title: Army of Thieves

text: Later, Scott Ward and Maria Cruz find Sebastian's (now by Ludwig Dieter's name) locksmith shop in California. They offer him the chance to crack Wagner's legendary "missing" safe, which Gwendoline and Sebastian had resolved to break together once she was free; Ludwig accepts the job.


title: Army of Thieves

text: Additionally, Amy Huck makes a cameo role as Lady Café, while Peter Simonischek appears uncredited as a locksmith at Dieter's shop. Reprising their roles uncredited and appearing in extended archive footage from "Army of the Dead" are Dave Bautista and Ana de la Reguera as Scott Ward and Maria Cruz, respectively, while Hiroyuki Sanada appears as Bly Tanaka through a still image.


title: Army of Thieves

text: In September 2020, it was announced that the film, then known as "Army of the Dead: The Prequel", was in development at Netflix. Filming took place in Germany and the Czech Republic, and finished in December 2020. In a February 2021 interview, Deborah Snyder referred to the film as "Army of Thieves". That same month, "Army of the Dead" composer Tom Holkenborg confirmed that he would be working on both the prequel and the tie-in animated series "". In April 2021, Zack Snyder confirmed the official title. In August 2021, Matthias Schweighöfer announced on Twitter that Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro will serve as composers for the film with Holkenborg contributing.


title: Army of Thieves

text: In May 2021, Deborah Snyder described the film as similar to "The Italian Job" in a world where zombies exist, while explaining that the film is standalone in nature. The producer classified the genre as a romantic comedy heist film that canonically depicts the early stages of the zombie pandemic portrayed in the previous film; stating: "[it] takes place in a world where these zombies exist in America and it’s causing instability in the banking institutions. They’re moving money around, so it’s the perfect opportunity for a heist." The plot will center around Schweighöfer's character Ludwig Dieter, showing how he learned to crack safes with previous heist teams. Schweighöfer acknowledged that while the movie isn't categorically a zombie film, the filmmaker teased that the undead may appear; while Snyder confirmed that there will be zombies in the film.


title: Army of Thieves

text: On July 25, 2021, Netflix unveiled its first teaser trailer for the film which premiered at the San Diego Comic-Con. In the special panel, the team discussed the upcoming prequel as producer Deborah Snyder said; "Who's done a prequel where it's a different genre of film? To me this is more of a romantic, comedy, heist film than anything else. It just happens to live in this world where zombies are in the U.S. and it's causing the banking system some instability."


title: Army of Thieves

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 97 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: ""Army of Thieves" doesn't reinvent the heist thriller, but director-star Matthias Schweighöfer proves an appealing presence on both sides of the camera." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Army of Thieves

text: David Rooney of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote: "The storytelling overall is less sophisticated, leaning a little too often on strained humor, but this is a slick, enjoyably playful entertainment." Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" gave the film a mixed review and called it "one of those bombastically blithe and fanciful Netflix action movies, in this case with a romantic heart".


title: Army of Thieves

text: "Army of Thieves" ranked at the top of Netflix's top 10 weekly rankings for English-language films, based on its recently launched method of ranking TV shows and films by the total amount of hours they are viewed, during its debut week with a viewership of 49.64 million hours. It also ranked first on Netflix in more than 90 countries. Samba TV estimated that the film was watched by 770,000 households in the United States. It was also the third most-watched film overall in the United States during the week according to TV Time. Nielsen meanwhile ranked it as the fourth-most-streamed film for the week with 294 million minutes viewed.


title: Army of Thieves

text: It remained the most-watched film on Netflix in its second week with 71.61 million hours viewed, while also rising to the second position on TV Time's chart. Nielsen reported that it was the second-most-streamed film during the week, with 456 million minutes viewed. It was ranked fourth on Netflix in its third week with 20.56 million hours viewed, and seventh in the fourth week with 12.26 million hours.


title: 24-hour clock

text: The modern 24-hour clock, popularly referred to in the United States as military time, is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours (and minutes) passed since midnight, from 0(:00) to 23(:59). This system, as opposed to the 12-hour clock, is the most commonly used time notation in the world today, and is used by the international standard ISO 8601.


title: 24-hour clock

text: A number of countries, particularly English-speaking, use the 12-hour clock, or a mixture of the 24- and 12-hour time systems. In countries where the 12-hour clock is dominant, some professions prefer to use the 24-hour clock. For example, in the practice of medicine, the 24-hour clock is generally used in documentation of care as it prevents any ambiguity as to when events occurred in a patient's medical history.


title: 24-hour clock

text: A time of day is written in the 24-hour notation in the form hh:mm (for example 01:23) or hh:mm:ss (for example, 01:23:45), where hh (00 to 23) is the number of full hours that have passed since midnight, mm (00 to 59) is the number of full minutes that have passed since the last full hour, and ss (00 to 59) is the number of seconds since the last full minute. In the case of a leap second, the value of ss may extend to 60. A leading zero is added for numbers under 10, but it is optional for the hours. The leading zero is very commonly used in computer applications, and always used when a specification requires it (for example, ISO 8601).


title: 24-hour clock

text: Where subsecond resolution is required, the seconds can be a decimal fraction; that is, the fractional part follows a decimal dot or comma, as in 01:23:45.678. The most commonly used separator symbol between hours, minutes and seconds is the colon, which is also the symbol used in ISO 8601. In the past, some European countries used the dot on the line as a separator, but most national standards on time notation have since then been changed to the international standard colon. In some contexts (including some computer protocols), no separator is used and times are written as, for example, "2359".


title: 24-hour clock

text: In the 24-hour time notation, the day begins at midnight, 00:00 or 0:00, and the last minute of the day begins at 23:59. Where convenient, the notation 24:00 may also be used to refer to midnight at the end of a given date — that is, 24:00 of one day is the same time as 00:00 of the following day.


title: 24-hour clock

text: The notation 24:00 mainly serves to refer to the exact end of a day in a time interval. A typical usage is giving opening hours ending at midnight (e.g. "00:00–24:00", "07:00–24:00"). Similarly, some bus and train timetables show 00:00 as departure time and 24:00 as arrival time. Legal contracts often run from the start date at 00:00 until the end date at 24:00.


title: 24-hour clock

text: While the 24-hour notation unambiguously distinguishes between midnight at the start (00:00) and end (24:00) of any given date, there is no commonly accepted distinction among users of the 12-hour notation. Style guides and military communication regulations in some English-speaking countries discourage the use of 24:00 even in the 24-hour notation, and recommend reporting times near midnight as 23:59 or 00:01 instead. Sometimes the use of 00:00 is also avoided. In variance with this, as of 2010, the correspondence manual for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps formerly specified 0001 to 2400.<ref name="http://www.marforres.marines.mil/Portals/116/Docs/G-1/AAU/AAUDocuments/CORRESPONDENCE%20MANUAL.pdf">SECNAV M-5216.5 Department of the Navy Correspondence Manual dated March 2010, Chapter 2, Section 5 Paragraph 15. Expressing Military Time.</ref> The manual was updated in June 2015 to use 0000 to 2359.


title: 24-hour clock

text: Time-of-day notations beyond 24:00 (such as 24:01 or 25:00 instead of 00:01 or 01:00) are not commonly used and not covered by the relevant standards. However, they have been used occasionally in some special contexts in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China where business hours extend beyond midnight, such as broadcast television production and scheduling. The GTFS public transport schedule listings file format has the concept of service days and expects times beyond 24:00 for trips that run after midnight.


title: 24-hour clock

text: In most countries, computers by default show the time in 24-hour notation. For example, Microsoft Windows and macOS activate the 12-hour notation by default only if a computer is in a handful of specific language and region settings. The 24-hour system is commonly used in text-based interfaces. POSIX programs such as ls default to displaying timestamps in 24-hour format.


title: 24-hour clock

text: In American English, the term "military time" is a synonym for the 24-hour clock. In the US, the time of day is customarily given almost exclusively using the 12-hour clock notation, which counts the hours of the day as 12, 1, ..., 11 with suffixes "a.m." and "p.m." distinguishing the two diurnal repetitions of this sequence. The 24-hour clock is commonly used there only in some specialist areas (military, aviation, navigation, tourism, meteorology, astronomy, computing, logistics, emergency services, hospitals), where the ambiguities of the 12-hour notation are deemed too inconvenient, cumbersome, or dangerous.


title: 24-hour clock

text: Military usage, as agreed between the United States and allied English-speaking military forces, differs in some respects from other twenty-four-hour time systems:


title: 24-hour clock

text: The first mechanical public clocks introduced in Italy were mechanical 24-hour clocks which counted the 24 hours of the day from one-half hour after sundown to the evening of the following day. The 24th hour was the last hour of day time.


title: 24-hour clock

text: The modern 24-hour system is a late-19th century adaptation of the German midnight-starting system, and then prevailed in the world with the exception of some Anglophone countries.


title: 24-hour clock

text: Striking clocks had to produce 300 strokes each day, which required a lot of rope, and wore out the mechanism quickly, so some localities switched to ringing sequences of 1 to 12 twice (156 strokes), or even 1 to 6 repeated four times (84 strokes).


title: 24-hour clock

text: After missing a train while travelling in Ireland in 1876 because a printed schedule listed p.m. instead of a.m., Sir Sandford Fleming proposed a single 24-hour clock for the entire world, located at the centre of the Earth, not linked to any surface meridian — a predecessor to Coordinated Universal Time. He was an early proponent of using the 24-hour clock as part of a programme to reform timekeeping, which also included establishing time zones and a standard prime meridian. The Canadian Pacific Railway was among the first organizations to adopt the 24-hour clock, at midsummer 1886.


