Sponsored By Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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24 Oct 19. At AOC 2019, Teledyne Unveils a New VPX Transceiver that Delivers the Fastest Tuning Available in the Industry. Microwave Transceiver also boasts the industry’s best-in-class phase noise performance in a 6U form factor. At this week’s annual Association of Old Crows (AOC) Symposium, Teledyne Defense Electronics (TDE) will be featuring its latest advancement in VPX modular technology, a 6U VPX Transceiver with the fastest tuning and lowest phase noise performance available on the market today.
For more information, visit Teledyne booth 711 next week at the 2019 AOC event in Washington, DC. A demonstration unit of the VPX Transceiver will be available in the Teledyne booth for visitors to see.
Teledyne developed the Transceiver on a modular platform to address the industry’s interest in compressing development cycles and planning for technology insertion in program life extensions. This broadband 6-18 GHz VPX card is ideal for meeting the increasingly demanding requirements of today’s microwave Transceiver applications in an open systems-based platform. In addition to its new standard-setting phase noise and tuning performance levels, the 6U Transceiver offers a high dynamic range and built-in LO generation with external system reference.
At a weight of <2.75 kg, the TSA-219040 Transceiver is a compact, ruggedized, and air-cooled system with 75W maximum power consumption.
“This is an exciting first step in delivering Teledyne Microwave’s ‘best-of-breed’ family of modular solutions. The architecture allows for tailoring to meet the customer’s needs in terms of tuning speed, phase noise, IBW, and frequency range. We anticipate this Transceiver will attract strong interest from customers and we encourage everyone to view the demo unit and meet our team at AOC next week,” said Mike Penta, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for TDE.
Sample Specifications:
- High dynamic range:
o RF coverage: 6 to 18 GHz, 1GHz IBW
o Noise Figure: 17 dB typical
o Phase Noise: 1 MHz @ -113 dBc/Hz
o Linear dynamic range: 90 dB (with 1 MHz BW)
- External system reference:
o Tuning speed: 5.0 µs max (to within 10 kHz) single-tone, internally generated spurious: -80 dBm (@ -10 dBm input and max gain)
o Reference Frequency Input: (10-100 MHz)
Teledyne Defense Electronics’ deep pool of engineering expertise makes it a “go-to” supplier for customers looking for products that can deliver the highest reliability in the harshest environments, require close cooperation between the customer and the vendor, and meet the toughest SWaP specifications.
(Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
26 Sep 19. USAF Explores Opportunity Call. The Air Force Explore Opportunity Call seeks transformational Capability Ideas that address one of the following Functional Challenges and advance at least one of the five Strategic Capabilities outlined in the Air Force Science and Technology Strategy. Capability Idea submissions will be similar to that of a 2-3 page white paper and will require elements such as an idea maturation plan consisting of aggressive, short duration applied research and development efforts to assess the operational viability and demonstrate feasibility of transformational warfighter capabilities including their associated business and use cases.
Idea Maturation Plans can demonstrate operational viability and feasibility of the Capability Idea through various approaches including, but not limited to: modeling & simulation, military utility experimentation, exercise participation, technical analysis, technology maturation, risk reduction activities, and subject matter expertise input.
To guide these Capability Ideas, the Air Force is issuing a series of functional challenges beginning with the following three:
— In-Flight Rearming and Refueling
— Personnel Recovery Kit Delivery
— Vehicle Tracking Through Commercial Imagery
In-Flight Rearming and Refueling
The Air Force envisions future scenarios in which runways on their forward main operating bases are destroyed shortly after aircraft have been sent on missions. One approach to keep operations flowing while the runways are being repaired may be to re-arm and refuel aircraft in flight. This may be required several times before landing at another operating location with functioning runways.
The Air Force is interested in transformational Capability Ideas for in-flight rearming and refueling to preserve a competitive advantage and maintain operations in the future battlefield. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Air Force Research Laboratory)
24 Oct 19. TMD announces a ‘world’s first’ in portable cold atom technology. TMD Technologies Limited (TMD), world leading West London based manufacturer of equipment for the high-tech microwave and quantum technologies industries, has announced the gMOT, the world’s first portable grating magneto-optical trap for compact cold atom systems.
