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NAIOP
HAS ANYONE WHO HAS ATTENDED ANY OF NAIOP’S MEETINGS OR EVENTS IN JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA OR SOUTH FLORIDA EVER HEARD ANYONE DSICUSS THE CAMPAIGN OF TERRORISM DIRECTED AT ME, THE KILLING OF MY BELOVED PETS, ANY PROPERTIES ASSOCIATED WITH ME SUCH AS TWO MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES IN JACKSONVILLE WITH HAP CONTRACTS. CAPRI VILLA APARTMENTS, HURON SOPHIA APARTMENTS WHICH WERE SOLD JUNE 17, 2021 AND THE DEEDS ARE RECORDED ONLINE 06-30-2021 IN DUVAL COUNTY FLORIDA. THE BUYERS WERE CAPRI VILLAS ACQUISITION LLC AND HURON SOPHIA ACQUISITION LLC FOR ABOUT 40K PER DOOR.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION PLEASE EMAIL ME AT [email protected] OR POST DIRECTLY TO THIS BLOG.
#NAIOP#AFFORDABLE HOUSING#FLORIDA HOUSING#FIRST HOUSING#FLORIDA HUD#HAP#PROJECT BASED HAP CONTRACT#MARSH MCLENNAN#BROWN AND BROWN INSURANCE#BALLENISLES#MIRASOL#FRENCHMANS CREEK#THE SANCTUARY BOCA RATON#DAVID PARK#EMERALD HILLS#WILLIAMS ISLAND#TURNBERRY ISLE#GULFSTREAM RACE TRACK#SARATOGA RACE COURSE#GIDEON PUTNAM#ADELPHI HOTEL SARATOGA#OFFICE OF ECONOMIC D3EVELOPMENT NY#ATTORNEY GENERAL NYC#ATTORNEY GENERAL FLORIDA#FLORIDA OFFICE OF STATEWIDE PROSECUTION#TODD OLIVIERI#ELLA OLIVIERI FELCHER#ALLISON OLIVIERI#SCOTT OLIVIERI#ARMAND OLIVIERI
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DOMINION REAL ESTATE ADVISORS SELLS 24 UNIT MULTI-FAMILY COMPLEX IN CROSWELL, MICHIGAN

(Bingham Farms, Michigan - March 2023) - Assistant Vice President of Brokerage at Dominion Real Estate Advisors, LLC (DRA) Rem Murray represented both the Buyer and Seller in the sale of Croswell Manor apartments. Croswell Manor is a 24-unit project-based section 8 property located in Croswell, MI. The transaction included the facilitation of the HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) contract transfer with HUD to the Buyer and an agency loan assumption by the Seller. The loan assumption allowed the Buyer to purchase the apartment complex with a much lower interest rate than the current market, allowing the Seller to obtain a higher purchase price, allowing for both parties to achieve their investment goals.
ABOUT DOMINION REAL ESTATE ADVISORS
Dominion Real Estate Advisors (DRA) is a full service commercial real estate firm recognized nationally as a leading provider of professional commercial real estate services. DRA brings decades of experience and expertise in commercial brokerage, property and asset management, real estate advisory, construction, design, and development services.
DRA is committed to bringing its clients creative, cutting-edge solutions, and providing the highest level of professional service fostering long lasting relationships based on loyalty, integrity, and trust. DRA assists corporate clients, lenders, institutions, property owners, investors, and real estate developers in achieving their real estate objectives.
For more information, please visit: http://www.dominionra.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dominionra/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dominion_realestateadvisors/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dominionra/
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Journal Entry #29 - Let's Talk About The Elephants....Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression....What Happened During the Process? And my visions?
JOURNAL ENTRY #29 Name: Manley M Collins Social Security Number: 5 7 9 - * * - 6 5 4 1 Date of Birth: 06/21 Place of Birth: Washington, District of Columbia Country of Birth: United States of America
Date: January 1, 2020
TOPIC: Let's Talk About The Elephants....Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression....What Happened During the Process? And my visions?
DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Justice DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Education DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Health DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Transportation DEPARTMENT: United States Department of Labor
Reality has set in and subsided. Life can make someone decide on some tough choices.
Now, that I have spoken with the United States Department of Justice and United States Department of Defense, I am worthless now since my clearance is permanently removed and it is frown upon if anyone tries to fix it.
So, this post is the real talk about what truly transpired during the 10 year mental illness phase - crazy suppression. Up2Us Sports, DCPS, CNCS/AmeriCorps, and TeensRunDC, you were let off the hook because I am focusing more on my move than actually pursuing any additional civil suits/lawsuits and it is not worth it for a $2200 education award. Yamaha and Coleman PowerSports, I not pursuing you for $1800 dollars. South Carolina State University never produced a US president, DeVry/Keller definitely never produced a US president or any type of politician, and University of Phoenix never produced any politician. I played the Education Lottery and only won up to $50 dollars. I did lawsuits and got nothing even though harm and hurt was done. Homeless people have disability checks, veteran checks, pension checks, and other types of government checks. I gave money away and got nothing in sense of something that could be of value. Mother's death provided $1500 dollars because my stepfather/her husband decided to share with the kids. Biological father's death estate situation is totally unknown and I am moving on. My most precious stuff got taken away and nothing returned. My family, friends, and certain communities proved that they were nothing and I will be nothing in the United States of America. So I literally have the hardest life, I have to work for every penny and use it wisely. After analyzing my biological father's FaceBook profile, I literally saw everything about what life did to him and had so much real estate that no one wanted....and if we were not estranged or had animosity toward each other...I had the power and knowledge to run everything from Texas while living elsewhere. Yes, family I am the one who sent notification to FaceBook to memorialize his profile. I am asking Paris, France or Europe in general get me there....please get me there.
This is my plan. Letting Go: Washington, DC Up Next: South Carolina Researching: Massachusetts Practicing French culture: Canada Patiently Waiting to Begin New Venture: France (the other red, white and blue) and do everything all over again in a different country and different language.
First, around 2006, life directed me to start researching panic attacks and anxiety because while in Chicago I was very unhappy or depressed about a new city I did not know. I was listening to Missy Elliot's Moving On and had the longest one to two hour crying session that tears could literally fill a water pail. I was moving back to Washington, DC. I did not know the reason why, but I guess life saw something coming. Then in 2007 after my trip to Italy and Aruba and doing espressos, chocolate and alcohol, which never affected me before. No family member or anyone that had the condition did not warn me about what happens. The Atlanta home in Tucker, GA was for my love Monica, Philip, and me, and the kids we discussed having. At work at the US Department of Defense in Crystal City, I was working and something started happening while sitting at my desk. It was a calamity of emotions, deep suppression of being assaulted at work, stress of buying a new $600,000 DC home out of anger that the Atlanta $350,000 new home did not listen to my inspector's requests, and my brain all of suddened felt like it flipped. I calmly left work, but it was a scary thing. I was screaming and yelling out of my Ford Expedition at signal stop lights or traffic. I was driving through DC streets afraid to head back to my house in Fort Lincoln/Woodridge and went to my grandparents home in Petworth. Oh my God, my grandparents tried to calm me down, but I was screaming and yelling and they were telling me drink water, drink water. I was scared. My grandfather took me to Providence hospital and they initially confirmed it was anxiety. I was so ready to run from the hospital. So I called work and told them, 'I quit', but I got medicine to calm me down. It happened on a Wednesday or Thursday because I had time to recover. I did return to work the following Monday, but it was deeply quiet. I talked to the managers about the hit, but it seems for the remaining of my contract work I hardly could not do anything but have conversations while breaking down in tears. My contract ended in December 2007 and Northrup Grumman never did turn me permanent after I told them what Karl Kawano (a Hawaiian US Marine) did and everyone else (Ivory Banks served in US Navy and her husband - Mr. Donnie Banks, Mogana served in US Army, Chris served in US Marines, Ethan - an asian dude, a civilian India dude) defended his actions on assaulting me in the chest because I said, "Hello." in the hallway right outside the SCIF next to the elevators. I did called 911, but they did not come out because I was not injured. They all said and believed I was crazy because I was attempting to connect with them on creating a professional relationship based on various topics. At the same time, I did not pay enough attention to politics and the news. The United States was heading into an economic downturn. I could not find another job or contract after December 2007 so which lead to losing my 3222 Theodore R Hagans Dr NE home to foreclosure and all my stuff in PODS New Jersey thinking I was going to New York. For 3222 Theodore R Hagans Dr NE and I am still the first owner, the one who designed the house, and still use the address. I tried to rent it out, but I was not marketing fast enough. I went on a date with one of the Speed sisters, thought about the date hard, and then wrote a long, crazy detailed email about marriage, having kids, etc, from one of America's pressures to project a certain image. I tremendously had hard flashbacks on my previous relationships, such as loving Monica and kissing Kim.
In 2008, another whirlwind of losing control came and it was big. I did go to New York and stayed with Jewish guy in Harlem for a month, but my mind said return back to Washington, DC to 3222 DC home. I was getting treatment through DC Department of Mental Health on K Street NE, Kaiser Permanente when it was on North Capitol St NE, George Washington University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center. Something was happening physically, my body worked out so much mentally and physically, it said rest. I loss lots of time in resting. My largest rest period was sleeping for a full week. I use the medicine Klonopin and I fell asleep on Monday, did have intermittent wake ups to eat, drink and bathroom breaks, did not come back to norm until the following Sunday. During that rest period, my visions especially when I thought I open my eyes and could not see anything, I saw wars, heaven, hell, earth, the universe, the entire bible, and the foundation structure my mother brought me up on. It was a scary feeling because I tried to wake up and open my eyes, but when I thought I opened them, the vision is all I saw...nothing of today's reality. I experienced a serious loss of communication. I did bring my friends, and some family members to see the home. I met the neighbors. For some odd reason, my mind or it was injected thought go to New York. Mind you, my Ford Expedition is broken down in 3222 DC home garage, I had no job, and no money. Guess what my body did, it started the path of walking Route 1, it was a cool fall week around 60s...I was only drinking water. I only had a short sleeve t-shirt, abercrombie pants tie with shoe string, no underwear, and shoes without laces. I kept doing number 1 inside and outside my pants. I never had to do number 2. I loss track of time while walking Route 1. I remember WMATA bus did give me a ride up to Laurel. I just kept walking and no rest and the street signs kept saying Washington Blvd/Baltimore Ave. I did stop to a Goodwill Thrift store asking for a coat. Thank you Goodwill for the coat. It became night and I saw the beaming glow of Baltimore, but mind said, 'It was hell.' I diverted and headed onto the Interstate 695 trying to find Interstate 95 to New York. I got on the Interstate and it plenty of back and forth. A guy did stop and asked me where I was going. I just kept jumping in and out of his SUV, and not saying nothing...the I saw a vision of 'crack and cocaine' if I rode with him. I got out. I kept walking. Someone called 911 while I was walking and ask if I needed help. I ran on the opposite side of traffic because a thought of suicide came to mind. I never thought of suicide or hurting myself ever. But everyone stopped, looked, and got out and held me down until an ambulance came. They kept asking me my name since I did not have any identification or money on me. My mind kept saying give another name, but nothing came out, I thought about saying Kenneth. Another push of the entire Library of Congress came through me. I went to MedStar Harbor / Franklin Medical Center Hospital in Baltimore, MD, and it was happening at the time of voting and the Presidential Election because that was on television (Obama's re-election moment). MedStar Harbor Hospital / Franklin Medical Center confirmed I had schizophrenia and depression. People were talking to me, but I could not say a thing. They did a MRI and inserted dye into my brain for anything wrong. Nothing was abnormal. They did have strapped to the bed because the yelling and screaming returned. After a week at MedStar Harbor / Franklin Medical Center Hospital, they sent me to Sheppard-Pratt Psychiatric Ward. It was definite different. I got further needed rest. However, the nurses, case worker, and doctors did find out who I was and started me on Eli Lilly's Zyprexa 20mg and Celexa 20mg. I was slow and drowsy as heck and can only do one task for the day. My daddy (not my biological father) and his wife came and got me. I stayed with them in Upper Marlboro, MD and yes, they did get the funk of homelessness because the medicine knocked me out so hard I could not bathe as I normally do or change clothes as often. After DC Mental Health Dept, Kaiser, and MedStar Washington Hospital Center treatment plans and reducing the medicine, my final psychiatrist stated I needed to ween off the medication. He did not say why, but I guess the medication had some after effects. I applied for Social Security Disability and SSI, and was denied because of age, education, work experience, and illness not severe enough.
In 2010, I recovered and back to life living independently again and moved back to Washington, DC in an apartment and working for US Department of Transportation.
In 2012, I moved to Connecticut for United Technologies - Pratt and Whitney opportunities. I got an apartment and then the company I was with was not to be trusted because the work was only for six months and my apartment lease was a year. Infotech Enterprises (now Cyient) stated it was a year contract. So life threw me for a loop. I had to think fast so I moved to New York City, Manhattan, Chelsea area. Yes, I was living out of my Mercedes-Benz vehicle along with hotels, motels, and rented a room in Connecticut. At the same time, I was taking my medicine at night. However, with New York, so much was going on and so fast, I kept up, but I became mentally sick/ill when my work ended and no more money came. I had to think fast. My vision with New York and Connecticut was that I was a real Superman. I felt big, so powerful, like a Greek god, so affluent, and heavy spender thinking I was on top of my game and another job will come. I went from working out at Planet Fitness to the luxurious Equinox gyms. I was running and competing with teams. It was New York...nobody can compete. One evening in my sleep when all the voices in my head were swirling at a minimum, a large heavy voice said - Harvey, Illinois. Since the Mercedes-Benz failed emissions and I was out of work, I could not take the car or afford the payments anymore and car was repossessed, and I told all the MB USA headquarters and dealers that touched that car what a very bad experience that car and I had. In New York, you saw everything people giving, people taking, people in the nude, people dealing drugs, people drinking, people smoking, professional people who were homeless but was able to have new attire/underwear on a consistent basis, people in fashion, LGBTQ community, visitors/tourists, accidents, horns blaring, cops everywhere, filming movies/videos, festivals, parades, people yelling/arguing, kids all over the place, etc. My brain was processing it all. Since I made a decision not to take the car with me to Illinois to get to know my biological father's family, so as a part of illness, I had to physically toss some items that were true memorabilia and all my textbooks purchased from University of Phoenix in Connecticut's recycling and trash center. Someone caught me tossing the books and stated there was a stand or section I could donate the books. I lost some more precious stuff. So I bought a large army bag, Amtrak ticket, Armani bag, and TCS backpack, and headed to Illinois via Washington, DC. I did not tell the biological father's family I was coming...something indicated to me to see if they even accept me as family as I never lived with any of them.
In 2015, it was one hell of a year plus 2016 as hell went on. The Amtrak ride and community was tough. It was hard to sleep. I got there to Chicago. I made some calls. The first thing came out of everyone's mouth, "You did not tell us you were coming." I stayed still for a couple days at an aunt's house. I started doing paperwork and doing the stuff I did everywhere else. I even went back to Downtown Chicago and spent time in an old neighborhood. I started looking for work. I was still on my medications, but I was weening off. I felt very different and mentally ill. My medication was doing something different at a reduced dosage of 10mg. A good friend of mine was working and living in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and I was the godfather to her daughter. I applied to Amazon and got the job, but I stayed with her for a little while and could not stay because my friend (she) was going through professional job changes. I got the job a Moaz Vegetarian at Fashion Outlets of Chicago (Rosemont Mall). It was good and fun. I was taking the storage drives of information and data, and sending the photos, resumes, and stuff I was hoarding since 1999, when the invention of the digital cameras and camera phones started taking place. I sent back every picture to my friends, my biological father's family, my Nelson family, my maternal mother's family, and did not make it send New Jersey back the photos. I sent my resumes to all the churches I attended in South Carolina, Georgia, and Washington, DC. And at the mall while working at Moaz, I had the test to see if I still had mental illness. So someone brought me some Lindt chocolate, and it tasted so good. I went started eating the chocolate, and limited intake of caffeine while on the medication once a week. Oh my god, life and everyone I sent information too sent back the largest anxiety and hurt, I ever felt. The severe illness started March 27, 2016, then the severe onset happened Sunday, April 3, 2016 and lasted until April 10, 2016. The visions this time came pushing all the technology, such as facebook images, all the photos images, all my passwords, all my usernames, all superstitions, all the laws, whitman walker's we see you (I never knew the slogan), etc. I was sitting, nodding in and out of consciousness at various Starbucks, and Barnes and Noble bookstores, and I felt the power of the Catholics doing an exorcism of pulling my soul away from my body...and saying he is ready because the name of Cross schools came through a different way. The cops asked me if I murdered someone. I told them, "No." and my mind started racing again. Another suicide thought was being pushed to jump off N Wells Street bridge into the river...and I was literally standing at the edge of the bridge and looking at the water...later my mind returned me back to N State St bridge...again staring at the water preparing to jump. The flashback I heard as a kid was to my cousins Thurl, Marcus, and Arnold's father nicknamed Orange's story of jumping off Cross/Pineville bridge and drowning. At the library, I was nodding off hard and people were circling me to take my things. I was running up and down every street and block from Roosevelt and S. Clark St all the way to N Halsted St and W Fullerton Ave. Time was lost....night and day happened three times in one setting while riding the bus. Communication was lost because phone had all these options I did not remember turning on. The voices I heard was every single person from facebook, google, yahoo, all my families, all my friends, former colleagues, former classmates, Barack Obama, and the negative voices, such as I killed my mother by thoughts or childbirth, and then came the heavy voice at the end - Washington. My mind was racing so fast that I was running into things. I was crossing the streets while sleeping wide awake. Then a heavyset of reality aches, pains, and raw emotions fell upon me like I was about to be a cripple. Northwestern, Rush, and University of Illinois nursed me back to health, but confirmed my mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression) came directly from the family and all biological connections. I applied for Social Security Disability and SSI again - I was denied because of age, education, and work experience - my illness was not severe enough. Then, when all was settle and done, a cartoon repeatedly kept playing in my head with Lincoln and Washington playing ball like we were kids. April 3, 2016 is a date I will forever remember and stress to anyone I am not speaking to like I did before. I became a full fledged, non-caring adult like everyone else in the world. On and after April 3, 2016, I do not care about money, bills, any responsibilities, materialistic things, people, etc. If I am not interacting with you like I did before, I am combination of mother and father, but I am not either of them so do not expect what they did to you from me! Both mother and father has passed away, I am living for me, I am taking care of me. All decisions and blame stated I was the one to create the loss, I was the one that made people angry, I was the one that did the mistake, I was the one that caused all this, so I will be the one to move forward to a life I want and need. Yes, I own up to it and accept it. It will never happen again like this for the remainder of my life with the exception of doing it all again in Europe. Again, harder flashbacks happened regarding my previous relationships, again loving Monica hard and other girls that I fell for. I just never returned back to Atlanta.
In 2016, I returned back to Washington, DC acting like nothing happened. I applied for Social Security Disability and SSI again - and denied because of age, education, and work experience. I went back to work at the Pentagon, they invited me to work and within two weeks assaulted me a 2nd and 3rd time assuming the same result. I told this time and they took my clearance. I quit. The lawsuit case went further this time than the first. However, I did not get anything money wise or job wise, they did not fix my clearance, and here are the published files for anyone who have been assaulted by a military person or civilian contractor. Make sure you file under the Federal Claims Tort Act (you have to bring it up administratively through the US Dept of Defense before pursuing a civil suit). These are the files and links to the documents. Good luck to the next person or next generations. I met John, 77 years of age from Massachusetts, from my Washington Hospital Center Intensive Outpatient Therapy and he showed me I will be okay by myself as long as I have that one friend by my side and continue to take care of myself. The remaining crazy behavior I am left with is talking to myself or outloud quietly with mannerisms. I did admit to 9-1-1 about wanting to kill someone for upsetting my safe space, and sent MPD an email about someone murdering someone on a particular street.
In 2019, after one thousand plus (1000+) sex adventures and partners, the sex machine (me) had to pause the sexual activity June 2019 because New York, Atlanta, District of Columbia, Connecticut, New England, that unnamed city starts with "C", Midwest, and Maryland were sending people - two and three partners a week. Thanks Atlanta, Georgia for my paid, private sex worker days (undercover as a message therapist) - I was my own pimp. Yes, I thank the good Lord the ability to use all my blessed body parts to ensure every sexual or non-sexual partner have a happy ending. My job for adults over age 18 to make you nutt (necessary) or feel my nutt (not necessary). Yes, the mental illness medication at a higher dosage did slow down the activity and I played with Cialis and Levitra, but I really did not need Cialis and Levitra because it gave me a headache at any dosage and my penis hard for days close to a week. I was happy with my natural erections. Yes, if I stayed a paid sex worker I could have been a millionaire by now, but life did not want me to make money that way including for all the rules and laws I was breaking. I never pay for sex, but I will accept any complimentary funds or tips for my sexual actions. However, those humans showing their blessed goodies in good way on a stage or pole, I will be the first to step up to place and give those dollar(s) where it will be happy and get my feel of those parts. Another part of mental illness and before technology, I was actually keeping track of each and every partner details just so I could track back any possible STDs, then technology came and I tracked them in notepad and outlook personal information manager, then life stated I did not need to keep track of anything while I kept testing myself and taking care of myself. Again, for any relationship partner, I never cheated on you, all my sexual experiences and energy went directly to you when the decision to become monogamous, and the minute I left or you left the relationship I went back to my old ways.
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I have finally graduated from the University of Phoenix with a Doctor of Management. Yes, I am Dr. Collins. I have a hardcopy of my work published by ProQuest, copyrighted by me on record at the United States Copyright Office, and stored at Library of Congress. I did get my diploma in the mail and has been shown in previous post.
My celebration is small. If anyone who is not a doctor and knew me before I was a doctor calls me doctor, I will throw every fruit and vegetable to you and save the watermelon for last...ROTFL...Keeping it 100! I am still Manley or Marvell.
Law Schools for 2019-2020 Admissions Cycle Albany Law School - Applied - Transmitted Sent Boston College Law School - Applied - Transmitted Sent Charleston School of Law - Applied - Transmitted Sent Columbia University School of Law - Applied - Transmitted Sent Harvard Law School - Applied - Transmitted Sent University of South Carolina School of Law - Applied - Transmitted Sent Stanford University Law School - Applied - Transmitted Sent Yale Law School - Applied - Transmitted Sent University of Toronto Faculty of Law Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Student loans fiasco. I am graduating with $130K in student loans with University of Phoenix has $85K of it, but I had suspect the University was going through something with so many campuses closing and downsizing. I was on track to do a civil lawsuit in Arizona (superior/circuit and federal court), and make available a class action suit for time spent and stress. However, God worked in mysterious ways....I give credit to the Federal Trade Commission, NBCNews, and Twan (a South Carolina friend) for letting me know University of Phoenix has to cancel student loan debt from students enrolled from 2012 to 2016. Since I was a student enrolled from 2011 to 2019, we are keeping fingers crossed, hair crossed, legs crossed and whole lot of prayers to see the outcome. University of Phoenix does not have a career center or career advisors so I am fishing on my own to find some type of job that can validate the doctoral degree. I have no employment at this time. This is the response I got from University of Phoenix Student Financial Services, "The settlement with the FTC only applies to outstanding invoices with the University of Phoenix for students that enrolled between 10/1/2012 - 12/31/2016. There is no loan forgiveness included in that settlement. Since there is no balance due on the account at this time your account will not be impacted by this settlement."
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A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter
This story about the Australian Military’s Tiger helicopter first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation.

