Il "Ground Based Strategic Deterrent" ha ora un nome ... "Sentinel" ...
The Air Force announced a name and designation for the intercontinental ballistic missile system long known as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent: LGM-35A Sentinel(*).
The name recycles one already given to one of the Air Force’s secret spy drones.
The Sentinel, being developed by Northrop Grumman, is set to replace the Minuteman III as the land leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, beginning with assigned to the new missile program for years now as the Air Force’s modernization efforts have wound their way through Congress and the Pentagon.
In February 2021, then-Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John E. Hyten lamented the lack of an official name for the project.
Secondo l'agenzia di stampa britannica Reuters ...
The Czech Republic has sent T-72 tanks and BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, a Czech defence source told Reuters on Tuesday, confirming a local media report.
Public broadcaster Czech Television initially reported the shipment, showing footage on Twitter of a train loaded with five tanks and five fighting vehicles.
It said the shipment was a gift agreed with NATO allies.
The broadcaster said the information was confirmed by the head of the Czech lower house's European Affairs Committee Ondrej Benesik, who told Reuters he received the information from his Christian Democrat Party's expert on defence.
Il Presidente dei Capi di Stato Maggiore Congiunti, generale Mark A. Milley, ha auspicato una maggior presenza di forze armate statunitensi in Europa Orientale ...
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reignited talks about more permanent U.S. bases and troops in Europe, especially in the eastern portion of the continent where allies and partners are clamoring for it to counter Russia’s influence.
On April 5, the Pentagon’s top general endorsed that push - with a slight twist.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, testifying to the House Armed Services Committee, noted that Europe is facing a potentially pivotal moment in its history given Russia’s aggression, and said that “as a general rule of thumb,” U.S. presence in a region is a good deterrent.
In that regard, Milley echoed comments made by U.S. European Command boss USAF Gen. Tod D. Wolters, who told Congress a week ago that after European nations adjusted their own contributions to defense across the continent, the U.S. would do the same, and “my suspicion is we’re going to still need more.”
But while Wolters declined to say whether he thought that increased presence should be permanent or rotational, Milley said it should be a little of both.
La Polonia ha firmato un contratto per l'acquisto di 250 carri armati statunitensi "Abrams" ...
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on Tuesday signed a deal worth about $4.75 billion to buy 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 from the United States.
“We are strengthening the Polish military, and we are deterring a potential aggressor,” Błaszczak was quoted in a statement released by the ministry (*).
Deliveries are to begin this year, with 28 tanks to be procured to the country’s armed forces.
In addition to the tanks, the contract also comprises a technical support and logistics package, as well as training and ammunition for the tanks, according to the ministry.
Polish defense officials have said the acquisition will enable the country’s military to counter Russia’s flagship T-14 Armata tank.
La compagnia Antonov esamina i danni all'aeroporto di Hostomel ...
Antonov Company (Antonov Airlines), following the withdraw of Russian forces, has been able to survey the damage at its Hostomel Airport base in the northwest part of suburban Kyiv. --- --- ---
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated Hostomel Airport from the Russian occupiers, where test flights are conducted and which is the base of Antonov Airlines.
Unfortunately, the airport is not recognizable.
An-26, An-74 and An-225 planes, a control tower and an administrative building were destroyed.
An-12, An-22, An-28, A132D and An-124-100-150 and hangars were destroyed.
La Serbia ha ricevuto dalla Cina una batteria di missili terra-aria modello FK-3 ...
China has delivered anti-aircraft missile systems to Serbia as part of a contract the European nation signed with China that also included drones.
Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday the delivery was part of the two countries’ annual cooperation plan, does not target any third parties and “has nothing to do with the current situation.”
Zhao gave no further details.
It is believed the delivery, which took place over the weekend, was for a battery of FK-3 medium-range, road-mobile, surface-to-air missiles.
Serbia had signed for the missiles in 2020 under a contract that also included the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation-made CH-92 armed drone.
Un documento appena rilasciato dall'OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) ...
L'ultima "impresa" dei cosmonauti Russi attualmente a bordo della ISS...
Alla vigilia del Giorno della Vittoria, i cosmonauti russi Oleg Artemiev e Denis Matveev hanno dispiegato una copia dello Stendardo della Vittoria nello spazio.
La trasmissione nella notte di venerdì 29 aprile è stata condotta sul sito web di Roscosmos.
Nell'intervallo tra i lavori principali sulla ISS durante la passeggiata spaziale, i cosmonauti che si trovavano vicino al modulo russo "Prichal" hanno tirato fuori e dispiegato la bandiera rossa.