title: 24-hour clock

text: At the International Meridian Conference in 1884, American lawyer and astronomer Lewis M. Rutherfurd proposed:


title: 24-hour clock

text: A report by a government committee in the United Kingdom noted Italy as the first country among those mentioned to adopt 24-hour time nationally, in 1893. Other European countries followed: France adopted it in 1912 (the French army in 1909), followed by Denmark (1916), and Greece (1917). By 1920, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Switzerland had switched, followed by Turkey (1925), and Germany (1927). By the early 1920s, many countries in Latin America had also adopted the 24-hour clock. Some of the railways in India had switched before the outbreak of the war.


title: 24-hour clock

text: During World War I, the British Royal Navy adopted the 24-hour clock in 1915, and the Allied armed forces followed soon after, with the British Army switching officially in 1918. The Canadian armed forces first started to use the 24-hour clock in late 1917. In 1920, the United States Navy was the first United States organization to adopt the system; the United States Army, however, did not officially adopt the 24-hour clock until World War II, on July 1, 1942.


title: 24-hour clock

text: The use of the 24-hour clock in the United Kingdom has grown steadily since the beginning of the 20th century, although attempts to make the system official failed more than once. In 1934, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) switched to the 24-hour clock for broadcast announcements and programme listings. The experiment was halted after five months following a lack of enthusiasm from the public, and the BBC continued using the 12-hour clock. In the same year, Pan American World Airways Corporation and Western Airlines in the United States both adopted the 24-hour clock. In modern times, the BBC uses a mixture of both the 12-hour and the 24-hour clock. British Rail and London Transport switched to the 24-hour clock for timetables in 1964. A mixture of the 12- and 24-hour clocks similarly prevails in other English-speaking Commonwealth countries: French speakers have adopted the 24-hour clock in Canada much more broadly than English speakers, and Australia also uses both systems.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the 11th film in the "Star Trek" franchise, and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the portrayed by a new cast, as the first in the rebooted film series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard the USS "Enterprise" as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The story takes place in an alternate reality that features both an alternate birth location for James T. Kirk and further alterations in history stemming from the time travel of both Nero and the original series Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate reality was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The idea for a prequel film which would follow the "Star Trek" characters during their time in Starfleet Academy was discussed by series creator Gene Roddenberry in 1968. The concept resurfaced in the late 1980s, when it was postulated by Harve Bennett as a possible plotline for what would become "", but it was rejected in favor of other projects by Roddenberry. Following the critical and commercial failure of "" and the cancellation of "", the franchise's executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen wrote an unproduced film titled "Star Trek: The Beginning", which would take place after "Enterprise". After the separation of Viacom and CBS Corporation in 2005, former Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman convinced CBS to allow Paramount to produce a new film in the franchise. Orci and Kurtzman were soon approached to write the film, and Abrams was approached to direct it. Kurtzman and Orci used inspiration from novels and graduate school dissertations, as well as the series itself. Principal photography commenced on November 7, 2007, and ended on March 27, 2008. The film was shot in locations around California and Utah. Abrams wanted to avoid using bluescreen and greenscreen, opting to use sets and locations instead. Heavy secrecy surrounded the film's production and was under the fake working title "Corporate Headquarters". Industrial Light & Magic used digital ships for the film, as opposed to miniatures used in most of the previous films in the franchise. Production for the film concluded by the end of 2008.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: "Star Trek" was heavily promoted in the months preceding its release; pre-release screenings for the film premiered in select cities around the world, including Austin, Texas, Sydney, Australia, and Calgary, Alberta. It was released in the United States and Canada on May 8, 2009, to critical acclaim. The film was a box office success, grossing over $385.7 million worldwide against its $150 million production budget. It was nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, ultimately winning Best Makeup, making it the first (and to date only) "Star Trek" film to win an Academy Award. It was followed by the sequels "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Star Trek Beyond" in 2013 and 2016, respectively.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: In 2233, the Federation starship USS "Kelvin" investigates a "lightning storm" in space. A Romulan ship, "Narada", emerges from the storm and attacks the "Kelvin", then demands that "Kelvin"s Captain Robau come aboard to negotiate a truce. Robau is questioned about the current stardate and an "Ambassador Spock", whom he does not recognize. "Narada"s commander, Nero, kills him, and resumes attacking the "Kelvin". George Kirk, "Kelvin"s first officer, orders the ship's personnel, including his pregnant wife Winona, to abandon ship while he pilots the "Kelvin" on a collision course with "Narada". Kirk sacrifices his life to ensure Winona's survival as she gives birth to James Tiberius Kirk.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Seventeen years later on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock is admitted to the Vulcan Science Academy. Realizing that the Academy views his human mother, Amanda, as a "disadvantage", he joins Starfleet instead. On Earth, Kirk becomes a reckless but intelligent adult. Following a bar fight with Starfleet cadets accompanying Nyota Uhura, Kirk meets Captain Christopher Pike, who encourages him to enlist in Starfleet Academy, where Kirk meets and befriends doctor Leonard McCoy. Three years later, Commander Spock accuses Kirk of cheating during the "Kobayashi Maru" simulation. Kirk argues that cheating was acceptable because the simulation was designed to be unbeatable. The disciplinary hearing is interrupted by a distress signal from Vulcan. With the primary fleet out of range, the cadets are mobilized. McCoy and Kirk board Pike's ship, the .


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Realizing that the "lightning storm" observed near Vulcan is similar to the one that occurred when he was born, Kirk convinces Pike that the distress signal is a trap. When the "Enterprise" arrives, they find the fleet destroyed and "Narada" drilling into Vulcan's core. "Narada" attacks "Enterprise" and Pike surrenders, delegating command of the ship to Spock and promoting Kirk to first officer. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, and Chief Engineer Olson perform a space jump onto the drilling platform. While Olson is killed mid-jump, Kirk and Sulu disable the drill, but are unable to stop Nero launching "red matter" into Vulcan's core, forming an artificial black hole that destroys Vulcan. The "Enterprise" rescues Spock's father, Sarek, and the high council before the planet's destruction, but Amanda falls to her death before the transporter can lock onto her. As "Narada" approaches Earth, Nero tortures Pike to gain access to Earth's defense codes.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Spock maroons Kirk on Delta Vega after he attempts mutiny. On the planet, Kirk encounters an older Spock from an alternate timeline, who explains that he and Nero are from 2387. In the future, Romulus was threatened by a supernova, which Spock attempted to stop with red matter. His plan failed, resulting in Nero's family perishing along with Romulus, while the "Narada" and Spock's vessel were caught in the black hole and sent back in time. They were sent back 25 years apart, during which time Nero attacked the "Kelvin", changing history and creating a parallel universe. After Spock's arrival, Nero stranded him on Delta Vega to watch Vulcan's destruction. Reaching a Starfleet outpost, Kirk and the elder Spock meet Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, who devises a trans-warp transporter system, allowing him and Kirk to beam onto "Enterprise".