Australian Army ARH Tiger Armed Reconaissance Helicopters operating together with HMAS Canberra. (Defence)
After protracted improvement and a troubled service entry, the Australian Army’s Airbus EC 665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) has only lately began hitting its straps and providing its promised capability – one which has been almost 20 years in the making.
Chosen in December 2001 to fulfil Military’s AIR 87 requirement underneath a then $1.1bn acquisition contract, the first two Tigers have been accepted by the Commonwealth in December 2004 with the final of 22 plane delivered in late 2011.
The primary 4 Tigers have been manufactured by (then) Eurocopter at the firm’s Marignane manufacturing unit in southern France, whereas the remaining 18 have been assembled at the firm’s Pinkenba facility at Brisbane Airport.
A lot has been written about the delays and capability shortfalls experienced by the ARH program, with developmental issues, groundings, spares shortages and sustainment gaps, in addition to capability and performance shortfalls variously attributed to the program, some of which shall be described under.
Current capability
The Australian Military at present operates two squadrons – 161 and 162 – each of eight plane with the 1st Aviation Brigade (1Avn) at the Robertson Barracks in Darwin, and a training detachment of 4 plane based mostly at Oakey in southern Queensland.
As well as, one instrumented aircraft is assigned to Oakey for improvement work and to supplement the coaching fleet, and a further aircraft is assigned to 1Avn to cowl deep maintenance.
In April 2016 the Tiger ARH lastly achieved a full operational functionality (FOC), some seven years later than deliberate.
But a 2016 Australian Nationwide Audit Office (ANAO) report found the FOC milestone lacked definition, due partially to Army amending its Acceptance into Operational Service Plan to accommodate nine caveats.
These embrace the aircraft’s decrease than anticipated rate-of-effort and delays to its Canberra class LHD integration, as well as its EW self-protection system, IFF, datalinks, and mission planning system, all of which have been nonetheless thought-about developmental or incompatible with other ADF techniques.
The ANAO report also found that the helicopter continued to endure from decrease than expected serviceability charges, and that it faced rising obsolescence points.
Apparently, the ANAO report referred to a 2013 report by Defence’s Speedy Prototyping, Improvement and Evaluation (RPDE) organisation which discovered that upgrading the Tiger was a “high-risk activity” and that alternative options must be thought-about.
One in every of the key recommendations of the ANAO report was “that Defence assesses, and advises government, on the value-for-money in investing further in the Tiger aircraft fleet for only a short period of improved performance, against other alternatives”.
Further, the report stated this evaluation ought to keep in mind the associated technical risks of upgrading an aircraft which has not absolutely delivered the degree of capability initially expected by authorities.
“The 2016 Defence White Paper allocated $500-750 million to address the current capability requirements of the Tiger platform with a view to replacing the platform mid next decade, at a cost of some $5-6 billion,” the ANAO report famous.
“In effect, an upgrade is scheduled for consideration less than 12 months after the Tiger achieved final operational capability. Defence should conduct a thorough analysis of the value-for-money of investing further in the Tiger, pending the introduction of a replacement capability.”
In response to the ANAO’s suggestion, which it accepted, Defence stated it will “assess the best value for money and most effective capability for both the Tiger CAP and Tiger replacement. Recommendations on the timings for both programs will be considered at Gate Zero”.
Regardless of the aircraft’s disappointing improvement delays and sustainment system, its operators view the platform, including its dealing with qualities and general capabilities, very favourably. Despite having by no means been operationally deployed, in contrast to its French and German counterparts, the Australian ARH Tiger fleet leads the international fleet in its methods maturity and flight hours.
In July 2018, then Commander of Military’s 16th Aviation Brigade BRIG Steve Jobson wrote that he thought-about the Tiger a “truly world-class platform”.
“We have driven health into our Tiger organisations, with improved facilities, maintenance processes, reorganised workforce and collaborative operations,” he stated.
“Our Tiger pilots now fly greater than their friends overseas. Our Tigers deliver precision lethal results in training to more troopers of extra battalions and regiments of our personal and different friendly nations Military’s and Marine forces than ever before.
“Our Tigers now deliver reliability and performance that is the envy of the world: Proven reliability. Proven performance. No more conjecture. No more wishing. It’s happening.”
This is excessive praise certainly, notably in mild of the opposed ANAO findings from just two years previously.
“This is no longer the system we acquired,” he added. “It is now modernised with next era weapons, digitised connectivity, revolutionary techniques with unmanned aerial automobiles, and interoperability with the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Pressure and our allies.
“The Tiger no longer just delivers tactical transactions. It has pulled the entire Army aviation capability into delivering theatre enabling, network centric, joint effects for the Joint Force Commander. Our reach and versatility now extends across all domains and components in ways you can only imagine.”

Tiger improvement points addressed, operators view general operational functionality favourably. (Defence)
Whether BRIG Jobson was pushing the case to retain the Tiger past the 2025 timeframe, or whether he simply needed to publicly reassure the remainder of the ADF that Tiger will retain a relevant capability proper up till that time, is unclear. Unfortunately now this is largely irrelevant, because it seems the Tiger’s fate has been sealed.
When requested on the sidelines of the 2019 Avalon Airshow about these constructive statements and the encouraging course through which the Tiger capability had been heading in recent times, Army’s Director Common Aviation BRIG John Fenwick informed Australian Aviation: “The White Paper is very clear, we need to start preparing to replace the aircraft in the mid 2025s.”
“Clearly, we are still watching the platform very closely and we are seeing improvements in it,” BRIG Fenwick stated. “But at the end of the day, government has given us very clear direction – we need to manage the aircraft to its full potential to 2025. So really our opinion is a moot point, it’s all about government direction. Now, if government tells us to change direction, we will comply accordingly.”
So, underneath current Defence planning, the Tiger is due to be upgraded underneath the $500-750m LAND 9000 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Functionality Assurance Program (ARH CAP) which can see the numerous obsolescence points managed until the mid-2020s, after which the functionality can be replaced.
This can be a vital watering down of the earlier $1-2bn AIR 87 Part 3 ARH CAP plan which had envisaged capability and performance enhancements, and life extension measures for a projected life-of-type into the 2030s.
A couple of speedy gadgets to be addressed underneath ARH CAP is the addition of newer Collins ARC-210 radios to switch older techniques which can soon not be supported and to raised integrate with ADF and allied methods, and the alternative of the aircraft’s gasoline tanks which have suffered from corrosion.
In the meantime, Military has addressed several of the FOC caveats, together with the communications and IFF points, and the adoption of an acceptable EWSP system. As well as, after a second spherical of First of Class trials late final yr and a successful deployment in April 2019 of 4 aircraft to Malaysia to hitch the LHD HMAS Canberra for the second half of the ADF’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 activity, the aircraft has been cleared to help amphibious and maritime operations from these vessels.
Later this yr, two plane are scheduled to be deployed to the US Navy’s digital warfare training vary at Yuma in Arizona to participate in Marine Aviation Weapons and Techniques (MAWTS) program to help develop a baseline for the aircraft’s electronic warfare system towards high constancy menace techniques.
The US Marine Corps’ MAWTS-1 is a unit devoted to the improvement of aviation techniques, and has an digital warfare Spectrum Warfare Division to fold EW into the Marines’ biannual Weapons and Techniques Teacher course.

An Australian Army Tiger fires its 30mm cannon during a combined arms live-fire exercise as part of Exercise Chong Ju 2019 at Puckapunyal Coaching Space, Victoria. (Defence)
ARH upgrade
Regardless of a comprehensive improve of the Tiger seemingly now off the table following the ANAO report and subsequent IIP language, Airbus has continued to develop the aircraft and has proposed a variety of capability and performance enhancements for the machine.
The corporate is at present implementing Tiger Mark II upgrades for the French Army’s HAP Tiger, the version commonest to Australia’s ARH variant. The Mark II will see the addition of latest Thales-developed laser-guided rockets, in addition to upgrades to the helicopter’s GPS receiver and CRPA antenna system.
In the meantime, the extra comprehensive Mark III upgrade program was launched by means of the European Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, or OCCAR) with Tiger operator member nations France, Germany and Spain. OCCAR had tried throughout 2016 to get a dedication from Australia to hitch the Mark III improvement effort, however this has seemingly been in useless.
While the definition of the Mark III improve is but to be finalised, the program is working with Thales and MDBA to reinforce the Tiger’s avionics and mission methods, and to develop a brand new widespread air-to-surface missile to switch the current Hellfire and Spike missiles.

Rocket hearth: a Tiger unleashes on targets throughout Exercise Chong Ju. (Defence)
Attainable replacements
Without eager to pre-empt any alternative selections, the ANAO quoted the RPDE report as saying: “Alternate platform options should be considered. One option is the [Apache], although it is acknowledged that there may be other cost competitive platforms.”
The ANAO report then notes that in 2013 the then Defence Materials Organisation (DMO – now CASG) suggested the then Defence Minister that whereas “no in-depth analysis of the costs of acquiring the Apache had been undertaken since the initial tender process for AIR 87 Phase 2 in 2001; [and that] the figures identified in the 2013 [RPDE] report were ‘not considered reliable’; . . . that further analysis would be undertaken to develop options in the lead up to Gate Zero for the Tiger mid-life upgrade”.
Regardless of that evaluation, a like-for-like alternative of the Tiger by another assault or armed reconnaissance helicopter is probably not the end results of Defence’s deliberations, with the IIP proposing that “Defence will invest in a future armed reconnaissance capability to replace the Tiger, which could include manned or unmanned systems or a combination of both, to be introduced from the mid-2020s”.
If Defence is wanting at replacing the Tiger with another manned helicopter, there are really only two choices out there which would offer an identical capability while addressing lots of the identified interoperable deficiencies skilled with Tiger, these being the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian, and the Bell AH-1Z Zulu Cobra, or “Viper”.
Both of those aircraft are the latest developments of very mature methods, with many tons of of every sort in service with the US and other allied nations, including in our quick region.
The newest AH-64E Apache Guardian is at present being manufactured as new-build airframes for international clients, and remanufactured from AH-64Ds for the US Army. Originally designed as a heavy assault helicopter to defeat Soviet heavy armour in Europe, the Apache’s latest iteration adds improved endurance, interoperability with unmanned methods, and the means to interact maritime targets.
AH-64E improvement began in 2012, and adds more powerful GE T700-GE-701D turboshafts and an upgraded transmission, and new composite blades that provide a prime velocity of about 170kts and almost 50 per cent higher endurance than the AH-64D.

Two Apaches from the United States Military’s 6th Cavalry Regiment at a joint exercise with Australian forces. (Defence)
Other improvements embrace longer-stroke hydraulic shock strut touchdown gear for improved crash-worthiness, and a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) system datalink enabling which permits the AH-64E’s co-pilot to remotely management and obtain knowledge from unmanned techniques akin to the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle, a improvement of the MQ-1A Predator.
There are also enhanced fire-control techniques with maritime modes to determine and target vessels at sea or in the littorals, Link-16 datalinks, and a brand new ground-fire acquisition system which may determine muzzle flashes from small arms, cannons and rocket-propelled grenades, and routinely direct return hearth from the plane’s onboard 30mm cannon.
Boeing can also be engaged on a complicated improvement of the AH-64E which may have wider span stub wings and a compound “pusher” tail rotor. The idea emerged amid ongoing delays to the US Army’s Future Vertical Raise plan and a requirement to maintain the AH-64 succesful nicely into the 2030s and probably past the sort’s current planned withdrawal by 2040.
Dubbed the AH-64E Block 2 Compound, the improvement options enlarged and permanently hooked up wings, a brand new engine exhaust association, a bigger vertical tail fin, and a rear-mounted “pusher” propeller, all of that are designed to provide the Apache larger velocity and vary compared to typical fashions.
Boeing estimates the Compound improvement will provide 50 per cent more velocity. Concept testing was as a consequence of have been completed earlier this yr and, if profitable, Boeing is predicted to pitch it as an alternative choice to extra radical designs for the US Army’s Future Assault Reconnaissance Plane (FARA) aggressive program.
The Bell AH-1Z lineage dates right again to the mid-1960s when the company tailored the familiar UH-1D Huey’s driveline and dynamic elements to a lighter and slimmer tandem fuselage with stub wings to offer devoted airborne fire-support to troops in Vietnam.
Many iterations later, the AH-1Z nonetheless shares the dynamic elements of the Huey, albeit in its newest UH-1Y Yankee type, both of which have been developed in the late 90s for the US Marine Corps initially as upgrades to in-service AH-1W and UH-1N plane, but finally as new-build plane.
The AH-1Z encompasses a four-bladed composite rotor system and upgraded transmission, a four-bladed tail rotor, upgraded landing skids and a brand new fully-integrated glass cockpit, and shares 85 per cent techniques commonality with the UH-1Y.
Viper crew members use the similar Thales Prime Owl helmet-mounted sight and show system as utilized in the Australian Army’s MHR 90 transport helo.
The helicopter itself has a fully-marinised airframe and dynamic elements for maritime operations, and options higher survivability by means of the adoption of a hover infrared suppression system (HIRSS) to mask the engine exhaust, countermeasures dispensers, radar warning receivers (RWRs), incoming/on-way missile warning, and on-fuselage laser spot warning techniques.
The AH-1Z additionally includes a Lockheed Martin target sight system (TSS) with a FLIR sensor for concentrating on in day, night time and opposed climate circumstances. Weapons embrace precision-guided APKWS and Hellfire missiles, and an integral 20mm cannon.

The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a potential manned alternative for the Tiger. (Defence)
Alternatives for innovation
Both the AH-64E and the AH-1Z are proven and obtainable now, but it is potential both platforms will not be in manufacturing by the planned 2025 Tiger alternative timeframe until further US or worldwide orders are acquired.
If this is the case, Defence may be pressured to widen its seek for a alternative to include new era methods which might be beneath improvement for the US Army’s FARA competitive program, an element of the service’s all-encompassing Future Vertical Raise (FVL) program designed to switch the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter which was retired in 2017.
In late April the US Military Combat Capabilities Improvement Command Aviation & Missile Middle’s Aviation Improvement Directorate suggested that the FARA program was tracking a couple of months forward of schedule, and that prototype agreements had been reached with business.
The 5 agreements have been awarded to a teaming of AVX Plane Co and L3 Communications Integrated Methods with a by-product of AVX’s Joint Multi-Position (JMR) aircraft; Bell Helicopter with its typical 525 Relentless; Sikorsky with its S-97 Raider; Boeing with an as-yet undeclared contender but considered the AH-64E Block 2 Compound; and Karem Plane with a thriller design.

With the future in mind, Defence might flip to parts of the US FARA program resembling the AVX Joint ulti-Position Plane. (AVX Aircraft)

One other plane beneath improvement within the FARA venture is the Sikorsky S-97 Raider. (Sikorsky)

The Bell V-247 Vigilant UAS, a potential contender for the US Marine Corps MUX challenge. (Bell Helicopter)
The US Military plans to have FARA prototypes flying in 2023, and to make a production determination in 2028, although this seems to be overly formidable for such developmental methods.
The US Marine Corps is operating an analogous program, the Marine Air-Floor Activity Pressure (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Expeditionary, or MUX. Designed to help manned aircraft reminiscent of the V-22 Osprey, the MUX will doubtless be unmanned, and may have an endurance of as much as eight hours and a most velocity nicely above 200kts.
The USMC aims to difficulty a request for info to business early next yr, with the ambition of trialling operational capability as early as 2026. Potential contenders for MUX embrace the Bell V-247 Vigilant idea which resembles a slightly smaller and sleeker V-22 tiltrotor, and the Northrop Grumman/DARPA Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) tail-sitter idea.
Whereas MUX on paper appears to far exceed the ARH specs of the Tiger and other manned helicopters, it supplies vital capability and adaptability that manned plane can’t match now or in the near future.
Like FARA, MUX is more likely to be at least a decade or more away from getting into service, let alone being out there for export. Thus there’s a probably a six or extra yr gap the place no devoted manned armed reconnaissance or assault platform of US origin is obtainable to the ADF if the 2025 Tiger retirement date is adhered to.
However such a state of affairs might deliver the opportunity for an additional probably revolutionary answer into play, one which will present some aircraft and/or techniques commonality advantages to the ADF.
Army at present has one other manned aviation program underway – the LAND 2097 Part 4 mild particular forces help helicopter which is planned to enter service shortly before the deliberate Tiger alternative.
It says it requires at least 16 helicopters for city particular forces (SF) operations, four of which may be deployed at a time quickly by way of RAAF C-17A transport, and made able to fly inside 30 minutes. The new helicopter will complement the larger machines at present operated by Army’s 6 Aviation Regiment (6Avn) at Holsworthy in Sydney, which is presently transitioning from the S-70A-9 Black Hawk to the Airbus MRH 90 Taipan.
A number of of the possible LAND 2097/4 contenders – Bell with its 407GX/GT or 429, Airbus with the H145M, and Boeing with its AH-6i Little Chook – supply armed variations of those aircraft with missionised techniques, excessive performance sensors, and stub wings or pylons with forward-firing precision guided weapons.
Whereas a army by-product of a business platform clearly wouldn’t supply the similar levels of performance, survivability and functionality as a dedicated ARH or assault helicopter, a Tiger alternative based mostly on the profitable SF help helicopter might supply large operational savings and adaptability to the ADF, with little danger.
The other choice for Army to think about is to revert to its unique plan to improve the Tiger’s techniques past just addressing obsolescence points so it may proceed in service till a extra succesful alternative comparable to the successful FARA or MUX program answer is out there and has matured sufficiently for export.
VIDEO: A look at the Tiger at the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 workouts from the Australian Military’s YouTube channel.
This story first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation. To succeed in more stories like this, develop into a member here.
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A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter
This story about the Australian Military’s Tiger helicopter first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation.

Australian Army ARH Tiger Armed Reconaissance Helicopters operating together with HMAS Canberra. (Defence)
After protracted improvement and a troubled service entry, the Australian Army’s Airbus EC 665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) has only lately began hitting its straps and providing its promised capability – one which has been almost 20 years in the making.
Chosen in December 2001 to fulfil Military’s AIR 87 requirement underneath a then $1.1bn acquisition contract, the first two Tigers have been accepted by the Commonwealth in December 2004 with the final of 22 plane delivered in late 2011.
The primary 4 Tigers have been manufactured by (then) Eurocopter at the firm’s Marignane manufacturing unit in southern France, whereas the remaining 18 have been assembled at the firm’s Pinkenba facility at Brisbane Airport.
A lot has been written about the delays and capability shortfalls experienced by the ARH program, with developmental issues, groundings, spares shortages and sustainment gaps, in addition to capability and performance shortfalls variously attributed to the program, some of which shall be described under.
Current capability
The Australian Military at present operates two squadrons – 161 and 162 – each of eight plane with the 1st Aviation Brigade (1Avn) at the Robertson Barracks in Darwin, and a training detachment of 4 plane based mostly at Oakey in southern Queensland.
As well as, one instrumented aircraft is assigned to Oakey for improvement work and to supplement the coaching fleet, and a further aircraft is assigned to 1Avn to cowl deep maintenance.
In April 2016 the Tiger ARH lastly achieved a full operational functionality (FOC), some seven years later than deliberate.
But a 2016 Australian Nationwide Audit Office (ANAO) report found the FOC milestone lacked definition, due partially to Army amending its Acceptance into Operational Service Plan to accommodate nine caveats.
These embrace the aircraft’s decrease than anticipated rate-of-effort and delays to its Canberra class LHD integration, as well as its EW self-protection system, IFF, datalinks, and mission planning system, all of which have been nonetheless thought-about developmental or incompatible with other ADF techniques.
The ANAO report also found that the helicopter continued to endure from decrease than expected serviceability charges, and that it faced rising obsolescence points.
Apparently, the ANAO report referred to a 2013 report by Defence’s Speedy Prototyping, Improvement and Evaluation (RPDE) organisation which discovered that upgrading the Tiger was a “high-risk activity” and that alternative options must be thought-about.
One in every of the key recommendations of the ANAO report was “that Defence assesses, and advises government, on the value-for-money in investing further in the Tiger aircraft fleet for only a short period of improved performance, against other alternatives”.
Further, the report stated this evaluation ought to keep in mind the associated technical risks of upgrading an aircraft which has not absolutely delivered the degree of capability initially expected by authorities.
“The 2016 Defence White Paper allocated $500-750 million to address the current capability requirements of the Tiger platform with a view to replacing the platform mid next decade, at a cost of some $5-6 billion,” the ANAO report famous.
“In effect, an upgrade is scheduled for consideration less than 12 months after the Tiger achieved final operational capability. Defence should conduct a thorough analysis of the value-for-money of investing further in the Tiger, pending the introduction of a replacement capability.”
In response to the ANAO’s suggestion, which it accepted, Defence stated it will “assess the best value for money and most effective capability for both the Tiger CAP and Tiger replacement. Recommendations on the timings for both programs will be considered at Gate Zero”.
Regardless of the aircraft’s disappointing improvement delays and sustainment system, its operators view the platform, including its dealing with qualities and general capabilities, very favourably. Despite having by no means been operationally deployed, in contrast to its French and German counterparts, the Australian ARH Tiger fleet leads the international fleet in its methods maturity and flight hours.
In July 2018, then Commander of Military’s 16th Aviation Brigade BRIG Steve Jobson wrote that he thought-about the Tiger a “truly world-class platform”.
“We have driven health into our Tiger organisations, with improved facilities, maintenance processes, reorganised workforce and collaborative operations,” he stated.
“Our Tiger pilots now fly greater than their friends overseas. Our Tigers deliver precision lethal results in training to more troopers of extra battalions and regiments of our personal and different friendly nations Military’s and Marine forces than ever before.
“Our Tigers now deliver reliability and performance that is the envy of the world: Proven reliability. Proven performance. No more conjecture. No more wishing. It’s happening.”
This is excessive praise certainly, notably in mild of the opposed ANAO findings from just two years previously.
“This is no longer the system we acquired,” he added. “It is now modernised with next era weapons, digitised connectivity, revolutionary techniques with unmanned aerial automobiles, and interoperability with the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Pressure and our allies.
“The Tiger no longer just delivers tactical transactions. It has pulled the entire Army aviation capability into delivering theatre enabling, network centric, joint effects for the Joint Force Commander. Our reach and versatility now extends across all domains and components in ways you can only imagine.”

Tiger improvement points addressed, operators view general operational functionality favourably. (Defence)
Whether BRIG Jobson was pushing the case to retain the Tiger past the 2025 timeframe, or whether he simply needed to publicly reassure the remainder of the ADF that Tiger will retain a relevant capability proper up till that time, is unclear. Unfortunately now this is largely irrelevant, because it seems the Tiger’s fate has been sealed.
When requested on the sidelines of the 2019 Avalon Airshow about these constructive statements and the encouraging course through which the Tiger capability had been heading in recent times, Army’s Director Common Aviation BRIG John Fenwick informed Australian Aviation: “The White Paper is very clear, we need to start preparing to replace the aircraft in the mid 2025s.”
“Clearly, we are still watching the platform very closely and we are seeing improvements in it,” BRIG Fenwick stated. “But at the end of the day, government has given us very clear direction – we need to manage the aircraft to its full potential to 2025. So really our opinion is a moot point, it’s all about government direction. Now, if government tells us to change direction, we will comply accordingly.”
So, underneath current Defence planning, the Tiger is due to be upgraded underneath the $500-750m LAND 9000 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Functionality Assurance Program (ARH CAP) which can see the numerous obsolescence points managed until the mid-2020s, after which the functionality can be replaced.
This can be a vital watering down of the earlier $1-2bn AIR 87 Part 3 ARH CAP plan which had envisaged capability and performance enhancements, and life extension measures for a projected life-of-type into the 2030s.
A couple of speedy gadgets to be addressed underneath ARH CAP is the addition of newer Collins ARC-210 radios to switch older techniques which can soon not be supported and to raised integrate with ADF and allied methods, and the alternative of the aircraft’s gasoline tanks which have suffered from corrosion.
In the meantime, Military has addressed several of the FOC caveats, together with the communications and IFF points, and the adoption of an acceptable EWSP system. As well as, after a second spherical of First of Class trials late final yr and a successful deployment in April 2019 of 4 aircraft to Malaysia to hitch the LHD HMAS Canberra for the second half of the ADF’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 activity, the aircraft has been cleared to help amphibious and maritime operations from these vessels.
Later this yr, two plane are scheduled to be deployed to the US Navy’s digital warfare training vary at Yuma in Arizona to participate in Marine Aviation Weapons and Techniques (MAWTS) program to help develop a baseline for the aircraft’s electronic warfare system towards high constancy menace techniques.
The US Marine Corps’ MAWTS-1 is a unit devoted to the improvement of aviation techniques, and has an digital warfare Spectrum Warfare Division to fold EW into the Marines’ biannual Weapons and Techniques Teacher course.

