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Scania Group Press Release / December 1, 2015 Scania’s connected vehicles allow Aconcagua Transportes to keep track of its fleet all over Argentina, the eighth largest country in the world. Aconcagua Transportes SRL was one of the first companies to test Scania’s Fleet Management System as part of a pilot project in Argentina in 2011. Now four years later, in October 2015, the company has purchased the 150,000th connected truck from Scania. “Through connectivity we can remotely monitor and learn about the fuel consumption of our trucks and how they are being driven,” explains Managing Partner Pablo Galeano. Altogether, Aconcagua manages more than 300 vehicles. Since 2010, the company has shown a preference for Scania in line with its ambition of offering ”a leap in quality for clients”, says Alejandro Galeano, Pablo’s brother and co-managing partner. The Galeano brothers today own 85 Griffin trucks, all with active connected services. After the first reports obtained from the Fleet Management System, Aconcagua decided to limit the speed of the Scania trucks to 84 km/h, resulting in lower downtime, longer tire lifespan and reduced fuel consumption – the latter representing more than 30 percent of operating costs. Long-distance operation Aconcagua is headquartered in Avellaneda, a suburb of Buenos Aires. Its clients include mining and oil companies located thousands of kilometres away, even as far as neighbouring Chile. Because of the distances involved and the specificity of the work, with some customers simply transporting goods from one plant to another, many vehicles never even see headquarters. “But thanks to Scania Fleet Management we are always able to put together a report in which we can see what the truck really did and how much fuel it consumed,” Pablo says. Preventive maintenance The vehicles are covered by a repair and maintenance contract and serviced by Scania’s workshop network. “It is the best way to run our business,” Pablo says. “Scania guarantees the repair and availability of our trucks.” Alejandro adds: “And the best thing about Scania is that, by monitoring the fleet, they tell you where the truck is, when it is time for a service, and where the nearest workshop is.” With help from a Scania service technician, Aconcagua audits its fleet every week. Using remote diagnostics, they can plan workshop visits and schedule preventive maintenance or repairs to avoid the risk of unplanned downtime. “Another advantage is that connectivity, along with Driver Support, shows drivers’ weak spots, such as using inertia or excessive braking. In some cases, training’s not even necessary, since we can just call them and tell them what they need to improve,” Pablo says. “We are happy to take delivery of the 150,000th connected Scania truck. Connectivity is vital for us in figuring out what is really going on with our trucks.” Photo gallery - http://newsroom.scania.com/en-group/2015/12/01/the-150000th-connected-scania-keeping-in-touch-in-a-vast-country/

Renault Trucks Press Release / December 1, 2015 An E-learning is now available on Optifuel Infomax. Optifuel Infomax is a fuel consumption monitoring and analysis tool and with Optifleet Check, it is part of the Optifuel Solutions. It is a perfect companion for rational driving trainers. It not only allows them to follow and analyze the basic data on fuel consumption, but also gives indications on how the vehicle is handled by the drivers.

By Jack Lyndall, associate editor / Fleet Owner / November 1964 (continued) New developments Turbine development work in many companies is growing apace. Some is in automotive engines — much in the industrial field and in the military. The Williams Research Corp. — headed by Sam Williams, a former project engineer on the Chrysler turbine development program under George Huebner — continues work on turbines. Williams, who is credited with a key role in development of the rotary regenerators, is using them in some of his designs. He states that his are compact and made from finely serrated stainless steel coils. The serrated design is, of course, proprietary, and is considered the key to highly efficient heat recovery. Williams Research has completed one and is now working on its second gas turbine installation in a military Jeep. The first one has a 70-hp. free shaft turbine weighing only 70 lb. driving a standard Jeep transmission. The second vehicle will be equipped with an automatic transmission. Both of the Jeep engines are non-regenerative. The higher fuel consumption is balanced by a multi-fuel capability (leaded gas clogs regenerators) and extreme simplicity and durability. The Waukesha Motor Co. is now in limited production of a 500 shaft hp. free-shaft turbine designed for Waukesha by Williams Research. It is a non-regenerative type; the regenerating feature was omitted to gain extreme durability in the extra-heavy duty vehicles, on- and off-road, that the engine is aimed for. At least one engine has been sold and others are available at a negotiated price for selected applications, Fleet Owner was told by R. A. D'Amour of Waukesha. The Boeing Co., famed aircraft builder, has worked in turbine development and production for some years. Its engines are used in the only known commercial vehicles in regular service with turbine power. Boeing Model 502, 330-hp. turbines are in American LaFrance fire apparatuses in Seattle, San Francisco and Mt. Vernon, VA. Boeing is superseding the 502 engine with a new model 551, to be rated at 400 hp. Some 551s are expected to be ready for commercial and possible special-purpose vehicle applications in late 1965. The Solar Division of International Harvester builds large industrial turbines, with the division's primary interest in that field at present. A Solar spokesman told Fleet Owner, however, that programs are underway to advance turbine design to match or better reciprocating engines in all areas, including vehicles. The Caterpillar Tractor Co. has recently undertaken a large addition to its Industrial Engine plant, where its truck diesels are built, for expansion of its gas turbine development work. Fleet Owner has learned that Caterpillar's turbine work is concentrated in the industrial power field at present, but automotive turbines are being studied. The Avco Corp. and Garrett Corp. are among other firms known to be interested in and working in phases of turbine development. Neither company has as yet announced an automotive gas turbine. Future development trends All turbine researchers are working diligently to reduce the turbine's fuel appetite. A Boeing spokesman told Fleet Owner, "Practical applications in trucks will occur when industrial small gas turbine-specific fuel consumption reaches the level of .5 lb./bhp./hr. Other considerations that might be thought of as major drawbacks such as high initial engine cost or lack of proven data on turbine operation in engines will be readily surrendered under the impetus of interest in turbine engines which have performance competitive with diesel engines." He says the next decrease in fuel consumption will come from two directions: higher temperature operation with use of new materials and use of heat exchangers in what are commonly called regenerated engines. These could lead to fuel consumption in the order of .35 lb./bhp./hr. Chrysler engineers, among others, recognize the potential in higher-temperature operation. A 400-degree F nozzle inlet temperature increase would give a 40% increase in specific output for a given size engine or a reduction in size for a stated horsepower engine. Metals engineers, who have already accomplished the job of developing noncritical, relatively inexpensive materials to replace the exotic, costly metals previously thought essential, are working to produce still better materials. These may not necessarily be metal. The Rover Co., Ltd., an English car and turbine maker, is seeking cooperation from Corning Glass in developing heat-resistant ceramic engine parts. Hopefully, these would be less costly than the special stainless steels now used in gas turbine wheels, blades, burners and heat exchangers. These men are determined that the day is not far off when the gas turbine engine will revolutionize the automotive power field as it did in aircraft power. .

By Jack Lyndall, associate editor / Fleet Owner / November 1964 (continued) Gas turbine engine principle The gas turbine engine is an internal combustion engine, but unlike the piston engine with its intermittent combustion, it has continuous combustion. In a simple turbine engine, air is drawn in by a fan-type compressor, compressed, and ducted to a combustion chamber. Fuel, sprayed into the chamber and combustion at high temperatures (1,500 to 1,800 degrees F), creates high-pressure and high-temperature gas. From the combustor, the high-pressure gas passes through a nozzle which directs the gas stream against the blades of a turbine wheel driving the compressor fan. The heated gas escapes to the atmosphere, creating a thrust energy; this is the force that propels the modern jet airplane. To make such an engine practical for vehicle propulsion at all speeds, an output shaft is necessary. By adding a power turbine with its vanes also set in the high-pressure gas stream from the combustor, a "free" turbine and output shaft can drive a vehicle. Slowing or stopping the power turbine shaft does not affect operation of the compressor or gas generator turbine shaft and rotors. Though this "free" turbine engine will drive a vehicle, it loses a great deal of heat energy to the atmosphere with the escaping exhaust gas after it has passed through the compressor and turbine rotors. So turbine engineers have widely adopted the principle of extracting the maximum amount of heat possible from the exhaust gas and using it to heat the incoming air. This reduces the fuel needed to produce the high-temperature, high-pressure gas. This principle is known as regeneration. The heat from the exhaust gas is removed by different types of heat exchangers. A filter and silencer are sometimes used at the air intake to clean the air and reduce the noise of the high-velocity air flow entering the engine. .

