ALA 1530 | Spy radio | German branch | Numbers predictions
BRIXMIS | Non-numbers news
E15 schedule | Iraqi Embassy 21 Queensgate, London SW7 (1/2)
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Index | E2K NL Home
May 2005
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com
Morse stations | Voice stations | Oddities | Polytones
ALA 1530 | Spy radio | German branch | Numbers predictions
BRIXMIS | Non-numbers news
E15 schedule | Iraqi Embassy 21 Queensgate, London SW7 (1/2)
News Items | Web sites | Contribution deadlines
Index | E2K NL Home
We live in "interesting times", the threat of Islamic terrorism has given the politicians the opportunity to bring in all the laws and restrictions which they have always wanted to see anyway, - for example the compulsory identity card which is being sold to the British people as a cure-all for illegal immigration; I suspect it will be nothing of the kind, it will be used to make life awkward for the average, indigenous, law-biding, tax-paying person in much the same way as the handgun laws brought in a few years ago were used to take the hitherto legally owned and registered weapons away from the target shooters, militaria collectors and war souvenir holders while allowing gangsters such as the Yardies, Triads and the scum from half a dozen or more tin-pot East European countries to expand their armed criminal organisations within this once great nation, or in the way that many local authorities ban the flying of the Flag of Saint George on the grounds that the image of the cross is offensinve to Moslems. There is a rumour that as soon as the General Election is out of the way, which Mr. BLiar is expected to win albeit with a slightly reduced majority, that the definition of "terrorism" is to be extended to include any activity likely to interfere with the perceived economic well-being of the state, protesting against GM crops, for example - there is great pressure from across the Atlantic for GM crops to be permitted to be grown in the UK - and protesting against new road schemes, airport expansion and the construction of nuclear power stations. Not a party political issue by the way, the two main parties have exactly the same policy on almost any given subject differing only in complex issues of taxation and finance - they are even both led by too - clever - by - half lawyers - and the great emancipated British public couldn't care less about the loss of their freedoms built up over hundreds of years provided that whoever is in power continues to skew the economy so that house prices continue to rise by a double digit percentage every year.
As if to confirm the piece in E2K 27 on the BOWMAN radio system used by the British army, the Sunday Express of April-10 contained an article entitled "Fiasco over Army's new £1.9 billion radio".
It starts off "The Army's new radio system, just given to troops heading for Iraq, is a technical disaster, a report claims. The Bowman radio system, introduced with much fanfare by defence ministers, is too big and gives off too much heat, experts say. To accommodate the cumbersome sets, two seats have been ripped out of a new command vehicle". The article goes on to describe how the problem caused by all the heat given off is potentially serious in the stifling climate of Iraq and that there have even been problems with the reliabilty of its in-vehicle intercom. The article ends by stating that "Battlefield troops are having to use their own mobile phones", or as E2K 27 put it, "Better Off With Map And Nokia".
On a somewhat similar theme, the Daily Express of April-18 carried an article on the growing protests over the masts used for the new "Tetra" police radio system. Headlined "Save us from "killer" police radio masts" the story by Tom Whitehead begins "Protesters took to the streets over the weekend to demand an urgent investigation into the feared health risks from communication masts used to run new high tech police radios. Many claimed that the microwaves beaming out from the Tetra masts are destroying their lives". The article then goes on to list all the health problems supposedly caused by Tetra emmisions, including the fact that in Lancashire, 117 police officers complained of ill-effects. Some figures given include that the cost of Tetra is £2.9 billion, the system operates from 3,300 masts and that Tetra pulses at 17.6 Hz, close to the 16 Hz at which the brain's electro-magnetic signals operate.
Events in Iraq don't seem to improve much; the Daily Mail of March 5 did a whole page spread titled "Just another bloody week in Iraq" .... "At least 256 dead, 399 attacks, countless hundreds injured. We chronicle seven days of violence - most of it unreported until now" and goes on .... "....nearly two years after the war ended ....this week the death toll of US soldiers passed 1,500 while the number of civilians killed is unknown. Some put it as high as 100,000. Most incidents go unreported, but here is a diary of just some of them in what now passes for a mormal week in Iraq" There is then a list on a day by day basis from Friday Feb-15 to Thursday Mar-3 of all reported incidents. All but two of the days saw American soldiers being fitted for a body bag. I hope Mr BLair buys the Mail.
And as for Afghanistan, the Mail on Sunday of April-17 carried an article headed "Blair ready to send 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan" which says, "Britain plans to send more than 5,000 extra troops to Afghanistan after the General Election, according to senior Army sources. It will mean the UK replacing the US as the main force in Nato's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in the country. The first new wave of British troops is due to arrive in the capital Kabul in October".