An Australian Army Tiger fires its 30mm cannon during a combined arms live-fire exercise as part of Exercise Chong Ju 2019 at Puckapunyal Coaching Space, Victoria. (Defence)
ARH upgrade
Regardless of a comprehensive improve of the Tiger seemingly now off the table following the ANAO report and subsequent IIP language, Airbus has continued to develop the aircraft and has proposed a variety of capability and performance enhancements for the machine.
The corporate is at present implementing Tiger Mark II upgrades for the French Army’s HAP Tiger, the version commonest to Australia’s ARH variant. The Mark II will see the addition of latest Thales-developed laser-guided rockets, in addition to upgrades to the helicopter’s GPS receiver and CRPA antenna system.
In the meantime, the extra comprehensive Mark III upgrade program was launched by means of the European Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, or OCCAR) with Tiger operator member nations France, Germany and Spain. OCCAR had tried throughout 2016 to get a dedication from Australia to hitch the Mark III improvement effort, however this has seemingly been in useless.
While the definition of the Mark III improve is but to be finalised, the program is working with Thales and MDBA to reinforce the Tiger’s avionics and mission methods, and to develop a brand new widespread air-to-surface missile to switch the current Hellfire and Spike missiles.

Rocket hearth: a Tiger unleashes on targets throughout Exercise Chong Ju. (Defence)
Attainable replacements
Without eager to pre-empt any alternative selections, the ANAO quoted the RPDE report as saying: “Alternate platform options should be considered. One option is the [Apache], although it is acknowledged that there may be other cost competitive platforms.”
The ANAO report then notes that in 2013 the then Defence Materials Organisation (DMO – now CASG) suggested the then Defence Minister that whereas “no in-depth analysis of the costs of acquiring the Apache had been undertaken since the initial tender process for AIR 87 Phase 2 in 2001; [and that] the figures identified in the 2013 [RPDE] report were ‘not considered reliable’; . . . that further analysis would be undertaken to develop options in the lead up to Gate Zero for the Tiger mid-life upgrade”.
Regardless of that evaluation, a like-for-like alternative of the Tiger by another assault or armed reconnaissance helicopter is probably not the end results of Defence’s deliberations, with the IIP proposing that “Defence will invest in a future armed reconnaissance capability to replace the Tiger, which could include manned or unmanned systems or a combination of both, to be introduced from the mid-2020s”.
If Defence is wanting at replacing the Tiger with another manned helicopter, there are really only two choices out there which would offer an identical capability while addressing lots of the identified interoperable deficiencies skilled with Tiger, these being the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian, and the Bell AH-1Z Zulu Cobra, or “Viper”.
Both of those aircraft are the latest developments of very mature methods, with many tons of of every sort in service with the US and other allied nations, including in our quick region.
The newest AH-64E Apache Guardian is at present being manufactured as new-build airframes for international clients, and remanufactured from AH-64Ds for the US Army. Originally designed as a heavy assault helicopter to defeat Soviet heavy armour in Europe, the Apache’s latest iteration adds improved endurance, interoperability with unmanned methods, and the means to interact maritime targets.
AH-64E improvement began in 2012, and adds more powerful GE T700-GE-701D turboshafts and an upgraded transmission, and new composite blades that provide a prime velocity of about 170kts and almost 50 per cent higher endurance than the AH-64D.

Two Apaches from the United States Military’s 6th Cavalry Regiment at a joint exercise with Australian forces. (Defence)
Other improvements embrace longer-stroke hydraulic shock strut touchdown gear for improved crash-worthiness, and a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) system datalink enabling which permits the AH-64E’s co-pilot to remotely management and obtain knowledge from unmanned techniques akin to the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle, a improvement of the MQ-1A Predator.
There are also enhanced fire-control techniques with maritime modes to determine and target vessels at sea or in the littorals, Link-16 datalinks, and a brand new ground-fire acquisition system which may determine muzzle flashes from small arms, cannons and rocket-propelled grenades, and routinely direct return hearth from the plane’s onboard 30mm cannon.
Boeing can also be engaged on a complicated improvement of the AH-64E which may have wider span stub wings and a compound “pusher” tail rotor. The idea emerged amid ongoing delays to the US Army’s Future Vertical Raise plan and a requirement to maintain the AH-64 succesful nicely into the 2030s and probably past the sort’s current planned withdrawal by 2040.
Dubbed the AH-64E Block 2 Compound, the improvement options enlarged and permanently hooked up wings, a brand new engine exhaust association, a bigger vertical tail fin, and a rear-mounted “pusher” propeller, all of that are designed to provide the Apache larger velocity and vary compared to typical fashions.
Boeing estimates the Compound improvement will provide 50 per cent more velocity. Concept testing was as a consequence of have been completed earlier this yr and, if profitable, Boeing is predicted to pitch it as an alternative choice to extra radical designs for the US Army’s Future Assault Reconnaissance Plane (FARA) aggressive program.
The Bell AH-1Z lineage dates right again to the mid-1960s when the company tailored the familiar UH-1D Huey’s driveline and dynamic elements to a lighter and slimmer tandem fuselage with stub wings to offer devoted airborne fire-support to troops in Vietnam.
Many iterations later, the AH-1Z nonetheless shares the dynamic elements of the Huey, albeit in its newest UH-1Y Yankee type, both of which have been developed in the late 90s for the US Marine Corps initially as upgrades to in-service AH-1W and UH-1N plane, but finally as new-build plane.
The AH-1Z encompasses a four-bladed composite rotor system and upgraded transmission, a four-bladed tail rotor, upgraded landing skids and a brand new fully-integrated glass cockpit, and shares 85 per cent techniques commonality with the UH-1Y.
Viper crew members use the similar Thales Prime Owl helmet-mounted sight and show system as utilized in the Australian Army’s MHR 90 transport helo.
The helicopter itself has a fully-marinised airframe and dynamic elements for maritime operations, and options higher survivability by means of the adoption of a hover infrared suppression system (HIRSS) to mask the engine exhaust, countermeasures dispensers, radar warning receivers (RWRs), incoming/on-way missile warning, and on-fuselage laser spot warning techniques.
The AH-1Z additionally includes a Lockheed Martin target sight system (TSS) with a FLIR sensor for concentrating on in day, night time and opposed climate circumstances. Weapons embrace precision-guided APKWS and Hellfire missiles, and an integral 20mm cannon.

The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a potential manned alternative for the Tiger. (Defence)
Alternatives for innovation
Both the AH-64E and the AH-1Z are proven and obtainable now, but it is potential both platforms will not be in manufacturing by the planned 2025 Tiger alternative timeframe until further US or worldwide orders are acquired.
If this is the case, Defence may be pressured to widen its seek for a alternative to include new era methods which might be beneath improvement for the US Army’s FARA competitive program, an element of the service’s all-encompassing Future Vertical Raise (FVL) program designed to switch the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter which was retired in 2017.
In late April the US Military Combat Capabilities Improvement Command Aviation & Missile Middle’s Aviation Improvement Directorate suggested that the FARA program was tracking a couple of months forward of schedule, and that prototype agreements had been reached with business.
The 5 agreements have been awarded to a teaming of AVX Plane Co and L3 Communications Integrated Methods with a by-product of AVX’s Joint Multi-Position (JMR) aircraft; Bell Helicopter with its typical 525 Relentless; Sikorsky with its S-97 Raider; Boeing with an as-yet undeclared contender but considered the AH-64E Block 2 Compound; and Karem Plane with a thriller design.

With the future in mind, Defence might flip to parts of the US FARA program resembling the AVX Joint ulti-Position Plane. (AVX Aircraft)

One other plane beneath improvement within the FARA venture is the Sikorsky S-97 Raider. (Sikorsky)

The Bell V-247 Vigilant UAS, a potential contender for the US Marine Corps MUX challenge. (Bell Helicopter)
The US Military plans to have FARA prototypes flying in 2023, and to make a production determination in 2028, although this seems to be overly formidable for such developmental methods.
The US Marine Corps is operating an analogous program, the Marine Air-Floor Activity Pressure (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Expeditionary, or MUX. Designed to help manned aircraft reminiscent of the V-22 Osprey, the MUX will doubtless be unmanned, and may have an endurance of as much as eight hours and a most velocity nicely above 200kts.
The USMC aims to difficulty a request for info to business early next yr, with the ambition of trialling operational capability as early as 2026. Potential contenders for MUX embrace the Bell V-247 Vigilant idea which resembles a slightly smaller and sleeker V-22 tiltrotor, and the Northrop Grumman/DARPA Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) tail-sitter idea.
Whereas MUX on paper appears to far exceed the ARH specs of the Tiger and other manned helicopters, it supplies vital capability and adaptability that manned plane can’t match now or in the near future.
Like FARA, MUX is more likely to be at least a decade or more away from getting into service, let alone being out there for export. Thus there’s a probably a six or extra yr gap the place no devoted manned armed reconnaissance or assault platform of US origin is obtainable to the ADF if the 2025 Tiger retirement date is adhered to.
However such a state of affairs might deliver the opportunity for an additional probably revolutionary answer into play, one which will present some aircraft and/or techniques commonality advantages to the ADF.
Army at present has one other manned aviation program underway – the LAND 2097 Part 4 mild particular forces help helicopter which is planned to enter service shortly before the deliberate Tiger alternative.
It says it requires at least 16 helicopters for city particular forces (SF) operations, four of which may be deployed at a time quickly by way of RAAF C-17A transport, and made able to fly inside 30 minutes. The new helicopter will complement the larger machines at present operated by Army’s 6 Aviation Regiment (6Avn) at Holsworthy in Sydney, which is presently transitioning from the S-70A-9 Black Hawk to the Airbus MRH 90 Taipan.
A number of of the possible LAND 2097/4 contenders – Bell with its 407GX/GT or 429, Airbus with the H145M, and Boeing with its AH-6i Little Chook – supply armed variations of those aircraft with missionised techniques, excessive performance sensors, and stub wings or pylons with forward-firing precision guided weapons.
Whereas a army by-product of a business platform clearly wouldn’t supply the similar levels of performance, survivability and functionality as a dedicated ARH or assault helicopter, a Tiger alternative based mostly on the profitable SF help helicopter might supply large operational savings and adaptability to the ADF, with little danger.
The other choice for Army to think about is to revert to its unique plan to improve the Tiger’s techniques past just addressing obsolescence points so it may proceed in service till a extra succesful alternative comparable to the successful FARA or MUX program answer is out there and has matured sufficiently for export.
VIDEO: A look at the Tiger at the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 workouts from the Australian Military’s YouTube channel.
This story first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation. To succeed in more stories like this, develop into a member here.
The post A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter appeared first on Black Dot Mobile.
#Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter#army#Army Aviation#Blog#Defence#Headlines#Helicopters#Industry & Professionals#Tiger
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MassHousing Provides $13.9 Million Financing to Russell Apartments in Cambridge
BOSTON – MassHousing has provided $13.9 million in financing to an affiliate of the Cambridge Housing Authority. The MassHousing financing will allow the Cambridge Housing Authority to launch an extensive renovation of the Russell Apartments, a 52-unit affordable housing community serving low-income senior citizens and disabled residents.
The transaction will also enable the Cambridge Housing Authority to extend affordability at the property for at least 30 years.
MassHousing is supporting the rehabilitation of the Russell Apartments with $13.9 million in financing through the Agency’s Conduit Loan Program. MassHousing will issue tax-exempt housing revenue bonds for public purchase and the proceeds will be used for construction purposes, in partnership with Wells Fargo Bank. The MassHousing conduit loan generated $8.2 million in equity financing for the project, through federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Project financing also includes a $6.4 million sponsor loan and a $6.3 million seller note.
“MassHousing is pleased to partner with the Cambridge Housing Authority, to help finance the significant improvements at the Russell Apartments through our Conduit Loan Program,” said MassHousing Acting Executive Director Tom Lyons. “This important modernization and preservation project will ensure the property remains affordable for its residents long into the future.”
The Russell Apartments are contained in a four-to-six story, midrise building at 2050 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. As part of the transaction, the Cambridge Housing Authority will convert 51 existing one-bedroom, public housing units, to a project-based federal Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contract (HAP). The Russell Apartments modernization project will also add a new apartment, bringing the unit total to 52 under the HAP contract.

