title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The E-2 also received the nickname "Super Fudd" because it replaced the WF (later E-1) "Willy Fudd". In recent decades, the E-2 has been commonly referred to as the "Hummer" because of the distinctive sounds of its turboprop engines, quite unlike that of turbojet and turbofan jet engines. In addition to U.S. Navy service, smaller numbers of E-2s have been sold to the armed forces of Egypt, France, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Continual improvements in airborne radars through 1956 led to the construction of AEW airplanes by several different countries and several different armed forces. The functions of command and control and sea and air surveillance were also added. The first carrier-based aircraft to perform these missions for the U.S. Navy and its allies was the Douglas AD Skyraider, which was replaced in US Navy service by the Grumman E-1 Tracer, which was a modified version of the S-2 Tracker twin-engine anti-submarine warfare aircraft, where the radar was carried in an aerofoil-shaped radome carried above the aircraft's fuselage.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In 1956, the U.S. Navy developed a requirement for an airborne early warning aircraft where its data could be integrated into the Naval Tactical Data System aboard the Navy's ships, with a design from Grumman being selected to meet this requirement in March 1957. Its design, initially designated W2F-1, but later redesignated the E-2A Hawkeye, was the first carrier plane that had been designed from its wheels up as an AEW and command and control airplane. The design engineers at Grumman faced immense challenges, including the requirement that the aircraft be able to operate from the older modified s. These vessels were built during World War II and were smaller than modern carriers, being later modified to allow them to operate jet aircraft. Consequently, various height, weight and length restrictions had to be factored into the E-2A design, resulting in some handling characteristics which were less than ideal. However, the E-2A never operated from the modified Essex class carriers.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The first prototype, acting as an aerodynamic testbed only, flew on 21 October 1960. The first fully equipped aircraft followed it on 19 April 1961 and entered service with the US Navy as the E-2A in January 1964. By 1965, the project had accumulated so many development issues that it was cancelled after 59 aircraft had already been built. In particular, difficulties were being experienced due to inadequate cooling in the closely packed avionics compartment. Early computers and complex avionics systems generated considerable heat and could fail without proper ventilation. These issues continued long after the aircraft entered service. At one point, reliability was so bad that the entire fleet of aircraft was grounded.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: After Navy officials had been forced to explain to Congress why four production contracts had been signed before avionics testing had been completed, action was taken; Grumman and the US Navy scrambled to improve the design. The unreliable rotary drum computer was replaced by a Litton L-304 digital computer and various avionics systems were replaced – the upgraded aircraft were designated E-2Bs. In total, 49 of the 59 E-2As were upgraded to E-2B standard. These aircraft replaced the E-1B Tracers in the various US Navy AEW squadrons.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Although the upgraded E-2B was a vast improvement on the unreliable E-2A, it was an interim measure. The US Navy knew the design had much greater capability and had yet to achieve the performance and reliability parameters set out in the original 1957 design. In April 1968, a reliability improvement program was initiated. In addition, now that the capabilities of the aircraft were starting to be realized, more were desired; 28 new E-2Cs were ordered to augment the 49 E-2Bs that would be upgraded. Improvements in the new and upgraded aircraft were concentrated in the radar and computer performance.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Two E-2A test machines were modified as E-2C prototypes, the first flying on 20 January 1971. Trials proved satisfactory and the E-2C was ordered into production. The first production aircraft performed its initial flight on 23 September 1972. The original E-2C, known as Group 0, consisted of 55 aircraft; the first aircraft became operational in 1973 and serving on carriers in the 1980s and 1990s, until they were replaced in first-line service by Group II aircraft. US Navy Reserve used some aircraft for tracking drug smugglers. The type was commonly used in conjunction with Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighters; monitoring airspace and then vectoring Tomcats over the Link-4A datalink to destroy potential threats with long range AIM-54C Phoenix missiles.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The next production run, between 1988 and 1991, saw 18 aircraft built to the Group I standard. Group I aircraft replaced the E-2's older APS-125 radar and T56-A-425 turboprops with their successors, the APS-139 radar system and T56-A-427 turboprops. The first Group I aircraft entered service in August 1981. Upgrading the Group 0 aircraft to Group I specifications was considered, but the cost was comparable to a new production aircraft, so upgrades were not conducted. Group I aircraft were only flown by the Atlantic fleet squadrons. This version was followed within a few years by the Group II, which had the improved APS-145 radar. A total of 50 Group II aircraft were delivered, 12 being upgraded Group I aircraft. This new version entered service in June 1992 and served with the Pacific and Atlantic Fleet squadrons.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: By 1997, the US Navy intended that all front line squadrons would be equipped, for a total of 75 Group II aircraft. Grumman merged with Northrop in 1994 and plans began on the Group II Plus, also known as the Group II / NAV upgrade. This kept the same computer and radar as the Group II while upgrading the pilot avionics, such as replacing the mechanical Inertial Navigation System (INS) with a more reliable and accurate laser Ring Gyroscope-driven INS, installing dual Multifunction Display Units (MFCDUs) (vice one in the Group II) and integrating GPS into the weapon system. A variant of the Group II with upgrades to the mission computer and CIC workstations is referred to as the MCU/ACIS, these were produced in small numbers due to production of the Hawkeye 2000 soon after its introduction. All Group II aircraft had their 1960s vintage computer processors replaced by a mission computer with the same functionality via modern computer technology, referred to as the GrIIM RePr (Group II Mission Computer Replacement Program, pronounced "grim reaper").


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Another upgrade to the Group II was the Hawkeye 2000, which featured the same APS-145 radar but incorporated an upgraded mission computer and CIC (Combat Information Center) workstations (Advanced Control Indicator Set or ACIS and carries the U.S. Navy's new CEC (cooperative engagement capability) data-link system. It is also fitted with a larger capacity vapor cycle avionics cooling system. Starting in 2007 a hardware and software upgrade package began to be added to existing Hawkeye 2000 aircraft. This upgrade allows faster processing, double current trackfile capacity and access to satellite information networks. Hawkeye 2000 cockpits being upgraded include solid-state glass displays and a GPS-approach capability. The remaining Hawkeye Group II NAV Upgrade aircraft received GPS approach capability, but did not get the solid-state glass displays.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In 2004, the E-2C's propeller system was changed; a new eight-bladed propeller system named NP2000 was developed by the Hamilton-Sundstrand company to replace the old four-bladed design. Improvements included reduced vibrations and better maintainability as a result of the ability to remove prop blades individually instead of having to remove the entire prop and hub assembly. The propeller blades are of carbon fiber construction with steel leading edge inserts and de-icing boots at the root of the blade.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Once considered for replacement by the "Common Support Aircraft", this concept was abandoned. The latest E-2 version is the "E-2D Advanced Hawkeye", which features an entirely new avionics suite including the new AN/APY-9 radar, radio suite, mission computer, integrated satellite communications, flight management system, improved T56-A-427A engines, a glass cockpit and aerial refueling. The APY-9 radar features an active electronically scanned array (AESA), which adds electronic scanning to the mechanical rotation of the radar in its radome. The E-2D includes provisions for the copilot to act as a "Tactical 4th Operator" (T4O), who can reconfigure his main cockpit display to show radar, IFF, Link 16 (JTIDS)/CEC and access all acquired data. The E-2D's first flight occurred on 3 August 2007. On 8 May 2009, an E-2D used its Cooperative Engagement Capability system to engage an overland cruise missile with a Standard Missile SM-6 fired from another platform in an integrated fire-control system test. These two systems will form the basis of the Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air (NIFC-CA) when fielded in 2015; the USN is investigating adding other systems to the NIFC-CA network in the future.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The APY-9 radar has been suspected of being capable of detecting fighter-sized stealth aircraft, which are typically optimized against high frequencies like Ka, Ku, X, C and parts of the S-bands. Small aircraft lack the size or weight allowances for all-spectrum low-observable features, leaving a vulnerability to detection by the UHF-band APY-9 radar, potentially detecting fifth-generation fighters like the Russian Sukhoi Su-57 and the Chinese Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-31. Historically, UHF radars had resolution and detection issues that made them ineffective for accurate targeting and fire control; Northrop Grumman and Lockheed claim that the APY-9 has solved these shortcomings in the APY-9 using advanced electronic scanning and high digital computing power via space/time adaptive processing. According to the Navy's NIFC-CA concept, the E-2D could guide fleet weapons, such as AIM-120 AMRAAM and SM-6 missiles, onto targets beyond a launch platform's detection range or capabilities.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Deliveries of initial production E-2Ds began in 2010. On 4 February 2010, Delta One conducted the first E-2D carrier landing aboard USS "Harry S. Truman" as a part of carrier suitability testing. On 27 September 2011, an E-2D was successfully launched by the prototype Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst. On 12 February 2013, the Office of the Secretary of Defense approved the E-2D to enter full-rate production. The Navy plans for an initial operational capability by 2015. In June 2013, the 10th E-2D was delivered to the Navy, with an additional 10 aircraft in various stages of manufacturing and predelivery flight testing. On 18 July 2013, Northrop Grumman was awarded a $113.7 million contract for five full-rate production Lot 2 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. On 13 August 2013, Northrop Grumman was awarded a $617 million contract for five E-2Ds until full-rate production Lot 1. On 30 June 2014, Northrop Grumman was awarded a $3.6 billion contract to supply 25 more E-2D, for a total contracted number of 50 aircraft; 13 E-2D models had been delivered by that time.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In December 2016, an E-2D flew for the first time fitted with an aerial refueling capability. This feature will allow the aircraft to double its time on station to five hours and increase total mission time from four to seven hours. The refueling modification will start being built into the 46th plane (out of 75 planned) for delivery in late 2020 costing an additional $2 million per aircraft and the Navy plans to retrofit the feature on all previous Hawkeyes for $6 million per plane.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The E-2 is a high-wing airplane, with one Allison T56 turboprop engine (5250 shp rating) on each wing and retractable tricycle landing gear. As with all carrier-borne airplanes, the E-2 is equipped with a tail hook for recovery (landing) and the nose gear can attach to a shuttle of the aircraft carrier's catapults for launch (takeoff). A distinguishing feature of the Hawkeye is its 24-foot (7.3 m) diameter rotating radar dome (rotodome) that is mounted above its fuselage and wings. This carries the E-2's primary antennas for its long-range radar and IFF systems. No other carrier-borne aircraft possesses one of these. Land-based aircraft with rotodomes include the Boeing E-3 Sentry, a larger AWACS airplane operated by the U.S. Air Force and NATO air forces in large numbers. The similarly placed stationary radome of the E-2's piston-engined predecessor, the E-1 Tracer, also mandated the E-2's adoption of a modern version of Grumman's "Sto-Wing" folding wing system, preventing the folded wing panels from making contact with the E-2's rotodome.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The aircraft is operated by a crew of five, with the pilot and co-pilot on the flight deck and the combat information center officer, air control officer and radar operator stations located in the rear fuselage directly beneath the rotodome.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In U.S. service, the E-2 Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early warning and command and control capabilities for all aircraft-carrier battle groups. In addition, its other purposes include sea and land surveillance, the control of the aircraft carrier's fighter planes for air defense, the control of strike aircraft on offensive missions, the control of search and rescue missions for naval aviators and sailors lost at sea, relaying radio communications, air-to-air and ship-to-air. It can also serve in an air traffic control capacity in emergency situations when land-based ATC is unavailable.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The E-2C and E-2D Hawkeyes use advanced electronic sensors combined with digital computer signal processing, especially its radars, for early warning of enemy aircraft attacks and anti-ship missile attacks, controlling the carrier's combat air patrol (CAP) fighters, and secondarily for surveillance of the surrounding sea and land for enemy warships and guided-missile launchers and any other electronic surveillance missions as directed.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The E-2A entered U.S. Navy service in January 1964 and in April 1964 with VAW-11 at NAS North Island. The first deployment was aboard the aircraft carrier during 1965.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Since entering combat during the Vietnam War, the E-2 has served the US Navy around the world, acting as the electronic "eyes of the fleet".