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Following the elder Spock's advice, Kirk provokes younger Spock into attacking him, forcing Spock to recognize himself as emotionally compromised and relinquish command to Kirk. After talking with Sarek, Spock decides to help Kirk. While "Enterprise" hides within the gas clouds of Titan, Kirk and Spock beam aboard "Narada". Kirk fights Nero and rescues Pike, while Spock uses the elder Spock's ship to destroy the drill. Spock leads "Narada" away from Earth and sets his ship to collide with "Narada". "Enterprise" beams Kirk, Pike, and Spock aboard. The older Spock's ship and "Narada" collide, igniting the red matter. "Narada" is consumed in a black hole that "Enterprise" barely escapes.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Kirk is promoted to captain and given command of "Enterprise", while Pike is promoted to rear admiral. Spock encounters his older self, who persuades his younger self to continue serving in Starfleet, encouraging him to do what feels right rather than what is logical. Spock becomes first officer under Kirk's command. "Enterprise" goes to warp as the elder Spock speaks the "where no one has gone before" monologue.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Chris Doohan, the son of the original Scotty, James Doohan, makes a cameo appearance in the transporter room. Pegg e-mailed Doohan about the role of Scotty, and the actor has promised him his performance "would be a complete tribute to his father". Chris Doohan previously cameoed in "". Greg Grunberg has a vocal cameo as Kirk's alcoholic stepfather. Brad William Henke filmed scenes in the role which were cut out. "" star Dominic Keating also auditioned for the role. Grunberg was up for the role of Olson but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict. Grunberg was also interested in playing Harry Mudd, who was in an early draft of the script. Paul McGillion auditioned for Scotty, and he impressed producers enough that he was given another role as a 'Barracks Leader'. James Cawley, producer and star of the webseries "", appears as a Starfleet officer, while Pavel Lychnikoff and Lucia Rijker play Romulans, Lychnikoff a Commander and Rijker a CO. W. Morgan Sheppard, who played a Klingon in "", appears in this film as the head of the Vulcan Science Council. Wil Wheaton, known for portraying Wesley Crusher on "", was brought in, through urging by Greg Grunberg, to voice several of the other Romulans in the film. "Star Trek" fan and Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch (who died on July 25, 2008) cameoed as a "Kelvin" crew member, and has a line of dialogue. Majel Barrett, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, reprised her role as the voice of the "Enterprise"s computer, which she completed two weeks before her death on December 18, 2008. The film was dedicated to her, as well as Gene, to whom the film was always going to be commemorated as a sign of respect.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Orci and Kurtzman wrote a scene for William Shatner, where old Spock gives his younger self a recorded message by Kirk from the previous timeline. "It was basically a Happy Birthday wish knowing that Spock was going to go off to Romulus, and Kirk would probably be dead by the time," and it would have transitioned into Shatner reciting "where no man has gone before". But Shatner wanted to share Nimoy's major role, and did not want a cameo, despite his character's death in "Star Trek Generations". He suggested the film canonize his novels where Kirk is resurrected, but Abrams decided if his character was accompanying Nimoy's, it would have become a film about the resurrection of Kirk, and not about introducing the new versions of the characters. Nimoy disliked the character's death in "Generations", but felt resurrecting Kirk would also be detrimental to this film.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Nichelle Nichols suggested playing Uhura's grandmother, but Abrams could not write this in due to the Writers Guild strike. Abrams was also interested in casting Keri Russell, but they deemed the role he had in mind for her too similar to her other roles.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: As early as the 1968 World Science Fiction Convention, "Star Trek" creator Roddenberry had said he was going to make a film prequel to the . But the prequel concept did not resurface until the late 1980s, when Ralph Winter and Harve Bennett submitted a proposal for a prequel during development of the . Roddenberry rejected Bennett's prequel proposal in 1991, after the completion of "". Then David Loughery wrote a script entitled "The Academy Years", but it was shelved in light of objections from Roddenberry and the fanbase. The film that was commissioned instead ended up being "". In February 2005, after the financial failure of the tenth film, "" (2002), and the cancellation of the television series "", the franchise's executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen began developing a new film entitled "Star Trek: The Beginning". It was to revolve around a new set of characters, led by Kirk's ancestor Tiberius Chase, and be set during the Earth-Romulan War—after the events of "Enterprise" but before the events of the original series.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: In 2005, Viacom, which owned Paramount Pictures, separated from CBS Corporation, which retained Paramount's television properties, including ownership of the "Star Trek" brand. Gail Berman (no relation to executive producer Rick Berman), then president of Paramount, convinced CBS' chief executive, Leslie Moonves, to allow them eighteen months to develop a new "Star Trek" film, otherwise Paramount would lose the film rights. Berman approached "" writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for ideas on the new film, and after the film had completed shooting she asked their director, Abrams, to produce it. Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman, plus producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, felt the franchise had explored enough of what took place after the series, Orci and Lindelof consider themselves trekkies, and feel some of the "Star Trek" novels have canonical value, although Roddenberry never considered the novels to be canon. Kurtzman is a casual fan, while Burk was not. Abrams' company Bad Robot Productions produced the film with Paramount, marking the first time another company had financed a "Star Trek" film. Bill Todman, Jr.'s Level 1 Entertainment also co-produced the film, but, during 2008, Spyglass Entertainment replaced them as financial partner.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: In an interview, Abrams said that he had never seen "Star Trek: Nemesis" because he felt the franchise had "disconnected" from the original series. For him, he said, "Star Trek" was about Kirk and Spock, and the other series were like "separate space adventure[s] with the name "Star Trek"". He also acknowledged that as a child he had actually preferred the "Star Wars" movies. He noted that his general knowledge of "Star Trek" made him well suited to introduce the franchise to newcomers, and that, being an optimistic person, he would make "Star Trek" an optimistic film, which would be a refreshing contrast to the likes of "The Dark Knight". He added that he loved the focus on exploration in "Star Trek" and the idea of the Prime Directive, which forbids Starfleet to interfere in the development of primitive worlds, but that, because of the budgetary limitations of the original series, it had "never had the resources to actually show the adventure". He noted he only became involved with the project as producer initially because he wanted to help Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: On February 23, 2007, Abrams accepted Paramount's offer to direct the film, after having initially been attached to it solely as a producer. He explained that he had decided to direct the film because, after reading the script, he realized that he "would be so agonizingly envious of whoever stepped in and directed the movie". Orci and Kurtzman said that their aim had been to impress a casual fan like Abrams with their story. Abrams noted that, during filming, he had been nervous "with all these tattooed faces and pointy ears, bizarre weaponry and Romulan linguists, with dialogue about 'Neutral Zones' and 'Starfleet' [but] I knew this would work, because the script Alex and Bob wrote was so emotional and so relatable. I didn't love Kirk and Spock when I began this journey – but I love them now."


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Orci said getting Leonard Nimoy in the film was important. "Having him sitting around a campfire sharing his memories was never gonna cut it" though, and time travel was going to be included in the film from the beginning. Kurtzman added, saying the time travel creates jeopardy, unlike other prequels where viewers "know how they all died". The writers acknowledged time travel had been overused in the other series, but it served a good purpose in creating a new set of adventures for the original characters before they could completely do away with it in other films. Abrams selected the Romulans as the villains because they had been featured less than the Klingons in the series and thought it would be "fun" to have them meet Kirk before they do in the series. Orci and Kurtzman noted it would feel backward to demonize the Klingons again after they had become heroes in later "Star Trek" series, and the Romulan presence continues Spock's story from his last chronological appearance in "", an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" set in 2368. The episode of the original continuity in which Kirk becomes one of the first humans to ever see a Romulan, "Balance of Terror", served as one of the influences for the film. Orci said it was difficult giving a good explanation for the time travel without being gimmicky, like having Nero specifically seeking to assassinate Kirk.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Orci noted while the time travel story allowed them to alter some backstory elements such as Kirk's first encounter with the Romulans, they could not use it as a crutch to change everything and tried to approach the film as a prequel as much as possible. Kirk's service on "Farragut", a major backstory point to the original episode "", was left out because it was deemed irrelevant to the story of Kirk meeting Spock, although Orci felt nothing in his script precluded it from the new film's backstory. There was a scene involving Kirk meeting Carol Marcus (who is revealed as the mother of his son in "") as a child, but it was dropped because the film needed more time to introduce the core characters. Figuring out ways to get the crew together required some contrivances, which Orci and Kurtzman wanted to explain from old Spock as a way of the timeline mending itself, highlighting the theme of destiny. The line was difficult to write and was ultimately cut out.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The filmmakers sought inspiration from novels such as "Prime Directive", "Spock's World" and "Best Destiny" to fill in gaps unexplained by canon; "Best Destiny" particularly explores Kirk's childhood and names his parents. One idea that was justified through information from the novels was having "Enterprise" built on Earth, which was inspired by a piece of fan art of "Enterprise" being built in a shipyard. Orci had sent the fan art to Abrams to show how realistic the film could be. Orci explained parts of the ship would have to be constructed on Earth because of the artificial gravity employed on the ship and its requirement for sustaining warp speed, and therefore the calibration of the ship's machinery would be best done in the exact gravity well which is to be simulated. They felt free to have the ship built in Iowa because canon is ambiguous as to whether it was built in San Francisco, but this is a result of the time travel rather than something intended to overlap with the original timeline. Abrams noted the continuity of the original series itself was inconsistent at times.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Orci and Kurtzman said they wanted the general audience to like the film as much as the fans, by stripping away "Treknobabble," making it action-packed and giving it the simple title of "Star Trek" to indicate to newcomers they would not need to watch any of the other films. Abrams saw humor and sex appeal as two integral and popular elements of the show that needed to be maintained. Orci stated being realistic and being serious were not the same thing. Abrams, Burk, Lindelof, Orci and Kurtzman were fans of "The Wrath of Khan", and also cited "The Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" as an influence. Abrams' wife Katie was regularly consulted on the script, as were Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof's wives, to make the female characters as strong as possible. Katie Abrams' approval of the strong female characters was partly why Abrams signed on to direct.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Orci and Kurtzman read graduate school dissertations on the series for inspiration; they noted comparisons of Kirk, Spock and McCoy to Shakespearian archetypes, and Kirk and Spock's friendship echoing that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They also noted that, in the creation of this film, they were influenced by "Star Wars", particularly in pacing. "I want to feel the space, I want to feel speed and I want to feel all the things that can become a little bit lost when "Star Trek" becomes very stately" said Orci. "Star Wars" permeated in the way they wrote the action sequences, while Burk noted Kirk and Spock's initially cold relationship mirrors how "Han Solo wasn't friends with anyone when they started on their journey." Spock and Uhura were put in an actual relationship as a nod to early episodes highlighting her interest in him. Orci wanted to introduce strong Starfleet captains, concurring with an interviewer that most captains in other films were "patsies" included to make Kirk look greater by comparison.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: USS "Kelvin", the ship Kirk's father serves on, is named after J.J. Abrams' grandfather, as well as the physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin (William Thomson). "Kelvin"s captain, Richard Robau (Faran Tahir), is named after Orci's Cuban uncle: Orci theorized the fictional character was born in Cuba and grew up in the Middle East. Another reference to Abrams' previous works is Slusho, which Uhura orders at the bar where she meets Kirk. Abrams created the fictitious drink for "Alias" and it reappeared in viral marketing for "Cloverfield". Its owner, Tagruato, is also from "Cloverfield" and appears on a building in San Francisco. The red matter in the film is in the shape of a red ball, an Abrams motif dating back to the pilot of "Alias".


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The film's production designer was Scott Chambliss, a longtime collaborator with Abrams. Chambliss worked with a large group of concept illustrators, including James Clyne, Ryan Church, creature designer Neville Page, and "Star Trek" veteran John Eaves. Abrams stated the difficulty of depicting the future was that much of modern technology was inspired by the original show, and made it seem outdated. Thus the production design had to be consistent with the television series but also feel more advanced than the real world technology developed after it. "We all have the iPhone that does more than the communicator," said Abrams. "I feel like there's a certain thing that you can't really hold onto, which is kind of the kitschy quality. That must go if it's going to be something that you believe is real." Prop master Russell Bobbitt collaborated with Nokia on recreating the original communicator, creating a $50,000 prototype. Another prop recreated for the film was the tricorder. Bobbitt brought the original prop to the set, but the actors found it too large to carry when filming action scenes, so technical advisor Doug Brody redesigned it to be smaller. The phaser props were designed as spring-triggered barrels that revolve and glow as the setting switches from "stun" to "kill". An Aptera Typ-1 prototype car was used on location.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Production designer Scott Chambliss maintained the layout of the original bridge, but aesthetically altered it with brighter colors to reflect the optimism of "Star Trek". The viewscreen was made into a window that could have images projected on it to make the space environment palpable. Abrams compared the redesign to the sleek modernist work of Pierre Cardin and the sets from "", which were from the 1960s. He joked the redesigned bridge made the Apple Store look "uncool". At the director's behest, more railings were added to the bridge to make it look safer, and the set was built on gimbals so its rocking motions when the ship accelerates and is attacked was more realistic. To emphasize the size of the ship, Abrams chose to give the engine room a highly industrial appearance: he explained to Pegg that he was inspired by , a sleek ship in which there was an "incredible gut".