One of the most unusual stories to be reported in the media in recent times was that concerning the mercenaries who made a stopover in Zimbabwe supposedly while en route to Equatorial Guinea to overthrow the government of that country on behalf of a group of wealthy businessmen who hoped to gain control of the recently discovered oil reserves. They all ended up on various charges and there were pictures in the press of them in shackles, having been found guilty as charged, being hurried along by their captors on their way to a no doubt rat-ridden and cockroach infested African prison cell. Considering these guys were reported as being mainly ex-S.A.S. and other crack military units the whole affair did not seem to be very well organised. One of the financial backers of the failed enterprise, "Sir" Mark Thatcher, found himself in front of a court in South Africa on charges relating to the plot and it looked for a while as if he too might be banged up in jail for perhaps ten years or more, but having pleaded guilty to a lesser charge he escaped with a substantial fine which was more than likely just small change to him. So he walked away from it, just as we who know the world and how it works always suspected that he would. I didn't see too much in the way of negative comment on this in any of the mainstream press, perhaps the very name "Thatcher" is held in such awe by the ex-public schoolboys who run just about everything in this country that no criticism was forthcoming. However, there was some observation on Sir Mark's deliverance in a somewhat unlikely publication; the popular comic magazine for grown-ups Viz, the letters page of the March-'05 issue of which carried the following, expurgated for good taste, from a reader in London;- "Sir Mark Thatcher told a court in South Africa that he lent his helicopter to a group of mercenaries because he thought it would be used as an air ambulance. What I would like to know is, who is the bigger c***? Him for saying it, or the court for pretending to believe him?". I couldn't have put it better myself! [Ace!!!!]
The Easter Day movie offering on BBC1 TV was "Enigma", based on the Robert Harris novel, centred around the World War 2 codebreakers of Bletchley Park which manages to work into its plot such historical events as the cracking of the codes used by the U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic and the discovery by the Germans as they advanced into the Soviet Union of large numbers of hastily buried corpses of Polish Army officers murdered in 1940 by the Russians who, by the time that "Enigma" takes place have become Britain's allies. As always with this kind of film there is the chance to look out for communications hardware of the time. There were many shots of the famous Enigma machine in operation with its familiar letter keys, rotors and lamps and a brief scene set in the room where radio signals were being intercepted using National HRO receivers. These would be the 5T version, I suppose, with octal valves, or since they were made in Malden, Massachusetts, vacuum tubes.
Death of an actor;- on 25-March several newspapers reported the death at the age of 85 of actor David Kossof, who was famous mainly for light comedy roles in the 'fifties and 'sixties. However, a somewhat more serious production in which Mr Kossof played a leading part was the 1963 film "Ring of Spies", a dramatisation of the events of the Portland Spy Ring case of the early nineteen sixties whose activities, in the words of the Radio Times Guide to Films prompted "Reds under the bed" stories in the popular press. Mr Kossof played the part of Peter Kroger who ran the radio communication side of things from his house in Cranley Drive, Ruislip, a prosperous suburb of London where he lived an outwardly respectable life as an antiquarian book dealer.
The film, made in black and white, is rarely seen these days but has been shown on Channel 4 Television several times over the years, always in the "off peak" weekday afternoons.
I was unaware of its existence until a few years ago when I happened to be at home and chanced to look at the TV listings and saw that it was on .I seem to recall there is a scene where Kroger is seen carefully typing a message using a punched tape machine of some kind in order that it can be "squirted" or "burst fire" transmitted using an extremely short transmission time in order to reduce the chances of detection. [Excellent film – there is a copy in the ENIGMA 2000 Library along with a book of the same title].
The rest, from a variety of sources:
Peter Malkin who was in the team that snatched Adolf Eichmann off th Buenos Aires street died on 1st March aged 77.
The snatch of Eichmann was made in 1960.
The Times 04/03 describes Malkin in his obituary as, "Safebreaker, explosives expert, Haganah resistance fighter and Israeli secret agent". He eventually became Mossad's Chief of Operations after working for Shin Bet.
The Police Officer charged with assault after being involved in the arrest of Babar Ahmed, arrested in Tooting, in 2004 has been told there is no case to answer. Babar Ahmed, you will recall, is being held prior to extradition to the US on Terrorism charges.
A number of demonstrations have been held in conjunction with Babr Ahmed's arrest and continuing detention.
Mr Ahmed had copies of a US defence plan and battleship movements in his possession as well as input to a website aimed at aiding terror.
According to an article in the Metro newspaper [p2 08/04/05] the new computer at MI5 is over budget and will not do the job it was purchased for. It also appears that the agency lacks the expertise needed to oversee such a large and complex project. This was apparently stated by the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee.
Whilst the actual cost of the project was kept secret for security reasons [like buying a radio really. Pay your money, smuggle it indoors and the lie about the price to your wife]. The final figure would be 50% more than envisaged.
The MI5 Director, is apparently aware of the problems and has takem measures to address the skills shortage.
[Eight months later and after the vetting procedures have ended………………. Gizza job mate]!
On 18/03 at 2002z my SMS belted out its Morse message [Connect people to people] and I was confronted by the following message:
"Our favourite pie-eating filing clerk is standing for election. See Ceefax P111." At that point I didn't have a clue who my anonymous texter was referring to until I selected P111. Then the phone starts up again -.-. ---.-. -. . -.-. – etc. I open the second text and it says, "….and Teletext p307" – tnx anon.
See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4362215.stm
The message irrespective of the channel to which the text service was derived remained the same:
"David Shayler, who was jailed for breaking the Official Secrets act, plans to stand against Tony Blair in Sedgefield."
Events as follows: US President in Oval Office 27/04. Blip on radar screen mistaken as plane entering restricted airspace. US President in Bunker.
Event clears and US President brought above ground again.
Blame put on flock of birds [what ever happened to the anti-clutter circuitry] or a reflection. [Reflection? does that suggest Radar operator having some bling on his ear]?
This previously occured in November 2003 when two F16 aircraft were sent to investigate another blip. Also caused by birds that were never found.