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In August 1981, a Hawkeye from VAW-124 "Bear Aces" directed two F-14 Tomcats from VF-41 "Black Aces" in an intercept mission in the Gulf of Sidra that resulted in the downing of two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22s. Hawkeyes from VAW-123 aboard the aircraft carrier directed a group of F-14 Tomcat fighters flying the Combat Air Patrol during Operation El Dorado Canyon, the joint strike of two Carrier Battle Groups in the Mediterranean Sea against Libyan terrorist targets during 1986.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: More recently, E-2Cs provided the command and control for both aerial warfare and land-attack missions during the Persian Gulf War. Hawkeyes have supported the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs Service, and American federal and state police forces during anti-drug operations.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In the mid-1980s, several U.S. Navy E-2Cs were made available to the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs Service for counter-narcotics (CN) and maritime interdiction operations (MIO). This also led to the Coast Guard building a small cadre of Naval Flight Officers (NFOs), starting with the recruitment and interservice transfer of Navy flight officers with E-2 flight experience and the flight training of other junior Coast Guard officers as NFOs. A fatal aircraft mishap on 24 August 1990 involving a Coast Guard E-2C at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico prompted the Coast Guard to discontinue flying E-2Cs and to return its E-2Cs to the Navy. The U.S Customs Service also returned its E-2Cs to the Navy and concentrated on the use of former U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft in the CN role.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: E-2C Hawkeye squadrons played a critical role in air operations during Operation Desert Storm. In one instance, a Hawkeye crew provided critical air control direction to two F/A-18 Hornet aircrew, resulting in the shootdown of two Iraqi MiG-21s. During Operations Southern Watch and Desert Fox, Hawkeye crews continued to provide thousands of hours of air coverage, while providing air-to-air and air-to-ground command and control in a number of combat missions.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The E-2 Hawkeye is a crucial component of all U.S. Navy carrier air wings; each carrier is equipped with four Hawkeyes (five in some situations), allowing for continuous 24-hour-a-day operation of at least one E-2 and for one or two to undergo maintenance in the aircraft carrier's hangar deck at all times. Until 2005, the US Navy Hawkeyes were organized into East and West coast wings, supporting the respective fleets. However, the East coast wing was disestablished, all aircraft were organized into a single wing based at Point Mugu, California. Six E-2C aircraft were deployed by the US Naval Reserve for drug interdiction and homeland security operations until 9 March 2013, when the sole Reserve squadron, VAW-77 'Nightwolves', was decommissioned and its six aircraft sent to other squadrons.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: During Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom all ten Regular Navy Hawkeye squadrons flew overland sorties. They provided battle management for attack of enemy ground targets, close-air-support coordination, combat search and rescue control, airspace management, as well as datalink and communication relay for both land and naval forces. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, three Hawkeye squadrons (two Regular Navy and one Navy Reserve) were deployed in support of civilian relief efforts including Air Traffic Control responsibilities spanning three states, and the control of U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and Army National Guard and Air National Guard helicopter rescue units.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Hawkeye 2000s first deployed in 2003 aboard with VAW-117, the "Wallbangers" (formerly the "Nighthawks") and CVW-11. U.S. Navy E-2C Hawkeyes have been upgraded with eight-bladed propellers as part of the NP2000 program; the first squadron to cruise with the new propellers was VAW-124 "Bear Aces". The Hawkeye 2000 version can track over 2,000 targets simultaneously while also detecting 20,000 targets to a range greater than and simultaneously guide 40–100 air-to-air intercepts or air-to-surface engagements.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In 2014, several E-2C Hawkeyes from the Bear Aces of VAW-124 were deployed from as flying command posts and air traffic controllers over Iraq during Operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: VAW-120, the E-2C fleet replacement squadron began receiving E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes for training use in July 2010. On 27 March 2014, the first E-2Ds were delivered to the VAW-125. The E-2D achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in October 2014 when VAW-125 was certified to have five operational aircraft. This began training on the aircraft for its first operational deployment, scheduled for 2015 aboard . The E-2D will play a larger role than that of the E-2C, with five E-2Ds aboard each carrier instead of the current four C-models, requiring the acquisition of 75 total E-2Ds. On 11 March 2015, the "Theodore Roosevelt" Carrier Strike Group departed Naval Station Norfolk and returned to port on 23 November 2015, concluding the first operational use of the E-2D.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: E-2 Hawkeyes have been sold by the U.S. Federal Government under Foreign Military Sales (FMS) procedures to the armed forces of Egypt, France, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Egypt purchased five E-2C Hawkeyes, that entered service in 1987 and were upgraded to Hawkeye 2000 standard. One additional upgraded E-2C was purchased. The first upgraded aircraft was delivered in March 2003 and deliveries were concluded in late 2008. Egypt requested two additional excess E-2C aircraft in October 2007; deliveries began in 2010. They all operate in 601 AEW Brigade, Cairo-West.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The French Naval Aviation (Aeronavale) operates three E-2C Hawkeyes and has been the only operator of the E-2 Hawkeye from an aircraft carrier besides the U.S. Navy. The French nuclear-powered carrier, , currently carries two E-2C Hawkeyes on her combat patrols offshore. The third French E-2C Hawkeye has been upgraded with eight-bladed propellers as part of the NP2000 program. In April 2007, France requested the purchase of an additional aircraft.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The Flottille 4F of the French Navy's Aeronavale was stood up on 2 July 2000 and flies its E-2C Hawkeyes from its naval air station at Lann-Bihoue, deploying to the "Charles de Gaulle". They took part in operations in Afghanistan and Libya.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In September 2019 Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces, announced that three new E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes would be purchased in 2020 to replace the E-2Cs in service.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: On 6 September 1976, Soviet Air Forces pilot Viktor Belenko successfully defected, landing his MiG-25 'Foxbat' at Hakodate Airport, Japan. During this incident, the Japan Self-Defense Forces' (JASDF) radar lost track of the aircraft when Belenko flew his MiG-25 at a low altitude, prompting the JASDF to consider procurement of airborne early warning aircraft.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Initially, the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft was considered to be the prime candidate for the airborne early warning mission by the JASDF. However, the Japanese Defense Agency realized that the E-3 would not be readily available due to USAF needs and opted to procure E-2 Hawkeye aircraft. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force bought thirteen E-2C aircraft to improve its early warning capabilities. The E-2C was put into service with the Airborne Early Warning Group (AEWG) at Misawa Air Base in January 1987.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: On 21 November 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Defense officially decided to procure the E-2D version of the Hawkeye, instead of the Boeing 737 AEW&C design. In June 2015, the Japanese government requested to buy four E-2Ds through a Foreign Military Sale.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In September 2018 the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale of up to 9 E-2Ds to Japan.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In 2004, three former Israel Air Force E-2C aircraft were sold to the Mexican Navy to perform maritime and shore surveillance missions. These aircraft were upgraded locally by IAI. The first Mexican E-2C was rolled out in January 2004.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The Republic of Singapore Air Force acquired four Grumman E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft in 1987, which are assigned to the 111 Squadron "Jaeger" based at Tengah Air Base.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In April 2007, it was announced that the four E-2C Hawkeyes were to be replaced with four Gulfstream G550s which would become the primary early warning aircraft of the Singapore Air Force. On 13 April 2012, the newer G550 AEWs officially took over duty from the former. Singapore has close ties with the Israel military which has also acquired the G550 AEW.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Israel was the first export customer; its four Hawkeyes were delivered during 1981, complete with the folding wings characteristic of carrier-borne aircraft.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The four examples were soon put into active service before and during the 1982 Lebanon War during which they won a resounding victory over Syrian air defenses and fighter control. They were central to the Israeli victory in the air battles over the Bekaa Valley during which over 90 Syrian fighters were downed. The Hawkeyes were also the linchpins of the operation in which the IAF destroyed the surface-to-air missile (SAM) array in the Bekaa, coordinating the various stages of the operation, vectoring planes into bombing runs and directing intercepts. Under constant escort by F-15 Eagles, there were always two Hawkeyes on station off the Lebanese coast, controlling the various assets in the air and detecting any Syrian aircraft upon their takeoff, eliminating any chance of surprise.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) operated four E-2s for its homeland AEW protection through 1994. The IAF was the first user of the E-2 to install air-to-air refueling equipment.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Three of the four Israeli-owned Hawkeyes were sold to Mexico in 2002 after they had been upgraded with new systems; the remaining example was sent to be displayed in the Israeli Air Force Museum. In 2010, Singapore began retiring its E-2Cs as well. Both Israel and Singapore now employ the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) "Eitam", a Gulfstream G550-based platform with Elta's EL/W-2085 sensor package (a newer derivative of the airborne Phalcon system) for their national AEW programs.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: Taiwan acquired four E-2T aircraft from the US on 22 November 1995. On 15 April 2006 Taiwan commissioned two new E-2K Hawkeyes at an official ceremony at the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) base in Pingtung Airport in southern Taiwan.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: The four E-2Ts were approved for upgrade to Hawkeye 2000 configuration in a 2008 arms deal. The four E-2T aircraft were upgraded to what became known as E-2K standard in two batches, the first batch of two aircraft were sent to the United States in June 2010, arriving home in late 2011; on their return the second batch of two aircraft were sent for upgrade, returning to Taiwan in March 2013.