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Abrams selected Michael Kaplan to design the costumes because he had not seen any of the films, meaning he would approach the costumes with a new angle. For the Starfleet uniforms, Kaplan followed the show's original color-coding, with dark gray (almost black) undershirts and pants and colored overshirts showing each crew member's position. Command officers wear gold shirts, science and medical officers wear blue, and operations (technicians, engineers, and security personnel) wear red. Kaplan wanted the shirts to be more sophisticated than the originals and selected to have the Starfleet symbol patterned on them. Kirk wears only the undershirt because he is a cadet. Kaplan modelled the uniforms on "Kelvin" on science fiction films of the 1940s and 1950s, to contrast with "Enterprise"-era uniforms based on the ones created in the 1960s. For Abrams, "The costumes were a microcosm of the entire project, which was how to take something that's kind of silly and make it feel real. But how do you make legitimate those near-primary color costumes?"


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Lindelof compared the film's Romulan faction to pirates with their bald, tattooed heads and disorganized costuming. Their ship, "Narada", is purely practical with visible mechanics as it is a "working ship", unlike the "Enterprise" crew who give a respectable presentation on behalf of the Federation. Chambliss was heavily influenced by the architecture of Antoni Gaudí for "Narada", who created buildings that appeared to be inside out: by making the ship's exposed wires appear like bones or ligaments, it would create a foreboding atmosphere. The ship's interior was made of six pieces that could be rearranged to create a different room. The Romulan actors had three prosthetics applied to their ears and foreheads, while Bana had a fourth prosthetic for the bitemark on his ear that extends to the back of his character's head. The film's Romulans lack the "V"-shaped ridges on the foreheads, which had been present in all of their depictions outside the original series. Neville Page wanted to honor that by having Nero's crew ritually scar themselves too, forming keloids reminiscent of the 'V'-ridges. It was abandoned as they did not pursue the idea enough. Kaplan wanted aged, worn, and rugged clothes for the Romulans because of their mining backgrounds and found some greasy looking fabrics at a flea market. Kaplan tracked down the makers of those clothes, who were discovered to be based in Bali, and commissioned them to create his designs.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Barney Burman supervised the makeup for the other aliens: his team had to rush the creation of many of the aliens, because originally the majority of them were to feature in one scene towards the end of filming. Abrams deemed the scene too similar to the cantina sequence in "Star Wars" and decided to dot the designs around the film. A tribble was placed in the background of Scotty's introduction. Both digital and physical makeup was used for aliens.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Principal photography for the film began on November 7, 2007, and culminated on March 27, 2008; however second unit filming occurred in Bakersfield, California in April 2008, which stood in for Kirk's childhood home in Iowa. Filming was also done at the City Hall of Long Beach, California; the San Rafael Swell in Utah; and the California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles (which was used for establishing shots of students at Starfleet Academy). A parking lot outside Dodger Stadium was used for the ice planet of Delta Vega and the Romulan drilling rig on Vulcan. The filmmakers expressed an interest in Iceland for scenes on Delta Vega, but decided against it: Chambliss enjoyed the challenge of filming scenes with snow in southern California. Other Vulcan exteriors were shot at Vasquez Rocks, a location that was used in various episodes of the original series. A Budweiser plant in Van Nuys was used for "Enterprise"s engine room, while a Long Beach power plant was used for "Kelvin"s engine room.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Following the initiation of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike on November 5, 2007, Abrams, himself a WGA member, told "Variety" that while he would not render writing services for the film and intended to walk the picket line, he did not expect the strike to impact his directing of the production. In the final few weeks before the strike and start of production, Abrams and Lindelof polished the script for a final time. Abrams was frustrated that he was unable to alter lines during the strike, whereas normally they would have been able to improvise new ideas during rehearsal, although Lindelof acknowledged they could dub some lines in post-production. Orci and Kurtzman were able to stay on set without strikebreaking because they were also executive producers on the film; they could "make funny eyes and faces at the actors whenever they had a problem with the line and sort of nod when they had something better". Abrams was able to alter a scene where Spock combats six Romulans from a fistfight to a gunfight, having decided there were too many physical brawls in the film.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The production team maintained heavily enforced security around the film. Karl Urban revealed, "[There is a] level of security and secrecy that we have all been forced to adopt. I mean, it's really kind of paranoid crazy, but sort of justified. We're not allowed to walk around in public in our costumes and we have to be herded around everywhere in these golf carts that are completely concealed and covered in black canvas. The security of it is immense. You feel your freedom is a big challenge." Actors like Jennifer Morrison were only given the scripts of their scenes. The film's shooting script was fiercely protected even with the main cast. Simon Pegg said, "I read [the script] with a security guard near me – it's that secretive." The film used the fake working title of "Corporate Headquarters". Some of the few outside of the production allowed to visit the set included Rod Roddenberry, Ronald D. Moore, Jonathan Frakes, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg (who had partially convinced Abrams to direct because he liked the script, and he even advised the action scenes during his visit).


title: Star Trek (film)

text: When the shoot ended, Abrams gave the cast small boxes containing little telescopes, which allowed them to read the name of each constellation it was pointed at. "I think he just wanted each of us to look at the stars a little differently," said John Cho. After the shoot, Abrams cut out some scenes of Kirk and Spock as children, including seeing the latter as a baby, as well as a subplot involving Nero being imprisoned by the Klingons and his escape: this explanation for his absence during Kirk's life confused many to whom Abrams screened the film. Other scenes cut out explained that the teenage Kirk stole his stepfather's antique car because he had forced him to clean it before an auction; and that the Orion he seduced at the Academy worked in the operations division. Afterward, she agrees to open the e-mail containing his patch that allows him to pass the "Kobayashi Maru" test.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Abrams chose to shoot the film in the anamorphic format on 35mm film after discussions about whether the film should be shot in high-definition digital video. Cinematographer Dan Mindel and Abrams agreed the choice gave the film a big-screen feel and the realistic, organic look they wanted for the film setting. Abrams and Mindel used lens flares throughout filming to create an optimistic atmosphere and a feeling that activity was taking place off-camera, making the "Star Trek" universe feel more real. "There's something about those flares, especially in a movie that potentially could be incredibly sterile and CG and overly controlled. There's just something incredibly unpredictable and gorgeous about them." Mindel would create more flares by shining a flashlight or pointing a mirror at the camera lens, or using two cameras simultaneously and therefore two lighting set-ups. Editor Mary Jo Markey later said in an interview that he had not told her (or fellow editor Maryann Brandon) this, and initially contacted the film developers asking why the film seemed overexposed.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Domain were among several companies that created over 1,000 special effect shots. The visual effects supervisors were Roger Guyett, who collaborated with Abrams on "" and also served as second unit director, and Russell Earl. Abrams avoided shooting only against bluescreen and greenscreen, because it "makes me insane", using them instead to extend the scale of sets and locations. The Delta Vega sequence required the mixing of digital snow with real snow.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: "Star Trek" was the first film ILM worked on using entirely digital ships. "Enterprise" was intended by Abrams to be a merging of its design in the series and the refitted version from the original film. Abrams had fond memories of the revelation of "Enterprise"s refit in "", because it was the first time the ship felt tangible and real to him. The iridescent pattern on the ship from "The Motion Picture" was maintained to give the ship depth, while model maker Roger Goodson also applied the "Aztec" pattern from "The Next Generation". Goodson recalled Abrams also wanted to bring a "hot rod" aesthetic to the ship. Effects supervisor Roger Guyett wanted the ship to have more moving parts, which stemmed from his childhood dissatisfaction with the ship's design: The new "Enterprise"s dish can expand and move, while the fins on its engines split slightly when they begin warping. "Enterprise" was originally redesigned by Ryan Church using features of the original, at long, but was doubled in size to long to make it seem "grander", while the Romulan "Narada" is five miles long and several miles wide. The filmmakers had to simulate lens flares on the ships in keeping with the film's cinematography.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Carolyn Porco of NASA was consulted on the planetary science and imagery. The animators realistically recreated what an explosion would look like in space: short blasts, which suck inward and leave debris from a ship floating. For shots of an imploding planet, the same explosion program was used to simulate it breaking up, while the animators could manually composite multiple layers of rocks and wind sucking into the planet. Unlike other "Star Trek" films and series, the transporter beam effects swirl rather than speckle. Abrams conceived the redesign to emphasize the notion of transporters as beams that can pick up and move people, rather than a signal composed of scrambled atoms.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Lola Visual Effects worked on 48 shots, including some animation to Bana and Nimoy. Bana required extensive damage to his teeth, which was significant enough to completely replace his mouth in some shots. Nimoy's mouth was reanimated in his first scene with Kirk following a rerecording session. The filmmakers had filmed Nimoy when he rerecorded his lines so they could rotoscope his mouth into the film, even recreating the lighting conditions, but they realized they had to digitally recreate his lips because of the bouncing light created by the camp fire.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The sound effects were designed by "Star Wars" veteran Ben Burtt. Whereas the phaser blast noises from the television series were derived from "The War of the Worlds" (1953), Burtt made his phaser sounds more like his blasters from "Star Wars", because Abrams' depiction of phasers were closer to the blasters' bullet-like fire, rather than the steady beams of energy in previous "Star Trek" films. Burtt reproduced the classic photon torpedo and warp drive sounds: he tapped a long spring against a contact microphone, and combined that with cannon fire. Burtt used a 1960s oscillator to create a musical and emotional hum to the warping and transporting sounds.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Michael Giacchino, Abrams' most frequent collaborator, composed the music for "Star Trek". He kept the original theme by Alexander Courage for the end credits, which Abrams said symbolized the momentum of the crew coming together. Giacchino admitted personal pressure in scoring the film, as "I grew up listening to all of that great ["Trek"] music, and that's part of what inspired me to do what I'm doing [...] You just go in scared. You just hope you do your best. It's one of those things where the film will tell me what to do." Scoring took place at the Sony Scoring Stage with a 107-piece orchestra and 40-person choir. An erhu, performed by Karen Han, was used for the Vulcan themes. A distorted recording was used for the Romulans. Varèse Sarabande, the record label responsible for releasing albums of Giacchino's previous scores for "Alias", "Lost", "", and "Speed Racer", released the soundtrack for the film on May 5. The music for the theatrical trailers were composed by Two Steps from Hell.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The first teaser trailer debuted in theaters with "Cloverfield" on January 18, 2008, which showed "Enterprise" under construction. Abrams himself directed the first part of the trailer, where a welder removes his goggles. Professional welders were hired for the teaser. The voices of the 1960s played over the trailer were intended to link the film to the present day; John F. Kennedy in particular was chosen because of similarities with the character of James T. Kirk and because he is seen to have "kicked off" the Space Race. Orci explained that: "If we do indeed have a Federation, I think Kennedy's words will be inscribed in there someplace." "Star Trek"s later trailers would win four awards, including Best in Show, in the tenth annual Golden Trailer Awards.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Paramount faced two obstacles in promoting the film: the unfamiliarity of the "MySpace generation" with the franchise and the relatively weak international performance of the previous films. Six months before the film's release, Abrams toured Europe and North America with 25 minutes of footage. Abrams noted the large-scale campaign started unusually early, but this was because the release delay allowed him to show more completed scenes than normal. The director preferred promoting his projects quietly, but concurred Paramount needed to remove "Star Trek"s stigma. Abrams would exaggerate his preference for other shows to "Star Trek" as a child to the press, with statements like "I'm not a "Star Trek" fan" and "this movie is not made for "Star Trek" fans necessarily". Orci compared Abrams' approach to "The Next Generation" episode "A Matter of Honor", where William Riker is stationed aboard a Klingon vessel. "On that ship when someone talks back to you, you would have to beat them down or you lose the respect of your crew, which is protocol, whereas on a Federation ship that would be a crime. So we have to give [J. J. Abrams] a little bit of leeway, when he is traveling the 'galaxy' over there where they don't know "Trek", to say the things that need to be said in order to get people onto our side."


