Stealth helicopter on USA Attack in Osama Killing Mission

Is not very surprise when finally we know that USA use stealth helicopter in their killing operation. We always know that USA has state of the art of military technology, and now they prove it.
In Medio 2000 USA start din developing stealth helicopter based on BlackHawk design. They dubb is as RAH-66 Comanche but this project cancelled in 2004. Personally I didnt trust that the Amercan cancelled their ambiton to develop stealth copter. Maybe they canceled this projet, but start (or may be just continude ) another secret project.

US and China increase their defence cooperation with Indonesia

DENPASAR, Indonesia -- In the tussle for influence in Southeast Asia, the United States and China have long been competing for Indonesia's affections. The strategically positioned, resource-rich archipelago is a prized partner in an era of fuel shortages and the global war on terror. But Washington and Beijing have lately expanded their courtship of Jakarta from the traditional areas of trade agreements, foreign direct investment, market access and technical assistance, to increasingly include offers of military hardware and military cooperation.

This three-way dance began in 2005, when China and Indonesia announced their "Strategic Partnership." At the same time, the U.S. partly normalized military-to-military ties with Indonesia after an embargo imposed in the 1990s due to the human rights abuses in East Timor by the Indonesian military (TNI).

Beijing took an early lead in this race for influence. The Indonesia-China Strategic Partnership marked a breakthrough in the relationship between the two giant neighbors and sent alarm bells ringing in Washington. The agreement sought to expand the political, cultural and military-security aspects of the bilateral relationship. In terms of the latter, in particular, it committed the two countries to developing each other's defense industries, establishing a defense consultation mechanism, and increasing cooperation between their law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the fight against transnational security threats.

In July 2005, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Beijing and signed a memorandum of understanding on defense technology cooperation for the development of short- and medium-range missiles. Jakarta also placed a $11 million order for YJ-82/C-802 anti-ship missiles.

In 2006, Indonesia-China Defense Security Consultation talks were inaugurated, causing significant concern in Washington. The warming ties between Jakarta and Beijing led to two Chinese warships visiting Indonesia in March 2007, the first such visit in more than 12 years.

A draft agreement on defense cooperation was then signed in the second Defense Security Consultation Talks a month later, covering defense technology cooperation, exchange of military students and the possibility of further arms sales to Indonesia.

In January 2008, the two countries further agreed to cooperate in the joint production of military transport vehicles and aircraft, to be developed by the two countries' state-owned defense industries. The same year, China's NORINCO and Indonesia's Pindad signed a deal to jointly develop rocket launchers and accompanying ammunition. An agreement was also reached on setting up a TNI-PLA cooperation committee, with a view to arranging joint military and training exercises.

China's charm offensive, however, has led to little tangible results, as the Jamestown Foundation's China Brief argued last year. For all the talks, no contractual production agreements have been signed thus far. Sino-Indonesian military exchanges have also been limited, and no more large orders of Chinese-manufactured military hardware have been placed by Jakarta.

One potential explanation for the slowdown is the United States' renewed efforts to restore relations with Indonesia. Though the groundwork had been laid in previous years, the speed with which the U.S. moved to regain the upper hand in the contest for Jakarta's sympathies over the last 12 months has been quite remarkable.

In March 2010, a U.S. Air Force technical team carried out critical in-country safety and maintenance reviews of the Indonesian air force's of U.S.-built aircraft. This was followed by the signing in early June of a wide-ranging agreement -- the Framework Arrangement on Cooperative Activities in the Field of Defense -- intended to integrate existing defense collaboration between the two countries, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia.

The same month, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron R. Hume inaugurated a $56 million program to fund production of coastal and shipboard radar systems at the Batam Regional Maritime Command Center. The systems included 16 coastal radars, 11 shipboard radars, one set of headquarters equipment and two regional command centers, according to information on the official Web site of the U.S. embassy.

In July, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta told Jane's that it was processing a range of Indonesian requests for services and equipment from the U.S. Department of Defense. It also indicated that Washington intended to position itself as a key military supplier to Indonesia.