Si noti che i cosmonauti Oleg Artemiev e Denis Matveev hanno spiegato lo stendardo sul modulo del laboratorio multifunzionale Nauka presso la Stazione Spaziale Internazionale.
Russia has deployed trained dolphins during its invasion of Ukraine to protect a Black Sea naval base, USNI News has learned.
The Russian Navy has placed two dolphin pens at the entrance to Sevastopol harbor, sheltered just inside a sea wall.
The pens were moved there in February, around the time of the invasion of Ukraine, according to a review of satellite imagery.
Sevastopol is the Russian Navy’s most significant naval base in the Black Sea.
The dolphins may be tasked with counter-diver operations - a traditional role both the U.S. and Russia have trained marine mammals for.
This could prevent Ukrainian special operations forces from infiltrating the harbor underwater to sabotage warships.
Inside the port, many high-value Russian Navy ships are arranged out of range of Ukrainian missiles but vulnerable to undersea sabotage, according to satellite photos.
During the Cold War the Soviet Navy developed several marine mammal programs, including dolphin training in the Black Sea.
The unit was based at Kazachya Bukhta near Sevastopol, where it still is today.
Dall'incontro di Ramstein è emerso il fatto che non verranno forniti all'Ucraina i caccia F-16 che erano stati richiesti ...
Ukraine is calling for modern American fighter jets to face Russia’s overwhelming air advantage in the contested skies over the war-torn country, but senior Air Force officials say American F-16s, which require lengthy training, are not yet part of the aid picture.
More than 40 nations gathered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on April 26 to consider what type of weapons to supply, including air power assistance such as F-16s, to Ukraine.
The war is now shifting to the eastern front in the Donbas region, an area where long-range weapons are desperately needed.
Recently, however, the Ukrainian Air Force has expanded its request beyond Soviet-era jets they already know how to fly, such as MiG-29s and Su-24s.
Ukraine is asking for modern American jets, including F-15s, F-16s, and “maybe” F-18s, to shift the air advantage to their side, according to a video posted on the Ukrainian Air Force Twitter page April 26, the day of the Ramstein meeting.
Senior defense officials, including U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, spoke about the possibility of supplying American-made F-16s to Ukraine.
“That doesn’t happen fast,” Harrigian told Air Force Magazine during a pull-aside interview at the Ramstein Officer’s Club where the meeting was taking place.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to leverage what they have and offer them some other unique capabilities to make the problem challenging, and then there’s the longer-term view,” he added.
“Clearly, they want to migrate from Russian capabilities to U.S., but that takes some time.”
Artiglieria pesante semovente all'Ucraina da Germania e Olanda ...
Training is set to begin in Germany next week for Ukrainian soldiers on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzer, after officials confirmed Friday that the Dutch and German governments approved sending 12 of the heavy weapons to the fight.
The decision comes after much hand-wringing in Berlin about the extent of Germany’s military support to Ukraine.
Previously, the government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz was reluctant to provide heavy weapons, though key ministers from the governing coalition parties were reportedly more forward leaning than Scholz.
The provision of the self-propelled howitzers follows the expected logic of intensified fighting in the stretches of Ukraine’s east, described by Western analysts as a war of attrition by way of long-range fires.
Cosa è successo veramente a Mosca (ma anche in altre località)? Putin non si fidava più della lealtà delle sue Forze Aeree o si è scoperta l'esistenza di un complotto e che stavano per colpirlo dall'aria?
An air display that was supposed to include warplanes roaring over Moscow in a flying Z – the main symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – was cancelled at the last minute.
State media reported that the decision was made because of the weather, although the skies were clear over Moscow at the time of the parade.
Nella didascalia dell'immagine a questo sistema missilistico viene attribuita la designazione "SS-18 SATAN" ... ma non è la prima volta che RID prende delle solenni cantonate ...
P.S. ... nel frattempo si sono accorti della gaffe ed hanno corretto in "SS-27" ... .
A seguito dell'invasione russa dell'Ucraina, la NATO ha rafforzato lo schieramento difensivo aeronautico in Europa ...
In response to the attempted Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization immediately activated its defense plans.
As well as deploying troops into eastern Europe, NATO activated a Joint Forces Air Component (JFAC) within Allied Air Command at Ramstein air base in Germany.
The existing Combined Air Operations Centers in Uedem, Germany, and Torrejón, Spain, and the Deployable Command and Control Center at Poggio Renatico, Italy, deployed personnel to staff the JFAC.