By Jack Lyndall, associate editor / Fleet Owner / November 1964 (continued) Chrysler turbine car The Chrysler Corp. has been long convinced of the turbine's potential as a passenger car engine. Chrysler is well along in its unique 50-car turbine research program, with over 30 cars now in selected users' hands for testing. Data and public reaction will guide Chrysler in a final decision for or against large-scale production. Some industry observers are already predicting that a Dodge car with turbine power will appear in late 1965 or early '66. The A-831 fourth-generation turbine powering the luxurious 4-passenger, 2-door hardtop cars (with bodies hand-built by Ghia of Italy) has Chrysler's unique rotary regenerator and variable gas flow nozzle assembly. Chrysler engineers also state that they have developed heat and corrosion-resistant materials, readily and cheaply available, for making vital engine parts. Chrysler's engine takes in air at a 2.2 lb. per second flow rate. Air is compressed at a 4:1 ratio and in the process, heated to 425 degrees F. Leaving the rotary compressor, air enters the special stainless steel honeycomb matrix that makes up the disc of the rotary regenerator. Passing through the regenerator, the air temperature rises from 425 degrees F to approximately 1,100 degrees F and then moves on to the burner or combustion chamber. In the burner, fuel is sprayed in and ignited by a continuously sparking plug; high-pressure gas at approximately 1,700 degrees F results. This is about the same temperature as in other turbine designs. Unlike other turbine designs where the hot gas leaving the burner flows through a fixed-position nozzle to the compressor and power turbine wheels, the Chrysler engine has automatically controlled, variable nozzles. A nozzle assembly made of a ring of fixed airfoil-shaped vanes directs gas flow to the first-stage turbine blades, and a ring of variable vanes directs gas flow to the second-stage, or power, turbine wheel. Gas flow angle is changed according to the needs for power. The latest Chrysler design uses two smaller rotating regenerators (each of 15 in. diameter), one on each side of the engine. This makes the engine more compact and balances temperatures on both sides. The regenerators rotate slowly — about 22 rpm at full speed to 9 rpm at idle. They absorb heat from the hot gases leaving the power turbine and transfer it at 90% or better efficiency to the compressed air intake to the burner. Engine exhaust gas temperatures are thus reduced to about 500 degrees F at full power to about 150 degrees F at idle. Chrysler reports that its engine has overcome a major barrier to using a simple free power turbine in a vehicle. That barrier is the complete lack of engine braking power. The variable-power turbine guide vanes function to direct the high-pressure gas as a brake when needed. These variable nozzle vanes are controlled by the accelerator pedal and a governing mechanism in the car's modified, 3-speed automatic transmission: a Powerflite minus its torque converter. Lag time for the engine to come from idle with the first-stage turbine turning at 18-22,000 rpm to full power and turbine speed of 44,600 rpm is slightly over one second. Although Chrysler top management is withholding much of the data accumulating from the consumer evaluation program for competitive reasons, some interesting sidelights can be told. George J. Huebner, called the "father" of the Chrysler turbine by many of his associates, told Fleet Owner, "I took one east on a 2,000-mi. trip last week and people literally forced me off the road so that they could look at the car . . . Also, the letters from the 80 people who have or have had the car for the two-month evaluation period are fantastic. Our only problem is dead batteries, caused by continually starting the engine for curious friends." The oldest car in the evaluation test program has now reached 17,000 mi. There is every indication, states Huebner, that lifetime lubrication and a 100,000-mi. warranty would be feasible. Huebner feels strongly that the turbine could be a practical fact in a mass-produced passenger car long before it is even an "engineering specialty" in trucks. His reasoning is primarily based on the fact that only passenger car volume could economically amortize the required new tooling. Chrysler is currently deep into the tooling study stage, particularly in solving problems with investment or "disposable pattern" castings. Huebner feels that performance bettering that of all the test program cars can be achieved by using cars lighter than the somewhat heavy hardtops with the Italian-made bodies. The cars weigh over 4,000 lb. each. The turbine and its drive train's lighter weight could permit weight savings throughout the car, breeding overall performance superior to reciprocating engines. The test program car is no slouch, though. It can go from 0 to 60 mph is 11.5 seconds. This is almost the same as a 4,000-lb. station wagon with a 383 cu. in.-V8 gas engine. Deceleration down a 15% grade is nearly identical between the turbine car and the comparable weight wagon. It goes without saying that Chrysler turbine work goes on intensively. Despite Huebner's feeling that the turbine will be the near-future car power plant, trucks are not being ignored. One of the latest Chrysler twin-regenerator turbines is now trying its paces in a Dodge C-600 medium truck. . .

By Jack Lyndall, associate editor / Fleet Owner / November 1964 (continued) GM Bison turbine truck concept General Motors GT 309 turbine engine and "Bison" turbine truck concept After more than 15 years of turbine research and development, General Motors recently announced a new, fifth-generation design turbine engine. Known as the GT-309, it incorporates a new development in automotive turbine technology. The new performance feature is called Power Transfer by GM engineers of the Research Laboratories and the Allison Div. who conceived it. This new development uses a variable coupling or clutch to transfer a scheduled amount of power from the engine's gasifier, or compressor turbine rotor, to the output shaft. In conventional turbine designs, no power is taken off the gasifier turbine shaft; it receives energy from the fuel combustion to compress the incoming air. Due to the new Power Transfer, the GT-309 turbine has virtually constant turbine inlet temperature over most of the engine's operating range. During vehicle deceleration, the Power Transfer couples the vehicle's drive shaft to the turbine compressor and provides two to three times the braking power of a comparable gasoline or diesel engine. Part load fuel economy improves along with acceleration. The power turbine speed is limited and gives the option of using manual or automatic transmission. The GT 309 produces its rated 280 hp. at 3,600 rpm output shaft speed, which is stepped down by gearing from the power turbine shaft speed of 30,480 rpm. Like other turbines, it produces a high-temperature gas, with a temperature of 1,700 degrees F at the gasifier turbine inlet. The efficient single regenerator salvages more than 90% of the recoverable exhaust heat. This results in exhaust temperatures in the 300 degrees to 500 degrees F range. GM engineers have anticipated the day when much of our freight may be moved in standardized containers over the fast-building network of tomorrow's express highways. They have created a sleek new design for a turbine-powered vehicle that embodies the engineers' concepts of a heavy cargo vehicle combining power, speed and utility with outstanding appearance. Named the Bison, an engineering design model is on display as part of the GM Futurama at the New York World's Fair. While not a fully operable vehicle, engineering details have been worked out for a vehicle ready for the road. In form, the Bison is designed around a standardized container system recently approved by the American Standards Association and already in use. Containers are rigid, weatherproof and built in 8 x 8 ft. cross sections in 10, 20, 30 and 40-ft. lengths. Several small containers can be assembled to make up the "body" of the Bison, which has a 50-ft. design length. In the Bison concept, two turbines would be housed in a pod mounted above the "fifth wheel" (trailer attachment point which can be locked to convert the Bison into a straight bed truck), high on the nose of the trailer or body section. One of the engines would be the 280-hp. GT-309 regenerative version. Together, the engines would develop a whopping 1,000 hp. The 720-hp. engine would only be turned on for acceleration, climbing hills or for pulling two or more trailers. (Conventional semitrailers could be handled with an adapter.) The 280-hp. engine would furnish the power for normal highway cruising. Power from the twin turbines could be distributed to all axles on both tractor and trailer units by a turbine electric system. The engine pod location improves aerodynamic flow by filling the gap between cab section and trailer roof, plus giving cleaner air to the turbines. The Bison's cab section mounts ahead of and above its four steerable driving wheels. There is a unique, four-option steering arrangement: • Single front-axle steering for operation as a semitrailer rig on city streets. • Tandem steering, with all wheels turning parallel and the fifth wheel locked to make the Bison a straight truck. • Opposed steering, with front and rear wheels turning in opposite directions for close turns at low speed. • Single rear-axle steering for trailer spotting. Steering control is with two coupled hand grips on an up-and-down adjustable console extending over the driver's lap. Choice of options is programmed by the driver on the console and carried out by moving the hand grips. The suspension system is air-oil type. Built in between the cab section driving wheels are two combination jacks and sanders, one on each side. They are actuated by the air-oil suspension system and can be controlled from inside the cab or outside for jacking. The sander, which spreads sand in a cone-shaped pattern, provides traction for driving wheels forward or reverse. The cab provides comfort and convenience features for the two-man crew. The driver's comfortable, aircraft commander-type seat is contoured with a duplicate provided for the co-driver. Vision for both drivers is uninterrupted through a huge, one-piece panoramic window that combines windshield and side windows. To enter the cab, the driver inserts a key into a lock in the side cab panel. When the lock switch is turned, the huge, one-piece, overhead canopy is power-raised, and a step folds down simultaneously. A small door section on articulated hinges opens wide for easy entrance or exit. Cab comfort is enhanced by a powerful heating system for wintry days and air conditioning for "dog days." GM engineers are continuing in turbine development. They built many predecessors to the GT-309 including turbines in the 1954 Turbocruiser transit bus, the '54, '55 and '58 experimental Firebird cars and the '58 Chevrolet Turbo-Titan tandem-axle highway tractors. Looking ahead for possible new uses for the GT-309, the engineers are working on an installation in a 53-passenger transit coach. Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31891-the-gas-turbine-general-motors-bison-iii/ .

