Flight Training phase uses simulators and VR trainer devices to augment the traditional curriculum, which allow students better familiarity with aircraft controls and their areas of operations. Technology within fleet aircraft and the aviation community at large is constantly advancing, and as we move forward simulators and ITDs will play an increasingly significant role in the way we train our military aviators.
CNATRA, headquartered in Corpus Christi, trains the world's finest combat quality aviation professionals, delivering them at the right time, in the right numbers, and at the right cost to a naval force that is where it matters, when it matters.
This article originally appeared on United States Navy. Follow @USNavy on Twitter.
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6 well-known ways the White House stays secure
Eric Milzarski
The little old building on the back of the $20 bill is known all around the world as the residence and workplace of the leader of the free world. Being said leader is a dangerous prospect: There have been thirty-three known attempts at the lives of sitting U.S. presidents. Four of those attempts, unfortunately, were successful.
It stands to reason that measures must be taken at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to prevent any attacks on the lives of the president, the first family, and anyone else who serves there. But protecting the president requires far more than just armed guards and motion-activated cameras.
The true extent of the protection at the White House has never been — and shouldn't ever be — released to the public. While the White House is open about sharing some of its protective measures, it should be assumed that the men and women of the Secret Service have thought of ways to counter or deal with literally any other scenario a would-be threat could conjure up.
You really don't want to try your luck at finding out what the President's bathroom looks like.
21-day advanced tour notice
When you think of a "secure location," the last place you think of is somewhere that's so widely visited that it offers tours in eleven different languages. But not just anyone can easily mosey on into the White House.
In order to be given the tour of the highest office in the land, you must submit an application at least 21 days before your scheduled visit. This gives the security an accurate headcount and the ability to perform background checks on visitors. For obvious reasons, the tour is also guided through only select portions of the White House.
If gas stations and banks have them, you can assume the White House has better.
(Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)
Bulletproof windows
Windows are typically vulnerable to firearms. Funnily enough, in any photo you see of the White House, you'll also see countless windows. Even the Resolute Desk is positioned with the President's back turned to a bunch of windows in the Oval Office.
Thankfully, they're some of the most impenetrable windows known to man. In November 2011, an attacker fired seven rounds from a semi-automatic rifle into the White House, but not even consecutive shots could shatter a window.
"There he is! Get him!"
Every inch of the perimeter is surrounded in infrared lasers that detect even the most minuscule threat against the White House. These aren't the lasers that you'd see in old spy films that challenge intruders to a deadly game of limbo. No, these blanket everything to include the sky, the surface, and even underground.
With that level of security, you'd expect swarms of agents to descend on even the smallest intruders — like a wayward squirrel. Well, it happens all the time. But it's better to be aware of every single squirrel than to let a single threat wiggle by.
In this photo are at least seven SAM batteries (probably), so the White House itself wouldn't need one.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher)
Surface-to-air missiles
Washington D.C. is a no-fly zone. Any plane not scheduled or following the strict path into Ronald Reagan National Airport are first given a warning. If they don't show any sort of compliance immediately, they'll be taken down by one of the countless surface-to-air missiles located around the capital.
While it's known that many missile batteries are located in Washington D.C., it's more of an urban legend that there's an Avenger missile system on top of the White House itself. That remains unproven, but the White House does have those high-tech laser systems that can detect any possible threat from a mile out, alerting other missile systems that then take down the threat.
Which probably means the guy who had fun with the drones might now be in charge of them. Or not. We'll never know.
(United States Secret Service photo)
In January, 2015, an unnamed government employee and amateur drone hobbyist was having fun with his drone outside the White House lawn after his shift. It was able to fly through the detection systems fairly easily until it hit the ground and set off countless alarm systems, sending every single agent into a frenzy. The man wasn't charged because he was an employee at the White House and because it highlighted a major security fault in the systems at the time.
Since then, the White House has employed drones of their own to act as both roving security cameras and to take down any other drones that come into area. Coincidentally, the same drones that the Secret Service now uses are the same that the hobbyist used.
Everyone always looks through the fence, but never stops to admire the awesomeness that is the fence itself.
With all of these security measures in place, the most obvious one is actually the most effective, historic, and iconic: the fence that surrounds the White House. First erected in 1801 by President Thomas Jefferson, it has seen many changes over its lifetime. What was once a simple barricade to keep the president's livestock on the property has now become an 11-foot tall, vehicle-stopping, climb-resistant, behemoth of steel and rebar.
Not only is the newest fence crowned with spikes to deter attempts at climbing, it also alerts agents the moment anyone puts pressure on it to ensure nobody makes it over.
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The US is 'late to the game' in militarizing the Arctic
Posted On March 31, 2018 02:58:57
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent another signal that the U.S. is increasingly attentive to the Arctic and looking to catch up with other countries that are active in the region.
Melting ice has raised interest in shipping, mining, energy exploration, and other enterprises in the Arctic — not only among countries that border it, but also in countries farther afield, like China.
The Arctic "is important today," Tillerson said during an event at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, on Nov. 28. "It's going to be increasingly important in the future, particularly as those waterways have opened up."
"The whole Arctic region — because of what's happened with the opening of the Arctic passageways from an economic and trade standpoint, but certainly from a national-security standpoint — is vitally important to our interest," Tillerson said, adding that the U.S. is behind countries in the region that have responded more quickly.
US Marines with Black Sea Rotational Force 17.1 prepare to board a bus after arriving in Vaernes, Norway, Jan. 16, 2017. The Marines are part of the newly established Marine Rotational Force-Europe, and will be training with the Norwegian Armed Forces to improve interoperability and enhance their ability to conduct operations in Arctic conditions. (USMC photo by Sgt. Erik Estrada.)
"The Russians made it a strategic priority," Tillerson said. "Even the Chinese are building icebreaking tankers."
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While China isn't an Arctic country, the secretary of state said, "they see the value of these passages. So, we're late to the game."
Other countries build up in the Arctic
China's research icebreaker, the Xue Long, made its first voyage through the Northwest Passage in October, and it is now the first Chinese polar-research vessel to navigate all three major Arctic shipping routes. China has three light icebreakers, with another under construction, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
"I think we have one functioning icebreaker today," Tillerson said. "The Coast Guard's very proud of it, as crummy as it is."
At present, the U.S. Coast Guard has three icebreakers, and the National Science Foundation operates another. Only two of those Coast Guard vessels are operational: the heavy icebreaker Polar Star and the medium icebreaker Healy.
The Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a medium icebreaker, sits in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska during an Arctic deployment in support of scientific research and polar operations. (Image from DVIDS)
The Polar Star entered service in 1976, and while it was refurbished in 2012, it is beyond its 30-year service life. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft said earlier this year that the Polar Star "is literally on life support."
Russia has more than 40 icebreakers, including four operational heavy ones. Finland has seven, though they're privately owned medium or light icebreakers. Sweden and Canada each have six, none of which are heavy.
During an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Nov. 29, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Michael McAllister, commander of the service's 17th district, outlined a number of challenges facing his command, but he emphasized that the U.S. is on good terms with its neighbors in the Arctic.
