The military thinks bolstering its presence in the Arctic is necessary, but that may not be enough to make it happen

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A U.S. Army Alaska soldier with Bravo Company, 3-21 Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade scans the Arctic tundra outside Deadhorse during Operation Arctic Pegasus, Nov. 4, 2015. (Capt. Richard Packer / U.S. Army)


WASHINGTON — An otherwise complete military strategy for the U.S. Arctic is on hold during the transition between presidential administrations, but Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan shared what he knows of its contents — including concerns about growing Russian aggression in the region.


100 FLYING  AIRCRAFT CARRIER POWERED BY Turboelectric Distributed Propulsion Engine WILL DOMINATE THE ARCTIC REGION AND ITS RESOURCES

My conceptual design will be without the potruding nose but an upward deck where the planes can be launched in a 30 degree angle at the bow. The wings are fixed and a hybrid Blended Wing Body (BWB). The BWB is a type of tailless flying wing design in which the wing and fuselage are blended together into one seamless body in order to achieve significant improvements in performance over the conventional aircraft, example shown in Fig. 67. Unlike the flying wing design, in which the entire body of the aircraft is a wing, the BWB has a fuselage that is designed as a wing. Therefore, the BWB has a fuselage section that is thicker than the flying wing which allows it to accommodate more payloads. And, unlike a conventional aircraft, the BWB's fuselage acts as a lifting body allowing it to generate lift, rather than acting as an interference component

It will have two twin vertcal stabilizer situated halfway on the wings slanted outward from bow to aft, as the wings will be the whole length of the ship. All engines will be on the other side of the vertcal stabilizer allowing for a clean flight deck and safety for deck personnel.

These aircraft carrier will be manned by a company of marines who will take care of crewing, maintenance, part of the amphivious force. It will be armed with super lasers, SAM, UAV, anti ship missles.

For assault vehicles, the marines will be provided with light weight GXV-T with super lasers as weapons of defense.

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  The Ground X-Vehicle Technology program (GXV-T) will develop an array of technology in four areas for the combat machines: radically enhanced mobility, survivability through agility, crew augmentation and signature management. The program is looking at new capabilities that will allow the machines to travel up steep slopes and travel around uneven elevations

  
  

  
  

  GXV-T also plans to explore ways to provide semi-autonomous driver assistance and the augmentation of key functions. And although the vehicle will be able to see for miles, it will be designed with infrared, acoustic and electromagnetic stealth capabilities to reduce detectable signatures

  'The consequences of a malfunction or enemy hacking of an autonomous weapon could be severe.'

  Autonomous weapons are not being used by any nation at the moment, but some have deployed unmanned vehicles in combat zones.

  If the security systems safeguarding the autonomous technology can be overridden by hackers, it could cause havoc on the battlefield.

  'There have been efforts to harden the data link's encryption to make the connection with the operator more secure,' said Huw Williams, editor of IHS Jane's International Defence Review.

  'It remains a concern, no encryption is perfect and there is still the danger that a data link can be broken.'

  Hijacking risks will increase as the system becomes more automated, regardless if the platform is still controlled by a human operator. 

  
  

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  'We're exploring a variety of potentially groundbreaking technologies, all of which are designed to improve vehicle mobility, vehicle survivability and crew safety and performance without piling on armor,' said Major Orlowski. DARPA said the US Army and Marine Corps have expressed interest in future GXV-T capabilities
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• The amphivious GEV craft can be used as a mobile platform for artillery and missles launchers dropping the need for heavy guns on wheels. The goal here is to deploy a division of fighting men anywhere in the world in less than 30 hrs. Imagine these GEV as flying LST that can deploy inland and move anywhere as fast 300 mph avoiding the enemy. 

Placing the Engine The BWB program is examining a new method for engine installation that promises to increase safety and fuel efficiency. Three advanced “high-bypass ratio” engines will be buried in the trailing edge of the outer section of the BWB wing, allowing the center of the craft free for flight deck use. While conventional aircraft engines only take in “free-stream air,” both the air on and near the surface of the wing will flow through the BWB’s curved inlets and into its engines. Taking in the layer of air on the wing surface reduces drag. While this technology will require validation before becoming a reality, researchers are initiating tests to determine acceptable levels of turbulence in the engine inlet

Turboelectric Distributed Propulsion Engine Cycle Analysis for Hybrid-Wing-Body Aircraft

Seaplane conceptual design and sizing

Visionary Concept: Future Seaplane Transport 5.1. Introduction During the years of 1950 – 1980, the world was experiencing an exponential growth in technological advances due to the superpower rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The aeronautical industry as well got caught in this expansion of technological exploration. The empirical guidelines during those days were: higher, further, and faster. In the late 1990’s, this exponential growth reached it maximum peak. 

The fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill included a requirement that the Defense Department come up with a comprehensive strategy — known as an "O Plan" — for the Arctic. But the plan was not released before President Barack Obama left office and is currently hanging in limbo while new top officials take control of the federal workforce.