Russell Apartments
“Cambridge Housing Authority welcomes the opportunity to partner with MassHousing on the renovation of Russell Apartments,” said Michael Johnston, CHA’s Executive Director. “The ability to make the type of reinvestment in the property afforded by the tax-exempt bond financing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits is critical to our efforts to protect and preserve affordable housing units in Cambridge. We look forward to working again with MassHousing as we procced with plans to renovate 1,250 additional affordable units.”
Of the 52 units at Russell Apartments, 5 are for households earning at or below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), 42 units are for households earning at or below 60% AMI, and 5 units are for households earning at or below 80% AMI. The area median income for Cambridge is $103,400. As a result of the transaction, the 52 units will remain affordable for at least 30 years.
The Cambridge Housing Authority plans to construct new kitchens and bathrooms in all units, while upgrading common areas, HVAC and fire protection systems, undertaking elevator replacement, and making siding and structural repairs.
MassHousing has financed or administers the rental subsidy for 14 rental housing communities in Cambridge involving 2,051 housing units and an original total loan amount of $137.1 million. MassHousing has additionally provided $68.5 million in financing to 550 Cambridge homebuyers or homeowners who refinanced their property.
from boston condos ford realtor http://bostonrealestatetimes.com/masshousing-provides-13-9-million-financing-to-russell-apartments-in-cambridge/
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DEATH THREATS AND GASSING
THE PAST 4-5 DAYS I HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO DEATH THREATS AND HAVE BEEN GASSED WHICH THIS TIME MADE MY ARMS AND LEGS ITCH UNTIL I WASHED THEM DOWN WITH WATER. I AM AS CERTAIN AS I CAN BE THAT THIS GOES BACK TO ASSETS FOR MY BENEFIT GOING BACK TO WHEN I WAS A KID THAT WERE NEVER DISCLOSED TO ME. I CAN’T HELP BUT BLAME MY FATHERS WIFE ELLA OLIVIERI FELCHER WHO I THINK IS THE BIGGEST PAIN IN THE ASS AND A WRETCHED OLD HAG. I CALL HER A WICKED WITCH ALL THE TIME. I HAVE HEARD A FEW PEOPLE CALL HER HOLLYWOODS FAVORITE HOMEWRECKER! THIS GROUP OF MORONS THAT STALK AND CYBERSTALK THEIR SUBJECT IN ADDITION TO GANG STALKING AND GASLIGHTING PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE, I BELIEVE, USES SOME OF ITS SUBJECTS AS HUMAN GUINEA PIGS WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR APPROVAL. I’M PRETTY SURE THAT THEY WERE DOING SOME SORT OF THRESHOLD STUDY ON ME FOR ABOUT A WEEK TO SEE WHAT MY REACTION WOULD BE TO VARIOUS NOISE TORTURE. SOMEHOW THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO CAUSE A VIBRATION OR RUMBLING UNDER YOUR FEET THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED AT TIMES ON A SIDE WALK, DRIVEWAYS, INSIDE OF A HOME OR STORE. IT’S ABOUT A 4 SOMETIMES 5 ON A SCALE OF 1-10. THIS CAUSES MY BLOOD PRESSURE TO SPIKE AND MY HEARTRATE TO INCREASE AS WELL. I HAVE A FEELING THE PURPOSE FOF THAT IS TO TRY TO CAUSE SOMEONE TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK OR A STROKE. THEY ALSO ENGAGE IN SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND SOMETIMES, LIKE LAST NIGHT, STARTED BOMBARDING ME WITH NOISE AND INFLAMMATORY SPOKEN CONTENT TO KEEP ME UP, I THINK, HOPING THAT IN KEEPING ME UP A FEW HOURS I WOULD GET UP LATER AND GET LESS DONE FOR THE DAY. THEIR GOALS SEEM TO INCLUDE ECONOMIC TERRORISM AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE. THEY ACTUALLY SAID THEY LIKE TO BANKRUPT THEIR SUBJECT SO THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO FIGHT BACK. THE ARROGANCE IS INCREDIBLE. THIS GROUP COULD TORTURE PEOPLE, TRY TO DEGRADE AND INSULT THEM FOR OVER AN HOUR AT A TIME AND YET THEY THINK THEY ARE ENTITLED TO RESPECT AND THAT THEIR SUBJECT SHOULD BE RESPECTFUL AND COOPERATIVE IN THEIR OWN DEMISE. THIS GROUP HAS MADE A NUMBER OF THREATS AND I THINK THEIR REAL GOAL IS TO TAKE A PERSON DPOWN OVER TIME, CHARACTER ASSASINATION, PUSH THEIR SUBJECTS FRIENDS AWAY, DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO CAUSE WORK TO BACK UP, KILL PETS, ECONOMIC TERRORISM ALL WITH THE HOPE AND INTENTION THAT OVER A PERIOD POF TIME 2-3-4 YEARS THEY CAN MAKE THEIR SUBJECT MISERABLE ENOUGH THAT THEY CAN GET THEM TO COMMITT SUICIDE. AS I SEE IT, THIS GOES ALONG WITH SOMETHING SAID EARLY ON ABOUT 6 YEARS AGO. THEY SAID THEY WANTED TO CAUSE MY DEATH IN A WAY THAT AVOIDS RED FLAGS. I AM CERTAIN THEY HAVE BEEN TRYING TO KILL ME OR CAUSE MY DEATH THE LAST 3-4 DAYS BUT WANT TO DO IT IN A WAY THAT IT APPEARS NATURAL SUCH AS A HEART ATTACK OR A STROKE.
#DENNIS FELCHER#ABERMARLE HORSE FARM#AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT#HUD#PROJECT BASED HAP CONTRACT#LITTLE MISS PERFECT#JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA#OCALA HORSE RACING#SARATOGA RACE COURSE#SARATOGA RACE TRACK#GIDEON PUTNAM#INN AT SARATOGA#SARATOGA CASINO#PIER HOUSE KEY WEST#NYC OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT#BROOKLYN OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT#EMPIRE STATE DEVELOPMENT#SARATOGA GARDEN CLUB#SARATOGA FORD#MY SON GOT OUT OF PRISON#WAFFLE HOUSE#WICKED WITCH OF SARATOGA#9 ISLAND AVENUE MIAMI BEACH#RITZ CARLTON#HILTON HOTELS#EMERALD HILLS HOLLYWOOD FLORIDA#WELCOME WAGON#HUD JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA#PRESERVATION FRAUD#MORE FACELIFTS THAN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
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A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter
This story about the Australian Military’s Tiger helicopter first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation.
Australian Army ARH Tiger Armed Reconaissance Helicopters operating together with HMAS Canberra. (Defence)
After protracted improvement and a troubled service entry, the Australian Army’s Airbus EC 665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) has only lately began hitting its straps and providing its promised capability – one which has been almost 20 years in the making.
Chosen in December 2001 to fulfil Military’s AIR 87 requirement underneath a then $1.1bn acquisition contract, the first two Tigers have been accepted by the Commonwealth in December 2004 with the final of 22 plane delivered in late 2011.
The primary 4 Tigers have been manufactured by (then) Eurocopter at the firm’s Marignane manufacturing unit in southern France, whereas the remaining 18 have been assembled at the firm’s Pinkenba facility at Brisbane Airport.
A lot has been written about the delays and capability shortfalls experienced by the ARH program, with developmental issues, groundings, spares shortages and sustainment gaps, in addition to capability and performance shortfalls variously attributed to the program, some of which shall be described under.
Current capability
The Australian Military at present operates two squadrons – 161 and 162 – each of eight plane with the 1st Aviation Brigade (1Avn) at the Robertson Barracks in Darwin, and a training detachment of 4 plane based mostly at Oakey in southern Queensland.
As well as, one instrumented aircraft is assigned to Oakey for improvement work and to supplement the coaching fleet, and a further aircraft is assigned to 1Avn to cowl deep maintenance.
In April 2016 the Tiger ARH lastly achieved a full operational functionality (FOC), some seven years later than deliberate.
But a 2016 Australian Nationwide Audit Office (ANAO) report found the FOC milestone lacked definition, due partially to Army amending its Acceptance into Operational Service Plan to accommodate nine caveats.
These embrace the aircraft’s decrease than anticipated rate-of-effort and delays to its Canberra class LHD integration, as well as its EW self-protection system, IFF, datalinks, and mission planning system, all of which have been nonetheless thought-about developmental or incompatible with other ADF techniques.
The ANAO report also found that the helicopter continued to endure from decrease than expected serviceability charges, and that it faced rising obsolescence points.
Apparently, the ANAO report referred to a 2013 report by Defence’s Speedy Prototyping, Improvement and Evaluation (RPDE) organisation which discovered that upgrading the Tiger was a “high-risk activity” and that alternative options must be thought-about.
One in every of the key recommendations of the ANAO report was “that Defence assesses, and advises government, on the value-for-money in investing further in the Tiger aircraft fleet for only a short period of improved performance, against other alternatives”.
Further, the report stated this evaluation ought to keep in mind the associated technical risks of upgrading an aircraft which has not absolutely delivered the degree of capability initially expected by authorities.
“The 2016 Defence White Paper allocated $500-750 million to address the current capability requirements of the Tiger platform with a view to replacing the platform mid next decade, at a cost of some $5-6 billion,” the ANAO report famous.
“In effect, an upgrade is scheduled for consideration less than 12 months after the Tiger achieved final operational capability. Defence should conduct a thorough analysis of the value-for-money of investing further in the Tiger, pending the introduction of a replacement capability.”
In response to the ANAO’s suggestion, which it accepted, Defence stated it will “assess the best value for money and most effective capability for both the Tiger CAP and Tiger replacement. Recommendations on the timings for both programs will be considered at Gate Zero”.
Regardless of the aircraft’s disappointing improvement delays and sustainment system, its operators view the platform, including its dealing with qualities and general capabilities, very favourably. Despite having by no means been operationally deployed, in contrast to its French and German counterparts, the Australian ARH Tiger fleet leads the international fleet in its methods maturity and flight hours.
In July 2018, then Commander of Military’s 16th Aviation Brigade BRIG Steve Jobson wrote that he thought-about the Tiger a “truly world-class platform”.
“We have driven health into our Tiger organisations, with improved facilities, maintenance processes, reorganised workforce and collaborative operations,” he stated.
“Our Tiger pilots now fly greater than their friends overseas. Our Tigers deliver precision lethal results in training to more troopers of extra battalions and regiments of our personal and different friendly nations Military’s and Marine forces than ever before.
“Our Tigers now deliver reliability and performance that is the envy of the world: Proven reliability. Proven performance. No more conjecture. No more wishing. It’s happening.”
This is excessive praise certainly, notably in mild of the opposed ANAO findings from just two years previously.
“This is no longer the system we acquired,” he added. “It is now modernised with next era weapons, digitised connectivity, revolutionary techniques with unmanned aerial automobiles, and interoperability with the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Pressure and our allies.
“The Tiger no longer just delivers tactical transactions. It has pulled the entire Army aviation capability into delivering theatre enabling, network centric, joint effects for the Joint Force Commander. Our reach and versatility now extends across all domains and components in ways you can only imagine.”
Tiger improvement points addressed, operators view general operational functionality favourably. (Defence)
Whether BRIG Jobson was pushing the case to retain the Tiger past the 2025 timeframe, or whether he simply needed to publicly reassure the remainder of the ADF that Tiger will retain a relevant capability proper up till that time, is unclear. Unfortunately now this is largely irrelevant, because it seems the Tiger’s fate has been sealed.
When requested on the sidelines of the 2019 Avalon Airshow about these constructive statements and the encouraging course through which the Tiger capability had been heading in recent times, Army’s Director Common Aviation BRIG John Fenwick informed Australian Aviation: “The White Paper is very clear, we need to start preparing to replace the aircraft in the mid 2025s.”
“Clearly, we are still watching the platform very closely and we are seeing improvements in it,” BRIG Fenwick stated. “But at the end of the day, government has given us very clear direction – we need to manage the aircraft to its full potential to 2025. So really our opinion is a moot point, it’s all about government direction. Now, if government tells us to change direction, we will comply accordingly.”
So, underneath current Defence planning, the Tiger is due to be upgraded underneath the $500-750m LAND 9000 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Functionality Assurance Program (ARH CAP) which can see the numerous obsolescence points managed until the mid-2020s, after which the functionality can be replaced.
This can be a vital watering down of the earlier $1-2bn AIR 87 Part 3 ARH CAP plan which had envisaged capability and performance enhancements, and life extension measures for a projected life-of-type into the 2030s.
A couple of speedy gadgets to be addressed underneath ARH CAP is the addition of newer Collins ARC-210 radios to switch older techniques which can soon not be supported and to raised integrate with ADF and allied methods, and the alternative of the aircraft’s gasoline tanks which have suffered from corrosion.
In the meantime, Military has addressed several of the FOC caveats, together with the communications and IFF points, and the adoption of an acceptable EWSP system. As well as, after a second spherical of First of Class trials late final yr and a successful deployment in April 2019 of 4 aircraft to Malaysia to hitch the LHD HMAS Canberra for the second half of the ADF’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 activity, the aircraft has been cleared to help amphibious and maritime operations from these vessels.
Later this yr, two plane are scheduled to be deployed to the US Navy’s digital warfare training vary at Yuma in Arizona to participate in Marine Aviation Weapons and Techniques (MAWTS) program to help develop a baseline for the aircraft’s electronic warfare system towards high constancy menace techniques.
The US Marine Corps’ MAWTS-1 is a unit devoted to the improvement of aviation techniques, and has an digital warfare Spectrum Warfare Division to fold EW into the Marines’ biannual Weapons and Techniques Teacher course.
An Australian Army Tiger fires its 30mm cannon during a combined arms live-fire exercise as part of Exercise Chong Ju 2019 at Puckapunyal Coaching Space, Victoria. (Defence)
ARH upgrade
Regardless of a comprehensive improve of the Tiger seemingly now off the table following the ANAO report and subsequent IIP language, Airbus has continued to develop the aircraft and has proposed a variety of capability and performance enhancements for the machine.
The corporate is at present implementing Tiger Mark II upgrades for the French Army’s HAP Tiger, the version commonest to Australia’s ARH variant. The Mark II will see the addition of latest Thales-developed laser-guided rockets, in addition to upgrades to the helicopter’s GPS receiver and CRPA antenna system.
In the meantime, the extra comprehensive Mark III upgrade program was launched by means of the European Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, or OCCAR) with Tiger operator member nations France, Germany and Spain. OCCAR had tried throughout 2016 to get a dedication from Australia to hitch the Mark III improvement effort, however this has seemingly been in useless.
While the definition of the Mark III improve is but to be finalised, the program is working with Thales and MDBA to reinforce the Tiger’s avionics and mission methods, and to develop a brand new widespread air-to-surface missile to switch the current Hellfire and Spike missiles.
Rocket hearth: a Tiger unleashes on targets throughout Exercise Chong Ju. (Defence)
Attainable replacements
Without eager to pre-empt any alternative selections, the ANAO quoted the RPDE report as saying: “Alternate platform options should be considered. One option is the [Apache], although it is acknowledged that there may be other cost competitive platforms.”
The ANAO report then notes that in 2013 the then Defence Materials Organisation (DMO – now CASG) suggested the then Defence Minister that whereas “no in-depth analysis of the costs of acquiring the Apache had been undertaken since the initial tender process for AIR 87 Phase 2 in 2001; [and that] the figures identified in the 2013 [RPDE] report were ‘not considered reliable’; . . . that further analysis would be undertaken to develop options in the lead up to Gate Zero for the Tiger mid-life upgrade”.
Regardless of that evaluation, a like-for-like alternative of the Tiger by another assault or armed reconnaissance helicopter is probably not the end results of Defence’s deliberations, with the IIP proposing that “Defence will invest in a future armed reconnaissance capability to replace the Tiger, which could include manned or unmanned systems or a combination of both, to be introduced from the mid-2020s”.
If Defence is wanting at replacing the Tiger with another manned helicopter, there are really only two choices out there which would offer an identical capability while addressing lots of the identified interoperable deficiencies skilled with Tiger, these being the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian, and the Bell AH-1Z Zulu Cobra, or “Viper”.
Both of those aircraft are the latest developments of very mature methods, with many tons of of every sort in service with the US and other allied nations, including in our quick region.
The newest AH-64E Apache Guardian is at present being manufactured as new-build airframes for international clients, and remanufactured from AH-64Ds for the US Army. Originally designed as a heavy assault helicopter to defeat Soviet heavy armour in Europe, the Apache’s latest iteration adds improved endurance, interoperability with unmanned methods, and the means to interact maritime targets.
AH-64E improvement began in 2012, and adds more powerful GE T700-GE-701D turboshafts and an upgraded transmission, and new composite blades that provide a prime velocity of about 170kts and almost 50 per cent higher endurance than the AH-64D.
Two Apaches from the United States Military’s 6th Cavalry Regiment at a joint exercise with Australian forces. (Defence)
Other improvements embrace longer-stroke hydraulic shock strut touchdown gear for improved crash-worthiness, and a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) system datalink enabling which permits the AH-64E’s co-pilot to remotely management and obtain knowledge from unmanned techniques akin to the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle, a improvement of the MQ-1A Predator.
There are also enhanced fire-control techniques with maritime modes to determine and target vessels at sea or in the littorals, Link-16 datalinks, and a brand new ground-fire acquisition system which may determine muzzle flashes from small arms, cannons and rocket-propelled grenades, and routinely direct return hearth from the plane’s onboard 30mm cannon.
Boeing can also be engaged on a complicated improvement of the AH-64E which may have wider span stub wings and a compound “pusher” tail rotor. The idea emerged amid ongoing delays to the US Army’s Future Vertical Raise plan and a requirement to maintain the AH-64 succesful nicely into the 2030s and probably past the sort’s current planned withdrawal by 2040.
Dubbed the AH-64E Block 2 Compound, the improvement options enlarged and permanently hooked up wings, a brand new engine exhaust association, a bigger vertical tail fin, and a rear-mounted “pusher” propeller, all of that are designed to provide the Apache larger velocity and vary compared to typical fashions.
Boeing estimates the Compound improvement will provide 50 per cent more velocity. Concept testing was as a consequence of have been completed earlier this yr and, if profitable, Boeing is predicted to pitch it as an alternative choice to extra radical designs for the US Army’s Future Assault Reconnaissance Plane (FARA) aggressive program.
The Bell AH-1Z lineage dates right again to the mid-1960s when the company tailored the familiar UH-1D Huey’s driveline and dynamic elements to a lighter and slimmer tandem fuselage with stub wings to offer devoted airborne fire-support to troops in Vietnam.
Many iterations later, the AH-1Z nonetheless shares the dynamic elements of the Huey, albeit in its newest UH-1Y Yankee type, both of which have been developed in the late 90s for the US Marine Corps initially as upgrades to in-service AH-1W and UH-1N plane, but finally as new-build plane.
The AH-1Z encompasses a four-bladed composite rotor system and upgraded transmission, a four-bladed tail rotor, upgraded landing skids and a brand new fully-integrated glass cockpit, and shares 85 per cent techniques commonality with the UH-1Y.
Viper crew members use the similar Thales Prime Owl helmet-mounted sight and show system as utilized in the Australian Army’s MHR 90 transport helo.
The helicopter itself has a fully-marinised airframe and dynamic elements for maritime operations, and options higher survivability by means of the adoption of a hover infrared suppression system (HIRSS) to mask the engine exhaust, countermeasures dispensers, radar warning receivers (RWRs), incoming/on-way missile warning, and on-fuselage laser spot warning techniques.
The AH-1Z additionally includes a Lockheed Martin target sight system (TSS) with a FLIR sensor for concentrating on in day, night time and opposed climate circumstances. Weapons embrace precision-guided APKWS and Hellfire missiles, and an integral 20mm cannon.
The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a potential manned alternative for the Tiger. (Defence)
Alternatives for innovation
Both the AH-64E and the AH-1Z are proven and obtainable now, but it is potential both platforms will not be in manufacturing by the planned 2025 Tiger alternative timeframe until further US or worldwide orders are acquired.
If this is the case, Defence may be pressured to widen its seek for a alternative to include new era methods which might be beneath improvement for the US Army’s FARA competitive program, an element of the service’s all-encompassing Future Vertical Raise (FVL) program designed to switch the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter which was retired in 2017.
In late April the US Military Combat Capabilities Improvement Command Aviation & Missile Middle’s Aviation Improvement Directorate suggested that the FARA program was tracking a couple of months forward of schedule, and that prototype agreements had been reached with business.
The 5 agreements have been awarded to a teaming of AVX Plane Co and L3 Communications Integrated Methods with a by-product of AVX’s Joint Multi-Position (JMR) aircraft; Bell Helicopter with its typical 525 Relentless; Sikorsky with its S-97 Raider; Boeing with an as-yet undeclared contender but considered the AH-64E Block 2 Compound; and Karem Plane with a thriller design.
With the future in mind, Defence might flip to parts of the US FARA program resembling the AVX Joint ulti-Position Plane. (AVX Aircraft)
One other plane beneath improvement within the FARA venture is the Sikorsky S-97 Raider. (Sikorsky)
The Bell V-247 Vigilant UAS, a potential contender for the US Marine Corps MUX challenge. (Bell Helicopter)
The US Military plans to have FARA prototypes flying in 2023, and to make a production determination in 2028, although this seems to be overly formidable for such developmental methods.
The US Marine Corps is operating an analogous program, the Marine Air-Floor Activity Pressure (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Expeditionary, or MUX. Designed to help manned aircraft reminiscent of the V-22 Osprey, the MUX will doubtless be unmanned, and may have an endurance of as much as eight hours and a most velocity nicely above 200kts.
The USMC aims to difficulty a request for info to business early next yr, with the ambition of trialling operational capability as early as 2026. Potential contenders for MUX embrace the Bell V-247 Vigilant idea which resembles a slightly smaller and sleeker V-22 tiltrotor, and the Northrop Grumman/DARPA Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) tail-sitter idea.
Whereas MUX on paper appears to far exceed the ARH specs of the Tiger and other manned helicopters, it supplies vital capability and adaptability that manned plane can’t match now or in the near future.
Like FARA, MUX is more likely to be at least a decade or more away from getting into service, let alone being out there for export. Thus there’s a probably a six or extra yr gap the place no devoted manned armed reconnaissance or assault platform of US origin is obtainable to the ADF if the 2025 Tiger retirement date is adhered to.
However such a state of affairs might deliver the opportunity for an additional probably revolutionary answer into play, one which will present some aircraft and/or techniques commonality advantages to the ADF.
Army at present has one other manned aviation program underway – the LAND 2097 Part 4 mild particular forces help helicopter which is planned to enter service shortly before the deliberate Tiger alternative.
It says it requires at least 16 helicopters for city particular forces (SF) operations, four of which may be deployed at a time quickly by way of RAAF C-17A transport, and made able to fly inside 30 minutes. The new helicopter will complement the larger machines at present operated by Army’s 6 Aviation Regiment (6Avn) at Holsworthy in Sydney, which is presently transitioning from the S-70A-9 Black Hawk to the Airbus MRH 90 Taipan.
A number of of the possible LAND 2097/4 contenders – Bell with its 407GX/GT or 429, Airbus with the H145M, and Boeing with its AH-6i Little Chook – supply armed variations of those aircraft with missionised techniques, excessive performance sensors, and stub wings or pylons with forward-firing precision guided weapons.
Whereas a army by-product of a business platform clearly wouldn’t supply the similar levels of performance, survivability and functionality as a dedicated ARH or assault helicopter, a Tiger alternative based mostly on the profitable SF help helicopter might supply large operational savings and adaptability to the ADF, with little danger.
The other choice for Army to think about is to revert to its unique plan to improve the Tiger’s techniques past just addressing obsolescence points so it may proceed in service till a extra succesful alternative comparable to the successful FARA or MUX program answer is out there and has matured sufficiently for export.
VIDEO: A look at the Tiger at the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 workouts from the Australian Military’s YouTube channel.
This story first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation. To succeed in more stories like this, develop into a member here.
The post A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter appeared first on Black Dot Mobile.
#Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter#army#Army Aviation#Blog#Defence#Headlines#Helicopters#Industry & Professionals#Tiger
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A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter
This story about the Australian Military’s Tiger helicopter first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation.
Australian Army ARH Tiger Armed Reconaissance Helicopters operating together with HMAS Canberra. (Defence)
After protracted improvement and a troubled service entry, the Australian Army’s Airbus EC 665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) has only lately began hitting its straps and providing its promised capability – one which has been almost 20 years in the making.
Chosen in December 2001 to fulfil Military’s AIR 87 requirement underneath a then $1.1bn acquisition contract, the first two Tigers have been accepted by the Commonwealth in December 2004 with the final of 22 plane delivered in late 2011.
The primary 4 Tigers have been manufactured by (then) Eurocopter at the firm’s Marignane manufacturing unit in southern France, whereas the remaining 18 have been assembled at the firm’s Pinkenba facility at Brisbane Airport.
A lot has been written about the delays and capability shortfalls experienced by the ARH program, with developmental issues, groundings, spares shortages and sustainment gaps, in addition to capability and performance shortfalls variously attributed to the program, some of which shall be described under.
Current capability
The Australian Military at present operates two squadrons – 161 and 162 – each of eight plane with the 1st Aviation Brigade (1Avn) at the Robertson Barracks in Darwin, and a training detachment of 4 plane based mostly at Oakey in southern Queensland.
As well as, one instrumented aircraft is assigned to Oakey for improvement work and to supplement the coaching fleet, and a further aircraft is assigned to 1Avn to cowl deep maintenance.
In April 2016 the Tiger ARH lastly achieved a full operational functionality (FOC), some seven years later than deliberate.
But a 2016 Australian Nationwide Audit Office (ANAO) report found the FOC milestone lacked definition, due partially to Army amending its Acceptance into Operational Service Plan to accommodate nine caveats.
These embrace the aircraft’s decrease than anticipated rate-of-effort and delays to its Canberra class LHD integration, as well as its EW self-protection system, IFF, datalinks, and mission planning system, all of which have been nonetheless thought-about developmental or incompatible with other ADF techniques.
The ANAO report also found that the helicopter continued to endure from decrease than expected serviceability charges, and that it faced rising obsolescence points.
Apparently, the ANAO report referred to a 2013 report by Defence’s Speedy Prototyping, Improvement and Evaluation (RPDE) organisation which discovered that upgrading the Tiger was a “high-risk activity” and that alternative options must be thought-about.
One in every of the key recommendations of the ANAO report was “that Defence assesses, and advises government, on the value-for-money in investing further in the Tiger aircraft fleet for only a short period of improved performance, against other alternatives”.
Further, the report stated this evaluation ought to keep in mind the associated technical risks of upgrading an aircraft which has not absolutely delivered the degree of capability initially expected by authorities.
“The 2016 Defence White Paper allocated $500-750 million to address the current capability requirements of the Tiger platform with a view to replacing the platform mid next decade, at a cost of some $5-6 billion,” the ANAO report famous.
“In effect, an upgrade is scheduled for consideration less than 12 months after the Tiger achieved final operational capability. Defence should conduct a thorough analysis of the value-for-money of investing further in the Tiger, pending the introduction of a replacement capability.”
In response to the ANAO’s suggestion, which it accepted, Defence stated it will “assess the best value for money and most effective capability for both the Tiger CAP and Tiger replacement. Recommendations on the timings for both programs will be considered at Gate Zero”.
Regardless of the aircraft’s disappointing improvement delays and sustainment system, its operators view the platform, including its dealing with qualities and general capabilities, very favourably. Despite having by no means been operationally deployed, in contrast to its French and German counterparts, the Australian ARH Tiger fleet leads the international fleet in its methods maturity and flight hours.
In July 2018, then Commander of Military’s 16th Aviation Brigade BRIG Steve Jobson wrote that he thought-about the Tiger a “truly world-class platform”.
“We have driven health into our Tiger organisations, with improved facilities, maintenance processes, reorganised workforce and collaborative operations,” he stated.
“Our Tiger pilots now fly greater than their friends overseas. Our Tigers deliver precision lethal results in training to more troopers of extra battalions and regiments of our personal and different friendly nations Military’s and Marine forces than ever before.
“Our Tigers now deliver reliability and performance that is the envy of the world: Proven reliability. Proven performance. No more conjecture. No more wishing. It’s happening.”
This is excessive praise certainly, notably in mild of the opposed ANAO findings from just two years previously.
“This is no longer the system we acquired,” he added. “It is now modernised with next era weapons, digitised connectivity, revolutionary techniques with unmanned aerial automobiles, and interoperability with the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Pressure and our allies.
“The Tiger no longer just delivers tactical transactions. It has pulled the entire Army aviation capability into delivering theatre enabling, network centric, joint effects for the Joint Force Commander. Our reach and versatility now extends across all domains and components in ways you can only imagine.”
Tiger improvement points addressed, operators view general operational functionality favourably. (Defence)
Whether BRIG Jobson was pushing the case to retain the Tiger past the 2025 timeframe, or whether he simply needed to publicly reassure the remainder of the ADF that Tiger will retain a relevant capability proper up till that time, is unclear. Unfortunately now this is largely irrelevant, because it seems the Tiger’s fate has been sealed.
When requested on the sidelines of the 2019 Avalon Airshow about these constructive statements and the encouraging course through which the Tiger capability had been heading in recent times, Army’s Director Common Aviation BRIG John Fenwick informed Australian Aviation: “The White Paper is very clear, we need to start preparing to replace the aircraft in the mid 2025s.”
“Clearly, we are still watching the platform very closely and we are seeing improvements in it,” BRIG Fenwick stated. “But at the end of the day, government has given us very clear direction – we need to manage the aircraft to its full potential to 2025. So really our opinion is a moot point, it’s all about government direction. Now, if government tells us to change direction, we will comply accordingly.”
So, underneath current Defence planning, the Tiger is due to be upgraded underneath the $500-750m LAND 9000 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Functionality Assurance Program (ARH CAP) which can see the numerous obsolescence points managed until the mid-2020s, after which the functionality can be replaced.
This can be a vital watering down of the earlier $1-2bn AIR 87 Part 3 ARH CAP plan which had envisaged capability and performance enhancements, and life extension measures for a projected life-of-type into the 2030s.
A couple of speedy gadgets to be addressed underneath ARH CAP is the addition of newer Collins ARC-210 radios to switch older techniques which can soon not be supported and to raised integrate with ADF and allied methods, and the alternative of the aircraft’s gasoline tanks which have suffered from corrosion.
In the meantime, Military has addressed several of the FOC caveats, together with the communications and IFF points, and the adoption of an acceptable EWSP system. As well as, after a second spherical of First of Class trials late final yr and a successful deployment in April 2019 of 4 aircraft to Malaysia to hitch the LHD HMAS Canberra for the second half of the ADF’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 activity, the aircraft has been cleared to help amphibious and maritime operations from these vessels.
Later this yr, two plane are scheduled to be deployed to the US Navy’s digital warfare training vary at Yuma in Arizona to participate in Marine Aviation Weapons and Techniques (MAWTS) program to help develop a baseline for the aircraft’s electronic warfare system towards high constancy menace techniques.
The US Marine Corps’ MAWTS-1 is a unit devoted to the improvement of aviation techniques, and has an digital warfare Spectrum Warfare Division to fold EW into the Marines’ biannual Weapons and Techniques Teacher course.
An Australian Army Tiger fires its 30mm cannon during a combined arms live-fire exercise as part of Exercise Chong Ju 2019 at Puckapunyal Coaching Space, Victoria. (Defence)
ARH upgrade
Regardless of a comprehensive improve of the Tiger seemingly now off the table following the ANAO report and subsequent IIP language, Airbus has continued to develop the aircraft and has proposed a variety of capability and performance enhancements for the machine.
The corporate is at present implementing Tiger Mark II upgrades for the French Army’s HAP Tiger, the version commonest to Australia’s ARH variant. The Mark II will see the addition of latest Thales-developed laser-guided rockets, in addition to upgrades to the helicopter’s GPS receiver and CRPA antenna system.
In the meantime, the extra comprehensive Mark III upgrade program was launched by means of the European Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, or OCCAR) with Tiger operator member nations France, Germany and Spain. OCCAR had tried throughout 2016 to get a dedication from Australia to hitch the Mark III improvement effort, however this has seemingly been in useless.
While the definition of the Mark III improve is but to be finalised, the program is working with Thales and MDBA to reinforce the Tiger’s avionics and mission methods, and to develop a brand new widespread air-to-surface missile to switch the current Hellfire and Spike missiles.
Rocket hearth: a Tiger unleashes on targets throughout Exercise Chong Ju. (Defence)
Attainable replacements
Without eager to pre-empt any alternative selections, the ANAO quoted the RPDE report as saying: “Alternate platform options should be considered. One option is the [Apache], although it is acknowledged that there may be other cost competitive platforms.”
The ANAO report then notes that in 2013 the then Defence Materials Organisation (DMO – now CASG) suggested the then Defence Minister that whereas “no in-depth analysis of the costs of acquiring the Apache had been undertaken since the initial tender process for AIR 87 Phase 2 in 2001; [and that] the figures identified in the 2013 [RPDE] report were ‘not considered reliable’; . . . that further analysis would be undertaken to develop options in the lead up to Gate Zero for the Tiger mid-life upgrade”.
Regardless of that evaluation, a like-for-like alternative of the Tiger by another assault or armed reconnaissance helicopter is probably not the end results of Defence’s deliberations, with the IIP proposing that “Defence will invest in a future armed reconnaissance capability to replace the Tiger, which could include manned or unmanned systems or a combination of both, to be introduced from the mid-2020s”.
If Defence is wanting at replacing the Tiger with another manned helicopter, there are really only two choices out there which would offer an identical capability while addressing lots of the identified interoperable deficiencies skilled with Tiger, these being the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian, and the Bell AH-1Z Zulu Cobra, or “Viper”.