NATO has now released some details of its ongoing air activities that, combined with other sources, provide an overview of what missions the member states' air arms are performing in connection with the war in Ukraine.
The most important of these is a significant increase in defensive combat air patrols (CAPs).
An award-winning artist said Friday that he fled Russia after security forces uncovered his plan to disrupt the country's annual Victory Day parade with a peaceful protest against the war in Ukraine. Danila Tkachenko said he purchased 140 blue-and-yellow smoke grenades and installed them in air conditioners that he placed outside an apartment building near the Kremlin.
The devices were set to go off remotely, spreading the colors of the Ukrainian flag into the air as Russian military hardware paraded across Red Square.
Victory Day commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and is a public holiday in Russia.
More than 11,000 soldiers took part in this year's parade.
Writing on Facebook on Friday, Tkachenko said Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) discovered plans for the stunt despite the fact that he had told no one about his intentions.
The authorities opened a criminal case against him on May 9, the day of the Victory Day parade, he said.
In Europa l'US Navy sta facendo una cosa che, al momento, l'USAF non è in grado di fare ...
Navy E/A-18 Growlers are conducting NATO enhanced air policing in Eastern Europe near Ukraine to show Russia that the U.S. stands ready with electronic warfare capabilities.
But what the Navy is doing also highlights what the Air Force can’t.
Pilots from Navy Electronic Attack Squadron 134, or VAQ-134 - nicknamed “Garudas” - who spoke to Air Force Magazine at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, said they were practicing integration with Air Force F-16s and flying NATO missions with EW pods turned off.
But soon, Navy divestment will eliminate that joint force capability before the Air Force replaces it.
L'intenzione dell'Amministrazione Biden di ritirare dal servizio la bomba termonucleare ad alta potenza B83 ha scatenato un dura opposizione da parte dei membri Repubblicani del Congresso ...
Congressional Republicans are pushing back against the president’s plan to retire an aging nuclear weapon, decrying the effort during a series of hearings this week dedicated to the administration’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear forces and atomic energy.
The hearings previewed what is likely to be a renewed debate over retiring the B83 megaton gravity bomb as Congress drafts the annual defense authorization bill, starting in June.
The Air Force also plans to retire the only aircraft capable of carrying the B83, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, by 2032 at the latest.
“The rationale of this administration to retire the B83 gravity bomb without a replacement capability is not clear to me,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., the ranking member of the House Strategic Forces Subcommittee, said at a Tuesday hearing.
“In fact, it is my understanding that not only is there no replacement capability, but the process to identify candidates for a replacement capability has not even yet started.”
La Danimarca sta fornendo all'Ucraina missili "Harpoon" del modello da difesa costiera per il contrasto della presenza di navi russe nel Mar Nero settentrionale ...
The Danish Armed Forces are sending long-range anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on Monday.
The range of Denmark’s coastal defense Harpoons could put Russian ships at risk in the Northern Black Sea, a naval analyst told USNI News.
“I’m especially grateful to Denmark, which announced today that it will provide a Harpoon launcher and missiles to help Ukraine defend its coast,” Austin said in prepared remarks at the Pentagon following a meeting with an international coalition and Ukraine defense officials.
While Austin did not specify the type of Harpoon, the Danish military’s coastal anti-ship missile batteries field RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block IIs that are capable of not only hitting ships at sea, but also targets in port and on land with an upgrade from the Boeing Advanced Harpoon Weapon Control System.
Maxi incursione di velivoli cinesi nell'ADIZ di Taiwan ...
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) reports that 30 Chinese military aircraft violated Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (May 30), the same day that U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and her delegation arrived in the country.
The MND on Monday evening announced the second-largest single-day incursion by People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft recorded this year.
The aircraft included eight Shenyang J-11 fighter jets, six Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, four Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, two Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare plane, four Shaanxi Y-8 electronic intelligence spotter planes, and two KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
The United States will be sending two vehicle-mounted anti-ship missile platforms to Ukraine as part of a new $1 billion military aid package to Kyiv.
The Harpoons, earmarked for coastal defense, are coming from the $650 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative included in the package, according to a statement from the White House (*).
Coastal defense continues to be an urgent need for Ukrainians, leading them to request this type of aid from the U.S., a senior official told reporters Wednesday.
The United Kingdom’s foreign secretary told attendees at a forum on NATO’s future it was crucial that Russia loses its invasion into Ukraine.
Speaking a few hours before NATO begun its formal meeting in Madrid, Liz Truss warned against bargaining with Moscow for a false peace.
