title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Ross made two errors. First, he refused to listen to the counsel of his officers, who may have been more familiar with mirages than he was. Second, his attempt to honour Croker by naming a mountain range after him backfired when the mountains turned out to be non-existent. Ross could not obtain ships, or funds, from the government for his subsequent expeditions, and was forced to rely on private backers instead.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Benjamin Morrell reported that, in March 1823, while on a voyage to the Antarctic and southern Pacific Ocean, he had explored what he thought was the east coast of New South Greenland. The west coast of New South Greenland had been explored two years earlier by Robert Johnson, who had given the land its name. This name was not adopted, however, and the area, which is the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, is now known as Graham Land. Morrell's reported position was actually far to the east of Graham Land. Searches for the land that Morrell claimed to have explored would continue into the early 20th century before New South Greenland's existence was conclusively disproven. Why Morrell reported exploring a non-existent land is unclear, but one possibility is that he mistook a Fata Morgana for actual land.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Robert Peary claimed to have seen, while on a 1906 Arctic expedition, a land mass in the distance. He said that it was north-west from the highest point of Cape Thomas Hubbard, which is situated in what is now the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut, and he estimated it to be away, at about 83 degrees N, longitude 100 degrees W. He named it Crocker Land, after George Crocker of the Peary Arctic Club. As Peary's diary contradicts his public claim that he had sighted land, it is now believed that Crocker Land was a fraudulent invention of Peary, created in an unsuccessful attempt to secure further funding from Crocker.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: In 1913, unaware that Crocker Land was merely an invention, Donald Baxter MacMillan organised the Crocker Land Expedition, which set out to reach and explore the supposed land mass. On 21 April, the members of the expedition did, in fact, see what appeared to be a huge island on the north-western horizon. As MacMillan later said, "Hills, valleys, snow-capped peaks extending through at least one hundred and twenty degrees of the horizon". Piugaattoq, a member of the expedition and an Inuit hunter with 20 years of experience of the area, explained that it was just an illusion. He called it "poo-jok", which means 'mist'. However, MacMillan insisted that they press on, even though it was late in the season and the sea ice was breaking up. For five days they went on, following the mirage. Finally, on 27 April, after they had covered some of dangerous sea ice, MacMillan was forced to admit that Piugaattoq was right—the land that they had sighted was in fact a mirage (probably a Fata Morgana). Later, MacMillan wrote:


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: The expedition collected interesting samples, but is still considered to be a failure and a very expensive mistake. The final cost was $100,000 (equivalent to $ in ).


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Hy Brasil is an island that was said to appear once every few years off the coast of Co. Kerry, Ireland. Hy Brasil has been drawn on ancient maps as a perfectly circular island with a river running directly through it.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Lake Ontario is said to be famous for mirages, with opposite shorelines becoming clearly visible during the events.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Here the described mirages of vessels "could only be seen with the aid of a telescope". It is often the case when observing a Fata Morgana that one needs to use a telescope or binoculars to really make out the mirage. The "cloud" that the article mentions a few times probably refers to a duct.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: On 25 August 1894, "Scientific American" described a "remarkable mirage" seen by the citizens of Buffalo, New York.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: From McMurdo Station in Antarctica, Fata Morganas are often seen during the Antarctic spring and summer, across McMurdo Sound. An Antarctic Fata Morgana, seen from a C-47 transport flight, was recounted:


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Fata Morgana mirages may continue to trick some observers and are still sometimes mistaken for otherworldly objects such as UFOs. A Fata Morgana can display an object that is located below the astronomical horizon as an apparent object hovering in the sky. A Fata Morgana can also magnify such an object vertically and make it look absolutely unrecognizable.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Some UFOs which are seen on radar may also be due to Fata Morgana mirages. Official UFO investigations in France indicate:


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Fata Morgana mirages could explain the mysterious Australian Min Min light phenomenon. This would also explain the way in which the legend has changed over time: The first reports were of a stationary light, which in a Fata Morgana effect would be an image of a campfire. In more recent reports this has changed to moving lights, which in an inversion reflection such as Fata Morgana would be headlights over the horizon being reflected by the inversion.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: Fata Morgana Land is a phantom island in the Arctic, reported first in 1907. After an unfruitful search, it was deemed to be Tobias Island.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: A Fata Morgana is usually associated with something mysterious, something that never could be approached.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: In the lines, "the weary traveller sees / In desert or prairie vast, / Blue lakes, overhung with trees / That a pleasant shadow cast", because of the mention of blue lakes, it is clear that the author is actually describing not a Fata Morgana, but rather a common inferior or desert mirage. The 1886 drawing shown here of a "Fata Morgana" in a desert might have been an imaginative illustration for the poem, but in reality no mirage ever looks like this. Andy Young writes, "They're always confined to a narrow strip of sky—less than a finger's width at arm's length—at the horizon."