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Promotional partners on the film include Nokia, Verizon Wireless, Esurance, Kellogg's, Burger King and Intel Corporation, as well as various companies specializing in home decorating, apparel, jewelry, gift items and "Tiberius", "Pon Farr" and "Red Shirt" fragrances. Playmates Toys, who owned the "Star Trek" toy license until 2000, also held the merchandise rights for the new film. The first wave was released in March and April 2009. Playmates hope to continue their toy line into 2010. The first wave consists of 3.75", 6" and 12" action figures, an "Enterprise" replica, prop toys and play sets. to recreate the whole bridge, one would have to buy more 3.75" figures, which come with chairs and consoles to add to the main set consisting of Kirk's chair, the floor, the main console and the viewscreen. Master Replicas, Mattel, Hasbro and Fundex Games will promote the film via playing cards, "Monopoly", UNO, Scrabble, Magic 8-Ball, Hot Wheels, Tyco R/C, 20Q, "Scene It?" and Barbie lines. Some of these are based on previous "Star Trek" iterations rather than the film. CBS also created a merchandising line based around "Star Trek" caricatures named "Quogs".


title: Star Trek (film)

text: In February 2008, Paramount announced they would move "Star Trek" from its December 25, 2008, release date to May 8, 2009, as the studio felt more people would see the film during summer than winter. The film was practically finished by the end of 2008. Paramount's decision came about after visiting the set and watching dailies, as they realized the film could appeal to a much broader audience. Even though the filmmakers liked the Christmas release date, Damon Lindelof acknowledged it would allow more time to perfect the visual effects. The months-long gap between the completion of the production and release meant Alan Dean Foster was allowed to watch the whole film before writing the novelization, although the novel would contain scenes absent from the final edit. Quinto narrated the audiobook.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: A surprise public screening was held on April 6, 2009, at the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Austin, Texas, hosted by writers Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and producer Damon Lindelof. The showing was publicized as a screening of "", followed by a ten-minute preview of the new "Star Trek" film. A few minutes into "Khan", the film appeared to melt and Nimoy appeared on stage with Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof, asking the audience, "wouldn't you rather see the new movie?" Following the surprise screening in Texas, the first of many premieres across the world was held at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney on April 7, 2009. For almost two years, the town of Vulcan, Alberta had campaigned to have the film premiere there, but because it had no theater, Paramount arranged instead a lottery where 300 winning residents would be taken to a prerelease screening in Calgary.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 17, 2009, in North America, November 16 in the United Kingdom and October 26 in Australia and New Zealand. In Sweden and Germany, it was released on November 4. First week sales stood at 5.7 million DVDs along with 1.1 million Blu-ray Discs, giving Paramount Pictures their third chart topping release in five weeks following "" and "".


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Official screenings in the United States started at 7 pm on May 7, 2009, grossing $4 million on its opening day. By the end of the weekend, "Star Trek" had opened with $79,204,300, as well as $35,500,000 from other countries. Adjusted and unadjusted for inflation, it beat "" for the largest American opening for a "Star Trek" film. The film made US$8.5 million from its IMAX screenings, breaking "The Dark Knight"s $6.3 million IMAX opening record. The film is the highest-grossing in the United States and Canada from the entire "Star Trek" film franchise, eclipsing "" and "". Its opening weekend numbers alone outgross the entire individual runs of "The Undiscovered Country", "The Final Frontier", "Insurrection" and "Nemesis". "Star Trek" ended its United States theatrical run on October 1, 2009, with a box office total of $257,730,019, which places it as the seventh highest-grossing film for 2009 behind "The Hangover". The film grossed $127,764,536 in international markets, for a total worldwide gross of $385,494,555. While foreign grosses represent only 31% of the total box office receipts, executives of Paramount were happy with the international sales, as "Star Trek" historically was a movie franchise that never has been a big draw overseas.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: "Star Trek" was acclaimed by film critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it received 94% approval rating with an average rating of 8.14/10 (the highest scored "Star Trek" film), based on 352 reviews, with the consensus: ""Star Trek" reignites a classic franchise with action, humor, a strong story, and brilliant visuals, and will please traditional Trekkies and new fans alike." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, gave the film an 82 out of 100 based on 46 reviews from critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Ty Burr of the "Boston Globe" gave the film a perfect four star rating, describing it as "ridiculously satisfying", and the "best prequel ever". Burr praised the character development in the film, opining that "emotionally, "Star Trek" hits every one of its marks, functioning as a family reunion that extends across decades, entertainment mediums, even blurring the line between audience and show." He continued: "Trading on affections sustained over 40 years of popular culture, "Star Trek" does what a franchise reboot rarely does. It reminds us why we loved these characters in the first place." Owen Gleiberman from "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film an 'A−' grade, commenting that director Abrams "crafts an origin story that avoids any hint of the origin doldrums". Similar sentiments were expressed by "Rolling Stone" journalist Peter Travers, who gave the film a 3.5 out of 4 stars. He felt that the acting from the cast was the highlight of the filming, asserting that the performance of Pine radiated star quality. Likewise, Travers called Quinto's performance "sharp" and "intuitive", and felt that Quinto "gave the film a soul". Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" wrote, ""Star Trek" [...] isn't just a pleasurable rethink of your geek uncle's favorite science-fiction series. It's also a testament to television's power as mythmaker, as a source for some of the fundamental stories we tell about ourselves, who we are and where we came from. "Slate" Dana Stevens felt that the film was "a gift to those of us who loved the original series, that brainy, wonky, idealistic body of work that aired to almost no commercial success between 1966–69 and has since become a science fiction archetype and object of cult adoration". "Time Out London" Tom Huddleston praised the aesthetic qualities of the film, such as the design of "Enterprise", and praised the performances of the cast. He wrote, "The cast are equally strong: Quinto brings wry charm to an otherwise calculating character, while Pine powers through his performance in bullish, if not quite Shatner-esque, fashion."