In partnership with
Manufactured by TMD’s Quantum Team in close working association with its academic and scientific partners the University of Strathclyde, University of Glasgow and Kelvin Nanotechnology Limited, the gMOT was built and tested at TMD’s manufacturing and design facility in Hayes, West London.
Emphasising the importance of this quantum breakthrough, the gMOT was displayed by Strathclyde University on its stand at the recent Photonex Europe exhibition in Coventry, and will be on show on TMD’s stand at the prestigious National Quantum Technologies Showcase in London in November.
Said Richard Patrick, TMD’s Head of Business Development: “We started working with Strathclyde University some three years ago, on an accelerator account to design compact vacuum cells. This scientific aspect has now become increasingly relevant to compact cold atomic sensor and clock development, and as a result of its work in this important field TMD is now an active member of the National Quantum Technologies Programme.” (see below).
Continued Dr Edward Boughton, TMD’s Engineering Manager, Applied Science: “The gMOT project has been an exciting challenge for us. We are delighted at the successful outcome and applaud the work of our scientific partners. From TMD’s point of view the key to this achievement has been the multi-disciplinary strengths that it possesses – including familiarity with uncommon elements, extensive experience of ultra-high vacuum design, and unbeatable skill at precision assembly of dissimilar materials.”
Summing up, Richard Patrick said: “Atomic clocks, in particular, are an important facet of our everyday lives in this fast-expanding quantum world. Atomic clocks developed in the Quantum 2.0 programme have the potential to provide a valuable alternative and back-up to GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) – used as either stand-alone timing solutions on a platform or as ‘hold-over’ clocks should the GNSS signal become unavailable, unreliable or degraded.”
UK National Quantum Technologies Programme
The UK National Quantum Technologies Programme is a government initiative involving investment in excess of £600m over 10 years and is aimed at accelerating the translation of quantum technologies into the marketplace. The programme supports investment in research, innovation, and technology demonstration to help UK industry commercialise these new technologies.
24 Oct 19. Integrated mast options emerge for Korea’s KDDX. Models of two new integrated mast designs for South Korea’s Next-Generation Destroyer (KDDX) programme were shown by LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Defense at the MADEX show in Busan. The separately developed designs incorporate a range of sensors – most prominently fixed X- and S-band multifunction radar arrays (MFRs) – and communications, electronic support measures, and electronic countermeasure system antennas within an enclosed mast structure.
Hanwha’s design is an evolution of the integrated mast developed for the Republic of Korea Navy’s (RoKN’s) FFX Batch III frigate programme, while LIG Nex1’s version is a clean sheet design.
Both MFR designs are based on Gallium Nitride (GaN) technologies, with LIG Nex1’s using “GaN on Diamond” high electron mobility transistors. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
24 Oct 19. Trimble’s New Compact GNSS Board for UAS. Trimble has introduced a compact, high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) board specifically designed for unmanned aerial systems (UAS)—the Trimble UAS1. The board’s simple connectivity and configuration allow UAS system integrators to easily add satellite-based positioning—with the ability to upgrade its capabilities—using rugged connectors and Trimble’s easy-to-use software interface.
The new UAS1 incorporates the latest Trimble Maxwell technology with advances in high-precision GNSS positioning. The GNSS engine with 336 channels is capable of tracking L1/L2 frequencies from the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou constellations for robust centimeter-level, real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning.
The compact Trimble UAS1 board includes a broad range of receiver capabilities—from high-accuracy GPS only to full GNSS features for positioning. Firmware options and features are password upgradeable, allowing functionality to be added as requirements change. The receiver also supports Fault Detection and Exclusion (FDE) and Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM). System integrators also have the ability to detect interference with the included RF Spectrum Monitoring and Analysis tool embedded in the receiver.
“UAS manufacturers demand high performance, reliability and high-quality customized support for their positioning solutions,” said Thomas Utzmeier, general manager of Trimble’s Integrated Technologies Division. “The new UAS1 board delivers the latest GNSS technology in an easy-to-integrate form factor for UAV / UAS applications.”