title: Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

text: In August 2009, the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman briefed the Indian Navy on the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye on its potential use to satisfy its current shore-based and future carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) requirements. The Indian Navy has reportedly expressed interest in acquiring up to six Hawkeyes.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a small section of China's border with Russia (Zabaykalsky Krai). Its capital is Hohhot; other major cities include Baotou, Chifeng, Tongliao, and Ordos.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The autonomous region was established in 1947, incorporating the areas of the former Republic of China provinces of Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, Liaobei, and Xing'an, along with the northern parts of Gansu and Ningxia.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Its area makes it the third largest Chinese administrative subdivision, constituting approximately and 12% of China's total land area. Due to its long span from east to west, Inner Mongolia is geographically divided into eastern and western divisions. The eastern division is often included in Northeastern China (Dongbei) with major cities including Tongliao, Chifeng, Hailar, and Ulanhot. The western division is included in North China, with major cities including Baotou and Hohhot. It recorded a population of 24,706,321 in the 2010 census, accounting for 1.84% of Mainland China's total population. Inner Mongolia is the country's 23rd most populous province-level division. The majority of the population in the region are Han Chinese, with a sizeable Mongol minority close to 5,000,000 (2019) which is the largest Mongolian population in the world (bigger than that of the country Mongolia). Inner Mongolia is one of the most economically developed provinces in China with annual GDP per capita close to US$13,000 (2019), often ranked 5th in the nation. The official languages are Mandarin and Mongolian, the latter of which is written in the traditional Mongolian script, as opposed to the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, which is used in the state of Mongolia (formerly often described as Outer Mongolia).


title: Inner Mongolia

text: In Chinese, the region is known as "Inner Mongolia", where the terms of "Inner/Outer" are derived from Manchu "dorgi"/"tulergi" (cf. Mongolian "dotugadu"/"gadagadu"). Inner Mongolia is distinct from Outer Mongolia, which was a term used by the Republic of China and previous governments to refer to what is now the independent state of Mongolia plus the Republic of Tuva in Russia. The term Inner (Nei) referred to the Nei Fan (Inner Tributary), i.e., those descendants of Genghis Khan who were granted the title khan (king) in the Ming and Qing dynasties and lived in part of southern Mongolia. The region is sometimes called Southern Mongolia by local separatists and Mongolian irredentists.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Much of what is known about the history of Greater Mongolia, including Inner Mongolia, is known through Chinese chronicles and historians. Before the rise of the Mongols in the 13th century, what is now central and western Inner Mongolia, especially the Hetao region, alternated in control between Chinese agriculturalists in the south, and Xiongnu, Xianbei, Khitan, Jurchen, Tujue, and nomadic Mongol of the north. The historical narrative of what is now Eastern Inner Mongolia mostly consists of alternations between different Tungusic and Mongol tribes, rather than the struggle between nomads and Chinese agriculturalists.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Slab Grave cultural monuments are found in Northern, Central and Eastern Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, North-Western China, Southern, Central-Eastern and Southern Baikal territory. Mongolian scholars prove that this culture related to the Proto-Mongols.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: During the Zhou dynasty, Central and Western Inner Mongolia (the Hetao region and surrounding areas) were inhabited by nomadic peoples such as the Loufan, Linhu and Dí, while Eastern Inner Mongolia was inhabited by the Donghu. During the Warring States period, King Wuling (340–295 BC) of the state of Zhao based in what is now Hebei and Shanxi Provinces pursued an expansionist policy towards the region. After destroying the Dí state of Zhongshan in what is now Hebei province, he defeated the Linhu and Loufan and created the Yunzhong Commandery near modern Hohhot. King Wuling of Zhao also built a long wall stretching through the Hetao region. After Qin Shi Huang created the first unified Chinese empire in 221 BC, he sent the general Meng Tian to drive the Xiongnu from the region and incorporated the old Zhao wall into the Qin dynasty Great Wall of China. He also maintained two commanderies in the region: Jiuyuan and Yunzhong and moved 30,000 households there to solidify the region. After the Qin dynasty collapsed in 206 BC, these efforts were abandoned.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: During the Western Han dynasty, Emperor Wu sent the general Wei Qing to reconquer the Hetao region from the Xiongnu in 127 BC. After the conquest, Emperor Wu continued the policy of building settlements in Hetao to defend against the Xiong-Nu. In that same year, he established the commanderies of Shuofang and Wuyuan in Hetao. At the same time, what is now Eastern Inner Mongolia was controlled by the Xianbei, who would, later on, eclipse the Xiongnu in power and influence.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: During the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD), Xiongnu who surrendered to the Han dynasty began to be settled in Hetao and intermingled with the Han immigrants in the area. Later on, during the Western Jin dynasty, it was a Xiongnu noble from Hetao, Liu Yuan, who established the Han Zhao kingdom in the region, thereby beginning the Sixteen Kingdoms period that saw the disintegration of northern China under a variety of Han and non-Han (including Xiongnu and Xianbei) regimes.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The Sui dynasty (581–618) and Tang dynasty (618–907) re-established a unified Chinese empire and like their predecessors, they conquered and settled people into Hetao, though once again these efforts were aborted when the Tang empire began to collapse. Hetao (along with the rest of what now consists Inner Mongolia) was then taken over by the Khitan Empire (Liao dynasty), founded by the Khitans, a nomadic people originally from what is now the southern part of Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. They were followed by the Western Xia of the Tanguts, who took control of what is now the western part of Inner Mongolia (including Western Hetao). The Khitans were later replaced by the Jurchens, precursors to the modern Manchus, who established the Jin dynasty over Manchuria and Northern China.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: After Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes in 1206 and founded the Mongol Empire, the Tangut Western Xia empire was ultimately conquered in 1227, and the Jurchen Jin dynasty fell in 1234. In 1271, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan established the Yuan dynasty. Kublai Khan's summer capital Shangdu (aka Xanadu) was located near present-day Dolonnor. During that time Ongud and Khunggirad peoples dominated the area of what is now Inner Mongolia. After the Yuan dynasty was overthrown by the Han-led Ming dynasty in 1368, the Ming captured parts of Inner Mongolia including Shangdu and Yingchang. The Ming rebuilt the Great Wall of China at its present location, which roughly follows the southern border of the modern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (though it deviates significantly at the Hebei-Inner Mongolia border). The Ming established the Three Guards composed of the Mongols there. Soon after the Tumu incident in 1449, when the Oirat ruler Esen taishi captured the Chinese emperor, Mongols flooded south from Outer Mongolia to Inner Mongolia. Thus from then on until 1635, Inner Mongolia was the political and cultural center of the Mongols during the Northern Yuan dynasty.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The eastern Mongol tribes near and in Manchuria, particularly the Khorchin and Southern Khalkha in today's Inner Mongolia intermarried, formed alliances with, and fought against the Jurchen tribes until Nurhaci, the founder of the new Jin dynasty, consolidated his control over all groups in the area in 1593. The Manchus gained far-reaching control of the Inner Mongolian tribes in 1635, when Ligden Khan's son surrendered the Chakhar Mongol tribes to the Manchus. The Manchus subsequently invaded Ming China in 1644, bringing it under the control of their newly established Qing dynasty. Under the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), Greater Mongolia was administered in a different way for each region:


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The Inner Mongolian Chahar leader Ligdan Khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan, opposed and fought against the Qing until he died of smallpox in 1634. Thereafter, the Inner Mongols under his son Ejei Khan surrendered to the Qing and was given the title of Prince (), and Inner Mongolian nobility became closely tied to the Qing royal family and intermarried with them extensively. Ejei Khan died in 1661 and was succeeded by his brother Abunai. After Abunai showed disaffection with Manchu Qing rule, he was placed under house arrest in 1669 in Shenyang and the Kangxi Emperor gave his title to his son Borni. Abunai then bid his time and then he and his brother Lubuzung revolted against the Qing in 1675 during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, with 3,000 Chahar Mongol followers joining in on the revolt. The revolt was put down within two months, the Qing then crushed the rebels in a battle on 20 April 1675, killing Abunai and all his followers. Their title was abolished, all Chahar Mongol royal males were executed even if they were born to Manchu Qing princesses, and all Chahar Mongol royal females were sold into slavery except the Manchu Qing princesses. The Chahar Mongols were then put under the direct control of the Qing Emperor, unlike the other Inner Mongol leagues which maintained their autonomy.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Despite officially prohibiting Han Chinese settlement on the Manchu and Mongol lands, by the 18th century the Qing decided to settle Han refugees from northern China who were suffering from famine, floods, and drought into Manchuria and Inner Mongolia. As a result, the Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares in Manchuria and tens of thousands of hectares in Inner Mongolia by the 1780s.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Ordinary Mongols were not allowed to travel outside their own leagues. Mongols were forbidden by the Qing from crossing the borders of their banners, even into other Mongol Banners and from crossing into neidi (the Han Chinese 18 provinces) and were given serious punishments if they did in order to keep the Mongols divided against each other to benefit the Qing. Mongol pilgrims wanting to leave their banner's borders for religious reasons such as pilgrimage had to apply for passports to give them permission.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: During the eighteenth century, growing numbers of Han Chinese settlers had illegally begun to move into the Inner Mongolian steppe. By 1791, there had been so many Han Chinese settlers in the Front Gorlos Banner that the jasak had petitioned the Qing government to legalise the status of the peasants who had already settled there.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: During the nineteenth century, the Manchus were becoming increasingly sinicised and faced with the Russian threat, they began to encourage Han Chinese farmers to settle in both Mongolia and Manchuria. This policy was followed by subsequent governments. The railroads that were being built in these regions were especially useful to the Han Chinese settlers. Land was either sold by Mongol Princes, or leased to Han Chinese farmers, or simply taken away from the nomads and given to Han Chinese farmers.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: A group of Han Chinese during the Qing dynasty called "Mongol followers" immigrated to Inner Mongolia who worked as servants for Mongols and Mongol princes and married Mongol women. Their descendants continued to marry Mongol women and changed their ethnicity to Mongol as they assimilated into the Mongol people, an example of this were the ancestors of Li Shouxin. They distinguished themselves apart from "true Mongols" 真蒙古.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Outer Mongolia gained independence from the Qing dynasty in 1911, when the Jebtsundamba Khutugtu of the Khalkha was declared the Bogd Khan of Mongolia. Although almost all banners of Inner Mongolia recognised the Bogd Khan as the supreme ruler of Mongols, the internal strife within the region prevented a full reunification. The Mongol rebellions in Inner Mongolia were counterbalanced by princes who hoped to see a restored Qing dynasty in Manchuria and Mongolia, as they considered the theocratic rule of the Bogd Khan would be against their modernising objectives for Mongolia. Eventually, the newly formed Republic of China promised a new nation of five races (Han, Manchu, Mongol, Tibetan and Uyghur). and suppressed the Mongol rebellions in the area.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The history of Inner Mongolia during the Second World War is complicated, with Japanese invasion and different kinds of resistance movements. In 1931, Manchuria came under the control of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo, taking some Mongol areas in the Manchurian provinces (i.e., Hulunbuir and Jirim leagues) along. Rehe was also incorporated into Manchukuo in 1933, taking Juu Uda and Josutu leagues along with it. These areas were occupied by Manchukuo until the end of World War II in 1945.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: In 1937, the Empire of Japan openly and fully invaded Republic of China. On 8 December 1937, Mongolian Prince Demchugdongrub (also known as "De Wang") declared independence for the remaining parts of Inner Mongolia (i.e., the Suiyuan and Chahar provinces) as Mengjiang, and signed agreements with Manchukuo and Japan. Its capital was established at Zhangbei (now in Hebei province), with the Japanese puppet government's control extending as far west as the Hohhot region. The Japanese advance was defeated by Hui Muslim General Ma Hongbin at the Battle of West Suiyuan and Battle of Wuyuan. Since 1945, Inner Mongolia has remained part of China.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Ethnic Mongolian guerrilla units were created by the Kuomintang Nationalists to fight against the Japanese during the war in the late 30s and early 40s. These Mongol militias were created by the Ejine and Alashaa based commissioner's offices created by the Kuomintang. Prince Demchugdongrob's Mongols were targeted by Kuomintang Mongols to defect to the Republic of China. The Nationalists recruited 1,700 ethnic minority fighters in Inner Mongolia and created war zones in the Tumet Banner, Ulanchab League, and Ordos Yekejuu League.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The Inner Mongolian People's Republic was founded shortly after the Second World War. It existed from 9 September 1945 until 6 November 1945.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The Communist movement gradually gained momentum as part of the Third Communist International in Inner Mongolia during the Japanese period. By the end of WWII, the Inner Mongolian faction of the ComIntern had a functional militia and actively opposed the attempts at independence by De Wang's Chinggisid princes on the grounds of fighting feudalism. Following the end of World War II, the Chinese Communists gained control of Manchuria as well as the Inner Mongolian Communists with decisive Soviet support and established the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1947. The Comintern army was absorbed into the People's Liberation Army. Initially, the autonomous region included just the Hulunbuir region. Over the next decade, as the communists established the People's Republic of China and consolidated control over mainland China, Inner Mongolia was expanded westwards to include five of the six original leagues (except Josutu League, which remains in Liaoning province), the northern part of the Chahar region, by then a league as well (southern Chahar remains in Hebei province), the Hetao region, and the Alashan and Ejine banners. Eventually, nearly all areas with sizeable Mongol populations were incorporated into the region, giving present-day Inner Mongolia its elongated shape. The leader of Inner Mongolia during that time, as both regional CPC secretary and head of regional government, was Ulanhu.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: During the Cultural Revolution, the administration of Ulanhu was purged, and a wave of repressions was initiated against the Mongol population of the autonomous region. Among the victims in Inner Mongolia, 75 per cent were Mongols, even though they only constituted 10 per cent of the population. In 1969, much of Inner Mongolia was distributed among surrounding provinces, with Hulunbuir divided between Heilongjiang and Jilin, Jirim going to Jilin, Juu Uda to Liaoning, and the Alashan and Ejine region divided among Gansu and Ningxia. This decision was reversed in 1979.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia has seen considerable development since Deng Xiaoping instituted Chinese economic reform in 1978. For about ten years since 2000, Inner Mongolia's GDP growth has been the highest in the country, (along with Guangdong) largely owing to the success of natural resource industries in the region. GDP growth has continually been over 10%, even 15% and connections with the Wolf Economy to the north has helped development. However, growth has come at a cost with huge amounts of pollution and degradation to the grasslands. Attempts to attract ethnic Chinese to migrate from other regions, as well as urbanise those rural nomads and peasants has led to huge amounts of corruption and waste in public spending, such as Ordos City. Acute uneven wealth distribution has further exacerbated ethnic tensions, many indigenous Mongolians feeling they are increasingly marginalised in their own homeland, leading to riots in 2011 and 2013.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: On 31 August 2020, large protests broke out in ethnic Mongol communities due to unannounced plans by the Chinese government to phase out Mongolian-medium teaching.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Officially Inner Mongolia is classified as one of the provincial-level divisions of North China, but its great stretch means that parts of it belong to Northeast China and Northwest China as well. It borders eight provincial-level divisions in all three of the aforementioned regions (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu), tying with Shaanxi for the greatest number of bordering provincial-level divisions. Most of its international border is with Mongolia, which, in Chinese, is sometimes called "Outer Mongolia", while a small portion is with Russia's Zabaykalsky Krai.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia largely consists of the northern side of the North China Craton, a tilted and sedimented Precambrian block. In the extreme southwest is the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where the autonomous region's highest peak, Main Peak in the Helan Mountains reaches , and is still being pushed up today in short bursts. Most of Inner Mongolia is a plateau averaging around in altitude and covered by extensive loess and sand deposits. The northern part consists of the Mesozoic era Khingan Mountains, and is owing to the cooler climate more forested, chiefly with Manchurian elm, ash, birch, Mongolian oak and a number of pine and spruce species. Where discontinuous permafrost is present north of Hailar District, forests are almost exclusively coniferous. In the south, the natural vegetation is grassland in the east and very sparse in the arid west, and grazing is the dominant economic activity.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Owing to the ancient, weathered rocks lying under its deep sedimentary cover, Inner Mongolia is a major mining district, possessing large reserves of coal, iron ore and rare-earth minerals, which have made it a major industrial region today.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Due to its elongated shape, Inner Mongolia has a four-season monsoon climate with regional variations. The winters in Inner Mongolia are very long, cold, and dry with frequent blizzards, though snowfall is so light that Inner Mongolia has no modern glaciers even on the highest Helan peaks. The spring is short, mild and arid, with large, dangerous sandstorms, whilst the summer is very warm to hot and relatively humid except in the west where it remains dry. Autumn is brief and sees a steady cooling, with temperatures below reached in October in the north and November in the south.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Officially, most of Inner Mongolia is classified as either a cold arid or steppe regime (Köppen "BWk, BSk", respectively). The small portion besides these are classified as humid continental (Köppen "Dwa/Dwb") in the northeast, or subarctic (Köppen "Dwc") in the far north near Hulunbuir.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia is divided into twelve prefecture-level divisions. Until the late 1990s, most of Inner Mongolia's prefectural regions were known as "Leagues" (), a usage retained from Mongol divisions of the Qing dynasty. Similarly, county-level divisions are often known as "Banners" (). Since the 1990s, numerous Leagues have converted into prefecture-level cities, although Banners remain. The restructuring led to the conversion of primate cities in most leagues to convert to districts administratively (i.e.: Hailar, Jining and Dongsheng). Some newly founded prefecture-level cities have chosen to retain the original name of League (i.e.: Hulunbuir, Bayannur and Ulanqab), some have adopted the Chinese name of their primate city (Chifeng, Tongliao), and one League (Yekejuu) simply renamed itself Ordos. Despite these recent administrative changes, there is no indication that the Alxa, Hinggan, and Xilingol Leagues will convert to prefecture-level cities in the near future.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: These prefecture-level divisions are in turn subdivided into 102 county-level divisions, including 22 districts, 11 county-level cities, 17 counties, 49 banners, and 3 autonomous banners. Those are in turn divided into 1425 township-level divisions, including 532 towns, 407 townships, 277 sums, eighteen ethnic townships, one ethnic sum, and 190 subdistricts. At the end of 2017, the total population of Inner-Mongolia is 25.29 million.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Farming of crops such as wheat takes precedence along the river valleys. In the more arid grasslands, herding of goats, sheep and so on is a traditional method of subsistence. Forestry and hunting are somewhat important in the Greater Khingan ranges in the east. Reindeer herding is carried out by Evenks in the Evenk Autonomous Banner. More recently, growing grapes and winemaking have become an economic factor in the Wuhai area.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia has an abundance of resources especially coal, cashmere, natural gas, rare-earth elements, and has more deposits of naturally occurring niobium, zirconium and beryllium than any other province-level region in China. However, in the past, the exploitation and utilisation of resources were rather inefficient, which resulted in poor returns from rich resources. Inner Mongolia is also an important coal production base, with more than a quarter of the world's coal reserves located in the province. It plans to double annual coal output by 2010 (from the 2005 volume of 260 million tons) to 500 million tons of coal a year.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Industry in Inner Mongolia has grown up mainly around coal, power generation, forestry-related industries, and related industries.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia now encourages six competitive industries: energy, chemicals, metallurgy, equipment manufacturing, processing of farm (including dairy) produce, and high technology. Well-known Inner Mongolian enterprises include companies such as ERDOS, Yili, and Mengniu.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The nominal GDP of Inner Mongolia in 2015 was 1.8 trillion yuan (US$272.1 billion), with an average annual increase of 10% from the period 2010–2015. Its per capita GDP reached US$11,500 in 2015, ranking No.4th among all the 31 provinces of China, only after Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: As with much of China, economic growth has led to a boom in construction, including new commercial development and large apartment complexes.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: In addition to its large reserves of natural resources, Inner Mongolia also has the largest usable wind power capacity in China thanks to strong winds which develop in the province's grasslands. Some private companies have set up wind parks in parts of Inner Mongolia such as Bailingmiao, Hutengliang and Zhouzi.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: East of Jilantai, Inner Mongolia, there is a ballistic missile training area used by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) to train missile crews for mobile missile launchers, their support vehicles, and silo-based ballistic missiles.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Hohhot Export Processing Zone was established 21 June 2002 by the State Council, which is located in the west of the Hohhot, with a planning area of . Industries encouraged in the export processing zone include Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing, Telecommunications Equipment, Garment and Textiles Production, Trading and Distribution, Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals, Food/Beverage Processing, Instruments & Industrial Equipment Production, Medical Equipment and Supplies, Shipping/Warehousing/Logistics, Heavy Industry.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Under the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, articles 112–122, autonomous regions have limited autonomy in both the political and economic arena. Autonomous regions have more discretion in administering economic policy in the region in accordance with national guidelines. Structurally, the Chairman—who legally must be an ethnic minority and is usually ethnic Mongolian—is always kept in check by the Communist Party Regional Committee Secretary, who is usually from a different part of China (to reduce corruption) and Han Chinese. , the current party secretary is Shi Taifeng. The Inner Mongolian government and its subsidiaries follow roughly the same structure as that of a Chinese province. With regards to economic policy, as a part of increased federalism characteristics in China, Inner Mongolia has become more independent in implementing its own economic roadmap.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The position of Chairman of Inner Mongolia alternates between Khorchin Mongols in the east and the Tumed Mongols in the west. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, this convention has not been broken. The family of Ulanhu has retained influence in regional politics ever since the founding the People's Republic. His son Buhe and granddaughter Bu Xiaolin both served as Chairman of the region.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: When the autonomous region was established in 1947, Han Chinese comprised 83.6% of the population, while the Mongols comprised 14.8% of the population. By 2010, the percentage of Han Chinese had dropped to 79.5%. While the Hetao region along the Yellow River has always alternated between farmers from the south and nomads from the north, the most recent wave of Han Chinese migration began in the early 18th century with encouragement from the Qing dynasty, and continued into the 20th century. Han Chinese live mostly in the Hetao region as well as various population centres in central and eastern Inner Mongolia. Over 70% of Mongols are concentrated in less than 18% of Inner Mongolia's territory (Hinggan League, and the prefectures of Tongliao and Chifeng).