“We have to defeat Russia first,” she said.
On the opening day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a Ukrainian sniper’s bullet struck down Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the first general officer to die in the conflict.
Commanding the Russian 7th Guards Airborne Division, he was leading a heliborne assault on a critical airfield just 20 miles northwest of Kyiv.
General Sukhovetsky’s loss - and the repulsion of that initial attack - seriously disrupted the invaders’ timetable.
Defending that airfield were elements of Ukraine’s elite 79th Airborne Assault Brigade, which included a company of snipers led by Capt. Valery Chibineev.
Three days into the battle, Capt. Chibineev, a recipient of Ukraine’s highest valor decoration - the Hero of Ukraine award - was killed by a Russian sniper.
Chibineev’s medal had been earned in 2016 for fighting pro-Russian separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
LGM-35A Sentinel ... il test del veicolo di rientro per il nuovo missile balistico intercontinentale americano è fallito subito dopo il lancio ...
Late last night an unarmed test of the Air Force’s new Mk 21A intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) reentry vehicle quickly ended with an explosion 11 seconds after launch at Vandenberg Space Force base in California.
Nobody was injured, but the failure is a setback for the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM program that is intended to replace the aging LGM-30 Minuteman III.
According to a press release, the Minotaur II+ rocket launch was supposed to be centered around “demonstrating preliminary design concepts and relevant payload technologies in operationally realistic environments” for the U.S. Air Force’s new Mk 21A reentry vehicle engineered to be carried on the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM.
The explosion caused by the failed launch occurred at 11:01 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6.
An additional release goes on to state that the debris was contained in the immediate vicinity of the launch pad, and the San Luis Obispo Tribune (*) reported that the blast caused a fire to break out on the base which the Vandenberg Fire Department responded to and extinguished by about 1 a.m.
La Marina Indiana si espande per affrontare la minaccia cinese e per una migliore collaborazione con gli alleati ...
For most of its existence, the Indian Navy has been in a state of perpetual modernization.
Due to its major shipbuilding programs’ long schedules and the continual need to replace older platforms with new ones – especially submarines – Delhi has been unable to meet its shipbuilding goals.
Since 1948 the Indians have wanted a two-carrier navy with a fleet of 142 ships.
While the IN remains far off from achieving that goal, it is growing and adding capability to the fleet.
The bet from the Indian Navy is if it can speed up its submarine programs, improve mine-counter measures capability and shape up its carrier force and air wing – the service can stay competitive with China and operate better with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Republic of Korea Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
India sustains a mix of state-owned and private shipbuilders.
Despite problems in keeping to schedule and budget, it’s a mark of India’s status as a major power that most of its ships and submarines – 37 out of 39 – are built in-country instead of procured from overseas.
Some of its ships are built with considerable overseas technical assistance and content.
Si rafforza l'ipotesi che gli A-10 che verranno presto ritirati dal servizio vengano ceduti dagli Stati Uniti all'Ucraina ...
Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Frank Kendall did not outright reject the idea of transferring A-10 Warthog ground attack jets to Ukraine when asked about that possibility earlier today.
His comments came after Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown said separately that the Ukrainian Air Force will eventually have to start moving away from their Soviet-era combat jets and that whatever comes next will "be something non-Russian."
Kendall and Brown both made their comments at the annual Aspen Security Forum today.
The conference opened yesterday and is set to run through the end of the week.
To date, only the U.S. Air Force has operated A-10s, an iconic close support aircraft known primarily for its massive GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm cannon and heavy armor.
"What is it that the Air Force ... needs to let go of?" The Washington Post's David Ignatius, who served as the moderator Kendall's talk at Aspen, asked the Air Force Secretary.
"The venerable A-10 ... is not a system that we are going to need against the kinds of adversaries we're concerned about most now," Kendall responded, in part.
L'Ucraina afferma di non aver bisogno dell'A-10, bensì di velivoli "veloci e versatili" ...
Air space over Ukraine has been contested for more than five months, replete with advanced Russian fighter jets and near-universal Russian surface-to-air missile coverage that make penetration by aging Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s and Su-25s both risky and dangerous.
For the duration of that time, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has asked the United States and international partners for Western combat jets and the training to fly them.
U.S. officials have weighed in, but they may not be suggesting the right aircraft, a Ukrainian defense official told Air Force Magazine.
“We have been requesting combat aircraft from our partners for a long time now,” Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukraine’s minister of defense, told Air Force Magazine by phone from Kyiv on July 21.