Designed for easy integration and rugged dependability, the Trimble UAS1 has a Remote Network Driver Interface Specification (RNDIS) that enables manufacturers to access the web UI with the USB connector. As with similar Trimble embedded boards and modules, easy-to-use software commands can simplify integration and reduce development times. Features also include integrated Trimble RTX technology, an industry-standard camera hot-shoe interface to geo-position photographs and LED indicators for status checks. The Trimble UAS1 can also output to RINEX, a common post-processing format.
The Trimble UAS1 supports Trimble CenterPoint RTX GNSS corrections, which enable precise and robust positioning without the use of a base station via a subscription service. CenterPoint RTX allows users to achieve better than 2 centimeter horizontal and 5 centimeter vertical accuracy.
Trimble’s UAS1 is ideal for UAS applications requiring centimeter accuracy in a small package. Manufactured and tested to Trimble’s highest quality standards, the compact design allows for easy setup, configuration and installation in a customers’ system. Using a full metal shield (71mm x 46mm x 13mm form factor), the board’s design enables high-precision GNSS signal protection from electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the host UAS platform. In addition, the receiver is FCC and CE certified, which speeds compliance for the customer’s overall system and can reduce time to market. (Source: UAS VISION)
08 Oct 19. Hyperstealth Corp. Discloses Patent Pending Invisibility Cloak. Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. announces their four patent applications which are all related to their Quantum Stealth (Light Bending Material), otherwise known as the Invisibility Cloak.
The information within the four patents has been released by Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. with over 100 minutes of videos demonstrating the prototype materials which are available to watch directly from their website www.hyperstealth.com.
The first patent application is Quantum Stealth, light bending material. True invisibility was thought to be impossible by most physicists. Not only does the material hide a target in the visible spectrum but Guy demonstrates that it also bends in the Ultraviolet, Infrared and Shortwave Infrared while it blocks the Thermal Spectrum, making it a true “Broadband Invisibility Cloak”.
There is no power source. It is paper-thin and inexpensive. It can hide a person, a vehicle, a ship, spacecraft and buildings. The patent discusses 13 versions of the material and the patent allows for many more configurations. One piece of Quantum Stealth can work in any environment, in any season at any time of the day or night, something no other camouflage is capable of.
The second patent application is a new “Solar Panel Amplifier” which uses the same lens material that is a key component of all four patents. It has demonstrated to provide more than triple the output of an equal thin film control panel and almost triple that of a monocrystalline panel.
Guy was able to far surpass the Maximum specified Output determined by the manufactures on the three main panel types; Thin Film, Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline panels. The maximum output is determined by the amount of solar radiation available on the Equator at noon on a clear day. Guy’s tests were done near Vancouver, Canada with only 1/3 the solar radiation available compared to the equator.
This means that higher latitudes with low solar radiation may now be just as viable for solar panels as it is in lower latitudes.
The third patent application is simply called “Display System” but it’s capable of producing holographic-like images with the addition of a powered projector. The holodeck from Star Trek is one step closer. The patent office has already reviewed this patent application.
The fourth patent application is Laser Scattering, Deviation & Manipulation: In the videos, Guy demonstrates splitting a single laser into over 3,888,000 smaller lasers. What can you do with that many lasers?
You can add it to a LIDAR system (Lasers that behave like Radars) which typically use one laser, a spinning mirror and an optical receiver to determine the surroundings. These are found on the new self-driving vehicles, typically they are mounted on the roof and spin around.
Increasing one laser to millions should allow for ultra-high resolution at much longer distances, allowing the computers to determine dangerous conditions or objects much quicker allowing for much safer transit for both the vehicle and pedestrians and animals near roads.
This could also allow for aircraft detection and tracking and would work on conventional or stealth aircraft from long distances. The battlefield may be swept by this new multimillion laser LIDAR system allowing for unprecedented detail of any adversarial soldiers and equipment, regardless of their camouflage or camouflage nets. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp)
21 Oct 19. A trio of new General Micro Systems products won Best of Show from Military Embedded Systems magazine this week at the Association for the United States Army (AUSA) conference. TITAN, the first sealed, fanless and conduction-cooled rackmount server with artificial intelligence (AI) and mil-circular (38999) connectors for superior ruggedness, won in the Embedded Computers category; the S422-SW Thunder server family won in Rugged Computers, and the X422 Lightning mobile system won in AI.