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Mongols are the second largest ethnic group, comprising 17.11% of the population as of the 2010 census. They include many diverse Mongolian-speaking groups; groups such as the Buryats and the Oirats are also officially considered to be Mongols in China. In addition to the Manchus, other Tungusic ethnic groups, the Oroqen, and the Evenks also populate parts of northeastern Inner Mongolia.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Many of the traditionally nomadic Mongols have settled in permanent homes as their pastoral economy was collectivised during the Mao era, and some have taken jobs in cities as migrant labourers; however, some Mongols continue in their nomadic tradition. In practice, highly educated Mongols tend to migrate to big urban centers after which they become essentially indistinct with ethnic Han Chinese populations.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inter-marriage between Mongol and non-Mongol populations is very common, particularly in areas where Mongols are in regular contact with other groups. There was little cultural stigma within Mongol families for marrying outside the ethnic group, and in urban centers in particular, Mongol men and women married non-Mongols at relatively similar rates. The rates of intermarriage stands in very sharp contrast to ethnic Tibetans and Uyghurs in their respective autonomous regions. By the 1980s, for instance, in the former Jirim League, nearly 40% of marriages with at least one Mongol spouse was a mixed Mongol-Han Chinese marriage. However, anecdotal reports have also demonstrated an increase in Mongol-female, Han Chinese-male pairings in which the woman is of a rural background, ostensibly shutting rural Mongol males from the marriage market as the sex ratio in China becomes more skewed with a much higher proportion of men.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: "Population numbers exclude members of the People's Liberation Army in active service based in Inner Mongolia."


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Alongside Chinese, Mongolian is the official provincial language of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where there are at least 4.1 million ethnic Mongols. Across the whole of China, the language is spoken by roughly half of the country's 5.8 million ethnic Mongols (2005 estimate) However, the exact number of Mongolian speakers in China is unknown, as there is no data available on the language proficiency of that country's citizens. The use of Mongolian in China, specifically in Inner Mongolia, has witnessed periods of decline and revival over the last few hundred years. The language experienced a decline during the late Qing period, a revival between 1947 and 1965, a second decline between 1966 and 1976, a second revival between 1977 and 1992, and a third decline between 1995 and 2012. However, in spite of the decline of the Mongolian language in some of Inner Mongolia's urban areas and educational spheres, the ethnic identity of the urbanised Chinese-speaking Mongols is most likely going to survive due to the presence of urban ethnic communities. The multilingual situation in Inner Mongolia does not appear to obstruct efforts by ethnic Mongols to preserve their language. Although an unknown number of Mongols in China, such as the Tumets, may have completely or partially lost the ability to speak their language, they are still registered as ethnic Mongols and continue to identify themselves as ethnic Mongols. The children of inter-ethnic Mongol-Chinese marriages also claim to be and are registered as ethnic Mongols.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: By law, all street signs, commercial outlets, and government documents must be bilingual, written in both Mongolian and Chinese. There are three Mongolian TV channels in the Inner Mongolia Satellite TV network. In public transportation, all announcements are to be bilingual.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Mongols in Inner Mongolia speak Mongolian dialects such as Chakhar, Xilingol, Baarin, Khorchin and Kharchin Mongolian and, depending on definition and analysis, further dialects or closely related independent Central Mongolic languages such as Ordos, Khamnigan, Barghu Buryat and the arguably Oirat dialect Alasha. The standard pronunciation of Mongolian in China is based on the Chakhar dialect of the Plain Blue Banner, located in central Inner Mongolia, while the grammar is based on all Southern Mongolian dialects. This is different from the Mongolian state, where the standard pronunciation is based on the closely related Khalkha dialect. There are a number of independent languages spoken in Hulunbuir such as the somewhat more distant Mongolic language Dagur and the Tungusic language Evenki. Officially, even the Evenki dialect Oroqin is considered a language.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The Han Chinese of Inner Mongolia speak a variety of dialects, depending on the region. Those in the eastern parts tend to speak Northeastern Mandarin, which belongs to the Mandarin group of dialects; those in the central parts, such as the Yellow River valley, speak varieties of Jin, another subdivision of Chinese, due to its proximity to other Jin-speaking areas in China such as the Shanxi province. Cities such as Hohhot and Baotou both have their unique brand of Jin Chinese such as the Zhangjiakou–Hohhot dialect which are sometimes incomprehensible with dialects spoken in northeastern regions such as Hailar.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The vast grasslands have long symbolised Inner Mongolia. Mongolian art often depicts the grassland in an uplifting fashion and emphasises Mongolian nomadic traditions. The Mongols of Inner Mongolia still practice their traditional arts. Inner Mongolian cuisine has Mongol roots and consists of dairy-related products and "hand-held lamb" (). In recent years, franchises based on hot pot have appeared in Inner Mongolia, the best known of which is Little Sheep. Notable Inner Mongolian commercial brand names include Mengniu and Yili, both of which began as dairy product and ice cream producers.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Among the Han Chinese of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi opera is a popular traditional form of entertainment. See also: Shanxi. A popular career in Inner Mongolia is circus acrobatics. The internationally known Inner Mongolia Acrobatic Troupe travels and performs with the renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: According to a survey held in 2004 by the Minzu University of China, about 80% of the population of the region practice the worship of Heaven (that is named "Tian" in the Chinese tradition and "Tenger" in the Mongolian tradition) and of "ovoo/aobao".


