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Daily News
By Gail Helmer

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Tuesday September 25, 2001

PC News

New Battlefield 1942 Screens
EA has sent us the latest screenshots from Digital Illusions upcoming title Battlefield 1942. Set in WWII players can storm the beaches of Normandy, direct artillery at Kursk, pilot a fighter at Midway, shell an airstrip at Gaudalcanal, and command a tank in Tobruk. Battlefield 1942 is multiplayer-focused with support for up to 64 players, there will be a mode for single player action. Playing as an infantry officer, gamers will be able to operate many weapons of war available to the Axis and Allies as well as command numerous land vehicles, ships and aircraft. With larger craft such as a bomber or battleship, the game will allow players to choose what stations they will serve - pilot, gunner, captain, bombardier, etc. Originally slated to appear in stores in September, the game is now scheduled to debut in Spring 2002. Previous Coverage

Operation Flashpoint Add-on Announced
Operation Flashpoint’s Cold War crisis is about to be turned on its head. Players of Codemasters’ military simulator will soon be given the chance to fight on the side of the Soviet force, the enemy in the original campaign. This new perspective will be revealed when Codemasters launches Operation Flashpoint: Red Hammer in the UK and online this December. The add-on will require the original Operation Flashpoint.

The Red Hammer expansion will deliver a new campaign with 20 new missions, a new lead character, new Russian accent voices, and fresh cut scenes. Red Hammer sees the player back on the islands, only this time as Dmitri Lukin of the Soviet force. Dmitri is a highly trained professional killer who has suffered demotion in recent times. More ruthless and menacing than the raw American recruits who populated the original game, Dmitri starts as a grunt as the invasion of Everon Island begins.

Loyal to the cause and to Mother Russia, his early missions have him escorting General Guba’s aide and fighting his way out when ambushed by Resistance forces. During the subsequent invasion of Malden Island, Dmitri finds himself cut off and behind enemy lines. Charged with rebuilding his unit, scavenging equipment, and harrying entrenched U.S. forces, players must ensure Dmitri’s safe return to Everon by employing successful guerrilla tactics and helicopter-stealing escapes.

Commanche 4 Screenshots
Novalogic has released new screenshots from Comanche 4. Based on the U.S. Army's next generation armed reconnaissance helicopter - the RAH-66 by Boeing-Sikorsky. Players will get to fly with the Comanche's signature low-altitude capabilities into real-world locations including urban settings and rural environments around the world such as tropical islands, desolate deserts and lush, tree-laden jungles. The game showcases new graphics, including realistic rotor wash effects both on the water and the ground. Comanche 4 will also feature a 3-D virtual cockpit and weapons of destruction including the 20mm cannon, 70 mm rockets, air-to-air and heat-seeking AIM-9 Stingers and the laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missile. Release Date: November 2001.



New IL-2 Sturmovik Movie
Ubi Soft has released a new dogfight movie featuring the BF-109G. Download Now

New 'War Vote' Virus Deletes Computer Files
(Reuters) - Computer security experts on Monday warned of a new virus that deletes files while masquerading as a program that will allow people to vote on whether the United States should go to war over the Sept. 11 hijacker attacks.

The "Vote Virus," which so far is not widespread, circulates via e-mail to users of Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT.O Outlook e-mail program, said Simon Perry, vice president of security solutions at Computer Associates International Inc. CA.N. [More...]

Military News

F-22 Raptor Proves Combat Capability
The F-22 Combined Test Force here completed another major program milestone Sept. 21. Air Force test pilot Maj. Brian Ernisse launched a guided AIM-120 advanced-medium-range air-to-air missile and successfully scored a lethal "hit" on an unmanned target aircraft. The missile flew within lethal range of the target and, from preliminary data analysis, was assessed a kill. The test, using Raptor 4005, proves the aircraft's avionics suite can track and destroy a target, officials said.



The integrated avionics and situational awareness the system provides to the pilot is one of four key attributes that make the F-22 Raptor better than any fighter in the world for the foreseeable future, said F-22 combined test director, Col. Chris Seat. The fighter's other attributes are stealth, super cruise and agility.

"This first guided-missile launch shows that the avionics system is well on the way to supporting the F-22's ability to find and identify an adversary, shoot before the adversary and obtain the kill," Seat said. "We call this 'first look, first shoot, first kill,' and this capability will ensure the United States has the overwhelming advantage in any future potential conflicts.

"We hope an adversary's knowledge of the awesome capabilities of the F-22 would be enough to deter any threatening actions, but if engaged we don't want a fair fight, we want to win decisively," Seat said.

The flight test was performed over the Pacific Missile Test Range that runs along the southern California coastline, at about 40,000 feet at subsonic airspeed. While specific details of the test profile remain sensitive, the aircraft's performance continued to exceed the capabilities of all other fighter aircraft in use, officials said.

"With each flight test we are proving the awesome capabilities of the F-22, and there is no doubt this aircraft will provide the United States military with a huge force protection advantage for decades to come," Ernisse said.

The launch was the final flight-test milestone out of three completed this fiscal year. Earlier milestones demonstrated the F-22's radar detection capabilities and the aircraft's ability to release the AIM-120 and the AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles at high angles of attack.