By Jack Lyndall, associate editor / Fleet Owner / November 1964 The coming age of turbine power ...Can it meet the challenge of tomorrow's superhighways? The gas turbine engine has taken several significant steps lately toward the prominence its exponents predict for it in the dawning Age of the Interstate Highways. Actual production cars with turbine power, in limited numbers, are now in the hands of average car drivers all over the country. And trucks are being designed around a turbine engine. One such truck is now spanning the continent on a trip planned to show that turbine power may soon be knocking at trucking's front door. Ford "Big Red" experimental gas turbine truck Growing out of the conviction of Ford engineers that completion of the Interstate Highway network would set the stage for a new type of truck and trucking, a fully operable, truly remarkable Ford turbine tractor is now on the road. First revealed publicly at the ATA National Meeting in Los Angeles on Oct. 26, the futuristic truck, pulling two 40-ft. trailers, left the meeting in a cross-country trip to Washington, DC, on up the coast to Boston, then on to Montreal and home to Dearborn, MI. The new truck tractor is powered by a 600-hp. unique "three-spool" gas turbine engine driving a five-speed automatic transmission with a retarder; it has a "home on wheels" cab featuring cooking, toilet, television and radio with sleeping arrangements for the off-duty part of a two-man crew; it has an aerodynamic design for minimum wind resistance at high cruising speeds. But with all its advanced features, the truck retains much of the tried and proven. To Ford engineers, the coming superhighway network offers these advantages: • Non-stop hauling between major cities. • Ability to cruise at sustained high speeds, thus increasing range of operations. • Minimal grades that allow trucks to maintain higher average speeds. With these things in mind, the engineers set out to create a truck to meet these design objectives: • Maximum weight and cargo capacity within limits of legislative restrictions and available powerplant capacities expected in the 1970s. • Economical and flexible operation and equipment use, taking advantage of aerodynamic treatments of the tractor-trailer combine. • All possible safety features to permit high-speed operation while sharing the superhighways with other traffic. Involved here are visibility, optimum braking control, lights, precise and responsive steering control, plus driving efficiency features. These would include heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems and riding quality. • Improved crew accommodations to permit long-distance, non-stop hauling for maximum revenue production. • Exclusive operation on the turnpikes and freeways of the Interstate Highway network. These requirements led to three general performance specifications: 1. A gross combination weight (GCW) of 170,000 lb., decided on after engineers investigated many possible load and vehicle combinations. Final determination was that the most effective commercial vehicle would be a tandem-axle drive tractor pulling two 40-ft. tandem axle trailers. 2. Capability for level load cruising at 70 mph with full 170,000 GCW load. 3. Capability for maintaining 30 mph minimum speed on a 3% grade and ability to start and negotiate a 5% grade at full load and reduced speed. All of these design and performance factors for the new trucking age seemed to offer a place for the known advantages of a gas turbine engine. Turbines are inherently most efficient when operating at near constant high speed, and they have a size and weight advantage over the only close competitor, the diesel. So Ford engineers, with initial help from a military contract, designed a new turbine engine. And they installed the engine in a new, specially designed tractor with hosts of new features for cross-country, high-speed trucking. Ford 705 gas-turbine engine The Ford turbine is a two-stage compression, intercooled, reheat/regenerative cycle type. It's rated at 600 hp. @3080 rpm with 560 net shaft hp. at 3080 rpm with allowance for accessory loads. Torque is 955 lbs.-ft. at 3080 rpm and 1,620 lbs.-ft. at stall. The engine measures 49 in. long, 44 in. wide and 38 in. high. It weighs 1,475 lb. The 705, Ford engineers report, has a unique feature: it is supercharged with two stages of compression using centrifugal compressors with air-to-air intercooling. This allows the engine to use less air, gives excellent fuel economy throughout its operating range and employs smaller parts running at high speeds. In operation, air enters the 705 at the rate of approximately 4.5 lb. per second through an air inlet filter/silencer and passes through the low-pressure, or supercharging, compressor, which rotates at 36,600 rpm. The compressor is driven by a two-stage turbine, and it discharges the compressed (and consequently heated) air into a dual plenum chamber. Two intercooler matrices are mounted on the chamber, with gear-driven intercooler fans. From the intercooler, air flows through the intercooler connecting duct to the high-pressure compressor, or spool, which is driven by a radial inflow turbine. Leaving the high-pressure compressor, which rotates at 75,500 rpm, the air has been compressed to approximately 214 psi. It then passes through the exhaust heat recuperator (or matrix), where a very high percentage of the exhaust gas heat is recovered and transferred to the compressed air. The heated, compressed air goes into the primary combustor, where fuel is sprayed in. Combustion occurs and produces high-pressure, high-temperature gas (1,750 degrees F), which discharges into the radial inflow turbine that drives the high-pressure compressor. After passing through the turbine, the gases exhaust into a diffuser duct and into the reheat burner. In the reheat burner, or secondary combustor, more fuel is added. The high-pressure, high-temperature gas from the second combustion stage passes through the power turbine and the low-pressure turbine that powers the first, or turbocharged, stage of air compression. After passing through the low-pressure turbine, the gas is diffused and slows down in velocity before entering the recuperator, where most of its heat is removed and transferred, as noted above, to the air entering the primary combustor. As the gas leaves the recuperator, it has dropped in temperature from 1,750 degrees F during its passage through the power and low-pressure turbines to approximately 660 degrees F. It then exhausts to the atmosphere. The power turbine shaft speed of 36,600 rpm is reduced through planetary reduction gearing to 3080 rpm at the engine output shaft. An accessory gear box, driven by a spiral bevel gear and shafting arrangement from the high-pressure compressor shaft, has an integral oil sump, the main engine lube pumps and the fuel control and starter. The chassis The tractor chassis is made up of a conventional frame with a space frame supporting the cab. The cab mounts independently on a special suspension incorporating leaf springs, jounce and rebound bumpers and lever-type hydraulic shock absorbers. Front axle is a special model Rockwell-Standard drop center I-beam, 12,000-lb. capacity. Tandem rear axles are single-speed, modified SSDH model Rockwell-Standard with hypoid gears. Capacity rating is 22,000 lb. per axle — 44,000 for the tandem. Tires are 12-22.5 tubeless on front axle. Tandem axles and all trailer and dolly wheels carry 18-19.5 16-ply Firestone Duplex (single dual). Suspension system is Hendrickson air type with necessary air springs (or bags), leveling valves and radius rods. Front spring deflection rate is 80 cpm with a rear spring deflection rate of 125 cpm. Brakes are on the rear axles only. They are Rockwell-Standard Stopmaster (Fail Safe) Wedge-type air brakes, size 7.00 x 15. Brake control system is Bendix-Westinghouse. The cab The cab is designed to be the crew's "home away from home." It's roomy enough so that six men worked in the cab at a time during its construction. Cab width is 7 ft. and the 6 ft., 3.5 in. inside height permits the two-man crew to walk erect inside. The floor of the cab is 6 ft., 3.5 in. above the ground; a switch in the lower left rear cab skirt panel opens the left side (and only) door by air cylinder power and then drops an electrically moved aluminum ladder into position for climbing to the cab. When a crewman reaches the cab inside, he touches another switch that retracts the ladder to its horizontal storage position above the engine compartment and closes the door. The driver's black leather, power-adjustable seat is positioned on a raised island. This gives him excellent, long-range visibility through the two huge (3,500 sq. in. each) windshields made of 3/8 in. thick laminated, tinted safety glass. Side and door windows are 1/4 in. tempered glass. All windows are immovable; the right-side window is a break-out escape route. The 16 in. diameter power-steering wheel mounts in the center of the instrument console. The co-driver's seat is a convertible lounge — it can be used as a seat or a bed. Other cab equipment includes a fold-away table, lavatory sink with running water from an 11 gal. tank, electrically operated incinerating toilet, cooking oven and refrigerator, 9 in. television set for the co-driver and deep floor carpeting. Heating system has a capacity of 50,000 BTU/hr. on a 0-degrees F day. Hot air comes from fresh air passing through a heat exchanger around the turbine primary combustor, and from there through a divided duct at the base of the windshield for perimeter heating and defrosting. There are two separate air conditioning systems — one on each side of the cab. Each has a capacity of 36,000 BTU/hr. to handle the cooling load, regardless of sun position or intensity. Two completely isolated DC electrical systems handle the heavy electrical load. A 12-volt, single wire chassis ground system is used for lighting, the refrigerator, cab entrance ladder, power seats, warning indicators, engine igniters, functional relays, radio and television. The 12-volt system capacity is 320 amps. The 24-volt, two-wire floating-ground electrical system powers engine starting, engine and transmission oil coolers, air conditioning, heating and ventilating, toilet, oven and some operational relays. Transmission An Allison Torqmatic HT-70 transmission gives near passenger-car shifting smoothness to the giant tractor. It has five forward ranges and one reverse. Incorporated is an integral hydraulic retarder and a converter with an automatic lock-up clutch in all forward ranges. Converter is a single-stage, dual-phase, three-element unit; it consists of a pump, turbine and stator. A driver's foot pedal controls the retarder. Torque converter ratio is 2:1, while forward speed ratios from one through five are 2.824:1, 2.000:1, 1.412:1, 1.000:1 and .706:1. Reverse is 4.769:1. For engineers recommend #2 diesel fuel for the turbine engine. Fuel tanks, interconnected, carry 280 gallons — enough to take the tractor-trailer combination fully loaded to 170,000 GCW at 70 mph for approximately 600 miles. Overall height is 13 ft. — the same height as the two 40-ft. Fruehauf trailers — and concave rear of the cab permitting 2 ft. coupling distance from trailer nose to rear of cab improve aerodynamic horsepower some 37% over conventional combinations. The turbine tractor measures 19.75 ft. long overall and is 96 in. wide. Front tread is 82 in.; rear, 78 in. Ground clearance, designed for turnpikes, is 7.75 in. Total train length overall measures 96 ft. with the two 40-ft. trailers. A tandem axle dolly under the second trailer gives interchangeability between trailers. Shorter trailers could be used, of course. Both semitrailers and the dolly use air suspension, making for uniform ride characteristics with the tractor. Following the scheduled 5,500-mi. cross-country tour, Ford engineers intend to further prove the practicability of the experimental gas turbine truck. They hope to put it in freight transport service between the giant Ford River Rouge plants in Dearborn and some point for the movement of company freight. Present regulations on vehicle dimensions and weights will greatly affect a routing choice, but the Ford engineers are anxious to get the turbine truck into a regular freight hauling job. That is a good way to locate and eliminate any "bugs" in design or construction and to spot ways to build still better, more advanced turbine trucks for the future. Related reading – http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32038-fords-futuristic-gas-turbine-big-red/ .