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Official statistics report that 10.9% of the population (3 million people) are members of Tibetan Buddhist groups. According to the Chinese Spiritual Life Survey of 2007 and the Chinese General Social Survey of 2009, Christianity is the religious identity of 3.2% of the population of the region; and Chinese ancestral religion the professed belonging of 2.36%, while a demographic analysis of the year 2010 reported that Muslims comprise the 0.91%.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: The cult of Genghis Khan, present in the form of various Genghis Khan temples, is a tradition of Mongolian shamanism, in which he is considered a cultural hero and divine ancestor, an embodiment of the "Tenger" (Heaven, God of Heaven). His worship in special temples, greatly developed in Inner Mongolia since the 1980s, is also shared by the Han Chinese, claiming his spirit as the founding principle of the Yuan dynasty.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Tibetan Buddhism (Mongolian Buddhism, locally also known as "Yellow Buddhism") is the dominant form of Buddhism in Inner Mongolia, also practised by many Han Chinese. Another form of Buddhism, practised by the Chinese, are the schools of Chinese Buddhism.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: One of China's space vehicle launch facilities, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, is located in the Alxa League's Ejin Banner, in the west of Inner Mongolia. It was founded in 1958, making it the PRC's first launch facility. As of 2021, Jiuquan has documented more launches than any other launch facilities in China, and is still the only launch site for manned space missions (Shenzhou program). While geologically located inside Inner Mongolia, the launch center is named after Jiuquan, which is the nearest urban center in the nearby province of Gansu.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: As military facilities, the core areas at Jiuquan Center are highly restricted and can only be visited by tourist buses operated by the center, while the visitor center is open to the public and can be accessed from the south gate.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia is also home to the two (and only two) space vehicles landing sites in China, the Siziwang Banner Landing Site in Ulanqab and the Dongfeng Landing Site in Alxa.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: Inner Mongolia under the People's Republic of China has historically allowed the Mongolian language as a medium of instruction. An 1979 article from the "People's Daily" praises the re-establishment of Mongolian-language education after "interference and vandalism by the Gang of Four" during the Cultural Revolution.


title: Inner Mongolia

text: It was reported by "The New York Times" on 31 August 2020 that in the summer 2020, the Chinese government announced a new education policy, which called for Chinese to gradually replace Mongolian as the language of instruction in three subjects, including language and literature, politics, and history, in elementary and middle schools around the Inner Mongolia region. Thousands of ethnic Mongolians in northern China gathered to protest the policy.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin is an antibacterial medication used to treat urinary tract infections, but it is not as effective for kidney infections. It is taken by mouth.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Common side effects include nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and headaches. Rarely numbness, lung problems, or liver problems may occur. It should not be used in people with kidney problems. While it appears to be generally safe during pregnancy it should not be used near delivery. While it usually works by slowing bacterial growth, it may result in bacterial death at the high concentrations found in urine.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin was first sold in 1953. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 167th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 3million prescriptions.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Current uses include the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) and prophylaxis against UTIs in people prone to recurrent UTIs.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance to other commonly used agents, such as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and fluoroquinolones, has led to increased interest in using nitrofurantoin. The efficacy of nitrofurantoin in treating UTIs combined with a low rate of bacterial resistance to this agent makes it one of the first-line agents for treating uncomplicated UTIs as recommended by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the European Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin is not recommended for the treatment of pyelonephritis, prostatitis, and intra-abdominal abscess, because of extremely poor tissue penetration and low blood levels.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Antibiotic susceptibility testing should always be performed to further elucidate the resistance profile of the particular strain of bacteria causing infection.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin is pregnancy category B in the United States and pregnancy category A in Australia. It is one of the few drugs commonly used in pregnancy to treat UTIs. It however should not be used in late pregnancy due to the potential risk of hemolytic anemia in the newborn. Newborns of women given this drug late in pregnancy had a higher risk of developing neonatal jaundice.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Evidence of safety in early pregnancy is mixed as of 2017. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that while they can be used in the first trimester other options may be preferred. They remain a first line treatment in the second trimester. A 2015 meta analysis found no increased risk from first trimester use in cohort studies that was a slight increase of malformations in case control studies.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin is contraindicated in patients with decreased renal function (CrCl < 60 ml/min) due to systemic accumulation and subtherapeutic levels reached in the urinary tract. However, a retrospective chart review suggests the data for this cutoff are slim and a cutoff of CrCl < 40 ml/min would be more appropriate. Many of the severe side effects of this drug are more common in the elderly and those with renal impairment, as this causes the drug to be retained in the body and reach higher systemic levels. Thus, the drug is not recommended for the elderly population according to 2012 AGS Beers criteria.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin is also contraindicated in babies up to the age of one month, as they have immature enzyme systems in their red blood cells (glutathione instability), so nitrofurantoin must not be used because it can cause haemolytic anaemia. For the same reason, nitrofurantoin should not be given to pregnant women after 38 weeks of pregnancy. Nitrofurantoin is contraindicated in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD) because of risk of intravascular hemolysis resulting in anemia.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: The most common side effects with nitrofurantoin are nausea, headache, and flatulence. Less common adverse events (occurring in less than 1% of those taking the drug) include:


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Some of the more serious but rare side effects of nitrofurantoin have been a cause of concern. These include pulmonary reactions, hepatotoxicity, and neuropathy.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: The pulmonary toxicity caused by nitrofurantoin can be categorized into acute, subacute, and chronic pulmonary reactions. The acute and subacute reactions are thought to be due to a hypersensitivity reaction and often resolve when the drug is discontinued. Acute reactions have been estimated to occur in about one in 5000 women who take the drug. These reactions usually develop 3–8 days after the first dose of nitrofurantoin, but may occur from a few hours to a few weeks after starting the drug. Symptoms include fever, dyspnea, chills, cough, pleuritic chest pain, headache, back pain, and epigastric pain. Chest radiograph will often show unilateral or bilateral infiltrates similar to pulmonary edema. Treatment includes discontinuation of the nitrofurantoin, which should result in symptom improvement within 24 hours.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Chronic pulmonary reactions caused by nitrofurantoin include diffuse interstitial pneumonitis, pulmonary fibrosis, or both. This uncommon reaction may occur 1 month to 6 years after starting the drug and is usually related to its total lifetime dose. This reaction manifests with progressive shortness of breath. It is important to recognize nitrofurantoin as possible cause of symptoms and discontinue the drug when the suspicion of pulmonary side effects arises as it can be reversible if the drug is stopped early.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Hepatic reactions, including hepatitis, cholestatic jaundice, chronic active hepatitis, and hepatic necrosis, occur rarely. The onset of chronic active hepatitis may be insidious, and patients should be monitored periodically for changes in biochemical tests that would indicate liver injury. These reactions usually occur after exposure to the drug for more than 6 weeks. If signs of liver failure are observed in a patient taking nitrofurantoin, the drug should be discontinued. Re-challenge with the drug at a later date is not recommended, as the reaction may have a hypersensitivity component and recur when the drug is resumed.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Neuropathy is a rare side effect of taking nitrofurantoin. Patients may experience numbness and tingling in a stocking-glove pattern, which may or may not improve upon discontinuation of the drug.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Organisms are said to be susceptible to nitrofurantoin if their minimum inhibitory concentration is 32 /mL or less. The peak blood concentration of nitrofurantoin following an oral dose of nitrofurantoin 100mg is less than 1μg/mL and may be undetectable. Its bioavailability is about 90% and the urinary excretion is 40% tissue penetration is negligible; the drug is well concentrated in the urine: 75% of the dose is rapidly metabolised by the liver, but 25% of the dose is excreted in the urine unchanged, reliably achieving levels of 200μg/mL or more. In studies of dogs, the majority of urinary excretion is through glomerular filtration with some tubular secretion. There is also tubular absorption which is increased with urine acidification. However the activity of nitrofurantoin is also pH dependent and mean inhibitory concentration rises sharply with increased pH above 6. Nitrofurantoin cannot be used to treat infections other than simple cystitis.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: At the concentrations achieved in urine (>100μg/mL), nitrofurantoin is a bactericide. It is bacteriostatic against most susceptible organisms at concentrations less than 32μg/mL.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin and the quinolone antibiotics are mutually antagonistic "in vitro". It is not known whether this is of clinical significance, but the combination should be avoided.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Resistance to nitrofurantoin may be chromosomal or plasmid-mediated and involves inhibition of nitrofuran reductase. Acquired resistance in "E. coli" continues to be rare.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin and its metabolites are excreted mainly by the kidneys. In renal impairment, the concentration achieved in urine may be subtherapeutic. Nitrofurantoin should not be used in patients with a creatinine clearance of 60mL/min or less. However, a retrospective chart review may suggest nitrofurantoin is not contraindicated in this population.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin is concentrated in the urine, leading to higher and more effective levels in the urinary tract than in other tissues or compartments. With a 100mg oral dose, plasma levels are typically less than 1µg/mL while in the urine it reaches 200µg/mL.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: The drug works by damaging bacterial DNA, since its reduced form is highly reactive. This is made possible by the rapid reduction of nitrofurantoin inside the bacterial cell by flavoproteins (nitrofuran reductase) to multiple reactive intermediates that attack ribosomal proteins, DNA, respiration, pyruvate metabolism and other macromolecules within the cell. Nitrofurantoin exerts greater effects on bacterial cells than mammalian cells because bacterial cells activate the drug more rapidly. It is not known which of the actions of nitrofurantoin is primarily responsible for its bactericidal activity. The broad mechanism of action for this drug likely is responsible for the low development of resistance to its effects, as the drug affects many different processes important to the bacterial cell.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Nitrofurantoin has been available for the treatment of lower urinary tract infections (UTIs) since 1953.