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: The 18th-century poet Christoph Martin Wieland wrote about "Fata Morgana's castles in the air". The idea of castles in the air was probably so irresistible that many languages still use the phrase Fata Morgana to describe a mirage.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: In the book "Thunder Below!" about the submarine , the crew sees a Fata Morgana (called an "arctic mirage" in the book) of four ships trapped in the ice. As they try to approach the ships the mirage vanishes.


title: Fata Morgana (mirage)

text: The Fata Morgana is briefly mentioned in the 1936 H. P. Lovecraft horror novel "At the Mountains of Madness", in which the narrator states: "On many occasions the curious atmospheric effects enchanted me vastly; these including a strikingly vivid mirage—the first I had ever seen—in which distant bergs became the battlements of unimaginable cosmic castles."


title: Sniper rifle

text: A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a portable shoulder-fired weapon system with a choice between bolt-action or semi-automatic action, fitted with a telescopic sight for extreme accuracy and chambered for a high-ballistic performance centerfire cartridge.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The Whitworth rifle was arguably the first long-range sniper rifle in the world. Designed by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a prominent British engineer, it used barrels with hexagonal polygonal rifling, which meant that the projectile did not have to bite into the rifling grooves as was done with conventional rifling. His rifle was far more accurate than the Pattern 1853 Enfield, which had shown some weaknesses during the recent Crimean War. At trials in 1857, which tested the accuracy and range of both weapons, Whitworth's design outperformed the Enfield at a rate of about three to one. Also, the Whitworth rifle was able to hit the target at a range of 2,000 yards, whereas the Enfield could only manage it at a distance of 1,400 yards. During the American Civil War, the Confederate sharpshooters equipped with Whitworth rifles were tasked to kill Union field artillery crews, and were responsible for killing Major General John Sedgwick – one of the highest-ranking officers killed during the Civil War – at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.


title: Sniper rifle

text: During the Crimean War, the first optical sights were designed for fitting onto the rifles. Much of this pioneering work was the brainchild of Colonel D. Davidson, using optical sights produced by Chance Brothers of Birmingham. This allowed a marksman to more accurately observe and target objects at a greater distance than ever before. The telescopic sight, or scope, was originally fixed and could not be adjusted, which therefore limited its range. By the 1870s, the perfection of breech loading magazine rifles led to sniper rifles having "effective accurate" ranges of up to a mile away from its target.


title: Sniper rifle

text: During the Boer War, the latest breech-loading rifled guns with magazine and smokeless powder were used by both sides. The British were equipped with the Lee–Metford rifle, while the Boers had received the latest Mauser Model 1895 rifles from Germany. In the open terrain of South Africa, the marksman was a crucial component in battle. The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit formed in 1899 that was renowned for the expert marksmanship and stalking skills of its personnel. The men wore ghillie suits for camouflage and were expertly skilled in observation. Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard said of them that "keener men never lived". After the Boer War, the Scouts became the first official sniper unit in the British Army.


title: Sniper rifle

text: It was not until World War I that sniper rifles began to be used more regularly in battle and certain soldiers given specialized training to use such a rifle. In Germany, these trained snipers were given rifles with telescopic sights, which illuminated at night in order to improve their accuracy. German gunsmiths fitted the scope above the barrel for optimal accuracy.


title: Sniper rifle

text: During the War, the accuracy of the sniper rifle was greatly improved. By the end of World War II snipers were reported to provide "reasonable accuracy" over with anything over this range being unpredictable. It was during World War I and II that the word ‘sniper’ began to be used commonly, whereas previously those who were armed with sniper rifles were referred to as sharpshooters, or marksmen.