Just what that meant became clearer when Indonesia Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro expressed Jakarta's intention to buy U.S.-built F-16 and C-130H Hercules aircraft during a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Jakarta on July 22. The purchase would be funded by the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, a U.S. grant provided to foreign governments to fund the purchase of U.S.-made weapons, services and training.

After the lifting of the U.S. military embargo, Indonesia received nearly $1 million in FMF funds in 2006. That has climbed to $20 million this year.

While in Jakarta, Gates also announced that Washington had lifted its ban on cooperation with Kopassus, the TNI's controversial special forces. The restriction had been the last remaining embargo on bilateral military-to-military ties.

But Washington's reversal of fortune does not mean that Beijing is accepting defeat. China has designated 2010, "The Year of China-Indonesia Friendship," to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. High-ranking Chinese officials have already traveled to Jakarta this year to propose, among other things, the establishment of a joint council to facilitate increased levels of joint military production. Beijing has also offered additional C-802 anti-ship missiles as well as a range of naval vessels.

While Jakarta is considering its options, there are rumors that Yudhoyono may ask for an increase in Indonesia's FMF allocation when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Indonesia later this year. Against such a backdrop, Obama -- who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia -- will find it difficult to refuse.

Fabio Scarpello is the Southeast Asia correspondent for the Italian news agency Adnkronos International. He is based in Denpasar, Indonesia.

src:http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/6282/u-s-china-court-indonesia-with-arms-and-military-ties

US will resume their ties with Kopassus

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Jakarta Thursday to discuss the possible resumption of military ties with Indonesian special forces. The United States announced Thursday it was resuming military ties with Indonesian special forces after a 12-year pause.

Gates, who arrived from a visit to Seoul, was due to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro later Thursday. The US defence chief was expected to discuss the possibility of resuming training for an elite Indonesian military unit as part of growing counter-insurgency and intelligence cooperation with Jakarta.

But the move would be controversial as the Kopassus unit has been implicated in human rights abuses, including in East Timor, and some players in US Congress have opposed embracing the force before it has accounted for its past. The United States broke off ties with the Kopassus in 1998 under a law banning cooperation with foreign troops implicated in rights abuses.

source: www.kompas.co.id

The Indonesian special forces are accused of committing abuses in East Timor and Aceh under then dictator Suharto in the 1990s. The administration of President Barack Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, sees the country as an increasingly important player in East Asia and key ally in the Muslim worl

China warned USA : USA arm sales to Taiwan

China's government summoned the U.S. ambassador related plan to sell weapons worth U.S. 6.5 billion dollars to Taiwan. In the summons U.S. ambassador was told the consequences of arms sales to Taiwan for China relations and American bilatereal. This added problem after the tension of the problems associated with the Internet search engine GOOGLE.

Draft Defense Department budget avoids weapons cuts, adds aircraft

Draft Defense Department budget avoids weapons cuts, adds aircraft

By Greg Jaffe and Craig Whitlock

Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Obama administration's 2011 defense budget avoids the controversial weapons cuts of last year, according to a draft copy, and continues to shift modest amounts of money to weapons programs such as helicopters, unmanned planes and Special Operations units that are in heavy use Afghanistan and Iraq.

The more than $700 billion budget will be released Monday with a congressionally mandated review of defense spending. That review calls on the Pentagon to focus more attention on wars in which enemy forces hide among the populace and use roadside bombs and hit-and-run ambushes to attack U.S. troops. The Quadrennial Defense review also predicts a future dominated by "hybrid" wars, in which traditional states will fight more like guerrillas and insurgents will arm themselves with increasingly sophisticated technology, such as antitank weapons and missiles.

The bold pronouncements in the review, however, won't drive big changes in the Pentagon budget, which is dominated by massive weapons programs with powerful constituencies in Congress and the defense industry.