That time the White House staff legged it and in doing so caused a herd of tourists to stampede in fear. Fortunately good ol' Homestead Security or Roy Rogers was there to round them all up in to the nearest tourist corral. Bloody hell - Gort was more believable in 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'. Remember "Niktu Klatu Barratta" - or 'turn that anti clutter contol fully clockwise and we'll be on our way'.
Why is it all aliens have an American accent? Why does every alien in America have an apostrophe in his name. Hands up all the Americans who think the Maa'la Strait is an alien? Wrong it's a dual carriageway in Aden [that's the port where USS Cole was tragedly attacked]. How long before the daleks carry a board advertising MacDonald's on their machines. Who knows, who cares and no rumours [or should that be 'rumors' in their peculair ruination of the Queen's English] please?
The Queen 'Mom' indeed - what's that about - Regimental Colors, No! it's Mum and Colours. There was some Hollywood rendition a film with a submarine in and they kept talking about a booey or a bo-oooey, or boyeee and then we tumbled it was a 'buoy' [pronunciation is boy]. [Tnx KW]
Dr John Widdowson is stepping down after five years of heading the scientific team responsible for producing gadgetry for Britain's intelligence agency.
The unit, based at Milton Keynes is called Her Majesty's Gocernment Communications Centre.
It is thought that the post will command a salary of around £100,000.
Any applicant will need to be able to 'provide strong leadership in the face of demanding new challenges'.
The successful applicant will find themselves heading 425 staff and a capitation of £27m. The company charged with finding the replacenment is Odgers Ray and Berndson.
ENIGMA 2000 recently received an interesting email from AH who wrote,
"I found this site which may be of interest for the next article of news letter it shows photos of the Russian Embassy in Bangkok.
Of interest are the metal clad rooms - I would think for RF shielding etc....some rooms show where equipment has been removed from walls etc...also the security room shows old wires and such - Old telephones are left in a heap on the floor."
AH kindly provided the URLto the site:
http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok/buildings/russian/russian.shtml
which, he pointed out leads onto the interesting stuff:
http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok/buildings/russian/russian1.shtml
This is a really interesting site for Embassy buffs, so give it a whirl. The imagery is copyright so we are unfortunately unable to post a sample here for the non PC users amongst our midst. [Get rid of those emailer phones - you know it makes sense]!
[Thanks AH]
An interesting piece was sent by j6m that appeared in Latimes of 08/03/05.
U.S. counterintelligence officials are increasingly concerned that Al Qaeda sympathizers or operatives may have tried to get jobs at the CIA and other U.S. agencies in an effort to spy on American counterterrorist efforts.
At least 40 Americans who looked for employment in US intel agencies , were flagged prior to being turned away.
Wonder if this is a matter for concern within Britain?
A report outlined about 70 recommendations for John Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence, who will oversee all 15 US spy agencies.
Amongst other things the panel apparently found that the source for the threat posed by Iraq was a suspected drunk codenamed 'curve ball'. No doubt hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqi's are only too pleased to learn that their country was destroyed on the words of a brainless piss artist.
Another belter reads, 'The intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its pre war judgements about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.'
But the best reads, 'The bad news is that we still know precious little about the weapons programmes and even less about the intentions of many of our most dangerous adversaries.'
Wonder which small country that cannot fight back will be destroyed next? It won't be North Korea that's for sure look what they did to UN forces last time.
Last time we printed a hint that British newspapers reported that various Govt departments were having a shred fest to avoid certain docs entering the public domain.
On the Nick Ferrari talk show [LBC 97.3] 21/03 Mayor Livingstone was mentioned in connection with his office's overuse of the shredder and the accusation from others in the assembly that he was indeed shredding everything in site. Unfortunately Mr Livingstone was unable to give an answer because NF rapidly moved on to Mr Livingstone's failure to supply an apology to some Jewish reporter because Mr Livingstone likened his repeated attempts to get an interview to a Concentration Camp Guard.
The latest revelations from some Chief Constables state there is too much paperwork for police officers.
Amazing that a Chief Constable on £nn,000pa can state this in an authoritive air when the officers at the sharp end of policing [those without accelerated promotion thanks to Uni degrees] have known it for years.
Before PACE when the Judges' Rules were the guidance one would arrest do the IRB/ARB, short statement and Book 90 entry, Crime Sheet and then out for more fun.
Nowadays it's the IRB/ARB, Statements, CRIS Report, Full or abbreviated pack plus a load of checks and even more.
As a civilian I want more coppers on the street. The proposed ringfenced three officers and two pcso's in each ward will not scratch the surface. [Get rid of the pcso's and have one additional police officer – much more useful]. One early arrest by these 'community police means they are missing for the rest of the day. If the public at large know all this then so do the criminals.
Thanks to the efforts of Geo Bush [call me Dubya] the world is a safer place, unless you happen to live in Madrid, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Sudan, Iran and London to name but a few.
Thanks to our glorious leader joining forces with Geo – our Tone has apparently raised the threat according to Dave the Meter man. As the possibility of us Conservatives changing the state of Britain with a series of well placed crosses approached the Govt warn us of this al-Qaeda threat. Now the Real IRA are plotting to bomb London. According to the Metro 21/03 potential methods used *might* include incendiary and improved [don't they mean improvised] explosive devices, postal devices [if Royal Mail gets its act together the explosives might not denaturise before the device is delivered] and shooting attacks.
In places like Croydon, now known nationally as 'Dodge City' due to the high amount of firearm discharges by Trident subjects anyone doing a shooting attack is liable to find themselves being shot back at!
