TYB

Army gives green light to shape vehicle electrification requirements

WASHINGTON — Army Futures Command has given the green light to the Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate to move forward on developing a plan to equip tactical and combat vehicles with electric power, according to a Sept. 21 statement.

The directorate will begin drafting a requirements document for Tactical and Combat Vehicle Electrification (TaCVE) and will host an industry day Oct. 20 to share its electrification initiatives with industry.

CALSTART, an organization that focuses on clean technology transportation, and the Ground Vehicles Systems Center will cohost the event.

The electrification effort aims to decrease the Army’s reliance on fossil fuels. “The requirement also aims to increase operational reach across all maneuver formations through electric propulsion, which offers a variety of operational and tactical benefits,” a statement from the directorate read.

“These include the potential to double operational duration, implement silent mobility, increase silent watch, and potentially reduce the Army’s logistical burden by nearly half when fully implemented,” it stated.

The Army launched an earnest effort into electrifying the brigade earlier this spring.

Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, then-director of the Futures and Concepts Center within AFC, told Defense News at the time that the effort is easier said than done and doesn’t just just focus on simply powering a vehicle electrically. Instead, it would attempt to work out how an entire enterprise that would support those electric vehicle fleets and other capabilities could work.

“Let’s be clear. We’re behind. We’re late to meet on this thing,” Wesley said. “If you look at all of the analysis, all of the various nations that we work with, they’re all going to electric power with their automotive fleet, and right now, although we do [science and technology] and we’ve got some research and development going on and we can build prototypes, in terms of a transition plan, we are not there.”

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/09/21/army-gives-green-light-to-shape-vehicle-electrification-requirements/

BAE awarded $111M contract for Navy's Archerfish mine neutralizers

Sept. 21 (UPI) – BAE Systems announced a contract Monday worth up to $111 million to supply the U.S. Navy with Archerfish mine neutralizers.

Archerfish is used by the US Navy's MH-60S Helicopter squadrons as part of their Airborne Mine Neutralization System capability, and reduces the need to put diving personnel in the water for clearance missions, according to the company.

The system is a remote-controlled, torpedo-like device that can be launched and operated from a surface ship, helicopter or an unmanned underwater vehicle. Using fiber optic data link relays, Archerfish can provide real-time sonar pictures of potential targets through on-board sensors, a BAE statement on Monday said.

"Archerfish not only keeps sailors safer, it also reduces the number and cost of mine clearance missions," said Brooke Hoskins, director of products and training for BAE's maritime services business.

Each AMNS device consists of a Launch and Handling System for all data processing during a mission, and up to four elements called destructors, which handle target acquisition and demolition.

The Navy established a requirement for rapid neutralization of bottom and moored sea mines to support operations in littoral zones, confined straits, choke points and the amphibious objective area.

This is the fourth Navy contract awarded to BAE since 2003 to build AMNS devices, which will be manufactured at the company's facilities in Britain.

The number of devices ordered by the Navy was not reported.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/09/21/BAE-awarded-111M-contract-for-Navys-Archerfish-mine-neutralizers/3721600703371/

Colerain Township man indicted on 23 sex charges involving children

COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio —

A man was indicted Monday on multiple sex charges, including rape, that involved four victims, some under 10 years old, according to Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.

Deters said Nicholas Howell, 36, was indicted on 23 counts, including 11 counts of rape, 11 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of gross sexual imposition.

Deters said Howell and the four victims were all family acquaintances.

The incidents took place at his house in Colerain Township and after the sexual abuse, Howell would often buy their silence with money or gift cards, Deters said.

One of the victims later told an adult what was happening, and the Colerain Township police were called and started their investigation.

"I am always saddened to comment on cases such as this, because it means that children were the victims of a sexual predator. I have said it before and will say it again, it is hard to understand how someone takes advantage of children. This case is especially disturbing given the fact that there are four victims and multiple incidents. My victim advocate and assistant prosecutor assigned to this case will do everything they can to help the victims through this difficult process and obtain the justice they deserve," Deters said.

If convicted of all charges, Howell faces multiple mandatory life sentences and life time sex offender registration because some victims were under 10 years of age when the incidents occurred and some involved using force to gain submission of a victim under the age of 13, Deters said.

https://www.wlwt.com/article/colerain-township-man-indicted-on-23-sex-charges-involving-children/34097243

Kentucky GOP lawmaker indicted on assault, accused of strangling woman with ethernet cable

As a freshman Kentucky legislator, state Rep. Robert S. Goforth (R) joined his colleagues to pass a bill that would make it easier to prosecute strangulation.