Fleet Owner / December 1, 2015 Historic look back to Fleet Owner's take on turbine-engine trucks and cars Half a century ago, Fleet Owner explored a future that ultimately would never emerge: heavy trucks, highway freight transport and passenger cars powered by turbine engines. "These men are determined that the day is not far off when the gas turbine engine will revolutionize the automotive power field as it did in aircraft power." So read a Fleet Owner feature from Nov. 1964, now more than half a century ago. Jack Lyndall, then associate editor of the magazine, explored the various companies working to develop gas turbine engines for automobile applications, but perhaps more interestingly — and less recalled today — some heavy trucks as well powered by turbines. They included Ford's 600-hp. turbine-powered "giant" tractor pulling twin 40-ft. trailers, complete with kitchen, incinerating toilet and aerodynamic side skirts of the kind that decades later cropped up commonly on tractor-trailer combos. (Incidentally, you'll read how the Ford had a 280-gal. fuel capacity, which was expected to be able to move the truck loaded to a gross combined weight of 170,000 lb. at 70 mph for some 600 mi. That works out to 2.14 mpg.) There was also General Motors' Bison concept truck, which Lyndall wrote was intended to carry two gas turbine engines producing a total of 1,000 hp. More futuristic-looking than the fully working Ford turbine truck, the Bison looked like something straight out of the Lost in Space TV series that would debut not long after the feature was published. Rather than a steering wheel, the Bison had coupled hand grips — our photo from inside the cab provides an extremely rare view of these — that the driver could program to control steering from the truck's front axle, rear axle or both axles, with wheels in parallel or in opposing directions depending on the application. The driver could activate power sand-spreaders on either side of the vehicle to boost traction for the drive wheels. A cockpit-style, panoramic glass canopy lifted off the truck to allow entry. They're the kind of imaginative, future-forward designs you'd expect from an America knee-deep in rockets, satellites and science fiction against a backdrop of the Space Race and Cold War. As Chrysler's extensive turbine-engine passenger car evaluation was capturing some of the spotlight, turbine-engine trucks were thought by some to be the next step in hauling freight as construction of the Interstate Highway System progressed. It's a fascinating look back at a future that never emerged; turbines' most common application in trucking ultimately would take the form of turbochargers for diesel engines. In this historic article reproduction, you'll read as Lyndall diverges at times from his engineer-style equipment descriptions to touch on things like the "non-stop hauling" and "sustained high speeds" of the emerging superhighway system, which was about half completed at the time. One wonders if the present traffic saturation and choke-point snarls now seen commonly in many areas were a part of the calculations 50 years ago. And of course, another "superhighway" — the one of the information variety — that would eventually play an enormous role in transportation guidance and communication, as well as become a factor in driver distraction, hadn't yet been dreamt. Photo gallery – http://fleetowner.com/fleetowner-archive/time-capsule-turbine-trucks-and-cars-50-years-ago#slide-0-field_images-177911 The BMT Gas-Turbine Truck Library: http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/42905-turbine-trucks-50-years-ago-we-got-behind-the-wheel/#comment-313851 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/40690-general-motors-introduces-futuristic-gas-turbine-heavy-truck-concept/#comment-294966 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/31891-the-gas-turbine-general-motors-%E2%80%9Cbison-iii%E2%80%9D/#comment-193589 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31898-the-gas-turbine-chevrolet-turbo-titan-iii/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31951-the-gmc-astro-95-and-astro-ss-gas-turbine-tractors/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/41095-general-motors-%E2%80%9Cprogress-of-power%E2%80%9D/#comment-298007 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32060-the-ford-w-1000-gas-turbine/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31978-freightliners-turboliners/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32139-the-turbostar-from-international/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32014-the-gt-601-gas-turbine-powered-macks/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/36024-the-autocar-gas-turbine-coe/?hl=turbine http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32110-where-was-cummins-during-the-gas-turbine-truck-race/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31883-paul-berliet-and-his-t100s/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/32038-ford%E2%80%99s-futuristic-gas-turbine-%E2%80%9Cbig-red%E2%80%9D/?page=1 .

Trailer/Body Builders / December 1, 2015 Demand for new commercial vehicles in the EU in October increased for the tenth consecutive month, totaling 189,092 units for a 6.6% increase, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). Growth was sustained across all commercial vehicle segments. Spain (+22.9%) confirmed the positive momentum posting double-digit growth, followed by Italy (+7.6%), Germany (+6.7%) and France (+3.9%), while the UK performed less well compared to October 2014 (-3.0%). Over ten months in 2015, the EU market expanded (+11.6%), totaling 1,706,662 commercial vehicles. During the same period, Spain (+36.5%), the UK (+16.6%), Italy (+9.8%), Germany (+2.7%) and France (+2.1%) all posted growth. New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) over 16 tonnes October 2015 results show an increase in new heavy truck registrations (+5.5%), totaling 28,245 units. France (+24.2%), Italy (+20.3%), Spain (+14.1%) and Germany (+12.3%) largely contributed to this positive outcome posting double-digit percentage gains, while the UK saw demand for heavy trucks significantly decrease (-29.6%). Ten months into the year, the EU market grew (+18.5%), reaching 216,530 units. Spain (+45.1%), Italy (+25.9%), the UK (+25.1%), France (+12.8%) and Germany (+4.5%) saw demand for heavy trucks increase, contributing to the overall upturn of the EU market over the period. New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes In October 2015, 34,849 new trucks were registered in the EU, up (+3.0%) compared to October 2014. France (+22.7%), Germany (+14.6%), Spain (+13.1%) and Italy (+13.0%), positively contributed to the general growth, while the UK faced a significant drop in the truck segment (-34.2%). From January to October 2015, 270,282 new trucks (+14.8%) were registered in the EU. In particular, Spain (+42.9%), Italy (+21.0%), the UK (+17.3%) and France (+10.3%) posted double-digit growth over the period, followed by Germany (+2.9%) which reported more modest growth. New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5 tonnes In October 2015, new bus and coach registrations increased (+15.9%) compared to October 2014, totalling 3,259 units. Spain (+62.7%), France (+25.8%), the UK (+20.0%), Italy (+6.2%) and Germany (+1.6%) all positively contributed to the overall expansion. Over ten months in 2015, the EU market increased (+18.0%), totalling 32,259 new buses and coaches. Demand was primarily driven by Spain (+44.4%) and the UK (+28.9%), followed by France (+19.0%), Italy (+14.1%) and Germany (+6.4%). New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes In October 2015, new registrations of light commercial vehicles totalled 150,984 units, up (+7.3%) compared to October 2014. This marked the 26th consecutive month of growth in the segment. Spain (+24.9%), Italy (+7.0%), the UK (+6.2%), Germany (+4.0%) and France (+1.6%) all positively contributed to the upturn. From January to October 2015, 1,404,121 new vans were registered in the EU (+10.8%). Spain (+35.5%), the UK (+16.3%), Italy (+8.5%) and Germany (+2.6%) saw demand for vans increase over this period, while France remained stable (+0.9%).