title: Nitrofurantoin

text: Residues from the breakdown of nitrofuran veterinary antibiotics, including nitrofurantoin, have been found in chicken in Vietnam, China, Brazil, and Thailand. The European Union banned the use of nitrofurans in food producing animals by classifying it in ANNEX IV (list of pharmacologically active substances for which no maximum residue limits can be fixed) of the Council Regulation 2377/90. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States has prohibited furaltadone since February 1985 and withdrew the approval for the other nitrofuran drugs (except some topical uses) in January 1992. The topical use of furazolidone and nitrofurazone was prohibited in 2002. Australia prohibited the use of nitrofurans in food production in 1992. Japan did not allocate MRLs for nitrofurans leading to the implementation of a "zero tolerance or no residue standard". In Thailand, the Ministry of Health issued in 2001 Proclamation No. 231 MRL of veterinary drug in food which did not allocate MRL for nitrofurans. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had already prohibited importation and use of furazolidone and nitrofurazone in animal feed in 1999 which was extended to all nitrofurans in 2002. Several metabolites of nitrofurans, such as furazolidone, furaltadone and nitrofurazone cause cancer or genetic damage in rats.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Barbara Gordon is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. The character was created by television producer William Dozier, editor Julius Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox, and artist Carmine Infantino. Dozier, the producer of the 1960s "Batman" television series, requested Schwartz to call for a new female counterpart to the superhero Batman that could be introduced into publication and the third season of the show simultaneously. The character subsequently made her first comic-book appearance as Batgirl in "Detective Comics" #359, titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" in January 1967, by Fox and Infantino, allowing her to be introduced into the television series, portrayed by actress Yvonne Craig, in the season 3 premiere "Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin", in September that same year.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Barbara Gordon is the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon, the sister of James Gordon Jr. and is initially employed as head of the Gotham City Public Library. Although the character appeared in various DC Comics publications, she was prominently featured in "Batman Family" which debuted in 1975, partnered with the original Robin, Dick Grayson. In 1988, following the editorial retirement of the character's Batgirl persona in "Batgirl Special" #1, the graphic novel "" depicts the Joker shooting her through the spinal cord in her civilian identity, resulting in paraplegia. In subsequent stories, the character was reestablished as a technical advisor, computer expert and information broker known as Oracle. Becoming a valuable asset providing intelligence and computer hacking services to assist other superheroes, she makes her first appearance as Oracle in "Suicide Squad" #23 (1989) and later became a featured lead of the "Birds of Prey" series. In 2011, as part of DC Comics "The New 52" relaunch, Barbara recovered from her paralysis following a surgical procedure and returned as Batgirl. Barbara has since featured in the eponymous "Batgirl" monthly title as well as "Birds of Prey" and other "Batman" books. Following the events of Joker War, Barbara returned to her Oracle role while recovering from an injury, and will continue to operate as both Batgirl and Oracle as part of the 2021 "Infinite Frontier" event.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: The character was a popular comic book figure during the Silver Age of Comic Books, due to her appearances in the "Batman" television series and continued media exposure. She has achieved similar popularity in the Modern Age of Comic Books under the "Birds of Prey" publication and as a disabled icon. The character has been the subject of academic analysis concerning the roles of women, librarians, and disabled people in mainstream media. The events of "The Killing Joke", which led to the character's paralysis, as well as the restoration of her mobility, have also been a subject of debate among comic book writers, artists, editors, and readership. Viewpoints range from sexism in comic books, to the limited visibility of disabled characters and the practicality of disabilities existing in a fictional universe where magic, technology, and medical science exceed the limitations of the real world.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: As both Batgirl and Oracle, Barbara Gordon has been featured in various adaptations related to the Batman franchise, including television, film, animation, video games, and other merchandise. Aside from Craig, the character has been portrayed by Dina Meyer and Jeté Laurence, and has been voiced by Melissa Gilbert, Tara Strong, Danielle Judovits, Alyson Stoner, Mae Whitman, Kimberly Brooks and Briana Cuoco among others. Barbara Gordon appeared in the third season of the HBO Max series "Titans" as the new commissioner of Gotham City portrayed by Savannah Welch. The character was slated for a solo film set in the DCEU, starring Leslie Grace in the title role and intended to be released on HBO Max but was canceled in August 2022. In 2011, Barbara Gordon ranked 17th in IGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes".


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Before the introduction of Barbara Gordon, the Batwoman character and her sidekick Bat-Girl appeared in Batman-related publications but were eventually removed at the direction of editor Julius Schwartz for being outdated and unrealistic. Schwartz stated that he had been asked to develop a new female character to attract a female viewership to the "Batman" television series of the 1960s. Executive producer William Dozier suggested that the new character would be the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon, and that she would adopt the identity of Batgirl. When Dozier and producer Howie Horowitz saw rough concept artwork of the new Batgirl by artist Carmine Infantino during a visit to DC offices, they optioned the character in a bid to help sell a third season to the ABC television network. Infantino reflected on the creation of Batgirl, stating "Bob Kane had had a Bat-Girl for about three stories in the '50s but she had nothing to do with a bat. She was like a pesky girl version of Robin. I knew we could do a lot better, so Julie and I came up with the real Batgirl, who was so popular she almost got her TV show." Yvonne Craig portrayed the character in the show's third season.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Barbara Gordon and her alter ego Batgirl debuted in "Detective Comics" #359 (Jan. 1967), "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl", as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. In the debut story, while driving to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, sporting a black bodysuit with yellow gloves, boots, utility belt, and a bat symbol along with a blue cape and cowl (similar to Batman's), Barbara Gordon intervenes in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the supervillain Killer Moth, attracting Batman's attention and leading to a crime-fighting career. Although Batman insists she give up crime-fighting because of her gender, Batgirl disregards his objections.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: In her civilian identity, Barbara Gordon, Ph.D., is depicted as a career woman with a doctorate in library science, as well as being head of the Gotham City Public Library, "presumably one of the largest public libraries in the DC Comics version of reality." She was given a regular backup slot in "Detective Comics" starting with issue #384 (February 1969), alternating issues with Robin until issue #404, after which she had the backup slot to herself. Frank Robbins wrote nearly all of these backups, which were penciled first by Gil Kane and later by Don Heck. Barbara Gordon's Batgirl exceeded the earlier Bat-Girl and Batwoman characters in popularity, and readers requested for her to appear in other titles. Although some readers requested that Batwoman also continue to appear in the publication, DC responded to the fan-based acclaim and criticism of the new character in an open letter in "Detective Comics" #417 (1971), stating: "I'd like to say a few words about the reaction some readers have to Batgirl. These are readers who remember Batwoman and the other Bat-girls from years back ...They were there because romance seemed to be needed in Batman's life. But thanks to the big change and a foresighted editor, these hapless females are gone for good. In their place stands a girl who is a capable crime-fighter, a far cry from Batwoman who constantly had to be rescued [by] Batman."


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Batgirl continues to appear in DC Comics publications throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, as a supporting character in "Detective Comics", in addition to guest appearances in various titles such as "Justice League of America", "World's Finest Comics", "The Brave and the Bold", "Action Comics", and "Superman". In the mid-1970s, Batgirl reveals her secret identity to her father (who had already discovered it on his own) and serves as a member of the United States House of Representatives. She moves to Washington, D.C., intending to give up her career as Batgirl and in June 1972, appeared in a story entitled "Batgirl's Last Case." Julius Schwartz brought her back a year later in "Superman" #268 (1973), in which she has a blind date with Clark Kent, establishing their friendship, and fights alongside Superman. Batgirl and Superman later team up twice more in "Superman" #279 and "DC Comics Presents" #19.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Batgirl also guest-starred in other Superman-related titles such as "Adventure Comics", and in "Superman Family" #171, where she teams up with Supergirl. The character is given a starring role in DC's "Batman Family" comic book which debuted in 1975. The original Robin Dick Grayson became her partner in the series and the two were frequently referred to as the "Dynamite Duo: Batgirl & Robin." Batgirl meets Batwoman in "Batman Family" #10, when the retired superhero briefly returns to crime-fighting (before Kane is murdered by the Bronze Tiger). The two fight Killer Moth and the Cavalier, and learn each other's secret identities. Batwoman retires once again at the conclusion of the story, leaving Batgirl to continue crime-fighting. Although this series ended after three years of publication, Batgirl continued to appear in back-up stories published in "Detective Comics" through issue #519 (October 1982).


