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Bell Textron has completed wind tunnel testing for its rotor-folding aircraft as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Speed and Runway Independent Technology (SPRINT) program. This testing phase follows the Stop/Fold rotor system assessment conducted at the Holloman High-Speed Test Track in New Mexico in 2023. The wind tunnel program focused on validating the aircraft’s stability and control during the rotor fold and unfold sequence while in flight. These evaluations and earlier rotor tests indicate that this aircraft’s development is now complete, and it is ready to proceed into the flight demonstration phase of the DARPA SPRINT program. Rotor-folding aircraft “Having completed folding rotor transition testing at Holloman Air Force Base last year, we are pleased to advance to this next phase of testing,” stated Jason Hurst, executive vice president of Engineering at Bell. “The ongoing development of our Stop/Fold systems aims to enhance the capabilities of vertical lift aircraft for operations in various environments.” In Phase 1B of the DARPA SPRINT program, the initiative aims to design, construct, and test an experimental aircraft (X-Plane). This aircraft will demonstrate key technologies and integrated concepts for enhancing aircraft speed and achieving runway independence for future air mobility and combat operations. The Stop/Fold configurations are designed to combine high-speed capabilities with the flexibility of runway-independent operation. This approach aims to support Agile Combat Employment (ACE) from various locations, addressing mission requirements in environments with limited runways and significant distances. It is also anticipated that this aircraft will benefit Special Operations, improving the effectiveness and safety of complex missions. VTOL Bell has unveiled updated renderings of its crewed and uncrewed aircraft concepts featuring the innovative “Stop/Fold rotor system.” Initially introduced in 2021 for the US Special Operations Command’s High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HSVTOL) project, the SPRINT design is geared toward fulfilling future US Air Force special operations aviation needs. The Stop/Fold rotor system allows for vertical take-off, landing, and hovering capabilities while featuring a tilting rotor that can be retracted for improved aerodynamic efficiency during high-speed flight. A traditional jet propulsion system complements this design for forward thrust. This design approach contrasts with the V-22 Osprey’s larger proprotors, which are bulkier and used for vertical and forward flight. Bell also has a legacy of working on tilting rotor technologies, including the V-280 Valor and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), which is set to succeed the Army’s Black Hawk helicopters. The latest renderings showcase the larger crewed Stop/Fold design and a redesigned uncrewed concept, although the smaller crewed variant is not displayed. Notably, the uncrewed design features new top-mounted air intakes, enhancing vertical and low-speed flight airflow. The central fuselage and wingtip rotor pods have also been streamlined for better performance. The crewed design concepts display a streamlined shape in the fuselage and wingtip rotor pods. The fairings over the proprietor hubs have significantly increased in size. Additionally, the top-mounted air intake seen in previous renders is now absent, indicating that there may be a new flush intake on the top instead.
It was the fourth time this season they had conceded four or more and the performance showed why they have the Premier League’s worst defence. When O’Neil and the players went over to acknowledge the visiting supporters there were boos for a run of two wins in 14 league matches. “Whatever the fans think of me, there is definitely no-none working harder than me and I will continue to do so until someone tells me not to,” said O’Neil, who is under increasing pressure with his side second bottom of the table. “I go over there to see them because I appreciate every one of the Wolves fans. They have given me unbelievable support since I arrived at the football club,” he said. “We managed to produce some unbelievable stuff last season with a team that was heavily tipped by most of the nation for relegation. We managed to enjoy it together. “Now it is tough. I was happy to go over there and look them right in the face and take any criticism they want to throw at me. “I accept responsibility for my part in that. Whatever criticism they want to throw at me will not change how I feel about them. “Everyone at this football club needs to do more. We will get back to be ready to fight again on Monday (another crucial game against West Ham, whose manager Julen Lopetegui’s tenure is hanging by a thread). “I will work with everything I have. I will back myself to get the most out of the group. I understand the drive for change (but) you never know how much of a percentage of supporters it is.” Veteran Ashley Young ended Everton’s 370-minute wait for a goal with a 10th-minute free-kick, his first league goal for more than two years, and on-loan Lyon midfielder Orel Mangala blasted home his first for the club to establish a 2-0 half-time lead. Two Craig Dawson own goals secured Everton’s biggest home league win since April 2019, but manager Sean Dyche insisted their issues up front were far from sorted. He said: “It’s our fifth clean sheet in the last eight so