title: Travancore

text: In 1950, a meeting was held at Palayamkottai to make compromises between state congress and T.T.N.C. The meeting met with failure and Mr. Sam Nathaniel resigned from the post of president of T.T.N.C Mr. P. Ramasamy Pillai, a strong follower of Mr. A. Nesamony was elected as the New President. The first general election of Independent India was held on 1952. T.T.N.C won 8 legislative assembly seats. Mr. A. Chidambaranathan became the minister on behalf of T.T.N.C in the coalition state government formed by the Congress. In the parliamentary Constituency Mr. A. Nesamony was elected as M.P. and in the Rajyasabha seat. Mr. A. Abdul Razak was elected as M.P. on behalf of T.T.N.C. In due course, accusing the Congress government for not showing enough care the struggle of the Tamils, T.T.N.C had broken away from the coalition and the Congress government lost the majority. So fresh elections were announced. In 1954 elections, T.T.N.C gained victory in 12 constituencies.


title: Travancore

text: Pattom Thanu Pillai was the chief minister for Thiru – Kochi legislative assembly. He engaged hard measures against the agitations of Tamils. Especially the Tamils at Devikulam – Peermedu regions went through the atrocities of Travancore Police force. Condemning the attitude of the police, T.T.N.C leaders from Nagercoil went to Munnar and participated in agitations against the prohibitive orders. The leaders were arrested and an uncalm atmosphere prevailed in South Travancore.


title: Travancore

text: On 11 August, Liberation Day celebrations were held at many places in South Travancore. Public meetings and processions were organised. Communists also collaborated with the agitation programmes. Police opened fire at the processions in Thoduvetty (Martandam) and Puthukadai. Nine Tamil volunteers were killed and thousands of T.T.N.C and communist sympathizers were arrested in various parts of Tamil main land. At the end, Pattom Thanu Pillai's ministry was toppled and normalcy returned to the Tamil regions. The central government had appointed Fazal Ali Commission(1953 dec) for the states reorganisation based on language. It submitted its report on 10 August 1955. Based on this report, Devikulam – Peermedu and Neyyattinkara Taluks were merged with Kerala state. On 1 November 1956 – four Taluks Thovalai, Agastheeswaram, Kalkulam, Vilavancode were recognised to form the New Kanyakumari District and merged with Tamil Nadu State. Half of Sengottai Taluk was merged with Tirunelveli District. The main demand of T.T.N.C was to merger the Tamil regions with Tamil Nadu and major part of its demand was realised. So T.T.N.C was dissolved thereafter.


title: Travancore

text: Apart from Kanyakumari district, the Taluks of Devikulam and Peermade in present-day Idukki district also had a Tamil-majority until late 1940's. The T.T.N.C had also requested to merge these Taluks with Madras State. However it was due to some decisions of Pattom Thanu Pillai, who was the first prime minister of Travancore, that they retained in the modern-state of Kerala. Pattom came up with a colonisation project to re-engineer the demography of Cardamom Hills. His colonisation project was to relocate 8,000 Malayalam-speaking families into the Taluks of Devikulam and Peermade. About 50,000 acres in these Taluks, which were Tamil-majority area, were chosen for the colonisation project. As a victory of the Colonisation project done by post-independence Travancore, these two Taluks and a larger portion of Cardamom Hills retained in the state of Kerala, after States Reorganisation Act, 1956.


title: Travancore

text: Under the direct control of the king, Travancore's administration was headed by a Dewan assisted by the "Neetezhutthu Pillay" or secretary, "Rayasom Pillay" (assistant or under-secretary) and a number of "Rayasoms" or clerks along with "Kanakku Pillamars" (accountants). Individual districts were run by "Sarvadhikaris" under supervision of the Diwan, while dealings with neighbouring states and Europeans was under the purview of the "Valia Sarvahi", who signed treaties and agreements.


title: Travancore

text: In 1856, the princely state was sub-divided into three divisions, each of which was administered by a Divan Peishkar, with a rank equivalent to a District Collector in British India. These were the:


title: Travancore

text: The 1911 Census Report of Travancore states that Padmanabhapuram Division was the original seat of Travancore, where Thiruvithamcode and Padmanabhapuram are located. The report further states that a vast majority of this division was ethnic Tamils. Padamanabhapuram Division consisted of the present-day district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. The report also states that the two southernmost Taluks of this division, namely Thovalai and Agastheeswaram, geographically too more resembles to Pandya Nadu of Tamil country and the eastern Coromandel Coast of the Madras Presidency than the rest of Malayalam country.


title: Travancore

text: It was the headquarters of Travancore since 1795. The Neyyattinkara taluk was a main seat of industry according the 1911 census report of Travancore. This division also contained many ethnic Tamils, mostly concentrated in the southern Taluks of Neyyattinkara and Thiruvananthapuram. The Trivandrum Division consisted of the present-day Thiruvananthapuram district excluding the British colony at Anchuthengu.


title: Travancore

text: Quilon was the capital of Venad and the largest port town in Travancore, and was also one of the oldest ports on Malabar Coast. The 1911 Census of Travancore states that it was from Quilon division onwards that the genuine country of Malayalam starts. However, the Sengottai taluk of this division which was earlier under Kottarakkara Thampuran, was a Tamil-majority region. Geographically too Sengottai resembled to Madurai and Pandya Nadu than rest of the Malayalam country.


title: Travancore

text: It was situated in the northernmost area of Travancore. It was a pure Malayalam-speaking and geographical region. The Vembanad Lake was a speciality of this division.


title: Travancore

text: It consisted most of the present-day Idukki district. It was also related to Pandya Nadu and Kongu Nadu. Devikulam division was Tamil-speaking region.


title: Travancore

text: Unlike the rest of India, Travancore divided the rupee into unique values, as represented on coins and stamps, as follows:


title: Travancore

text: Travancore was characterised by the popularity of its rulers among their subjects. The kings of Travancore, unlike their counterparts in the other princely states of India, spent only a small portion of their state's resources for personal use. This was in sharp contrast with some of the northern Indian kings. Since they spent most of the state's revenue for the benefit of the public, they were naturally much loved by their subjects.


title: Travancore

text: Violence rooted in religion or caste was uncommon in Travancore, but the barriers based on these parameters were rigid. Swami Vivekananda described Travancore as "The Lunatic Asylum in India" due to the level of caste discrimination. Vaikom Satyagraha point out the high-level Casteism existed in Travancore. Tamil Brahmins and Nairs alone dominated the bureaucracy until 20th century. Many political ideologies (such as communism) and social reforms were not welcomed in Travancore, and in Punnapra, communist protesters were fired at. Travancore royal family were devout Hindus. Some kings practiced untouchability with British officers, European aristocrats and diplomats (for instance, Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, has reported that Maharaja Visakham Thirunal had to take bath after touching Richard's Mrs., to remove ritual pollution, when they visited in 1880). The decline of caste system began at the end of the 19th Century due to a series of reformation movements. As a result, the Kingdom of Travancore became the region with the highest male literacy rate in India.


title: Travancore

text: Unlike most of India, just like in Dakshina Kannada, in Travancore (and the rest of Kerala), the social status and freedom of women in Higher castes were relatively high. However, the Upper cloth revolt of 19th century is an exception to this. The women of lower caste hadn't the permission to wear upper cloth in Travancore. In some communities, the daughters inherited the property (though property was exclusively administered by men, their brothers) (until 1925), were educated, and had the right to divorce and remarry, but due to laws passed starting from 1925, by regent queen Sethu Lakshmi Bayi proper patriarchy was established and now women have relatively little rights.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the "Acacia" tree, "Senegalia senegal" and "Vachellia seyal." The term "gum arabic" does not legally indicate a particular botanical source, however. The gum is harvested commercially from wild trees, mostly in Sudan (80%) and throughout the Sahel, from Senegal to Somalia. The name "gum Arabic" ("al-samgh al-'arabi") was used in the Middle East at least as early as the 9th century. Gum arabic first found its way to Europe via Arabic ports, so retained its name.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is a complex mixture of glycoproteins and polysaccharides, predominantly polymers of arabinose and galactose. It is soluble in water, edible, and used primarily in the food industry and soft-drink industry as a stabilizer, with E number E414 (I414 in the US). Gum arabic is a key ingredient in traditional lithography and is used in printing, paints, glues, cosmetics, and various industrial applications, including viscosity control in inks and in textile industries, though less expensive materials compete with it for many of these roles.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic was defined by the 31st Codex Committee for Food Additives, held at The Hague from 19 to 23 March 1999, as the dried exudate from the trunks and branches of "Acacia senegal" or "Vachellia (Acacia) seyal" in the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae). A 2017 safety re-evaluation by the Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said that although the above definition holds true for most internationally-traded samples, the term "gum arabic" does not indicate a particular botanical source; in a few cases, so‐called "gum arabic" may not even have been collected from "Acacia" (in the broad sense) species, instead coming from e.g. "Combretum" or "Albizia".


