Defense of the Republic of the Philippines

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/05/uss-portland-conducts-laser-weapon-system-demonstrator-lwsd-test/

USS Portland Conducts Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) Test
23 May 2020

LWSD is a high-energy laser weapon system demonstrator developed by the Office of Naval Research and installed on Portland for an at-sea demonstration. LWSD’s operational employment on a Pacific Fleet ship is the first system-level implementation of a high-energy class solid-state laser. The laser system was developed by Northrup Grumman, with full System and Ship Integration and Testing led by NSWC Dahlgren and Port Hueneme. 

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The U.S. Navy has been developing directed-energy weapons (DEWs), to include lasers, since the 1960s. DEWs are defined as electromagnetic systems capable of converting chemical or electrical energy to radiated energy and focusing it on a target, resulting in physical damage that degrades, neutralizes, defeats, or destroys an adversarial capability.

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PT-76B light amphibious tank (Picture source Army Recognition)

Mosquito night navigation inspires new UAV obstacle avoidance system | Air Recognition - 19 May 2020 09:46

Nocturnal mosquitoes navigate in the dark without crashing into surfaces. When they land on humans or other animals to feed, they do it very gently in order to remain stealthy; being noticed could spell disaster. Since these nocturnal mosquitoes cannot see what they are doing with their eyes, they use a different sensory mode – mechanosensing.

Mosquitoes, and other flying animals, fly by accelerating the air around them, creating fast jets beneath each flapping wing. These jets change shape in the presence of obstacles such as the ground or walls.

Thanks to an exquisitely sensitive array of receptors at the base of the antennae on mosquitoes’ heads, called the Johnston’s organ, the mosquito is capable of detecting these changes in airflow patterns. The researchers called this “aerodynamic imaging”: it gives the mosquito a picture of the world around them even in the dark and when they cannot feel surfaces by physical contact.

The team used computational fluid dynamics simulations, based on high-speed recordings of mosquito flight, to investigate the effects of the ground and walls on airflows around the body. They discovered a trend: the Johnston’s organs on the antennae detect airflow changes very easily at low altitude, with the response diminishing at higher altitudes, until the threshold for detection is not met.

They were surprised to see that one of the locations with the largest differences in airflow patterns occurs above the head, which means that the insects’ antennae were optimally positioned to sense these changes despite being farthest away from the ground.

Aeroplane and helicopter pilots will be familiar with a phenomenon called ‘ground effect’ which tends to come into play when very close to the ground, usually noticeable at an altitude lower than two wing lengths.

Using their new data, the researchers predicted the maximum distance at which the Culex mosquito can detect surfaces: more than 20 wing lengths, which is far larger than the expected distance for detection based on existing aerodynamic models.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/12/asia-pacific/science-health-asia-pacific/us-senate-taiwan-who/#.Xsfx1S5MTwc

U.S. Senate joins calls for Taiwan to regain WHO observer status

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill seeking the restoration of Taiwan’s observer status with the World Health Organization, escalating an international campaign to push back against Chinese efforts to isolate the island.

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The Senate vote Monday is part of a push by China’s critics in the U.S. and elsewhere to use the coronavirus pandemic to strengthen Taiwan’s official and unofficial diplomatic relationships. Beijing, which considers island part of its territory, has blocked its participation in the WHO since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016 and refused to accept that both belong to “one China.”

https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com/2018/06/03/philippine-air-force-aerospace-museum-part-ii/


A modified WW2 era Dodge truck used as a parade vehicle for the Air Force Commander alongside Air Force Jeeps – PAF Aerospace Museum (April 2018)

Photo from acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com

https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com/2018/05/26/philippine-air-force-aerospace-museum-part-i/

Alongside the S-62B is a less luxurious and more utilitarian Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw (S-58), which was used by the PAF as a troop transport and utility helicopter for aerial photography, mapping and intelligence gathering work from 1969 to 1974. They were also used by the 505th Air Rescue Squadron from 1969 to 1980.

Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw (S-58) transport helicopter – PAF Aerospace Museum (April 2018)

Photo from acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com

See Also:
* Martial Law Anniversary (1972)
* The legacy of Martial Law

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How one ship might have changed the course of the Marcos Regime
Dec 11 2018

Editor’s note: Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New Peoples’ Army, asked for arms and monetary support from China’s communist Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Famed geologist and left-wing revolutionary Rolando Peña navigated the MV Karagatan, a wooden-hulled boat consigned to carry arms from Fukien to the Philippines in 1972. The arms landing was intercepted by the Philippine military. A second arms landing was undertaken in 1974, this time aboard a ship called the MV Andrea. Peña was aboard the ship when it hit the Pratas reef near Hong Kong and Taiwan, and a series of almost comical misfortunes befell the beleaguered crew. Below is his account of events as they unfolded.

(Rolando Peña, arguably the country’s most important geologist and a key figure in the Communist movement against Ferdinand Marcos, passed away on November 30, 2018.)

We were on a boat towards the Asian Mainland, this reef on the South China Sea. There were strong winds, and gray skies. The captain got seasick on the second day, and we were left on our own to steer the boat to its destination, but were told especially not to touch the reefs. But there seemed to be a siren song borne by the winds that blew us smack into the Pratas reef, 170 nautical miles southeast of Hong Kong. Only a siren song—no sirens. Ulysses would have been disappointed. This jolt engineered by the gods was probably meant to cure the captain of his seasickness because he was suddenly up and about.

We were advised not to touch the reefs. Especially not the [Pratas] reef, a dot on the map! The boat was tilted precariously on the edge of the reef—we could hardly walk fore and aft, starboard and port.

As fate would have it, a scavenger ship from Hong Kong came by to get steel plates from a big wreck on Pratas reef. So, we were installed in a corner of the Falcon while the Hong Kong crew cut the steel plates away. One day, as they cut away with an acetylene torch, they ignited a fuel container and a gust of wind set a fire whirling through the hull. We all scampered to safety. When the fire subsided, a few of us went aboard to check our things. But another gust of wind set off corridors of fire. I ran across and hid in what used to be a bathroom. When the wind died down, we all fled back to safety. No injury, but I lost my eyelashes and I was spitting black mucus for a couple of days.

When the Hong Kong crew was nearing the end of their work, a ship appeared into view. There was a flash, and then a thud. They must be taking pictures. Then another flash, and another thud. They were firing cannons! As the Falcon neared, the ship started firing its machine guns. The Hong Kong crew panicked. As they tried to run for their lives, one or two got wounded. The incoming ship was the supply vessel of the Taiwanese Navy which has a base on the other side of the Pratas reef. They were doing target practice, so we were told to hoist a white sheet aboard the Falcon to let them know that there were civilian people in the wreck. The incoming ship turned back and the engineer and interpreter of the Hong Kong ship went to the Taiwanese naval base to complain. On their return, they started packing up and told us to wait for them, as they would be coming back for us. As the sun went down, we took down a lifeboat and let the sea currents take us somewhere—maybe Vietnam. But the Hong Kong crew came back and we were taken to Hong Kong.

The story for us to tell was that we were adrift in the sea because our vessel sank and we were picked up by a rescue ship. We stayed in Victoria Detention Centre in Hong Kong for a few days and were later taken to mainland China as asylum seekers.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/11/18/how-one-ship-might-have-changed-the-course-of-the-marcos-regime