Last week, that same bill — now a state law after it passed at the urging of domestic violence advocates — became a factor in his own case: A grand jury in Laurel County, Ky., on Friday indicted Goforth, a former candidate for governor, on one count of first-degree strangulation and one count of assault in the fourth degree, according to the Corbin Times-Tribune.

Earlier this year, a woman said Goforth, 44, strangled her with an ethernet cable to the point where she had trouble breathing and threatened to “hog tie” her, according to a police report reviewed by the newspaper.

The charges have renewed calls from local Democrats for Goforth, a staunch supporter of President Trump who had previously been accused of sexual assault, to resign from his seat. Neither he nor his attorney, Conrad Cessna, immediately responded to requests for comment from The Washington Post.

Goforth, who was raised in poverty by a single mother in eastern Kentucky, was first elected in 2018 to represent the state’s 89th House district, a deep-red swath of countryside where the sale of alcohol remains illegal in most areas.

The Army veteran and pharmacist quickly made a name for himself in the statehouse by championing socially conservative causes, including proposing a “heartbeat abortion” bill that would have banned abortion as early as the sixth week of a pregnancy. As reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal, he also voted in favor of SB-70, a bill that reclassified strangulation as a Class D felony charge and added it to the definition of domestic or dating violence.

Little more than a year after first arriving in the legislature, he announced a primary challenge against then-Gov. Matt Bevin (R), seizing on the incumbent governor’s unpopularity among Kentuckians and his roots outside the state.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/21/kentucky-goforth-indicted-arrest-gop/

Names from Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs being probed, reportedly causing ‘panic’

The top prosecutor in the US Virgin Islands is seeking more than 20 years of flight logs from Jeffrey Epstein’s fleet — a move that’s stirred up “panic among many of the rich and famous,” according to a new report.

Attorney General Denise George has sued the late pedophile’s estate, subpoenaing logs for each of his four helicopters and three planes from 1998 until his suicide last year at a Manhattan federal jail, the Mirror reported.

She additionally is seeking “complaints or reports of potentially suspicious conduct” and any personal notes written by the pilots, and names and contact information for all those who “interacted with or observed” Epstein or any passengers connected to him, according to the outlet.

George’s suit alleges 22 counts, including aggravated rape, child abuse and neglect, human trafficking, forced labor and prostitution.

Back in 2009, pilot David Rodgers provided logs that revealed that Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and Naomi Campbell were on board Epstein’s “Lolita Express” jet, according to the report.

Nothing suggests that they were aware of Epstein’s misconduct.

But the 2009 logs did not include flights piloted by Larry Visoski, who flew for Epstein for over a quarter-century, lawyers for the victims told the Mirror.

“The records that have been subpoenaed will make the ones Rodgers provided look like a Post-it note,” a legal source told the outlet. “There is panic among many of the rich and famous.”

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, who is being held in jail on charges that she conspired with Epstein to sexually abuse young women, often piloted helicopters to the disgraced money manager’s private island.

https://nypost.com/2020/09/21/names-from-jeffrey-epsteins-flight-logs-could-be-revealed/

Draft-era ‘shark attacks’ on Army infantry recruits are over

An initiation developed during the Army’s draft years to help drill sergeants establish “psychological dominance” over infantry trainees has been replaced by a new event intended to emphasize teamwork and trust, according to the Army Infantry School’s senior enlisted soldier.

The decades-old "shark attack” was marked by drill sergeants yelling in trainees' faces as they stepped off the buses at Fort Benning, Georgia, ordering them to perform exercises using loaded duffel bags and instilling a sense of submission in trainees on their first day of training.

“The cornerstones of the event were to establish dominance and authority using intimidation and fear," Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Fortenberry said in a video presenting the school’s new “First 100 Yards” event at the 2020 Maneuver Warfighter Conference, which occurred virtually Sept. 9-10.

“Drill sergeants were charged with assessing the trainees ability to handle stress, singling out the perceived undesirables by enveloping them in a manner that emulated a shark attack,” Fortenberry said.

“This activity, however, does not instill the spirit of the infantry. It betrays the innate trust between teammates and worse, betrays the crucial bond of trust with our leaders,” Fortenberry added.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2020/09/21/draft-era-shark-attacks-on-army-infantry-recruits-are-over/