“We need Western-standard fighter jets. We need Western-standard combat aircraft.”
Reznikov again discussed Ukraine’s battlefield needs at a July 20 virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group led by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.
Following the meeting, U.S. Air Force leaders indicated that conversations had begun on how to provide Ukraine with Western aircraft, such as older A-10s, but Ukraine says the slower aircraft won’t fill the mission set urgently needed.
To target Russian positions in Ukrainian territory, Ukraine needs “fast and versatile” combat aircraft such as the F-16 - not slow-moving ground defense platforms such as the retiring fleet of U.S. A-10s, a proposition Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall entertained in comments July 20.
U.S. defense leaders such as Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley have repeatedly recommended to President Joe Biden weaponry for Ukraine that meets evolving battlefield needs.
A-10s do not meet that bar, the defense adviser said.
Huawei sta spiando le comunicazioni delle basi militari e delle installazioni missilistiche strategiche degli Stati Uniti ... lo afferma l'FBI ...
The Biden administration is investigating Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei over concerns that U.S. cell towers fitted with its gear could capture sensitive information from military bases and missile silos that the company could then transmit to China, two people familiar with the matter said.
Authorities are concerned Huawei could obtain sensitive data on military drills and the readiness status of bases and personnel via the equipment, one of the people said, requesting anonymity because the investigation is confidential and involves national security.
The previously unreported probe was opened by the Commerce Department shortly after Joe Biden took office early last year, the sources said, following the implementation of rules to flesh out a May 2019 executive order that gave the agency the investigative authority.
Una dozzina di F-22 stanno arrivando in Polonia dagli Stati Uniti con la missione di proteggere lo spazio aereo della NATO ...
F-22s arrived at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., on July 26 en route to Poland, as the U.S. Air Force continues to bolster its presence of fifth-generation fighters in the region.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe confirmed the F-22s’ arrival, stating in a release that the fighters from the 90th Fighter Squadron of the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, will be traveling from Lakenheath to the 32nd Tactical Air Base in Lask, Poland, to support NATO’s air shielding mission.
New USAFE commander Gen. James B. Hecker hinted at the F-22s’ appearance in Europe at the Royal International Air Tattoo on July 17 in an interview with Air Force Magazine.
“We’re bringing over F-22s … that are going to be coming over shortly, within a month, and they’ll spend four or five months over here,” Hecker said.
“So we’re going to constantly cycle in fifth-generation in addition to what will eventually be two permanent [F-35] squadrons at Lakenheath. So we’ll be cycling it in here in the meantime.”
According to local media reports, six F-22s arrived at Lakenheath.
When they arrive in Poland, they’ll be tasked with supporting a new mission for NATO.
Air shielding is intended to protect NATO nations from air and missile threats by leveraging air- and ground-based air defense assets.
A US counterterrorism operation was carried out against “a significant al-Qaeda target” in Afghanistan, a senior Biden administration official said on Monday evening.
The official said the operation took place over the weekend and didn’t elaborate.
The Associated Press said the strike killed top Al-Qaida Leader Ayman Al-Zawahri.
The White House said President Joe Biden would give an address about the operation on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. Washington time.
The Defense Department deferred to the White House and US Central Command, with responsibility over Afghanistan, didn’t immediate respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership said on Twitter Monday that a US attack had struck a house in the Sherpur district of Kabul.
Two U.S. capital ships and their escorts are operating in the Western Pacific near Taiwan, USNI News has learned.
Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and big deck amphibious ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7), with Marine F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters embarked, are operating in the vicinity of Taiwan, on the edge of the South China Sea ahead of a Western Pacific visit from U.S. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the region, according to the Aug. 1 edition of the USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker.
An earlier version of this post indicated USS America (LHA-6) was underway but it is in port in Sasebo, Japan, U.S. Pacific Fleet told USNI News on Monday afternoon.
A Pentagon spokesman told USNI News on Monday that the ships were operating normally in the region and would not detail force protection measures for the visit of the third highest-ranking U.S. official to the region.
However, a senior defense official told USNI News the ships, escorts and their air wings – already in the region – were prepared to linger as a contingency option. On Monday, Beijing implied there would be a military response if Pelosi traveled to Taiwan.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied threats from China and advice from the Biden administration by arriving in Taipei on Tuesday evening (Aug. 2), marking the first visit to the country by a U.S. house speaker in 25 years.
At 10:43 p.m., Pelosi and her congressional delegation arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport aboard a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-40C, designated as SPAR19.
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