No mainland bombings have been carried out since 2001.
Whether this is due to slippery Tone is beyond this column - apparently the threat from the Real IRA is only a notch below that set by al-Qaeda according to The Anti Terrorist Branch, MI5 and MI6.
Perhaps we should have employed the assistance of Idi Amin as mentioned on page 2 of the last issue.
[Tnx KW]
[followed by the ramblings of an occasional British ex-pat].
Page 5 of the 11/04 issue of the Metro carried the head line 'Asylum policies a 'security risk.' Sarah Getty then outlined how this policy was branded a risk by Mr Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative party. Apparently Ministers have no idea who was entering or leaving the country at a time of real terrorist threat.
But the strapline, in the centre of the article says it all, "Tony Blair is to frankness what King Herod was to babysitting" apparently stated by John Major. [Has no relevance in E2k but it made me laugh so I've chucked it it for your edification]!
All this was in a box headed 'Election 2005' and even Charles Kennedy had his say when he accused the Labour party of a variety of matters, including the misleading of people over war in Iraq……….[The election will be in early May so lots more jokes from all the Party's to digest]!
And [Metro 11/04 p9] Labour will legislate to stop cheating in postal voting, but only after the General Election. Bet they'll shout loud if anyone but them gets caught.
"I was present when Guyana had elections. There are 6 ethnic minorities there but the two major groups are Indian and Negro. There are more Indians than Negro and the two favoured parties the PPP and the PNC battled it out. When the Indian favoured PPP [People's Political Party] leader, Dr Cheddi Jagan pipped the leader of the PNC [People's National Congress] to the seat all hell broke loose. Various claims were made from the PNC supporters of interference with the polling boxes and suchlike; yet they were the party once led by Linden Forbes Samson Burnham, who had died previously, [LFSB – Look For Something to Ban in the local parlance] and who was put in place by British and American interference because Dr Chagan's policies were thought to be 'too left'.
I saw the result of LFSB's prescription [it was posted at ferry stellings nationwide] as his party managed every election – in a manner referred to as 'rigorendum.' Guyanese ex-pat Indians were seen to vote for the PNC and even the dead had their votes counted. In the early 80's a British peer who travelled to Guyana to observe the election had his cassette recorder and cameras taken and was thrown in gaol.. [Georgetown prison is a very foreboding place].
After the first free and fair election when the PPP had won the vote and was in charge again PNC supporters made claim of interference with the vote [Pot calling the kettleblack].
Demonstrations occurred in which 'police ranks who remained loyal to the chosen Government' fought off attempts to enter the Parliament building. Inside the PNC refused to sit with the PPP. That was 1980'ish.
The PPP is still running things and the economy has bettered. Most persons have a phone, TV [more American progs!] has arrived and a better electricity supply is also available.
In LFSB's time the monetary unit the Guyana dollar went from G$4.8 = £1 to G$280 = £1. There was little to to buy in the shops as LFSB banned the import of just about anything and most persons kept fowl.[I smuggled potatoe into the country in soap powder packets and the importation of tinned fish was a real no-no]. The staple diet 24/7 was chicken and rice, or rice and peas. Cassava, Eddoes and Fish was also on the diet. Nowadays, as recent as 06/04 G$304 = £1 but the diet is better, persons no longer keep fowl and eat what they want as the country moves into consumerism.
Haven't heard anything about the American surveillance unit that was going to be built near Cheddi Jagan International Airport [formerly Timheri Airport, or when the septics had it in WW2, Atkinson Field]. Anyone know if it was ever built because all my Guyanese contacts don't.."
[Tnx PLondon]
Headline 'The Times' 15/04/05 'Fraud fear as postal voting soars 500% in marginals'. Note that it will be looked into after this latest election. [KW]
HJH's E2k WATCH We continue with HJH's informative column…………….
Long known as a graveyard of ships and aircraft from the numerous conflicts that have taken place on it's cold and cruel surface, the bed of the Baltic Sea has finally given up one of it's best kept secrets, namely the fate of a missing Royal Swedish Airforce Douglas DC-3, or, as our American readership would call her, a C-47.
Last heard from on June 13th. 1952, she has finally been found on the Baltic Sea floor after many fruitless searches. The team who found her were a combined team of undersea explorers from Gothenburg (Sweden) MARIN MATTEKNIC (MMT), and DEEP SEA PRODUCTIONS. MMT are a firm of maritime surveyors, while DSP are a media company. The project was started in 1998 by the 2 companies mentioned, together with Anders Jallai, an airline pilot who has become an entrepreneur and explorer. That the project has lasted so long will surprise no one who knows the Baltic and it's fearsome history. The Baltic Sea separates Sweden from the one time Soviet republics of Estonia Latvia and Lithuania. So bad can the weather become in this area, that the Swedish Navy, who searched between 1991 and 1997, were forced to abort several searches for this very aircraft. The climate of this area makes it an easy place to die at the hand of Mother Nature, but the crew of the long lost DC-3 died at the hands of the Soviet Air Force.
How can we know this? Quite simply, a former Russian Air Force pilot named Grigori Osjiskinski contacted a member of the Swedish Diplomatic Corps and told him that he was the pilot responsible for downing this aircraft. This big slow twin engined transport would have made an easy target for the Soviet fighters who were vectored onto it that day by their Ground Control Intercept system.
