'YE' BAD BOSS OF THE 1%

Former Kanye West employee claims he was forced to work in dangerous conditions and sleep on the floor at rapper’s $57 million Malibu pad: ‘Are you trying to kill me?’

Orianna Rosa Royle
Mon, September 18, 2023

Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images — Vanity Fair

Kanye West (now Ye) is being sued by a former employee who claims he was forced to work in dangerous conditions and sleep on the floor of a property the rapper was renovating.

In the latest of many lawsuits against the rapper, Tony Saxon who was working in numerous roles at Ye's house in Malibu in 2021, claims he injured his back while on the project and had to spend days at the property with no food or bedding.

Saxon is accusing West, who legally changed his name to the two-letter moniker Ye, of labor-code violations including hazardous working conditions, unlawful wage withholding, and wrongful termination.

According to the suit filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court and reviewed by Sky News, Ye fired Saxon after he refused to remove all of the windows and electricity from his home in order to create a “bomb shelter”.

On 22 October 2021, according to the lawsuit, Saxon complained that he was "exhausted" from the long hours and needed time to rest but was ignored by Ye. Shortly after, he claims, he badly injured his back while working but his requests for time off were again ignored.

The final blow came in November 2021, when Ye allegedly sacked him for refusing to bring large power generators into the home on safety grounds.

"I said 'Are you trying to kill me? Are you trying to kill everyone that works here?' Saxon told Sky News.

"He told me, 'If you don't listen to me then you're an enemy, you're a Clinton, you're a Kardashian and I'm not going to be your friend anymore. I'm not going to give you an opportunity anymore'."

“I was a prisoner”

Ye hired Saxon, a musician who has a background in construction consultation, in September 2021 to oversee the renovation work on his newly purchased $57 million Malibu pad, according to the lawsuit.

As part of his role, Saxon says he was expected to hire contractors, coordinate workers at the house, and provide around-the-clock security for $20,000 per week. But, according to the lawsuit, Saxon received just $20,000 in total after a month on the job along with $100,000 for construction costs—he claims he is owed $1 million.

The rapper wanted to turn his 4,000-square-foot oceanfront Tadao Ando-designed property into an “open concept but off the grid” bunker, Saxon recently revealed in an Instagram post detailing his experience.

“I was living there running my ass ragged for him working 18 hours a day running 2 crews night and day for months,” Saxon wrote while adding that he “messed” his back and neck “for life” in the process.

Saxon goes on to explain that during his time working for Ye, the disgraced artist fired all security staff at the house, leaving Saxon to carry out the role alone despite the “constant onslaught of drones” flying over the property and “paparazzi showing up at all hours of the day”.

“This became dangerous as hell,” Saxon said. “I was a prisoner of the house. I couldn’t leave it alone as I was the only one with a key authorized or I trusted to live there. I was trapped.”

“I slept on a floor and he would freak out [on] me if I wasn’t wearing black,” he continued while sharing photos of his makeshift bed surrounded by bottled water and snacks.

According to the lawsuit, Saxon spent the entirety of his employment "sleeping in makeshift conditions, finding empty spaces on the ground and using his coat as a makeshift bedding".

These conditions allegedly persisted despite "constant complaints" from Saxon about his sleeping conditions and other hazards including workers "unsafely demolishing various parts of the house with no safety equipment".

Saxon's lawyer, Ron Zambrano, told Sky News: "Ye has shown a reckless disregard toward his employees and has flouted the law in unbelievably dangerous ways throughout this entire project at the Malibu house.

"No employee should have to suffer through the sort of working conditions Mr Saxon was forced to endure yet Ye showed no concern and merely wanted the work done, despite the hazardous and unsafe, not to mention illegal, actions he was trying to force the plaintiff to undertake."

Ye and his representatives didn’t respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

A growing list of lawsuits

Wednesday’s lawsuit was filed by the same attorneys suing Ye over allegations connected to his private Christian school, Donda Academy which allege violations of labor laws and educational guidelines, retaliatory practices, unsafe conditions for students, and mismanagement.

Students weren’t allowed to sit in chairs, the Holocaust was omitted from the school’s history classes, and there was no janitorial and medical staff in sight at the Southern California-based private school, according to the lawsuit filed by two former Donda teachers.

Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, the only two Black female teachers at the academy, said they were fired after expressing concerns about conditions at the school to administrators, according to a copy of their complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, reviewed by Fortune.

They’re suing Ye and three academy directors for wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation and wages they say were withheld.

Among many other suits that have been filed against Ye, one includes a paparazzi photographer who is suing Ye for assault, battery and negligence after he was caught on camera grabbing her phone and throwing it into the street.

