Trump Pre-Re-Election Created Confrontation Formula

The Trump Administration is creating international confrontations to encourage the US voter rally-around-the President-in-times-of crisis-effect. Its an election year you know , November 3rd... So Trump:

-  ordered closure of China's Houston Consulate. China may retaliate by closing a similar sized US
   Consulate in China.

-  has doubled the number of Nimitz-class carrier battle groups to 2 in China's near seas, to encourage
   in a Chinese reaction. Also see the rise in US warship FONOPs in the South China Sea in 2020.

-  Trump is working with his good friend Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, on a plan for
    Israel to annex areas of the West Bank before the November 2020 Elections. Trump will step
    into this timely crisis as "Peacemaker" to make Israel and some Palestinians happy. Arab countries
    will likely object, raising the price of oil, worrying Americans as they rally-around President
    Trump.

Timely confrontations with Iran, Russia (thankyou Trump's friend Putin) or North Korea might also be the types of crises to boost votes for Trump.

One can always say that crises happen anyway and China's actions deserve reactions. But get ready for a predictable "inexplicable" increase in crises - before November 3, 2020.

Pete

Australia's Newest Spy Satellite Companies

The Air & Space section of the excellent Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) website is a good start:

-  leading to "New satellites to boost Australia’s national security capability" APDR, July 7, 2020.

"Australian-based company LatConnect 60 announced Tuesday (7 July) a global space partnership to build and deploy a smart satellite constellation over Australian skies to help the Australian government and commercial clients monitor and protect their interests in the region. The announcement comes amid rising global tensions, with the Australian prime minister last week announcing a A$1.35 billion response to a major cyber-attack targeting Australia by a state-based actor. With plans to launch in June 2021, the new low earth orbit smart satellite constellation will provide close to real-time data on request to clients giving Australia a boost to its strategic observation capabilities.

The key industries set to benefit from access to the new RF Signal Intelligence and High Resolution Multispectral Imaging include government security and intelligence agencies...and maritime. Potential examples of use are maritime surveillance..."

"...LatConnect 60’s smart satellite constellation offers a valuable service differentiator in the geospatial market by collecting high-resolution Earth Observation (EO) imagery products and RF signal intelligence at the same timestamp, and processing it on-orbit with machine learning capabilities to make sense of the data..."

"...LatConnect 60 has chosen to set up its headquarters in Perth, while it is also plugged into the growing South Australian space ecosystem and is a start-up member of the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre based in Adelaide..."

"...LatConnect 60 is collaborating with satellite partner York Space Systems and Perth’s Curtin University, which will develop local capability in WA...."

See the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter's WHOLE ARTICLE 
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Wrote Debra Werner, SpaceNews, June 9, 2020 “LatConnect 60 selects York to build and operate satellites”:

“SAN FRANCISCO – Australian Earth observation startup LatConnect 60 announced plans June 9 to hire York Space Systems to manufacture small satellites and to operate its Earth observation constellation.

LatConnect 60, a company founded in 2019, plans to launch its first satellite in 2021 and to establish an initial constellation of three satellites with multiple payloads, including radio frequency detection sensors and multispectral imaging cameras.

By relying on artificial intelligence, each LatConnect 60 satellite will be “able to autonomously geolocate and process RF signals identified in order to trigger its imaging payload and any other secondary payloads” to collect data, according to a June 9 news release. Data collected will be “fused and delivered to end users in an Activity Intelligence Report,” the release added...” 

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PETE COMMENT

Australia may want greater autonomy (at least in cheaper, much smaller and more easily launched Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites) from Australia's traditional LEO satellite provider, the US. Small Australian LEO satellites can be launched with small booster/rockets from the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Cape York is relatively close to the Equator, giving a greater Earth rotational boost to a rocket-satellite launch and importantly there is open ocean to the east for a safer-less-politically-complex west to east rocket trajectory.

However reliance on the US, specifically the National Reconaissance Office (actual US Government NRO website) will remain. This is for much larger satellites, which after launch are parked at much higher altitudes, hence needing more difficult/much larger boosters to launch. These are called geo-stationary (aka geo-synchronous) (GSO) reconnaissance satellites. 

The main customer-regional "fusion" center (collection and some analysis) for most of the LEO and GSO reconnaissance satellite data may well be Pine Gap which likely passes on data and some analysis to Canberra, Washington D.C. and regional commands.

High on the maritime reconnaissance satellite sensor priority list may be development of technologies capable of detecting submerged Chinese submarines.