“We’re extremely proud that these new products were recognized for what we know they are – among the most innovative, rugged, and reliable technologies available for the battlefield today,” said Ben Sharfi, chief architect and CEO, General Micro Systems. “The TITAN and Lightning servers and the Thunder coprocessor provide varying degrees of performance and size along with artificial intelligence and conduction-cooling capabilities to reliably run the next-gen applications designed to ensure our military can compete and win any fight.”
The award-winning trifecta of servers, all designed, sourced, and manufactured in America, comprises:
- TITAN: In addition to being sealed, fanless, and conduction cooled, this 10-slot configurable rackmount server uses up to four of Intel’s latest 2nd-gen Scalable Xeon® processors, with all features coming together in a 1U or 2U chassis to provide the performance, mil-spec reliability, and complete silence required for extremely rugged battlefield environments .
- S422-SW Thunder: Also offering conduction cooling, the S422 is a conduction-cooled, fanless, rugged, low-cost Intel Xeon® E5 server operating over –40°C to +85°C. It is ideal for applications that require the horsepower of a high-performance server with 30-port enterprise-class LAN or a NAS subsystem appliance, while deployed into a rugged platform with no fans required.
- X422 Lightning: The X422-AI is a fanless, fully rugged, cascadable coprocessor system, configured as an AI algorithm engine when equipped with dual NVIDIA® V100 general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPU) boasting over 400 TFLOPS .
The Thunder and Lightning can be used separately or combined, bringing a massive amount of server processing power, 10/40/100 Gigabit networking ports for sensors, and GPGPU AI to the battlefield for the first time in two shoebox-sized rugged chassis designed to survive the harshest conditions where regular rackmount servers cannot.
- TITAN high-resolution image: https://www.gms4sbc.com/press/titan
- TITAN datasheet: https://www.gms4sbc.com/products/servers/item/titan
- S422 high-resolution images: https://www.gms4sbc.com/press/S422
- S422 datasheet: https://www.gms4sbc.com/press/S422/thunder
- X422 high resolution image : https://www.gms4sbc.com/press/X422
- X422 datasheet: https://www.gms4sbc.com/press/X422/lightning
21 Oct 19. Satcom Direct (SD), the business aviation solutions provider, releases SD PostFlight today at NBAA – BACE 2019 – booth C10217. The industry-first, web-based software, automatically populates the aircraft flight log with all available data relating to flight times and cycle events for each leg of a journey. The automated and timely record keeping precision of critical flight data reduces pilot workload, minimizes human error and improves operational efficiency by synchronizing the flight department, crew and maintenance teams with autonomous flight log information.
The aircraft movement data is delivered via SD’s datalink service, FlightDeck Freedom®, and is immediately captured after each flight event. The information is accurate to the minute and autonomously populated in SD Pro®, providing all flight operation team members with instant, direct access to the data. The increased accuracy of data can extend the time between scheduled maintenance events reducing aircraft down time and improving maintenance budget management.
In addition, data from SD PostFlight can be integrated with third party maintenance management tracking systems, including CAMP, MyCMP, and FlightDocs. To support warranty programs, customers can also choose to have data pushed to engine OEMs, with Rolls-Royce already signed up to receive operational performance records.
Supporting the SD philosophy of providing customers with agnostic, tailored solutions, SD PostFlight is also available as an independent module that can integrate with third-party scheduling systems through an intelligent API. The product’s ability to instantly and exactly record complex information marks SD’s first foray into aviation data management.