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is a rich source of dietary fibers and in addition to its widespread use in food and pharmaceutical industries as a safe thickener, emulsifier, and stabilizer, it also possesses a broad range of health benefits that have been evidently proved through several "in vitro" and "in vivo" studies. Gum arabic is not degraded in the stomach but fermented in the large intestine into a number of short chain fatty acids. It is regarded as a prebiotic that enhances the growth and proliferation of the beneficial intestinal microbiota and therefore its intake is associated with many useful health effects. These health benefits include:


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic's mixture of polysaccharides and glycoproteins gives it the properties of a glue and binder that is edible by humans. Other substances have replaced it where toxicity is not an issue, as the proportions of the various chemicals in gum arabic vary widely and make it unpredictable. Still, it remains an important ingredient in soft drink syrup and "hard" gummy candies such as gumdrops, marshmallows, and M&M's chocolate candies. For artists, it is the traditional binder in watercolor paint and in photography for gum printing, and it is used as a binder in pyrotechnic compositions. Pharmaceutical drugs and cosmetics also use the gum as a binder, emulsifier, and suspending agent or viscosity-increasing agent. Wine makers have used gum arabic as a wine fining agent.


title: Gum arabic

text: It is an important ingredient in shoe polish, and can be used in making homemade incense cones. It is also used as a lickable adhesive, for example on postage stamps, envelopes, and cigarette papers. Lithographic printers employ it to keep the non-image areas of the plate receptive to water. This treatment also helps to stop oxidation of aluminium printing plates in the interval between processing of the plate and its use on a printing press.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is used in the food industry as a stabiliser, emulsifying agent, and thickening agent in icing, fillings, soft candy, chewing gum, and other confectionery, and to bind the sweeteners and flavourings in soft drinks. A solution of sugar and gum arabic in water, gomme syrup, is sometimes used in cocktails to prevent the sugar from crystallising and provide a smooth texture.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is a complex polysaccharide and soluble dietary fibre that is generally recognized as safe for human consumption. An indication of harmless flatulence occurs in some people taking large doses of 30 g (1 oz) or more per day. It is not degraded in the intestine, but fermented in the colon under the influence of microorganisms; it is a prebiotic (as distinct from a probiotic). No regulatory or scientific consensus has been reached about its caloric value; an upper limit of 2 kcal/g was set for rats, but this is not valid for humans. The US FDA initially set a value of 4 kcal/g for food labelling, but in Europe no value was assigned for soluble dietary fibre. A 1998 review concluded that "based on present scientific knowledge, only an arbitrary value can be used for regulatory purposes". In 2008, the USFDA sent a letter of no objection in response to an application to reduce the rated caloric value of gum arabic to 1.7 kcal/g.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is used as a binder for watercolor painting because it dissolves easily in water. Pigment of any color is suspended within the acacia gum in varying amounts, resulting in watercolor paint. Water acts as a vehicle or a diluent to thin the watercolor paint and helps to transfer the paint to a surface such as paper. When all moisture evaporates, the acacia gum typically does not bind the pigment to the paper surface, but is totally absorbed by deeper layers.


title: Gum arabic

text: If little water is used, after evaporation, the acacia gum functions as a true binder in a paint film, increasing luminosity and helping prevent the colors from lightening. Gum arabic allows more subtle control over washes, because it facilitates the dispersion of the pigment particles. In addition, acacia gum slows evaporation of water, giving slightly longer working time.


title: Gum arabic

text: The addition of a little gum arabic to watercolor pigment and water allows for easier lifting of pigment from paper, thus can be a useful tool when lifting out color when painting in watercolor.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic has a long history as additives to ceramic glazes. It acts as a binder, helping the glaze adhere to the clay before it is fired, thereby minimising damage by handling during the manufacture of the piece. As a secondary effect, it also acts as a deflocculant, increasing the fluidity of the glaze mixture, but also making it more likely to sediment out into a hard cake if not used for a while.


title: Gum arabic

text: The gum is normally made up into a solution in hot water (typically 10–25 g/L; ¼ to ½ oz per pint), and then added to the glaze solution after any ball milling in concentrations from 0.02% to 3.0% of gum arabic to the dry weight of the glaze. On firing, the gum burns out at a low temperature, leaving no residues in the glaze. More recently, particularly in commercial manufacturing, gum arabic is often replaced by more refined and consistent alternatives, such as carboxymethyl cellulose.


title: Gum arabic

text: The historical photography process of gum bichromate photography uses gum arabic mixed with ammonium or potassium dichromate and pigment to create a coloured photographic emulsion that becomes relatively insoluble in water upon exposure to ultraviolet light. In the final print, the acacia gum permanently binds the pigments onto the paper.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is also used to protect and etch an image in lithographic processes, both from traditional stones and aluminum plates. In lithography, gum by itself may be used to etch very light tones, such as those made with a number-five crayon. Phosphoric, nitric, or tannic acid is added in varying concentrations to the acacia gum to etch the darker tones up to dark blacks. The etching process creates a gum adsorb layer within the matrix that attracts water, ensuring that the oil-based ink does not stick to those areas. Gum is also essential to what is sometimes called paper lithography, printing from an image created by a laser printer or photocopier.


title: Gum arabic

text: Gum arabic is used as a binding agent in the making of charcoal as a fuel. Charcoal made from the taifa plant is powdery, and so in order to form charcoal cakes, gum arabic is mixed with this powder and allowed to dry. Fuel charcoal made from taifa and gum arabic is used for cooking food in Senegal and a few other African countries.


title: Gum arabic

text: Arabinogalactan is a biopolymer consisting of arabinose and galactose monosaccharides. It is a major component of many plant gums, including gum arabic. 8-5' Noncyclic diferulic acid has been identified as covalently linked to carbohydrate moieties of the arabinogalactan-protein fraction.


title: Gum arabic

text: While gum arabic has been harvested in Arabia, Sudan, and West Asia since antiquity, sub-Saharan acacia gum has a long history as a prized export. The gum exported came from the band of acacia trees that once covered much of the Sahel region, the southern littoral of the Sahara Desert that runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Today, the main populations of gum-producing "Acacia" species are found in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. "Acacia" is tapped for gum by stripping bits off the bark, from which gum then exudes. Traditionally harvested by seminomadic desert pastoralists in the course of their transhumance cycle, acacia gum remains a main export of several African nations, including Mauritania, Niger, Chad, and Sudan. Total world gum arabic exports are today (2019) estimated at 160,000 tonnes, having recovered from 1987 to 1989 and 2003–2005 crises caused by the destruction of trees by the desert locust.


title: Gum arabic

text: In 1445, Prince Henry the Navigator set up a trading post on Arguin Island (off the coast of modern Mauritania), which acquired acacia gum and slaves for Portugal. With the merger of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in 1580, the Spaniards became the dominant influence along the coast. In 1638, however, they were replaced by the Dutch, who were the first to begin exploiting the acacia gum trade. Produced by the acacia trees of Trarza and Brakna, this acacia gum was considered superior to that previously obtained in Arabia. By 1678, the French had driven out the Dutch and established a permanent settlement at Saint Louis at the mouth of the Senegal River. Gum Arabic came to play an essential role in textile printing and therefore in pre-industrial economies of France, Great-Britain and other European countries. Throughout the 18th century, their competition over the commodity was so fierce, that some have referred to it as the gum wars.


title: Gum arabic

text: For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, gum arabic was the major export from French and British trading colonies in modern Senegal and Mauritania. West Africa had become the sole supplier of world acacia gum by the 18th century, and its export at the French colony of Saint-Louis doubled in the decade of 1830 alone. A threat to bypass Saint-Louis by sending gum to the British traders at Portendick, and taxes, eventually brought the Emirate of Trarza into direct conflict with the French. In the 1820s, the French launched the Franco-Trarzan War of 1825. The new emir, Muhammad al Habib, had signed an agreement with the Waalo Kingdom, directly to the south of the river. In return for an end to raids in Waalo territory, the Emir took the heiress of Waalo as a bride. The prospect that Trarza might inherit control of both banks of the Senegal struck at the security of French traders, and the French responded by sending a large expeditionary force that crushed Muhammad's army. The war incited the French to expand to the north of the Senegal River for the first time, heralding French direct involvement in the interior of West Africa. Africa continued to export gum arabic in large quantities—from the Sahel areas of French West Africa (modern Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) and French Equatorial Africa (modern Chad) until these nations gained their independence in 1959–61.


title: Gum arabic

text: Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people are dependent on gum arabic for their livelihoods. After market reforms, Sudan's exports of gum arabic are now (2019) at about 160,000 tonnes. The production of gum arabic is heavily controlled by the Sudanese government.


title: Gum arabic

text: In the work of Shakespeare, Jacob Cats and many other European poets of the 13th to 17th centuries, gum arabic represented the "noble Orient". In the Sahel, it is a symbol of the purity of youth.


title: Map projection

text: In cartography, map projection is the term used to describe a broad set of transformations employed to represent the two-dimensional curved surface of a globe on a plane. In a map projection, coordinates, often expressed as latitude and longitude, of locations from the surface of the globe are transformed to coordinates on a plane.


title: Map projection

text: Projection is a necessary step in creating a two-dimensional map and is one of the essential elements of cartography.


title: Map projection

text: All projections of a sphere on a plane necessarily distort the surface in some way and to some extent. Depending on the purpose of the map, some distortions are acceptable and others are not; therefore, different map projections exist in order to preserve some properties of the sphere-like body at the expense of other properties. The study of map projections is primarily about the characterization of their distortions. There is no limit to the number of possible map projections.


title: Map projection

text: More generally, projections are considered in several fields of pure mathematics, including differential geometry, projective geometry, and manifolds. However, the term "map projection" refers specifically to a cartographic projection.


title: Map projection

text: Despite the name's literal meaning, projection is not limited to perspective projections, such as those resulting from casting a shadow on a screen, or the rectilinear image produced by a pinhole camera on a flat film plate. Rather, any mathematical function that transforms coordinates from the curved surface distinctly and smoothly to the plane is a projection. Few projections in practical use are perspective.


title: Map projection

text: Most of this article assumes that the surface to be mapped is that of a sphere. The Earth and other large celestial bodies are generally better modeled as oblate spheroids, whereas small objects such as asteroids often have irregular shapes. The surfaces of planetary bodies can be mapped even if they are too irregular to be modeled well with a sphere or ellipsoid. Therefore, more generally, a map projection is any method of flattening a continuous curved surface onto a plane.


title: Map projection

text: The most well-known map projection is the Mercator projection. This map projection has the property of being conformal. However, it has been criticized throughout the 20th century for enlarging regions further from the equator. To contrast, equal-area map projections such as the Sinusoidal projection and the Gall–Peters projection show the correct sizes of countries relative to each other, but distort angles. The National Geographic Society and most atlases favor map projections that compromise between area and angular distortion, such as the Robinson projection and the Winkel tripel projection.