Ye is also being sued for $4.5 Million by his former business manager, Thomas St. John, who claims he wasn’t remunerated for all of his work, meanwhile, a production company, The Phantom Labs, is similarly taking the rapper to court for allegedly not paying them $7.1m worth of work.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Fox News Asks ‘Annoying’ Vivek Ramaswamy Why He’s Still Running

Corbin Bolies
Sun, September 17, 2023 

Vivek Ramaswamy’s star has risen since the first GOP presidential debate last month—all to land him squarely in third place in a recent Fox News poll. The puzzling candidacy prompted the network itself to question Ramaswamy’s purpose in the Republican primary, particularly when Donald Trump still holds a commanding lead.

“President Trump has widened his commanding lead, I mean, at 60 percent,” Fox News Sunday moderator Shannon Bream said. “Now, many analysts say everybody else is just sort of playing for second place. You said you would not accept the vice presidential spot, so what’s the point of your campaign now?”

Ramaswamy deflected, pointing to his desire to expand upon Trump’s “America First” agenda and achieve national unity. However, how Ramaswamy has communicated those goals has rankled some people, Bream noted.

Kristen Welker’s ‘Meet the Press’ Debut Derailed by Trump Derangement

“Your profile is growing, but as it does, our polling also shows your unfavorables are up. This is the latest polling, up 12 points since we pulled this in August,” Bream said. “One recent opinion piece puts it this way: ‘Of all the descriptors attached to Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old political tyro enjoying a bizarre surge in the Republican primary race for second place, the most common one seems to be annoying.’”

The candidate brushed it off with a laugh and an attempt to spin the comment as solely an attack on his age—with a bizarre comparison to Thomas Jefferson.

“People are annoyed by my rise and believe that a 38-year-old is too young to be U.S. president,” Ramaswamy said. “The fact of the matter is Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the U.S. Declaration of Independence. He also invented the swivel chair while he was out at by the way. And so I think we need to revive that spirit. And I believe Shannon, it will take someone whose best days ahead, are still yet ahead in life, to see a country whose best days are still yet ahead of itself.”

Ramaswamy earned the network’s love following Fox News’ apparent split from Ron DeSantis’ candidacy, mentioning the candidate more than 200 times in one week according to a search of media monitoring suite TVEyes by The Daily Beast’s Confider last month. It came months after Ramaswamy met with Fox Corp. kingpin Rupert Murdoch in April.

Opinion: Trump’s gaffes should raise questions about his fitness for office

Opinion by Dean Obeidallah, CNN

Mon, September 18, 2023 

A Fox News poll released last week found that 52% of Americans don’t believe that 77-year-old Donald Trump has the “mental soundness to serve” as president. That same poll showed that 61% of Americans have the same concern about President Joe Biden, who is 80. But while there is extensive media coverage about Biden’s age and gaffes, Trump, for the most part, gets a pass.

For example, at a September 8 rally in South Dakota, the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner abruptly stopped mid-speech for 40 seconds as he awkwardly looked at the audience, his eyes darting around. Some of his supporters online asserted that Trump — who had just said the United States was “the greatest nation in the history of the world” — was overcome with emotion. Have you ever seen Trump overcome with emotion? It’s hard for me to buy that explanation.

Regardless of the reason for the pause, imagine if Biden had abruptly stopped a speech midway through and began looking around the audience for more than half a minute? Much of the media — and I don’t mean just right-wing outlets — would likely ask if Biden had become confused or had fallen ill, or if the teleprompter stopped working and he wasn’t mentally able to fill the time? Such a clip of Biden would probably be played nonstop on cable news and dissected by pundits and even doctors specializing in cognitive issues.

But with Trump, there was no notice, although Frank Bruni took note of his lapses into incoherence in a New York Times column last week with the headline “Trump Is Really Old, Too.”

Then there was Trump’s gaffe-filled speech Friday at the Washington, DC, Pray Vote Stand Summit that some observers dubbed a “word salad.” But that framing is not close to what happened. Trump — who faces 91 felony charges in four criminal cases — confusingly invoked former President Barack Obama’s name twice and apparently forgot World War II had already happened.

After calling Biden “cognitively impaired” (talk about irony!), Trump claimed the president was leading us into World War II. Of course, that global conflict ended in 1945, a year before Trump was born.

Trump then mistakenly referred to Obama in two instances. First Trump declared, “As you know, crooked Joe Biden and the radical left thugs have weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading political opponent, and leading by a lot, including Obama — I’ll tell you what.” Obviously, Obama is not running for president in 2024.