Both of those aircraft are the latest developments of very mature methods, with many tons of of every sort in service with the US and other allied nations, including in our quick region.
The newest AH-64E Apache Guardian is at present being manufactured as new-build airframes for international clients, and remanufactured from AH-64Ds for the US Army. Originally designed as a heavy assault helicopter to defeat Soviet heavy armour in Europe, the Apache’s latest iteration adds improved endurance, interoperability with unmanned methods, and the means to interact maritime targets.
AH-64E improvement began in 2012, and adds more powerful GE T700-GE-701D turboshafts and an upgraded transmission, and new composite blades that provide a prime velocity of about 170kts and almost 50 per cent higher endurance than the AH-64D.
Two Apaches from the United States Military’s 6th Cavalry Regiment at a joint exercise with Australian forces. (Defence)
Other improvements embrace longer-stroke hydraulic shock strut touchdown gear for improved crash-worthiness, and a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) system datalink enabling which permits the AH-64E’s co-pilot to remotely management and obtain knowledge from unmanned techniques akin to the US Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle, a improvement of the MQ-1A Predator.
There are also enhanced fire-control techniques with maritime modes to determine and target vessels at sea or in the littorals, Link-16 datalinks, and a brand new ground-fire acquisition system which may determine muzzle flashes from small arms, cannons and rocket-propelled grenades, and routinely direct return hearth from the plane’s onboard 30mm cannon.
Boeing can also be engaged on a complicated improvement of the AH-64E which may have wider span stub wings and a compound “pusher” tail rotor. The idea emerged amid ongoing delays to the US Army’s Future Vertical Raise plan and a requirement to maintain the AH-64 succesful nicely into the 2030s and probably past the sort’s current planned withdrawal by 2040.
Dubbed the AH-64E Block 2 Compound, the improvement options enlarged and permanently hooked up wings, a brand new engine exhaust association, a bigger vertical tail fin, and a rear-mounted “pusher” propeller, all of that are designed to provide the Apache larger velocity and vary compared to typical fashions.
Boeing estimates the Compound improvement will provide 50 per cent more velocity. Concept testing was as a consequence of have been completed earlier this yr and, if profitable, Boeing is predicted to pitch it as an alternative choice to extra radical designs for the US Army’s Future Assault Reconnaissance Plane (FARA) aggressive program.
The Bell AH-1Z lineage dates right again to the mid-1960s when the company tailored the familiar UH-1D Huey’s driveline and dynamic elements to a lighter and slimmer tandem fuselage with stub wings to offer devoted airborne fire-support to troops in Vietnam.
Many iterations later, the AH-1Z nonetheless shares the dynamic elements of the Huey, albeit in its newest UH-1Y Yankee type, both of which have been developed in the late 90s for the US Marine Corps initially as upgrades to in-service AH-1W and UH-1N plane, but finally as new-build plane.
The AH-1Z encompasses a four-bladed composite rotor system and upgraded transmission, a four-bladed tail rotor, upgraded landing skids and a brand new fully-integrated glass cockpit, and shares 85 per cent techniques commonality with the UH-1Y.
Viper crew members use the similar Thales Prime Owl helmet-mounted sight and show system as utilized in the Australian Army’s MHR 90 transport helo.
The helicopter itself has a fully-marinised airframe and dynamic elements for maritime operations, and options higher survivability by means of the adoption of a hover infrared suppression system (HIRSS) to mask the engine exhaust, countermeasures dispensers, radar warning receivers (RWRs), incoming/on-way missile warning, and on-fuselage laser spot warning techniques.
The AH-1Z additionally includes a Lockheed Martin target sight system (TSS) with a FLIR sensor for concentrating on in day, night time and opposed climate circumstances. Weapons embrace precision-guided APKWS and Hellfire missiles, and an integral 20mm cannon.
The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a potential manned alternative for the Tiger. (Defence)
Alternatives for innovation
Both the AH-64E and the AH-1Z are proven and obtainable now, but it is potential both platforms will not be in manufacturing by the planned 2025 Tiger alternative timeframe until further US or worldwide orders are acquired.
If this is the case, Defence may be pressured to widen its seek for a alternative to include new era methods which might be beneath improvement for the US Army’s FARA competitive program, an element of the service’s all-encompassing Future Vertical Raise (FVL) program designed to switch the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scout helicopter which was retired in 2017.
In late April the US Military Combat Capabilities Improvement Command Aviation & Missile Middle’s Aviation Improvement Directorate suggested that the FARA program was tracking a couple of months forward of schedule, and that prototype agreements had been reached with business.
The 5 agreements have been awarded to a teaming of AVX Plane Co and L3 Communications Integrated Methods with a by-product of AVX’s Joint Multi-Position (JMR) aircraft; Bell Helicopter with its typical 525 Relentless; Sikorsky with its S-97 Raider; Boeing with an as-yet undeclared contender but considered the AH-64E Block 2 Compound; and Karem Plane with a thriller design.
With the future in mind, Defence might flip to parts of the US FARA program resembling the AVX Joint ulti-Position Plane. (AVX Aircraft)
One other plane beneath improvement within the FARA venture is the Sikorsky S-97 Raider. (Sikorsky)
The Bell V-247 Vigilant UAS, a potential contender for the US Marine Corps MUX challenge. (Bell Helicopter)
The US Military plans to have FARA prototypes flying in 2023, and to make a production determination in 2028, although this seems to be overly formidable for such developmental methods.
The US Marine Corps is operating an analogous program, the Marine Air-Floor Activity Pressure (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Expeditionary, or MUX. Designed to help manned aircraft reminiscent of the V-22 Osprey, the MUX will doubtless be unmanned, and may have an endurance of as much as eight hours and a most velocity nicely above 200kts.
The USMC aims to difficulty a request for info to business early next yr, with the ambition of trialling operational capability as early as 2026. Potential contenders for MUX embrace the Bell V-247 Vigilant idea which resembles a slightly smaller and sleeker V-22 tiltrotor, and the Northrop Grumman/DARPA Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) tail-sitter idea.
Whereas MUX on paper appears to far exceed the ARH specs of the Tiger and other manned helicopters, it supplies vital capability and adaptability that manned plane can’t match now or in the near future.
Like FARA, MUX is more likely to be at least a decade or more away from getting into service, let alone being out there for export. Thus there’s a probably a six or extra yr gap the place no devoted manned armed reconnaissance or assault platform of US origin is obtainable to the ADF if the 2025 Tiger retirement date is adhered to.
However such a state of affairs might deliver the opportunity for an additional probably revolutionary answer into play, one which will present some aircraft and/or techniques commonality advantages to the ADF.
Army at present has one other manned aviation program underway – the LAND 2097 Part 4 mild particular forces help helicopter which is planned to enter service shortly before the deliberate Tiger alternative.
It says it requires at least 16 helicopters for city particular forces (SF) operations, four of which may be deployed at a time quickly by way of RAAF C-17A transport, and made able to fly inside 30 minutes. The new helicopter will complement the larger machines at present operated by Army’s 6 Aviation Regiment (6Avn) at Holsworthy in Sydney, which is presently transitioning from the S-70A-9 Black Hawk to the Airbus MRH 90 Taipan.
A number of of the possible LAND 2097/4 contenders – Bell with its 407GX/GT or 429, Airbus with the H145M, and Boeing with its AH-6i Little Chook – supply armed variations of those aircraft with missionised techniques, excessive performance sensors, and stub wings or pylons with forward-firing precision guided weapons.
Whereas a army by-product of a business platform clearly wouldn’t supply the similar levels of performance, survivability and functionality as a dedicated ARH or assault helicopter, a Tiger alternative based mostly on the profitable SF help helicopter might supply large operational savings and adaptability to the ADF, with little danger.
The other choice for Army to think about is to revert to its unique plan to improve the Tiger’s techniques past just addressing obsolescence points so it may proceed in service till a extra succesful alternative comparable to the successful FARA or MUX program answer is out there and has matured sufficiently for export.
VIDEO: A look at the Tiger at the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 workouts from the Australian Military’s YouTube channel.
This story first appeared in the June 2019 edition of Australian Aviation. To succeed in more stories like this, develop into a member here.
The post A look at the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter appeared first on Black Dot Mobile.
#Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter#army#Army Aviation#Blog#Defence#Headlines#Helicopters#Industry & Professionals#Tiger
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A Note From Robert Hoban
On December 20, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law. This cleared the pathway for the outright legality of industrial hemp; meaning that it should no longer be considered a controlled substance. Many European-based governments had previously (and have since) taken this very same step. Latin American countries are moving very quickly in the same direction. This represents a global shift in cannabis policy, but the work has only begun.
How does one navigate these choppy waters in a global industrial hemp economy? Specifically, what are the regulatory protocols surrounding the production of hemp-based products for human or animal consumption? With the U.S. FDA actively considering this very question and looking to provide “regulatory pathways” for products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds), and the European Union examining the use of cannabinoid-rich hemp-derived ingredients and additives as a potential ‘novel food’ across the E.U. (decision to be finally announced on or about March 19, 2019), where can one find good guidance? How can one build a global business plan? What does a distribution channel actually look like? More practically, what does a label need to include in one or more jurisdictions for the very same product?
These are issues that HLG Global addresses every day. While the path is navigable with expertise, the answers are not always clear. But one thing is for sure, the global cannabis industry is here to stay. And the great potential of hemp extracts and derived products containing cannabinoids has only begun to impact the marketplace. And the most pressing issue is standardization and consumer protection.
The standards governing consumer protection related to health and safety measures, labeling and disclosure already exist. And these existing standards need to be applied to the hemp plant, as it is simply an agricultural commodity that has been used for thousands of years. But what happens when insatiable consumer demand for hemp-derivatives bumps up against long-held misbeliefs about the cannabis plant? We are seeing the answer to this question evolve in real time…around the globe. It is extremely challenging. Hold on tight. And stay tuned.
/Bob Hoban
This is the second HLG Global Newsletter, which will regularly feature news, information, trends and articles from our vast global industry network. We hope that you will rely on us for your global cannabis connectivity. And please feel free to send along information, news, articles, or the like to be featured in the HLG Global Newsletter.
This newsletter will cover:
I. Introducing Cannabis Law Report
II. Introductions to the HLG Global legal team.
III. Reflections on the global cannabis marketplace, by Bob Hoban
IV. “All Bets on Green” published by LexisNexis
V. Bankers Are Circling Europe’s Growing Cannabis Market
VI. Upcoming international cannabis events
VII. International headlines
I. Featured HLG Global Consortium Partner: Cannabis Law Report
HLG Global provides elite guidance on the many questions that arise for international businesses, governments and ancillary service providers. HLG Global’s partners are a worldwide collection of professionals with expertise in the global hemp marketplace and the regulated marijuana industry, whether that be science-based, medical-focused, or otherwise. Our international consortium partners each bring their own expertise to the table; they are leaders in their respective fields.
Cannabis Law Report is the only dedicated law & accounting news and information source for the latest intelligence, commentary and views from the regulated cannabis & hemp markets around the world reporting from the Americas, Europe & Australasia.
We started publishing back in 2015 and have reported daily on the market since then and now have over 5,500 articles giving you the most comprehensive historical development of the market from a regulations, compliance and legal perspective. Best of all we’re free !
We also publish a weekly alert on Mondays (we know you’re busy and don’t need endless emails clogging up your inbox daily) that highlights articles published by our legal and tax specialists working in the sector as well as the most important news and cases from the Cannabis Law Digest.
As of December 2018, we now have a European correspondent, Mark Taylor, a specialist journalist who works in highly regulated industries. We believe he is the only writer worth reading if you really want to get a sense of what’s happing in Europe.
Our contributors include, amongst others, Jordan Zoot, California’s leading cannabis and tax specialist, OR & WA firm Lane Powell, Canada’s Langlois and of course Hoban Law. If you’d like to contribute please do get in touch with us.
Sean Hocking, founder and editor of CLR, has 30 odd years experience of working in legal and professional publishing with stints at the likes of Lexis Nexis & Legalease(UK) and also publishes information daily at www.practicesource.com for the legal publishing and law librarian market globally.
Cannabis Law Report is only interested in getting relevant information to you in a timely fashion. We don’t run conferences & publish here today gone tomorrow information reports. Just the news and insights that’s needed to understand this complicated and fascinating sector from a legal and accounting perspective.
We’ll soon have some exciting news putting CLR in front of 80% of the US’s lawyers as we start working with a major legal publisher and existing media partners already include Green Market Report, Cannabis Financial Network and also Newsbank who make sure our content is seen by every USA govt dept and tertiary institution.
If you’d like to get in touch, work with us, subscribe to our free weekly news alert just email Sean via this link.
Learn more about CLR sponsorship, co-publishing, and directory opportunities here.
II. Introducing HLG Global’s International Attorney Jeff Frazier
Since graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Jeff has worked as a lawyer and consultant representing clients in matters involving environmental and human rights law, business and commercial litigation, contract and criminal law, and trans-border litigation. He also advises individuals and companies doing business in Latin America, primarily Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
Jeff counsels individuals, organizations and governments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. He also has been involved in emblematic drug policy litigation including actions to end the Plan Colombia fumigations, to dissolve the Texas Regional Narcotics Task Force System; and to enjoin illegal Michigan state police crime lab reporting practices. Jeff is of counsel to Komorn Law in Michigan, special counsel to Hoban Law Group, and is licensed to practice in Texas.
III. Reflections on the Global Cannabis Marketplace
In February, 2019, I traveled to Latin America with several clients to work on a variety of business transactions, and to consult with two governments concerning cannabis regulation. I stopped over in Panama City, Panama to attend two events — the inaugural InterCannAlliance Latin America Symposium and Cannatech Panama. Why Panama? Because the cannabis industry in Latin America is projected to reach $12 billion within the next 10 years. And because Panama has long been a major throughway for international trade and banking.
Panama did not disappoint. The organizers of the ICA and Cannatech are truly world class. And the events were very well attended. It was a chance to network with interested government officials, global investors, consulting groups, professionals and operators. Theracann International, a Panamanian Company with global operations, was a great host, with facility tours and product demonstrations. In a nutshell, these events showed the tremendous potential of the Latin American cannabis marketplace. And it was driven by true professionals across the board. From investment and licensing to global distribution, the quality of opportunity was second-to-none. And it further reinforced my view that those of us that have been operating in regulated cannabis environments around the world truly ‘come from the future.’ The challenges, problems, and solutions to the most pressing ‘theoretical’ debates have largely been addresses in multiple places around the world. And it is very exciting to be a part of the global solution to these challenges, and to bring together the top minds from the cannabis industry worldwide, in an effort to be a guide, and to hold the lantern down a dark pathway..if you will.
Travels to Europe following Panama led me down a similar path. With European governments wrestling with government regulatory issues, and operators/investors looking for guidance, it is always a great feeling to present effectuated, real-world solutions to the problems that are anticipated. Again, there is a perception that we come from the future. And with this comes not only great opportunity, but great responsibility; a responsibility to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all regulatory solution, and that cultural sensitivities are of paramount importance, and to understand that the North American framework has its flaws. But most importantly, a responsibility to ‘get it right.’ Because the industry will only go so far as those with the lanterns will lead it. This is a heavy burden for those ‘from the future.’
-Bob Hoban
IV. All Bets on Green: An Analysis of UK Firms Focusing on Cannabis
This article by Samantha Gilbert, LexisNexis, was originally published on LexisPSL. This article looks at the reasoning behind the decisions of law firms to invest departments and funds into the cannabis industry, the growing interest of US firms to open UK branches for cannabis, and the risks. Hoban Law Group President and CEO, Bob Hoban, contributed his expertise to the article.
Read the entire article here in .pdf form.
IV. Bankers Are Circling Europe’s Growing Cannabis Market
Read the original article here in Bloomberg.
It is amazing to see how investment banks have viewed the cannabis industry over the past several years. And how these banks have been exhaustively looking for an entry point into the cannabis industry. However, the pathways have not always been clear. So, it began with banks looking for clear and stable regulatory environments within which to invest; this is why so much investment has been directed by and through Canada. And we had begun to see the same trends across the European Union; because of clarity and stability. Now, with the passage of the U.S. Farm Bill, combined with clear marketplace opportunities across the E.U., these banks are all-in. It is extremely intriguing to watch the banks move slowly and deliberately, while the fervor surrounding the global cannabis industry economic opportunities continues to be set ablaze.
V. Don’t Miss: GreenTech 2019 in Amsterdam
GreenTech will open its doors for the fourth time at RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, and this year from 11 – 13 June. The theme of the Summit will be: ‘Autonomous technology – a formula to accelerate business, professional horticulture beyond the green thumb’.
This year’s edition will focus on artificial intelligence and autonomous technology for greenhouses. Special attention will be given to organic, indoor farming and to growing media (substrates, peat, etc.). This year will also feature an area for medicinal cannabis farming. Next to that it will be possible to visit world’s leading vegetables and seed breeders in their own demonstration areas in close distance to Amsterdam. Also pot and bedding plant
breeders will show their newest varieties during the FlowerTrials, which will run parallel to GreenTech 2019.
The summit will be on 12 June, the second day of the trade
show. The trade show is a must visit for all horticulture and other indoor growing professionals worldwide and presents the latest innovations in the rapidly evolving industry. 95% of all the available exhibition space has been booked. This shows the immense interest of connecting with professionals and sharing knowledge about the
horticulture technology.
Mariska Dreschler, Director Horticulture of RAI Amsterdam, said: “There is a big demand for successful horticultural entrepreneurs, but this line of business is unfortunately still very scarce. Horticulture is dependent on location, infrastructure, specialist skills, ‘green fingers’, (the green thumb) and the availability of labor. Developments in autonomous technology create opportunities to reduce dependencies in horticulture and increase flexibility in the
industry. Therefor we have chosen for this theme: ‘Autonomous technology – a formula to accelerate business, professional horticulture beyond the green thumb’.“
Free registration for GreenTech until 3 June
Visitors can register free of charge until 3 June on www.greentech.nl.After 3 June the online registration fee will be €40 including VAT per person, and €70 including VAT at the entrance
desk.
VI. Upcoming International Cannabis Events
March 31st – April 2nd: Berlin, Germany – ICBC
Click here to register
April 25-26: San Cristobal, Mexico – CannaMexico World Summit
Click here to register
May 2: Bogotá, Colombia – Cannabiz Latino HUB
Click here to register
May 3-4: Bogotá, Colombia – Cannaciencia
Click here to register
May 6: Copenhagen, Denmark – MJBiz Daily’s European Cannabis Symposium
Click here to register
May 15-16: Zurich, Switzerland – ICBC
Click here to register
May 24-25: Victoria Falls, Africa – InterCannAlliance
Click here to register
May 25 – June 7: Cologne, Germany – Hemp Industries Association EIHA Conference
Click here to register
June 6: Santiago, Chile – Cannabis Business Latin America
Click here to register
June 11: Amsterdam, Holland – Cannabis Capital Convention
Click here to register
June 11-13: Amsterdam, Holland – GreenTech Agricultural Tech Conference
Click here to register
September 15-16: Vancouver, Canada – ICBC
Click here to register
September 26-28: Montego Bay, Jamaica – CanEx Jamaica
Click here to register
November 20-21: Valletta, Malta – Medical Cannabis World Forum
Click her to register
December 10-11: Frankfurt, Germany – Cannabis Business Europe
Click here to register
VII. International Headlines
Aurora Cannabis to Enter Portugal with Acquisition of Gaia Pharm
Insurance-covered cannabis in Germany tops 70 million euros in 2018
Licensing for cultivation of cannabis and associated activities in Guernsey
Australian medical marijuana revenues could hit AU$36 million in 2019
Is Romania considering legalizing medical cannabis?
Israel’s prime minister contemplates adult-use marijuana legalization
UK first as specialist medical cannabis clinic opens in Manchester
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HLG Global Publish Latest Newsletter. Learn More About HLG Global & CLR’s Publishing Partnership
A Note From Robert Hoban
On December 20, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law. This cleared the pathway for the outright legality of industrial hemp; meaning that it should no longer be considered a controlled substance. Many European-based governments had previously (and have since) taken this very same step. Latin American countries are moving very quickly in the same direction. This represents a global shift in cannabis policy, but the work has only begun.
How does one navigate these choppy waters in a global industrial hemp economy? Specifically, what are the regulatory protocols surrounding the production of hemp-based products for human or animal consumption? With the U.S. FDA actively considering this very question and looking to provide “regulatory pathways” for products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds), and the European Union examining the use of cannabinoid-rich hemp-derived ingredients and additives as a potential ‘novel food’ across the E.U. (decision to be finally announced on or about March 19, 2019), where can one find good guidance? How can one build a global business plan? What does a distribution channel actually look like? More practically, what does a label need to include in one or more jurisdictions for the very same product?
These are issues that HLG Global addresses every day. While the path is navigable with expertise, the answers are not always clear. But one thing is for sure, the global cannabis industry is here to stay. And the great potential of hemp extracts and derived products containing cannabinoids has only begun to impact the marketplace. And the most pressing issue is standardization and consumer protection.
The standards governing consumer protection related to health and safety measures, labeling and disclosure already exist. And these existing standards need to be applied to the hemp plant, as it is simply an agricultural commodity that has been used for thousands of years. But what happens when insatiable consumer demand for hemp-derivatives bumps up against long-held misbeliefs about the cannabis plant? We are seeing the answer to this question evolve in real time…around the globe. It is extremely challenging. Hold on tight. And stay tuned.
/Bob Hoban
This is the second HLG Global Newsletter, which will regularly feature news, information, trends and articles from our vast global industry network. We hope that you will rely on us for your global cannabis connectivity. And please feel free to send along information, news, articles, or the like to be featured in the HLG Global Newsletter.
This newsletter will cover:
I. Introducing Cannabis Law Report
II. Introductions to the HLG Global legal team.
III. Reflections on the global cannabis marketplace, by Bob Hoban
IV. “All Bets on Green” published by LexisNexis
V. Bankers Are Circling Europe’s Growing Cannabis Market
VI. Upcoming international cannabis events
VII. International headlines
I. Featured HLG Global Consortium Partner: Cannabis Law Report
HLG Global provides elite guidance on the many questions that arise for international businesses, governments and ancillary service providers. HLG Global’s partners are a worldwide collection of professionals with expertise in the global hemp marketplace and the regulated marijuana industry, whether that be science-based, medical-focused, or otherwise. Our international consortium partners each bring their own expertise to the table; they are leaders in their respective fields.
Cannabis Law Report is the only dedicated law & accounting news and information source for the latest intelligence, commentary and views from the regulated cannabis & hemp markets around the world reporting from the Americas, Europe & Australasia.
We started publishing back in 2015 and have reported daily on the market since then and now have over 5,500 articles giving you the most comprehensive historical development of the market from a regulations, compliance and legal perspective. Best of all we’re free !
We also publish a weekly alert on Mondays (we know you’re busy and don’t need endless emails clogging up your inbox daily) that highlights articles published by our legal and tax specialists working in the sector as well as the most important news and cases from the Cannabis Law Digest.
As of December 2018, we now have a European correspondent, Mark Taylor, a specialist journalist who works in highly regulated industries. We believe he is the only writer worth reading if you really want to get a sense of what’s happing in Europe.
Our contributors include, amongst others, Jordan Zoot, California’s leading cannabis and tax specialist, OR & WA firm Lane Powell, Canada’s Langlois and of course Hoban Law. If you’d like to contribute please do get in touch with us.
Sean Hocking, founder and editor of CLR, has 30 odd years experience of working in legal and professional publishing with stints at the likes of Lexis Nexis & Legalease(UK) and also publishes information daily at www.practicesource.com for the legal publishing and law librarian market globally.
Cannabis Law Report is only interested in getting relevant information to you in a timely fashion. We don’t run conferences & publish here today gone tomorrow information reports. Just the news and insights that’s needed to understand this complicated and fascinating sector from a legal and accounting perspective.
We’ll soon have some exciting news putting CLR in front of 80% of the US’s lawyers as we start working with a major legal publisher and existing media partners already include Green Market Report, Cannabis Financial Network and also Newsbank who make sure our content is seen by every USA govt dept and tertiary institution.
If you’d like to get in touch, work with us, subscribe to our free weekly news alert just email Sean via this link.
Learn more about CLR sponsorship, co-publishing, and directory opportunities here.
II. Introducing HLG Global’s International Attorney Jeff Frazier
Since graduating from the University of Texas School of Law, Jeff has worked as a lawyer and consultant representing clients in matters involving environmental and human rights law, business and commercial litigation, contract and criminal law, and trans-border litigation. He also advises individuals and companies doing business in Latin America, primarily Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina.
Jeff counsels individuals, organizations and governments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. He also has been involved in emblematic drug policy litigation including actions to end the Plan Colombia fumigations, to dissolve the Texas Regional Narcotics Task Force System; and to enjoin illegal Michigan state police crime lab reporting practices. Jeff is of counsel to Komorn Law in Michigan, special counsel to Hoban Law Group, and is licensed to practice in Texas.
III. Reflections on the Global Cannabis Marketplace
In February, 2019, I traveled to Latin America with several clients to work on a variety of business transactions, and to consult with two governments concerning cannabis regulation. I stopped over in Panama City, Panama to attend two events — the inaugural InterCannAlliance Latin America Symposium and Cannatech Panama. Why Panama? Because the cannabis industry in Latin America is projected to reach $12 billion within the next 10 years. And because Panama has long been a major throughway for international trade and banking.
Panama did not disappoint. The organizers of the ICA and Cannatech are truly world class. And the events were very well attended. It was a chance to network with interested government officials, global investors, consulting groups, professionals and operators. Theracann International, a Panamanian Company with global operations, was a great host, with facility tours and product demonstrations. In a nutshell, these events showed the tremendous potential of the Latin American cannabis marketplace. And it was driven by true professionals across the board. From investment and licensing to global distribution, the quality of opportunity was second-to-none. And it further reinforced my view that those of us that have been operating in regulated cannabis environments around the world truly ‘come from the future.’ The challenges, problems, and solutions to the most pressing ‘theoretical’ debates have largely been addresses in multiple places around the world. And it is very exciting to be a part of the global solution to these challenges, and to bring together the top minds from the cannabis industry worldwide, in an effort to be a guide, and to hold the lantern down a dark pathway..if you will.
Travels to Europe following Panama led me down a similar path. With European governments wrestling with government regulatory issues, and operators/investors looking for guidance, it is always a great feeling to present effectuated, real-world solutions to the problems that are anticipated. Again, there is a perception that we come from the future. And with this comes not only great opportunity, but great responsibility; a responsibility to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all regulatory solution, and that cultural sensitivities are of paramount importance, and to understand that the North American framework has its flaws. But most importantly, a responsibility to ‘get it right.’ Because the industry will only go so far as those with the lanterns will lead it. This is a heavy burden for those ‘from the future.’
-Bob Hoban
IV. All Bets on Green: An Analysis of UK Firms Focusing on Cannabis
This article by Samantha Gilbert, LexisNexis, was originally published on LexisPSL. This article looks at the reasoning behind the decisions of law firms to invest departments and funds into the cannabis industry, the growing interest of US firms to open UK branches for cannabis, and the risks. Hoban Law Group President and CEO, Bob Hoban, contributed his expertise to the article.
Read the entire article here in .pdf form.
IV. Bankers Are Circling Europe’s Growing Cannabis Market
Read the original article here in Bloomberg.
It is amazing to see how investment banks have viewed the cannabis industry over the past several years. And how these banks have been exhaustively looking for an entry point into the cannabis industry. However, the pathways have not always been clear. So, it began with banks looking for clear and stable regulatory environments within which to invest; this is why so much investment has been directed by and through Canada. And we had begun to see the same trends across the European Union; because of clarity and stability. Now, with the passage of the U.S. Farm Bill, combined with clear marketplace opportunities across the E.U., these banks are all-in. It is extremely intriguing to watch the banks move slowly and deliberately, while the fervor surrounding the global cannabis industry economic opportunities continues to be set ablaze.
V. Don’t Miss: GreenTech 2019 in Amsterdam
GreenTech will open its doors for the fourth time at RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, and this year from 11 – 13 June. The theme of the Summit will be: ‘Autonomous technology – a formula to accelerate business, professional horticulture beyond the green thumb’.
This year’s edition will focus on artificial intelligence and autonomous technology for greenhouses. Special attention will be given to organic, indoor farming and to growing media (substrates, peat, etc.). This year will also feature an area for medicinal cannabis farming. Next to that it will be possible to visit world’s leading vegetables and seed breeders in their own demonstration areas in close distance to Amsterdam. Also pot and bedding plant
breeders will show their newest varieties during the FlowerTrials, which will run parallel to GreenTech 2019.
The summit will be on 12 June, the second day of the trade
show. The trade show is a must visit for all horticulture and other indoor growing professionals worldwide and presents the latest innovations in the rapidly evolving industry. 95% of all the available exhibition space has been booked. This shows the immense interest of connecting with professionals and sharing knowledge about the
horticulture technology.
Mariska Dreschler, Director Horticulture of RAI Amsterdam, said: “There is a big demand for successful horticultural entrepreneurs, but this line of business is unfortunately still very scarce. Horticulture is dependent on location, infrastructure, specialist skills, ‘green fingers’, (the green thumb) and the availability of labor. Developments in autonomous technology create opportunities to reduce dependencies in horticulture and increase flexibility in the
industry. Therefor we have chosen for this theme: ‘Autonomous technology – a formula to accelerate business, professional horticulture beyond the green thumb’.“
Free registration for GreenTech until 3 June
Visitors can register free of charge until 3 June on www.greentech.nl.After 3 June the online registration fee will be €40 including VAT per person, and €70 including VAT at the entrance
desk.
VI. Upcoming International Cannabis Events
March 31st – April 2nd: Berlin, Germany – ICBC
Click here to register
April 25-26: San Cristobal, Mexico – CannaMexico World Summit
Click here to register
May 2: Bogotá, Colombia – Cannabiz Latino HUB
Click here to register
May 3-4: Bogotá, Colombia – Cannaciencia
Click here to register
May 6: Copenhagen, Denmark – MJBiz Daily’s European Cannabis Symposium
Click here to register
May 15-16: Zurich, Switzerland – ICBC
Click here to register
May 24-25: Victoria Falls, Africa – InterCannAlliance
Click here to register
May 25 – June 7: Cologne, Germany – Hemp Industries Association EIHA Conference
Click here to register
June 6: Santiago, Chile – Cannabis Business Latin America
Click here to register
June 11: Amsterdam, Holland – Cannabis Capital Convention
Click here to register
June 11-13: Amsterdam, Holland – GreenTech Agricultural Tech Conference
Click here to register
September 15-16: Vancouver, Canada – ICBC
Click here to register
September 26-28: Montego Bay, Jamaica – CanEx Jamaica
Click here to register
November 20-21: Valletta, Malta – Medical Cannabis World Forum
Click her to register
December 10-11: Frankfurt, Germany – Cannabis Business Europe
Click here to register
VII. International Headlines
Aurora Cannabis to Enter Portugal with Acquisition of Gaia Pharm
Insurance-covered cannabis in Germany tops 70 million euros in 2018
Licensing for cultivation of cannabis and associated activities in Guernsey
Australian medical marijuana revenues could hit AU$36 million in 2019
Is Romania considering legalizing medical cannabis?
Israel’s prime minister contemplates adult-use marijuana legalization
UK first as specialist medical cannabis clinic opens in Manchester
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Special Report: The High Cost of Affordable Housing