Relations with Moscow on issues like waterway management in the Bering Strait — which separates Alaska from Russia — are positive, said McAllister, whose command encompasses more than 3.8 million square miles throughout Alaska and the Arctic.
"Across all these areas — law enforcement, search and rescue, environmental response, and waterways management — we see the relationship with Russia as positive," he added.
China, too, is seen by the Coast Guard as a "good partner" that cooperates on a number of issues.
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star cuts through Antarctic ice in the Ross Sea near a large group of seals as the ship's crew creates a navigation channel for supply ships. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer David Mosley)
"We have great operational-level relationships with the Chinese coast guard," McAllister told an audience at CSIS. Chinese and U.S. ships do joint patrols and U.S. ships have welcomed aboard Chinese personnel, he said, which allows both countries to extend their presence at sea.
"I don't think we fear the movement of the Chinese into the Arctic. I think we pay attention to what's going on," he said, describing efforts to monitor maritime activity in and around his area of responsibility, as well as the U.S. exclusive economic zone, which extends some 230 miles from U.S. shores.
'That's what keeps me up at night'
McAllister pointed to mismatches between his resources and responsibilities as his main causes of worry.
Two of his biggest concerns are responding to oil spills and mass rescues. "The distances are so great, and the difficulty in staging assets is so significant, that that's what keeps me up at night," he said.
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While he said the Coast Guard was doing well tracking ship movements, other issues, like monitoring ice data and marine wildlife movement, were still challenges.
Even though satellites have made communications with commercial ships easier, McAllister said he still lacked a local network that allowed him to readily contact small vessels. Military and secure communications are also still limited, he said.
Maintaining a sovereign presence also presented an ongoing challenge.
"At any given time, I will only have one or two ships in the Arctic during the open-water seasons, and a few helicopters in addition to that," he said.
"If you know Alaska, if you know the [exclusive economic zone], it's just too big an area to try to cover with such a small number of assets."
But, he said, the replacement of decades-old cutters with new offshore-patrol cutters and national-security cutters, as well as discussions about icebreakers, were both encouraging developments.
The icebreaker USCGC Glacier is shown approaching Winter Quarters Bay harbor at en:McMurdo Station, Antarctica. (Image USCG)
The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard released a joint draft request for proposal in October, looking for the detail, design, and construction of one heavy icebreaker with an option for two more. The two service branches have already set up an integrated program office for the project.
The Coast Guard's 2018 budget request asked for $19 million toward a new icebreaker it wants to start building in late 2019. The service wants to build at least three heavy icebreakers, which can cost up to $1 billion each (though officials have said they can come in below that price). The first heavy icebreaker is expected to be delivered in 2023.
Some of the money for the icebreaker has been appropriated and "acquisition is already off and running," McAllister said. "But even with that capability, there's still a lack of presence there, and that's something that we, the Coast Guard, aspire to provide more of."
5 things you didn't know about the Battle of Midway
Tim Kirkpatrick
Posted On September 24, 2019 17:14:59
Just six months after the tragic bombing of Pearl Harbor, U.S. and Japanese forces clashed once again in the Pacific. For three days, Navies battled near the Midway Atoll, located roughly half way between Hawaii and the Japanese mainland. From June 4th to the 7th, brilliant minds orchestrated incredible naval feats in hopes of destroying the other side.
Although an Allied victory here is seen as a key turning point of the war, there are so many important details that some are lost even on the most staunch historians. Here are five things you likely didn't know about this momentus battle.
Adm. Yamamoto saluting his Japanese naval pilots.
Japan wanted to mirror the successes of Pearl Harbor
Japanese Adm. Yamamoto wanted to once again employ the element of surprise to defeat Allied forces stationed at Midway. To distract the U.S., Yamamoto sent many ships toward the coast of Alaska in hopes of baiting American reinforcements to defend against a non-existent attack.
Things did not go as they planned.
America's code-breakers
Military intelligence had intercepted Japan's plot, including the time and location of a planned attack. Adm. Nimitz decided to take on the challenge of defeating the Japanese by using his well-trained pilots, launched from perfectly placed ships behind the atoll.
Japan thought they'd catch the Americans off-guard and cornered, but Nimitz had other plans.
A PBY Catalina scout plane, similar to the one that first spotted the incoming Japanese.
The Japanese had strict radio silence
Japan decided to maintain radio silence as they sent their ships toward the coast of Alaska. During a recon flight, a Naval pilot spotted the incoming enemy while flying through the heavy Pacific fog. The pilot thought he had located the main body of attack — in reality, it was a secondary Japanese attack on Midway. In response, the U.S. sent out nine B-17 Bombers to take out the invading force.
Due to strict orders to maintain radio silence, the Japanese ships took on the American bombers alone, instead of letting superior command know.
The American fighters were outnumbered
The Japanese sought to destroy the installations built on the Atoll by Allied forces with bombers launched from carriers. Navy, Marine, and Army pilots took to the skies to fight off the bombers and their sizable fighter escort. The Americans were extremely outnumbered — still, they held fast.
After 27 minutes of bombing, the Japanese ended their first aerial attack. Then, an enemy pilot broke radio silence to alert command that they needed more fighters to sustain their offensive. Before the enemy could make a decision, knowing that they didn't have guns in the air, American bombers followed the Japanese back to their carriers and began their air raid.
What shifted the battle in favor of Americans
American pilots went on an offensive, heading straight toward a reported location of Japanese forces. When they arrived, they found nothing but empty seas. Instead of returning to base, aviators made what Admiral Nimitz would later call "one of the most important decisions of the battle."
The pilots then proceeded to an unlikely secondary location. There, they found the Japanese carriers — unprepared. Immediately, fighters destroyed one of the four Japanese vessels. Other Americans rushed onto the scene to continue the attack. This event shifted the tide of battle to favor the Americans, wresting victory from Japanese hands.
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Russia is quietly staging missiles for war in Baltic
NATO forces are converging on Norway for Trident Juncture, which will be the alliance's largest military exercise in nearly two decades.
But military activity has been increasing on the other side of the Baltic Sea and in Kaliningrad — areas that have long been flash points for Russia and NATO.
Moscow assumed control of Kaliningrad after World War II and retained it after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Now an 86-square-mile exclave, Kaliningrad is home to about a million people who are separated from the rest of Russia by Lithuania, Poland, and Belarus. But that location makes it strategically valuable.
It has Russia's only Baltic Sea port that is ice-free year-round. In addition to several air bases, it is also home to Russia's 11th Army Corps. It also looks over one side of the Suwalki Gap, which NATO worries could be blocked during a conflict, cutting the Baltics off from the rest of Europe.
Russia appears to be upgrading its military facilities there.
Moscow has in the past deployed Iskander short-range, nuclear-capable missiles there temporarily, but in February 2018, a Russian lawmaker confirmed that the Iskander, which has a maximum range of about 310 miles, had been moved there permanently in response to NATO's buildup in Eastern Europe.
It was "the biggest move we've seen" in regard to Russian military activity in Kaliningrad, a US defense official said at the time. The Kremlin said it had a "sovereign right" to put forces there.
Russian crew members service an Iskander missile.