Back in time, the last message from the DC-3 was heard at the Central Air Control, Stockholm at 1120 on the morning of June 13th. 1952.The message was, quite simply, "We've been shot!" This was followed a few minutes later by a Morse message, then no more was heard. The Swedish Air Force scrambled a rescue aircraft, a seaplane, which soon reached the area. This, in its turn, was also attacked and shot down by Soviet Air Force fighters. This crew, however, were more fortunate. They force landed in the Baltic, but were rescued by a passing German merchant ship, the MUNSTERLAND. In the diplomatic furore that inevitably followed, the Soviets admitted the downing of the seaplane, but denied all knowledge of the first aircraft, the DC-3. The downing of the second aircraft was given as a justifiable action due to it's having violated Soviet airspace. Sweden, for her part, stated that the first aircraft was on a routine training mission. Now, the full story has emerged. Tragic and even a trifle sordid, it is, sadly, all too typical of the fate of many an aircraft and crew engaged in missions of an ELINT or SIGINT nature close to national borders.
Following much pressure from the families of the 8-man crew, all of whom were married, the Swedish government has admitted, after almost 40 years, that the DC-3 was on an "electronic reconnaissance" mission, the subject of which was the Soviet Union. This was followed, in1991, by the Soviet fighter pilot mentioned earlier, admitting that he had shot this aircraft down. Now, it has been admitted, the aircraft, which, being Swedish, belonged to a non aligned nation, was conducting electronic surveillance of the USSR. The equipment on board was of British manufacture, and the mission was being carried out on behalf of Great Britain and the United States.It was to monitor the radar defences of the USSR. Following several fruitless attempts to locate the crash site by the Swedish Navy, the private consortium mentioned previously tried. The first 2 were failures, the first being in 2000, the second in 2002. It was third time lucky for the underwater explorers, when they located the wreck in June 2003. She lies in international waters 400 feet down, east of Gotska Sandon, which is an island lying 75 miles east of the Swedish mainland. That they were using state-of -the-art sonar gear is, no doubt, largely the reason for their success. The Swedish military have stated their intention to salvage the aircraft. The wreck surveillance thus far has been conducted by a remotely controlled deep-sea submersible equipped with the latest deep-sea TV cameras. Results have revealed the aircraft to be almost intact. It is in a good state of preservation, due, no doubt, to the lack of oxygen this far below the sea. Clearly visible are said to be the 3 crowns of the Swedish Air Force national symbol, and, far more ominously, bullet holes.
There are no winners in this affair. 8 aircrew, young married men, lost their lives. As always, parents lost children, and children lost parents. Of the 8 widows, none remarried. There can be little doubt that the silence of both governments concerned has been largely responsible for this. Only 2 had their husbands pronounced officially dead. Lied to by all concerned, they are the real losers. Now, if the proposed salvage operation is a success, they can, at last, have some measure of comfort and closure. The apology given in 1991, by Evgeny Shaposhnikov, the then Soviet defence minister can have been of little comfort and less value. The cold war may have ended, but there is little doubt in the mind of this author, that there are many more little grubby secrets such as this under various stones around the world.
The USAF has finally got one of its most futuristic projects off the ground, quite literally, even it did require a heavily converted Boeing 747 to get it into the air. This project is a weapon code-named the "Active Denial System." In essence, it is a pain-inducing ray, similar to a microwave beam. Declared to be non-lethal in effect, it penetrates a fraction of an inch beneath the skin of the target at which is aimed, causing the water molecules below the skin to bubble. The effect of this is, of course, to inflict great pain on the target. The other is to induce the target to seek to put as much distance as possible between his/her self, and the source of the pain. Defensetech.org has described it as the "Holy grail of crowd control", although for this author's money, a well sited LMG, combined with several unmuzzled German Shepherds (That's the dogs, not guys called Hans who look after sheep!) have a lot going for them!
Be that as it may, this system is about to undergo trials in two vastly different types of vehicles. The first is a prototype mounted in a Humvee off road vehicle, and the second is mounted in a highly modified Boeing 747-400F cargo plane. (This should make differentiating between the two trial weapons easier, if nothing else!) The US Airforce began trials in 2003. The specifications of the proposed new weapon consist of a range of which is measured in hundreds of miles, an accuracy which can be measured in inches, and the time to target of which consists of nanoseconds.
So what exactly would be the target which this weapon would engage? The airborne laser would be intended to take out ballistic missiles. The ABL(Airborne Laser) is intended to cruise at 40,000 feet and seek out the launch signatures of any target missiles. Once detected, three lasers, which are turret mounted in the nose of the 747, illuminate the target. Target information is passed to the Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL), the energy output of which is measured in megawatt. Once triggered, a beam so intense and focussed as to be invisible to the naked eye hits the target inbound missile, hopefully in the fuel tank, which is the primary target area. The process is reckoned to have a time duration of seconds.
Probably as complex as the weapon system itself, is the detection system for the inbound target missiles. This consists of, amongst other gadgets, of Infrared Scan and Track (IRST) sensors. These are relatively old, having been around since the 1970s, when they were fitted to the Grumman F14 "Tomcat". The ABL will have an array of six of these to give 360 degrees surveillance and any detected data on targets is fed into a modified Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night(LANTIRN)pod.Laser range finders feed range data to the Track Illuminating Lasers(TILL). On now to the Beacon Illuminating Laser, which performs atmospheric analysis on the atmospheric conditions prevailing between the target and the ABL. The on board computer which controls all this, once it has decided on a main point of aim (A phrase which has no relevance here, but which the author likes as he can understand it!) then fires the weapon. To say that all this is more complex than it sounds, is like saying that Adolf Hitler had a personality disorder! One of the most important parts is the nose-mounted mirror for the ABL, which weighs 7 tons.