"I think the review gets the diagnosis right on the big external challenges facing the Defense Department, but at the end of the day, the preexisting mismatch between the strategy and the [budget] program still exists," said Jim Thomas, who played a key role in writing the last quadrennial review and is now a vice president at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Despite the language about new threats, a December draft of the quadrennial review doesn't mention the F-35 fighter jet program, which remains one of the largest and most expensive programs in the history of the military and has been in development for more than a decade.

Although Obama has proposed a three-year freeze on federal spending, he has exempted the Pentagon from these limits, allowing an increase of about 2 percent when the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are stripped out of the budget. In addition to the more than $700 billion budget, the president will also ask for about $33 billion to pay for the surge of about 30,000 troops into Afghanistan.

Much of the new spending in the 2011 budget will be directed to weapons programs in heavy use in Afghanistan. The budget calls on the Air Force to double the number of MQ-9 Reapers, which are unmanned planes that can carry precision bombs, over the next several years. The extra planes will allow the Air Force to increase from about 37 to 65 the number of long-range, unmanned surveillance aircraft that it can keep airborne during combat missions.

The Army and Marine Corps will get almost $10 billion for helicopters, which have been essential to moving troops across Afghanistan and have been in short supply since the beginning of the war in 2001. The budget also calls for increasing spending for Special Operations forces by about 6 percent, to $6.3 billion. Those forces have played a central role in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, where they have trained indigenous counterterrorism troops.

The Pentagon's quadrennial review will formally scrap its past construct for determining the size of the force, which held that the military should be able to fight two major regional conflicts simultaneously. The review argues that the Pentagon today faces a much broader array of potential threats, including terrorism, stabilization missions and guerrilla wars, and acknowledges that in the near term, the demands of Iraq and Afghanistan will play the major role in determining the size of the U.S. military.

In contrast with last year, when Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates eliminated or curtailed several expensive conventional weapons programs, including the F-22 fighter jet, the new budget includes no major weapons cancellations and is likely to draw plaudits from the defense industry. For years defense industry executives have predicted that spending would be curtailed.

"You have to wonder whether the tough year is ever going to come," said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a defense think tank.

The lack of big weapons cuts is causing some outcry from congressional Democrats. "I don't think that we have to protect military contractors. And I want to make that distinction very clearly," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.). "I do not think the entire defense budget should be exempted."

src:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012904235.html?wprss=rss_world/mideast

Pakistan RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle

The United States plans to provide Pakistan RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles to support their fight on extremists, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates confirmed today during a roundtable session with Pakistani reporters.

Pakistan to receive 12 RQ-7 Shadow UAV from U.S.A.

http://www.defenseworld.net/go/defensenews.jsp?id=4050

U.S.S independence: First Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Commissioned

First Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Commissioned
January 22, 2010 by Matthew Potter
Filed under: Business Line, Companies, Events, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman Corp., Services, U.S. Navy, development program, production program

In the last week the U.S. Navy commissioned the General Dynamics built U.S.S. Independence (LCS-2). LCS-1 is under construction by Northrop Grumman. The original plan for the class was to have each company build about half. The two designs are completely different to say the least with GD building a tri-marine hull and Northrop a more traditional one. Both ships are outfitted the same with weapons and sensors. The U.S.S. Freedom (LCS-1) and the Independence are ships around 400 feet long and displacing about 3,000 tons.

If all goes well the Navy will build up to 55 of the ships. The most recent plan discussed was after completion of these two and one more to each design that a new contract will be competed and only one design will be built. Both ships have suffered from cost and schedule overruns and the optimistic initial cost assumptions were not met leading to the program restructure. If the plan is executed these ships and the new destroyer will be the main force of the U.S. Navy after 2020.

China Said to Close Gap With U.S. Missile Defense in Monday Test Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010

China Said to Close Gap With U.S. Missile Defense in Monday Test

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010

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China's missile defense test on Monday made it the second country to destroy an incoming missile target beyond the Earth's atmosphere, the South China Morning Post reported (see GSN, Jan. 12).

The United States was the first state to demonstrate such a capability, according to the report.

Beijing's accomplishment is proof of its advanced missile defense capabilities and also shows that it now has sophisticated radar technology, the newspaper stated.