title: Map projection

text: Map projections can be constructed to preserve some of these properties at the expense of others. Because the Earth's curved surface is not isometric to a plane, preservation of shapes inevitably requires a variable scale and, consequently, non-proportional presentation of areas. Similarly, an area-preserving projection can not be conformal, resulting in shapes and bearings distorted in most places of the map. Each projection preserves, compromises, or approximates basic metric properties in different ways. The purpose of the map determines which projection should form the base for the map. Because maps have many different purposes, a diversity of projections have been created to suit those purposes.


title: Map projection

text: Another consideration in the configuration of a projection is its compatibility with data sets to be used on the map. Data sets are geographic information; their collection depends on the chosen datum (model) of the Earth. Different datums assign slightly different coordinates to the same location, so in large scale maps, such as those from national mapping systems, it is important to match the datum to the projection. The slight differences in coordinate assignation between different datums is not a concern for world maps or those of large regions, where such differences are reduced to imperceptibility.


title: Map projection

text: Carl Friedrich Gauss's "Theorema Egregium" proved that a sphere's surface cannot be represented on a plane without distortion. The same applies to other reference surfaces used as models for the Earth, such as oblate spheroids, ellipsoids, and geoids. Since any map projection is a representation of one of those surfaces on a plane, all map projections distort.


title: Map projection

text: The classical way of showing the distortion inherent in a projection is to use Tissot's indicatrix. For a given point, using the scale factor "h" along the meridian, the scale factor "k" along the parallel, and the angle "θ"′ between them, Nicolas Tissot described how to construct an ellipse that illustrates the amount and orientation of the components of distortion. By spacing the ellipses regularly along the meridians and parallels, the network of indicatrices shows how distortion varies across the map.


title: Map projection

text: Many other ways have been described of showing the distortion in projections. Like Tissot's indicatrix, the Goldberg-Gott indicatrix is based on infinitesimals, and depicts "flexion" and "skewness" (bending and lopsidedness) distortions.


title: Map projection

text: Rather than the original (enlarged) infinitesimal circle as in Tissot's indicatrix, some visual methods project finite shapes that span a part of the map.


title: Map projection

text: For example, a small circle of fixed radius (e.g., 15 degrees angular radius). Sometimes spherical triangles are used.


title: Map projection

text: In the first half of the 20th century, projecting a human head onto different projections was common to show how distortion varies across one projection as compared to another.


title: Map projection

text: In dynamic media, shapes of familiar coastlines and boundaries can be dragged across an interactive map to show how the projection distorts sizes and shapes according to position on the map.


title: Map projection

text: Another way to visualize local distortion is through grayscale or color gradations whose shade represents the magnitude of the angular deformation or areal inflation. Sometimes both are shown simultaneously by blending two colors to create a bivariate map.


title: Map projection

text: To measure distortion globally across areas instead of at just a single point necessarily involves choosing priorities to reach a compromise. Some schemes use distance distortion as a proxy for the combination of angular deformation and areal inflation; such methods arbitrarily choose what paths to measure and how to weight them in order to yield a single result. Many have been described.


title: Map projection

text: Some of the simplest map projections are literal projections, as obtained by placing a light source at some definite point relative to the globe and projecting its features onto a specified surface. Although most projections are not defined in this way, picturing the light source-globe model can be helpful in understanding the basic concept of a map projection.


title: Map projection

text: A surface that can be unfolded or unrolled into a plane or sheet without stretching, tearing or shrinking is called a "developable surface". The cylinder, cone and the plane are all developable surfaces. The sphere and ellipsoid do not have developable surfaces, so any projection of them onto a plane will have to distort the image. (To compare, one cannot flatten an orange peel without tearing and warping it.)


title: Map projection

text: One way of describing a projection is first to project from the Earth's surface to a developable surface such as a cylinder or cone, and then to unroll the surface into a plane. While the first step inevitably distorts some properties of the globe, the developable surface can then be unfolded without further distortion.


title: Map projection

text: Once a choice is made between projecting onto a cylinder, cone, or plane, the aspect of the shape must be specified. The aspect describes how the developable surface is placed relative to the globe: it may be "normal" (such that the surface's axis of symmetry coincides with the Earth's axis), "transverse" (at right angles to the Earth's axis) or "oblique" (any angle in between).


title: Map projection

text: The developable surface may also be either "tangent" or "secant" to the sphere or ellipsoid. Tangent means the surface touches but does not slice through the globe; secant means the surface does slice through the globe. Moving the developable surface away from contact with the globe never preserves or optimizes metric properties, so that possibility is not discussed further here.


title: Map projection

text: Tangent and secant lines ("standard lines") are represented undistorted. If these lines are a parallel of latitude, as in conical projections, it is called a "standard parallel". The "central meridian" is the meridian to which the globe is rotated before projecting. The central meridian (usually written "λ") and a parallel of origin (usually written "φ") are often used to define the origin of the map projection.


title: Map projection

text: A globe is the only way to represent the Earth with constant scale throughout the entire map in all directions. A map cannot achieve that property for any area, no matter how small. It can, however, achieve constant scale along specific lines.


title: Map projection

text: Projection construction is also affected by how the shape of the Earth or planetary body is approximated. In the following section on projection categories, the earth is taken as a sphere in order to simplify the discussion. However, the Earth's actual shape is closer to an oblate ellipsoid. Whether spherical or ellipsoidal, the principles discussed hold without loss of generality.


title: Map projection

text: Selecting a model for a shape of the Earth involves choosing between the advantages and disadvantages of a sphere versus an ellipsoid. Spherical models are useful for small-scale maps such as world atlases and globes, since the error at that scale is not usually noticeable or important enough to justify using the more complicated ellipsoid. The ellipsoidal model is commonly used to construct topographic maps and for other large- and medium-scale maps that need to accurately depict the land surface. Auxiliary latitudes are often employed in projecting the ellipsoid.


title: Map projection

text: A third model is the geoid, a more complex and accurate representation of Earth's shape coincident with what mean sea level would be if there were no winds, tides, or land. Compared to the best fitting ellipsoid, a geoidal model would change the characterization of important properties such as distance, conformality and equivalence. Therefore, in geoidal projections that preserve such properties, the mapped graticule would deviate from a mapped ellipsoid's graticule. Normally the geoid is not used as an Earth model for projections, however, because Earth's shape is very regular, with the undulation of the geoid amounting to less than 100 m from the ellipsoidal model out of the 6.3 million m Earth radius. For irregular planetary bodies such as asteroids, however, sometimes models analogous to the geoid are used to project maps from.


title: Map projection

text: Other regular solids are sometimes used as generalizations for smaller bodies' geoidal equivalent. For example, Io is better modeled by triaxial ellipsoid or prolated spheroid with small eccentricities. Haumea's shape is a Jacobi ellipsoid, with its major axis twice as long as its minor and with its middle axis one and half times as long as its minor.


title: Map projection

text: A fundamental projection classification is based on the type of projection surface onto which the globe is conceptually projected. The projections are described in terms of placing a gigantic surface in contact with the Earth, followed by an implied scaling operation. These surfaces are cylindrical (e.g., Mercator), conic (e.g., Albers), and plane (e.g., stereographic). Many mathematical projections, however, do not neatly fit into any of these three conceptual projection methods. Hence other peer categories have been described in the literature, such as pseudoconic, pseudocylindrical, pseudoazimuthal, retroazimuthal, and polyconic.


title: Map projection

text: Another way to classify projections is according to properties of the model they preserve. Some of the more common categories are:


title: Map projection

text: Because the sphere is not a developable surface, it is impossible to construct a map projection that is both equal-area and conformal.


title: Map projection

text: The three developable surfaces (plane, cylinder, cone) provide useful models for understanding, describing, and developing map projections. However, these models are limited in two fundamental ways. For one thing, most world projections in use do not fall into any of those categories. For another thing, even most projections that do fall into those categories are not naturally attainable through physical projection. As L.P. Lee notes,


title: Map projection

text: Lee's objection refers to the way the terms "cylindrical", "conic", and "planar" (azimuthal) have been abstracted in the field of map projections. If maps were projected as in light shining through a globe onto a developable surface, then the spacing of parallels would follow a very limited set of possibilities. Such a cylindrical projection (for example) is one which:


title: Map projection

text: Where the light source emanates along the line described in this last constraint is what yields the differences between the various "natural" cylindrical projections. But the term "cylindrical" as used in the field of map projections relaxes the last constraint entirely. Instead the parallels can be placed according to any algorithm the designer has decided suits the needs of the map. The famous Mercator projection is one in which the placement of parallels does not arise by projection; instead parallels are placed how they need to be in order to satisfy the property that a course of constant bearing is always plotted as a straight line.


title: Map projection

text: A normal cylindrical projection is any projection in which meridians are mapped to equally spaced vertical lines and circles of latitude (parallels) are mapped to horizontal lines.


title: Map projection

text: The mapping of meridians to vertical lines can be visualized by imagining a cylinder whose axis coincides with the Earth's axis of rotation. This cylinder is wrapped around the Earth, projected onto, and then unrolled.


title: Map projection

text: By the geometry of their construction, cylindrical projections stretch distances east-west. The amount of stretch is the same at any chosen latitude on all cylindrical projections, and is given by the secant of the latitude as a multiple of the equator's scale. The various cylindrical projections are distinguished from each other solely by their north-south stretching (where latitude is given by φ):


title: Map projection

text: In the first case (Mercator), the east-west scale always equals the north-south scale. In the second case (central cylindrical), the north-south scale exceeds the east-west scale everywhere away from the equator. Each remaining case has a pair of secant lines—a pair of identical latitudes of opposite sign (or else the equator) at which the east-west scale matches the north-south-scale.


title: Map projection

text: Normal cylindrical projections map the whole Earth as a finite rectangle, except in the first two cases, where the rectangle stretches infinitely tall while retaining constant width.