Trump later stated, “With Obama, we won an election that everyone said couldn’t be won.” Apparently realizing his mistake, Trump then quickly said, “Hillary Clinton,” who was his opponent in 2016.

Again, if Biden had made those types of mistakes, many in the media likely would have covered them as part of the narrative that the octogenarian president lacks the mental soundness to do the job for another four years.

Besides these mistakes, there’s another issue unique to Trump, which demands more attention. It’s his assertion that he won the 2020 election. Sure, he could just be claiming he won so his base will not view him as a loser, but there is a good faith question that needs to be explored of whether such a claim is delusional.

Just last month, Trump again said he won Georgia in 2020 despite that being patently false. Trump continues to make the same claim for the overall 2020 results despite his own officials after the election — including then-Attorney General William Barr — informing him there was no evidence to support his bogus assertions. And the former president must know his 60-plus election challenges in court all failed, including in cases before Trump-appointed judges.

Further undermining Trump’s claims he won in 2020 is something he mentioned in his speech Friday in Washington, and that is polling. Trump is now touting polls that he’s leading Biden. (In reality, the two are locked in a tight race within the margin of error in a hypothetical matchup.) Well, the polls in the weeks before the 2020 election showed Biden winning by an average of 10 points. A Fox News poll released just days before the 2020 election had Biden up by 8 percentage points. If Trump had been up by that margin and then lost in 2020, perhaps it would have bolstered his claims of election wrongdoing. Instead, the polls predicted Biden would win — and he did.

Trump’s gaffes may simply be mistakes. But his continued false claims that he won the 2020 election warn us that he is either one of the most committed liars we’ve ever seen or his views are delusional. In either case, for the sake of our nation, Trump can never again be trusted to be the commander in chief.

Dean Obeidallah - CNN

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him on Threads at www.threads.net/@deanobeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

ECOCIDE
Emblematic Khartoum skyscraper goes up in flames as Sudan conflict rages on

Our Foreign Staff
Sun, September 17, 2023 

The Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower in Khartoum is just one of several buildings on fire in the Sudanese capital - AFP


Flames gripped the Sudanese capital on Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its sixth month.

“Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons,” witnesses in the capital said, while others reported fighting in the city of El-Obeid, 350 kilometres (about 220 miles) south.

Battles between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified Saturday, resulting in several key buildings in central Khartoum being set alight.

Footage was shared widely online of flames devouring landmarks of the Khartoum skyline, including the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower, a conical building with glass facades that had become an emblem of the city.

Social media users mourned Khartoum, a shell of its former self, in posts that showed buildings – their windows blown out and their walls charred or pockmarked with bullets – continuing to smoulder.


Many buildings in Khartoum are been set ablaze with residents mourning that had become of the capital - AFP

Since war erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, nearly 7,500 people have been killed, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

It has displaced more than five million people, including 2.8 million who have fled the relentless air strikes, artillery fire and street battles in Khartoum’s densely-populated neighbourhoods.

The millions that remain in the city woke up on Sunday to find clouds of smoke obscuring the skyline, as the sound of bombs and gunfire burst through the capital.

“We can hear huge bangs,” witnesses told AFP from the Mayo district of southern Khartoum, where the army targeted RSF bases with artillery fire.

At least 51 people were killed last week in air strikes on a market in Mayo, according to the United Nations, in one of the deadliest single attacks of the war.

The worst of the violence has been concentrated in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, where ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF and allied militias have triggered renewed investigations by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes.

There has also been fighting in the southern Kordofan region, where witnesses again reported artillery fire exchanged between the army and the RSF in the city of El-Obeid on Sunday.

Thailand hunts for missing ancient site treasures

Montira RUNGJIRAJITTRANON, Alexis HONTANG
Mon, September 18, 2023 

Thailand has a rich collection of historical sites, but, like in other countries in the region, foreign looting has decimated many of them 

(MANAN VATSYAYANA)

Under the scorching sun, Thai archaeologist Tanachaya Tiandee clambers through ruined pagodas in the ancient town of Si Thep, trying to unlock their mysteries -- a task made harder because many of the clues are missing.

Looters stripped Thailand's rich historical sites such as Si Thep over decades, taking many items abroad. The kingdom is now trying to repatriate those stolen cultural treasures.

"The big picture like the building was discovered, but the artefacts which tell little details are missing, making a lot of stories untold about Si Thep," Tanachaya told AFP.

"It's like a piece of puzzle was missing."

Si Thep, which archaeologists date back to between 1,500 to 1,700 years ago, may be inscribed in UNESCO's cultural world heritage list this week -- Thailand's first addition since 1992.