(Russian Defense Ministry)
Satellite imagery taken between March and June 2018 showed activity around bunkers in Baltiysk, the main base of Russia's Baltic Fleet, including the fortification of buildings "characteristic of explosive storage bunkers," Matt Hall, a senior geospatial analyst at 3Gimbals, told Defense One in July 2018.
Other imagery detailed in June 2018 by the Federation of American Scientists showed renovations of what appeared to be an active nuclear-weapons storage site.
Imagery taken between mid-July and the beginning of October 2018 showed upgrades at least four sites in Kaliningrad, according to CNN.
That included construction of 40 new bunkers and the expansion of a military storage area near Primorsk, which is Russia's second-largest Baltic port. Images also showed improvements at the Chkalovsk air base and upgrades at a base in Chernyakhovsk, which houses Iskander missiles.
Kaliningrad received much of the Soviet weaponry in Eastern Europe after the USSR's collapse, and for a long time the area "was a bit of a dumping ground," said Jim Townsend, a transatlantic security expert at the Center for a New American Security.
Moscow's focus on Kaliningrad increased in the early 2000s, around the time the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — joined NATO. Their inclusion was especially galling for Russia, which sees them as its "near abroad."
"Kaliningrad has been on a trajectory of improvements since the Baltic tensions and certainly since" the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, Townsend said.
The Iskander deployment is of a piece with Russian efforts to influence other European capitals, Townsend added. "They would say, 'Look, if NATO puts troops into the Baltics, we're going to put Iskanders onto Kaliningrad."
Northeast Europe is a particularly sensitive area for Russia, Townsend said.
St. Petersburg, from which the Baltic can only be reached by passing Finland and Estonia, is Russia's second-biggest city. To the north is the Kola Peninsula, home to Russia's Northern Fleet and its submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
"The Baltic is kind of a backdoor to that. Kaliningrad helps to defend that backdoor," Townsend said. "So that's very sensitive."
Russian officials reportedly told Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in early 2017 that they would be willing to use tactical nuclear weapons against NATO if there was a war in the Baltics.
'There's a big regional adversary right there'
Russia's military is not the only one active in the Baltics.
The NATO buildup cited by Moscow as reason for permanently deploying Iskander missiles was the multinational battle groups the alliance has stationed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia since 2016.
More recently, the US Air Force and the Estonian air force heralded the completion of a joint-use facility at Amari air base near the latter's capital, Tallinn, which was the first completed military construction projected fully funded by the European Deterrence Initiative.
Soviet jets were stationed at Ameri during the Cold War, but since 2004 it has hosted NATO aircraft during their rotations in the alliance's Baltic air-policing mission. (The Baltic countries don't have their own combat aircraft.)
US airmen from the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron marshal in an F-15C Eagle at Siauliai air base, Lithuania, Aug. 29, 2017.
(US Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Matthew Plew)
Improvements at Amari "provide strategic access into that very contentious part of Europe," said Brig. Gen. Roy Agustin, director of logistics, engineering, and force protection for US Air Forces in Europe and Africa, according to Stars and Stripes. "You look right across the border and there's a big regional adversary right there."
The EDI, previously called the European Reassurance Initiative, has funded military projects in Europe since Russia's intervention in Ukraine in 2014. Since then, the US has spent millions upgrading facilities across Eastern Europe to allow its military and partner forces to respond quickly to crises.
EDI funding also covers Operation Atlantic Resolve, which includes US armored rotations in Europe, a continuous presence in the Black Sea area, and prepositioning equipment and weapons around the continent.
The Pentagon's 2019 budget request for the EDI was nearly doublewhat it got for the program in 2017 and six times what was allotted for it in 2015.
North of the Baltics, Sweden and Finland — close NATO partners that remain outside the alliance — have also turned increasing attention to military readiness.
Sweden's armed forces said in 2018 that they needed to boost staffing from 50,000 to 120,000 by 2035 — in addition to adding new surface vessels, subs, and combat aircraft — to meet future challenges.
The report also said Sweden's military budget would need to more than double over that period. Every mainstream party in the country's September 2018 parliamentary election backed a military budget increase, but that growth will take time.
Stockholm's defense outlay has tumbled since hitting 3.68% of GDP in 1963. The 1.03% of GDP currently spent on the military is a historic low, according to Defense News.
Sweden has also reintroduced military conscription and put troops back on Gotland Island in the middle of the Baltic Sea.
More recently, Finland, which shares a 838-mile border and a history of conflict with Russia, has begun pumping money into military modernization — notably id="listicle-2614964544″.5 billion for the Squadron 2020 program, which includes buying four multirole, ice-breaking, submarine-hunting corvettes armed with surface-to-surface missiles, torpedoes, and sea mines.
The program will also fund upgraded fast-attack missile vessels and upgrades to Finnish mine-layers and mine-countermeasure vessels, according to Defense News.
"The Baltic Sea has become a possible focal point for tension between East and West," said Finland's defense minister, Jussi Niinistö. "We are dealing with a more unpredictable Russia."
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These were the Army plans to conquer Japan
Logan Nye
The U.S. had laid a lot of plans for late World War II. After the fall of Italy and then Germany, America wanted to finally crush the empire of Japan and get final payback for Pearl Harbor. Luckily for the infantrymen and other troops slated to die against a determined Japanese defense, the empire surrendered after two atomic bombs and Russia deploying troops. Here's what the U.S. Army had planned in case that didn't happen.
U.S. plans for the invasion of Kyushu in Operation Olympic, the first phase of the planned invasion of Japan.
(U.S. Army)
The assault on Japan was expected to take 18 months, starting with an intense blockade and air bombardment of Japan. Basically, stop Japan from pulling any more men and equipment back to the main islands and bomb the sh-t out of all equipment and forces already there.
While America had already captured or isolated many of the Japanese troops in the Pacific, there was the ongoing problem of Japanese forces in China that could slip back to Japan if the blockade wasn't firmly in place for months ahead of the invasion.
It was hoped that the blockade and bombardment would weaken the defenses on Kyushu Island, the southernmost of the main islands and the first target. This assault was Operation Olympic, the first phase of Downfall. The Army wanted to land on Kyushu with soldiers and Marines from the Philippines, the Nansei Islands, and others. A total of 14 divisions were scheduled to take the beaches and push north.
This was slated to take months starting in November 1945. Wartime realities would push the date to December 1, and there was pressure to push it even further amid concerns that the blockade needed more time.
U.S. plans for Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese home islands via two amphibious landings, one at Kyushu Island and one at Honshu.
But that invasion through Kyushu was just phase one, a way of preparing for a second, larger invasion through the Tokyo Plain on Honshu Island, the largest island in Japan and the home of the capital. This was Operation Coronet, and it was thought to require 25 divisions just for the initial assaults, not counting the Air Force's Pacific divisions held in reserve for additional bombardment and resupply.
The tentative date of March 1 was set for the Coronet invasion, but some officers pushed for a later date as soon as March 1 was announced. They wanted to delay the invasions to allow for a much larger air and sea bombardment as well as all sorts of preparatory operations. This group wanted to hit multiple points on the Chinese coast, in Korea, the Tsushima Strait, and other places.
Worst case scenario, this would've made the invasion of Japan much easier, though it would have used a lot of valuable resources. Best case scenario, it might have so crippled the Japanese war machine that it couldn't hold its territory, allowing America to force a surrender without an invasion.