How an $84,000 drug got its price: ‘Let’s hold our position … whatever the headlines’ The Washington Post / December 1, 2015 Gilead Sciences executives were acutely aware in 2013 that their plan to charge an exorbitantly high price for a powerful new hepatitis C drug would spark public outrage, but they pursued the profit-driven strategy anyway, according to a Senate Finance Committee investigation report released Tuesday. "Let's not fold to advocacy pressure in 2014," Kevin Young, Gilead's executive vice president for commercial operations, wrote in an internal email. ‘‘Let’s hold our position whatever competitors do or whatever the headlines." Gilead gained federal approval for its drug Sovaldi in late 2013 and ultimately settled on the price of $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment. To the company, that price seemed to deliver the right balance: value to shareholders while also not so high that insurers would "hinder patient access to uncomfortable levels," according to internal documents. But they also got more than they bargained for: an outpouring of outrage from the public, a backlash from government and private payers, and political scrutiny. The 18-month Senate committee investigation reviewed more than 20,000 pages of company documents. “The documents show it was always Gilead’s plan to max out revenue, and that accessibility and affordability were pretty much an afterthought," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who co-led the investigation with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), in a news conference. In a statement released Tuesday, Gilead disagreed with the conclusions of the report, saying that the price was "in line with previous standards of care.” The company noted that it has programs in place to help uninsured patients and those who need financial assistance access the treatments. More than 600,000 patients around the world have been treated with Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs since 2013, according to the company. Here are four key takeaways from the investigation: 1. It could have been priced at $115,000 for a course of treatment. Gilead considered a range of prices for Sovaldi and weighed the value to its shareholders against the "reputational risks," meaning the potential outrage from patients, physicians and payers. The potential prices ranged from $50,000 to $115,000. Executives believed a $50,000 price would build good will and ensure easy access to the drug because it would be covered by most plans. But it would cause "significant foregone revenue," and activists would still critique the price, even at this relatively low level. At $115,000, executives were concerned about "external considerations" and predicted: "High levels of advocacy group criticism and negative PR/competitive messaging could be expected at $115K and it would be increasingly difficult to manage at these levels." 2. Gilead priced Sovaldi partly based on the expectation it would set a benchmark for the next drugs in the pipeline. A company presentation noted that Gilead has "considerable pricing potential" for Sovaldi, but that future pricing for next-generation drug launches would be limited by competition -- what it referred to as a second wave of treatments. "Wave 1 will set a price benchmark against which Wave 2 will ultimately be evaluated," the presentation stated. "By elevating the price for the new standard of care set by Sovaldi, Gilead intended to raise the price floor for all future hepatitis C treatments, including its follow-on drugs and those of its competitors," the report states. Its next hepatitis C drug, Harvoni, was priced at $94,500. 3. Patients were warehoused to limit access to Sovaldi. Facing pent-up demand for a hepatitis C treatment, insurers quickly began to implement restrictions -- essentially, warehousing patients by putting sick people aside until they were even more sick. Medicaid programs in 27 states limited which patients could get access to Sovaldi. Private insurers did, too. In a letter, the Oregon Health Authority reported that while more than 10,000 Medicaid patients were deemed good candidates for Sovaldi and its competitors in fall 2014, the estimated cost of treating half of them would more than double the entire $600 million spent on all drugs in the previous year. Instead, because treating more advanced patients would be more cost effective, the state implemented a plan to treat at the rate of 500 patients a year for the first six years. Kentucky's Medicaid program noted that the state's heroin epidemic exacerbated its hepatitis C problem -- people who had injected drugs were being tested for the disease, raising the tricky question of when to start treatment. "Given the current cost of the newer treatment options and to remain fiscally responsible we will be forced to make difficult decisions regarding who does and does not get access to treatment medications upon diagnosis," Samantha McKinley, pharmacy director of the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services, wrote in a letter to Grassley and Wyden. 4. Cost-per-cure, not cost of development. The report suggests that the factors Gilead used to set its price were not based on the research and development needed to bring the drug to market, or on the $11.2 billion it paid for Pharmasset, the company that developed Sovaldi. Instead, Gilead executives looked at what previous treatments had cost and the effect of future waves of competition on the revenue it could bring in. "Company officials surmised that its drug had a ‘value premium' because of increased efficacy and tolerability, shorter treatment duration, and its potential to ultimately be part of an all-oral regimen," the report states. In its statement Tuesday, the company said, “We stand behind the pricing of our therapies because of the benefit they bring to patients and the significant value they represent to payers, providers, and our entire healthcare system by reducing the long-term costs associated with managing chronic [hepatitis C virus].” With another Senate committee now probing price increases at four other pharmaceutical companies, the final conclusion of the report may be one we see repeated. "This might be an example that received the most attention in some time, but it won't be the last," Grassley said in a statement.

Amish children kidnapped, drugged and raped Associated Press / May 8, 2015 Nicole Vaisey admitted in May that she and her boyfriend Stephen Howells sexually exploited two Amish girls, aged 6 and 11, as well as four other children, who were drugged and recorded during sex acts. Vaisey, 26, and Howells, 39, were caught in August 2014 after they used a puppy to lure the two young Amish girls away from their family's roadside farm stand, where they were selling vegetables. They then kept them captive for the next 24 hours, handcuffing them so they couldn't run away from Howell's home in upstate New York. Howells sexually assaulted the children as Vaisey watched and filmed them. The couple were arrested after the girls were released the next day and left on the side of the road. When questioned, Vaisey told police she and Howells had been out on a 'shopping trip' for slaves when they kidnapped the sisters that summer night. Howells also admitted the offences against the girls and pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually exploiting four other children, ranging in ages from five to 11. Between December 2012 and August 2013, the father-of-three sedated his victims with drugs and then sexually abused them while filming the abuse. Howells used his position as a registered nurse at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg to obtain sedatives and pain-killers that he used to drug his six victims "thereby aiding in the commission of the sexual exploitation offenses," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher. FBI agents took hair samples from each of the six victims and performed toxicology tests on them, Fletcher said. The tests showed the girls had been given drugs such as Ambien, Oxycontin, Nordaz, Restoril and Xanax, Fletcher said. Howells claimed he conspired with Vaisey to abduct the children and make child pornography, alleging that they sometimes switched roles while doing so. Prosecutors last week asked for a 580-year sentence for Howells and a 300-year sentence for Vaisey. The pair will be sentenced on December 17 in federal court in Syracuse. .

That East Providence isn’t hiring this fellow because a donut shop employee inappropriately wrote “Black Lives Matter” on his cup of coffee, is ridiculous. The employee indeed should have been fired. Giving in to [recognizing] a biased and violent group like “Black Lives Matter” sets a dangerous precedent. Had it been me, I’d be upset as well. That employee is absolutely welcome to their opinion, but I don’t want them to force it upon me. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rhode Island traffic officer's holiday dance ends after race protests Reuters / December 1, 2015 A former Rhode Island traffic officer's 30-year tradition of dancing while directing holiday shopping season traffic came to an end on Tuesday when East Providence officials decided against hiring him, after he orchestrated protests against civil rights activists. The East Providence city council on Tuesday canceled a planned evening vote on whether to employ Tony Lepore, who for three decades entertained drivers in downtown Providence but became the subject of controversy after he organized October protests outside a Dunkin' Donuts where an employee wrote 'Black Lives Matter' on a coffee cup before handing it to an officer. Lepore called for the employee to be fired. A week earlier, he had been turned down for the job by the Providence police department. That city's police commissioner, Steven Pare, said Lepore gave an inaccurate impression that his position on the incident represented that of the city's police. "With the controversy, it was decided this would not be beneficial to anyone," said Timothy Conley, one of East Providence's five council members, on Tuesday. The Black Lives Matter movement, which has revived a heated debate on race and justice in the United States, grew out of protests that followed the police killings of black men in cities including Ferguson, Missouri, New York and Baltimore over the past year and a half. East Providence officials began to back away from a plan to take Lepore on after a group of protesters supporting Black Lives Matter rallied outside the city's Christmas tree lighting ceremony Sunday night. "He's no longer about dancing," said Onna Moniz-John, one of the protest organizers. "He's become too associated with negativity and controversy. He's almost a poster child." Lepore posted a message on his Facebook page indicating he believed the seasonal tradition may have come to an end. "You all know the issues that I have been involved in the last few weeks," he wrote. "Whatever happens during the holidays, I want to thank you for your support, friendship & the fun."

Absolutely is, that and the competing brands.

I buy (what in the U.S.. would be) prescription drugs over-the-counter in overseas countries for 20% to 50% of the U.S. price. I haven't bought medicine in the US for years. When I'm sick and know exactly what I need, the U.S. policy of having to pay to see a doctor so as to get that prescription called in is absurd.