Over several centuries and under the influence of various cultures, it grew into a vital trading metropolis until its decline began in the late 13th century, according to the Thai government's submission to UNESCO.

As 33-year-old Tanachaya carefully excavates the ancient stone constructions, she faces a difficult task piecing together the stories of Si Thep, which lies around 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Bangkok.

It is believed that over the years, at least 20 objects have been stolen from the site, with experts identifying 11 in museums in the United States.

The real number of looted objects is suspected to be far higher, thanks to a lack of documentation.

Now Tanachaya -- who decided when she was young that she wanted to become a Thai version of movie character Indiana Jones -- and her colleagues face their own quest.

Can they bring their culture's treasures home?

- 'Won't accelerate' -

Thailand's government, led at the time by the military, established the Committee to Monitor Thai Antiquities Abroad in 2017.

About 340 objects have been voluntarily repatriated to Thailand since then, according to the latest report by the committee.

But the process is slow, partly because government officials are wary of jeopardising diplomatic relations with important allies like the United States.

Instead, Thai authorities have pursued a "discreet" diplomatic route, explained the director-general of Thailand's Department of Fine Arts Phnombootra Chandrachoti.

"We won't accelerate anything," he told AFP.

The Norton Simon Museum, located in the US state of California, holds nine Thai artefacts, according to a recent statement from the committee -- including one item an independent expert says is from Si Thep park.

The items were among 32 scattered in museums across the United States, the committee said.

The Norton Simon is only one of a number of US institutions -- including New York's Metropolitan and San Francisco's Asian Art Museum -- that have been named in the growing scandal around art that investigators claim was illegally removed from its country of origin.

The museum told AFP it had not heard from the Thai government, but would cooperate with authorities if contacted, and defended holding the items.

The works, which it claimed were legally purchased, "have been carefully preserved and displayed" said Leslie Denk, vice-president of external affairs at the institution.

- Dilemma over tourism -

Thai historians face another dilemma: Si Thep's bid to become a UNESCO site could boost the local economy -- but it could also put the fragile ancient site under strain.

Presently, only one percent of visitors to Phetchabun -- the province that is home to Si Thep -- are foreigners, according to official 2019 data.

The Thai government hopes UNESCO designation will help boost the kingdom's tourism sector, which accounts for almost 20 percent of the country's GDP.

There are, however, concerns about conservation.

The site is already "almost reaching its fullest capacity" of around 2,000 tourists a day, said Si Thep Historical Park head Sittichai Pooddee.

"We will try to balance things. We will try to not over-promote," he said.

Missing items mean gaps in the record, which makes it harder to satisfy the curiosity of tourists visiting the site, said Thai historian Tanongsak Hanwong.

"Artefacts dignify Thailand's past civilisation, and when some of the parts are missing, we get stuck and we can't tell important pieces of the story to the world," Tanongsak said.

At Si Thep's peaceful complex, domestic visitors gaze at a carefully carved pagoda wall.

"It's the heritage that belongs to Thai people, and that we are proud of. It would be a pity not to get it back," said Chaowarat Munprom, a 66-year-old retiree.

"It once belonged here."

US military asks the public for help finding its missing F-35 fighter jet after its pilot had to eject while training over South Carolina

CAN'T FIND STEALTH PLANE BECAUSE ITS INVISIBLE TO TECH

Sophia Ankel
Mon, September 18, 2023 

An F-35 fighter jet flies over the sky during the Fleet Week in San Francisco, California, United States on October 7, 2022.

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

• A F-35 jet has been lost in South Carolina after a training "mishap," officials said Sunday.

• The US military is now appealing to the public to help find the missing jet.

• The pilot of the jet was able to parachute away safely and is in a stable condition, officials said.

The US military has asked the public to help find its missing F-35 jet after the pilot had to eject while training over South Carolina on Sunday.

In a Facebook post, Joint Base Charleston said it was "responding to a mishap involving an F-35B Lightning II jet from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing."

"Emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35. The public is asked to cooperate with military and civilian authorities as the effort continues," it added.

The appeal, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, encouraged anyone with information to contact its operations center.

The F-35, a fifth-generation stealth fighter, is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons system, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Officials estimated it would cost American taxpayers about $1.7 trillion to "buy, operate, and sustain the aircraft and systems over its lifetime," the GAO reported

Details regarding what prompted the training mishap are still under investigation.

The pilot, who was not named, was able to parachute safely into North Charleston. He was taken to hospital and is in stable condition. The pilot's wingman safely landed in a separate aircraft, according to local news outlet WCBD.

At the time of writing, the search for the jet — or its remains — has focused on two lakes north of North Charleston, namely Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, CBS News reported.