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The chemistry between Pine and Quinto was well received by critics. Gleiberman felt that as the film progressed to the conclusion, Pine and Quinto emulated the same connection as Kirk and Spock. Tim Robey of "The Telegraph" echoed similar attitudes; "The movie charts their relationship [...] in a nicely oblique way." Robey resumed: "It's the main event, dramatically speaking, but there's always something more thumpingly urgent to command their attention, whether it's a Vulcan distress signal or the continuing rampages of those pesky Romulans." Burr opined that Abrams had an accurate understanding of the relationship between Kirk and Spock, and wrote, "Pine makes a fine, brash boy Kirk, but Quinto's Spock is something special – an eerily calm figure freighted with a heavier sadness than Roddenberry's original. The two ground each other and point toward all the stories yet to come." Similarly, "The Guardian" writer Peter Bradshaw expressed: "The story of Kirk and Spock is brought thrillingly back to life by a new first generation: Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, who give inspired, utterly unselfconscious and lovable performances, with power, passion and some cracking comic timing."


title: Star Trek (film)

text: Some film critics were polarized on "Star Trek". Keith Phipps of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a 'B+' grade, and asserted that it was "a reconsideration of what constitutes "Star Trek", one that deemphasizes heady concepts and plainly stated humanist virtues in favor of breathless action punctuated by bursts of emotion. It might not even be immediately recognizable to veteran fans." In concurrence, Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" stated that "the Gene Roddenberry years, when stories might play with questions of science, ideals or philosophy, have been replaced by stories reduced to loud and colorful action." Ebert ultimately gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars. Similarly, Marc Bain of "Newsweek" opined: "The latest film version of "Star Trek" [...] is more brawn than brain, and it largely jettisons complicated ethical conundrums in favor of action sequences and special effects." "Slate" journalist Juliet Lapidos argued that the new film, with its "standard Hollywood torture scene", failed to live up to the intellectual standard set by the 1992 "Next Generation" episode "", whose treatment of the issue she found both more sophisticated and pertinent to the ongoing debate over the United States' use of enhanced interrogation techniques.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: A 2018 article by Io9/Gizmodo ranked all 11 versions of the USS "Enterprise" seen in the "Star Trek" franchise up to that point. The version seen in the film placed in the second lowest position.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The film garnered numerous accolades after its release. In 2010, it was nominated for four Academy Awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup. "Star Trek" won in the category for Best Makeup, making it the first "Star Trek" film to receive an Academy Award. The film was nominated for three Empire Awards, to which it won for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy. In October 2009, "Star Trek" won the Hollywood Award for Best Movie, and attained six Scream Awards at the 2009 Scream Awards Ceremony. The film attained a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: "Star Trek" received several nominations. The film was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, but was beaten out by "Up", also composed by Michael Giacchino. At the 36th People's Choice Awards, the film received four nominations: the film was a contender for Favorite Movie, Zoe Saldana was nominated for Favorite Breakout Movie Actress, and both Pine and Quinto were nominated for Favorite Breakout Movie Actor. On June 15, 2009, the film was nominated for five Teen Choice Awards. In addition, "Star Trek" was nominated for five Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards and was named one of the top-ten films of 2009 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: The film's major cast members signed on for two sequels as part of their original deals. Abrams and Bryan Burk signed to produce and Abrams signed to direct the first sequel. The sequel, "Star Trek Into Darkness", starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan Noonien Singh, was released on May 15, 2013.


title: Star Trek (film)

text: A third film, "Star Trek Beyond", directed by Justin Lin and starring Idris Elba as the main antagonist, was released on July 22, 2016, to positive reviews. In July 2016, Abrams confirmed plans for a fourth film, and stated that Chris Hemsworth would return as Kirk's father. Most of the cast and producers of "Beyond" have also agreed to return; however, Abrams stated Anton Yelchin's role would not be recast following his death.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in "Misfits", Darren Treacy in "Love/Hate", and Klaus Hargreeves in "The Umbrella Academy," as well as film roles such as Tom Natsworthy in "Mortal Engines" and Simon Lewis in "".


title: Robert Sheehan

text: Sheehan has received multiple Irish Film and Television Award nominations and a British Academy Television Award nomination. In 2020, he was listed as number 41 on "The Irish Times" list of Ireland's greatest film actors.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: Sheehan was born in Portlaoise, County Laois. He is the youngest of three children born to Maria and Joe Sheehan, who was a garda.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: At school, he played the banjo, the bodhrán, and the spoons, having joked that he was like ""Footloose" with spoons"; he also participated in Fleadh Cheoil.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: Sheehan attended St Paul's school in Portlaoise. Unsure of whether acting was a sustainable career choice, he studied film and television at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. He missed several months of the course to film "Summer of the Flying Saucer", and failed his first year examinations, and decided not to attempt the repeats.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: Sheehan became interested in acting in primary school, when he played Oliver in "Oliver with a Twist". At the age of fourteen, he auditioned for "Song for a Raggy Boy", and won the role, spending three months in Cork to film. He later joined the Laois Open Door theatre group, and played the crippled boy in a production of "The Cripple of Inishmaan". At the age of 16, Sheehan appeared in the Australian television show "Foreign Exchange". He followed it with roles in "The Clinic" and "The Tudors", and portrayed Louis XIV of France in "Young Blades". In 2008, he appeared in "Rock Rivals" and "Bitter Sweet", a two-part television comedy drama. During this time, he also appeared in films including "Ghostwood".


title: Robert Sheehan

text: After leaving the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Sheehan starred as one of the lead characters in the "Cherrybomb" in 2009. In March 2009, he appeared in the role of BJ in the Channel 4 trilogy "Red Riding". Sheehan described the role as "weighty" and a "step up" from his previous work, and credits the show with changing his career.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: From 2009 to 2010, he starred as Nathan Young, a young offender, in the first two series of the British TV series "Misfits". In April 2011, it was announced that Sheehan would not be returning to the show for the third season. Regarded as a "cult favourite", Sheehan connected "intensely" with the role, which he later described as "defining", and "a lovely, gorgeous memory for me," and remarked it was "challenging" to leave it behind. In May 2011 he was nominated for a BAFTA Award in the "Male Supporting Actor" category for his role in "Misfits". Beginning in 2010, he played Darren, a member of gangland Dublin in "Love/Hate". He accepted the part because he wanted to work with Stuart Carolan and Dave Caffrey, and featured in three seasons. After leaving the series, his character's ubiquitous blue hoodie was donated to the Dunamaise Theater in Portlaoise, and he remarked it was "tough to watch [the] show carry on without [me]". He was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award for the role in 2011 and 2013. In 2011, Sheehan played Kay in Season of the Witch alongside Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: Sheehan was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award in the Rising Star category in 2010. The following year, he starred in the film "Killing Bono", and in John Crowley's production of "The Playboy of the Western World" at the Old Vic Theatre. Sheehan appeared in the second season of the BBC crime drama series "Accused", which aired in 2012. He played Simon Lewis in the 2013 film "", and followed it with roles in "Anita B.", "The Road Within", "Moonwalkers", and "The Messenger" in 2014 and 2015. In late 2015, he played Richard III in Trevor Nunn's revival of "The Wars of the Roses", an adaption of William Shakespeare's plays "Richard III" and the three part "Henry VI". In a 2018 interview with "Hot Press", Sheehan described the role as his recent favourite, citing the "magic" and "transcendent experience" of being on stage.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: "The Song of Sway Lake" premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2017, and was released theatrically the following year. It was filmed prior to 2014, and reflecting on the role in 2019, Sheehan described himself as "immensely proud". During 2017, he also appeared in "Geostorm" and featured in the second season of "Fortitude", for which he was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award. In 2018, he appeared in "Genius: Picasso" as Carlos Casagemas and in "The Young Offenders" Christmas special as a caricatured version of himself. He also appeared in several films; he starred alongside David Tennant in "Bad Samaritan", appeared in the neo-noir film "Mute", and starred in "Mortal Engines" in the leading role of Tom Natsworthy.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: On 15 October 2021, Robert published his debut novel, Disappearing Act: A Host of Other Characters in 16 Short Stories.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: He has spoken openly about experimenting with his sexuality when younger, but identifies as heterosexual.


title: Robert Sheehan

text: In September 2013, Sheehan was honoured by University College Dublin's Literary and Historical Society. In October 2015, he received the Burke Medal for Contribution to Discourse Through The Arts from College Historical Society in Trinity College Dublin.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The HAL Tejas is an Indian, single engine, delta wing, light multirole fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters but later became part of a general fleet modernisation programme. In 2003, the LCA was officially named "Tejas". It is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas is the second supersonic fighter developed by HAL after the HAL HF-24 Marut. The Tejas achieved initial operational clearance in 2011 and final operational clearance in 2019. The first Tejas squadron became operational in 2016, as No. 45 Squadron IAF "Flying Daggers" was the first to have their MiG-21s replaced with the Tejas.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas currently has three production models – Tejas Mark 1, Mark 1A and trainer variant. The IAF currently placed an order for 40 Tejas Mark 1 and 73 Tejas Mark 1A and 10 trainer aircraft. The IAF plans to procure 324 aircraft in all variants, including the Tejas Mark 2 currently being developed by the HAL. The Tejas Mark 2 is expected to be ready for series production by 2026.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The origin of LCA programme can be traced back to the early 1980s. In 1983, the Government of India established the LCA project with the initial goal to develop a new light combat aircraft to replace the ageing IAF fighters, especially the MiG-21 variants, which had been the mainstay of the IAF since 1963. At one point the IAF had operated as many as 874 MiG-21s. The "Long Term Re-Equipment Plan 1981" noted that most of these IAF fighters were approaching the end of their service lives by the early-1990s, and that by 1995, the IAF would be 40 percent short of the aircraft needed to fill its projected force structure requirements.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In 1984, the Government of India established Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to manage the LCA programme. The ADA was entrusted with the design and development of LCA while HAL was chosen as the principal contractor. The government's "self-reliance" goals for the LCA included the three most sophisticated and challenging systems: the Fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system, multi-mode pulse-doppler radar, and afterburning turbofan engine.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The project definition phase was commenced in October 1986 with France's Dassault-Breguet Aviation as consultant. Dassault-Breguet's expertise was mainly utilised in the design and system integration of the Tejas. In 1988, Dassault had offered a hybrid fly by wire flight control system for the LCA. It consists of three digital channels and one analogue channel, the French idea was to have a fourth analogue channel as a back up in case the digital channels fails. But the ADA was in favour of having a quadruplex digital FBW flight control system on LCA.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The design of the Tejas was finalised in 1990 – a small tailless compound delta wing design with inherent relaxed static stability which necessitates the need for digital FBW flight control system ("control configured vehicle" concept) for enhanced manoeuvrability. Kota Harinarayana was the Programme Director and Chief Designer of Tejas. In 1992, a dedicated "National Control Law (CLAW)" team was set up by the National Aerospace Laboratories to develop India's own state of the art FBW flight control system for the Tejas. Earlier Lockheed Martin's consultancy was utilized for the development of fly by wire flight control system. However Lockheed Martin withdrew its assistance In 1998, owing to the US embargo in response to India's second nuclear tests in that year, which delayed the programme.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The NAL's CLAW team completed the design and integration of the flight control laws with the flight control system software, and put to test at the "Iron-Bird" test rig. The quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system, performing flawlessly for over 50 hours of pilot testing on Technology Demonstrator TD-1 cleared for flight test by early 2001. On 4 January 2001, on its maiden flight, the TD-1 successfully flew with an indigenous quadruplex digital FBW flight control system.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Another critical technology needed for LCA was the multi-mode radar (MMR). Initially, the Ericsson/Ferranti PS-05/A I/J-band multi-function radar, also used on Saab's JAS 39 Gripen, was intended to be used. However, DRDO decided to develop an indigenous multi-mode radar for the Tejas. HAL's Hyderabad division and the DRDO's Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) laboratory were selected to jointly lead the MMR programme, and work commenced in 1997. The Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS) was responsible for the MMR's test programme. An HAL-748 airborne surveillance aircraft was converted for this purpose. The development of multi-mode was not smooth, as it suffered some setbacks. By 2005, only two radar modes – the air-to-air look-up and look-down were confirmed to have been successfully tested. The performance of several other modes that had been tested were suboptimal. The problem with the radar was mainly attributed to the lack of compatibility between the LRDE/HAL multi mode radar and the LRDE's advanced signal processor module. Using an "off-the-shelf" foreign radar as an interim option was considered.