Iraqi Militias: We will fight U.S. Reuters / December 1, 2015 U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter revealed on Tuesday that a permanent new Iraq-based U.S. "specialized expeditionary targeting force" will target ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria, operating independently of local troops in Iraq and Syria for the first time. The ratcheting up of Washington's campaign against ISIS was quickly rejected by Iraq's government. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the deployment of such a force was not acceptable without Iraq's approval, raising questions over how closely Washington coordinated the plan with Baghdad. Powerful Shi'ite Muslim armed groups pledged to fight any new deployment of U.S. forces to the country. Carter said the deployment of the new special operations troops was being carried out in coordination with Iraq's government and would aid Iraqi government security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces. "These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIS leaders," Carter told the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. “It puts everybody on notice in Syria,” Carter said. “You don’t know at night who is going to be coming in the window.” "This force will also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations into Syria." Kurdish fighters say US forces in Iraq have secretly been blurring this line for months by taking an increasingly active role on the frontline, but the creeping ground mission once expressly ruled out by Barack Obama now seems to be spreading to Syria. The force is separate from a previously announced deployment of [allegedly] up to 50 U.S. special operations troops in Syria to coordinate on the ground with U.S.-backed rebels. "The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces - special or not - in any place in Iraq cannot happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty," Abadi said in a statement. Carter offered few details, and declined to say how many U.S. troops would be deployed. Jafaar Hussaini, a spokesman for Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the main Shi'ite militant groups, said that any such U.S. force would become a "primary target for our group." "We fought them [the U.S.] before and we are ready to resume fighting," he said. Carter said Turkey should become more active in the air war against ISIS, secure its border and go after the militant group's facilitators who "intrude" into the country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- US pushes Turkey to seal border with Syria The Financial Times / December 1, 2015 The US publicly called on Turkey to do more to close its border with Syria, which has been a major conduit for the Isis to bring fighters and arms into the country. As the US announced it would send more special operations forces into Iraq and Syria to take on Isis, Obama said on Tuesday he has had “repeated conversations” with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging him block off the border to Isis. The signs of friction between the US and Turkey come as the US-led coalition is trying to launch a military operation to expel Isis from the last 98km strip of the Syria-Turkish border that it still controls. The US and Turkey have been discussing the operation for months and US-trained forces have begun fighting Isis in part of the area, however the military plans have been partly hampered by continued disagreements between Washington and Ankara. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says “Turkey must do more to control its often porous border”. A senior US official said that the discussions with Turkey about the border zone had been a “hard slog”. The Turks have been pushing for a broader plan that would turn the area into a safe zone for refugees and rebel soldiers once Isis has been expelled. Carter said that the US was against the idea of a safe zone because of the difficulty of retaining control. He added that the Turks “have not offered a force of the size that would do that [secure the zone]”. The comments about Turkey’s role in the anti-Isis campaign came as Carter said a “specialized expeditionary targeting force” would be deployed to help Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting Isis and which could also be used in Syria as well. Carter also urged Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to do more to help the fight against ISIS, saying that in recent months they had been more focused on Yemen. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Sunday it would send ground troops to Syria. Anwar Gargash, UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, said the UAE was pushing for a political deal, but would also back international efforts to set up a regionally led coalition to intervene on the ground to fight terrorism. Gargash said foreign interference such as a US-led ground intervention was no longer “feasible”, but the Saudi-led coalition — which includes the UAE — that is fighting Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen was “an alternative model for us as nations”.

Automotive News / December 1, 2015 Nearly a quarter of the 8,500 “new or secured” jobs that Ford Motor Co. promised the UAW in its newly ratified contract will be at the Louisville, Ky., plant that’s preparing to build aluminum-bodied Super Duty pickups. Ford today plans to announce a $1.3 billion investment in its Kentucky Truck Plant to support the redesigned Super Duty. It said the retooling and expansion, including a new body shop, will create 2,000 jobs at the plant, which currently employs about 4,400 workers. Most of the 2,000 jobs will be new hires, though some may be filled by employees moving from other plants, according to a source briefed on the plan. The jobs help Ford fulfill its commitments under the new UAW contract, but the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement, said much of the investment is tied to the previous contract signed in 2011. That deal promised a $621 million investment in Kentucky Truck, while the new contract earmarks an additional $600 million for the plant. “Adding new jobs and more investment at Kentucky Truck Plant not only secures a solid foundation for our UAW members, but also strengthens the communities in which they live, work and play,” UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said in a statement released by Ford. Ford says the 2017 Super Duty, scheduled to go on sale late next year, will be up to 350 pounds lighter than the current version but have longer cabs and improved towing and payload capacity. Sources have told Automotive News that production will start in May. The changeover will be much faster and less disruptive than it was for the F-150, which involved several months of down time at two plants to convert their body shops and make other upgrades. Ford spent nearly $2 billion to upgrade its Kansas City Assembly and Dearborn Truck plants, along with related parts and stamping plants. By building a completely new body shop at Kentucky Truck, production of the current Super Duty can continue until the company commences production of the new version. That means Ford won’t have to manage inventories of the Super Duty as carefully. “It will be a normal launch,” CEO Mark Fields said on Ford’s third-quarter earnings call Oct. 27. “We’ll handle it during the shutdown periods, during the vacations, and we’ll be up and running.” The investment is expected to help prepare the plant for building aluminum-bodied Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators as soon as 2017. Ford has not confirmed reports in Automotive News and elsewhere that the next generation of its full-size SUVs, which are built alongside the Super Duty F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 pickups and chassis cabs, will have aluminum bodies. The UAW said Ford committed to keep building the Expedition and Navigator at Kentucky Truck with the help of a “major investment.” In addition, Ford told the UAW it would invest $700 million in the nearby Louisville Assembly Plant, which will soon start building the refreshed Escape crossover. At Kentucky Truck, filings that Ford made in September with Louisville economic development officials show a 288,715-square-foot expansion to the existing 6 million square feet, according to Louisville Business First. “This tremendous investment and commitment to new job creation reconfirms the strength of a more than century-long relationship between Kentucky and Ford Motor Co.,” Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said in Ford’s statement today. The Super Duty accounts for roughly one third of total F-series sales, which were up 1.5 percent to 629, 951 vehicles this year through October.