Nancy Mace, a local congresswoman tweeted on Sunday: "How in the hell do you lose an F-35? How is there not a tracking device and we're asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?"

Lockheed Martin's high-tech, fifth-generation multi-role stealth aircraft is designed for strike missions and has a top speed of around Mach 1.6, or about 1,228 mph, Insider previously reported.

Representatives for Joint Base Charleston did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

 Business Insider

The Marines Lost A $90-Million F-35B Jet. Have You Seen It?
Erin Marquis
Mon, September 18, 2023 

A US marine checks a F-35B fighter jet during a press tour of the USS Makin Island

An F-35B fighter jet is currently missing following a mishap that forced its pilot to eject near Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday. Have you seen it? Because the U.S. Marines are having a dilly of a pickle trying to locate its $90-million fighter jet.

The pilot is safe and was treated for injuries at a local hospital a spokesperson for the Joint Base Charleston told the Wall Street Journal:

“We are currently still gathering more information and assessing the situation,” a Corps spokesperson said. “The mishap will be under investigation.”

Oof. It seems the current theory is this F-35 may have ditched into the drink, either Lake Moultrie or Lake Marion in South Carolina. In that case, it’s only a matter of time before the plane is located, as neither lake exceeds 75 feet of depth.

This isn’t exactly the first time an F-35 has dumped into water. Last year, the U.S. Navy managed to fish one out of the South China Sea at a depth of 12,000 feet. The British managed to find one of their crashed F-35s in the Mediterranean in 2021.

And of course, this multi-million dollar plan comes with locators and GPS trackers that should make finding it a breeze. Still, the Joint Base put out the call on X (formerly known as Twitter) to see if anyone had spotted the jet:

Posting on Twitter that you’re looking for something is more appropriate for say, finding the right pair of shoes for an outfit, or announcing your parakeet has gone missing. And, unfortunately, if you do find the F-35, you are unlikely to get to keep the jet, as the U.S. government rarely adheres to the Supreme Court Decision Finders v. Keepers.

The F-35 has been a controversial jet ever since Lockheed Martin started cranking these fighters out back in 2015. One of the most technologically advanced jet fighters ever build, the F-35B in particular seemed to have a problem during those super neat vertical takeoffs and landing. Three dropped out of the sky last year while attempting the maneuver. Several high profile crashes have occurred since then, but nothing out of the realm of normality, according to the U.S. Air Force.

 Jalopnik

A missing F-35 stealth fighter may have kept flying after its pilot ejected. A pilotless Soviet jet once flew 500 miles before crashing in NATO territory.


Chris Panella
Updated Mon, 18 September 2023 

An F-35B Lightning II with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crosses the Pacific from Yuma, Ariz. to Iwakuni, Japan, on Jan. 9, 2017.Sgt. Lillian Stephens/US Marine Corps

An F-35 stealth fighter went missing after a pilot ejected during a "mishap" on Sunday afternoon.

It's unclear if the jet was left on autopilot and continued flying or if it crashed somewhere.

If it kept flying, as reports indicate it may have, it could echo a Cold War incident involving a Soviet aircraft.

The curious case of a missing F-35 stealth fighter in South Carolina has authorities — and civilians — searching high and low, especially considering the jet may have continued flying on its own for some time even after its pilot ejected.

As surprising as a rogue jet on autopilot may be, it wouldn't be the first time a military aircraft has flown on without its pilot. Toward the end of the Cold War, for example, one Soviet pilot witnessed his jet fly off without him after he ejected from it and continue flying for over 500 miles.

On Sunday afternoon, Joint Base Charleston confirmed a "mishap involving an F-35B Lightning II jet" in which the pilot had to eject. Joint Base Charleston didn't give further details on the incident or what specifically prompted the ejection, but it did request the public's help in locating the missing jet.

"Emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35," the base said on Facebook, adding on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that if anyone had "any information that may help our recovery teams locate the F-35," they should call in.

Joint Base Charleston also noted efforts to locate the jet would be focused north of the base, "around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion," based on the jet's last known location, in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Officials haven't confirmed or denied if the jet crashed, although Joint Base Charleston spokesperson Jeremy Huggins told NBC News the jet was left in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected from the aircraft, meaning it could've remained airborne for a time, though as of midday on Monday, authorities were certain it was no longer flying.

Flight radar data showed the paths of aircraft searching for the missing F-35 in the areas where it was last tracked.

The US Marine Corps and Joint Base Charleston didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether or not the autopilot was engaged and the possibility that the aircraft could have flown after the pilot ejected.