title: Sniper rifle

text: These marksmen, wielding sniper rifles such as the Karabiner 98k and Mosin–Nagant Model 1891/30 sniper rifle, had a drastic and demoralizing effect on the battlefield. Soldiers would often remain hidden in foxholes or trenches so as not to expose themselves to the deadly accuracy of a sniper. Some soldiers even began to disregard orders from commanding officers to protect against potential harm, which thus broke down the chain of command on the battlefield. The sniper rifle soon acquired the reputation of being one of the most effective and ruthless weapons of war.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Though sniper rifles had proved to be extremely effective in combat, there was still a great reluctance in many militaries to adopt a trained sniper regiment. To effectively use a sniper rifle, a soldier had to go through particularly rigorous training, and most people did not make it past the first week. Sniper training was so expensive to conduct that, even until as recently as 1970, the reasoning for having trained snipers as a part of an army was deemed questionable. In Britain, sniper rifles were not seen as being an integral part of an army until after the Germans boasted so much success with sniper teams during the early months of World War I. The British army advisors supposed that the telescopic sights attached to sniper rifles were too easily damaged and thus not well suited for military use. However, they soon realized that these telescopic sights could be improved and made sturdy enough to withstand a sniper rifle shot.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Sniper rifles have continued to be used consistently throughout the later part of the 20th century in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East as an integral part of the modern style of guerrilla warfare. The durability, accuracy and power of modern sniper rifles are beyond anything in use even 10 years ago and would seem amazing in comparison to any World War II sniper rifles. Now sniper rifles are extremely reliable and are able to fire repeatedly without losing accuracy, whereas earlier sniper rifles would lose accuracy the more consistently they were used due to wear and tear. Sniper rifles continue to be adapted and improved upon with the effective range of modern sniper rifles exceeding , which make it one of the most accurate, deadly and efficient weapons in use now.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Sniper rifles manufactured for military service are often designed for very high durability, range, reliability, sturdiness, serviceability and repairability under adverse environmental and combat conditions, at the sacrifice of a small degree of accuracy. Military snipers and sharpshooters may also be required to carry their rifles and other equipment for long distances, making it important to minimize weight. Military organizations often operate under strict budget constraints, which influences the type and quality of sniper rifles they purchase.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Sniper rifles built or modified for use in law enforcement are generally required to have the greatest possible accuracy, but do not need to have as long a range.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Law enforcement-specific rifles are usually used in non-combat (often urban) environments, so they do not have the requirement to be as hardy or portable as military versions; therefore, they may be smaller, because they do not need very long range.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Some of the first sniper rifles designed specifically to meet police and other law-enforcement requirements were developed for West German police after the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Many police services and law enforcement organizations (such as the U.S. Secret Service) now use rifles designed for law enforcement purposes.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The Heckler & Koch PSG1 is one rifle specifically designed to meet these criteria and is often referred to as an ideal example of this type of sniper rifle. The FN Special Police Rifle was built for, and is marketed to, law enforcement rather than military agencies.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The features of a sniper rifle can vary widely depending on the specific tasks it is intended to perform. Features that may distinguish a sniper rifle from other weapons are the presence of a telescopic sight, unusually long overall length, a stock designed for firing from a prone position, and the presence of a bipod and other accessories.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The single most important characteristic that sets a sniper rifle apart from other military or police small arms is the mounting of a telescopic sight, which is relatively easy to distinguish from smaller optical aiming devices found on some modern assault rifles and submachine guns.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The telescopic sights used on sniper rifles differ from other optical sights in that they offer much greater magnification (more than 4× and up to 40×), and have a much larger objective lens (40 to 50 mm in diameter) for a brighter image.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Most telescopic lenses employed in military or police roles have special reticles to aid with judgment of distance, which is an important factor in accurate shot placement due to the bullet's trajectory.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The choice between bolt-action and semi-automatic, usually recoil operated or gas operated, is usually determined by specific requirements of the sniper's role in a particular organization, with each design having advantages and disadvantages. For a given cartridge, a bolt-action rifle is cheaper to build and maintain, more reliable, and lighter, due to fewer moving parts in the mechanism. In addition, the absence of uncontrolled automatic cartridge case ejection helps avoid revealing the shooter's position. Semi-automatic weapons can serve both as battle rifle and sniper rifle, and allow for a greater rate (and hence volume) of fire. As such rifles may be modified service rifles, an additional benefit can be commonality of operation with the issued infantry rifle. A bolt action is most commonly used in both military and police roles due to its higher accuracy and ease of maintenance. Anti-materiel applications such as mine clearing and special forces operations tend to use semi-automatics.


title: Sniper rifle

text: A designated marksman rifle (DMR) is less specialized than a typical military sniper rifle, often only intended to extend the range of a group of soldiers. Therefore, when a semi-automatic action is used it is due to its ability to cross over into roles similar to the roles of standard issue weapons. There may also be additional logistical advantages if the DMR uses the same ammunition as the more common standard issue weapons. These rifles enable a higher volume of fire, but sacrifice some long range accuracy. They are frequently built from existing selective fire battle rifles or assault rifles, often simply by adding a telescopic sight and adjustable stock.