“In a digital age, it is essential that we provide our customers with a highly accurate way of collecting, aggregating, and storing flight data. It increases the visibility of the aircraft’s actual performance, can help optimize aircraft usage, improve maintenance efficiency and eliminate errors inevitable from a paper-based record keeping system,” says President of SD Business Aviation, Chris Moore. “We can improve safety too by effectively communicating with maintenance tracking systems and reducing crew workload, all of which is highly valuable to an operator. ”
To support the near real-time recording, the SD Crew mobile app allows pilots to log Out, Off, On, and In (OOOI) times, fuel levels and fuel uplift, crew data, and leg notes off-line to make logging and verification more timely and accurate. Future releases will capture flight expenses and accommodation costs, which can improve accounting accuracy for flight departments.
21 Oct 19. Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and AirMap, the leading global airspace intelligence platform for drones, have integrated AirMap’s unmanned aerial systems (UAS) monitoring capabilities onto a working prototype of Raytheon’s next-generation air traffic controller workstation called Multi-platform ATC Re-hosting Solution, or MARS.
With this integration, MARS now offers air traffic controllers streamlined access to UAS monitoring designed to improve the safety of drone integration. The MARS workstation integrates commercial off-the-shelf technologies into a consolidated touchscreen display that provides access to multiple automation applications at one workstation, without changing re-hosted applications.
“When drones fly in controlled airspace, they’re sharing the skies with many other types of aircraft,” said Matt Gilligan, vice president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. “Air traffic controllers need real-time airspace awareness and alerts to unusual drone activity; it’s a key step on the path toward safe drone integration into the national airspace system.”
AirMap’s intelligent airspace management tools, such as real-time remote identification, airspace authorization, and dynamic geofencing provide air traffic controllers access to UAS flight data through automated digital technologies.
In the virtual demonstration, the AirMap technology alerts the MARS user of a drone exhibiting unusual or non-conforming flight behavior within the controlled airspace surrounding a major airport.
“Air traffic controllers, as well as UAS operators and manned aircraft pilots, need situational awareness,” said Ben Marcus, Chairman and Co-founder of AirMap. “With Raytheon, we’re working to optimize how controllers can be armed with information about UAS without burdensome increases in workload.”
21 Oct 19. The EuroDASS consortium (Leonardo, Elettronica, Indra and HENSOLDT), which provides the Praetorian Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) for the Eurofighter Typhoon, has launched its concept for the future of DASS, called “Praetorian Evolution”. The launch took place at the EuroDASS Future Capability user conference, which was attended by senior military and industry figures from the UK, Italy, Germany and Spain.
The existing Praetorian DASS equips the Typhoon with protection from threats including Infra-Red (IR or heat-seeking) and radar-guided missiles. Integrated sensors and jamming equipment also provide situational awareness and a digital stealth capability, achieved through advanced electronic deception techniques. The system has protected crews for over 20 years, including on peace-keeping operations in Libya and Syria.
However, the Typhoon’s traditional position of air dominance could face threats in the future from the rapidly evolving nature of air and surface threats such as Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS). Praetorian Evolution is the proposed roadmap to ensure the Typhoon retains its world-class level of protection for decades to come.
Praetorian Evolution will also look beyond the traditional protective role of DASS. In the future battlespace, the role of Typhoon will evolve and its DASS will need to do more to keep the fighter at the heart of the future fleet mix, alongside 5th generation and future platforms. Praetorian Evolution will propose a number of advanced new capabilities including multi-platform Electronic Warfare and combat ISR functions such as high-precision targeting and advanced combat ID.
As Praetorian evolves to meet these future requirements, the EuroDASS partners recognise that value-for-money must be at the heart of this fundamental upgrade. Praetorian Evolution’s all-digital architecture will ensure ease of future upgrades, while life cycle costs will be optimised. This will also be an opportunity to take advantage of the latest hardware advances to increase the reliability and reduced integrated logistics support requirements.
18 Oct 19. Strathclyde quantum technology partnership secures funds to back collaboration which could lead to new drug design and energy distribution. A University of Strathclyde-led quantum technology partnership, which is aiming to develop some of the world’s most powerful computers, has secured funding worth a total of £4.6m.
Researchers at Strathclyde and photonics and quantum technology company M Squared are collaborating to develop advanced computing technology, which could strengthen banking security, enhance traffic management and support aerospace security.
The partners aim to work with FinTech and aerospace businesses to deliver significant advancements in the UK’s quantum capabilities.