But if the F-35 was still flying in a so-called "zombie state" after its pilot ejected, the bizarre situation would echo a Cold War-era incident involving a pilotless Soviet MiG-23.

In July 1989, Belgium was up in arms after a Soviet MiG-23 fighter jet crashed into a man's home outside the western city of Kortrijk, killing the resident, The New York Times reported at the time. The MiG-23 pilot had apparently ejected while flying over Poland after experiencing an alleged "malfunction."

But rather than crashing, the MiG-23 continued flying for around 560 miles on autopilot, easily passing over East and West Germany and the Netherlands before it finally crashed. The Belgian Foreign Minister at the time noted that the jet had been picked up by NATO radar more than an hour before it crashed, yet there was no Soviet response, including to questions about what weaponry the jet was carrying.

Another similar incident in which a military aircraft flew on, though not nearly as far, after its pilot ejected is the 1970 "Cornfield Bomber" incident that saw a Convair F-106 Delta Dart interceptor fighter land, surprisingly in one piece, in a farm field in Montana without a pilot.

And as for the currently missing F-35, authorities are still having trouble tracking it. Huggins told The Washington Post the jet's transponder, which helps locate the aircraft, was not working "for some reason that we haven't yet determined."

The B variant of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is a short takeoff/vertical landing variant designed for use by the Marine Corps aboard amphibious assault ships and airfields with short runways.

The F-35 is considered to be a highly advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft known for its high-end capabilities and stealth. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the fighter is expensive. A single F-35B is estimated to cost around $90 million, and the 60-year program to develop and maintain the jets expected to cost more than $1 trillion, making it the costliest weapons program in US history.

Directed energy weapons making jump from sci-fi to real world

Colin Demarest
Mon, September 18, 2023

WASHINGTON — Five Pelican dropships and two Phantom troop carriers glide into view near snowcapped hills on a world with biomes similar to Earth’s. A handful of the warplanes break formation, ultimately bound for farther-flung targets, as volleys of neon green anti-aircraft fire erupt.

Despite some dodging, the fire proves accurate, and one of the Pelicans is hit. It veers violently forward and smacks into another just in front. A cry for help is heard; then, an explosion. A voice over the radio warns of the dicey disembark to come.

“Brace yourselves.”

And, as players of Bungie’s smash-hit video game “Halo 3″ regain control of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, the virtual super-soldier hoists to his shoulder what millions of gamers have affectionately nicknamed the “Spartan Laser,” a hulking, fearsome weapon powered by futuristic battery cells.

When primed with a squeeze and hold of the controller’s trigger, the device unleashes a blast of directed energy capable of devastating multiple targets, virtual infantry and armored opponents. Heat management forces downtime between shots, a nod to the realities that often limit fire in real weapons.

 screenshot

While such immensely powerful devices have long been a staple of computer games, movies and science-fiction novels, success in fielding practical weapons that can zap targets on real-world battlefields has eluded governments, scientists and defense contractors for more than a half-century. At least until recently.

“The hundreds of systems in the field? It’s coming,” Andy Lowery, the chief operating officer of defense company Epirus, a developer of directed-energy and counter-drone systems, said in an interview. “You’ll see tens of billions of dollars, I think, being applied once we get into production, manufacturing and then operations and sustainment.”
State of play

The U.S. Department of Defense is spending an average $1 billion a year on developing directed-energy weapons with the goal of using them to defeat threats including drones and missiles. It requested at least $669 million in fiscal 2023 for unclassified research, testing and evaluation and another $345 million for unclassified procurement, the Congressional Research Service reported.

Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu included directed energy on a list of 14 critical and emerging defense technologies released in February 2022.

Potential applications abound. High-energy lasers, HEL, and high-power microwave, HPM, systems can be used for short-range air defense, SHORAD, and to counter unmanned aerial systems, C-UAS, as well as rockets, artillery and mortars, C-RAM.

“What does a laser do to impart damage on the set target, utilizing directed energy? It just basically heats up and melts, right? Just a ton of energy. There’s no, really, wave interaction,” Lowery said. “With HPM, you’re actually trying to use the electro-magnetics in the air to cease the ability for anything that uses voltage and current to work, and you’re trying to do that as efficiently as possible, because it’s not easy.”

A look at how directed-energy weapons could be used in the field. Incoming drones and missiles are depicted. (Photo provided/GAO)

The weapons now in development come mainly in two forms: high-energy lasers, like Rafael’s Iron Beam, and Epirus’ HPMs. The former focuses a beam or beams of energy to blind, cut or inflict heat damage on a target. The latter unleashes waves of energy that overwhelm or fry electronic components.

