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Daily News
By Gail Helmer

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Thursday October 11, 2001

PC News
Conflict Zone Demo
Conflict Zone is a 3-D real-time military strategy game with real-life consequences. Players choose to portray the softhearted ICP or the power-hungry GHOSTS. Players gather resources, build bases and fight battles, but the use of these resources must be carefully strategize, as the public eye is watching. The Conflict Zone Demo Players take control of the ICP to tackle 3 missions from the game, set across two separate environments. Download

Operation Flashpoint Flag Pack
OPF Team have released a flag pack for download 150 international flags to throw into the game. Click here for details.

Operation Flashpoint V1.26 Details
Operation Flashpoint Version 1.26 is expected to be released Friday, October 12. Below is the details of the 1.26 open Beta patch. Some of the fixes, improvements and additions to v1.26 include:

MP interface/lobby improvements

  • New: Ping to all clients displayed on server.
  • New (ded. server): Voting system for kick, restart, reassign, mission selection
  • New: Button "Disable All" to disable all AI units in role assignment screen
  • Improved: Messages "Player connected", "Player disconnected" are shown on all clients
  • Improved (ded. server): Kicking by number and via GUI.
  • Improved: more information shown while waiting in the "Game in progress" screen
MP core code improvements

  • Optimized: Small update messages are packed together to form optimum size UDP frames.
  • Optimized: Decreased lag when hitting other units.
  • Optimized: MP network bandwidth optimizations (some fields are compressed, better selection of messages to send)
  • Optimized: Server performance (CPU load) improved
  • Fixed: Client side prediction is now limited to short time only. Even when it goes wrong, it cannot dammage vehicle.
General (SP and MP) bug fixes

  • Fixed: Tank wobbling when driving South, esp. with mouse.
  • Fixed: Empty tractor and Rapid cars were flying 1 m above ground.
  • Fixed: iFeel effects did not work.
  • Fixed: When mission was saved while car was braking, car was sometimes frozen after load.
  • Fixed: Bullet tracers were missing since 1.20 (they are optional now).
  • Fixed: Player character was sprinting when running up very steep hill.
  • Fixed: ZSU and Vulcan ammo was too powerfull.
  • Fixed: AI was not using machine guns agains airborne units.
Note: listing above does not contain all bug fixes / improvements. It is a selection of most important thigs. Complete list will be available when 1.26 is out.

New Medal Of Honor Video
EA has released the newest video from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. This Part 1 of the five part series on Mission 5 Level 3 shows the deployment to the Brittany Peninsula in western France. Click here

Edge Of Chaos Patch 2
This patch upgrades all previous versions of Edge Of Chaos to version F14.6. This patch supersedes the first Edge Of Chaos Patch. You do not need to install the first patch before installing this one. The patch fixes some mission related problems, addresses some multiplayer issues, and adds some new features including enhanced user mod support and DirectX8 Multiplayer support. Download Now

Military News
Gripen Receives Austrian RFP For New Fighters
Gripen International, in which Saab of Sweden and the United Kingdom's BAE SYSTEMS have equal shares, received a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) for up to 30 new fighters from the Austrian government.

The company, which is responsible for the international marketing, contract management and support of the Gripen new-generation swing-role fighter, is confident of submitting a fully compliant response to the Austrian government tender. This will be based on the supply of Gripen, supported by a long-term programme of industrial co-operation and offset.



Roger Lantz, Gripen director Austria said "We look forward to the competition process and are confident that our industrial and financial proposals will make Gripen the most affordable choice for Austria."

Gripen International has already launched its first Austrian industrial co-operation projects, including a medical research project involving scientists from both Sweden and TU Wien in Austria and a project to develop and manufacture advanced high technology aluminium products in partnership with the Austrian company Alulight International GmbH.

Already in service with the Swedish Air Force, which has ordered 204 aircraft (including 28 two-seaters), Gripen has also been ordered by the South African Air Force which has a requirement for 28 and has been selected to meet the national, NATO and European defence needs of Hungary.

On 31 May, the Gripen team was the only bidder to submit a fully compliant response to the Czech government's tender for 24 or 36 supersonic, multi-role fighters. Last month it began negotiations with the Polish government, which is looking to procure up to 60 new fighters.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Missing
An unarmed RQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle on a routine mission in support of Operation Southern Watch was reported missing Oct. 10 in southern Iraq. The aircraft may have crashed or been shot down.

There is no plan to recover the aircraft, and no sensitive technology will be compromised by not recovering the aircraft, U.S. Central Command officials said.



On Sept. 11, a Predator was reported missing during a routine mission in support of Operation Southern Watch and subsequently declared a combat loss.

The Predator is one of many systems used for reconnaissance and surveillance to monitor Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.

To date, Iraq has fired anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles against coalition aircraft on more than 1,050 occasions since December 1998, including more than 420 this year. Iraqi aircraft have violated the southern no-fly zone more than 160 times in the same period.

UK Request For Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles
The Defense Security and Co-operation Agency has notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the United Kingdom of Javelin anti-tank missiles, associated weapons and equipment, and technical and logistical support.

The government of the United Kingdom has requested a possible sale of 550 Javelin anti-tank missile command launch units, simulators, support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical data. Additionally personnel training and equipment, US Government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, a Quality Assurance team, and other related items of logistics support are required. The estimated cost is $235 million.



The United Kingdom would use these Javelin anti-tank missile systems to enhance their medium anti-tank capability for the infantry, scouts and combat engineers. This system will provide the United Kingdom with a strong anti-landing capability and will increase interoperability with US forces.