title: Sniper rifle

text: A police semi-automatic sniper rifle may be used in situations that require a single sniper to engage multiple targets in quick succession, and military semi-automatics, such as the M110 SASS, are used in similar "target-rich" environments.


title: Sniper rifle

text: In a military setting, logistical concerns are the primary determinant of the cartridge used, so sniper rifles are usually limited to rifle cartridges commonly used by the military force employing the rifle and match grade ammunition. Since large national militaries generally change slowly, military rifle ammunition is frequently battle-tested and well-studied by ammunition and firearms experts. Consequently, police forces tend to follow military practices in choosing a sniper rifle cartridge instead of trying to break new ground with less-perfected (but possibly better) ammunition.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Before the introduction of the standard 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 Winchester) cartridge in the 1950s, standard military cartridges were the .30-06 Springfield or 7.62×63mm (United States), .303 British (7.7×56mmR) (United Kingdom) and 7.92×57mm (8mm Mauser Germany). The .30-06 Springfield continued in service with U.S. Marine Corps snipers during the Vietnam War in the 1970s, well after general adoption of the 7.62×51mm. At the present time, in both the Western world and within NATO, 7.62×51mm is currently the primary cartridge of choice for military and police sniper rifles.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Worldwide, the trend is similar. The preferred sniper cartridge in Russia is another .30 caliber military cartridge, the 7.62×54 mm R, which has slightly superior performance to the 7.62×51mm, although the rimmed design limits reliability compared to the latter cartridge. This cartridge was introduced in 1891, and both Russian sniper rifles of the modern era, the Mosin–Nagant and the Dragunov sniper rifle, are chambered for it.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Certain commercial cartridges designed with only performance in mind, without the logistical constraints of most armies, have also gained popularity in the 1990s. These include the 7 mm Remington Magnum (7.2×64mm), .300 Winchester Magnum (7.8/7.62×67mm), and the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm). These cartridges offer better ballistic performance and greater effective range than the 7.62×51mm. Though they are not as powerful as .50 caliber cartridges, rifles chambered for these cartridges are not as heavy as those chambered for .50 caliber ammunition, and are significantly more powerful than rifles chambered for 7.62×51mm.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Snipers may also employ anti-materiel rifles in sniping roles against targets such as vehicles, equipment and structures, or for the long-range destruction of explosive devices; these rifles may also be used against personnel.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Anti-materiel rifles tend to be semi-automatic and of a larger caliber than other rifles, using cartridges such as the .50 BMG, 12.7×108mm Russian or even 14.5×114mm Russian and 20mm. These large cartridges are required to be able to fire projectiles containing payloads such as explosives, armor-piercing cores, incendiaries or combinations of these, such as the Raufoss Mk211 projectile. Due to the considerable size and weight of anti-materiel rifles, two- or three-man sniper teams become necessary.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Barrels are normally of precise manufacture and of a heavier cross section than more traditional barrels in order to reduce the change in impact points between a first shot from a cold barrel and a follow-up shot from a warm barrel. Unlike many battle and assault rifles, the bores are usually not chromed to avoid inaccuracy due to an uneven treatment.


title: Sniper rifle

text: When installed, barrels are often "free-floated": i.e., installed so that the barrel contacts the rest of the rifle only at the receiver. A free-floating barrel avoids contact with the fore-end of the stock by the barrel itself, slings, bipods, or the sniper's hands that can interfere with barrel harmonics. The end of the barrel is usually crowned or machined to form a rebated area around the muzzle proper to avoid asymmetry or damage, and consequent inaccuracy.