Pete 

Next Generation Plastic-Polymer Battery Superior to Lithium

1.  YUKI MURAKAMI of NIKKEI's Asian Review, July 21, 2020 reports: 
       https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-drone-submarine-eyes-16-hour-dive-with-plastic-battery

“Japan drone submarine eyes 16-hour dive with plastic battery

Sanyo tests rechargeable prototype with Kawasaki's unmanned vessel

TOKYO -- Sanyo Chemical Industries' rechargeable battery made almost entirely of plastic [polymer]  is now powering an unmanned submarine [photo above] by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in a test run, with the promise of doubling the vehicle's operation range to 16 hours. 

The trial presents the first commercial use of the all-polymer device made by Sanyo subsidiary APB.
The battery, whose electrolytes are also made of resin, lasts twice as long as its lithium-ion cousin and boasts cheaper production costs and greater resistance to fires.

Kawasaki's autonomous underwater vehicle is designed to inspect oil pipelines and other deep sea equipment. Due to the nature of the work, an internal battery would be subjected to high pressures.

The all-polymer battery can withstand depths of more than 3,000 meters.

APB's battery can power the vehicle for about 16 hours on a single charge, up from roughly eight for a lithium-ion battery.

Mass production for the all-polymer battery is said to cost 90% less than for a lithium-ion counterpart due to the simplicity of the manufacturing process. 

APB, is setting up a plant in Japan's Fukui Prefecture.

Full-scale production will be ready around fall 2021, with sales to begin before the fiscal year ends in March 2022. The aim is to develop a business worth hundreds of billions of yen (100 billion yen equals US$934 million) within five to 10 years.

The operation will focus on stationary power storage for buildings, but batteries for undersea drones have become feasible as well.

APB has raised roughly 9 billion yen from eight investors through June, including trading house Toyota Tsusho and energy major Eneos Holdings. Both Nissan Motor and Sanyo have licensed polymer battery technology to APB to accelerate development.”
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2. Japan's Asahi Shimbun, earlier reported, September 20, 2019

 http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201909200001.html

...Manufacturers in Japan, China and South Korea are developing the next-generation battery to replace the widely used lithium-ion ones.

Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire or explode if they short circuit due to deformations or being dropped.

The problem can be attributed to their low electrical resistance levels. Lithium-ion batteries contain metal, which is less resistant to electricity and allows electricity to run quickly within.

A battery made of highly resistant resin is believed to have a smaller risk of generating heat and causing fires.

Even at high resistance levels, the new storage cell can maintain its power output by changing the direction of the electric current.

Hideaki Horie, a specially appointed professor of battery studies at Keio University [in Tokyo] who proposed the idea of resin-based storage cells, described his invention as “the first-ever battery that does not use metal for electrodes or other parts.”

Horie has been involved in the development of the battery system for electric cars at Nissan Motor Co [eg. the Nissan Leaf ] and started research on the all-resin battery in the 1990s.

One key challenge in commercializing the technology is how to produce dedicated resin for storage cells.

Sanyo Chemical Industries joined the research project in 2012 after one of its employees heard Horie’s lecture. The chemical maker creates mainly water-absorbing resin for disposable diapers and had no know-how on battery development.

Despite the disadvantage, Sanyo Chemical Industries suggested “5,000 kinds of material” to pave the way for the commercial application of Horie’s brainchild.

A characteristic of the resin battery is its simple structure. Larger batteries can be created just by layering positive and negative electrodes made of different resin materials as well as resin-based current collectors.

Resin storage cells do not require the drying process essential to their predecessors, so the sheet-type battery can be “printed” with rotary presses.

This will help slash manufacturing costs by half compared with existing cells, according to Horie.

In addition, resin is flexible, so batteries made of the substance can be shaped freely for various purposes by bending or cutting...”

UK Nuclear Missile Submarine Vengence in Near Collision With Ferry

Nuclear missile carrying HMS Vengeance submarine allegedly almost collided with a 30,000 ton ferry MS Stena Superfast VII.

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Following my July 18, 2020 article a UK online newspaper, known as "London Loves Business"  reported on July 19, 2020:

"It has been confirmed that a Royal Navy submarine that almost hit a Stena Line passenger ferry [the 30,285 ton MS Stena Superfast VII] in British waters, was a nuclear [missile armed] Vanguard class [SSBN].

[The UK Express, July 19, 2020 reveals: "analysis of pictures taken by ferry passengers revealed its true identity as a Vanguard class sub. They show a unique optronics mast, and also visible to the trained eye was a specific radar, attack scope, communications node, and exhaust system - all unique to the Vanguard class." See Richard W. Stirn Tweet with diagram below

The antennas, radar, attack scope, communications node, and exhaust system identifying the sub as Vanguard-class (Diagram courtesy Richard W. Stirn at @mrdickstirn )]
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[The London Loves Business article continues] Experts have claimed that it was almost certainly armed with nuclear missiles at the time of the near miss, [a collision] could have resulted in the loss of the Vanguard submarine.