But these preparations would have required a massive supply of troops and machines, and that would have necessarily delayed Operation Downfall. Worse, the operations in China could have entangled America into the civil war there, preventing them from invading Japan for months or years.
An Army graphic showing the organization of forces for Coronet, the invasion of Kyushu Island.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, voted for the full invasion of Japan as soon as logistically feasible. For him, this was the third proposed course of action, and he said:
I am of the opinion that the ground, naval, air, and logistic resources in the Pacific are adequate to carry out Course III. The Japanese Fleet has been reduced to practical impotency. The Japanese Air Force has been reduced to a line of action which involves uncoordinated, suicidal attacks against our forces, employing all types of planes, including trainers. Its attrition is heavy and its power for sustained action is diminishing rapidly. Those conditions will be accentuated after the establishment of our air forces in the Ryukyus. With the increase in the tempo of very long range attacks, the enemy's ability to provide replacement planes will diminish and the Japanese potentiality will decline at an increasing rate. It is believed that the development of air bases in the Ryukyus will, in conjunction with carrier-based planes, give us sufficient air power to support landings on Kyushu and that the establishment of our air forces there will ensure complete air supremacy over Honshu. Logistic considerations present the most difficult problem.
Nimitz agreed, and the two top commanders began to assemble their forces for the largest amphibious assault ever planned. They relied on all troops, ships, and heavy equipment in the Pacific as well as a steady flow of troops from Europe after the victory there.
And, if the fighting continued past June 1946, they would need to pull an additional four divisions per month from the U.S.
Japan, for its part, dragged its feet in preparing to counter a ground invasion. Even as late as March 1945, there had been little planning and troop buildup for the defense, but Japan finally addressed it. By July 1945, they had 30 line divisions, 2 armored divisions, 23 coastal defense divisions, and another 33 brigades of various types.
The Japanese plans for troop deployment to throwback or slow an American invasion of the home islands in 1945.
Those 39 U.S. divisions for Olympic and Coronet are suddenly looking like they'll struggle, right? Like they could take heavy losses and would require those reinforcements from Europe and America?
Luckily, Japan decided to surrender instead. There are some arguments about whether this was predominantly because of the Russian invasion of Japanese islands to Japan's north or if it was because of the atom bombs that America dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but either way it allowed America to shelve Operation Downfall and execute Blacklist instead, the plan for the peaceful, unopposed occupation of Japan.
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Two Red Army veterans on freedom and why it's always worth fighting for
Coffee Or Die
They call it the "Island of Death."
At this spot on the western side of the Dnieper River in central Ukraine, some 30,000 Soviet soldiers died under Nazi artillery during World War II. Yet, on this hot June day, there's nothing to suggest that this particular place was once on the deadliest front of the deadliest war in human history.
"What horrors happened here," says my 55-year-old Ukrainian father-in-law, Valeriy Deriy, who is a Red Army veteran of the Cold War. "Can you imagine?"
We've hired a zodiac boat for the day, embarking from a yacht club in the riverside town of Horishni Plavni. To get to the so-called Island of Death, our captain weaves through narrow, overgrown channels that branch off the main course of the Dnieper River.
Tucked away in a dense forest on the island, there's an old Soviet war memorial. You'd hardly notice it from the water, unless you knew what to look for. Valeriy explains that one can still find evidence of war in the surrounding woods. Old artillery pieces, bullets, rifles, and boots. That sort of stuff.
"Some people want to forget the past. But it's impossible," he tells me. "It's always there."
Between August and December 1943, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union fought the battle for the Dnieper River. It was one of World War II's largest battles, comprising some 4 million soldiers stretched along a nearly 900-mile-long front.
After Nazi Germany's defeat at the Battle of Kursk, the Soviets pressed their advantage and pushed the Nazis back across Ukraine. The third longest river in Europe, the Dnieper — which runs roughly north to south down the middle of Ukraine to the Black Sea — was a natural physical obstacle for the advancing Red Army.
The Nazis took to the heights on the western bank to set up their artillery, which they used to devastating effect. The Red Army crossed the river under heavy fire, improvising makeshift means to get across. Soviet losses were staggering — accounts vary, but roughly 400,000 Red Army soldiers died in the Dnieper River battle of 1943.
Earlier, Valeriy and I stand at a spot on the opposite, eastern bank of the Dnieper River.
"My great-grandfather said the water ran red with blood in the war," Valeriy says as we stand on the riverbank, looking to the other side.
Valeriy explains that his great-grandfather fought in that Dnieper River battle, and he crossed the river at this very spot. Right where we're standing. I'm left a bit speechless.
His great-grandfather couldn't swim, Valeriy continues, but Soviet commanders would have him shot if he'd refused the crossing. So he held on to a log for flotation and kicked his way across. Somehow, he survived.
"It was October, and the water was already very cold," Valeriy says, shaking his head. "What a nightmare."
Today, at this spot where so many died in World War II, there's a simple old Soviet memorial crumbling, halfway reclaimed by the forest. A dilapidated Soviet tank and artillery piece sit in the foliage, too. But that's it. You have to rely on your imagination to appreciate what happened here.
There's not a cloud in the sky and the hot breeze feels good on my face. On a day like this, it's hard to appreciate what happened here about 77 years ago. I can hardly imagine the fear felt by Soviet soldiers as they stood at that same spot on the river shore, looking to the far side like lost souls about to cross the River Styx.
And then I remember what it was like to stare across no man's land in eastern Ukraine. I remember the fear I felt under the Russian artillery and sniper shots. And I imagine, at least a little, what those Soviet soldiers must have felt.
The trench lines in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region — where Ukrainian troops have fought a war since 2014 to keep a Russian invasion force at bay — are only about five hours away by car. We could be there by dinner, if we wanted to.
True, we're much too far from the trenches to hear the daily rumble of battle, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The war is always there.
Standing on the riverbank, Valeriy says to me: "History has been hard on Ukraine. But things will get better. We're fighting for our democracy, just like your country did. And we'll win it, too. Just like you did. I still have hope that my daughter and my grandchildren will see an amazing, free Ukraine."
Still looking across the river, facing the same divide his great-grandfather once faced, Valeriy adds: "We'll get there."
Valeriy never served in Afghanistan. He was posted instead to East Germany and worked in signals intelligence, a specialty that paved the way for his future civilian career as a German language interpreter.
"It was an unwritten rule in the Soviet army that only one brother would have to be in Afghanistan at a time," Valeriy explains. "And my brother went in my place."
Valeriy's older brother, Sergiy, was drafted into the Red Army and served in the war in Afghanistan from 1982 to 1984.
In fact, both brothers had volunteered for the war. But their mother had secretly gone to military officials and asked that only one son be allowed to go. Sergiy ultimately volunteered without Valeriy's knowledge. It wasn't until their mother died in December 2012 that Valeriy learned the truth.
Sergiy was a sergeant in a signals unit deployed near the Salang Tunnel in the Hindu Kush Mountains. The combat he experienced was terrible, Sergiy tells me, but he doesn't go into much detail about the war very often. And when he does, his eyes adopt a distinctly distant look, as if he's looking past me, in an attempt to articulate memories that no words could ever really recreate.