title: Sniper rifle

text: External longitudinal fluting that contributes to heat dissipation by increasing the surface area, while simultaneously decreasing the weight of the barrel, is sometimes used on sniper-rifle barrels.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Sniper-rifle barrels may also utilize a threaded muzzle or combination device (muzzle brake or flash suppressor and attachment mount) to allow the fitting of a sound suppressor. These suppressors often have a means of adjusting the point of impact while fitted.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Military sniper rifles tend to have barrel lengths of 609.6 mm (24 inches) or longer, to allow the cartridge propellant to fully burn, reducing the amount of revealing muzzle flash and increasing muzzle velocity. Police sniper rifles may use shorter barrels to improve handling characteristics. The shorter barrels' muzzle velocity loss is unimportant at closer ranges; the impact velocity of the bullet is more than sufficient.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The most common special feature of a sniper rifle stock is the adjustable cheek piece, where the shooter's cheek meets the rear of the stock. For most rifles equipped with a telescopic sight, this area is raised slightly, because the telescope is positioned higher than iron sights. A cheek piece is simply a section of the stock that can be adjusted up or down to suit the individual shooter. To further aid this individual fitting, the stock can sometimes also be adjusted for length, often by varying the number of inserts at the rear of the stock where it meets the shooter's shoulder. If the stock is manufactured from wood, environmental conditions or operational use may warp the wood, which may cause slight alignment or barrel harmonics changes over time, altering the point of impact. Stocks manufactured from polymers and metal alloys are less susceptible to point of impact shifting by environmental conditions. Sniper stocks are typically designed to avoid making contact with the barrel of the weapon and minimize the effects of environmental inconstancies. Modern sniper rifle stocks tend to be designed around a rigid chassis, offer user adjustability to allow shooters of various sizes and shapes to tailor the stock to their personal preferences and modular attachment points to provide flexibility to utilize (future) low light and day light aiming optics, laser designators, and other accessories without the need for custom made mounting interface kits.


title: Sniper rifle

text: An adjustable sling is often fitted on the rifle, used by the sniper to achieve better stability when standing, kneeling, or sitting. The sniper uses the sling to "lock-in" by wrapping his non-firing arm into the sling forcing his arm to be still.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Non-static weapon mounts, such as bipods, monopods and shooting sticks, are also regularly used to aid and improve stability and reduce operator fatigue.


title: Sniper rifle

text: A military-issue battle rifle or assault rifle is usually capable of between 3–6 minute of angle (1–2 milliradian) accuracy. A standard-issue military sniper rifle is typically capable of 1–3 MOA (0.3–1 mrad) accuracy, with a police sniper rifle capable of 0.25–1.5 MOA (0.1–0.5 mrad) accuracy. For comparison, a competition target or benchrest rifle may be capable of accuracy up to 0.15–0.3 MOA (0.05–0.1 mrad).


title: Sniper rifle

text: A 1 MOA (0.28 mrad) average extreme spread for a 5-shot group (meaning the center-to-center distance between the two most distant bullet holes in a shot-group) translates into a 69% probability that the bullet's point of impact will be in a Target Circle with a diameter of at . This average extreme spread for a 5-shot group and the accompanying hit probability are considered sufficient for effectively hitting a human shape at 800 m distance.


title: Sniper rifle

text: In 1982, a U.S. Army draft requirement for a Sniper Weapon System was: "The System will: (6) Have an accuracy of no more than 0.75 MOA (0.2 mrad) for a 5-shot group at 1,500 meters when fired from a supported, non-benchrest position". The Sniper Weapon System (M24) adopted in 1988 has a stated maximum effective range of 800 meters and a maximum allowed average mean radius (AMR) of 1.9 inches at 300 yards from a machine rest, what corresponds to a 0.6 MOA (0.17 mrad) extreme spread for a 5-shot group when using 7.62 × 51 mm M118 Special Ball cartridges.


title: Sniper rifle

text: A 2008 United States military market survey for a Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) calls for 1 MOA (0.3 mrad) extreme vertical spread for all shots in a 5-round group fired at targets at 300, 600, 900, 1,200 and 1,500 meters. In 2009 a United States Special Operations Command market survey calls for 1 MOA (0.28 mrad) extreme vertical spread for all shots in a 10-round group fired at targets at 300, 600, 900, 1,200 and 1,500 meters. The 2009 Precision Sniper Rifle requirements state that the PSR when fired without suppressor shall provide a confidence factor of 80% that the weapon and ammunition combination is capable of holding 1 MOA (0.28 mrad) extreme vertical spread. This shall be calculated from 150 ten (10) round groups that were fired unsuppressed. No individual group shall exceed 1.5 MOA (0.42 mrad) extreme vertical spread. All accuracy will be taken at the 1,500 meter point.