the consistency has been there in one degree, we just haven’t been scoring goals. That’s been the hardest thing to find consistently and we haven’t solved it yet. “Goals change everything, they change opinions. That’s what football is like.” The victory was hugely important in a month in which, having been hammered 4-0 at Manchester United, they face top-six sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest and undoubtedly eased some of the pressure on Dyche and his players. “I’ve told them how proud I am of them,” he added. “The challenges come thick and fast on and off the pitch and they just keep going. “It’s only a step and there are many more to go but it’s a good step and a positive step. “It’s a temporary moment in time because the next one is a big one (Saturday’s Merseyside derby).”It was the fourth time this season they had conceded four or more and the performance showed why they have the Premier League’s worst defence. When O’Neil and the players went over to acknowledge the visiting supporters there were boos for a run of two wins in 14 league matches. “Whatever the fans think of me, there is definitely no-none working harder than me and I will continue to do so until someone tells me not to,” said O’Neil, who is under increasing pressure with his side second bottom of the table. “I go over there to see them because I appreciate every one of the Wolves fans. They have given me unbelievable support since I arrived at the football club,” he said. “We managed to produce some unbelievable stuff last season with a team that was heavily tipped by most of the nation for relegation. We managed to enjoy it together. “Now it is tough. I was happy to go over there and look them right in the face and take any criticism they want to throw at me. “I accept responsibility for my part in that. Whatever criticism they want to throw at me will not change how I feel about them. “Everyone at this football club needs to do more. We will get back to be ready to fight again on Monday (another crucial game against West Ham, whose manager Julen Lopetegui’s tenure is hanging by a thread). “I will work with everything I have. I will back myself to get the most out of the group. I understand the drive for change (but) you never know how much of a percentage of supporters it is.” Veteran Ashley Young ended Everton’s 370-minute wait for a goal with a 10th-minute free-kick, his first league goal for more than two years, and on-loan Lyon midfielder Orel Mangala blasted home his first for the club to establish a 2-0 half-time lead. Two Craig Dawson own goals secured Everton’s biggest home league win since April 2019, but manager Sean Dyche insisted their issues up front were far from sorted. He said: “It’s our fifth clean sheet in the last eight so the consistency has been there in one degree, we just haven’t been scoring goals. That’s been the hardest thing to find consistently and we haven’t solved it yet. “Goals change everything, they change opinions. That’s what football is like.” The victory was hugely important in a month in which, having been hammered 4-0 at Manchester United, they face top-six sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest and undoubtedly eased some of the pressure on Dyche and his players. “I’ve told them how proud I am of them,” he added. “The challenges come thick and fast on and off the pitch and they just keep going. “It’s only a step and there are many more to go but it’s a good step and a positive step. “It’s a temporary moment in time because the next one is a big one (Saturday’s Merseyside derby).”Former Tigers prospect signs massive $182 million dealThe Department of Financial Services (DFS) has directed banks to adopt advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to safeguard customers from fraudsters. The decision was taken during a high-level meeting chaired by the Secretary of DFS with representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), public sector banks, private banks, and payment banks. “Banks were directed to adopt advanced technologies, including AI/ML solutions, for real-time detection of mule accounts, training & upskilling bank staff on fraud detection & prevention, greater advocacy & awareness for common citizen for not to fall prey to the fraudsters,” Department of Financial Services in a social media post said. Advertisement At the meeting, the secretary of the Department of Financial Services, emphasised the need for proactive measures to protect citizens’ hard-earned money, and highlighted the importance of leveraging cutting-edge tools and practices to combat these challenges effectively. The secretary also emphasised the importance of spreading awareness among customers about common fraud tactics, urging citizens to stay vigilant and not fall prey to fraudsters. Apart from this, banks were instructed to prioritise the training and upskilling of their staff in fraud detection and prevention. The banks were encouraged to explore MuleHunter.AI, an AI/ML-driven solution developed by the RBI, which offers enhanced capabilities in detecting fraudulent activities and tracking suspicious accounts. Notably, last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the RBI Innovation Hub is making progress in combating financial fraud by promoting the use of MuleHunter.AI, an advanced artificial intelligence tool. This technology specialises in detecting and flagging mule accounts, which are often exploited for money laundering activities. Advertisement