And you guys thought that all that it required was to say "Phasers and photon torpedoes away!" Not in this Newsletter!
(For a full and complete description of this fantastic piece of kit, see the brilliant article at www.military.com/soldiertech and look for the article entitled "Reach out and fry someone".----Honest!)
Not just a joke if what your author has found on his nocturnal browsing is correct. According to several Internet reports, filed in "The Register"(Author Tim Richardson) several Nokia brand mobile phones have exploded in various parts of the world. In Thailand, a 50-year-old welder named Prasit Sriseeluang lost his right leg and five toes from his left foot as result of injuries sustained when his mobile phone exploded. According to a story in the Thailand newspaper "The Nation", the man was standing near a high voltage power supply line supported on a pole, when the phone rang. He was working at the time. The phone then exploded.
Despite denials by Nokia Thailand that any components in the mobile phone unit were defective, the public prosecutor's office of Thailand are suing the manufacturers on the grounds that some components were, in fact, defective.
The Finland based mobile phone concern has issued a denial refuting claims that the many accidents involving it's mobile phones exploding are caused by faulty parts. Part of the rebuttal blames people fitting cheaper and counterfeit battery packs to the units concerned. As part of a campaign to prevent this, Nokia has designed, and is now fitting to its replacement battery packs, a distinctive holographic sticker. This was started as long ago as December, thus the problem must have been identified well before then.
In October, a Dutch teenager was injured when his Nokia Mobile exploded in the pocket of his trousers. He suffered burns to the leg, but would seem to have escaped the facial injuries sustained by a Dutch woman, who received facial and neck injuries when her cellphone exploded during a call. Only three months separates these two incidents.
Back in it's home territory, Nokia is still experiencing problems of the exploding variety. In early November, a Finnish woman was taken to hospital after the Nokia 3310 cellphone that she was using at the time, exploded. Her injuries were described as "not serious". A statement issued by Nokia again blamed counterfeit battery packs. It went on to say the way to avoid such accidents was to use only original Nokia products, bought from a Nokia dealer. Personally, your scribe, never having much faith in modern technology, would prefer a return to the days when mobile phones were housed in large red kiosks on street corners, and only worked after coin of the realm was duly inserted into a slot in the box on which it was mounted. Miniaturisation is great, but remember guys, when a valve /vacuum tube is glowing it's working, when a transistor or IC is glowing, it sure as hell ain't, or its about to stop any second! Cocoa tins and string, anyone?
[Even the humble Cocoa/Coke/Pepsi/Special Brew! tin is not safe. A simple experiment is a showpiece in university life where a simply constructed capacitor bank is used to produce eddy currents around a tin, causing its structure to 'collapse']. And whoever described semiconductors as three legged fuses?
Hands up all those who, on asking your friendly neighbourhood cook (A term used loosely!) from Aldershot Cement Company (Or Andy Capp's Commandos, you choose!) what the Hell he was slopping into your mess tin, received the reply "Owl Crap!"
Your trusty scribe did, several times!
Of course, in those far off days in BAOR Land, amongst other BFPOs, this author had faster response times, and frequently replied, "Just thought it was something I couldn't eat. Now don't take the p-ss!"
These days, if what has appeared on the trusty VDU workstation is true, far from taking it, one would be adding it. And yes guys, the p-ss being added would be ones very own.
According to a report in the British weekly "New Scientist", those far sighted guys at the US Army Soldiers Centre in Natick, Massachusetts, have come up with a version of dried rations for issue to front line troops which, far from requiring the addition of clean water to rehydrate the food, can be prepared using dirty water or even the soldier's own urine.
So, from the guys who gave us the bullet proof wound monitoring "You-Can' t-See-Me" Chameleon Suit, we now have instant rations where you just add the p-ss.
So far, only one type of meal is available, namely chicken and rice, but it is still in the development stage, and Rome wasn't built in a day, especially if the builders were eating this stuff!
Now on to the best part, how does it work? Simple. The food is contained in a bag, which consists of a plastic membrane. This is, the makers assure us, made of a nanofibre, which can filter 99.9% of harmful microbes.
It also filters most toxic compounds, allowing only clean water to reach the rations.
All prospective users should note that, although urine CAN be used in emergency, this should be a last resort. The author can hear those transatlantic sighs of relief already!
What, the enquiring E2k reader may ask, is the point behind this exotic food. [Is it to stop the Brit Army 'borrowing' from our American colleagues as we fight our way across Iraq with the SA80 and accompanying 'Dustpan, working parts for the recovery of', bag plastic, sand excluding from rifle for the use of, bullet, firing [in the peculiar event of not experiencing a stoppage] for the use of, and bayonet sticking in and twisting for the use of, the wrong camo, crap boots, no rations, no body armour as our suppliers surpass supply lines by dropping the Just In Time, JIT, method of supply in favour of the JTL, or Just Too Late. You would have thought we had learnt our lesson at Isandlwana where we were unable to supply ammunition to the firing lines or indeed at the so-called Boston Tea Party. The Americans will tell anyone they took on the Brits and beat them fair and square. It just isn't true though. We were ill supplied and the ruperts used the capitation for ordnance to buy themselves tea. As the invading American rabble advanced, the British were reduced to throwing tea chests at them – hence the 'Boston Tea Party'. They didn't beat us there in any case. Britain became bored with the US, saw no point in staying and went elsewhere].