title: Map projection

text: Pseudocylindrical projections represent the "central" meridian as a straight line segment. Other meridians are longer than the central meridian and bow outward, away from the central meridian. Pseudocylindrical projections map parallels as straight lines. Along parallels, each point from the surface is mapped at a distance from the central meridian that is proportional to its difference in longitude from the central meridian. Therefore, meridians are equally spaced along a given parallel. On a pseudocylindrical map, any point further from the equator than some other point has a higher latitude than the other point, preserving north-south relationships. This trait is useful when illustrating phenomena that depend on latitude, such as climate. Examples of pseudocylindrical projections include:


title: Map projection

text: The HEALPix projection combines an equal-area cylindrical projection in equatorial regions with the Collignon projection in polar areas.


title: Map projection

text: The term "conic projection" is used to refer to any projection in which meridians are mapped to equally spaced lines radiating out from the apex and circles of latitude (parallels) are mapped to circular arcs centered on the apex.


title: Map projection

text: When making a conic map, the map maker arbitrarily picks two standard parallels. Those standard parallels may be visualized as secant lines where the cone intersects the globe—or, if the map maker chooses the same parallel twice, as the tangent line where the cone is tangent to the globe. The resulting conic map has low distortion in scale, shape, and area near those standard parallels. Distances along the parallels to the north of both standard parallels or to the south of both standard parallels are stretched; distances along parallels between the standard parallels are compressed. When a single standard parallel is used, distances along all other parallels are stretched.


title: Map projection

text: Azimuthal projections have the property that directions from a central point are preserved and therefore great circles through the central point are represented by straight lines on the map. These projections also have radial symmetry in the scales and hence in the distortions: map distances from the central point are computed by a function "r"("d") of the true distance "d", independent of the angle; correspondingly, circles with the central point as center are mapped into circles which have as center the central point on the map.


title: Map projection

text: The mapping of radial lines can be visualized by imagining a plane tangent to the Earth, with the central point as tangent point.


title: Map projection

text: The radial scale is "r′"("d") and the transverse scale "r"("d")/("R" sin ) where "R" is the radius of the Earth.


title: Map projection

text: Some azimuthal projections are true perspective projections; that is, they can be constructed mechanically, projecting the surface of the Earth by extending lines from a point of perspective (along an infinite line through the tangent point and the tangent point's antipode) onto the plane:


title: Map projection

text: Polyhedral map projections use a polyhedron to subdivide the globe into faces, and then projects each face to the globe. The most well-known polyhedral map projection is Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion map.


title: Map projection

text: Conformal, or orthomorphic, map projections preserve angles locally, implying that they map infinitesimal circles of constant size anywhere on the Earth to infinitesimal circles of varying sizes on the map. In contrast, mappings that are not conformal distort most such small circles into ellipses of distortion. An important consequence of conformality


title: Map projection

text: is that relative angles at each point of the map are correct, and the local scale (although varying throughout the map) in every direction around any one point is constant. These are some conformal projections:


title: Map projection

text: Equal-area maps preserve area measure, generally distorting shapes in order to do so. Equal-area maps are also called "equivalent" or "authalic". These are some projections that preserve area:


title: Map projection

text: If the length of the line segment connecting two projected points on the plane is proportional to the geodesic (shortest surface) distance between the two unprojected points on the globe, then we say that distance has been preserved between those two points. An equidistant projection preserves distances from one or two special points to all other points. The special point or points may get stretched into a line or curve segment when projected. In that case, the point on the line or curve segment closest to the point being measured to must be used to measure the distance.


title: Map projection

text: Direction to a fixed location B (the bearing at the starting location A of the shortest route) corresponds to the direction on the map from A to B:


title: Map projection

text: Compromise projections give up the idea of perfectly preserving metric properties, seeking instead to strike a balance between distortions, or to simply make things look right. Most of these types of projections distort shape in the polar regions more than at the equator. These are some compromise projections:


title: Map projection

text: The mathematics of projection do not permit any particular map projection to be best for everything. Something will always be distorted. Thus, many projections exist to serve the many uses of maps and their vast range of scales.


title: Map projection

text: Modern national mapping systems typically employ a transverse Mercator or close variant for large-scale maps in order to preserve conformality and low variation in scale over small areas. For smaller-scale maps, such as those spanning continents or the entire world, many projections are in common use according to their fitness for the purpose, such as Winkel tripel, Robinson and Mollweide. Reference maps of the world often appear on compromise projections. Due to distortions inherent in any map of the world, the choice of projection becomes largely one of aesthetics.


title: Map projection

text: Thematic maps normally require an equal area projection so that phenomena per unit area are shown in correct proportion.


title: Map projection

text: However, representing area ratios correctly necessarily distorts shapes more than many maps that are not equal-area.


title: Map projection

text: The Mercator projection, developed for navigational purposes, has often been used in world maps where other projections would have been more appropriate. This problem has long been recognized even outside professional circles. For example, a 1943 "New York Times" editorial states:


title: Map projection

text: A controversy in the 1980s over the Peters map motivated the American Cartographic Association (now the Cartography and Geographic Information Society) to produce a series of booklets (including "Which Map Is Best") designed to educate the public about map projections and distortion in maps. In 1989 and 1990, after some internal debate, seven North American geographic organizations adopted a resolution recommending against using any rectangular projection (including Mercator and Gall–Peters) for reference maps of the world.


title: Ricotta

text: Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein has been used to make cheese, notably albumin and globulin.


title: Ricotta

text: Ricotta (literally meaning "recooked", "refined") protein can be harvested if the whey is first allowed to become more acidic by additional fermentation (by letting it sit for 12–24 hours at room temperature). Then the acidified whey is heated to near boiling. The combination of low pH and high temperature denatures the protein and causes it to flocculate, forming a fine curd. Once cooled, it is separated by passing the liquid through a fine cloth, leaving the curd behind.


title: Ricotta

text: Ricotta curds are creamy white in appearance, and slightly sweet in taste. The fat content changes depending on the milk used. In this form, it is somewhat similar in texture to some fresh cheese variants, though considerably lighter. It is highly perishable. However, ricotta is also made in aged varieties which are preservable for much longer.


title: Ricotta

text: The production of ricotta in the Italian peninsula dates back to the Bronze Age. In the second millennium BCE, ceramic vessels called milk boilers started to appear frequently and were apparently unique to the peninsula. These were designed to boil milk at high temperatures and prevent the milk from boiling over. The fresh acid-coagulated cheeses produced with these boilers were probably made with whole milk.


title: Ricotta

text: However, the production of rennet-coagulated cheese overtook the production of fresh whole-milk cheeses during the first millennium BCE. Bronze cheese graters found in the graves of the Etruscan elite prove that hard-grating cheeses were popular with the aristocracy. Cheese graters were also commonly used in ancient Roman kitchens. Unlike the fresh acid-coagulated cheese, aged rennet-coagulated cheese could be preserved for much longer.


title: Ricotta

text: The increased production of rennet-coagulated cheese led to a large supply of sweet whey as a byproduct. Cheesemakers then started using a new recipe, which used a mixture of whey and milk to make the traditional ricotta as it is known today.


title: Ricotta

text: The ancient Romans made ricotta, but writers on agriculture such as Cato the Elder, Marcus Terentius Varro, and Columella do not mention it. They described the production of rennet-coagulated cheese but did not write about milk boilers or acid-coagulated cheese. A likely reason is that ricotta was not profitable because its very short shelf life did not allow distribution to urban markets. Ricotta was most likely consumed by the shepherds who made it. Even so, evidence from paintings and literature indicates that ricotta was known and likely eaten by Roman aristocrats as well.


title: Ricotta

text: Ceramic milk boilers were still used by Apennine shepherds to make ricotta in the 19th century CE. Today, metal milk boilers are used, but production methods have changed little since ancient times.


title: Ricotta

text: Whey protein is a kind of milk protein but there are numerous other milk proteins. Whey itself comprises less than 1% of total milk protein, by weight. Accordingly, ricotta production requires large volumes of input milk. The production process entails the use of heat and acid to coagulate whey protein from whey solution. The whey solution is heated to a near-boiling temperature, much hotter than during the production of the original cheese, of which the whey is a remnant.


title: Ricotta

text: "Ricotta di Bufala Campana" and "Ricotta Romana" are notable varieties produced in Italy and protected by the European Union's Protected Designation of Origin regulation. "Ricotta di Bufala Campana" is made from the whey left over after the production of "Mozzarella di Bufala Campana", a protected variety of buffalo mozzarella. "Ricotta Romana" is made from the whey of sheep milk.


title: Ricotta

text: Fresh ricotta can be subject to extra processing to produce variants which have a much longer shelf life. These production methods include salting, baking, smoking, and further fermentation.


title: Ricotta

text: "Ricotta salata" is a pressed, salted, dried, and aged variety of the cheese. It is milky-white and firm and used for grating or shaving. "Ricotta salata" is sold in wheels, decorated by a delicate basket-weave pattern.


title: Ricotta

text: "Ricotta infornata" (baked ricotta) is produced by placing a large lump of soft ricotta in the oven until it develops a brown, lightly charred crust, sometimes even until it becomes sandy brown all the way through. "Ricotta infornata" is popular primarily in Sardinia and Sicily, and is sometimes called "ricotta al forno".


title: Ricotta

text: "Ricotta affumicata" (smoked ricotta) is similar to "ricotta infornata" and is produced by placing a lump of soft ricotta in a smoker until it develops a grey crust and acquires a charred wood scent, usually of oak or chestnut wood, although, in Friuli, beech wood is used, with the addition of juniper and herbs.


title: Ricotta

text: "Ricotta forte", also known as "ricotta scanta", is produced from leftovers of any combination of cow, goat, or sheep milk ricotta. These are allowed to age for about a year, during which salt is added and the cheese mixed every two or three days to prevent the growth of mold. The end result is a soft and creamy brown paste which has a very pungent and piquant taste. It is produced in the southern part of the Province of Lecce and sold in glass jars. It is smeared on bread, mixed with tomato sauces for pasta, or added to vegetable dishes.


title: Ricotta

text: Like mascarpone in northern Italian cuisine, ricotta is a favorite component of many Italian desserts, such as cheesecakes and cannoli. Also, a variety of different cookies include ricotta as an ingredient.