Three years ago, China took the international community by surprise when it targeted and shot down one of its old weather satellites with a missile (see GSN, Jan. 19, 2007). This led to worries that the country might seek to remove the satellites of other nations.

The 2007 event was a much simpler feat than Monday's test as the satellite's flight course was known beforehand and because it had no protective capabilities, said retired People's Liberation Army Gen. Xu Guangyu.

This week's missile interception was more complicated as the incoming target's high velocity allowed only minutes for identified and targeted and for an interceptor to be fired.

"Satellite interception is like shooting a beer bottle. Missile interception is like shooting ducks," Xu said. "Monday's announcement marked a milestone in China's active defense strategy. Midcourse missile interception requires superior technology and equipment."

Though some wondered whether the missile interception was just simulated by computers, the U.S. Defense Department said it had ascertained unusual action above the Earth's atmosphere.

China has been following and analyzing U.S. technology for more than 10 years and its navy, army and air force each possess a ballistic missile defense program, according to military research documents.

Monday's successful interception does not mean that development of China's missile defenses is finished, Xu said.

"In comparison with the U.S., we still have a lot of work to do," Xu said. "In particular, we need more better and more powerful early warning satellites. The missile defense system's base should not be on the ground, but in space" (Stephen Chen, South China Morning Post I, Jan. 13).

Kanwa Defense Review editor Andrei Chang said the test could lead nations including India, Japan and Russia to pursue defenses against ballistic missiles, the Post reported. It could also be cause for worry among some nations in the region that possess ICBMs, according to the article (Kristine Kwok, South China Morning Post II, Jan. 13).