Quite simply, it will reduce the amount of water the soldier has to carry in action, as well as the total weight of rations.
Two years ago, this very same team gave the US Army the "indestructible sandwich", which was, reportedly, capable of staying fresh for three years. That has to be the first time, to this author's knowledge at any rate, that the Research and Development Department of British Rail, where British Rail passengers have been subsisting on such similar aged sandwiches for many years, that British Railway technology has surpassed that of the US Army.
I personally hate to think what the squaddies favourite, 'Biscuits Brown', contains! The 24hr pack had plenty to go round and I'll bet any squaddie would help an inefficient Rupert reconstitute his grub any day. 'Can I help you with that Sir?' 'You taking the p*ss soldier?' No Sir, I would never take the p*ss where you are concerned, definitely not, Sir!'
I also remember an incident where thankful ladies in NI, who after welcoming troops in the age old tradition of bashing their dustbin lids on the pavement, offered cups of tea to passing squaddies. Always ready for a brew, this most English of beverages was never refused. The result was a lot of squaddies who presented a rather virulent and suspect looking rash on sick-parade over the next few days and the rescinding of the order not to drink tea if offered from any side in the conflict, it had been made with urine. Let's hope certain take-aways don't get news of this – 'Can I speak to the manager please, that last curry tasted terrible?' 'So solly sir, our manager out on p*ss!"
[Now it appears – Metro Newspaper 18/03 – that the British Armed forces 'face an alarming shortage of battlefield helicopters.'
There is also an apparent lack of adequate nuclear, biological and chemical protection for crews. Add on the eight Chinook Mk 3 helicopters that remain grounded with technical problems, they cost £259million, and you get the idea of what is occurring].
When I found out my daughter was seeing a soldier [as a friend, Dad] I immediately quipped 'Biscuits, Brown.!' Part of the massive 24Hr ration pack we used to get. The mushroom soup wasn't too bad either. Tea and Coffee in foil packs and a mass of sugar – excellent stuff indeed. Then my son and I marched off leaving her laughing………..
As those readers of these pages who have served in the Armed Forces will know, it has long been the way of things that soldiers will buy articles of kit as private purchases which will either make their lives more comfortable or safer. This has long been the practice in the British Army, indeed, probably throughout the British Armed Forces as a whole. That it is also true in the Armed Forces of the United States is not so well known. Those readers who follow such trends will, no doubt, recall what this author still considers the scandalous situation in the Northern Ireland of the 70s and early 80s when soldiers who were issued the SLR as a personal weapon were buying privately, higher quality sights than those which were, at that time, issued by the Army. (These being the blade and aperture sights fitted to the weapon as issued.) The sights being bought as higher quality replacements were the optical "Single Point" sights and were, indeed, better.
None of the above is really relevant, and is mentioned merely as an illustration of the lengths to which soldiers are forced to go when the sloth, lethargy, or downright negligence of governments, puts they and their comrades in harm's way. The sights mentioned cost, to the best of my recollection, £30-00 UK Sterling, a large sum for a soldier on the pay scales in force in HM Forces at that time..On reflection, the author would surmise that, if nothing else, such political neglect has produced an Army capable of world class scrounging, no mean achievement! Be that as it may, the US Army was always considered the premier equipment issuer of NATO, and always worth scrounging off. They, and the Canadians, were always favourites for the good old soldier pastime of "souvenir hunting". They were, both nationalities, generous to a fault, and never seemed to mind the inveterate scrounging of their British allies. (Maybe they just enjoyed the hard luck sob stories the Brits. pitched them.)
Well, those sob stories may soon be brought out and re-hashed on their own government, if what a stateside source tells this author is true. Back in 2004, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, (Connecticut) had an amendment passed in Congress which requires the Pentagon to repay in full the amount spent by any US Serviceman or woman, on equipment intended to safeguard their health or safety. The same extends to purchases made on their behalf by family or friends. Personnel serving in Iraq, and, presumably, Afghanistan, have reported making such purchases varying from medical supplies, add on armour for Humvees, and Global Positioning apparatus. The limit is 1,100 US dollars per item.
Senator Dodd has now written to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asking why there is, as yet, no reimbursement program as yet in place to repay the monies thus spent. Senator John Kerry, who, it will be recalled, ran against President Bush, was, during his campaign, and continues so to be, highly critical of equipment shortfalls, and is pressurising the Pentagon to repay the monies owed, and get the up-armoured Humvees on line. The fact that both Senators Dodd and Kerry are Democrats, will, no doubt, mean no easy ride for any one dragging their feet on this issue. Not that the safety of a country's service personnel should be the political football it seems, shamefully, to have become. Contrast the criminal attitude of a soldier ordered to hand back his body armour prior to leaving on patrol (Most likely for re-issue to a "rupert!" Move on to the case of the patrol ambushed when on patrol, in a combat zone, in a civilian hire car! Both recent events in Iraq.