Today, both Deriy brothers live in the town of Horishni Plavi — it's where my wife, Lilya, grew up.
On a warm June afternoon, our family gathers at a park by the Dnieper River to grill shashlik — Ukraine's version of a barbecue. Both Sergiy and Valeriy are wearing NASA baseball caps, gifts from me and my wife.
It's the first time we've all been together since the coronavirus lockdown was lifted on June 5, and we're in good spirits. We make toast after toast until our legs are a little wobbly. We've brought along an iPhone speaker and grill the meat while we cycle through a playlist of staple rock hits — songs by bands like the Scorpions, Led Zeppelin, Metallica. That's my in-laws' favorite kind of music. Mine too.
We end up cooking more meat than we could ever hope to eat in a day. And we maintain a steady pace with the cognac toasts. And, as it's prone to do, the conversation between Valeriy, Sergiy, and myself returns to the ongoing war in Ukraine's east.
"The Russians were never our friends. Stalin invaded us, and now Putin has, too," Sergiy says. "The only county that ever really cared about us was the United States."
"We'll never forget what your country has done for us," he adds, speaking specifically about America's delivery of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.
Then Valeriy abruptly stands.
"Please," he says, beckoning me to shake his hand, "I want to shake the hand of a citizen of the country that put a man on the moon."
I stand and shake my father-in-law's hand and feel proud of my country. And I'm particularly proud that he's proud of my county, too.
A generation ago, we would have been enemies. Our countries were poised at opposite ends of the earth, ready to unleash nuclear Armageddon to destroy one another.
Today, we are a family.
No One Forgets
Located on the east bank of the Dnieper River, roughly 190 miles southeast of Kyiv, Horishni Plavni was founded by Soviet youth volunteers in 1960 as a place to live for workers in the nearby iron-ore mines.
Originally, the city's name was "Komsomolsk," a reference to the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, or "Komsomol." The town was renamed Horishni Plavni in 2016 as part of Ukraine's decommunization laws—a set of measures that went into effect in 2015 to curb Russia's cultural influence.
Across the country, all Soviet-era names of settlements and roads have been changed to new Ukrainian ones. All reminders and relics of the Soviet Union have been removed or made illegal — including playing the Soviet national anthem and displays of the hammer and sickle flag.
Horishni Plavni's main thoroughfare was once called Lenin Street. Now it's named Heroes of the Dnieper River Street. The statue of Vladimir Lenin that once stood in the city center is gone. Only an empty pedestal remains — a common sight in Ukraine these days.
Yet you can't totally erase the past. World War II is too deeply ingrained in Ukraine's national psyche, and its physical environment, to ever be forgotten.
Soviet-era war memorials still stand around Horishni Plavni. At a riverside park, children play on the marble ramps of a towering, Soviet-era war memorial. In a nearby field, a row of Soviet tanks are on permanent display. Teenagers sit in the shade of the turrets and drink beer and listen to music.
Despite all their years living under Soviet propaganda, my father-in-law and uncle-in-law have a surprisingly pro-American perspective on the war.
"The Soviet Union could have never won without American help under lend-lease," Valeriy tells me, referring to the American policy from 1941 to 1945 to provide materiel assistance to the Soviet Union's war effort.
"And thank God the Allies landed in France," Valeriy adds. "Otherwise Stalin would have taken over all of Europe."
No War Ever Ends
After our shashlik picnic is over, Sergiy visits his brother's apartment, where my wife and I are staying. He brings with him a photo album from his time in the Soviet army, including his deployment to Afghanistan in the 1980s.
I'm thrilled to have a look and listen to his stories from the war.
Sergiy recalls how his commander in Afghanistan justified the Soviet war by the need to defend the Soviet Union from U.S. nuclear missile strikes.
"We were told that America was evil, and that we were fighting in Afghanistan to defend the world from America," Sergiy tells me. "It was all a lie, of course."
Incredibly, Sergiy bears no ill will toward the country — my country — that was responsible for the death of many of his comrades.
"The Soviet Union did the same to America in Vietnam," Sergiy says of America's covert effort from 1979 to 1989 to arm and finance Afghanistan's mujahideen fighters to fight against the Soviets. "It was the Cold War, and we were enemies. And that's what enemies do to each other."
Now, Sergiy has welcomed me — an American veteran of another war in Afghanistan — into his family with open arms. More than that, I'd even say that Sergiy and I share a special bond because we share a common battlefield. We remember the same places, and in some cases, the same enemies. Sometimes, as I've learned, former enemies actually have more in common with each other than they do with their fellow citizens who know nothing about war.
As he goes through the old photos, Sergiy's face flashes with various contradictory emotions. Pride and pain. Nostalgia and regret. For Sergiy, war was both the worst and the best experience of his life. Therein lies that great paradox that faces all soldiers who've home to live in peace.
If war was so terrible, why do we sometimes miss it?
Sergiy, for his part, remembers his friends from the army fondly. But there's a dark cloud, too, that hangs over every good memory.
"The Soviet Union lied to me. They lied to all of us," Sergiy says as he flips through the photo album's pages.
He pinches his lips and slowly shakes his head.
"They wasted so many lives," he adds.
Soldiers rarely fight for the reasons dictated to them by the governments that send them to battle. Rather, once the bullets start flying, a simple sense of duty to defend one's friends, and to not disappoint their expectations, is what inspires one to act courageously.
Yet, once soldiers are separated from their wars for a while — either by time or by distance — the moral clarity of duty may erode, leading them to question the justice of their individual actions in combat. The simple kill-or-be-killed morality of combat no longer shields them from thoughtfully considering the consequences of the things they did in war.
In many ways, life in peace is much more complicated than life in war. That was certainly true for my uncle-in-law. Although Sergiy came through the war in Afghanistan physically unscathed, he was left irrevocably jaded about Soviet communism.
In 1985, just a year after his discharge from the Soviet Army, Sergiy began law studies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine's premier university.
"I felt so at peace. Finally, no war, no suffering. Only a bright future," Sergiy recalls of his arrival in Ukraine's capital city to begin his studies.
But it didn't last. In April 1986, an explosion ripped through reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Chernobyl plant is located only about 60 miles north of Kyiv. And so, spooked by the threat of radiation, Sergiy was unsure whether he should stay in Kyiv to finish his law degree. The reborn optimism and happiness he'd felt just a year earlier, fresh from his wartime service, quickly gave way to feelings remembered from the war — dark feelings that he'd wanted to forget forever.
"When I was in Afghanistan, I always felt like death was chasing me," Sergiy remembers. "And when I came back to Ukraine, I thought I could be free from that fixation on death. But Chernobyl happened, and here death finally caught me. A long and painful death. I remember I said to myself, 'How ironic, death didn't catch me in the war, but it did in civilian life.'"
Sergiy ultimately stayed in Kyiv to finish his law degree. After graduating from law school in 1991, he returned to his hometown of Horishni Plavni (then called Komsomolsk). The Soviet Union broke apart that year, further upending his world.
When Ukraine's economy subsequently collapsed in the 1990s, Sergiy ultimately abandoned his law career and took up work as a hired hand. It was his only option to make a living. He never went back to practicing law.