USMC V-22 Osprey Finds Groove In Afghanistan

USMC V-22 Osprey Finds Groove In Afghanistan

By Bettina H. Chavanne Washington

The V-22 Osprey’s range and speed, the twin talents of the aircraft most heavily promoted by the U.S. Marine Corps, are revealing themselves in Afghanistan, as readiness and reliability numbers begin to climb steadily throughout the fleet. Lt. Gen. George Trautman, deputy commandant for aviation, says the level of hostile action experienced by the V-22s in Afghanistan is slightly higher than in Iraq. He calls Afghanistan “a different fight. There’s more kinetic work to be done.” Yet he takes exception to those who criticized the aircraft’s performance in Iraq. “Uninformed critics said we babied the aircraft [there],” he says, noting that the V-22 primarily ferried passengers and cargo, the primary mission of assault-support aircraft. “Because peace broke out, it didn’t do much in the way of [flying] into the heart of enemy assaults.” In Afghanistan however, the Osprey has flown several combat missions, one in support of Special Operations Command. “Just a couple of aircraft in the middle of the night, [flew directly] into the enemy stronghold,” says Trautman. “It was a complete mission success.” Additionally, during major operations in Now Zad, in the Helmand Province, Marine Corps’ Ospreys arrived from different directions at 3 a.m. “with speed and range the enemy didn’t expect,” Trautman says. “The Osprey was the most important participant in getting a reinforced company into that town in short order.” More important, the Osprey flew “two loads in the time it took the CH-53 to do one.” The aircraft has also been beefed up recently with an all-quadrant gun, which rolls on and off. There are five guns in theater for 10 V-22s, and Trautman anticipates more in the future. Marine Corps senior leadership has been building its case against V-22 critics for decades. With operations in Afghanistan clearly demonstrating the flexibility of the aircraft in combat, the task stateside is to continue doggedly chipping away at low reliability and readiness numbers. These efforts are starting to yield results. The Osprey’s readiness rate has hovered at about 62% for months, but operations in Afghanistan have seen that number rising steadily, according to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, who cites numbers in the 70-80% range. “It’s on that trajectory” to 90%, he claimed enthusiastically at the Pentagon last month. Trautman, who is tracking V-22 readiness rates across the entire fleet, says Block B aircraft are at 65%. “We can trend up to the 70s [percent range] with aggressive sparing.” The goal for the Marines is “to drive home operational readiness and mission dependability,” says V-22 program manager Col. Greg Masiello. “My top three initiatives are simple: availability, affordability and execution.” Both Trautman and Masiello push constantly for improvement, leaning on the Bell-Boeing manufacturing team to drive more efficiency into the maintenance process and support increased depot-level work by the Marines. Masiello calls it “a full-court press on readiness and reduction in cost,” with a focus on the overall fleet, not just operational aircraft. USMC V-22 Osprey Finds Groove In Afghanistan Jan 12, 2010 By Bettina H. Chavanne Washington “We spend lots of time putting plans in place,” Masiello says. “It takes discipline and tenacity to make sure we’re executing to plan.” He is looking beyond the current contract to a second multi-year contract. “The time to do that is now,” he insists, noting that thinking strategically, and garnering support for future efforts will pay off down the road. “I need to continue to purchase [the V-22] and provide stability in the industrial base and in fielding the aircraft.” Topping Masiello’s wish list is a new, fully instrumented test aircraft—an unusual, and unusually urgent, request. “People ask why I’m prioritizing a developmental test aircraft” for an aircraft that has already been fielded, says Masiello. The program office, based at NAS Patuxent River, Md., already has one structural test aircraft in the hangar, but it is the No. 8 airplane. “It’s the oldest aircraft we have flying,” Masiello says. “And it’s exorbitant to operate,” costing about 330 maintenance man-hours per flight hour. Why is a test aircraft so important at this stage in the V-22’s service life? Block C modifications are already underway, several new squadrons are being stood up stateside—MV-22s at Miramar, Calif., and CV-22s at Cannon AFB, N.M.—and the aircraft is flying at high tempo in Afghanistan. “We’re broadening the footprint of the program operationally,” Masiello says. “That brings some challenges to make sure we have the right support across the nation and the globe.” Masiello’s primary focus for today’s fleet is building “a robust capability throughout our operating bases” and for deployed aircraft. An up-to-date test article would provide the opportunity to field future aircraft with properly tested advanced capabilities. The services should know how best to exploit all the V-22’s capabilities today, Masiello says. Sometimes, he notes, “we don’t make huge changes on the aircraft, we tweak the software. Testing [software] on an instrumented aircraft tells me” if there are going to be any second-order effects that might require changes before being sent out to the fleet. Looking much further down the road, a modernized test aircraft would eventually prove helpful in mapping out a service life-extension program (SLEP) for the V-22, Masiello says. “We need structural testing done . . . and envelope expansion” for high-altitude operations. A new instrumented aircraft package costs $65 million, according to Masiello. He has put in a request for an Osprey test platform, but recognizes that a tight budget may limit his options, and says he hopes not to feel an “adverse impact” from the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review. Despite that, Masiello says an instrumented test aircraft is essential. “I believe it has to be done, and we’ll continue to champion the case.” Throughout the fleet, Masiello says, he wants to ensure “we’re not addressing only new capabilities, but [examining] other inherent benefits to retrofitting [new capabilities] and prioritizing” which aircraft will receive the upgrade. As the fleet grows, so does the bill to maintain and upgrade it. Masiello says he has met with Bell-Boeing on reducing costs. “We’re making sure we set goals,” he continues. “We don’t target specific things like [operations in] Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s about the fleet in general.” The entire fleet, he adds, should always be “ready for combatant commanders to use where and when they need it.” Trautman has had his own conversations with Bell-Boeing, with an eye to building aircraft readiness directly into the contract. “The key is getting contractual arrangements exactly right,” he says, “and allowing the contracts to catch up to the way the V-22 is actually performing.” One result of his efforts: in January, Bell-Boeing will sign a firm, fixed-price contract for performance-based logistics with the Marines. “This is a very long program in development, but a very new aircraft in operational use,” Masiello says. “We’re learning every day what will help us mature it.” Photo: US Navy source :http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awst/2010/01/11/AW_01_11_2010_p44-193636.xml&headline=USMC%20V-22%20Osprey%20Finds%20Groove%20In%20Afghanistan

FOCUS: U.S. military eyes Guam as staging post to counter threats

FOCUS: U.S. military eyes Guam as staging post to counter threats
source:http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=13543

HAGATNA, Guam, Jan 3 (Kyodo) - The United States plans to fortify Guam, upgrading its military base on the island into a strategic staging post that would allow rapid access to potential flashpoints in the Pacific region.