title: Sniper rifle

text: In 2008 the US military adopted the M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System which has corresponding maximum allowed extreme spread of 1.8 MOA (0.5 mrad) for a 5-shot group on 300 feet, using M118LR ammunition or equivalent. In 2010 the maximum bullet dispersion requirement for the M24 .300 Winchester Magnum corresponds to 1.4 MOA (0.39 mrad) extreme spread for 5 shot group on 100 meters. In 2011, the US military adapted the .300 Winchester Magnum M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle that has to meet an accuracy requirement to fire ≤ 1 MOA/0.28 mrad (less than a 2-inch shot group at 200 yards) before being released for fielding.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Although accuracy standards for police rifles do not widely exist, rifles are frequently seen with accuracy levels from 0.5 to 1.5 MOA (0.2–0.5 mrad). For typical policing situations, an extreme spread accuracy level no better than 1 MOA (0.3 mrad) is usually all that is required. This is because police typically employ their rifles at short ranges. At 100 m or less, a rifle with a relatively low accuracy of only 1 MOA (0.3 mrad) should be able to repeatedly hit a 3 cm (1.2 inch) target. A 3 cm diameter target is smaller than the brain stem which is targeted by police snipers for its quick killing effect.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Unlike police sniper rifles, military sniper rifles tend to be employed at the greatest possible distances so that range advantages, like the increased difficulty to spot and engage the sniper, can be exploited.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The most popular military sniper rifles (in terms of numbers in service) are chambered for 7.62 mm (0.30 inch) caliber ammunition, such as 7.62×51mm and 7.62×54mm R. Since sniper rifles of this class must compete with several other types of military weapons with similar range, snipers invariably must employ skilled fieldcraft to conceal their position.


title: Sniper rifle

text: The recent trend in specialized military sniper rifles is towards larger calibers that offer relatively favorable hit probabilities at greater range with anti-personnel cartridges such as .300 Winchester Magnum and .338 Lapua Magnum and anti-materiel cartridges such as 12.7×99mm, 12.7×108mm, and 14.5×114mm. This allows snipers to take fewer risks, and spend less time finding concealment when facing enemies that are not equipped with similar weapons.


title: Sniper rifle

text: Maximum range claims made by military organizations and materiel manufacturers regarding sniper weapon systems are not based on consistent or strictly scientific criteria. The problem is only the bullet interacts after a relatively long flight path with the target (which can also be a materiel target for a sniper bullet). This implies that variables such as the minimal required hit probability, local atmospheric conditions, properties and velocity of the employed bullet (parts), properties of the target and the desired terminal effect are major relevant factors that determine the maximum effective range of the employed system.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) and a member association of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).