title: HAL Tejas

text: ADA met with success in the development of three of the five key technologies identified at the beginning of the LCA programme. The successful endeavours were mastery in the FBW flight control system, the development and manufacturing of carbon-fibre composite structures and skins, and a modern glass cockpit. The "Autolay" computer-aided design software developed as part of the LCA programme has been licensed to Airbus for its A380 wide-body aircraft project. The development of a multi-mode pulse-doppler radar, once delayed was completed as the Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and is currently undergoing flight trials. India's self-reliance goal oriented development for the LCA programme has considerably increased the indigenous components in Tejas and contributed to an aviation industry expansion in the country.


title: HAL Tejas

text: On 20 December 2021, Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a written reply during winter session of Rajya Sabha clarified that the HAL Tejas is no longer considered as a replacement for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, instead it is now part of a general IAF fleet modernisation programme.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Prototype testing began in 2003, a year after the first flight of the second Technology Demonstrator (TD-2). The first prototype aircraft, PV-1, made its maiden flight in 2003. The first trainer prototype PV-5 was rolled out in 2009 and made its first flight on 26 November 2009. A total of two trainer prototypes were built and designated PV-5 and PV-06. The first naval prototype, designated NP-1, made its first flight on 27 April 2012. It was a twin-seater aircraft, while the second naval prototype, designated as NP-2, was a single seater. Both naval prototypes were used extensively for various aircraft carrier-related trials at the Shore Based Test Facility in Goa. NP-2 was used in the actual carrier trials, where it made an arrested recovery and ski-jump assisted take-off from the aircraft-carrier INS Vikramaditya in January 2020.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The first Limited Series Production aircraft (LSP-1) performed its maiden flight on 25 April 2007. A total of seven limited series production (LSP) aircraft were built. The LSPs were extensively used for developmental trials such as weapon testing – involving test firing of the R-73 and Python-5 close combat missiles, the I-Derby ER beyond visual range air-to-air missile and guided–unguided munition releases. The LSPs were also used for sensor trials involving integration and testing of the Israeli Elta EL/M-2032 multi-mode radar, Indian Uttam AESA Radar and Rafael Litening targeting pod. The Uttam radar was integrated on the Tejas LSP-2 and LSP-3, and logged about 30 hours of flight testing on the Tejas alone. The high altitude trials and hot weather trials were carried out with the LSPs and the PV-3 prototype, in IOC and FOC configurations. These trials were mainly focused on assessing the performance of the various sensors and avionics on board, at temperatures ranging from below -10 degree Celsius to more than +45 degrees Celsius.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Sea trials to assess the radar performance in air-to-air and air-to-sea modes, at various altitudes were carried out in 2010. Flutter vibration tests were also carried out in different configurations at high angles of attack (AoA) to assess the structural integrity across the flight envelope. LSP-4 completed the successful trial of BDL developed Counter Measure Dispensing System (CMDS) with R-73 missile on 2 December 2010. It worked well Open Architecture Mission Computer and Digital Stores Management System.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In the second half of 2012, the Tejas fleet was grounded for over three months and the ejection system had to be modified to resume flight tests by the end of 2012. In 2013, Tejas (LSP-7) conducted an inflight engine relight test at high altitude to assess the engine response on flameout, a critical parameter for operational clearance. The inflight engine relight test is crucial for single engine combat aircraft.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In December 2006, the IAF announced that it would form an "LCA Induction Team" to manage the aircraft's service introduction. The Tejas was awarded initial operational clearance-I (IOC-I) in January 2011. To ease up the process of FOC, an interim IOC-II was issued to Tejas in December 2013. The IOC-II expanded the g-limit, angle of attack and allowed the aircraft to carry precision guided munitions and close combat missiles. The IOC-II Tejas have an operational radius of 400–500 km. The first squadron, consisting of Tejas in IOC-II configuration, became operational in 2016. The No. 45 Squadron IAF based at Sulur Air Force Station, Coimbatore was the first to have their MiG-21s replaced by Tejas aircraft at the base.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The FOC campaign began in December 2014. Two critical parameters set by IAF for FOC clearance was expansion of angle of attack from 24 degree in IOC-II to 28 degree in FOC and inflight refueling capability. In February 2018, as part of the FOC campaign, the Tejas carried out a "hot refuelling" - refuelling with engine running, which shortens the turnaround time by 30% and doubles the sortie rate. In September 2018, the Tejas successfully completed its mid-air refuelling trials required for the aircraft to obtain its FOC. In January 2019, HAL received permission from CEMILAC to start production of the FOC standard Tejas.


title: HAL Tejas

text: On 20 February 2019, during the Aero India 2019 show, FOC was formally awarded to the Tejas. The second Tejas squadron – No.18 "Flying Bullets" was formed at Sulur Air Force Station on 27 May 2020 with the first four serial production FOC aircraft.


title: HAL Tejas

text: A full mission simulator (FMS) phase-1 was commissioned at Sulur Air Force Station on 23 October 2021. The Phase 1 of the FMS features training in aircraft handling and full envelope flying. Phase 2 will further augment the training with focus on weapons system and advance sensors onboard Tejas.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In May 2015, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) noted some shortcomings in the then-delivered Tejas Mark 1 IOC standard aircraft, which according to the CAG would limit the survivability and operational deployability of the aircraft in actual combat. A few of these shortcomings, including lack of combat endurance, were addressed in the Tejas Mark 1 FOC configuration aircraft. Tejas Mark 1 FOC resolved the issue of onboard fuel monitoring with an integrated Environmental Control and Fuel Management (ECFM) system. It can now perform aerial refueling from Ilyushin Il-78 and buddy refueling with Sukhoi Su-30MKI. Tejas is also undergoing butt firing trials and air-to-air firing at HAL, Nashik facility with Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The shortcomings, such as the increased weight and reduced speed would be addressed in the upcoming Tejas Mark 1A aircraft by increasing the use of composites in manufacturing and reducing the supersonic drag by using more aerodynamic pylons. The MK1A will also have AESA radar, a self-protection jammer, updated avionics and electronic warfare capabilities, among other improvements. The shortcomings identified by CAG that require redesign and structural modification such as increasing internal fuel capacity, are planned to be rectified in the Tejas Mark 2.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas Mark 1A, which has more than 40 improvements over the Mark 1 variant, is expected to begin production in 2023–24. Upgraded Mark 1A aircraft will retain basic Mark 1 airframe while featuring a new avionic suite centered on EL/M-2052 AESA Radar and Uttam AESA Radar, DARE Unified Electronic Warfare Suite (UEWS), an externally mounted self protection jammer (SPJ) for enhanced survivability, instrument flight rules (IFR) capability, Onboard Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS) developed by Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL) for endurance and an expanded weapon suite consisting of Astra BVRAAM and ASRAAM. HAL will install in-house developed Combined Interrogator and Transponder (CIT) with digital map generator by Mission and Combat Systems R&D Centre which helps transfer the required mission map on pilot display, an upgraded IFF+ from older identification friend or foe system. To better accommodate the pilots, cockpit floor is also reshaped. The upgraded Tejas Mark 1A will have a reduced turnaround time.


title: HAL Tejas

text: According to HAL Chairman and Director R Madhavan, the design activity of Tejas Mark 1A is moving ahead and the testing of subsystems will be completed by 2021. The taxi trials will commence in the first half of 2022 and the first flight of Mark 1A prototype will happen in second half of 2022. Delivery of the aircraft for the IAF will begin from March 2024. BEL will supply 20 types of locally developed critical avionics and upgrades such as Digital Flight Control Computers from ADA, Air Data Computer from DRDO, Weapon Computers from ADE, Radar Warning Receiver from Combat Aircraft Systems Development and Integration Centre (CASDIC) and Head-up display from Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) from 2023 to 2028 for ₹2,400 crore.