title: Ricotta

text: Ricotta can be beaten smooth and mixed with condiments, such as sugar, cinnamon, orange flower water, strawberries, and occasionally chocolate shavings, and served as a dessert. This basic combination (often with additions such as citrus and pistachios) also features prominently as the filling of the Sicilian "cannoli" and layered with slices of cake in Palermo's "cassata".


title: Ricotta

text: Combined with eggs and cooked grains, then baked firm, ricotta is also a main ingredient in Neapolitan "pastiera", one of Italy's many "Easter pies".


title: Ricotta

text: Ricotta is also commonly used in savory dishes, including pasta, calzone, stromboli, pizza, manicotti, lasagne, and ravioli.


title: Ricotta

text: It also is used as a mayonnaise substitute in traditional egg or tuna salad and as a sauce thickener.


title: Ricotta

text: In the United States, American ricotta is almost always made of cow's milk whey, as opposed to Italian ricotta which is typically made from the whey of sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk. While both types are low in fat and sodium, the Italian version is naturally sweet, while the American is a little saltier and more moist.


title: Ricotta

text: In France, ricotta is known as and can be made from cow, sheep or goat milk. The name and technique of preparation change according to the region where it is produced: it is called Greuil, Breuil or Sérou in Gascony, Zenbera in the Basque country, Brousse in Provence, Brocciu in Corse and in the Alps.


title: Ricotta

text: In Tunisia, the "rigouta" from the city of Béja is a close relative to the ricotta, except that it is always fresh-soft and is not aged. It is exclusively made from the whey of Sicilo-Sarda sheep's milk. "Rigouta" is also used as the basis of several preparations and dishes of Tunisian cuisine.


title: Ricotta

text: In Spanish, ricotta is known as "requesón". It can be salted or sweetened for cooking purposes. It was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, although it is not as commonly used as "queso fresco". It is sometimes used as filling for "tlacoyos" and "tacos dorados", and in the central west area (Jalisco, Michoacán, and Colima) it is spread over" tostadas" or "bolillos", or served as a side to beans. In Portugal and Brazil, a similar product is called "requeijão".


title: Ricotta

text: In the Balkans, Romanian "urdă" (), Macedonian "urda" (урда) and Bulgarian "izvara" (извара) are made by reprocessing the whey drained from any type of cheese. "Urdă" is thus similar to fresh ricotta as its fabrication implies the same technological process. However, Romanian "urdă" is neither smoked nor baked in the oven like some variants of the Italian ricotta. "Urdă" has been produced by Romanian shepherds for centuries and is consequently regarded by Romanians as a Romanian traditional product.


title: Ricotta

text: In Greece, very similar to ricotta are anthotyros ("ανθότυρο") and manouri ("μανούρι"), made from sheep or goat milk. Similarly in Cyprus, anari ("αναρή") is made from the same types of milk.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder (), or FC-1 "Xiaolong" (), is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). It was designed to replace the ageing A-5C, F-7P/PG, Mirage III, and Mirage V combat aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The JF-17 can be used for multiple roles, including interception, ground attack, anti-ship, and aerial reconnaissance. The Pakistani designation "JF-17" stands for "Joint Fighter-17", with the "-17" denoting that, in the PAF's vision, it is the successor to the F-16. The Chinese designation "FC-1" stands for "Fighter China-1".


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The JF-17 can deploy diverse ordnance, including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, including anti-ship missiles, and a 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel autocannon. Powered by a Guizhou WS-13 or Klimov RD-93 afterburning turbofan, it has a top speed of Mach 1.6. The JF-17 is the backbone and workhorse of the PAF, complementing the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon at approximately half the cost, with the block II variant costing $25 million. The JF-17 was inducted in the PAF in February 2010.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Fifty-eight per cent of the JF-17 airframe, including its front fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer, is produced in Pakistan, whereas forty-two percent is produced in China, with the final assembly and serial production taking place in Pakistan. In 2015, Pakistan produced 16 JF-17s. , PAC has the capacity to produce 20 JF-17s annually. By April 2017, PAC had manufactured 70 Block 1 aircraft and 33 Block 2 aircraft for the PAF. By 2016, PAF JF-17s had accumulated over 19,000 hours of operational flight. In 2017, PAC/CAC began developing a dual-seat variant known as the JF-17B for enhanced operational capability, conversion training, and lead-in fighter training. The JF-17B Block 2 variant went into serial production at PAC in 2018 and 26 aircraft were delivered to the PAF by December 2020. In December 2020, PAC began serial production of a more advanced Block 3 version of the aircraft with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a more powerful Russian Klimov RD-93MA engine, a larger and more advanced wide-angle Head-Up Display (HUD), electronic countermeasures, an additional hardpoint, and enhanced weapons capability.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: PAF JF-17s have seen military action, both air-to-air and air-to-ground, including bombing terrorist positions in North Waziristan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border during anti-terror operations in 2014 and 2017 using both guided and unguided munitions, shooting down an intruding Iranian military drone near the Pakistan-Iran Border in Balochistan in 2017, and in Operation Swift Retort during the 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes and aerial skirmish between India and Pakistan.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The JF-17 was designed and developed primarily to meet the PAF requirement for an affordable, unsanctionable, fourth-generation, lightweight, multi-role combat aircraft as a replacement for its large fleet of Nanchang A-5C bombers, Chengdu F-7P/PG interceptors, and Dassault Mirage III/5 fighters, with a cost of , divided equally between Pakistan and China. The aircraft was also intended to have export potential as a cost-effective and competitive alternative to more expensive Western fighters.<ref name="FC-1/JF-17, sinodefence.com"></ref> The development of this aircraft was headed by Yang Wei, who is considered China's "ace designer", who also designed the Chengdu J-20.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: By 1989, because of economic sanctions by the US, Pakistan had abandoned Project Sabre II, a design study involving US aircraft manufacturer Grumman and China, and had decided to redesign and upgrade the Chengdu F-7. In the same year, China and Grumman started a new design study to develop the Super 7, another redesigned Chengdu F-7. Grumman left the project when sanctions were placed on China following the political fallout from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. After Grumman left the Chengdu Super 7 project, the Fighter China project was launched in 1991. In 1995, Pakistan and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint design and development of a new fighter, and over the next few years worked out the project details. In June 1995, Mikoyan had joined the project to provide "design support", this also involved the secondment of several engineers by CAC.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In October 1995, Pakistan was reportedly to select a Western company by the end of the year to provide and integrate the FC-1's avionics, which was expected to go into production by 1999. The avionics were said to include radar, Inertial navigation system, Head-up display, and Multi-function displays. Competing bids came from Thomson-CSF with a variant of the Radar Doppler Multitarget (RDY), SAGEM with a similar avionics package to those used in the ROSE upgrade project, and Marconi Electronic Systems with its Blue Hawk radar. FIAR's (now SELEX Galileo) Grifo S7 radar was expected to be selected due to the company's ties with the PAF. In February 1998, Pakistan and China signed a letter of intent covering airframe development. Russia's Klimov offered a variant of the RD-33 turbofan engine to power the fighter.<ref name="04/03/98 flightglobal.com"></ref> In April 1999, South Africa's Denel offered to arm the Super 7 with the T-darter beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile (AAM), rather than the previously reported R-Darter. Previously in 1987, Pratt & Whitney offered the Super-7 project three engine options; PW1212, F404, and PW1216, with local manufacturing in either China or Pakistan. Rolls Royce offered its RB199-127/128 turbofan engine; this plan was scrapped in 1989.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In June 1999, the contract to jointly develop and produce the Chengdu FC-1/Super 7 was signed. After GEC-Marconi had abandoned the bidding to supply an integrated avionics suite, FIAR and Thomson-CSF proposed a number of avionics suites based on the Grifo S7 and RC400 radars respectively, despite previously hoping to use the PAF's Super 7 to launch its new Blue Hawk radar. Because of sanctions placed on Pakistan after the country's 1998 nuclear weapons tests, design work progressed very slowly over the next 18 months, preventing delivery of the Western avionics to the PAF. In early 2001, the PAF decided to decouple the airframe from the avionics, enabling design work on the aircraft to continue. As the airframe was developed, any new avionics requirements by the PAF could be more easily integrated into the airframe.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Prototype production began in September 2002; a full-size mock-up of the FC-1/Super 7 was displayed at Airshow China in November 2002.<ref name="12/11/02 flightglobal.com"></ref> The first batch of Klimov RD-93 turbofan engines that would power the prototypes was also delivered in 2002. According to a China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) official, the JF-17's low cost is due to some of the on-board systems having been adapted from those of the Chengdu J-10. The official said, "This transfer of technologytransposing the aircraft systems from the J-10 to the JF-17is what makes the JF-17 so cost-effective". The use of computer-aided design software shortened the design phase of the JF-17.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The first prototype, PT-01, was rolled out on 31 May 2003 and transferred to the Chengdu Flight Test Centre to be prepared for its maiden flight. This was initially planned to take place in June, but was delayed due to concerns about the SARS outbreak. The designation Super-7 was replaced by "JF-17" (Joint Fighter-17) around this point. Low speed taxiing trials began at Wenjiang Airport, Chengdu, on 27 June 2003. The maiden flight was made in late August 2003; an official maiden flight of the prototype took place in early September. The prototype was marked with the new PAF designation JF-17. By March 2004, CAC had made around 20 test flights of the first prototype. On 7 April 2004, PAF test pilots Rashid Habib and Mohammad Ehsan ul-Haq flew PT-01 for the first time. The maiden flight of the third prototype, PT-03, took place on 9 April 2004. In March 2004, Pakistan was planning to induct around 200 aircraft.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Following the third prototype, several design improvements were developed and incorporated into further aircraft. Because of excessive smoke emissions by the RD-93 engine, the air intakes were widened. Reported control problems found in testing resulted in alterations to the wing leading edge root extensions (LERX). The vertical tail fin was enlarged to house an expanded electronic warfare equipment bay in the tip. The redesigned aircraft had a slightly increased maximum take-off weight and incorporated an increased quantity of Chinese-sourced avionics; however PAF had selected Western avionics for their aircraft, postponing PAF deliveries from late 2005 until 2007. Pakistan evaluated British, French, and Italian avionics suites, the winner of which was expected to be finalised in 2006. PT-04, the fourth prototype and the first to incorporate the design changes, was rolled out in April 2006 and made its first flight on 28 April 2006.<ref name="08/05/06 flightglobal.com"></ref>