title: Barbara Gordon

text: "Crisis on Infinite Earths", a limited miniseries published in 1985, was written to reduce the complex history of DC Comics to a single continuity. Although Batgirl is a featured character, her role is relatively small—she delivers Supergirl's eulogy in issue #7 of the 12-part series. The conclusion of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" changed DC Universe continuity in many ways. Following the reboot, Barbara Gordon is born to Roger and Thelma Gordon, and she is Jim Gordon's niece/adopted daughter in post-crisis continuity. Post-"Crisis", Supergirl does not arrive on Earth until after Gordon has established herself as Oracle; many adventures she shared with Batgirl are retroactively described as having been experienced by Power Girl. In "Secret Origins" #20 "featuring Batgirl and the Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite" (1987), Barbara Gordon's origin is rebooted by author Barbara Randall. Within the storyline, Gordon recounts the series of events that led to her career as Batgirl, including her first encounter with Batman as a child, studying martial arts under the tutelage of a sensei, memorizing maps and blueprints of the city, excelling in academics to skip grades, and pushing herself to become a star athlete.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: DC officially retired the hero in the one-shot comic "Batgirl Special" #1 (July 1988), written by Barbara Kesel.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Later that year, Barbara Gordon appeared in Alan Moore's "Batman: The Killing Joke". In this graphic novel, the Joker shoots and paralyzes Barbara in an attempt to drive her father insane, thereby proving to Batman that anyone can be morally compromised. Although events in "The Killing Joke" exert a great impact on the character, the story has little to do with her. In 2006, during an interview with "Wizard", Moore expressed regret over his treatment of the character calling it "shallow and ill-conceived." He stated before writing the graphic novel, "I asked DC if they had any problem with me crippling Barbara Gordon—who was Batgirl at the time—and if I remember, I spoke to Len Wein, who was our editor on the project", and following a discussion with then-Executive Editorial Director Dick Giordano, "Len got back onto the phone and said, 'Yeah, okay, cripple the bitch.'" Although there has been speculation as to whether or not editors at DC specifically intended to have the character's paralysis become permanent, Brian Cronin, author of "Was Superman A Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed" (2009) noted that DC had hired Barbara Kesel to write the "Batgirl Special" specifically to retire the character and set her in place for "The Killing Joke".


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Following the release of the graphic novel, comic book editor and writer Kim Yale discussed how distasteful she found the treatment of Barbara Gordon with her husband, fellow comic writer John Ostrander. Rather than allow the character to fall into obscurity, the two decided to revive her as a character living with a disability.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Gail Simone would include the character's paralysis in a list of "major female characters that had been killed, mutilated, and depowered", dubbing the phenomenon "Women in Refrigerators" in reference to a 1994 "Green Lantern" story where the title character discovers his girlfriend's mutilated body in his refrigerator.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: Yale and Ostrander oversaw the development of Barbara Gordon's new persona as Oracle for the next several years. The character made her first comic book appearance as Oracle in "Suicide Squad" #23, anonymously offering her services to the government's Task Force X. In the following two years, Oracle, under the pen of Ostrander and Yale, made guest appearances in various DC titles until her identity was revealed to be Barbara Gordon in "Suicide Squad" #38 (1990) and she officially becomes a member of the Squad in issue #48 following an invitation from Amanda Waller. In 1992, Dennis O'Neil wrote Oracle as Batman's sole source of information in "Batman: Sword of Azrael" #1. This newly forged partnership established Oracle's status as Batman's intellectual equal. She is subsequently featured in the 12-issue miniseries "The Hacker Files" (1993). In "Oracle: Year One"—a story arc contained in "The Batman Chronicles" #5 (1996)—Yale and Ostrander tell the origin of Barbara Gordon's new persona as Oracle. Initially, Gordon's paralysis plunges her into a state of reactive depression. However, she soon realizes that her aptitude for and training in information sciences have provided her with tremendous skills that could be deployed to fight crime.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: In a world increasingly centered on technology and information, she possesses a genius-level intellect; photographic memory; deep knowledge of computers and electronics; expert skills as a hacker; and graduate training in library sciences. One night, she has a dream in which an all-knowing woman (similar to the Oracle at Delphi of Greek mythology) has her face; it is then that she adopts "Oracle" as her codename. She serves as an information broker, gathering and disseminating intelligence to law enforcement organizations and members of the superhero community. She trains under the tutelage of Richard Dragon, one of DC's premiere martial artists, to engage in combat (using eskrima) from her wheelchair. She develops her upper-body strength and targeting skills with both firearms and batarangs.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: The success of Chuck Dixon's "Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey" (1996) led to the comic series "Birds of Prey" starring the two title characters. During Chuck Dixon's crossover series "Nightwing: Hunt for Oracle", Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance meet in person and establish a long-term friendship. They form the nucleus of the Birds of Prey organization. While Oracle serves as the basic head of operations, Black Canary becomes her full-time employee and field agent. In 2000, the first "Batgirl" monthly comic was launched with Cassandra Cain as the title character. Oracle appears as a supporting character throughout the series, acting as a mentor to the new Batgirl, alongside Batman. Gail Simone took over as writer of "Birds of Prey" with issue #56. In an interview, Simone explained her fondness for Barbara Gordon, stating: "Kim Yale and John Ostrander picked up the character and made her into a brilliant master computer operator and one of the most fascinating characters in comics. From there, Chuck Dixon did wonderful things with her in his Birds of Prey run ... She's fantastic because even just sitting in a chair in a dark room by herself, she's tremendously compelling. The DCU without her would be a much less interesting place." Simone integrates the Huntress into the comic, making her a central character in the series as Oracle's secondary field agent. In 2003, comic book authors Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon revised Barbara Gordon's origin with the miniseries "". Gordon is a highly gifted child having graduated from high school early, but initially desires to join law enforcement as opposed to vigilantism in the previous origin myths.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: During the 2004 crossover event "", Black Mask commandeers Oracle's computers and satellites and engages in a fight to the death with Batman. To prevent Batman from killing his adversary, Oracle initiates the Clock Tower's self-destruct sequence, provoking Batman to rescue her rather than continue the battle. This destroys Gordon's home and headquarters in the clock tower. Subsequently, Oracle decides to move on and leaves Gotham City altogether. She cuts her ties with Batman, and after a temporary world trip with her team, relocates to Metropolis. In the events comprising Gail Simone's "Birds of Prey: Between Dark and Dawn" (2005), and "Birds of Prey: The Battle Within" (2005), Oracle is possessed by arch-villain Brainiac, an artificial intelligence entity, in order to become a biological being. Although Oracle overpowers Brainiac and expels him from her body, the advanced virus delivered by him remains despite his absence. The virus steadily causes cybernetic attachments to sprout all over her body. Oracle develops supernatural abilities that allow her to psychically interact with computer information systems. Although she loses these abilities after the virus is rendered dormant following an operation by Doctor Mid-Nite, she discovers she can move her toes. However, this proves to be short-lived; Gordon remains paralyzed.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: During the company-wide crossover "Infinite Crisis" (2005), Oracle teams with the Martian Manhunter in Metropolis to coordinate a counterstrike against the Secret Society's global jailbreak. The renewed romance between Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson is also cut short by the "Infinite Crisis" storyline.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: When DC continuity jumps forward one year after the events of "Infinite Crisis", Oracle and her team continue to work in Metropolis. Oracle works with Batman, although not regularly as before. Oracle continues to lead the Birds of Prey and expands the ranks of the operation. In "Birds of Prey" #99, Black Canary leaves the team and the Huntress becomes the team's "de facto" field leader, while Big Barda is brought in as the group's heavy-hitter alongside a larger, rotating roster. Oracle also attempts to reforge her alliance with Power Girl. However, when Oracle invites her to rejoin the team, she replies that she will do so "when Hell freezes over."


title: Barbara Gordon

text: In the crossover event "Countdown to Final Crisis" (2007), Oracle dispatches the Question and Batwoman to capture Trickster and Piper following their role in the murder of Bart Allen. She struggles to keep the identities of the world's heroes from being stolen and coordinates the response to a global crisis engineered by the Calculator, a villainous hacker and information broker. In "The All-New Booster Gold" #5 (2007), the title hero is given the mission of traveling back in time in order to prevent "a tragedy that he discovers never should've happened—the Joker shooting and paralyzing Barbara Gordon, Batgirl." Although Booster Gold makes several attempts to prevent the events which took place in "Batman: The Killing Joke", he ultimately fails and Barbara Gordon's chronological history remains unchanged. Rip Hunter convinces him that Barbara's destiny is to become Oracle. Later, Batman reveals that he kept Joker's photos of Barbara and Booster Gold for years and waited until Booster Gold's correct age before confronting him. Batman then thanks Booster Gold for trying to stop the Joker and offers him his friendship.


title: Barbara Gordon

text: In "Whitewater", Gail Simone's final story arc on "Birds of Prey" (2007), Oracle and her team struggle for power with Spy Smasher, a government agent who has taken over the Birds of Prey organization. Eventually, Spy Smasher is forced to admit her defeat and returns control of the Birds of Prey organization to Oracle. After the arc, Oracle also adopts Misfit into the Birds of Prey. Sean McKeever temporarily took over as author of "Birds of Prey", writing issues #113–117, "Birds of Prey: Metropolis or Dust" (2008). The following arc of the series "Birds of Prey: Platinum Flats" (2008) is written by Tony Bedard. In the company-wide 2008 "Final Crisis" storyline, Darkseid—who has finally gained control of the Anti-Life Equation—attempts to put the mind-control equation on the internet. Both Oracle and Mister Terrific make desperate attempts to stop Darkseid, even attempting to shut down the entire Internet. Unfortunately, they both fail and those affected ended up mindless slaves of Darkseid. Freed from Darkseid's control after the restoration of the Multiverse, she attempts to shut down the criminal "Unternet" set up by her opposite number, the Calculator, as a Darkseid-free replacement for the regular Internet and still used by tech-savvy criminals. However, the Calculator, preventing her moves, takes control of the Kilg%re, gaining the ability to thrive in cyberspace by controlling digital and cybernetic avatars, and tracks Oracle down with his newfound powers. Even though Oracle foils him, she starts doubting her abilities and fears she's losing her edge and brilliance, which results in her disbanding the Birds of Prey team to do some soul-searching. "Birds of Prey" received cancellation in early 2009, with the final issue being #127.