In today's parlance, the term "Affordable Housing" generally refers to housing that is subsidized by the taxpayers. This housing is constructed using equity raised from the sale of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), tax exempt bonds, CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) and FHLB (Federal Home Loan Bank) funds to name a few. Often times, especially in the rehab of already existing visit here housing projects, the rents are also subsidized with Section 8 vouchers or a project based Section 8 Housing Assistance Program (HAP) contract provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Since this article is about the high cost of affordable housing, especially as it directly relates to the taxpayer, the focus of the article will be to provide a concise explanation of LIHTC's and Section 8 as a background to explain why providing affordable housing is anything but affordable to taxpayers. Of course, one can dig deeper and argue whether or not there is an actual need for subsidized housing or whether the invisible hand of the market would fulfill the need through simple supply and demand. Others might argue that, as a society, we must take the morally appropriate action of providing for the needy. Although these are relevant topics on the subject of affordable housing, it is by far way beyond the means and scope of a single article.
Affordable Housing Funding: A Brief History
The LIHTC program was created in 1986 and is regulated under Internal Revenue Code Section 46. Each year the IRS allocates a set LIHTC amount to each state based on that state's population. In 2011 that amount is expected to be $2.15 per resident, so a state like New York will receive a greater allocation of LIHTC's than a state like Arizona which has a smaller population. States, in return, hold one or two highly competitive funding rounds per year in which developers submit their projects in hopes to receive LIHTC's which they can then sell to an outside investor for pennies on the dollar and raise equity for their project. In exchange for the LIHTC's the project is required, by government mandate, to maintain rents that are affordable to residents making at the most 60% of the area median income (AMI) while limiting tenants to pay no more than 30% of their gross monthly income (GMI) towards rent.
Section 8, unlike its counterpart LIHTC, is directly subsidized rent payments made either on the behalf of the tenant regardless of housing location, (Section 8 Voucher), or directly to the housing project (Project Based Section 8 or HAP). It is important to note that many projects receive Section 8 HAP contracts in addition to LIHTC's. The HAP (Housing Assistance Plan) contract ensures the property collects rents equal to market rate rents by paying the difference between what the resident can afford and the market rent. A HAP contract is assigned to a property so that when one tenant moves out the next tenant still receives the rent subsidy. A Section 8 voucher, unlike HAP, is a portable voucher that a resident retains and can use on their housing of choice.
Far from the government subsidized 'ghettos' of the 1970s, the development quality of today's affordable housing has greatly improved and is now virtually indistinguishable from market rate development housing; however, the cost to develop affordable housing still far exceeds that of market rate housing. In order to understand the cost variables between affordable and market rate housing it is important to look at the different development financing structures used by both and how these costs can vary.
Affordable Housing Financing of Today
Developers and bank underwriters determine allowable first mortgage debt by calculating the property's potential income and expenses. Based on those amounts and the prevailing interest rate on the debt, financiers can determine a monthly mortgage payment able to be serviced (paid) by the property. As a result of the government mandated 30% cap of tenant payable rent calculated off GMI (Gross Monthly Income), it follows that an affordable housing owner's property will have substantially less income than its market rate counterparts. Additionally, State and Local agencies often require the owner to provide auxiliary services to the residents which increases the operating costs and again reduces the amount of debt that can be supported. If a typical 100 unit affordable apartment property collects $400 less/unit per month on average than a market rate property and has an additional $100/unit per month in expenses, this ultimately translates to $600,000 in less debt that would otherwise go to develop the property.
Equity, as opposed to debt, is required by lenders so that the owner has 'skin in the game' (as the saying goes) or is financially liable for their product. Equity, on a market rate project, is contributed by the owner or investors. On an affordable housing project, equity is obtained by the owner via the sale of LIHTC's to an outside investor. These LIHTC's are purchased for as low as 50 cents on the dollar up to the mid 80 cent range based on market conditions. For example, an investor can pay 65 cents on the dollar for $10 million worth of LIHTC for a total cost of $6.5 million. In turn, that investor is allowed to reduce his tax liability on a dollar-for-dollar basis through the use of LIHTC. It his helpful to note that the investor for this example is only able to use 1/10th of the total tax credits purchased per year for 10 years to offset taxable income. Nonetheless, the cost burden of the project is entirely born and paid on the backs of the taxpayers whose money is used for the development.
Affordable Housing Construction Costs and Development Example
Higher construction costs, outside of reduced debt and equity funding capability, are a debilitating hallmark of affordable housing development. Increased construction costs are realized in various ways throughout the development. For example, affordable housing projects, unlike their market rate counterparts, are forced to comply with federally mandated Davis-Bacon labor wage laws. Although Davis-Bacon wages are not union per se, they do increase the costs of construction by a minimum of 20% above market. Additionally, costs are increased due to less competition among subcontractors. For example, many funding agencies will not fund projects unless the developer, as a matter of 'fairness,' only hires subcontractors that are minority or women owned, as opposed to the subcontractor that provides the most qualified bid.
If decreased funding and arbitrarily higher construction costs weren't enough, affordable housing projects are saddled with exceptionally higher legal fees which can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of structuring multiple notes and working around funding agencies guidelines (which are often times incompatible with each other). Accounting fees, too, are significantly higher in order to certify costs that qualify for tax credits, and the funding agencies themselves charge application fees for both construction and asset monitoring. The list of increased costs can continue, however, the ones referenced above are sufficient for you, the reader, to understand that the perfidy of rules and regulations not only impacts the development costs, but, most importantly, amounts to a confiscation of taxpayer money. It's not unheard of for the funding gap on a 100 unit development to exceed $3 million dollars.
The example 100 unit apartment development above has cost the taxpayer $10 million in uncollected tax revenue (LITHC funding) and $3 million in locally spent funds due to arbitrarily increased construction costs and reduced supportable debt. Lastly, if this property has a Section 8 HAP contract, which pays the owner $400/unit per month (difference between the affordable and market rents), it will cost the tax payer another $480,000 per year with annual consumer price index (CPI) increases with contracts often running for 20 years.
Conclusion
If providing economic, quality housing for the working poor is our goal, then how many will continue to be homeless due to feckless rules and costs mandated by both federal/local governments? Furthermore, why not take all the money that is wasted and greatly expand the Section 8 tenant based voucher program? Let the tenants decide where and how they want to live. If a project is subpar, it is a fairly safe assumption that tenants will move elsewhere. All of these issues sum up to one conclusion; 'affordable housing' is an Orwellian oxymoronic moniker used to obfuscate the bureaucratic largesse and government waste it was meant to cover-up.
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Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
"Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
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im 19 years old with a 2 year old, and a agent told me my quote is 250 a month for full coverage on a lease. FYI I only had my license for 3 months and in nj insurance is way high. he says state farm has a program for single parents, that is why its much cheaper for me......im not sure if it is a scam and will the state of nj charge me once they find out i am paying so little.""
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
Switching to liability only car insurance?
Hi. I just moved to a new state with ridiculously high car insurance rates. My new rates are nearly double what I paid in my old residency. If I switch my coverage from full coverage, to liability only, how much would I save (approximately?) I currently pay nearly $230 a month on car insurance for full coverage. About how much would liability only be?""
Car insurance price for a Civic?
I am a 18 year old boy and I want to purchase a Honda Civic EX 4-door w/ a manual transmission. I am looking at a 2000-2005 or a 2006-2009 model. Could anybody give me an estimate of how much insurance is monthly? Thanks
Does Mercury Car Insurance give instant proof of insurance?
Does Mercury Car Insurance give instant proof of insurance?
Where can I get affordable healthcare?
I am a Iraqi war veteran with a serviced connected disability of 50%. I would like to find good health care for my wife a full time student that is affordable. I have done searches in places like www.eHealthInsurance.com and the insurance is either really expensive or it doesn't cover much which could make things expensive. Any suggestions would be great.
How do Americans with serious chronic medical conditions get medical insurance that covers all med. expenses?
How do Americans with serious chronic medical conditions get medical insurance that covers all med. expenses?
Where can I find reasonably priced car insurance for a 17 male?
I am 16 years old, soon to be 17 and am looking for a reasonable car insurance quote. I am aware that being male and 17 both work against me in this situation, however the best quote I have found so far was with eCar at gocompare.com for 2340. I am thinking of getting a cheap 1996 Vauxhall Corsa as this has been the cheapest to insure when comparing quotes. I have tried Directline, gocompare, comparethemarket, moneysupermarket, tesco compare, insurance.co.uk, confused.com, uswitch.com, and beatthatquote.com. I really need something lower than what I have found so far, if you have any suggestions they would be greately appreciated. Thankyou.""
Where do you normally store your car insurance?
The dilemma: I've always wondered where one would have to store his car insurance and automobile registration in. Say you get into a car accident or a roadblock, you'd have to provide proof that the car that you're in is insured and belongs to you. However, putting your important documents in the glove compartment or even tucked away in the back trunk is always prone to break-ins. So the question is would it be better to keep it in the car or keep it the house (or bank, if you're that paranoid)?""
In california how long can a company take to provide you with insurance?
I work in california and was wondering if there is a california or federal law on when a company should provide insurance benifits for a full time worker? My friend has been with the company over a year and still has no benifits...i know most companies give it to you after 60 or 90 days probation even 6 months but is there a law about how long they should take ?
Can I get my motorcycle registered with no title?
I just brought a bike for really cheap and I can get it insured so I think it isnt stiolen but if so how can I get it registered in the state of texas with no title
Is Liberty National Life Insurance is a good company to work for?
Ok, like a few days ago i've scheduled an interview with National Life Insurance company and was really excited 'bout workin' there until today, but tomorrow (8/05/09) i have my interview...anyways, while i was making some more researches about the company so that i could present my questions to the interviewer (u know when he/she will ask me if i have any questions...) and then i stumbled upon some acclaimed Liberty National Life Insurance scams ...u know how people can be HORRIBLE on the internet. so anyways people (customers or employees, especially EX employees) were saying really bad stuff about the company. Like, LNL insurance doesn't pay people fairly, and that if you just wanna buy a pair of shoes to wear then it's a fitted company to work for, and all the bad things u could imagine...in fact, the ex employees were really crucial about the company. So now, i'm really nervous about working for them you know? I mean what if what those ppl are telling the truth and that i'm just heading toward god knows what?! What if i get the job and realize then that everything that was being said on the internet was true? What if they don't pay me fairly? or i don't know.... All of this has gotten me very frustrated...so if any of u guys can be any help with reliable sources, or just helpful suggestions would be more than great! Thankx and oh lol i didn't realized i wrote so much...sorry 'bout that though....""
Does a Bank of America auto loan require full coverage insurance on the car?
If I were to take out an auto loan from Bank of America would I have to have full coverage insurance on the car until the loan is paid for? Or would I be able to just have liability coverage? Thanks!
""Has any one been quoted 23,000 for car insurance?""
i have just been quote 23,000 for a car insurance am i the only one (vaxhaul astra 1.4)?""
Wich car will cost more?
wich car will cost more in insurance? im a 16 year old boy with a3.0. i dont need exact prices just wich costs more. 2004 mustang v6 or 2004 silverado 1500 access cab 5.3 litre v8. thank you
What kind of car is the cheapest to insure?
What model or kind of car is cheapest to insure? Is there a way to find out?
How soon does actors get their health insurance?
How soon does production company offer health insurance for their workers? And, what other insurance does the production company offer their workers; and, how soon?""
$350/month for health insurance. Reasonable?
I'm trying to find better insurance plans. Is this reasonable or any better insurance? -$350/month -50% coverage for all including dental and vision -Deductable $3,000 -34 years old""
USAA Insurance Questions?
I'm thinking about switching my auto insurance from GEICO to USAA, but had a few questions. And since it's the weekend, they're not open when I called. I purchased a used vehicle about 4 months, so my insurance went up, and have heard great things about USAA, so here goes,,,, Question #1 - From all of the research I've done on auto insurance, USAA is approximately $125.00 dollars cheaper for a 6 month premium than GEICO. This sounds too good to be true, but I did the free quote steps over and over again on the site, if you have have USAA auto insurance, does this sound right? Question #2 - I submitted a quote for property insurance as well, and that quote was $10.00 a month, does this sound about right? I did this quote with website assistance on how much my property is worth. Question #3 - My 6 month auto insurance premiums gets paid in 4 monthly installments in a 6 month window, does USAA do this as well, or do they do it by monthly deduction? Thanks to all in advance""
Am I payin the right amount for car Insurance?
I'm 20 years old and I drive a 2006 Hyundai Elantra an pay around $117 for car insurance every month for 6 months. I hear my friends payin cheaper and was wondering if I can get a lower quote. I've been driving for 2 years.
Delaware Auto Insurance (Uninsured / Under-insured) What does this Mean?
4) An insured who executes a release of a single tortfeasor owner or operator of an underinsured motor vehicle in exchange for payment of the entire limits of liability insurance afforded by the tortfeasor's liability insurer shall continue to be legally entitled to recover against that tortfeasor for the purposes of recovery against the insured's underinsurance carrier. An insured who executes a release of 1 of multiple tortfeasors shall have rights against that tortfeasor and the insured's underinsurance carrier determined in accordance with the Uniform Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act and paragraph (3) of this subsection.
How do you have a baby without insurance?
alright so im not pregnant yet but my question is how do you get insurance and such when i finally get pregnant
Individual Health Insurance Plans - Medical history not perfect?
anyone know of any affordable insurance plans out there...health insurance, preferably with a deductable only on ER and Hospitalization costs.... and initial co-pay only on visits and such...Rx.... my medical history isn't the best, but no major health issues...just some past med. history that could make it difficult for me to be insurred.""
Car insurance problem?
I moved recently from California to Arizona for a new job. About a week ago, I received a letter in the mail from the California DMV stating that if I don't get at least liability insurance on my car, my car's registration will be nullified. The insurance company I had while in California only services California. My dad suggested that I call that company and tell them that my job is only temporary for a few months (so that I might get my old policy back). I think that during my move, I neglected to pay my car insurance bills because when I log on to the site to check the status of my account, they don't have a listing for me. I know this might be a little confusing but I think what I need to do is get my car registered in Arizona, get insurance out here and then call the California DMV and tell them that I moved. I just want to know if that is the proper procedure for my circumstance. Thank you. I really hope this makes sense.""
Car insurance help buying car but insurance is costing way too much...?
My mom has a 2002 explorer and she is going to cosign for me on either a g35 or a 350z, insurance is ridiculous on both cars(Z and G35, both the explorer and my car will be on the same policy, I got a quote for both cars being about 300 a month, is there any way to lower the cost of insurance, like switching primary cars around and I will be insured, I am currently on the policy but with adding my car insurance will go up right? Because it is a sports car...the total I am spending on the car is 10k, I live in California btw, I am just curious how this all goes into effect and how much it will raise my insurance cost""
Is a salvage title more expensive to insure?
I live in Oregon by the way. I am looking at buying a used car with a salvage title.
Cheapest 600cc sportbike to maintain?
Which of these bikes of the 600cc class is the cheapest to maintain in terms of insurance, gas, maintenance, etc...(so which is the cheapest combining all of these aspect) the bikes = kawasaki zx6r, honda cbr600rr, yamaha r6, suzuki gsxr 600""
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
How much does car insurance cost per month for a 22 year old new driver in UK....?
How much does car insurance cost per month for a 22 year old new driver in UK....?
Car insurance/traffic ticket question?
I got a ticket for speeding (67 in a 50) a little over 8 months ago. I took it to court because it was a first offense and got the points down from 2 to 1. I never got anything from my insurance company, so I thought I got lucky and my rates would stay the same. About three weeks ago, we had a bad wind storm in Maryland and a tree limb fell on my jeep. I reported it the same day and the insurance is fixing. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail from my insurance saying my rates were going up from the ticket in March. Do you think that my report of the tree limb triggered them to look at my driving record and raise the rate or is it just a coincidence that this happened at the same time?""
Can you be insured by more than one auto insurance company?
I am thinking of buying a car and currently I am under my dad's plan for his car. I want to have a different insurance company for my car. Would I need to go off of my dad's insurance policy for his car for this? I am thinking the only problem would occur would be if there was an incident that didn't involve the insured car itself but where my auto insurance would cover whatever it is (e.g. as a pedestrian I am hit by a car in a no fault state). Thanks
Car wreck insurance question ?
I was involved in an accident.The other driver was found to be at fault and cited a ticket.His insurance company has told me my car is totaled.The frame is not bent.I feel my car can be fixed.I received a letter from his insurance company stating that they will not pay for the towing bill and after the 23rd would not pay for the storage bill because my car is considered to be totaled.The accident or crash report just came out yesterday it pointed out all the facts about the accident .The other driver is at fault.I asked them today what they were going to do they said they are still investigating the accident and were not going to make any decisions.How can they send me a letter about towing and storage and not have given me any check for my vehicle or made an offer or anything and then tell me they are still investigating the crash.How should i approach this whole thing ?
Car insurance curious question?
On today i went to a car show in my area and when i was out their i seen alot of nice old school. As i was looking, i went to talk to a guy. he said invested 20,000 in his 89 chevy caprice. It had the Portable tvs, brand new engine and so on.. Then i was like man what if you wreck you vehicle, the insurance not going to pay for all that, besides you can get much for a 21 yr old car. He was like since he got full coverage and he happen to get into a accident and the car is total, he said the insurance company will reimburse him half of the money back on what he spent on the car. Is this true?""
How much is motorcycle insurance for a 16 year old?
If I'm a 16 year old male in Texas, what would be an average price for insurance on a newer model sports bike 750cc""
Will they provide motorcycles at a motorcycle safety course?
I want to buy a Kawasaki ninja , but i dont know how to drive on its easy to learn i driven motor bikes over seas but its not the same. Well the motorcycle satey course will the provide a motorcycle a sports bike not a cruiser? and what do i need to bring exactly? Do you guys know on average how much motorcycle insurance cost for a 19 year old?? I know its different from different parts but from where your from. Detailed answers are much appreciated thanks guys!""
My Car insurance Progressive won't pay for my stolen car because my insurance got canceld 2 days!?
I brought my car 2 months ago from RPM auto sales! I have full coverage insurance with progressive! April 7th 2009 my mom was suppose to pay my car insurance and on april 9th they sent her a cancelation notice! Then on april 17th it got finalized! Then on april 19th my car got stolen at gas station! I called the cops right away and my insurance! The follow day my insurance said they wont cover it because the insurance was canceld! IS THERE ANYWAY I COULD SUE PROGRESSIVE OR FIND SOMEWAY TO GET THE MONEY FOR THE CAR 00 BONNEVILLE WITH ABOUT 900$ IN SOUND SYSTEM STUFF IN IT! HELP ME PLZ THIS IS MAKING ME SAD AND DEPRESSED!!!
How much will my insurance go up for a leaving the scene ticket?
How much will my insurance go up for an 18 year old male, with a leaving the scene ticket and driving with an expired license ticket go up? I was at college yesterday, I hit a car. I didnt leave a note, i was not thinking straight from pulling an all nighter for an exam. And I did not call the police because no one hurt, in fact, the other person was not even in his car. And i did not want to miss my exam.. I know, i could of wrote a note, but im an idiot... i feel like ****. i feel bad for my father, his car and stuff.. Im going to get a job to pay for it.. i cant let him pay for my shitty mistakes.. so i was wondering, how much will my insurance go up.. :(""
Can my Storage Company force me to buy their Insurance?
I have had the same storage place for over 10 years now, and recently they have been charging me an extra 9 bucks a month to have their insurance. I do not want to have their insurance ( or any insurance for that matter) and wanted to know if I legally have to pay this or if they are doing something illegal? They also charged me for a month that earlier than what they said I initially had to start paying.""
Military Housing Insurance?
Is there such a thing? With military bases privatizing their on-post housing, is there any companies out there that provide something in the vein of renter's or damage insurance. I have heard horror stories of soldiers owing thousands and being overcharged for bogus things like $25 light bulbs, when you can find the same bulb for less than $10 on the economy.""
Car insurance for a teen?
I was wondering if a minor can have their own insurance plans, like not under their parents name? And what is a good company for car insurance for teens (cheap) ? Thanks!""
How long does it take for the dmv to get my sr-22?
i had my insurance company electronically send proof of financial responsibility to the dmv a little more than a week and a half ago and they still have not processed it. How long is the whole process supposed to take? I am dealing with the California DMV. Thanks
How much will motorcycle insurance cost?
I'm 16 I got a 97 Kawasaki ninja how much to I have to pay I have my own car insurance policy can I get it with the same company
Sued by insurance company?
i'm 25 and get health insurance through my work. But just recently, they've upped the fee for it: from $4/paycheck to $8/paycheck (that's weekly, not biweekly). I'm technically still able to use my dad's insurance till i'm 26 and i figure, if i can save $8 a week, then why bother using it through my work at all? But my supervisor is trying to tell me that if my dad's insurance company finds out that i'm eligible to get insurance through my work and don't use it, then they could sue me. Is this true? It shouldn't be up to them which insurance i use. I shouldn't have to pay for something i can get free somewhere else.""
How much will car insurance cost me?
I'm an 18 year old male. My GPA in high school was 3.4. No criminal record. I'm going to be driving my mom's Honda Accord 2005. She only got into 2-3 accidents ever. She has Farmers Insurance. They never respond when my parents ask them how much insurance would cost me so I figured I should ask someone here for an estimate.
Is it illegal to drive without insurance?
I got my G1, and you allowed to drive with an adult in the car. But i don't yet have insurance but my mom does, if she has insurance can i still drive the car? She wont let me because i don't have my own insurance yet. Is it legal for me to drive?""
Who do I contact when a taxi driver has no private insurance?
Who do I contact when a taxi driver has no private insurance?
I was wondering if Doctors pay for health insurance?
Since they are doctors, do they need insurance?""
""Car accident, no insurance?!!!!?""
A high school kid hit my car today, I was at a stop sign and he turned too early and hit my car. I do not have insurance(welp I know, I'm a single mother we can't afford it all). Anyway, he did have insurance and he was at fault. Will his insurance cover the cost to fix my car or no? Since I didn't have insurance and all that is?""
What's the benefit of saying you have no car insurance?
#NAME?
Can I remove 17 yr old off my insurance policy if not driving my car at all?
Long story short (hopefully)...My 17 yr old step-son got his license just after his b-day last yr and my husband stupidly bought him an undeserved car (we have had nonstop issues with him for over 2 yrs with his disrespectful and insulting/criticizing attitude, refusing to follow house rules, his very poor, negative and selfish behavior on top of his constant lies and his drug and alcohol use and continues to bring it around my 4 yr old son). Needless to say after receiving 4 tickets under 6 months for either having too many kids in car or driving past allowed hours to be driving because he refuses to follow our rules or the law and feel they do not apply to him. He completely trashed the car, it reeked of cigarettes and pot, we found empty beer cans and other cans used to smoke his pot. We took the car away and cleaned it the best we could and after a few months of him still continuing his behavior and habits we sold the car. He bullies his mom and sister (always has) and took his moms keys and her car from her and will not return it. I know we are legally responsible for him until he turns 18 which isn't too much longer BUT he is getting worse with everything, my husband has given up on him and just lets him come and go as he pleases and do what he wants (he claims he will kick him out on his bday but no one believes him b/c of many past threats not followed through and his kids know it so they continue to play him), I'm told to stay out of it because he isn't my son yet he is still on MY insurance and driving his mom's car while drinking and smoking pot and continuing not to follow the law with his restrictions either. I can't wait for this ungrateful punk to be out of my house. He constantly badmouths all of us with lies to everyone and blames us when things don't go his way. He has always been extremely lazy and does not want to work, he keeps forcing his mom to give him money which she does b/c she claims she is afraid of him, he has NEVER helped with anything around the house, he has already been in trouble a few times with the police as young as 12 when he wouldn't follow skateboarding rules. This kid needs a major attitude adjustment and a kick in the *** but no one will do it and I'm not allowed to say anything to him about anything but I'm so sick and tired of having to keep my mouth shut and watch everything he says and does to his family yet I am to provide insurance for this a@%hole. He's not supposed to be driving anyone's car but he took his mom's and won't give it back to her, he lives with us even though he is NEVER here (DYFS took the kids away from their mom about 4 yrs ago and placed them with us immediately) (oh, the issues have been going on a lot longer than these 4 yrs but not to this degree). By the time we file and the court allowed for emancipation he will be 18 so that is no use. He HAS to live with us until then but I don't want my insurance going up anymore than it has and want him off of it. He refuses to hand over his license too. I am at my wits end with this kid and don't know what else to do. Does anyone have any ideas on any loopholes on how to get him off my insurance? If we force him to stay here he gets violent toward everyone, constantly picks fights with all of us, storms around the house cursing and complaining, slamming everything, purposely makes messes and leaves it until he gets his way and I definitely do not want that behavior around my son. My husband has told him he is no longer a part of our family and it doesn't faze him at all and he just does not care about anyone but himself. Please no criticizing me. I have been his step-mom for almost 10 yrs now and have never been allowed to discipline my husband's kids at all and always told to not get involved in anything b/c they are not my kids yet they both walk all over their dad (and their mom), are spoiled rotten, no responsibilities or chores at all and never any consequences when they do something wrong. For those of you who actually read all of this thank you. Yes, I am venting but really need it and this still is not the whole story but it's too much to go into.""
Getting a license increases car insurance?
When applying for a drivers license for the first time, i was wondering if it increases a person's car insurance; even if the person that is getting the license doesnt have a car, and is under the age of 18.""
Health insurance for non-residents of any state?
I live part-time in California and part-time in Washington, though my residency status is in California. When I purchase health insurance, am I allowed to only purchase it from California because I am legally a resident there? Or can I also purchase it from Washington? If I can only purchase from California, will I also be able to use it within Washington?""
Cure auto insurance online?
I need insurance now! I have completed my form on cure auto insurance and I'm now on the last page to agreeing to the power of attorney and agreement to conduct business electronically and it saying over and over again that I must scroll and read it. But I have! Why won't it let me agree?
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
Hancock Maryland Cheap car insurance quotes zip 21750
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hatch-utah-cheap-car-insurance-quotes-zip-84735-charles-ames/"
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David L Tamarin writes extreme and brutal hardcore horror with a jet black sense of humor. He also writes in the crime genre, and is fascinated with the concept of snuff films. He is also a non-fiction writer whose work has appeared in publications such as Rue Morgue, Girls and Corpses, Serial Killer magazine. He is a student of true crime and incorporates his knowledge of crime and killers into his fiction. At least three people have suffered fatal heart attacks reading his fiction so beware and read with extreme caution. He uses words to assault the reader. He is married with a young son, five cats, one gecko, and a poltergeist. Aliens watch his every move.
Please welcome David Tamarin to Roadie Notes………….
1. How old were you when you first wrote your first story?
I started writing pornography when I was a fetus in the second trimester in my mother’s stomach.
Actually, I was probably six or seven, and I wrote obscene parodies of The Brady Bunch, involving incest, abuse, rape, murder. When I was 13 or 14 I wrote my first book. This was mid 1980s so I wrote it on a Brother word processor not a computer. I no longer have it on disc but do have a print out of it. It involved a schizophrenic man who believed he was god and wanted to recreate the universe- the same plot I used in my first book, Hurting My Toys. The first time I submitted a story to a horror magazine I was in my teens. I wrote a lot back then. In high school I wrote for both school newspapers and in my free time wrote for various punk rock fanzines, so I am always writing something. Before I started getting my fiction published I published a legal article (my day job is as an attorney) on the use of torture in US prisons. The article went up on several sites and was quoted on several more. I wrote an article on refinancing homes, one on legalizing drugs, I started doing book reviews, and finally started submitting fiction on a regular basis. About ten to twelve years ago I started writing seriously for publication. I first started submitting a lot of stuff and getting published in 2006. I also write non-fiction, and write for Girls and Corpses magazine, and have written for dozens more. Some of my favorite publications have been in Rue Morgue, Diabolique, Serial Killer magazine, Cannabis Culture magazine and many more. After writing for a short time I self-published some short story books and had a small press release a short collection of short stories by me called Let Them Eat Snuff.
2. How many books have you written?
My most famous book is called the Bible and I am working on a Third Testament.
I self-published a few books when I started writing full-time in 2006, but won’t count those books. My first publication was Let Them Eat Snuff, which was released by Meat Hook Press, it is a short collection of my short fiction, it is only about 30 pages. In the last few years, I have had three books published. Hurting My Toys: Spiritual Suicide is a novella. BOLO: Sociopaths on a Rampage is a novel and This Book Hates You is a short story collection. I have also had a lot of short fiction published in a lot of anthologies, magazines, websites, etc. I am more of a short story writer than a novel writer. I have been published in at least 100 fiction publications, I am in about a dozen anthologies. I will name just a few I can remember- Rue Morgue, Red Scream, Verbicide, The Independent, New England Horror Writers, Serial Killer magazine, The Dream People, bloodcookies, deathbus, corpsefuck, wretched and violent, Chimeraworld 2, Chimeraworld 3, Insidious Reflections, Purpleverse, The Unholy Biscuit, Sinfully Twisted, GOREmet cuiSINe, the Death Mook, Trails of Indiscretion, Escaping Elsewhere, VividHues, Diabolique, Girls and Corpses, Bizarro Central, Butcher Knives and Body Counts, Sex Drugs & Horror, withersin, Whispers of Wickedness, Dark Karnival, Scars, horrornews.net, alt.sex.stories, Justus Roux, Bust Down the Doors and Eat All the Chickens, Other Things Other Places, Splattered, Stabbed Tortured Dismembered, Splatterpunx, prisonwall.org, Cannabis Culture, Night to Dawn, two of the Six Word Memoirs books, Blood Reign, Cyber-Pulp’s Halloween Anthology 3.0, Theatre of Decay, Sinfully Twisted, Project Contagion, Night to Dawn and many more that I cannot remember.
In addition, I have helped write several screenplays, and I have several screenplays I wrote that I have been trying to get made for years.
3. Anything you won’t write about?
No.
I will write about anything. I used to have a rule about not writing about animal violence, as I write what I would like to read and I do not like reading about animal violence. However, in my latest book BOLO there is a lot of extreme cruelty to animals which I included because it was essential to the story line, which involves an abusive father who makes his son torture animals to death. So that was my one taboo and I not only broke it but through it out the window as the descriptions of torturing of dogs is absolutely revolting. It was hard to write it, and then hard to re-write it through a dozen or so drafts.
4. Tell me about you. Age (if you don’t mind answering), married, kids, do you have another job etc…
If you change the letters in my last name they spell Martian. That is my true identity. I came to your planet many of your centuries ago. As for David L Tamarin, he is 43 years old and his day job is an attorney, focusing on both entertainment law and disability law. I have been married 14 years and we have a 21-month old baby. I also volunteer at an animal shelter, working with the cats. I have five cats and a gecko. A lot of my recent fiction involves child abuse, because I deal with my fears through writing. I am terrified something bad will happen to my son, that he will be kidnapped and tortured. So for the past few years I have written a lot of short fiction involving those fears. The results are often brutal. My day job is as an attorney representing disabled individuals, although I practice all types of law including entertainment law and have worked on several films in that capacity. For my job, about half of it is representing the disabled and the other half are all types of cases- criminal cases, contract disputes, tenant rights.
I write and I am a lawyer but I am not like John Grisham and don’t really write about the law, although if I get a good idea I might, like a lawyer hired to investigate a snuff movie ring or something.
5. What’s your favorite book you have written?
Hurting My Toys: Spiritual Suicide. The book evolved over the course of ten years. It began as a short story of about 4,000 words which was first published around 2007. Then I re-wrote it as a longer story of about 10,000 words, which appears in my short story collection This Book Hates You. I sent the story to Comet Press, and they said if I could turn it into a 40,000-word novella they would publish it, so I did that in 2014 or 2015. It was hard getting it down to 40,000 words because I had originally envisioned it to be about 100,000 words. So I am not completely happy with the ending, and would like to write the sequel at some point to give the story closure. It is the story that has gotten me the most infamy, including death threats and accusations of me being a serial killer, etc. The book deals with schizophrenia which I find to be a fascinating condition. Also, as I mentioned it is somewhat based on a book I wrote when I was fourteen or so and I have never forgotten that book and the ideas in it and the specific scenes and after 30 years percolating in my head I finally got it down for Hurting My Toys. I have to write a sequel to it, because my awesome publisher, Comet Press, wanted a novella of 40,000 or so words and I had about 100,000 words worth of writing, so I need to write the sequel to tie things up. The book has a scene where a man rips a fetus out of a woman and uses it as a crack pipe, – and then things get sick! It is one of my favorite scenes I wrote and a favorite of my readers, I can’t tell you how many people have commented on the fetal crack pipe scene. The story I am working on now, about Pornocchio, actually has a scene that out does the fetus crack pipe scene in Hurting My Toys. I won’t give it away, but something much much worse happens to a fetus in my Pornocchio story, so if you liked the fetal crack pipe scene in Hurting My Toys you will love the even sicker fetal destruction scene in Pornocchio.
6. Who or what inspired you to write?
A few years ago my parents were kidnapped and I got a note saying they would be killed unless I started writing the most unimaginably grim, gruesome, negative, nihilist, brutal violent fiction, so everything I do is just to keep them alive. I hate what I write, but they’ll kill my parents if I stop- and then they’ll come after me. It’s really a touchy subject for me. Would you like a serious answer? There is something in my head, not unlike a tumor, that is always creating stories and coming up with ideas, and if I don’t write them down my head may explode. Writing is a compulsion. I have tried to stop at times when depressed and found I could not. So part of the reason is this inner need or desire I have to write, which probably results from my lifelong love of reading
There are a couple of answers to that but answer number one is Stephen King. When I was in fourth grade I read Christine, which was my first ‘adult’ book, and I fucking loved it! It had me hooked, and I have been reading King since then. I used to be able to say I had read all of his books but I fell behind with the last volume of the Dark Tower series, and have not read his last ten or so books. I recently started Mr. Mercedes which was creepy as the villain drives his car into a crowd of people, killing many, and I read this the day when that really happened, when that maniac mowed down all those innocent people with his vehicle. This is the second time something like this has happened to me while reading a Stephen King book. In one of his novels, I forget but think it was Insomnia, someone goes on a shooting spree in an abortion clinic, and as I read it, a guy in the Boston area, where I live, John Salvi, went into a Planned Parenthood and murdered and injured a bunch of innocent people. He later died in jail but this is Boston I heard he was murdered in jail. People who commit suicide don’t shove urine soaked socks down their throat, then tie their hands behind their back and then hang themselves without the use of their arms.
The relates to my second inspiration, my fascination with true crime, violence, serial killers, abnormal psychology and abnormal behavior, and behavior and drug-induced bizarre and threatening behavior, and mental illness and personality disorders, snuff, and torture. Around the time I read Christine I read a book about terrorism and torture tactics used by terrorists. I read about terrorists who put insects into women’s vaginas and I was freaked out and disgusted but couldn’t put the book down. I have been reading true crime books for over thirty years. I have written about serial killers for many publications including Serial Killer magazine. I am fascinated by serial killers, mass murders, killing sprees, abnormal psychology, sexual sadism, sociopaths, schizophrenics, the effects of hard drugs like crack and meth, and also drugs like LSD that mimic schizophrenia.
Another thing is events that have happened in my own life. I have seen and experienced a lot of pretty insane things in my life. I started writing my autobiography but certain parts got too intense for me and I stopped writing. I have seen death up close, and that informs my writing. When I was younger I found my best friend’s dead body. I’ve met a lot of crazy people and witnessed a lot of crazy things, many of them illegal. And I’ve had my own problems and still do have problems, and I feel the need to write about these things, in the form of either horror stories or stories of very dark humor.
Then there is the fact that I have a pretty strange imagination and a lot of ideas, and I am always coming up with story ideas. I tend to have pretty odd thoughts and I think that is clear in my writing. I look at things in a different way than other people. Some people see Octo-Mom and think of the beauty of childbirth. I look at her and want to hang her from a tree and use her as a piñata, smashing her stomach open with a bat while little candy babies fall out of her. I even have a story, Octo-Mom and the Projectile Birth Contest. I always thought projectile birth should be an Olympic event.
I am a huge movie fan, in particular horror and transgressive films, and have been as long as I can remember. The first movies I remember seeing that shocked me included Videodrome, A Clockwork Orange, Last House on the Left, which I saw when I was very young. Horror films have definitely influenced my writing. However, I enjoy zombie movies but don’t write zombie fiction. There’s too much of it and too much of it is the same. I do have an idea for a zombie story, but it is slightly different from the typical zombie story, it is about a guy with a sexual fetish for zombie chicks and dead girls.
7. What do you like to do for fun?
Unauthorized surgery. Basically I carjack ambulances, abduct the patient, take him or her home and then perform procedures on them with no anesthesia. I torture them and perform experiments like how loud a man screams when you cut his penis in half. I like to pick random people and follow them for months, stalking them, recording their every move, before killing them then posing as them.
As for reality, the first answer is writing, but besides writing, my favorite thing is playing with my son and my cats and spending time with my wife. Which I know is pathetically normal. I know a lot of people think I am a monster and I think they would be disappointed if they observed my life. But that’s what I like. I like horror movies, my family and pets, true crime, bizarre and weird information, reading and writing, punk rock and grunge and stoner metal and death rap.
There’s nothing like spending a few hours curled up around the latest Amnesty International report of torture worldwide, or the FOIA declassified FBI files on snuff films, drinking coffee, vaping, watching movies with head explosions in the background while blasting Slayer and taking notes on my next torture scene.
I love film, and I love music, and I love art in all its forms. I didn’t mention reading because to me that is implied. I read, therefore I am. I have spent more time in this life reading than doing just about anything else. I remember reading my first Richard Laymon book, Endless Night, and how much I enjoyed that.
I like sex but that’s a given.
8. Any traditions you do when you finish a book?
No. I do have one interesting tradition though. For people I particularly hate, like Jerry Falwell, I buy a bottle of champagne and write their name on it, then drink the bottle when they died. I recently had some champagne to celebrate the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. I write a lot of things at once so when I finish a book I just turn to the next project.
I’m thinking of starting a new tradition that when I finish a book I chose a slave from my dungeon- just one- and let him or her escape- but just as they get out the front door I shoot their kneecaps out and drag them back to the dungeon.
Actually it is hard to tell when I’ve finished, as I always feel like if I give it another read I will find ways to change the story and improve it. Even when it is done I think of ways to change it to make it better.
If I do think I am done I try to use the three-week rule, where I do not look at what I wrote for three weeks, and in that time try not to think about it and work on other projects. Then, when three weeks has passed and I do read it again, I get a fresh perspective and pick up on mistakes that I would miss if I had just written it, because at that point you are seeing what you want to see, often blind to blatant errors. So I try to go a good time and forget about the story or book and then when I read it later it is like reading it for the first time and I pick up on a lot of ways to improve the story. I don’t always do this, for example if it is a flash fiction story.
9. Where do you write?
I have a great writing space. I live in a 100-year-old house, and the basement looks like a dungeon from a torture movie or snuff film. The walls are rock, making it feel like a cave. Behind my computer are my speakers, writing instruments, a plastic skull, a skull candle, an old-fashioned bottle of embalming fluid, pictures on the wall of JFK’s corpse and Lee Harvey getting shot, a South African spear, Godzilla and Leatherface figures, my autographed poster for Bloodsucking Freaks, and a lot of drug paraphernalia.
Unfortunately, my work room is also where we keep the five boxes of kitty litter for our cats, so sometimes it stinks down here. If you read my work a lot of the stories have people with captives in their dungeon like basements, which are modeled after this room I write in. It is also storage space for all my books.
But I write whenever I get a good idea. Before the smart phone, I always carried several notebooks and pens with me and was always writing wherever I was. Now I use an app on my phone and I write when I am stuck in traffic, when I am in line, and any other spare time I have. A lot of my stories began on napkins or things like that when I would be out at a restaurant or something and didn’t have my notebooks and an idea would hit me. So I literally write anywhere and everywhere I go. One of my more recent short stories was written entirely on an iPhone mostly while stuck in traffic.
But if I have my choice I write in my dungeon where I have my computer set up and my slaves tied up and my speakers.
10. Quite or music?
Music. At the end of This Book Hates You I list all the music I listened to when writing the book, which ranged from Ministry to GG Allin to Triple Six Mafia to The Beatles to Black Sabbath to Primus, Melvinsand Slayer.
Sometimes I put on a YouTube documentary on crime or torture and listen to that.
Right now I am listening the Misfits, the album 12 Hits From Hell.
I get so into writing that I sometimes go into a trance, and when the album I am listening to ends I don’t even notice and just write in silence.
11. Anything you would change about your writing?
No, nothing. I have written some garbage but have learned from the experience so I can’t say I would change anything. I would like to change how many people buy my books, and how publishers felt about me, but won’t change my writing to sell more books- and besides, I don’t think if I made my writing tame my few followers would still appreciate what I do. What I write makes me an outcast, gets me criticized, banned, harassed, etc, and none of that bullshit will change how I write. If anything it encourages me to think of new ways to make my critics and enemies sick, to go with words as far as one can go. I use my words as weapons, and they are lethal. I would never want to change that.
12. What is your dream? Famous writer?
Being a famous writer is not my dream. I attended a writers’ boot camp about a decade ago and the teachers were best-selling writers like David Morrell, who created Rambo, Douglas Winter, F. Paul Wilson, and all three had serious day jobs. One was a doctor. Douglas Winter, like me, is an attorney. So what I took from that is that writing does not pay the bills except in extreme cases like Stephen King. I fully acknowledge my writing is too brutal and extreme to ever become mainstream. I have been told I write for a ‘niche audience’ that is very small. The writers in my genre for the most part are not famous like Clive Barker or Peter Straub, but writers like Wrath James White and Monica J O’Rourke. They are the fucking best, and their books have very limited commercial potential. People who write extreme writing like I do know that we will never be rich or famous. I have been involved in the film industry for some time, and have co-written a few screenplays. My dream is to write screenplays and get paid for it. My dream is to sell enough books that people in the horror community know who I am so that maybe I can’t get rich but maybe I can make even a small amount of money writing.
I love anthologies. My goal is to be in an anthology (or a magazine) with Stephen King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Ray Garton, John Skipp, Gregory Lamberson, Bentley Little, Thomas Ligotti, John Shirley and a few other authors I admire. I have an essay in the book Butcher Knives and Body Counts, and there is also an essay in the book by Gregory Lamberson, so I can check that one-off the list.
13. Where do you live?
North Andover, Massachusetts. It is right near Salem, except that my town actually executed more witches than Salem during that era. I am about an hour from Fall River where Lizzy Borden is from, and about a half hour from Boston, home of the Boston Strangler. For various films and television shows I have traveled to Montreal, Buffalo, NY, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut and most frequently Rhode Island.
I grew up in the Massachusetts area. I am a movie extra, and Adam Sandler is from my area and frequently shoots his films here. I have been an extra in four of Adam Sandler’s films. Mark Wahlberg also makes a lot of local movies but I have not been able to get an extra role in any of them. The closest I came to success was a recent Boston-based film THE FIGHTER, in which Christian Bale, who plays I think the brother of the main character, plays a crackhead. Anyway I auditioned for the role of Bale’s crackhead friend, and I actually got a callback. I impressed the casting lady by telling her I grew up in a crackhouse. When she believed I admitted I was lying and she was very impressed and told me to come back for a second audition in a week. She told me, come back here in a week. Do not shave, shower, sleep or eat. Watch YouTube videos of people smoking crack all week. You are playing a crackhead, you need to look like one and know how one acts. A little later I got a call that someone else had been cast in the role.
I lived in Colorado for a few years when I was in college and like it there much better. Better skiing.
14. Pets?
Absolutely! Five amazing cats! One eleven-year-old gecko. The cats own the house, not my wife and I. Three of my cats are seven years old and two are about 18 months old. I also volunteer at an animal shelter where I work with the cats. I don’t have a dog because my backyard is pretty tiny and dogs need a place to run around in. Eventually I would like to move to another house with a bigger backyard so I can get a dog or two. I have a young son and I think it is important he have a dog. He is really great with the cats, very gentle, but all but my little black cat isscared of him. One of my geckos got sick and the vet showed me how to force feed him for two weeks. This was right before my wedding. When force-feeding the little guy, he closed his mouth with my finger in it, accidentally biting me. My finger blew up grotesquely, like nothing I had ever seen. The day before my wedding I had to go to the doctor. The day after my wedding, it got even bigger so I had to go to the doctor, who literally went and got a bunch of other doctors and a camera to show off my swollen finger and take pictures of it. They had apparently never seen anything that fucking swollen! I looked away as they slit it open and drained it and drained it and drained it. During my marriage ceremony I had a band-aid over the big swollen lump, and the next day when I removed the band aid to change it I was shocked to see how much it had grown. That type of shit freaks me out and grosses me out. It is the BODY HORROR of David Cronenberg and Clive Barker, but it was my real life. I wrote about the incident in detail in some document I can’t find. That, and the multiple tumors that have been discovered in my body, has made me fear and feel disgust towards my body, my flesh- as I said I feel like a character in a Cronenberg movie. I think that is why I love him as a director. His films like The Fly remake detail the human body breaking down. I think he is a genius, I already mentioned Videodrome as a huge influence on me.
I do not currently own any snakes, but since college I have owned several snakes, all ball pythons. Unfortunately, they seem to have a short life span of maybe five years or so. I have probably had seven snakes, and when my son is older would love to get another one. My favorite was Pretzel. I took him with me everywhere. I kept him in my shirt pocket. He was called Pretzel because he would wrap himself tightly around my hand. He never ever bit anyone but died tragically. I used to sleep with him and in my sleep I crushed him. Even when he was dying he did not bite me. That was one of the most upsetting moments in my life. People have no idea how sweet a snake can be. I cried like a baby for months when I killed Pretzel. I haven’t been able to get a snake since him. But I would like to again. I feed my snakes frozen mice because to feed them live mice is fucking barbaric. When I first got the snake we fed him a live mouse. He bit it and wrapped himself around the mouse, squeezing him so tight that his eyes burst out of his head, and the death was prolonged and awful and the little guy was twitching. Before the snake struck the mouse was just shaking in fear. It was awful. After that we only fed him frozen mice.
My first snake was named Drexel, after Gary Oldman’s character in the Quentin Tarantino-written film True Romance.
I have six pet midgets who are lethal assassins.
15. What’s your favorite thing about writing?
Exorcising these crazy thoughts in my head.
Being God, literally creating universes the way I want them to be.
Having total creative control, creating crazy new worlds, really exorcising my imagination and having fun. I love grossing people out, making them sick, making them pass out, or cry, or just say they were seriously disturbed by my writing. A review by a reader on Amazon saying my book is the dirtiest thing she ever read or by a guy that thinks it is more brutal than Peter Sotos or Ed Lee means more to me them some highbrow review trashing me for my allegedly misogynistic violence and excessive torture.
Also, I love to make people laugh. I have been writing for Girls and Corpses magazine for over a decade and many of the articles are humor or parody. A lot of my short stories are funny or comedic horror. The great writer Elizabeth Massie called me “the rising star of horrific humor” at Borderland Boot Camp where I had her as a teacher. On the other hand, David Morrel, creator of Rambo, and someone I deeply admire, told me of my story, “I hate that splatterpunk shit” but he gave me some helpful criticism. I recommend all horror readers to read his short horror stories and his horror novel The Totem.
If I can make people laugh (or puke or cum or all three) I am doing something right. But what I really love is to make people laugh and cringe or maybe even vomit at the same time, or make people laugh but at the same time scare them a little, that isn’t easy to do but it is great if you do it right. Or make people laugh but make them feel guilty about laughing.
16. What is coming next for you?
I don’t want to give away too much, but the story is about Pornocchio. When he lies, his nose doesn’t grow but something else does, which can be lethal if he is having sex. It is a true gross out story. I wrote it to submit to the Rejected for Content series but did not finish it in time and it looks like it will be too long for them anyway, as they were looking for stories under 10,000 words.
Besides that short story, I am working on several non-fiction articles and interviews, and have written the first few chapters of a book dealing with extreme high school bullying and school shootings. I am working on a ton of short stories that I have started over the past few years but never finished.
I am seeking a publisher to release two of my books in paperback.
I have a script I wrote, that I put aside about two years ago. I want to shop it around and see if I can find a director and a studio to make it. It is a violent crime noir with psychedelic aspects called No Man Standing.I also want to finish and shop around other scripts I have written or almost finished writing.
I would like to write at least one sequel to Hurting My Toys.
I have been working for five years on the extreme international anthology film THE PROFANE EXHIBIT and hope that it will be released soon. I think it will be the last film I work on, as it has been five years of hell, and I have had tried to get several films made including a sequel to Bloodsucking Freaks written by Joel Reed and I was unable to raise money to get the film made. I also ran an Indiegogo campaign for Russian horror director Andrey Iskanov and we failed to raise enough money. He illustrated the cover of the book Hurting My Toys.
You can connect with David Tamarin here:
https://www.amazon.com/David-L-Tamarin/e/B00A9HMXF4/
www.severed-cinema.com/uglyworld
www.facebook.com/davidltamarin
www.twitter.com/davidltamarin
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2622717/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
a few free online short short stories:
http://threeminuteplasticmag.blogspot.com/2012/01/gravity-by-david-l-tamarin.html
https://bizarrocentral.com/tag/side-effects/?iframe=true&preview=true
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INTERVIEWING ME!!!
Some of David Tamarin’s books:
Getting person with David Tamarin David L Tamarin writes extreme and brutal hardcore horror with a jet black sense of humor. He also writes in the crime genre, and is fascinated with the concept of snuff films.
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Blockchain: the path to a more transparent mining supply chain?
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Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records logged in a decentralised, immutable, cryptographically secured online ledger. All information recorded on the platform is peer-to-peer validated and therefore can’t be corrupted without others quickly becoming aware.
One of the main benefits of blockchain – a process developed more than a decade ago as a public transaction ledger for bitcoin – is that it creates a secure audit trail that builds inherent trust into processes or transactions.
In the mining context the technology could be used to record many different things, such as personnel entering and exiting a mine site, the movement of commodities, financial transactions or even creating smart contracts between two entities.
However, so far, the biggest game-changer blockchain promises the sector is improving transparency in the supply chain, namely, tracking and tracing precious gems and important minerals, including diamonds, tin, tungsten and cobalt.
Building trust along the chain
“What is being proposed in the mining sector is an industry-specific blockchain to prove provenance,” explains international mining and metals consultancy Core Consultants managing director Lara Smith.
“Every action taken by an industry participant can be seen by every other player in that system; this could address transparency in the supply chain, and because every transaction has an associated digital fingerprint, uniquely identifying its owner it also creates auditability,” she adds.
Firms are hoping to exploit the track-trace abilities of the technology to record the lifespan of a commodity, in particular, to prove its origin and provide assurances it was sustainably and responsibly sourced.
In January, diamond giant DeBeers announced a blockchain initiative that it hopes will underpin confidence in diamonds and the industry at large by ensuring all registered gems are conflict-free and natural, while also enhancing efficiency across the sector.
According to a company spokesperson, The Diamond Blockchain Initiative will: “Create a highly secure, decentralised, tamper-proof and permanent digital record for every diamond registered on the platform, as an added layer of assurance not been previously possible.”
Furthermore, in February, Reuters reported on an unnamed blockchain pilot project that will be used for the first time to track cobalt from artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo through to products used in smartphones and electric cars.
These initiatives follow in the footsteps of Everledger, a blockchain-based platform developed a few years ago to track diamonds. In February, the company announced its Diamond Time-Lapse Protocol initiative which aims to engage everyone along the diamond supply chain, including miners, dealers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers, prompting them to create and track the entire lifetime journey of a gem, making the information accessible to all.
The company has logged more than a million diamonds so far and is expanding to cover precious metals, alloys and conflict minerals for the electronics industry.
From the physical to the digital
For blockchain technology to be valuable in any supply chain it must truly reflect what is happing in the real world. This is a challenge when tracking physical goods because it requires the inputted information to be a true reflection of events. But how can firms ensure this?
DeBeers says it is still determining what information can be viably collected from producers and shown on the chain, but it will use a two-staged approach to validate that the diamond a user receives is the same one was registered on the blockchain.
The first step is to assign every diamond a unique ID in the form of a barcode corresponding with its digital certificate on the blockchain. The second is a reconciliation of primary information, e.g. stone characteristics, and secondary data, e.g. transaction history, to make sure the physical diamond matches data registered on the blockchain. There could be up to 180 individual data points.
“As every diamond is unique in terms of its physical make-up as is the journey it travels through the value chain, blockchain can support the detection of any substituted diamonds or falsified data uploads,” said a spokesperson.
The company believes the technology can also streamline efficiencies, ultimately reducing the time and cost of undertaking business for many users.
Everledger says it validates information by conducting on-site inspection and auditing, as well as using artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and RFID tracking to obtain the most accurate degree of data possible for system entry.
“Boots on the ground are a big part of what we do and how we can capture so much,” says Everledger project lead for sustainable supply chains Edward Mendelson.
“We do this in a way that ensures data privacy,” he continues, “as in some parts of the process it is not appropriate to be sharing information downstream a supply chain, but it’s necessary to demonstrate the process has been completed so that it meets all requirements and is regulated by a third-party body.”
Furthermore, there is a threshold to entry to the ledger for individuals, such as counter-party checks and anti-money laundering checks.
Tracking cobalt
Tracking ores such as cobalt is much more complicated, however. As reported by Reuters, the Congo-based blockchain pilot project will work in a process whereby each sealed bag of cobalt produced by a vetted artisanal miner is given a digital tag, which is then entered onto a blockchain system using a mobile phone. The log will include details of the weight, date, time and possibly a photo of the ore.
The trader that buys the bag will record the details on the system, in a process that’s repeated until the ore arrives at the smelter, so an immutable record of the cobalt’s journey for downstream buyers or third parties has been logged and can be viewed.
According to the report, the mining industry is experimenting with technology, including indelible marks that survive the refining process, which is similar to what is currently being used for Fairtrade certification of bulk products such as cocoa. Another option is to include blockchain in software-based technologies already used by refiners to monitor material as it moves through their plants.
However, there is still the risk that cobalt mined by children could get mixed up with ‘clean’ cobalt before being bagged, tagged and sent for processing.
Can it work?
“It’s always tricky when using technology to solve a problem that is deeply political and economic,” says Smith. “We are talking about applying a technological solution to a physical, manual problem that frequently involves governments and human frailty and so it remains an imperfect solution, although it can assist in alleviating some of the known issues and improving trust.”
Juliane Kippenberg, associate director in the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, says she believes blockchain could provide better traceability and greater transparency if the information on the supply chain is made public.
“However, it cannot be a tool for human rights assessments and mitigation, as required by the OECD Due Diligence Guidance; jewellers and other companies in the diamond supply chain still need to conduct detailed assessments of human rights conditions in the mines and countries of origin by qualified experts and along the supply chain – something they don’t always do now.”
More miners using blockchain
Miners are also exploring other use cases for blockchain. For example, a partnership has been made between Citibank, Scotiabank and Société Générale with Barrick Gold Corp and INTL FCStone to use the technology for a pilot study to reduce transaction costs of gold.
The project has seen more than 100,000 gold transactions cleared by Euroclear using blockchain platform and has reduced transaction costs and improved the handling of accounts and trade settlements.
Furthermore, returning to the supply chain use case, BHP Billiton is starting to use blockchain to share information between vendors, contractors, geologists and shipping companies to track and monitor movements of wellbore rock and fluid samples to secure real-time data and increase efficiency, as well as provide proof of provenance.
As is evident, blockchain has proven benefits for use in the mining sector, as well as for financial transactions and other online record keeping.
However, how well the technology works to provide real world solutions to complex issues such as identifying conflict minerals and blood diamonds in a supply chain is yet to be fully determined. And if successful, it will require sector-wide uptake of the technology for maximum benefit. Nevertheless, the new focus and drive for transparency and openness that this technology has enabled is a very positive step forward for an industry not known for transparency.
Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records logged in a decentralised, immutable, cryptographically secured online ledger. All information recorded on the platform is peer-to-peer validated and therefore can’t be corrupted without others quickly becoming aware.
One of the main benefits of blockchain – a process developed more than a decade ago as a public transaction ledger for bitcoin – is that it creates a secure audit trail that builds inherent trust into processes or transactions.
In the mining context the technology could be used to record many different things, such as personnel entering and exiting a mine site, the movement of commodities, financial transactions or even creating smart contracts between two entities.
However, so far, the biggest game-changer blockchain promises the sector is improving transparency in the supply chain, namely, tracking and tracing precious gems and important minerals, including diamonds, tin, tungsten and cobalt.
Building trust along the chain
“What is being proposed in the mining sector is an industry-specific blockchain to prove provenance,” explains international mining and metals consultancy Core Consultants managing director Lara Smith.
“Every action taken by an industry participant can be seen by every other player in that system; this could address transparency in the supply chain, and because every transaction has an associated digital fingerprint, uniquely identifying its owner it also creates auditability,” she adds.
Firms are hoping to exploit the track-trace abilities of the technology to record the lifespan of a commodity, in particular, to prove its origin and provide assurances it was sustainably and responsibly sourced.
In January, diamond giant DeBeers announced a blockchain initiative that it hopes will underpin confidence in diamonds and the industry at large by ensuring all registered gems are conflict-free and natural, while also enhancing efficiency across the sector.
According to a company spokesperson, The Diamond Blockchain Initiative will: “Create a highly secure, decentralised, tamper-proof and permanent digital record for every diamond registered on the platform, as an added layer of assurance not been previously possible.”
Furthermore, in February, Reuters reported on an unnamed blockchain pilot project that will be used for the first time to track cobalt from artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo through to products used in smartphones and electric cars.
These initiatives follow in the footsteps of Everledger, a blockchain-based platform developed a few years ago to track diamonds. In February, the company announced its Diamond Time-Lapse Protocol initiative which aims to engage everyone along the diamond supply chain, including miners, dealers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers, prompting them to create and track the entire lifetime journey of a gem, making the information accessible to all.
The company has logged more than a million diamonds so far and is expanding to cover precious metals, alloys and conflict minerals for the electronics industry.
From the physical to the digital
For blockchain technology to be valuable in any supply chain it must truly reflect what is happing in the real world. This is a challenge when tracking physical goods because it requires the inputted information to be a true reflection of events. But how can firms ensure this?
DeBeers says it is still determining what information can be viably collected from producers and shown on the chain, but it will use a two-staged approach to validate that the diamond a user receives is the same one was registered on the blockchain.
The first step is to assign every diamond a unique ID in the form of a barcode corresponding with its digital certificate on the blockchain. The second is a reconciliation of primary information, e.g. stone characteristics, and secondary data, e.g. transaction history, to make sure the physical diamond matches data registered on the blockchain. There could be up to 180 individual data points.
“As every diamond is unique in terms of its physical make-up as is the journey it travels through the value chain, blockchain can support the detection of any substituted diamonds or falsified data uploads,” said a spokesperson.
The company believes the technology can also streamline efficiencies, ultimately reducing the time and cost of undertaking business for many users.
Everledger says it validates information by conducting on-site inspection and auditing, as well as using artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and RFID tracking to obtain the most accurate degree of data possible for system entry.
“Boots on the ground are a big part of what we do and how we can capture so much,” says Everledger project lead for sustainable supply chains Edward Mendelson.
“We do this in a way that ensures data privacy,” he continues, “as in some parts of the process it is not appropriate to be sharing information downstream a supply chain, but it’s necessary to demonstrate the process has been completed so that it meets all requirements and is regulated by a third-party body.”
Furthermore, there is a threshold to entry to the ledger for individuals, such as counter-party checks and anti-money laundering checks.
Tracking cobalt
Tracking ores such as cobalt is much more complicated, however. As reported by Reuters, the Congo-based blockchain pilot project will work in a process whereby each sealed bag of cobalt produced by a vetted artisanal miner is given a digital tag, which is then entered onto a blockchain system using a mobile phone. The log will include details of the weight, date, time and possibly a photo of the ore.
The trader that buys the bag will record the details on the system, in a process that’s repeated until the ore arrives at the smelter, so an immutable record of the cobalt’s journey for downstream buyers or third parties has been logged and can be viewed.
According to the report, the mining industry is experimenting with technology, including indelible marks that survive the refining process, which is similar to what is currently being used for Fairtrade certification of bulk products such as cocoa. Another option is to include blockchain in software-based technologies already used by refiners to monitor material as it moves through their plants.
However, there is still the risk that cobalt mined by children could get mixed up with ‘clean’ cobalt before being bagged, tagged and sent for processing.
Can it work?
“It’s always tricky when using technology to solve a problem that is deeply political and economic,” says Smith. “We are talking about applying a technological solution to a physical, manual problem that frequently involves governments and human frailty and so it remains an imperfect solution, although it can assist in alleviating some of the known issues and improving trust.”
Juliane Kippenberg, associate director in the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, says she believes blockchain could provide better traceability and greater transparency if the information on the supply chain is made public.
“However, it cannot be a tool for human rights assessments and mitigation, as required by the OECD Due Diligence Guidance; jewellers and other companies in the diamond supply chain still need to conduct detailed assessments of human rights conditions in the mines and countries of origin by qualified experts and along the supply chain – something they don’t always do now.”
More miners using blockchain
Miners are also exploring other use cases for blockchain. For example, a partnership has been made between Citibank, Scotiabank and Société Générale with Barrick Gold Corp and INTL FCStone to use the technology for a pilot study to reduce transaction costs of gold.
The project has seen more than 100,000 gold transactions cleared by Euroclear using blockchain platform and has reduced transaction costs and improved the handling of accounts and trade settlements.
Furthermore, returning to the supply chain use case, BHP Billiton is starting to use blockchain to share information between vendors, contractors, geologists and shipping companies to track and monitor movements of wellbore rock and fluid samples to secure real-time data and increase efficiency, as well as provide proof of provenance.
As is evident, blockchain has proven benefits for use in the mining sector, as well as for financial transactions and other online record keeping.
However, how well the technology works to provide real world solutions to complex issues such as identifying conflict minerals and blood diamonds in a supply chain is yet to be fully determined. And if successful, it will require sector-wide uptake of the technology for maximum benefit. Nevertheless, the new focus and drive for transparency and openness that this technology has enabled is a very positive step forward for an industry not known for transparency.
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Appraising Affordable Housing
What is affordable housing? These days, it is generally rental housing that is available to income-qualifying tenants at below market rent. Most people think of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which initially created this type of housing nearly sixty years ago through a myriad of programs. Back then almost all were project-based, meaning tenants could only rent below-market units in that building or complex, and many were mortgage subsidized rather than rent subsidized.