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The modified air intakes replaced conventional intake rampswhose function is to divert turbulent boundary layer airflow away from the inlet and prevent it entering the enginewith a diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) design. The DSI uses a combination of forward-swept inlet cowls and a three-dimensional compression surface to divert the boundary layer airflow at high sub-sonic and supersonic speeds. According to Lockheed Martin, the DSI design prevents most of the boundary layer air from entering the engine at speeds up to two times the speed of sound, reduces weight by removing the need for complex mechanical intake mechanisms, and is stealthier than a conventional intake. In 1999, developmental work on the DSI with the aim of improving aircraft performance commenced. The JF-17 design was finalised in 2001. Multiple models underwent wind tunnel tests; it was found that the DSI reduced weight, cost, and complexity while improving performance.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: For the avionics and weapons qualification phase of the flight testing, PT-04 was fitted with a fourth-generation avionics suite that incorporates sensor fusion, an electronic warfare suite, enhanced man-machine interface, Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC) for the RD-93 turbofan engine, FBW flight controls, day/night precision surface attack capability, and multi-mode, pulse-Doppler radar for BVR air-to-air attack capability. The sixth prototype, PT-06, made its maiden flight on 10 September 2006. Following a competition in 2008, Martin-Baker was selected over a Chinese firm for the supply of fifty PK16LE ejection seats.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 2 March 2007, the first consignment of two small-batch-production (SBP) aircraft arrived in a dismantled state in Pakistan. They flew for the first time on 10 March 2007 and took part in a public aerial demonstration during a Pakistan Day parade on 23 March 2007. The PAF intended to induct 200 JF-17 by 2015 to replace all its Chengdu F-7, Nanchang A-5, and Dassault Mirage III/5 aircraft. In preparation for the in-flight refuelling of JF-17s, the PAF has upgraded several Mirage IIIs with IFR probes for training purposes. A dual-seat, combat-capable trainer was originally scheduled to begin flight testing in 2006; in 2009 Pakistan reportedly decided to develop the training model into a specialised attack variant.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In November 2007, the PAF and PAC conducted flight evaluations of aircraft fitted with a variant of the NRIET KLJ-10 radar developed by China's Nanjing Research Institute for Electronic Technology (NRIET), and the LETRI SD-10 active radar homing AAM. In 2005, PAC began manufacturing JF-17 components; production of sub-assemblies commenced on 22 January 2008. The PAF was to receive a further six pre-production aircraft in 2005, for a total of 8 out of an initial production run of 16 aircraft. Initial operating capability was to be achieved by the end of 2008. Final assembly of the JF-17 in Pakistan began on 30 June 2009; PAC expected to complete production of four to six aircraft that year. They planned to produce twelve aircraft in 2010 and fifteen to sixteen aircraft per year from 2011; this could increase to twenty-five aircraft per year.<ref name="01/07/09 flightglobal.com"></ref> On 29 December 2015, PAC announced the rollout of the 16th JF-17 Thunder fighter manufactured in the calendar year 2015, taking total number of manufactured aircraft to more than 66. Later, a PAF spokesperson said that in light of the interest shown by various countries, it has been decided that production capacity of JF-17 Thunder at PAC Kamra will be expanded.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Russia signed an agreement in August 2007 for re-export of 150 RD-93 engines from China to Pakistan for the JF-17. In 2008, the PAF reported it was not fully satisfied with the RD-93 engine and that it would only power the first 50 aircraft; it was alleged that arrangements for a new engine, reportedly the Snecma M53-P2, may have been made. Mikhail Pogosyan, head of the MiG and Sukhoi design bureaus, recommended the Russian defence export agency Rosoboronexport block RD-93 engine sales to China to prevent export competition from the JF-17 against the MiG-29. At the 2010 Farnborough Airshow, the JF-17 was displayed internationally for the first time; aerial displays at the show were intended but were cancelled due to a late attendance decision as well as license and insurance costs. According to a Rosoboronexport official at the Airshow China 2010, held on 16–21 November 2005 in Zhuhai, China, Russia and China had signed a contract worth $238 million for 100 RD-93 engines with options for another 400 engines developed for the FC-1.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Pakistan negotiated with British and Italian defence firms regarding avionics and radars for the JF-17 development. Radar options include the Italian Galileo Avionica's Grifo S7, the French Thomson-CSF's RC400 (a variant of the RDY-2), and the British company SELEX Galileo's Vixen 500E AESA radar. In 2010, the PAF had reportedly selected ATE Aerospace Group to integrate French-built avionics and weapons systems over rival bids from Astrac, Finmeccanica and a Thales-Sagem joint venture. Fifty JF-17s were to be upgraded and an optional fifty from 2013 onwards, at a cost of up to . The RC-400 radar, MICA AAMs, and several air-to-surface weapons are believed to be in the contract. The PAF also held talks with South Africa for the supply of Denel A-darter AAMs.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In April 2010, after eighteen months of negotiations, the deal was reportedly suspended; reports cited French concerns about Pakistan's financial situation, the protection of sensitive French technology, and by Indian lobbying, which operates many French-built aircraft. France wanted the PAF to purchase several Mirage 2000-9 fighters from the United Arab Emirates Air Force, which would overlap with the upgraded JF-17. In July 2010, the PAF's Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, said such reports were false, stating: "I have had discussions with French Government officials who have assured me that this is not the position of their government...someone was trying to cause mischiefto put pressure on France not to supply the avionics we want".


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 18 December 2013, production of Block 2 JF-17s began at PAC's Kamra facility. These have an air-to-air refuelling capability, improved avionics, enhanced load carrying capacity, data link, and electronic warfare capabilities. Block 2 construction is planned to run until 2016, after which the manufacturing of further developed Block III aircraft is planned. In December 2015, it was announced that the 16th Block II aircraft had been handed over resulting in standing up of the 4th squadron.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 17 June 2015, Jane's Defence Weekly confirmed that JF-17 Block III will have an AESA radar, a helmet-mounted display (HMD) and possibly an internal infrared search and tracking (IRST) system. A two-seat version was also reportedly be produced in Block III. Unconfirmed reports claim that Block III will also have a better flight management system. Selex ES has promoted its next-generation cockpit as a possible upgrade of JF-17 Block III; this cockpit includes a new mission computer, an enhanced head-up display and contemporary multi-function displays, plus the capability for the pilot to use a single, large-area display instead.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In July 2020, despite Indian protest Russian state-owned United Engine Corporation developed a new engine "RD-93MA" for JF-17 fighter being built by Pakistan.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The airframe is of semi-monocoque structure constructed primarily of aluminum alloys. High-strength steel and titanium alloys are partially adopted in some critical areas. The airframe is designed for a service life of 4,000 flight hours or 25 years, the first overhaul being due at 1,200 flight hours. Block 2 JF-17s incorporate greater use of composite materials in the airframe to reduce weight. The retractable undercarriage has a tricycle arrangement with a single steerable nose-wheel and two main undercarriages. The hydraulic brakes have an automatic anti-skid system. The position and shape of the inlets is designed to give the required airflow to the jet engine during maneuvers involving high angles of attack.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The mid-mounted wings are of cropped-delta configuration. Near the wing root are the LERX, which generate a vortex that provides extra lift to the wing at high angles of attack encountered during combat maneuvers. A conventional tri-plane empennage arrangement is incorporated, with all-moving stabilators, single vertical stabiliser, rudder, and twin ventral fins. The flight control system (FCS) comprises conventional controls with stability augmentation in the yaw and roll axis and a digital fly-by-wire (FBW) system in the pitch axis. The leading-edge slats/flaps and Trailing edge flaps are automatically adjusted during manoeuvring to increase turning performance. The FCS of serial production aircraft reportedly have a digital quadruplex (quad-redundant) FBW system in the pitch axis and a duplex (dual-redundant) FBW system in the roll and yaw axis.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Up to of ordnance, equipment, and fuel can be mounted under the hardpoints, two of which are on the wing-tips, four are under the wings and one is under the fuselage.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The glass cockpit has very poor rear visibility, a trait of typical Soviet era design. It has three large Multifunction Colour Displays (MFD) and smart Heads-Up Display (HUD) with built-in symbol generation capability. A centre stick is used for pitch and roll control while rudder pedals control yaw. A throttle is located to the left of the pilot. The cockpit incorporates hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controls. The pilot sits on a Martin-Baker Mk-16LE zero-zero ejection seat. The cockpit incorporates an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) and a wide-angle, holographic head-up display (HUD), which has a minimum total field of view of 25 degrees. The EFIS comprises three colour multi-function displays, providing basic flight information, tactical information, and information on the engine, fuel, electrical, hydraulics, flight control, and environment control systems. The HUD and MFD can be configured to show any available information. Each MFD is wide and tall and is arranged side by side in portrait orientation. The central MFD is placed lowest to accommodate a control panel between it and the HUD.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The avionics software incorporates the concept of open architecture. Instead of the military-optimised Ada programming language, the software is written using the popular C++ programming language, enabling the use of the numerous civilian programmers available. The aircraft also includes a health and usage monitoring system, and automatic test equipment.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The JF-17 has a defensive aids system (DAS) composed of various integrated sub-systems. A radar warning receiver (RWR) provides data such as direction and proximity of enemy radars, and an electronic warfare (EW) suite housed in a fairing at the tip of the tail fin interferes with enemy radars. The EW suite is also linked to a Missile Approach Warning (MAW) system to defend against radar-guided missiles. The MAW system uses several optical sensors across the airframe to detect the rocket motors of missiles across a 360-degree coverage. Data from the MAW system, such as direction of inbound missiles and the time to impact, is shown on cockpit displays and the HUD. A countermeasures dispensing system releases decoy flares and chaff to help evade hostile radar and missiles. The DAS systems will also be enhanced by integration of a self-protection radar-jamming pod that will be carried externally on a hardpoint.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The first forty-two PAF production aircraft are equipped with the NRIET KLJ-7 radar, a variant of the KLJ-10 radar developed by China's Nanjing Research Institute of Electronic Technology (NRIET) and also used on the Chengdu J-10. Multiple modes can manage the surveillance and engagement of up to forty air, ground, and sea targets; the track-while-scan mode can track up to ten targets at BVR and can engage two simultaneously with radar-homing AAMs. The operation range for targets with a radar cross-section (RCS) of is stated to be ≥ in look-up mode and ≥ in look-down mode. A forward looking infrared (FLIR) pod for low-level navigation and infra-red search and track (IRST) system for passive targeting can also be integrated; the JF-17 Block 2 is believed to incorporate an IRST. In April 2016, Air Marshal Muhammad Ashfaque Arain said that, "JF-17 needs a targeting pod, as the jets' usefulness in current operations was limited due to lack of precision targeting. To fulfill this gap the Air Force was interested in buying the Thales-made Damocles, a third-generation targeting pod; which was a priority." In 2017, Aselsans ASELPOD was tested and successfully integrated with the JF-17 and Pakistan has subsequently purchased at least eight targeting pods from Aselsan. This integration has significantly enhanced the JF-17 platform's ability to launch precision strikes.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: A helmet-mounted sight (HMS) developed by Luoyang Electro-Optics Technology Development Centre of AVIC was developed in parallel with the JF-17; it was first tested on Prototype 04 in 2006. It was dubbed as EO HMS, (Electro-Optical Helmet Mounted Sight) and was first revealed to the public in 2008 at the 7th Zhuhai Airshow, where a partial mock-up was on display. The HMS tracks the pilot's head and eye movements to guide missiles towards the pilot's visual target. An externally carried day/night laser designator targeting pod may be integrated with the avionics to guide laser-guided bombs (LGBs). An extra hardpoint may be added under the starboard air intake, opposite the cannon, for such pods. To reduce the numbers of targeting pods required, the aircraft's tactical data link can transmit target data to other aircraft not equipped with targeting pods. The communication systems comprise two VHF/UHF radios; the VHF radio has the capacity for data linking for communication with ground control centers, airborne early warning and control aircraft and combat aircraft with compatible data links for network-centric warfare, and improved situation awareness. The aircraft uses RLGs along with GPS for navigation. The aircraft is equipped with an IFF Transponder which allows it to differentiate between friendly aircraft and enemy aircraft. The ACMI aids in aerial combat for maneuvering.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The first two blocks of JF-17 is powered by a single Russian RD-93 turbofan engine, which is a variant of the Klimov RD-33 engine used on the MiG-29 fighter. The engine gives more thrust and significantly lower specific fuel consumption than turbojet engines fitted to older combat aircraft being replaced by the JF-17. The advantages of using a single engine are a reduction in maintenance time and cost when compared to twin-engined fighters. A thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.99 can be achieved with full internal fuel tanks and no external payload. The engine's air supply is provided by two bifurcated air inlets (see airframe section).