Each has its respective strengths and weaknesses.

While HPMs can have a near-instant effect on electronic guts, its efficacy is stunted at greater ranges. And while high-energy lasers can punch holes through all sorts of material, certain atmospheric conditions including fog or wind can impede or distort the shot. Neither needs to be mechanically reloaded, like a rifle or tank, but they are reliant on power production and output, which can be disrupted.

“In very controlled conditions, they seem to perform as they should,” Thomas Withington, an analyst and author specializing in electronic warfare and military communications, said in an interview. The issue, though, is “how do you translate that to the front line in Ukraine?”

Testing, testing

The U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are all, right now, attempting to fold directed-energy systems into offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Pentagon’s Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office and the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office in June tapped five companies to demonstrate weaponry capable of taking down one-way attack drones. The get-together at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona featured a Lockheed Martin-made Mobile Radio Frequency-Integrated UAS Suppressor, or MORFIUS, a tube-launched, fixed-wing drone that flies at a target and lets loose a high-power microwave pulse.

The service months earlier awarded a $66 million deal to Epirus for prototypes of its drone-zapping Leonidas device. The tech has since been paired with the Anduril Industries Lattice command-and-control program for the Marine Corps and DroneShield’s sensing-and-jamming DroneSentry system.

A model of a Stryker Leonidas directed-energy system is displayed at the Epirus booth at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. 

(Colin Demarest/C4ISRNET)

Similarly, the Air Force in April tested its Tactical High-power Operational Responder, or THOR, at Kirtland Air Force Base’s Chestnut Test Site in New Mexico. The system looks like a shipping container with a satellite dish welded to the top; its effects, however, are less innocuous.

Adrian Lucero, a program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s directed energy directorate, in a statement at the time of testing said THOR “was exceptionally effective at disabling” its targets. The lab employs approximately 11,500 military, civilian and contractor personnel, and manages a $7 billion portfolio.

“The THOR team flew numerous drones at the THOR system to simulate a real-world swarm attack,” Lucero said. “THOR has never been tested against these types of drones before, but this did not stop the system from dropping the targets out of the sky with its non-kinetic, speed-of-light high-power microwave” pulses.

In December 2021, the Navy announced the successful testing of a high-energy laser aboard the USS Portland while it sailed through the Gulf of Aden. A previous test was done in May 2020, during which a small drone was disabled over the Pacific Ocean.

The service has been at the forefront of trying to deploy practical directed-energy weapons. Both Lockheed’s High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS, and the in-house Optical Dazzling Interdictor Navy, or ODIN, to tackle small boats and intelligence-gathering systems, have been installed aboard destroyers.

US Army working through challenges with laser weapons

“As the technology moves forward, it will be a technology that is adopted for certain niches. Perhaps ship defense against anti-ship missiles, counter-drone, that kind of thing,” Withington said. “Will it become a replacement for the anti-ship missile? Would it be something that you can sling under the belly of a B-21 and vaporize an air ministry in downtown Damascus? I don’t know. I’m inclined to think in the short- to medium-term probably not.”

A dazzling future

There is often a long lag between the development of technology and its implementation and procurement, a period of time known as the “valley of death” among those in the defense community. Lately, military leaders are voicing a greater sense of urgency about the need to get these systems fully built and deployed.

When asked about directed-energy weapons at a National Defense Industrial Association conference last month, Navy Adm. John Aquilino had two words for investors and builders: “Bring it.”

Aquilino serves as the top man in the Indo-Pacific, a region the Biden administration considers vital to international security and financial well-being. His remit includes China and North Korea, as well as allies Australia, Japan and South Korea.

“I’m very encouraged by the high-energy laser capability that’s being experimented with and utilized,” Aquilino said at the time. The key? Acceleration.

“If that capability exists, and we can deliver in 18 to 24 months, I’m ready to plug it in,” Aquilino said. “I’m ready to experiment with it tomorrow. I’ve got the largest test range on the globe.”

Some big names are digging in: Booz Allen Hamilton last year announced the establishment of a high-energy laser division dubbed HELworks. The defense consultancy unveiled three product lines at the time including a High Energy Laser Mission Equipment Package meant for the Army’s Stryker combat vehicle.

The USS Portland fires a laser weapon at a target floating in the Gulf of Aden on Dec. 14, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Donald Holbert/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

“Between one and five years, you’re going to see an exiting of the AoA, of the analysis of alternatives, and then entering into programs of record,” Lowery said. “And that is going to mark a much bigger spend.”

International markets are also heating up. The U.K. and France are particularly interested in directed energy.