title: Planned Parenthood

text: PPFA has its roots in Brooklyn, New York, where Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, in 1916. Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921, and 14 years after her exit as its president, ABCL's successor organization became Planned Parenthood in 1942.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood consists of 159 medical and non-medical affiliates, which operate over 600 health clinics in the United States. It partners with organizations in 12 countries globally. The organization directly provides a variety of reproductive health services and sexual education, contributes to research in reproductive technology and advocates for the protection and expansion of reproductive rights. Research shows that closures of Planned Parenthood clinics lead to increases in maternal mortality rates.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: PPFA is the largest single provider of reproductive health services and the largest single provider of abortion, in the United States. In their 2014 Annual Report, PPFA reported seeing over 2.5million patients in over 4million clinical visits and performing a total of nearly 9.5million discrete services including 324,000 abortions. Its combined annual revenue is , including approximately in government funding such as Medicaid reimbursements. Throughout its history, PPFA and its member clinics have experienced support, controversy, protests, and violent attacks.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: The origins of Planned Parenthood date to October 16, 1916, when Margaret Sanger, her sister Ethel Byrne, and Fania Mindell opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. in the Brownsville section of the New York borough of Brooklyn. They distributed birth control, birth control advice, and birth control information. All three women were arrested and jailed for violating provisions of the Comstock Act, accused of distributing obscene materials at the clinic. The so-called Brownsville trials brought national attention and support to their cause. Sanger and her co-defendants were convicted on misdemeanor charges, which they appealed through two subsequent appeals courts. While the convictions were not overturned, the judge who issued the final ruling also modified the law to permit physician-prescribed birth control. The women's campaign led to major changes in the laws governing birth control and sex education in the United States.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 1921, the clinic was organized into the American Birth Control League, the core of the only national birth-control organization in the U.S. until the 1960s. By 1941, it was operating 222 centers and had served 49,000 clients. In 1923, Sanger opened the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau (BCCRB) for the purposes of dispensing contraceptives under the supervision of licensed physicians and studying their effectiveness.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Some found the ABCL's title offensive and "against families", so the League began discussions for a new name. In 1938, a group of private citizens organized the Citizens Committee for Planned Parenthood to aid the American Birth Control League in spreading scientific knowledge about birth control to the general public. The BCCRB merged with the ABCL in 1939 to form the Birth Control Federation of America (BCFA). In 1942 the name of the BCFA was changed to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Under the leadership of National Director D. Kenneth Rose, the PPFA expanded its programs and services through the 1940s, adding affiliate organizations throughout the country. By the end of World War II, the Federation was no longer solely a center for birth control services or a clearing house for contraceptive information but had emerged as a major national health organization. PPFA's programs included a full range of family planning services including marriage education and counseling, and infertility services. The leadership of the PPFA, largely consisting of businessmen and male physicians, endeavored to incorporate its contraceptive services unofficially into regional and national public health programs by emphasizing less politicized aspects such as child spacing.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: During the 1950s, the Federation further adjusted its programs and message to appeal to a family-centered, more conservative post war populace, while continuing to function, through its affiliated clinics, as the more reliable source of contraceptives in the country.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: From 1942 to 1962, PPFA concentrated its efforts on strengthening its ties to affiliates, expanding public education programs, and improving its medical and research work. By 1960, visitors to PPFA centers across the nation numbered over 300,000 per year.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Largely relying on a volunteer workforce, by 1960 the Federation had provided family planning counseling in hundreds of communities across the country. Planned Parenthood was one of the founding members of the International Planned Parenthood Federation when it was launched at a conference in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, in 1952.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 1961, the population crisis debate, along with funding shortages, convinced PPFA to merge with the World Population Emergency Campaign, a citizens fund-raising organization to become PPFA-World Population.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Both Planned Parenthood and Margaret Sanger are strongly associated with the abortion issue today. For much of the organization's history, however, and throughout Sanger's life, abortion was illegal in the U.S., and discussions of the issue were often censored. During this period, Sanger – like other American advocates of birth control – publicly condemned abortion, arguing that it would not be needed if every woman had access to birth control.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Following Margaret Sanger, Alan Frank Guttmacher became president of Planned Parenthood, serving from 1962 until 1974. During his tenure, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the sale of the original birth control pill, giving rise to new attitudes towards women's reproductive freedom. Also during his presidency, Planned Parenthood lobbied the federal government to support reproductive health, culminating with President Richard Nixon's signing of Title X to provide governmental subsidies for low-income women to access family planning services. The Center for Family Planning Program Development was also founded as a semi-autonomous division during this time. The center became an independent organization and was renamed the Guttmacher Institute in 1977.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood began to advocate abortion law reform beginning in 1955, when the organization's medical director, Mary Calderone, convened a national conference of medical professionals on the issue. The conference was the first instance of physicians and other professionals advocating reform of the laws which criminalized abortion, and it played a key role in creating a movement for the reform of abortion laws in the U.S. Focusing, at first, on legalizing therapeutic abortion, Planned Parenthood became an increasingly vocal proponent of liberalized abortion laws during the 1960s, culminating in its call for the repeal of all anti-abortion laws in 1969. In the years that followed, the organization played a key role in landmark abortion rights cases such as "Roe v Wade" (1973) and "Planned Parenthood v Casey" (1992). Once abortion was legalized during the early 1970s, Planned Parenthood also began acting as an abortion provider.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Faye Wattleton became the first African American president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1978. Wattleton, who was also the youngest president in Planned Parenthood's history, served in this role until 1992. During her term, Planned Parenthood grew to become the seventh largest charity in the country, providing services to four million clients each year through its 170 affiliates, whose activities were spread across 50 states.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: From 1996 to 2006, Planned Parenthood was led by Gloria Feldt. Feldt activated the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF), the organization's political action committee, launching what was the most far reaching electoral advocacy effort in its history. The PPAF serves as the nonpartisan political advocacy arm of PPFA. It engages in educational and electoral activity, including legislative advocacy, voter education, and grassroots organizing to promote the PPFA mission. Feldt also launched the Responsible Choices Action Agenda, a nationwide campaign to increase services to prevent unwanted pregnancies, improve quality of reproductive care, and ensure access to safe and legal abortions. Another initiative was the commencement of a "Global Partnership Program", with the aim of building a vibrant activist constituency in support of family planning.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: On February 15, 2006, Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas governor Ann Richards, and formerly the deputy chief of staff to the U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (the Democratic Leader in the United States House of Representatives), became president of the organization. In 2012, Richards was voted one of "Time" magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World".