title: HAL Tejas

text: On 20 June 2022, the Tejas Mark 1A prototype completed its first flight. HAL intends to obtain a certificate from Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) within 30 months before this version enters mass production. Two ASRAAMs are intended for use on Tejas Mark 1A. The production variant will come equipped with dual-rack pylons with weapon systems integration. HAL is on track to deliver first Tejas Mark 1A by February 2024.The order of 83 aircraft for IAF will be completed by 2029 at the rate of 16 units per year.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The HAL Tejas design has been further developed into the Tejas Mark 2, incorporating a more powerful General Electric F414 INS6 engine, canards and other design changes. The Tejas Mark 2, which is expected to be rolled out in 2022, will have an increased payload carrying capacity and internal fuel capacity, more external hardpoints, improved combat range, a completely redesigned cockpit, and an integrated infrared search and track (IRST) system, in addition to the AESA radar. The Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) is developing aircraft health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) to integrate the various sensors on board the Tejas Mark 2. The first flight of Tejas Mark 2 is expected to be in 2023.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The "Naval LCA programme" was commenced in 2003. According to ADA, the "Naval LCA (N-LCA) Programme" was envisaged to be completed in two phases, under Phase-1 two naval prototypes were developed - the two-seat "NP-1" and the single-seat "NP-2", based on the Tejas Mark 1 design, to carryout carrier suitability certification and weapons integration. Under Phase 2, two single-seat prototypes were planned to be built, based on the Tejas Mark 2 design, with further design optimisation and integration of the General Electric F414 INS6 engine. The first naval prototype NP-1 was rolled out in July 2010, and made its first flight on 27 April 2012. The naval LCA has stronger landing gear to absorb the forces generated during carrier take off and arrested recovery.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In December 2014, the LCA Navy successfully made its first ski-jump assisted take off from a SBTF at INS Hansa. The navy variant has a distinctive flight control law mode which allows hands-free take-off.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In December 2016, the Indian Navy (IN) opted out of the programme, owing to the long delay and technical reasons – such as inadequate thrust to weight ratio of N-LCA for carrier based combat operations, and issued a fresh RFI for the procurement of 57 multi-role carrier borne fighters.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Because the technologies developed for the Tejas programme will be carried over to other platforms currently being developed by the ADA, test flying was continued.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In 2019, an LCA navy prototype successfully carried out the first arrested landing at the SBTF in Goa in day time and night time. As of December 2019, the Naval LCA programme completed 209 test flights, of these 50 were ski jump take-offs.


title: HAL Tejas

text: In January 2020, the naval prototype NP-2 successfully carried out its first arrested landing and ski-jump assisted take-off from the aircraft-carrier INS "Vikramaditya".


title: HAL Tejas

text: In July 2020, the DRDO announced that the plan to develop an LCA Mark 2 Navy had been dropped and they were working on a new carrier-borne fighter according to the Indian Navy's "multi-role carrier borne fighter requirement" floated in 2016 to replace the current fleet of MIG-29K/KUB carrier-based fighters. In Aero India 2021 a new twin engine naval fighter was unveiled, the "Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter" (TEDBF). The experience gained in the N-LCA programme will help in the development of TEDBF.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas is a single-engine multirole combat aircraft which has a tailless, compound delta wing design with "relaxed static stability" for enhanced manoeuvrability and agility. The Tejas is a multi-role combat aircraft and its flexibility permits it to carry out Interception, air-to-surface and anti-shipping roles in a single mission. The wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics analysis have optimised the design of Tejas for minimum transonic and supersonic wave drag, as well low wing-loading.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Tejas has eight hardpoints – one beneath the port-side air-intake, one under the fuselage (centreline station) and three hardpoints under each wing, of these, three are wet hardpoints which can carry drop tanks. The hardpoint beneath the port side air-intake is dedicated to carrying sensor pods such as FLIR, IRST or laser rangefinder/designator. These can also be carried on the centreline pylon and inboard pairs of wing stations. The Mark 1A has an aerial refuelling probe on the starboard side of the forward fuselage. The Tejas weapon suite consists of I-Derby ER and Astra beyond visual range air-to-air missiles and R-73, Python-5 and ASRAAM close combat missiles. The Tejas has an internal 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 twin-barreled autocannon under the starboard side air-intake. The BrahMos-NG supersonic cruise missile is being developed for the Tejas.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The relatively smaller size, extensive use of airframe composites, the Y-duct inlet which shields the engine compressor blades, the application of radar-absorbent material (RAM) coatings and so on, reduces the overall radar cross-section of the aircraft.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Apart from aluminium-lithium alloys and titanium alloys, carbon-fibre composite materials are used in the construction of the Tejas. The composite materials constitute 45% of the airframe by weight and 90% by surface area, the highest among contemporary aircraft. The upper and lower wing surfaces, wing spars and wing ribs are also made out of carbon-fibre composites, while the fin tip is made out of glass-fibre. The extensive use of composite materials in the airframe not only makes the aircraft lighter but also gives high strength. This also reduces the number of joints or rivets, increases the aircraft's structural integrity and lowers its susceptibility to fatigue cracks. The tailfin is a monolithic honeycomb structure, reducing the manufacturing cost by 80% compared to traditional methods. Initially the Tejas prototypes were equipped with a radome made out of Kevlar which was replaced with a quartz radome in the production aircraft.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The naval LCA has a nose droop to provide improved view for carrier landings. In addition to the elevons, the naval LCA have wing leading–edge vortex controllers (LEVCON) control surfaces that extend from the wing-root leading edge, which could be deflected to a downward angle or an upward angle to increase lift and reduce airspeed during approach. The LEVCONs also provides better low-speed handling and increase controllability at high angles of attack (AoA). The naval Tejas also has a strengthened undercarriage, stronger landing gear, and an arrestor hook system for carrier landings. The two-seat LCA Navy variant (NP-1) have aerodynamic commonality with the trainer variant.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The avionics of the Tejas Mark 1 is centered around Elta EL/M-2032 radar. Its digital flight control computer developed by ADE and manufactured BEL. It has an electronic warfare (EW) suite domestically developed by Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), which consists of a radar warning receiver (RWR), integrated self-protection jammer, chaff and flare dispenser system. The upgraded variant of the Tejas Mark 1, named the Tejas Mark 1A, will have an AESA radar, new digital flight control computer, new EW suite and updated avionics. Some of the production Mark 1A fighters will be equipped with the Elta EL/M-2052 AESA radar, while rest are expected to fly with the domestically developed Uttam AESA radar. The new EW system for the Mark 1A, developed by DARE and known as the "Unified Electronic Warfare suite" (UEWS), will have electronic countermeasures and electronic counter-countermeasure capabilities, digital radio frequency memory based jamming and deception capabilities. The Tejas Mark 1A will also carry a pod-mounted self-protection jammer – the Elta ELL-8222WB. The Mark 1A will have software-defined radio-based secure communications and network-centric warfare capabilities.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas can also carry pod-based sensors such as forward looking infrared (FLIR). Currently the Tejas is cleared to carry the Rafael Litening III targeting/reconnaissance pod, while an advanced version named "Litening 4I" will be integrated on the Tejas. The Litening 4I pod, developed by the C4I systems division of Rafael, enables the aircraft to carry out reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence gathering, in addition to target acquisition. The Tejas has an integrated health-monitoring system.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas has a night vision goggles compatible glass cockpit, equipped with a domestically developed head-up display (HUD), three multi-function displays, two Smart Standby Displays by Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIO). The Tejas has hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) arrangement to reduce pilot's workload. The displays provide key information on a need-to-know basis, the pilot interacts with onboard systems through a multi-functional keyboard and several selection panels. The Tejas has a "get-you-home" panel coupled with an air data computer developed by Bharat Electronics Limited to assist the pilot in case of an emergency. The cockpit is equipped with Martin-Baker 16LG zero-zero ejection seat and "canopy severance system" developed by the DRDO for safe ejection. For life support, Tejas Mark 1 relies on conventional liquid oxygen LOX system, while an onboard oxygen-generation system (OBOGS) has been developed for Tejas Mark 1A. The ADA has developed virtual reality assisted cockpit simulator for Tejas, and N-LCA. Currently Tejas pilots are flying with Elbit DASH IV helmet-mounted display system.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The aerodynamic configuration of Tejas is based on a delta-wing layout with shoulder-mounted wings. The control surfaces include three-section slats on the wing's outer leading edge while the inboard sections of the wings have additional slats to generate vortex lift over the inner wing and high-energy air-flow along the tail fin to enhance high-AoA stability. The wing trailing edge fits two-segment elevons to provide pitch and roll control. The only empennage-mounted control surfaces are the single-piece rudder and two airbrakes, located in the upper rear part of the fuselage, one each on either side of the fin. Since the Tejas is a relaxed static stability design, it is equipped with a NAL-developed full authority quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight control system and an open architecture digital flight control computer developed by BEL. Its flight control surfaces are controlled by hybrid electro-hydraulic actuators through the digital flight control computer. The fly-by-wire flight control system of the Tejas has an advanced feature called "auto low-speed recovery." This enables envelope protection at low speed and high angles of attack. It prevents the aircraft from entering into uncontrolled flight while maneuvering. Another feature is "disorientation recovery function", once engaged it will recover the aircraft to an optimal altitude, airspeed and level flight. Some of the flight control laws for these features were formulated by the IIT Bombay research university.


title: HAL Tejas

text: Developing an indigenous jet engine for Tejas was one of the five self-reliance goals identified at the beginning of the LCA Programme. A programme led by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) to design and develop an indigenous powerplant, the Kaveri, was launched as early as in 1986. However Kaveri jet engine development faced some setbacks, hence the General Electric F404-GE-F2J3 afterburning turbofan engine was procured as an interim solution. Since 2004, uprated General Electric F404-GE-IN20 engines are powering Tejas variants.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The Tejas Mark 1 is currently powered by the F404 IN20 engine. The Mark 1A variant will be powered by the same powerplant, while the heavier Tejas Mark 2 will be powered by a General Electric F414 INS6 engine. On 17 August 2021, HAL placed an order of for 99 F404-GE-IN20 engines.


title: HAL Tejas

text: The formation of the first Tejas-equipped squadron started in July 2011. The first Tejas squadron—No. 45 Squadron IAF "(Flying Daggers)" became operational in July 2016, based at Sulur Air Force Station in Coimbatore. The second Tejas Mark 1 squadron, Squadron 18, was formed at Sulur on 27 May 2020. The Tejas Mark 1 made its international debut on 21 January 2016, at the fourth Bahrain International Airshow.