Several things strike this author. First, that someone, (Sen. Dodd) had the understanding that people will pay good money to stay alive and safe in combat, or ensure that family and friends do, and not leave it to politicians or, worse still, civil service bean counters. Second that he had the political will, and, more importantly, the support of others in power, to pass a law to help them so to do. The United States, like many other nations, has its faults. One of them is certainly not letting their service personnel go short of equipment, or having to make do with second rate kit when lives are at risk. This country and government (Here, the author means UK) has shown by its deplorable record of penny pinching in military matters, even to the extent of service personnel paying with their lives for those policies, that here, at any rate, it has much to learn from the USA. Not that this author believes for a moment that it will, nor would any successor government, of whatever political colour.
As a follow up to the article dealing with the private purchase of kit by US Forces personnel based in Iraq and Afghanistan, here is a follow up regarding our four legged friends who are assisting in the ongoing war in Iraq. There is not the slightest intent at humour or sarcasm in this article, as any reader who knows this author will rapidly attest. Any man who wears a T-shirt on which is a photo of his dog, together with what could well be the family motto, "THE MORE PEOPLE I MEET, THE MORE I LOVE MY DOG" is not just wearing clothes, but is making a statement! From the same stateside source as the info regarding the private buying of kit, comes the following.
The US Marine Corps and, apparently, the US Armed Forces in general have long employed units consisting of trained dogs and their handlers. Be they employed on search (sniff and destroy?) guarding or rescue missions, they are termed K-9 units. As is to be expected, the bond between handler and dog is one, which has to be experienced to be understood. The old mountain climbing adage, "To those who understand, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not, none would suffice", is the best and only way in which this author can express it. Obviously, the British Armed Forces have, for hundreds of years, employed animals. One has only to read the history of our cavalry regiments to see this. Also, we have used dogs in guarding and mine clearance and anti terrorist work in exactly the same manner as our American allies, and, this author believes, longer. Should this not be so, sincere apologies for a mistake genuinely made.
It has often struck this author that people, especially in Britain and the USA, engage in combat of their own free will, since neither country now has a draft (call up) system. Not so with animals. They have no choice, and are, certainly in the majority of cases, given to their new owners for whatever reason. Once trained, they are then employed on hazardous duties, and have saved many a human life, often at the cost of their own. The list is endless, and has no relevance here, save to mention it in making the point that they are, in effect, four legged conscripts. That every care is lavished on them is beyond doubt. The handlers, and any nearby squaddie, will often share his or her last mouthful of food with these dogs. No surprise then, that in the case of the American K9 units, there is now an official issue of body armour! This has happened in the US Marine Corps, throughout that entire organisation.
Specially designed, and made of Kevlar, the body armour consists of soft body armour panels. Tests have proved that it can withstand multiple hits from small arms fire, as well as knife attacks. When deployed in a situation in which this could happen, the dog is kitted out with the body armour mentioned previously. As a special bonus, these armour panels contain removable cold packs to withstand the heat which the animal has to endure in such a climate as is found in Iraq. For any dog which is required to undergo airborne deployment, there are specially fitted rappel loops in the vest. These allow the dog to slide sown the rope with his handler. Also on issue is a harness, which allows parachute insertion of dog and handler. Reports from K9 units say that the dog has some difficulty getting used to this kit, as would any body armour wearer the first few times of using such kit. One piece of intelligence, which has filtered back, reports that Arabs have a great dislike of dogs, and regard them as dirty animals, which they would never keep as pets. This goes a long way to explaining the authors love of dogs, and is another proof that dogs and people certainly do think alike. The old adage of pots and kettles is another, which springs to this authors mind!
With sincere apologies to our German readership, but this author just could not resist the chance to slip in a little humour. (Ich bitte um Verzeihung, Jungs, aber Spass muss immer sein, nicht war?) From a Trans Atlantic source, comes news of the ultimate in security, as least so far as mobile phones are concerned. The company of Siemens, a name which needs no introduction, have teamed up with Rohde and Schwarz, a name which may not be so well known to those of our readership who are not quite as decrepit as this author. (Cheer up guys, you'll get there!) R and S have, in the past, turned out some high quality radio kit, particularly in the valve/vacuum tube market. This latest offering is that most highly desirable piece of kit for all we paranoid spooks, a non tap phone.(Need to check the grammar on this one guys!)
Marketed under the brand name Top-Sec, it has as it's basis the S35i mobile phone, but with the added (to many) attraction that certain circuits have been added which render this phone proof against any attempt to monitor it. And it 's a real steal at 3000 US Dollars! Hold on there pardner, don't go moseying down to the old OK phone corral just yet, 'cos the guys from Rohde and Schwarz have barred this piece of kit from import to the US of A at this time. When it does finally land Stateside, any money on how hard Uncle Sam will try to make Herr R und S take up their former stance of non sale? Or, even closer to home, how will Gauleiter Blair react? This author predicts, not with great joy at all! On reflection, he may just give in. Remember how easy it was to get "Spycatcher"? And how that court case to ban it gave it more publicity than Saatchi and Saatchi on full automatic? Come to think of it, if he hasn't cared what the UK population said before, why would he start now! And if it's that good, he won't hear them anyway!
Again guys, you got it from E2K first. (The news that is, certainly not the phone!)
[Rohde amd Schwarz won a tender for the now defunct RA to supply two sets of monitoring equipment – wonder if it's still in use]? HJH [Thanks cock!]
Thanks E – yr problem sounds like signals getting into your receiver IF stages. Try shielding the unit in a tin if possible and then see if signal present. If all else fails place inside the oven to use as a 'Faraday cage'. If you think that's queer one an E2k member came to my house to discover a radio case soaking in the sink. Tnx for logs etc. [The advert is held sine die]
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