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The RD-93 is known to produce smoke trails. The Guizhou Aero Engine Group has been developing a new turbofan engine, the WS-13 "Taishan", since 2000 to replace the RD-93. It is based on the RD-33 and incorporates new technologies to boost performance and reliability. A thrust output of , a lifespan of 2,200 hours, and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 8.7 are expected. An improved version of the WS-13, developing a thrust of around (22,450 lb), is also reportedly under development. During the 2015 Paris Air Show, it was announced that flight testing of a JF-17 equipped with the WS-13 engine had begun. In 2015, a representative of PAC said that Pakistan would continue to use the RD-93 engine on their fighters. Local media reports in January 2016 said that Russia was planning to sell engines for JF-17 directly to Pakistan. According to a PAC representative, Pakistan is looking to collaborate with Russia in developing and repairing engines.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The fuel system comprises internal fuel tanks located in the wings and fuselage with a capacity of ; they are refuelled through a single point pressure refuelling system (see turbine fuel systems). Internal fuel storage can be supplemented by external fuel tanks. One drop tank can be mounted on the aircraft's centerline hard point under the fuselage and two 800-litre or drop tanks can be mounted on the two inboard under-wing hardpoints. The fuel system is compatible with in-flight refueling (IFR), allowing tanker aircraft to refuel inflight, and increasing its range and loitering time significantly. All production aircraft for the PAF are to be fitted with IFR probes. In June 2013, PAF Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt said ground tests on the JF-17's refueling probes had been successfully completed and the first mid-air refuelling operations would commence that summer.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The JF-17 can be armed with up to of air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry, and other equipment mounted externally on the aircraft's seven hardpoints. One hardpoint is located under the fuselage between the main landing gear, two are underneath each wing, and one is at each wing-tip. All seven hardpoints communicate via a MIL-STD-1760 data-bus architecture with the Stores Management System, which is stated to be capable of integration with weaponry of any origin. Internal armament comprises one GSh-23-2 twin-barrel cannon mounted under the port side air intake, which can be replaced with a GSh-30-2 twin-barrel cannon.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The wing-tip hard-points are typically occupied by short range infra-red homing AAMs. Many combinations of ordnance and equipment such as targeting pods can be carried on the under-wing and under-fuselage hard-points. Underwing hard-points can be fitted with multiple ejector racks, allowing each hard-point to carry two unguided bombs or LGBsMk.82 or GBU-12. It is unknown whether multiple ejector racks can be used for ordnance such as beyond visual range (BVR) AAMs. Active radar homing BVR AAMs can be integrated with the radar and data-link for mid-course updates. The Chinese PL-12/SD-10 is expected to be the aircraft's primary BVR air-to-air weapon, although this may change if radars of other origin are fitted. Short range, infra-red homing missiles include the Chinese PL-5E and PL-9C. The PAF is also seeking to arm the JF-17 with a fifth generation close-combat missile such as the PL10E IRIS-T or A-Darter. These will be integrated with the HMS/D and the radar for targeting.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Unguided air-to-ground weaponry includes rocket pods, gravity bombs and Matra Durandal anti-runway munitions. Precision-guided munitions such as LGBs and satellite-guided bombs are also compatible with the JF-17, as are other guided weapons such as anti-ship missiles and anti-radiation missiles. Pakistan planned to bring the Brazilian MAR-1 anti-radiation missile into service on its JF-17 fleet in 2014.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: Small batch production of the single-seat, single-engine JF-17s began in China in June 2006. The first two small-batch-produced aircraft were delivered on 2 March 2007 and first flew in Pakistan on 10 March. They took part in an aerial display on 23 March 2007 as part of the Pakistan Day Joint Services Parade in Islamabad. Another six small-batch-produced aircraft were delivered by March 2008. These were extensively flight-tested and evaluated by the PAF. Two serial production aircraft were delivered from China in 2009 and the first Pakistani-manufactured aircraft was delivered to the PAF in a ceremony on 23 November 2009.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 18 February 2010, the first JF-17 squadron, No. 26 "Black Spiders", was officially inducted into the PAF with an initial strength of 14 fighter planes. These aircraft first saw service in the anti-terrorist operation in South Waziristan, during which various types of weapons were evaluated. They took part in the PAF's "High Mark 2010" exercise from 29 April, where they were used by the "Blue Force" to attack "Red Land" surface targets with precision air-to-surface weapons.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 11 April 2011, a re-equipment ceremony for No. 26 "Black Spiders" Squadron took place, during which it was stated that the JF-17 had "revolutionized the PAF's operational concepts". Then Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman reported the re-equipping of No. 26 squadron and the addition of the JF-17 Thunder to the No. 16 Squadron. He also thanked the contribution and support of the Chinese in helping to acquire a technological breakthrough in the shape of the aircraft.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: As of September 2015, the No. 2 Squadron currently tasked with sea strikes was reequipped with JF-17s replacing the F7s. The No. 16 Squadron "Black Panthers" has also been equipped with the JF-17. The next squadron is supposed to be No. 7 Squadron.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 19 June 2017, it was reported that a JF-17 shot down an Iranian UAV operating in Pakistan's Pangjur District.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In February 2019, PAF JF-17s took part in Pakistan's retaliatory airstrikes during which two Thunders of the No. 16 Squadron struck Indian ground targets with Mk. 83 REKs. According to unconfirmed reports, an IAF MiG-21 was also shot down by a JF-17.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: JF-17 has performed at airshows since 2010. PAF JF-17s have taken part in joint exercises with the Chinese air force since at least 2014. In 2021, PAF JF-17s exercised in Anatolian Eagle (alongside Azerbaijani MiG-29s and Su-25s, Qatari Rafales, and Turkish F-16s). In 2022, PAF JF-17s exercised at "Spears of Victory" at King Abdulaziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia (alongside Saudi Tornados, Typhoons and F-15s, and USAF F-16s).