The prime contractor will be Javelin Joint Venture (Raytheon and Lockheed Martin) of Orlando, Florida. There are no offset agreements proposed in connection with this proposed sale.

Javelin is a lightweight, man-portable shoulder-fired, fire-and-forget medium antitank weapon system designed to provide high lethality all known and projected threat armour. It includes a fire-and-forget, imaging infrared missile, and command launch unit consisting of a day sight for use in clear conditions and an imaging infrared sight for use at night and in reduced visibility. Using an arched top-attack profile, Javelin climbs above its target for improved visibility and then strikes where the armour is weakest.

Spar Receives Hercules Support Contract
Spar Aerospace Limited today announced the award of a Department of National Defence contract for the integrated support of the Canadian Forces' fleet of thirty-two (32) CC130 Hercules aircraft. The scope of the contract includes technical investigation, engineering support, publications management, and maintenance repair and overhaul of the aircraft and related components.



The work will be done at Spar's facility in Edmonton, Alberta. The contract is for one year with up to two optional years. The CC130 Hercules aircraft is the workhorse of Canadian Forces' strategic and tactical airlift operations and is also used in Air-to-Air Refuelling and Search and Rescue roles. The work to be performed under this contract will contribute to the sustainability and airworthiness of the CC130 fleet throughout its life cycle.(Photo by Mike Reyno)

U.S. Crews Assault Al Qaeda, Taliban Support Structures
U.S. aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles hit 85 percent of their 31 targets during the first two days of strikes against the Al Qaeda terrorist network and Taliban support structure inside Afghanistan, DoD officials said Oct. 9.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon press conference that strikes continue in Afghanistan for a third day. All U.S. aircrews returned safely, they said.

They said the continuing strikes were the military side of the constant pressure the U.S. government and its allies are putting on Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network and its Taliban supporters.

The strikes hit terrorist training camps, airfields, anti-aircraft radars and launchers, communications nodes and some military concentrations. Myers said the initial strikes have given the United States "air supremacy" over Afghanistan, and the secretary said the United States can now conduct operations over the country "around the clock, as we wish."

The strikes set the stage for a sustained campaign against Al Qaeda and its Taliban supporters. Rumsfeld said conditions make it easier to deliver humanitarian rations.

Myers said U.S. forces hit 13 targets with five to eight land-based bombers and 10 to 15 Navy strike aircraft. In addition, two ships and one submarine launched 15 Tomahawk missiles at targets in Afghanistan.

Two C-17 transports also dropped 37,500 Humanitarian Daily Ration packs to refugees within Afghanistan. DoD will deliver medical supplies to the Afghan refugees in the future. Rumsfeld said medical supplies would not be airdropped.

Rumsfeld and Myers would not give specifics about future campaign plans. Rumsfeld said the air attacks would concentrate on "emerging targets" and hit them as necessary. He scoffed at reports that aircrews were running out of targets. "We're not running out of targets, Afghanistan is," he said. He said the United States and its partners would continue to exercise the utmost care in selecting targets to minimize civilian casualties.

"If you try to quantify what we're doing today in terms of previous conventional wars, you're making a huge mistake," Myers said. "That is 'old think' and that will not help you to analyze what we're doing."

Rumsfeld agreed, saying the war against terrorism is a "notably different situation" from those in the past. Before, the tonnage of bombs dropped was a measure of success. Other measurements having nothing to do with the Defense Department can be just as important.

"The Department of Justice and associated agencies in other countries have arrested literally hundreds of people and are interrogating them," Myers said. "The Department of Treasury with cooperation from nations from around the globe have frozen a great many bank accounts and frozen millions of dollars of assets that are connected to terrorist organizations."

He said State Department negotiations with friends and allies continue the diplomatic pressure on nations. This has caused some nations to break off relations with the Taliban, while others "are looking to themselves and their circumstance and the extent to which they might be seen creating an environment hospitable to terrorists and making an adjustment to the way they behave."

He also said intelligence communities worldwide are receiving, processing and sharing information.

"That is not going up on a scoreboard on Wrigley Field showing what's happening," Rumsfeld said. "But it is there, and it is growing, and it is adding pressure every single day. And what has been done ... by the Department of Defense is contributing to that. It's the aggregation of that, sustained over time, that will prove to be successful."

Comfort Steams Home, Leaving Solace In Its Wake
USNS Comfort left New York and arrived at its Maryland berth in early October, its job of providing a place of respite for rescue and recovery workers at the World Trade Centers complete for the time being.

The staff of the medical treatment facility aboard the ship leaves behind a grateful city. They take with them the knowledge that healthcare can mean more than surgeries, broken bones and respiratory problems.



In all, the crew served up 17,132 meals, washed 4,426 loads of laundry, put up 11,585 overnight guests, provided space for local massage therapists to ease the muscles of more than 1,350 rescue and recovery workers, and cut the hair on 227 heads. And yes, they also provided "traditional" healthcare.

Sick call treated broken bones, dehydration, exhaustion, respiratory problems, cuts and bruises, and chest pains --561 medical visits in all.

Comfort's efforts didn't go unnoticed.

"Your contributions provided significant comfort and respite to many valiant rescue workers and reflected the determined spirit of America," wrote Adm. Robert J. Natter, commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, in a message to the ship. "Take pride in the knowledge that you accomplished your mission with energy and determination. You performed magnificently in service to your country, the city of New York, and the United States Navy. Bravo Zulu."


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