My uncle-in-law, who is a devoutly religious man, has struggled with his demons from Afghanistan. And his family life has had its ups and downs. But he's never given up hope for his country, even as Ukraine has gone through revolutions and an unfinished war to finally free itself from Russian overlordship.
"I try to stay positive, despite everything that's happened to our country," Sergiy says. "It would be so wrong not to believe in our future. I always have hope. It's just a matter of time. Our future generations will be truly happy and free."
As young men, Soviet propaganda told Valeriy and Sergiy that America was their mortal enemy. Yet, as older men, they've both shown the remarkable moral courage to abandon their former worldviews and embrace the promise of democracy.
Above all else, Valeriy and Sergiy now believe in the justice of freedom and democracy rather than conformity and communism. And the two Red Army veterans wholeheartedly believe that the United States is a force for good and a beacon of hope for freedom-loving people around the world.
It's true that history hasn't been kind to Ukraine, and my in-laws have not led easy lives.
Yet in spite of everything, their faith in America remains unbroken. And, with America's promise lighting the way, they still extoll the justice of their own country's democratic path, no matter its attendant hardships.
In the end, they choose to reject their Soviet past but not forget it. When the work of building a democracy gets tough, as it so often does, they look to the past to remember what they're working so hard to achieve.
"Democracy hasn't been easy, but I'd rather live as a free man than go back to the way things were before," my father-in-law says.
Freedom, after all, usually means more to people who've experienced the alternative.
This article originally appeared on Coffee or Die. Follow @CoffeeOrDieMag on Twitter.
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This British soldier may have spared Hitler's life during WWI
Blake Stilwell
Posted On February 05, 2020 18:59:04
History is full of urban legends… The fog of war doesn't fade when history's most notorious monster and a gallant British soldier are on both ends of the story.
When British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain visited Adolf Hitler at Munich in 1938, he found the German dictator owned a reproduction of a painting by Italian artist Fortunino Matania. The painting depicts a British soldier at the Battle of Menin Crossroads in WWI carrying another to safety.
It was a bizarre acquisition for someone like Hitler, so furious at Germany's loss and humiliation at the end of World War I.
Chamberlain asked Hitler – a clearly firm German nationalist – why he would choose to have a painting depicting Germany's WWI enemies in the Berghof, his mountain retreat. Hitler replied that the painting featured a soldier who spared his life in combat.
"That man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again," Hitler is alleged to have said. "Providence saved me from such devilish accurate fire as those English boys were aiming at us."
That British soldier is believed to be Henry Tandey, a Victoria Cross recipient who remembers sparing a German soldier's life at Marcoing. At just 27 years old, Tandey led a bayonet charge at Marcoing. He and his nine fellow Tommies took out a German machine gun nest and took 37 prisoners before sending the rest of the Germans in retreat.
The village of Marcoing after the battle, 1918.
Tandey fought in the First Battle Ypres in 1914 and the Somme in 1916, where he was wounded. He was out of the hospital in time for the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, and in 1918, was at the capture of Marcoing, where he recalls sparing a German soldier's life.
"I took aim but couldn't shoot a wounded man," Tandey remembered, "so I let him go." Tandey said the German soldier nodded in thanks, and disappeared.
Hitler, front row left, in 1917.
The accuracy of the story is disputed by historians. Though Hitler's special interest in the painting is odd, he is known to have owned it as early as 1937, acquired from Tandey's old regiment.
Historians argue that the faces of both men would likely have been unrecognizable, covered in mud and blood (and who-knows-what-else). They also argue that Hitler, even though he was a message runner, would have been up to 50 miles north of where Tandey was that day. Either that, or the future dictator was on leave.
Tandey with medals in 1973.
Later, during WWII, a Coventry-based journalist approached the British WWI vet and asked him about the alleged encounter. As Tandey stood in front of his home, which had just been bombed by the Luftwaffe, Tandey said:
"If only I had known what he would turn out to be… When I saw all the people and women and children he had killed and wounded I was sorry to God I let him go."
17 photos that show how high schoolers are turned into badass Marine infantrymen
Marine Corps infantrymen are certified badasses capable of destroying enemy positions and forces with high levels of violence.
But wait, Marines aren't born out of forges in the ground like Uruk-hai. So how does the Marine Corps take soft, pliable high school graduates barely able to work a condom and turn them into infantrymen capable of thrusting bayonets through enemy fighters like it ain't no thang?
Well, first:
1. All Marines go through Marine Corps recruit training, starting off at the famous yellow footprints.
New recruits of Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, receive a Uniform Code of Military Justice brief at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Angelica Annastas)
2. During recruit training, the recruits learn to accomplish basic military tasks and to cede their personal interests to the needs of the team.
U.S. Marine Corps recruits with Company G, 2d Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, low crawl at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., Oct. 18, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Robert G. Gavaldon)
3. The 12 weeks of recruit training are, to say the least, uncomfortable. Lots of time crawling through sand and mud, ruck marching, and building muscle through repetitive stress.
A U.S. Marine Corps recruit with Company G, 2d Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, low crawls through an obstacle during a training course at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., Oct. 18, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Robert G. Gavaldon)
4. But the future infantrymen get their first taste of combat training here, learning to stab with their bayonets and shoot with their rifles.
A U.S. Marine Corps recruit with Company G, 2d Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, practices close combat techniques at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., Oct. 18, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Robert G. Gavaldon)
5. And of course, they get to work with the famously kind drill instructors.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Roger T. Moore, a drill instructor with Company D, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, corrects a recruit aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., June 20, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Erick J. ClarosVillalta)
6. At the end of all of this, they earn the right to call themselves Marines and march in the graduation ceremony right before…
A U.S. Marine with Company B, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, stands in formation before a graduation ceremony aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif., June 17, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Erick J. ClarosVillalta)
7. …they're sent to the Infantry Training Battalion for 59-days of learning, patrolling, and physical hardship.
U.S. Marines with Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion (ITB), School of Infantry-East, observe their surroundings during a reconnaissance patrol as part of a field training exercise at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Manuel A. Serrano)
8. The Marines learn a large number of new basic infantry skills and a few advanced infantry skills.
A U.S. Marine assigned to Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry-East, moves to contact during a field training exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. James R. Skelton)
9. Some of the most important skills are the less flashy ones, like land navigation …
A U.S. Marine with Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion (ITB), School of Infantry-East, finds the azimuth during a field training exercise at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Manuel A. Serrano)
10. …and long hikes.
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Eric A. Harshman, a combat instructor assigned to Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry-East, takes accountability of Marines and gear during a conditioning hike aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. James R. Skelton)
11. But of course, there are plenty of awesome trips to the range.
A U.S. Marine with Kilo Company, Marine Combat Training Battalion (MCT), School of Infantry-East, fires an M240G Medium Machine gun during a live fire exercise on Camp Lejeune, N.C, Jan. 13, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Manuel A. Serrano)
12. Marines learn to fire everything from machine guns and rifles to grenades and rockets.
A U.S. Marine with Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion (ITB), School of Infantry-East, ejects a shell casing after firing an M203 grenade launcher during a live-fire range at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Manuel A. Serrano)
13. Even those big, beautiful mortars will make an appearance.
A U.S. Marine assigned to Alpha Company, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry-East, fires an 81mm Mortar during a live-fire exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. James R. Skelton)
14. But the mother of all machine guns is probably the most beloved weapon in the arsenal: the M-2 .50-caliber machine gun.