Developing nations slam ‘paltry’ $300bn climate deal Nearly 200 nations pushed through contentious finance pact in early hours in sports stadium in Azerbaijan BAKU: The world approved a bitterly negotiated climate deal Sunday but poorer nations most at the mercy of worsening disasters dismissed a $300 billion a year pledge from wealthy historic polluters as insultingly low. After two exhausting weeks of chaotic bargaining and sleepless nights, nearly 200 nations pushed through the contentious finance pact in the early hours in a sports stadium in Azerbaijan. But the applause had barely subsided when India delivered a full-throated rejection of the “abysmally poor” deal, kicking off a firestorm of criticism from across the developing world. “It’s a paltry sum,” thundered India’s delegate Chandni Raina. “This document is little more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face.” Sierra Leone’s climate minister Jiwoh Abdulai said it showed a “lack of goodwill” from rich countries to stand by the world’s poorest as they confront rising seas and harsher droughts. Nigeria’s envoy Nkiruka Maduekwe put it even more bluntly: “This is an insult.” Some countries had accused Azerbaijan, an oil and gas exporter, of lacking the will to meet the moment in a year defined by costly climate disasters and on track to become the hottest on record. But at protests throughout COP29, developed nations -- major economies like the European Union, the United States and Japan -- were accused of negotiating in bad faith, making a fair deal impossible. Developing nations arrived in the Caspian Sea city of Baku hoping to secure a massive financial boost from rich countries many times above their existing pledge of $100 billion a year. Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, said she would return home with only a “small portion” of what she fought for, but not empty-handed. “It isn’t nearly enough, but it’s a start,” said Stege, whose atoll nation homeland faces an existential threat from creeping sea levels. Nations had struggled at COP29 to reconcile long-standing divisions over how much developed nations most accountable for historic greenhouse gas pollution should provide to poorer countries least responsible but most impacted by Earth’s rapid warming. The meeting also saw stalling on the promise to “transition away” from fossil fuels, the main driver of global heating. That pledge, a key achievement of COP28 in Dubai, was scrubbed from the final Baku deal. The Least Developed Countries bloc of 45 nations slammed the COP29 outcome as a “travesty,” adding that it failed to make progress on curbing warming, or deliver enough cash to protect the most vulnerable. “This is not just a failure; it is a betrayal,” the group said in a statement. Nations have agreed to try to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times. Currently the world is on track for devastating warming of between 2.6C and 3.1C this century, according to the UN. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had “hoped for a more ambitious outcome” and appealed to governments to see it as a starting point. Developed countries only put the $300 billion figure on the table on Saturday after COP29 went into extra time and diplomats worked through the night to improve an earlier spurned offer. Bleary-eyed diplomats, huddled anxiously in groups, were still polishing the final phrasing on the plenary floor in the dying hours before the deal passed. UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband hailed “a critical eleventh-hour deal at the eleventh hour for the climate”. At points, the talks appeared on the brink of collapse. Delegates stormed out of meetings, fired shots across the bow, and threatened to walk away from the negotiating table should rich nations not cough up more cash. In the end -- despite repeating that “no deal is better than a bad deal” -- developing nations did not stand in the way of an agreement. US President Joe Biden cast the agreement reached in Baku as a “historic outcome”. EU climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra said it would be remembered as “the start of a new era for climate finance”. The agreement commits developed nations to pay at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help developing countries cut emissions and prepare for worsening disasters. It falls short of the $390 billion that economists commissioned by the United Nations had deemed a fair share contribution by developed nations. The US and EU pushed to have newly wealthy emerging economies like China -- the world’s largest emitter -- chip in. Wealthy nations said it was politically unrealistic to expect more in direct government funding at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and economic belt-tightening. Donald Trump, a sceptic of both climate change and foreign assistance, was elected just days before COP29 began and his victory cast a pall over the UN talks. Other countries, particularly in the EU -- the largest contributor of climate finance -- saw right-wing backlashes against the green agenda, not fertile conditions for raising big sums of public money. The final deal “encourages” developing countries to make contributions on a voluntary basis, reflecting no change for China, which already provides climate finance on its own terms. The deal also posits a larger overall target of $1.3 trillion per year to cope with rising temperatures and disasters, but most would come from private sources.Omnicom Declares Dividend