Raytheon UK, a division of RTX, plans to integrate a high-energy laser onto a Wolfhound armored vehicle. During four days of testing in the U.S., the laser system “successfully acquired, tracked, targeted and destroyed dozens of” drones, according to the company, which is opening an advanced laser integration center in Scotland.

And while militaries may be many years away from fielding anything like the fictional, shoulder-mounted Spartan Laser, the technology now being developed is proving itself too important to ignore, according to experts.

“Everybody thinks it’s laser guns and death rays,” Withington said. “I would say there won’t be a ‘Big Bang,’ but it should probably be a ‘Big Zap’ for directed energy weapons.”

 Analysis-Lula struggles to revive Brazil's 'soft power' amid US-China tensions

Mon, September 18, 2023 


Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds a press conference


By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Since he returned to office in January, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has traveled to 21 countries and met with more than 50 heads of state, including two kings and the Pope.

The globe-trotting leftist leader, the first head of state to address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, has prioritized foreign trips in his third term so far, as he strives to restore his country as a global player.

"Brazil is back," he repeats in speeches across five continents, in contrast with the growing isolation that came with his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro's hard-right political stance and dismal environmental record.

But diplomats and foreign policy experts say Lula is far from restoring the "soft power" status Brazil enjoyed after his first two terms, from 2003 to 2010, when the country became a voice for the rising global south while remaining independent from both the U.S. and China.

In part, that reflects the choppier waters the 77-year-old Brazilian leader now navigates, as Beijing and Washington flirt with a new Cold War while war rages in Ukraine. Brazil has also become increasingly dependent on Asian markets, which buy half of its exports. China alone, Brazil's main trading partner, buys 37% of its farm exports.

"This is a very tricky balancing act and Lula so far has not been able to find the right equilibrium," said Oliver Stuenkel, an associate professor of international relations at the FGV think tank in Sao Paulo. "There is a perception in Brazilian society now that he is tilting towards the Sino-Russian axis more than the West."

On Wednesday, Lula is scheduled to meet U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the climate crisis on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, focusing where the Brazilian leader has shined.

Lula has helped to restore Brazil's central role in climate diplomacy, leading a regional rainforest summit, drawing global contributions to protect the Amazon and overhauling policies to bring down deforestation sharply.

Even before he took office, Lula was greeted like a rock star last November at the U.N. climate change conference in Egypt. His polices have helped to nearly halve deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon through August, compared to the first eight months of last year, rebuilding Brazil's credibility for climate talks.

But his comments about the war in Ukraine - he has said both sides are responsible for the conflict as he sought to broker a peace deal - have angered U.S. and European allies, who have accused him of parroting Russian rhetoric.

Lula's penchant for off-the cuff remarks have occasionally made matters worse.

During a G20 meeting in India this month, he said there was "no way" Russian President Vladimir Putin would be arrested if he attended next year's summit in Rio de Janeiro. When reporters probed him on Brazil's commitments to enforce an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, he rowed back his comments but suggested Brazil could leave the ICC.

"There have been some bruising moments. The whole Russia -Ukraine issue was a lesson learned," said Thomas Shannon, a former U.S. ambassador to Brazil who is now senior international policy advisor at Arnold & Porter.

At last month's BRICS summit in South Africa, where the group of leading emerging economies expanded its membership as China called for, Brazil got Chinese backing for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat it wants. But that is unlikely to happen any time soon, according to Shannon.

The closer ties to Beijing could complicate Brazil's relationship with Washington, including access to key technology, Shannon added.

'OUTDATED AGENDA'

Closer to home, Lula has reaped little in concrete terms from Latin America's broad left-of-center alignment. The Mercosur trade bloc took nearly half a year to respond formally to a new European position on a trade deal now on the ropes.

And Lula's longstanding sympathies with leftist governments in Nicaragua and Venezuela accused of human rights abuses have him looking out of step with a new generation of progressive Latin American leaders.

Lula rolled out the red carpet for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Brasilia at a regional summit in May, helping to bring the socialist leader out of isolation. Other leaders, including Chile's leftist President Gabriel Boric, criticized Maduro's presence.

Impressions of ideological bias may hurt Brazil's image as the country returns to the international spotlight, putting Lula at odds sometimes with his Foreign Ministry, said Rubens Barbosa, a former Brazilian ambassador to London and Washington.

"Where is Brazil the defender of human rights? It's not clear what Brazil stands for today when it picks Putin and Maduro as allies," said a South American ambassador in Brasilia, who asked not to be identified.

"Brazil is rapidly wasting its soft power by trying to be an international player with an outdated agenda," he said.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Brad Haynes and Paul Simao)