By the early nineteen nineties, the HUD contracts were expiring and the government scrambled for creative ways to preserve the stock of existing affordable rental housing. In some of the larger urban markets with very high market rents, many owners opted out of the program and converted the properties to market-rate housing, but in many markets HUD and owners came up with a renewal plan to remodel and recapitalize the projects and preserve the affordability of the units into the future.
Not long thereafter, a provision was added to the federal tax code to allow for an income tax credit over ten years or more to investors that purchased low income housing tax credits (LIHTC). This acted as additional equity in a project, which reduced the mortgage amount and allowed the property to offer units at below-market rents to tenants that qualified at various percentages of the area or county median income level.
Challenges of Valuing Affordable Housing Now
Because of the changes over the years, from HUD project-based programs for families, seniors and special needs renters to tenant-based vouchers and LIHTCs, the appraiser needs to understand how each of these programs impacts market value. This is further complicated by the layering and overlap of different programs and by for profit versus non profit ownership. If a property has multiple layers of rental subsidies with different expiration dates, how does this impact market value?

In some states and local jurisdictions, non profit owned affordable housing is exempt from property taxes. If the property is appraised for its market value, is it fair to assume that the likely buyer profile will be another non profit buyer? What if the property has a Land Use Restriction Agreement (LURA) for one phase and a Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract in another, how might this impact the overall market value of the property? The answer is there are no simple answers and it will vary from project to project. We have provided a brief list of the various subsidy programs at the end of this section for further information.
Great Lakes Realty Advisory Group has been valuing affordable housing for nearly thirty years in large urban markets like Chicago and in small, rural markets like Vernon County in southwestern Wisconsin. That breadth of experience and exposure to the evolution of the various programs that fund affordable housing uniquely qualifies us to understand and properly evaluate the market value of this type of housing. Please contact Doug Connor at (608) 255-3802 or by email at [email protected] for more information or to explore your options prior to selling, acquiring or refinancing your affordable housing property.