The nuclear submarine....is thought to have been the HMS Vengeance... 

The Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) filled in their report, which has only just been released, said the passenger ferry was carrying over 200 passengers and crew.

The Stena Line ferry was literally yards away from being hit by the 17,500-tonne nuclear submarine, which would have ended with devastating results.

The MAIB stated, “This incident happened because the submarine’s control room team overestimated the ferry’s range and underestimated its speed.”

The submarine has a crew of around 130 and can carry a pay load of up to 16 Trident-II D5 [submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads], which have a range of over [7,200] nautical miles.

...The near miss incident was only averted when a [ferry] crew member spotted the ferry whilst on lookout.

New Force in Australian Politics: Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Party

Following my article "Eden-Monaro By-Election: Gov Lost on Preferences-Bushfires Link" of July 7, 2020, I made the comment on July 13, 2020, below the article, along the lines:

1/ My July 7, 2020 article argued that the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFFP) preferences to the Labor Party, in the July 4th, 2020 Eden-Monaro By-Election, decided the Election in favour of Labor.  I also argue it was Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison's "unannounced overseas holiday with his family to Hawaii during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season" that angered rural people in the Eden-Monrao Electorate. It was this that may have led to the SFFP directing its preferences to Labor. 

"Where was the Deputy Prime Minister in all this?" You have touched on a major problem. The Deputy Prime Minister then-and-now is a "stuffed shirt" numbers man who heads the National Party coalition partner. The Nationals are an essential partner the ruling Liberals despair in knowing they must keep on good terms with to govern.

2/ Leader of the Opposition Labor Party Albanese now (like Kim Beazley years ago (but Beazley was a great Ambassador to the US)) is an uninspiring Labor leader. "Nice" isn't enough, indeed. Labor's election strategy is more the hope the overall-popular-Liberals will make major mistakes (and/or fall out with the Nationals) by 2022, than Labor winning on charismatic, better policy, merit.

3/ The SFFP are more than disillusioned "National Party voters". Australian politics for decades has been balance-of-power determined by minor parties like the Australian Greens and once the now invisible Australian Democrats. Now the growing SFFP has preference power over the 3 main parties (the Liberals, Nationals and Labor).

The politically unstable National Party now represents big agri-businesses including large Darling River water stealers, billionaire Arab horse stud owners and even massive Chinese owned farms. Under the table political donations, from powerful monied interests, are a fact of life for the 3 main parties.

The SFFP are more than just small-medium farmers and small town voters, but many center-right people dissatisfied with All of the 3 main parties. The SFFP recognise their votes and preferences would be wasted if they delivered them to a main party that already had the highest number of First Preference votes. A well directed preference strategy, as practiced by SFFP, is inching towards holding the balance of power in future years.

4/ "Rural people" love politics, because by backing swing parties like the SFFP, it can give rural people disproportionate political power compared to the majority of people in the cities.

Near Ship-Submarine Collision long ago: Another Actual Collision This Week

1. Hot news of a near Ship-Submarine collision - that was publically reported in mid July 2020, but note that the actual incident occurred on November 6, 2018! 

"Statement from the [UK Royal Navy] Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents: Published July 16, 2020

 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stena-superfast-vii-and-royal-navy-submarine-report-published 

"On 6 November 2018, the lookout on board the ferry Stena Superfast VII spotted a [UK Royal Navy] submarine’s periscope close ahead. The [ferry's] officer of the watch then took immediate and effective action, turning the ferry to avoid a genuine risk of collision with a submerged submarine. The incident happened because the submarine’s control room team had underestimated the ferry’s speed and overestimated its range, resulting in safety-critical decisions being made based on inaccurate information.

Although there was no collision, this was the third accident or incident between a dived Royal Navy submarine and a surface vessel in 4 years,"

 Ferry's "eye view" of very close UK submarine periscope.

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Such is secrecy, keeping near collision quiet for 19 Months!!

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2. Then an actual collision on the other side of the world, which occurred July 15, 2020: 
https://www.maritimebulletin.net/2020/07/17/norwegian-car-carrier-collided-with-korean-submarine/

"On Jul 17 [2020] Korean media reported minor collision between car carrier HOEGH LONDON and Korean Navy submarine, which took place at around 0500 UTC Jul 15 [2020] southeast of Gadeokdo island, Busan [aka Pusan] area [South Korea].

Car carrier had just left Masan port, E of Busan, and was under way, en route to China. Submarine reportedly was under way too, surfaced. Car carrier bow suffered 0.5 meter long gash, submarine reportedly, suffered minor damages. Car carrier interrupted her voyage and anchored in [South] Korean waters, for investigation." 

Peter Comment

Goes to show submarine operations, even in peacetime, are dangerous.

 And that lengthy official enquiries may serve to cover-up mistakes.