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In July 2015, Myanmar ordered 16 JF-17s from Pakistan and China. In late 2015, Myanmar ordered 16 RD-93 spare engines from Russia, which were received in 2018 and 2019. On 17 December 2018, Jane's disclosed that the Myanmar Air Force had received the first batch of JF-17Ms. An official Myanmar Air Force video released on Air Force day showcased a number of JF-17s, both on static display and in the air. Till date, the Myanmar Air Force has taken delivery of 7 JF-17M Block 2s - 5 JF-17As and 2 JF-17Bs.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In December 2014, during the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar in Karachi, Nigeria was reportedly buying between 25 and 40 JF-17s from Pakistan. Nigerian Air Force (NAF) chief Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu had visited Pakistan earlier in October 2014. Nigeria became the second customer in 2016 by placing an order for three planes. However, as the news reports value the deal at US$25 million, it is not clear if the item is misreported. A June 2016 article in Jane's re-affirmed NAF budget for 3 JF-17, 10 Super Mushshak, and 2 Mi-35M aircraft in 2016. According to Indian media, a deal to buy JF-17s might be signed in November with a MoU already signed.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: The Nigerian Air Force has confirmed it is expecting delivery of JF-17 for use in military operations against Jihadi militants in Northern Nigeria.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In October 2018 Pakistan approved of the sale and local Nigerian production of three JF-17s for US$184.3 million. The aircraft are rumored to be of a later version than the initially agreed sale, providing more advanced systems.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: On 30 December 2020, the PAC rolled out three JF-17A Block 2s for NAF, which were delivered to Makurdi Air Base in Nigeria in March 2021 aboard PAF Illyushin Il-78MP freighters. Nigeria formally inducted the three JF-17s into its air force on 21 May 2021.


title: CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder

text: In September 2021, Pakistani media reported that Iraq has placed an order for 12 JF-17s, In a television interview aired by Al-Arabiya on 30 January 2022, Iraq's Defence Minister, Juma Inad, hinted at the acquisition of an unspecified military aircraft from Pakistan. He did not specify the type or quantity of aircraft to be purchased.


title: Hoobastank

text: Hoobastank (sometimes stylized as h∞bastank, and originally known as Hoobustank) is an American rock band formed in 1994 in Agoura Hills, California, by lead vocalist Doug Robb, guitarist Dan Estrin, drummer Chris Hesse, and original bassist Markku Lappalainen. They were signed to Island Records from 2001 to 2012 and have released six albums and one extended play to date. Their most recent album, "Push Pull", was released on May 25, 2018. They have sold 10 million albums worldwide. The band is best known for their biggest hit single, "The Reason".


title: Hoobastank

text: Vocalist Doug Robb had known guitarist Dan Estrin for some time before competing against him in a high school battle of the bands competition and subsequently, they decided to form a band. They then recruited Markku Lappalainen and Chris Hesse to form Hoobastank.


title: Hoobastank

text: The band has provided a variety of explanations for the origin of the band's unusual name, and it is unclear where it originated from. Claims have included that it is a mispronunciation of a German street, slang for someone who owns many sneakers, or a word the band came up with while they were "joking around."


title: Hoobastank

text: Hoobastank started playing gigs at the local venue Cobalt Cafe along with Incubus and Linkin Park. They recorded their first full-length self-released album in 1998 called "They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To", which features a saxophone section headed by Jeremy Wasser, who executive produced the album and recorded the "Summer Romance" saxophone solo on Incubus' "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." album. The Incubus connections continued with Fourth Street Recording's music producer Jim Wirt and logos and visual design by Brett Spivey.


title: Hoobastank

text: By this stage, Hoobastank had developed a strong reputation in Southern California. This attracted interest from Island Records, who subsequently signed the band in 2000. At the time of signing, the band had completed a second full-length album, titled "Forward", also featuring Jeremy Wasser. However, the band felt that the direction they were heading in would work best without a sax, so Wasser departed the band and the album was shelved. A few tracks were rerecorded for release on the band's self-titled 2001 release. The original recordings from the "Forward" sessions made their way to the Internet via peer to peer sites in late 2001.


title: Hoobastank

text: Hoobastank released its self-titled debut album in November 2001. The first single was "Crawling in the Dark", which was a breakthrough hit, reaching No. 68 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, No. 3 on the Modern Rock chart, No. 7 on the Mainstream Rock chart and No. 1 on an MP3.com download chart in early 2002. Also, the song was featured in the 2002 inline skating game, "Aggressive Inline", appearing on the Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and GameCube consoles. The second single "Running Away" was even more successful, reaching No. 44 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, No. 2 on the Modern Rock chart, No. 9 on the Mainstream Rock chart and No. 3 on the MP3.com download chart. The "Hoobastank" album went Platinum due to these hit singles and reached No. 25 on the "Billboard" 200 album charts and No. 1 on the "Billboard" Heatseeker chart.


title: Hoobastank

text: The album achieved recognition internationally with the band touring in Europe and Asia in support of the record. "Remember Me", the third single released from this album, was a moderate hit, reaching No. 23 on the Modern Rock charts. The band made a song titled "Losing My Grip" for the soundtrack of the movie "The Scorpion King".


title: Hoobastank

text: In early 2003, the group contributed the song "Right Before Your Eyes" to "". The band then entered the studio with producer Howard Benson. Recording was disrupted for a month when Dan Estrin was seriously injured in a minibike accident in August. Estrin had recovered by October and the band headed off on a Nokia Unwired Tour with The All-American Rejects and Ozomatli in November.


title: Hoobastank

text: Their second album "The Reason" was released in December 2003. The single "Out of Control" was made available for download on the band's website. Doug Robb said on the band's website: "A lot of it is about asking questions or questioning all that people see. It's not all about religion. "Out of Control" is about that and about opening your eyes after being blinded by being devoted to anything." "Same Direction" would reach No. 9 on the US Modern Rock chart, No. 16 on the Mainstream Rock chart and No. 16 on a composite World Modern Rock chart (based on the US, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Canada, and Australia). A year later, the "Let It Out" DVD collected the band's videos. "The Reason" was put to a popular music video on Tangle.


title: Hoobastank

text: The title track was released as a single in the first half of 2004. It became a hit, reaching No. 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, No. 1 on the US and World Modern Rock charts, No. 10 in Australia, No. 12 in the United Kingdom and No. 15 in Germany. In Canada, it spent 21 weeks at the top, setting a new record for most weeks at No. 1. Meanwhile, in the United States, the album reached No. 3 on the "Billboard" 200 album chart.


title: Hoobastank

text: The band's international profile was increased by a support slot on Linkin Park's "Meteora" world tour in early 2004.


title: Hoobastank

text: Their third album "Every Man for Himself" was released in May 2006 and debuted at No. 12 on the "Billboard" chart. Three singles, "If I Were You", "Inside of You", and "Born to Lead", were released. Another single, "If Only", was planned to be released but was canceled for unknown reasons, possibly because of the low chart achievements of the first three singles. Despite this, the album has been certified Gold in the United States.


title: Hoobastank

text: On a 2005 co-headlining tour with Velvet Revolver, the band received a chilly reception from some audiences and rumors of a feud between Robb and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland were soon filling Internet message boards. "If I Were You" from "Every Man for Himself" addressed the whole affair. Robb later said in an interview with MTV News online that he has nothing against Scott Weiland or any other member of Velvet Revolver.


title: Hoobastank

text: In October 2007, Robb posted on the official Hoobastank message boards and said that they have "set the bar very very high for this next CD" and that they have "more ideas going into this CD than ever before". On June 2, 2008, Robb posted an update on their temporary website, announcing that the recording process of their upcoming album was almost done and to expect a release date within a couple of weeks. On September 19, Robb posted a Myspace bulletin announcing that the "new Hoobastank album is nearly done".


title: Hoobastank

text: The first single from the album, "My Turn", premiered on radio October 13, 2008. The album "For(N)ever" was released on January 27, 2009, as announced by Doug Robb in a blog entry on the band's official website. The song was featured as the theme song for TNA Wrestling's Destination X 2009 Pay Per View.


title: Hoobastank

text: On April 20, 2010, a Vanessa Amorosi fan website revealed details of a collaboration between Hoobastank and the Australian singer, a duet version of "The Letter". On August 5, it was confirmed that there was another version of the song on Universal International. This one was a duet between Hoobastank and the American-Japanese singer, lyricist, actress and model Anna Tsuchiya. The website, VanessaAmorosi.net, also provided the duet version to be streamed in full for the first time. The music video was shot in Los Angeles at Lacy Street Studio with director Paul Brown. The video and single was serviced to Australian media on May 4. While the single was released in Australia on June 19, 2009, featuring Vanessa Amorosi, the version of the song featuring Anna Tsuchiya appears on the deluxe edition of Hoobastank's greatest hits album "The Greatest Hits: Don't Touch My Moustache".


title: Hoobastank

text: The best of album "The Greatest Hits: Don't Touch My Moustache" was released on August 5, through Universal Records in Japan. The Deluxe Edition's tracks were selected from their first four albums by Hoobastank fans on the band's official record label website.


title: Hoobastank

text: On October 30, Hoobastank covered the song "Ghostbusters" for Halloween and a music video was released on Hoobastank's official YouTube channel.


title: Hoobastank

text: The band released the live album "Live from the Wiltern" in December 8, which was available exclusively through iTunes.


title: Hoobastank

text: Hoobastank released a new song entitled "We Are One" on January 19, 2010, as part of a compilation from Music for Relief in support of the Haiti earthquake crisis.


title: Hoobastank

text: On February 12, Hoobastank released a new song entitled "Never Be Here Again" as part of the "AT&T Team USA Soundtrack".


title: Hoobastank

text: In May, the band announced that they would be performing an acoustic live tour at several places in Japan. They released an acoustic album titled "Is This the Day?" on August 4, 2010, in Japan, but it has yet to be released in the United States.


title: Hoobastank

text: On April 5, 2012, the band announced on Twitter that their new album's name was to be titled "Fight or Flight". On May 3, the band revealed the first single "This Is Gonna Hurt". The album was released on September 11, 2012.


title: Hoobastank

text: To promote the album, two more singles, "Can You Save Me?" and "Incomplete", accompanied by a touring music video and a lyric video respectively, were released.


title: Hoobastank

text: On August 2, 2013, former member Jeremy Wasser made a one-off appearance on Sunset Strip Music Festival at Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California. He played sax with the band in songs "Earthsick" and "Can I Buy You A Drink?" from "They Sure Don't Make Basketball Shorts Like They Used To".


title: Hoobastank

text: In November 2016, the band began recording for their sixth studio album. They began working with producer Matt Wallace as posted by members Doug Robb and Dan Estrin on Facebook and Instagram. On January 28, 2017, Doug Robb stated on Twitter that "Studio's done. New music coming".


title: Hoobastank

text: Doug Robb provided the lyrics and vocals for "Fist Bump", the theme song of the 2017 video game "Sonic Forces". On October 19, 2017, the band had signed with Napalm Records. They also announced that the sixth studio album is finished and expected to be released in the first half of 2018.