Marines with Company A, Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry-West (SOI-West), fire the M2A1 .50 caliber heavy machine gun as part of their basic infantry training Sept. 20, 2016, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. (Offical Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joseph A. Prado)
15. Besides navigation and weapons skills, the Marines have to learn skills like how to administer first aid in combat.
A U.S. Marine with Company F (Fox Co.), Marine Combat Training Battalion (MCT), School of Infantry-East treats a simulated casualty while conducting Military Operations in Urban Terrain during their Basic Skills Readiness Exercise (BSRE) aboard Camp Geiger, N.C., Jan. 31, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jose Villalobosrocha).
16. But the crux of a Marine infantryman's job is combat as a member of a rifle team.
U.S. Marines with Company F (Fox Co.), Marine Combat Training Battalion (MCT), School of Infantry-East conduct Military Operations in Urban Terrain during their Basic Skills Readiness Exercise (BSRE) aboard Camp Geiger, N.C., Jan. 31, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jose Villalobosrocha)
17. The culmination of all this training is the 24-hour Basic Skills Readiness Exercise where they're assessed on everything they learned in training, ensuring that they are ready to perform as expeditionary warfighters around the world.
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Speaker believes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of the military concerning race relations
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Next Man Up: Regular Season Week 7
The Doc is back with your weekly injury update. While the overall number of injuries was down this week we nonetheless lost some true game changers. Without further ado, let's dive into the Week 6 injuries and the next men up.
Matthew Mitchell
Each and every week, players across the NFL suffer injuries. This weekly article will explore the injuries that affect your dynasty squads. We will briefly discuss both the injured players themselves and the players who stand to benefit or suffer as a result. In order to make them easier to follow, we will break down the injuries by division. Week 6 was not as bad as some others have recently been, but there were some significant dynasty relevant injuries across the league. Without further ado, let us examine the Regular Season Week 6 injuries and the next men up.
AFC East:
The AFC East made it through Week 6 intact from a fantasy standpoint.
Image courtesy of titanwire.usatoday.com
AFC South:
Tennessee TE Jonnu Smith was knocked from his team's dramatic overtime win with an ankle injury. Smith attempted to have his right ankle taped in an effort to get back into the game, but it was not to be. Before this game, he was TE4 on the season. Before leaving in the 3rd quarter, he had only a single catch in this one. Despite the down game, Jonnu is enjoying a true breakout fourth season with the Titans. If he is unable to suit up for next week, look for Anthony Firkser to start in his place. Firkser will likely not garner all of Jonnu's 6.8 weekly targets, so look for AJ Brown and Corey Davis to soak up some additional looks. Keep an eye out for just how serious this one is. Hopefully, Jonnu has avoided the dreaded high ankle sprain.
Jacksonville TE Tyler Eifert aggravated his neck injury and was forced from the team's Week 6 loss. Being as this is the second time in successive weeks that the neck has flared up, it would stand to reason that the Jags would give their injury-prone TE a rest. Former Kansas City Chiefs 5th round draft pick James O'Shaughnessy would get the start in Eifert's place. In all likelihood, Eifert's targets would be spread out among the WR group, with Chark, Shenault, and crew all getting a slight bump.
Image courtesy of ravenswire.usatoday.com
AFC North:
Baltimore RB Mark Ingram left his team's win over the Eagles with an ankle injury. He attempted to come back into the game before eventually leaving for good. Baltimore ran tests on Ingram's ankle on Monday and determined that the issue is minor in nature. There is even a chance that the Ravens may have their veteran RB for Week 8 against the rival Steelers after their Week 7 bye. If Ingram is unable to get right before week 8, look for Baltimore to turn to the duo of Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins.
Cincinnati RB Joe Mixon was knocked from the Bengals week 6 loss with a foot injury. Following the game, Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor said that Mixon would have been available at the end of the game, but Gio Bernard was simply a better fit for the 2-minute offense. Taylor said that he was expecting an update on Mixon's condition later in the week. At this point, it is anybody's guess as to what the severity of Mixon's ailment is. If Joe is unable to go, then Gio would be a plug and play RB 2. Keep your ear to the ground for news on the Bengals franchise RB.
Browns QB Baker Mayfield benched late in the team's loss to the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on with the former Rookie of the Year QB in this one. Pittsburgh harassed Mayfield all day and shut down the team's offense from the get. It is possible that Baker may have been dealing with the after-effects of a rib injury he sustained during the previous week. Head coach Kevin Stefanski intimated as much after the game. Early reports are that Baker will be ok for Week 7 against the division rival Bengals. Keep an eye out for any updates about the Baker's ribs.
AFC West:
The AFC West made it through the week largely intact from a fantasy standpoint.
Image courtesy of theeagleswire.usatoday.com
NFC East:
Eagles RB Miles Sanders was knocked from his team's Week 6 loss with a knee injury. This is one of the bigger losses of the week as the Philadelphia RB was on his way to putting up another quality game before going down with the knee. Sanders underwent an MRI on Monday to ascertain the severity of the ailment. Keep your fingers crossed that the former Penn State star only misses one week. It is almost guaranteed he will not be able to make it back in time for Philly's Thursday Night showdown with the division-rival Giants. In his absence, the Eagles will likely turn to Boston Scott and Corey Clement. Scott would be the play but only in the deepest of deep starting requirement leagues.
Washington WR Antonio Gandy Golden was forced from his team's Week 6 loss with a hamstring injury. Yet another player goes down on the dreaded MetLife turf. The football team has struggled to find consistency opposite stud sophomore, Terry McLaurin. The real tragedy here is that Gandy-Golden was finally in line to get his shot before going down. Hamstrings can be tough on WRs in particular. I would expect him back sometime following the team's Week 8 bye week. In his absence, Washington will likely turn to a combination of Cam Sims and Dontrell Inman. You could probably also expect a bump in targets for McLaurin as well as TE Logan Thomas and RB J.D. McKissick. Terry and Thomas are the lonely recommended plays in this situation.
Giants WR C.J. Board was carted off the field with a head/neck injury. This was one of the scarier injuries of the week. Board is well off the dynasty radar, especially with the imminent return of Sterling Shephard. However, we here at DynastyNerds feel it is our duty to provide all the information we can. Board has been released from the hospital and seems to be fine. However, as I mentioned earlier, Sterling Shephard will be returning soon to round out the Giants WR corps with Darius Slayton and Golden Tate. If for some reason, you were playing Board, he can safely be dropped.
Philadelphia TE Zach Ertz injured his foot in the team's loss to the Baltimore Ravens. It has truly been a disappointing season for the former All-Pro TE as he has battled injuries and ineffectiveness. Ertz underwent an MRI on Monday, and it revealed that it was a relatively extensive ankle injury, and the star TE will miss between 3-4 weeks. It is even possible that Philadelphia may consider short term IR. At this point, Richard Rodgers will likely start in the short term. The Eagles have several players who could be coming back from IR soon, including Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor, and Dallas Goedert. Keep an eye on news coming out of Philly about possible returning players who could fill some of the void left by Ertz.