The combined test force at Edwards is currently testing five F-22s. Since the start of testing nearly three years ago, the F-22 test program has flown more than 1,375 hours and completed more than 610 flight-test sorties.

The test team here is focused on continuing envelope expansion and avionics suite verification, as the aircraft's next flight-test objective.

SMArt 155 Munition Repeats 100-Percent Reliability
ATK (Alliant Techsystems) said GIWS, Nuremberg, Germany, ATK's industry partner on the SMArt(R) 155 sensor-fuzed munition system program, again achieved 100-percent reliability in a series of gun-fired tests conducted recently for the German government --repeating the outstanding results of similar tests held in April.

Of the 14 SMArt 155 submunitions delivered over the target array during the lot acceptance tests held earlier this month, the system achieved seven target hits, seven near misses, and 100-percent reliability during adverse weather conditions that included high winds, low ceilings, and heavy precipitation. The tests, which were held at government-owned proving grounds in Meppen, Germany, were part of the SMArt 155 production program for the German Army. GIWS is under contract to produce 9,000 SMArt 155 projectiles over the next several years.

"The successful lot acceptance test conducted this month demonstrates again the superior performance of the SMArt 155 system against any other 155mm smart artillery projectile," said Michael McCann, president, ATK Ammunition Systems Company, Arden Hills, Minn. "We are very pleased with the results achieved by our partner GIWS in these critical tests."

In November 2000, ATK and GIWS entered into an exclusive agreement under which ATK will manufacture and offer for sale in the U.S. the SMArt 155 system. The agreement calls for GIWS to transfer the technology for SMArt 155 to ATK Ammunition Systems Company, which will be the prime contractor for the manufacture of the projectiles, submunitions, and other components, and will market the product in the U.S.

In full-rate production for the German Army by GIWS since 1998, SMArt 155 is an advanced "fire and forget" smart projectile for use in all 155mm artillery systems that employs a millimeter wave radar, radiometer, and an infrared sensor to defeat artillery and armored targets in all weather and environmental conditions.

DoD Authorizes Stop Loss
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has delegated his "stop-loss" authority to the heads of the military departments. The stop-loss program allows the Services to retain individuals on active duty beyond their date of separation. Those affected by the order generally cannot retire or leave the service as long as reserves are called to active duty or until relieved by the President, whichever is earlier.

Stop-loss was last used during Operation Allied Force over Kosovo. In 1990, then President George Bush delegated stop-loss authority to the Secretary of Defense during Operation Desert Shield. That delegation remains valid today.

The Services are adopting various forms of stop-loss. They generally will target the program at servicemembers with critical military occupations.

The Air Force has already applied stop-loss to all active, Guard, and reserve forces, stopping all separations and retirements for at least 30 days. This will not apply to those with an approved separation on or before Oct. 1, 2001. The Air Force will continue to review and revise the policy as circumstances dictate.

The Army has no immediate plans to implement stop-loss, while the Navy plans a limited stop-loss affecting approximately 10,500 people in 11 critical specialties. The Marine Corps expects to complete its stop-loss plan later this week.

Most involuntary discharges would not be affected by stop-loss, nor will stop-loss change any policies or regulations currently in effect that might lead to an administrative discharge.

Attorney General, FBI Director Tour Damaged Pentagon Site
Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III visited 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) soldiers at the site of the badly damaged Pentagon Sept. 19. Ashcroft and Mueller stopped briefly at the Old Guard soldiers' tent and shook their hands. Pfc. John Nash, involved in the search and cleanup efforts since the Pentagon attack, was on hand at the time.

"They told us what a good job we were doing," Nash said. "It made me feel good that they came out to see us and the job we have been doing here."

After viewing the heavily damaged side of the Pentagon, Ashcroft vowed, "We will intensify in every respect all that we can do, not only to understand, pursue, and identify and punish those individuals who are responsible and the network associated. We will take every possible action to make sure this kind of injury and assault on America does not happen again."

Ashcroft praised everyone involved in the search, rescue and recovery efforts at the Pentagon.

"I want to thank those individuals, who without regard in many instances to their own safety and security -- and certainly working through fatigue and discomfort and various serious condition -- they have done a wonderful job," he said.

Staff Sgt. Michael Brooks, an Old Guard soldier who has been involved in the search, recovery and cleanup, said he appreciated the visit.

"I think it was great that the attorney general had taken time out to come and thank us for the job we had done," Brooks said. "I have been inside the Pentagon working every day, and the destruction is so severe. The mass structure has been reduced to rubble."

The soldiers, like all who are searching through the debris in the Pentagon, wear chemical suits, rubber gloves, hard hats and respirators when inside.

"There is fuel from the plane in the building and we are taking every precaution by wearing this protective equipment," said Pfc. Dennis Leto.

Leading Pilots Union Wants Guns in Cockpit
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying air crews face a new kind of threat, the president of the largest U.S. pilots union said on Tuesday he wants to arm them as a last line of defense against hijackers. Duane Woerth, chief of the Air Line Pilots Association, will ask Congress later in the day at a House of Representatives hearing to support the plan two weeks after hijackers seized four airliners and used three of them to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. [More...]


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