Where more conventional computers operate on a binary system of zeroes and ones, quantum computers work on a system of qubits, which can be zeroes and ones simultaneously.
As the number of qubits increases, the power of these computers rises dramatically, with each additional atom doubling the computers capacity.
The new project is targeting 100 qubits, offering more computational power than even the largest available supercomputer.
The research has gained £2.6m in Prosperity Partnership funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of UK Research and Innovation, while M Squared has invested a further £1.7m, and Strathclyde has contributed £300,000.
Future applications of the technology developed in this partnership include accelerated drug design for improved healthcare, novel materials for aerospace and manufacturing and the speed-up of optimisation problems including improved efficiency in across the National grid.
Prosperity Partnership grants are awarded to projects that build links between the UK’s research base and leading industry partners.
The project will complement the work of the UK-wide Quantum Technology Hubs, which explore the properties of quantum mechanics and how they can be harnessed for use in technology. Strathclyde is the only university which is a partner in all four of the hubs.
Strathclyde’s lead in the Prosperity Partnership project is Dr Jonathan Pritchard, a Research Fellow in the University’s Department of Physics.
He said: “We are really excited to have secured significant funding to develop this new experimental platform, which is currently not supported within the quantum technology hubs but which offers the potential to be truly disruptive in its ability to scale in future to extremely large numbers of qubits.
“This is great opportunity, both for Strathclyde and for the UK as a whole, to establish new capability by working directly with global leaders in supplying commercial laser systems to quantum computing activities.
“This project will develop a new platform for quantum computing, based on scalable arrays of neutral atoms, and will work together with partners from industries including security and defence, aerospace and fintech to establish applications where this new quantum computer can deliver advantage.”
Dr Graeme Malcolm, CEO and founder at M Squared, added: “This partnership with the University of Strathclyde is a demonstration of the scientific community harnessing the enormous benefits of collaboration between world-leading research institutions and advanced industry in the quest to develop frontier technologies.
The funding announcement follows the recent opening by M Squared of a quantum research facility, based in Strathclyde’s Inovo building in Glasgow City Innovation District. (Source: Google/https://www.businesscloud.co.uk)
21 Oct 19. Azerbaijan and EHang confirm development of UAV control centre. Azerbaijan Airlines (AZANS), the air navigation services provider for the Republic of Azerbaijan, signed an agreement with EHang in early October to develop a command and control centre to control UAV traffic at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport at Baku and prevent the unauthorized use of UAVs. The centre is due to be fully integrated with the Azerbaijani air traffic control system, which serves more than 500 aircraft daily, 300 of which are transit flights over Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev is an early adopter of Cloud technology as part of its commitment to advanced aviation and airspace management.
The command and control centre is designed to equip AZANS with technologies including 3D mapping and terrain scanning to support airfield design and aerial navigation map development. A future web application could include UAV and pilot registration information, certification documents and permissions for flight procedures. As part of the agreement, EHang will also train UAV specialists at the National Academy of Aviation of Azerbaijan and build a UAV management simulator complex.
This latest agreement follows announcement of a partnership between AZANS, EHang and Abraham Technologies Ltd at World ATM Congress in March 2019 to create an integrated ATC/UTM command control centre for Azerbaijan where EHang and Abraham are combining UAV command control and air traffic management automation. (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
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Oxley Group Ltd
Oxley specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced electronic and electro-optic components and systems for air, land and sea applications within the military sector. Established in 1942, Oxley has manufacturing facilities in the UK and USA and enjoys representation worldwide. The company’s products include night vision and LED lighting, data capture systems and electronic components. Oxley has pioneered the development of night vision compatible lighting. It offers a total package incorporating optical filters, equipment modification, cockpit and external lighting along with fleet wide upgrade services including engineering, installation, support, maintenance and training. The company’s long experience of manufacturing night vision lighting and LED indicators, coupled with advances in LED technology, has enabled it to develop LED solutions to replace incandescent and fluorescent lighting in existing applications as well as becoming the lighting option of choice in new applications such as portable military hospitals, UAV control stations and communication shelters.
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