NFC South:
The NFC South made it through the week healthy from a fantasy standpoint.
NFC North:
The NFC North also made it through the week safely.
ninerswire.usatoday.com
NFC West:
San Francisco RB Raheem Mostert was forced from his team's Week 6 victory with an ankle injury. It appears that the talented RB suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain. It was reported on Monday that a stint on IR is likely in the cards for the talented RB. This is the second time this year that Mostert will have missed time, having previously missed games with a sprained MCL. In his absence, the team is likely to turn to Jerrick McKinnon as the primary ball carrier. McKinnon will be a plug and play RB2 while Mostert is on the mend. On the plus side, if your lineups can endure during Mostert's absence, he will be back in plenty of time for the fantasy playoffs. It's a tough blow, but in a season wrought with tough blows, this at least has a silver lining.
Thank you for reading this article! Please be sure to join the #Nerdherd so you don't miss out on any of the amazing things we have to offer Dynastynerds.com. You will get rankings, extra podcasts, and access to our rookie film room. For just a couple bucks more you can get access to our revolutionary DynastyGM tool. So much for so little, why miss out on all the fun. Follow me @ReflipeWThenuz for more dynasty content and other musings.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco
NGC 6338 is a Lenticular Galaxy in the Draco constellation. NGC 6338 is situated north of the celestial equator and, as such, it is more easily visible from the northern hemisphere.
Available Resources for NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco
Magnitude H (IR 1630nm) 9.7
Magnitude K (IR 2190nm) 9.4
Major Angular Size 1.73 arcmin
Position Angle 16°
DSS2 image of NGC 6338 in the Red band. The green region on the image is a representation of the major (1.73 arcmin) and minor (1.04 arcmin) axes of the object's apparent size.
NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco morphological classification
NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco is classified as Lenticular (S0) according to the Hubble and de Vaucouleurs galaxy morphological classification. The diagram below shows a visual representation of the position of NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco in the Hubble de Vaucouleurs sequence.
Visualization of the morphological classification of NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco, Lenticular (S0).
Simplified finder chart for NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco.
NGC 6338 - Lenticular Galaxy in Draco is circumpolar and transits at 08:26 UTC (altitude: 84.1°)


text:
Skirnir Mountains () is a group of nunataks in the King Frederick VI Coast, Sermersooq municipality, SE Greenland.
The range is named after Skírnir, the messenger of god Freyr in Norse mythology.

Geography
The Skirnir Mountains are a range of nunataks that rises to the west, between the Heimdal and Garm glaciers, west of the inner area of the Sehested Fjord.

See also
List of mountain ranges of Greenland
List of nunataks

References

External links
Images - Sehested Fjord (Greenland)

Skirnir
Sermersooq

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Contact Edward Today
Founder-Managing Partner
Attorney Edward R. Weinstein, Esq., a divorce attorney in New Jersey, is a graduate of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey and the New York Law School in New York City.
Mr. Weinstein has been appointed to the Assignment Judge's Family Law Committee, as a Member on the Early Settlement Panel with the Superior Court of New Jersey, and as a Member of the Supreme Court of New Jersey District Ethics Committee.
Attorney Weinstein has appeared in The Star Ledger, New York Times, Home News Tribune, The Asbury Park Press, Law-On-The-Line, NY WCBS 880, The New Jersey Law Journal, Ft. Lauderdale Sentinel, Miami Herald, ABC Eyewitness News, WCBS-TV New York Evening News, News 12 New Jersey, CNN, NJ 101.5 FM, and Court TV.
Court Admissions Professional Memberships Credentials
State of New Jersey
New Jersey Trial Courts
New Jersey State Bar
United States Federal Bars
Former Chairperson & Member, District VIII, Middlesex County, NJ, Ethics
Graduate Seton Hall University
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Member Association of Trial Lawyers
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Panelist, Middlesex County Early Settlement Program
Middlesex County Judicial Family Lawyers Committee
United States Tax Court
United States Court of Appeals
Master and Inaugural Member of the Aldona E. Appleton Family Law Inn of Court, Middlesex County, New Jersey


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2MATCH URL: https://assets.rappler.com/DCFD6674087D4C0F9D5A2D7600A2D4DD/img/53C2DC62796842A5AAC3B355BDF51DE5/samsung-iphone.jpg
Samsung is currently the sole supplier of the iPhone X's OLED screen
'Apple is in urgent need of finding a second source of OLED,' a KGI Securities analyst says
Gelo Gonzales
Published 3:42 PM, September 14, 2017
Updated 3:42 PM, September 14, 2017
MANILA, Philippines – For years, Apple has been sticking to tried-and-tested but rather old LCD display technology.
With its iPhone X, the tech giant finally jumps onto the OLED bandwagon, currently the display technology favored by smartphone brands today.
Apple calls theirs "Super Retina," an OLED display that Apple says finally meet their standards – and one that allowed them to do an edge-to-edge screen. OLEDs are known for being slimmer, thinner, and more power-efficient, but most of all, can be curved or bezel-free. Apple is known to have perfected LCD screens with the iPhone 7, so they had to turn a new leaf with OLEDs, which allowed for the X's edge-to-edge display.
Supply monopoly
You know who else does edge-to-edge? Samsung. In fact, the South Korean company is currently Apple's only source for the OLEDs, as reported by investment consultancy firm KGI Securities.
Its analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, in a note to investors prior to the September 12 unveiling of the X, predicated that Samsung is the only company able to supply Apple with the screens.
With a huge dependence on Samsung screens, Kuo said that "Apple is in urgent need of finding a second source of OLED." He estimated that Apple pays around $130 to $140 per screen, a huge rise from the $45 to $55 that the screens for the iPhone 7 cost.
According to dedicated Apple news site, Apple Insider, no other OLED supplier has the volume and the quality that the iPhone X demands. There are several other OLED suppliers out there, but none are yet able to produce the quantity and quality that Apple needs – and that for some time, this will be the case, said the site.
In April, it was reported that Apple had ordered 70 million OLEDs from Samsung. And in June, reports said that Apple had begun developing its own OLED tech to lessen its dependence on Samsung.
OLEDs, the newer technology, are known to be more complicated to manufacture than traditional LCDs, and thus, have fewer reliable suppliers. Samsung is said to own a huge chunk of the OLED patents, and as a result, produces a huge majority of the world's OLEDs – up to 97.7% of global production in April 2016, in fact.
The big jump in screen cost is clearly a reason why the iPhone X has become the most expensive iPhone ever, with the 64GB version at $999 while the 256GB version is $1,149.
Without a second supplier, Kuo also said that due to component supply constraints, production of the iPhone X will be at less than 10,000 per day or less than 1 million in a quarter. As Business Insider reports, that production volume will not be able to match the huge consumer demand that some analysts expect: 5 million units on the phone's first week of sales.
The impact: consumers will have to either wait a considerable amount of time or opt for another flagship. – Rappler.com
Filed under:Apple•OLED•iPhone X•smartphones•Samsung•