Brief List of Subsidy Programs
1. HUD Section 8 - Project-Based and Voucher Rental Assistance Originally provided for new construction or substantial renovation projects until 1983. Since then HUD funds existing Section 8 projects through housing assistance payments, or HAP. Typically this is based on the difference between 30% of the tenant’s determined income and HUD-determined contract rents with or without utility allowances. Most project-based Section 8 HAP contracts are renewed annually. Vouchers are also typically provided through a public housing agency, such as a county CDA directly to income qualifying tenants, but are not project based, thereby allowing the tenant to receive rental assistance regardless of the rental project. This has become more prevalent as project-based Section 8 agreements have expired and many of these properties are no longer participating in the program.
2. HUD Section 236 - Project-Based Rental Assistance Originally set up by HUD in 1968 as a 40-year mortgage program for affordable housing through interest rate subsidies to the lender between 1% and the interest rate set at the time of the loan with the project owner required to restrict tenant income levels to 80% of AMI (Area Median Income or sometimes, County Median Income, CMI). Subsequently, HUD required reduced rents at their determined market rental levels, or a project-based rental subsidy in the form of a rental supplement or rent assistance payment. Since most of the original 40-year mortgages have subsequently expired, the Section 236 is administered by various state agencies and generally falls under other set-aside provisions for designated affordable housing units.
3. Land Use Restriction Agreement (LURA)
A LURA is a covenant “running with the land”, or deed restriction that is binding for the owner, as well as its successors and assigns, all subsequent owners and all holders of any interest in the property. Often it accompanies a Multifamily Housing Revenue (Tax-exempt) Bond financing. It can vary, but typically requires a minimum of 20% of the units be rented to “qualifying tenants” at some percentage of AMI or CMI for a period of 15 years. Often a LURA can be terminated earlier if the bonds are retired through a refinancing or recapitalization of the project, or when any HUD Section 8 or 236 payments terminate.
4. HOME Funds HOME funds are awarded as formula grants that allow state and local governments to use HOME funds for direct loans, loan guarantees or other forms of credit enhancements, rental assistance or security deposits. The HOME set-aside is also typically in the form of a LURA, which mandates that certain units be set aside for a stated duration of time.
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