More troops, including 9,182 Marines, army soldiers and their dependents from Okinawa, Japan, will be relocated to this island, while more than 9,000 transient troops, mainly from the navy's carrier strike group, will also be based here.

The ''overarching purpose'' of beefing up Guam as a military fortress is ''to provide mutual defense, deter aggression, and dissuade coercion in the Western Pacific Region, according to a draft impact report recently released by the U.S. Defense Department.

The proposed buildup would allow U.S. military forces to respond to regional threats and contingencies in a ''flexible'' and ''timely manner'' as they work to ''defend U.S., Japan and allied interests,'' the study says.

''Moving these forces to Guam would place them on the furthest forward element of sovereign U.S. territory in the Pacific, thereby maximizing their freedom of action,'' it says.

According to the report, the United States envisions Guam as a ''local command and control structure'' manned, equipped, trained, and sustained by a modern logistics infrastructure.

The relocation and buildup cost, including expansion of infrastructure needed to maintain a permanent base for Marines and U.S. Army troops on Guam and Tinian, an island 160 kilometers to the northeast, is pegged at $12 billion.

Japan has agreed to chip in $6.09 billion of the total.

The plan would entail ''increased operational activities,'' more frequent berthing by aircraft carriers and other warships, building aviation training ranges and upgrading of harbors, wharves and ports.

The existing Andersen Air Force Base on Guam would be expanded to include the air elements of the Marines. A new Marine base would be built ''right next door,'' the study says.

Various firing ranges would be built to meet the various training requirements of a larger military contingent.

The U.S. also plans to expand its live fire training ranges in Tinian where about 200 or more Marines could ''realistically train'' with their weapons and equipment ''without restrictions.'' Also on the drawing board is the building of a deep-draft wharf at Guam's Apra Harbor to support nuclear-powered aircraft carriers transiting through the area.

A U.S. Army ''Air and Missile Defense Task Force'' is also proposed for Guam to protect the island and U.S. forces there against the threat of harm from ballistic missile attacks.

Weapons emplacement sites would be constructed to accommodate the ''Terminal High Altitude Area Defense'' system, which is designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight.

Other emplacement sites would accommodate Patriot missiles, which are designed to strike threat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missiles just before impact.

The U.S military is beefing up its presence in Guam after U.S. allies in the Pacific -- the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Singapore -- turned down U.S. requests for permanent basing of U.S. troops on their soil.

Already concerns are being raised over plans to transform Guam into ''a multi-service military base.'' ''Some of the areas that they're planning to convert into firing ranges include pristine limestone forested areas that will require some clearing of native forest trees,'' Jeffrey Quitugua, a biologist, told Kyodo News.

Judith Guthertz, a senator in the Guam Legislature who chairs the military buildup committee, is concerned over ''land condemnation or land takings.'' ''That is a very emotional issue for the people of Guam because of what happened after World War II where the federal government condemned so much land on Guam. We don't want a repeat of that,'' she told Kyodo News in an interview.

Henry Simpson, general manager of Guam Racing Federation, said the U.S.

military aims to take his race track without even consulting him. ''They want to run over our land,'' he said.

But Paul Shintaku, executive director of the Guam Buildup Office, in the Guam governor's office, said public consultations are ongoing, with a series of fora scheduled in January to enlighten the public on the plan.

Guam's government also scoffs at fears the plan will make the island prone to attacks by U.S. enemies.

''I don't see it as painting a bigger red target on us,'' Shintaku's deputy Nora Camacho said. ''Of course we have that red light, that red circle around us...but there's a deterrence.'' (Kyodo)