Sullivan said the new strategy document, though not yet approved by the administration of President Donald Trump, acknowledges the major changes to the Arctic region driven by Russian activity.

"Over the last two years, Russia has continued its massive buildup of the Arctic," Sullivan said Tuesday at a meeting held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies here. In the Arctic, Russia has added four new brigade combat teams, a new Arctic command, and 14 new operational airfields, with a goal of 50 airfields by 2020, Sullivan said. The nation has added 16 deep-water ports and has 40 icebreakers, with 11 new icebreakers in development. That all comes as Russia has laid claim to a vast swath of Arctic Ocean seabed as under agreements governing extended continental shelves and increased its long-range air patrols, Sullivan said.

And a recent Russian Arctic military exercise included "45,000 troops, 3,300 military vehicles, 41 ships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft," Sullivan said.

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An oil-rich tribe, their jealous white neighbors, and a tale of murder most foul: Rare images from the FBI's first EVER homicide investigation surface 96 years later

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• In 1920s, the Bureau of Investigations probed murders of Osage tribe
• Dozens of members of the tribe were killed in just a few years after striking oil
• Agents uncovered plot by a white family to marry into tribal families before killing them off to inherit their mineral rights
• Rare images from the investigation have been uncovered by author David Grann

When the Osage tribe struck oil on their reservation in the late 1800s, life seemed good. They bought cars, built mansions, sent their children to private schools.

But less than 30 years later, dozens of them had been killed. Shot, poisoned, blown up in their own homes - and nobody knew who was behind it.

That was until a new federal agency, the Bureau of Investigations and its director J Edgar Hoover, were brought in to crack the case.

Their investigation, and the conspiracy it uncovered, has been documented in rare photographs brought to light in a new book.

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When their tribe struck oil in the 1920s, Mollie Burkhart and her family (left) became some of the wealthiest people in America. But they were soon the target of a ruthless campaign of murder by William Hale (with his sister and wife, right)

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The Osage bought a reservation in remote northeastern Oklahoma in the mid-1800s in the hopes they would be left alone by settlers who pushed them off their old lands

But by the end of the century the discovery of oil brought the tribe immense wealth, and renewed interest from the federal government

The true-life murder story is chronicled in Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann, and published by Simon and Schuster.

'It was a story I had never heard about, never read about in any history book,' he told Wired.

'An historian had mentioned it to me, and I decided to go out to the Osage nation, which still exists in northeast Oklahoma. 

'I got there and I went to the museum. At the time I didn't know the museum director, Kathryn Red Corn.

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Mollie eventually married a white man, Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of William Hale. They had two children together

'There's a large panoramic photograph on the wall, taken in 1923, but it's missing a panel. I'd said to Kathryn, "What happened to that panel?" And she'd said, "It was too painful to look at". 

'She pointed to the missing panel and she said, "The devil was standing right there".

'They had a copy of the missing panel, and she brought it up and she showed it to me. And there, in the corner, she identified one of the killers of the Osage. 

'And that's when I decided: OK, I want to know who that devil was.'

The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target and her relatives were shot and poisoned.

More and more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances and many people who dared investigate the killings were murdered.

The Bureau of Investigation, later renamed the FBI, took up the case as the death toll climbed but had to turn to a former Texas Ranger for help after bungling the initial stages.

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover asked Tom White to unravel the mystery. Mr White put in place an undercover team, who alongside the Osage, exposed a chilling conspiracy.

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In 1921, Mollie's sister disappeared and was found shot dead in this ravine. Two months later her mother, Lizzie, was dead from poisoning. Her other sister, Rita, then died in an explosion

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Eventually the Bureau of Investigations was brought in to investigate. They enlisted the help of a Texas Ranger named Tom White who led an undercover team that uncovered a conspiracy

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The investigation found huge corruption by white 'guardians' brought in to help the Osage spent their oil money, including members of the Al Spencer Gang (pictured in a mock hold-up)

In its undercover investigation, the FBI found that several murders in one family were found to have been committed by a gang led by William 'King of Osage Hills' Hale.

His goal was to gain the oil royalty headrights and wealth of several tribe members, including his nephew's Osage wife, the last survivor of her family.

Three men were convicted and sentenced in this case, but dozens of other murders went unsolved, and many believe their killers were let off the hook.

The investigation also uncovered extensive corruption among local officials involved in the Osage guardian program - largely white lawyers brought in by the federal government to help the Native Americans 'manage' their new wealth.

As a result of the Reign of Terror, as it was known, and the subsequent investigation Congress changed the law to prohibit non-Osage from inheriting headrights from Osage with half or more Native American ancestry.

It transpired that Mollie's family were being killed off by her own husband, under the direction of Hale, who was trying to inherit the rights to her oil-rich lands (pictured, Mollie left, and with her sisters, right)

The chilling case was uncovered by author David Grann who published the details in a new book (pictured, the Osage reservation today)

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