The Wall Street Journal / November 30. 2015 Norway and other state-run health systems drive hard bargains, and are willing to say no to costly therapy Norway, an oil producer with one of the world’s richest economies, is an expensive place to live. A Big Mac costs $5.65. A gallon of gasoline costs $6. But one thing is far cheaper than in the U.S.: prescription drugs. A vial of the cancer drug Rituxan cost Norway’s taxpayer-funded health system $1,527 in the third quarter of 2015, while the U.S. Medicare program paid $3,678. An injection of the asthma drug Xolair cost Norway $463, which was 46% less than Medicare paid for it. Drug prices in the U.S. are shrouded in mystery, obscured by confidential rebates, multiple middlemen and the strict guarding of trade secrets. But for certain drugs—those paid for by Medicare Part B—prices are public. By stacking these against pricing in three foreign health systems, as discovered in nonpublic and public data, The Wall Street Journal was able to pinpoint international drug-cost differences and what lies behind them. What it found, in the case of Norway, was that U.S. prices were higher for 93% of 40 top branded drugs available in both countries in the third quarter. Similar patterns appeared when U.S. prices were compared with those in England and Canada’s Ontario province. Throughout the developed world, branded prescription drugs are generally cheaper than in the U.S. The upshot is Americans fund much of the global drug industry’s earnings, and its efforts to find new medicines. “The U.S. is responsible for the majority of profits for most large pharmaceutical companies,” said Richard Evans, a health-care analyst at SSR LLC and a former pricing official at drug maker Roche Holding AG . The reasons the U.S. pays more are rooted in philosophical and practical differences in the way its health system provides benefits, in the drug industry’s political clout and in many Americans’ deep aversion to the notion of rationing. The state-run health systems in Norway and many other developed countries drive hard bargains with drug companies: setting price caps, demanding proof of new drugs’ value in comparison to existing ones and sometimes refusing to cover medicines they doubt are worth the cost. The government systems also are the only large drug buyers in most of these countries, giving them substantial negotiating power. The U.S. market, by contrast, is highly fragmented, with bill payers ranging from employers to insurance companies to federal and state governments. Medicare, the largest single U.S. payer for prescription drugs, is by law unable to negotiate pricing. For Medicare Part B, companies report the average price at which they sell medicines to doctors’ offices or to distributors that sell to doctors. By law, Medicare adds 6% to these prices before reimbursing the doctors. Beneficiaries are responsible for 20% of the cost. The arrangement means Medicare is essentially forfeiting its buying power, leaving bargaining to doctors’ offices that have little negotiating heft, said Sean Sullivan, dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Washington. Asked to comment on the higher prices Medicare pays compared with foreign countries, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said: “The payment rate for Medicare Part B drugs is specified in statute.” In the U.S., few payers, public or private, cite cost as a reason to deny drug coverage, partly owing to a traditional emphasis in the U.S. on doctor and patient autonomy. “They don’t want to impinge on individual choices,” said Neeraj Sood, a health policy and economics expert at the University of Southern California. Medicare Part B, for example, typically covers drugs and services deemed “reasonable and necessary.” “If it’s a [Food and Drug Administration]-approved drug and prescribed by a duly licensed physician, Medicare will cover it,” said Gail Wilensky, who ran Medicare and Medicaid in the 1990s. U.S. drug prices—showing regular increases, sometimes steep—are increasingly a focus of congressional probes and vocal criticism by insurers, doctors, politicians and consumers, who bear part of the cost. Renee Andrews, an Oxford, Mich., resident whose son has juvenile arthritis and other conditions, said she can’t believe how low medication costs are for families overseas who post messages in her online support group. “Their out-of-pocket costs are considerably less than what we’re paying,” she said. Research spending The pharmaceutical industry says controls such as those seen in Europe discourage investment in research and deny patients access to some drugs. “The U.S. has a competitive biopharmaceutical marketplace that works to control costs while encouraging the development of new treatments and cures,” said Lori Reilly, an executive at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade association. If U.S. pricing fell to European levels, the industry would almost certainly cut its R&D spending, said Mr. Evans, the health-care analyst. “Does the U.S. subsidize global research? Absolutely, yes,” he said. The higher U.S. prices also help drug makers afford hefty marketing budgets that in the U.S. include consumer advertising—something Europe doesn’t allow. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the S&P 1500 earn an average net profit margin of 16%, compared with an average of about 7% for all companies in the index, according to S&P Capital IQ. For its analysis, the Journal started with Medicare Part B’s top drugs by payments to medical practices in 2013, the latest such data available. These are mostly drugs administered in a doctor’s office. Costs of drugs sold by U.S. pharmacies are harder to compare because of discounts and rebates. After excluding drugs that faced generic competition in 2015 and those for which prices elsewhere weren’t available, the Journal compared 2015 third-quarter prices paid in the various jurisdictions. The analysis didn’t examine Medicare’s coverage of pharmacy-dispensed drugs, known as Part D, which is run by insurance companies that don’t reveal their pricing. Some drugs, such as for HIV and hepatitis, cost less in certain overseas markets because companies cut prices for poor countries. Norway is a wealthy nation, with gross domestic product per capita of $97,000 last year, versus $55,000 in the U.S., according to the World Bank. In Norway the state pays for most prescription drugs, though patients pay for some used for short periods. The government controls costs in part by setting maximum prices. To do that, it reviews prices in nine neighboring countries and takes the average of the three lowest. Cost-effectiveness This system automatically holds prices low because the countries consulted also have government-controlled prices. The Norwegian Medicines Agency, or NMA, then reviews patient data to decide whether a new drug is cost-effective. Its maker must request a reimbursement price at or under the maximum Norway has set and submit a detailed comparison of the drug’s cost and benefits versus existing treatments. Companies have teams of number crunchers to produce these comparisons, which can also prove useful in pitching products in the U.S. Norway recommends that companies describe a drug’s cost per quality-adjusted life year, or QALY, a gauge used by many government health systems. Medicare is barred from using this gauge as a threshold to determining coverage. Companies know Norway will sometimes deny coverage, and this threat is often “enough to get them to offer a discount,” said Kristin Svanqvist, head of reimbursement at the NMA. If rejected, they can offer a lower price. When Amgen Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC sought coverage of the osteoporosis injection Prolia for certain women, the NMA concluded it wasn’t cost-effective compared with an existing infusion called Aclasta. Aclasta is a different type of drug, a bisphosphonate. These have an advantage in binding to the bone, the NMA said in a 2011 report on Prolia, and protect against fractures for a longer time after treatment stops. After Norway’s rejection, Amgen and Glaxo lowered Prolia’s price, according to Ms. Svanqvist. The NMA then ruled the health system would provide it for women 75 or older, for whom it appeared to work somewhat better, she said. A syringe of Prolia cost Norway $260 in the third quarter. By the Journal analysis, that was 71% less than the $893 paid by Medicare, which doesn’t set an age test. Amgen said, “We partner with local payers in Europe to help ensure that all appropriate patients who could benefit will have access to an important new therapy.” Glaxo referred questions to Amgen, to whom it sold Prolia’s Norwegian marketing rights in 2014. If a manufacturer won’t budge on price, Norway might refuse to cover a drug altogether. It did that with a brand of insulin called Tresiba. Producer Novo Nordisk A/S said Tresiba reduced nighttime dips in blood sugar better than other insulins and therefore was a good value. Ms. Svanqvist of the NMA called the documentation of this “quite lousy.” “We think the reduction is actually quite low,” she said, and not “worth paying 70% more for.” A spokesman for Novo Nordisk said it believes the drug provides better outcomes and is therefore cost-effective. He also said Norway didn’t ask the company to cut the price. The way things often work, said Ms. Svanqvist, is that when drug companies are told a product isn’t cost-effective, they can provide more proof, and “if they don’t have better documentation they can only do something about the price. Very often they do something about the price.” Denying patients access to drugs can be contentious. When Norway last year declined to cover Roche’s injected breast-cancer drug Perjeta because of its cost, “patients and physicians were on television and demonstrating a lot,” Ms. Svanqvist said. Roche agreed to a discount provided the NMA kept the terms confidential, which it grudgingly agreed to do, according to Ms. Svanqvist. The agreement means Perjeta costs Norway less than the drug’s maximum allowed price in the country, which was $3,579 for a vial in the third quarter. Medicare paid $4,222. Roche said Perjeta has shown strong efficacy, and the firm and Norway reached an agreement to make it available. While U.S. payers sound dire warnings of unsustainable drug pricing, the tone in Oslo is much calmer. “We have a system that has been working quite well,” said Helga Festoy, an economist at the NMA. Norway’s cost-effectiveness reviews sometimes cite the work of England’s health-care cost watchdog, known as one of Europe’s toughest. England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, conducts extensive analyses and recommends that the taxpayer-funded health system not cover drugs providing low value. Sometimes after one is rejected, its maker offers a discount. England also controls prices by capping the level of National Health Service spending on drugs each year and requiring the pharmaceutical industry to reimburse the NHS for any spending over those limits. Of 40 branded drugs covered by Medicare Part B and also available in England in the third quarter, 98% were more expensive in the U.S., according to the Journal’s analysis of data from Medicare and the NHS’s Business Services Authority. For instance, two syringes of Cimzia, an anti-inflammatory for rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases, cost England’s health-care system $1,117—less than half the $2,357 Medicare paid, the Journal found. An NHS spokeswoman said prices it publishes are “indicative,” and vary in some situations. Cimzia is sold by Belgian company UCB SA. It didn’t respond to requests for comment. Canada doesn’t have a single large pharmaceutical payer, but drug prices are substantially lower nonetheless, held in check by regulation. A federal agency called the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board sets a maximum price for new drugs, based on factors including their therapeutic benefits and the prices in seven other countries—the U.S. and six European ones. Once a drug’s maximum price is set, the maker can’t raise it faster than the national inflation rate or above the highest price in the seven other countries. A separate body, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, recommends whether provincial and other government health programs should cover new drugs for the elderly or for low-income residents. Government agencies in Canada don’t cover most drug costs for most other people. One such program is run by Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Of 30 drugs that both it and Medicare Part B covered in the third quarter, 93% were more expensive in the U.S., according to the Journal’s analysis. Countries with national health systems tend to feel “we are all in this together” and “we can’t afford everything for everybody at any price,” said Steven Pearson, a physician who founded the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a Boston nonprofit that evaluates the cost-effectiveness of health care. “In America it’s more, ‘Well, I’ve paid my insurance premium and I don’t want anyone to tell me no. I don’t want anyone to get in the way of me and my doctor.’ ” .

CNN / November 30, 2015 An e-mail chain at the center of Republican criticism of Hillary Clinton's handling of the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was released by the State Department on Monday. Clinton e-mailed her daughter Chelsea -- who was using the pseudonym "Diane Reynolds" – saying that the attack was launched by "an Al Queda-like group." She also expresses her grief at the loss of two American diplomats, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and Sean Smith, an information management officer. Two other Americans, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died later that night after they came to the aid of diplomats at the compound. "Very hard day and I fear more of the same tomorrow," Clinton wrote. Rep. Jim Jordan, a member of the Select Committee on Benghazi, first brought the exchange to light last month during Clinton's marathon 11-hour testimony on the attacks. "You tell the American people one thing," said Jordan, "you tell your family an entirely different story." On the same night Clinton e-mailed her daughter, she also released a public statement condemning the attack, which noted, "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet." In the days and weeks that followed, the administration struggled to explain the attacks, and came under a firestorm of criticism for drawing a connection between the attack and an anti-Islam video released in the United States. In last month's hearing, Jordan alleged that Clinton deliberately misled the American people by implying the attack erupted out of protests related to the video. "You can live with a protest about a video," said Jordan. "That won't hurt you. But a terrorist attack will, so you can't be square with the American people. You tell your family it's a terrorist attack, but not the American people." Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Clinton "admitted she had sent e-mails to her family saying, 'Hey, this attack at Benghazi was caused by al Qaeda-like elements.'" "She spent over a week telling the families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video," he said. "And yet the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton's campaign. It was the week she got exposed as a liar."

U.S. offers reward for guns stolen from Massachusetts Army center Reuters / November 30, 2015 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Monday it was offering a $15,000 reward for tips leading to the recovery of six handguns stolen from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Massachusetts earlier this month. Sixteen weapons, including six M-4 rifles and 10 9 mm Sig Sauer pistols, were stolen from the facility in Worcester, about 45 miles (72 km) west of Boston, on Nov. 14. Ten of the weapons, including all the rifles, were recovered in New York early last week, following the arrest of a suspect in the theft. "We're asking anyone with information about the location of these weapons to come forward, and anyone who may have access to these weapons to turn them in to either the FBI or their local police department," said Harold Shaw, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston. The suspect, 34-year-old James Morales was arrested on Nov. 19 and charged with stealing the guns after breaking into the facility through a kitchen window, federal prosecutors said, citing surveillance video and an electronic monitoring bracelet Morales had been ordered to wear by a court. Morales had gone to the facility earlier that week to pick up copies of his military discharge papers.

Kansas father murders 7-year-old son, feeds body to pigs Associated Press / November 29, 2015 Police say a man beat his seven-year-old son to death and fed his remains to pigs. Michael A. Jones, 44, of Piper, Kansas has been arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated battery and child abuse after cops responded to a domestic violence call on Wednesday. Jones had shot at his 29-year-old wife, Heather Jones. As the investigation progressed, authorities got a tip to check the property for the remains of Jones' seven-year-old son, who had been missing for several months. The next day, authorities found human remains near a barn on Jones’ property where he lived with his wife and eight children ranging in ages from one to 11. Police have upgraded the charges against Jones to 'torturing or cruelly beating' his missing son. Heather Jones is the boy’s stepmother. The other eight children reportedly lived in deplorable conditions and were allegedly home schooled. Michael Williams, the brother of Jones' wife, said his sister and the children endured years of abuse at the hands of Jones. 'There are bullet holes in the walls of that house. So I'm sure you can understand what terror may have been going through that household daily.' A former babysitter said “Heather Jones didn’t like any of Jones’ kids. She always treated the 7-year-old differently and was mean to him. He would stand in the corner for hours at a time. He would tell me he’s hungry… and I’d sneak him food.” Jones, the owner of a bail bonding business, is being held at the Wyandotte County Jail on a bond of $10million. Video - http://us.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/11/29/kansas-city-man-accused-of-feeding-sons-to-pigs-pkg.kctv .

Prime Mover Magazine / December 1, 2015 With demand for its rental and leasing services accelerating, Penske Truck Rental has announced that it will open a new facility in Adelaide in the second quarter of 2016. “We’ve had great feedback from customers in our three current markets. Our expansion to Adelaide in 2016 comes in direct response to the growth in our customer base, and demand for our products and services,” said Brendan Porter, Rental Manager, Penske Truck Rental. With a focus on customer service excellence and making business easy for its customers, Penske Truck Rental works one-on-one with operators, big or small, to find tailored solutions to their unique rental or leasing requirements. The Adelaide site is the fourth Penske Truck Rental branch to open since it entered the market in August 2014. “We’re excited to take the Penske Truck Rental brand to Adelaide in 2016 and co-locate with Penske Power Systems,” said Adrian Beach, General Manager, Penske Truck Rental. “It’s part of our commitment to grow our business footprint through key locations in Australia while also helping our customers to build their businesses as well.” The fourth Penske Truck Rental outlet will be located at 103-107 West Avenue, in the outer northern suburb of Edinburgh, Adelaide, and will add to the current list of locations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane Additional photograph - http://blog.gopenske.com/wp-content/uploads/Penske-Australia-Star-Brisbane.jpg .

Forbes / November 10, 2015 DEA maps reveal the depth of Mexican cartel operations in the United States. Why did government allow it to happen in the first place? Why hasn’t government “grabbed the bull by the horns” and eradicated this? Fugitive Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán has been labeled the greatest criminal drug threat to the U.S. Now for the first time, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has revealed the extent of that threat: Guzmán’s multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the lucrative illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States, including Alaska and Hawaii (http://www.dea.gov/docs/dir06515.pdf). “The Sinaloa Cartel maintains the most significant presence in the U.S. They are the dominant TCO [Transnational Criminal Organization] along the West Coast, through the Midwest, and into the Northeast,” the DEA said in its most recent unclassified report “Unites States: Areas of Influence of Major Mexican Transnational Criminal Organization,” released by their Strategic Intelligence Section in July. As head of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international criminal organization with billions of dollars in revenues, El Chapo has long been considered the #1 supplier of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines into the United States. The report confirms this with a set of colored maps that help visualized how massive Guzmán’s influence is in each specific area of the U.S. “‘El Chapo’ Guzmán is the world’s #1 drug criminal,” DEA spokesperson Rusty Payne told me. “El Chapo has facilitated a lot of American deaths through the violence of people that work for him.” In July, Guzmán escaped from a Mexican high-security prison through a hole in his shower connected to a clandestine tunnel. The 17 months Guzmán was in jail (he was arrested early 2014) had no impact in diminishing his presence on the U.S. illegal drug market. Guzmán’s hiding place remains unknown, despite a massive international manhunt and millions of dollars in rewards for information leading to his arrest. Press reports have placed him anywhere from the mountains of his native Sinaloa to the border of Argentina and Chile. Guzmán’s jail break was not only an embarrassment for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who promised he would not escape, but a display of the massive power the world’s most notorious kingpin wields inside Mexico. His escape showed that authorities were incapable of keeping him behind bars. While rival Mexican criminal organizations, such as the Gulf, Juárez and Zetas cartels, limit their areas of influence to the Southwest of the United States, nearly the entire U.S. is under the influence of the Sinaloa cartel, according to the DEA. As of May 2015, the DEA identified eight Mexican cartels operating inside the U.S.: the Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Juárez Cartel, Knights Templar, the Beltran-Leyva Organization, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Los Zetas and Las Moicas. “No other group is currently positioned to challenge them,” the DEA said in its report. It calls the Mexican cartels the single largest drug threat to America. The DEA also confirmed the leading role played by the Sinaloa Cartel in the heroin market. Increased demand for, and use of, heroin is being driven by both increasing availability of heroin in the U.S. market and by some prescription drug abusers switching to heroin, DEA says. As a result heroin is being used by a larger number of people, and is causing an increasing number of overdose deaths than previous years, the report warns. As conveyed in the second map, the Mexican criminal groups are now the most prominent wholesale-level heroin traffickers in Chicago, New Jersey and Philadelphia, with the Sinaloa cartel dominating the market. According to the DEA in 2013, 8,257 Americans died from heroin-related overdoses; that was nearly triple the number in 2010. The map shows that the highest rates of overdose deaths in 2013 took place in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York. The Sinaloa Cartel has been linked to the heroin epidemic in the East Coast and Midwest. In 2013, the DEA estimated that more than 50% of the heroin sold in the U.S. came from Mexico. The only anomalies appear to be in New Mexico and Texas, where both the Juarez and Gulf cartels dominate the drug market. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 517,000 people used heroin in 2012, a 150% increase from 2007. Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/41155-the-us-is-bordering-a-war-zone/?hl=cartel .

Paccar Press Release / November 30, 2015 Leyland Trucks in the United Kingdom has produced its 400,000th commercial vehicle, since the opening of the current assembly facility in 1980. The milestone vehicle, a DAF XF 460 FTP tractor unit, was handed over to customer Carr’s Flour of Silloth in Cumbria, located in the North-West of the country. Carr’s Flour is a renowned supplier of wheat sourced on national and international markets and delivered to a wide variety of customers from home and independent bakers to major food retailers. The company operates state-of-the-art milling installations, which process some 300,000 tons of wheat per year. For regional and national distribution Carr’s Flour relies on a fleet of 30 trucks, mainly DAF CF and XF models. “I’m very proud indeed to be a DAF operator,” said Steven Mattinson, transport manager at Carr’s Flour. “My company has a long history of acquiring British-built trucks, and it’s fantastic to see Leyland Trucks thriving today. A DAF truck is built to the very highest quality standards. It is built to last, while offering highest efficiency through high fuel efficiency and low operating cost.” The facility of Leyland Trucks was commissioned in 1980 and is one of Britain’s leading manufacturing sites. It is the center of production of the popular DAF LF distribution truck and also manufactures right-hand-drive DAF CF and XF models for the UK home market and for export markets around the globe. “Production of the 400,000th vehicle is a notable milestone for the company”, said Leyland Trucks managing director, Bryan Sitko. “It is first and foremost a recognition for the almost 1,000 employees, who supply our customers with trucks of the highest quality.” .

Transport Topics / November 30, 2015 FedEx Corp and Dutch counterpart TNT Express have won U.S. antitrust permission to merge, according to a listing of approved deals the Federal Trade Commission issued Nov. 24. The European Union has yet to sign off on the proposed transaction, although the companies have said they received assurances that EU antitrust regulators would allow it to go forward. In early November, the companies announced that the FedEx tender offer had been extended until Jan. 8 to allow more time for completion of regulatory reviews in countries such as China and Brazil. The companies announced in April that FedEx would buy TNT for $4.9 billion in order to better compete in Europe. The deal should catapult FedEx to second place in Europe behind Deutsche Post's DHL.

Russia arms Su-34s with air-to-air missiles in Syria for 1st time Russian Su-34 bombers, additionally equipped with air-to-air missiles, have set out on their first mission in Syria. The decision results from the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by Turkish F-16s on November 24. “Today, Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers have made their first sortie equipped not only with high explosive aviation bombs and hollow charge bombs, but also with short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles," said Igor Klimov, spokesman for the Russian Air Force. "The planes are equipped with missiles for defensive purposes," he added. The missiles have target-seeking devices and are “capable of hitting air targets within a 60km radius,” he said.