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Richards' tenure as president of the organization ended on April 30, 2018. Current Planned Parenthood board member Joe Solmonese was appointed as transition chair to temporarily oversee day-to-day operations of Planned Parenthood after Richards' departure.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: On September 12, 2018, the organization announced that Leana Wen would take over as president, effective November 2018. Wen was removed as president of Planned Parenthood by the organization's board of directors on July 16, 2019. Alexis McGill Johnson, a board member and former chairwoman, became the organization's acting president.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In October 2021, a hacker gained access to the Los Angeles branch of Planned Parenthood network and obtained the personal information of approximately 400,000 patients. On December 1, 2021, "The Washington Post" reported that the breach was a ransomware attack. The organization did not say if they paid the ransom or if the perpetrators made any demands. There was no indication as to who was responsible for the hack. The Metropolitan Washington branch of Planned Parenthood was also hacked in 2020 with donor and patient information compromised, including dates of birth, social security numbers, financial information, and medical data.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 1966, PPFA began awarding the Margaret Sanger Award annually to honor, in their words, "individuals of distinction in recognition of excellence and leadership in furthering reproductive health and reproductive rights." In the first year, it was awarded to four men: Carl G. Hartman, William Henry Draper Jr., Lyndon B. Johnson, and Martin Luther King Jr. Later recipients have included John D. Rockefeller III, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Hillary Clinton, and Ted Turner.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: The services provided by PPFA affiliates vary by location, with just over half of all Planned Parenthood affiliates in the U.S. performing abortions. Services provided by PPFA include birth control and long-acting reversible contraception; emergency contraception; clinical breast examinations; cervical cancer screening; pregnancy testing and pregnancy options counseling; prenatal care; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections; sex education; vasectomies; LGBT services; and abortion. Contrary to the assumption of some, Planned Parenthood conducts cancer screenings but does not provide mammograms, although Planned Parenthood physicians do refer their patients to other outside clinics where they can get mammograms.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 2013, PPFA reported seeing 2.7million patients in 4.6million clinical visits. Roughly 16% of its clients are teenagers. According to PPFA, in 2014 the organization provided 3.6million contraceptive services, 4.5million sexually transmitted infection services, about 1million cancer related services, over 1million pregnancy tests and prenatal services, over 324,000 abortion services, and over 100,000 other services, for a total of 9.5million discrete services. PPFA is well known for providing services to minorities and to poor people; according to PPFA, approximately four out of five of their clients have incomes at or below 150percent of the federal poverty level. Services for men's health include STD testing and treatment, vasectomy procedures, and erectile dysfunction services. Education is available regarding male birth control and lowering the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood won the 2020 Webby Award for Machine Learning and Bots for their Sex Education chatbot.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: PPFA has two national offices in the United States: one in Washington, D.C., and one in New York City. It has three international offices, including a hub office in London, England. It has 68 medical and related affiliates and 101 other affiliates including 34 political action committees. These affiliates together operate more than 700 health centers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. PPFA owns about in property, including real estate. In addition, PPFA spends a little over per year for rented space. The largest facility, a , structure, was completed in Houston, Texas, in May 2010.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: PPFA's international outreach and other activities are performed by Planned Parenthood Global, a division of PPFA, and by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) which now consists of more than 149 Member Associations working in more than 189 countries. The IPPF is further associated with International Planned Parenthood Federation affiliates in the Caribbean and the Americas, and IPPF European Network, as well as other organizations like Family Planning Queensland, Pro Familia (Germany) and "mouvement français pour le planning familial" (French Movement for Family Planning) . Offices are located in New York, NY; Washington, D.C.; Miami, FL; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Abuja, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya. The organization's focus countries are Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The Bloomberg Philanthropies donated for Planned Parenthood Global's reproductive health and family planning efforts in Tanzania, Nicaragua, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Uganda. Among specific countries and territories serviced by Planned Parenthood Global's reproductive planning outreach are Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Guyana, Cape Verde and Samoa.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood has received federal funding since 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed into law the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act, amending the Public Health Service Act. Title X of that law provides funding for family planning services, including contraception and family planning information. The law had support from both Republicans and Democrats. Nixon described Title X funding as based on the premise that "no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition."


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Donors to Planned Parenthood have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Buffett Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Turner Foundation, the Cullmans, and others. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's contributions to the organization have been specifically marked to avoid funding abortions. Some donors, such as the Buffett Foundation, have supported reproductive health that can include abortion services. Anti-abortion groups have advocated the boycott of donors to Planned Parenthood. Corporate donors include CREDO Mobile.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, total revenue was : non-government health services revenue was , government revenue (such as Medicaid reimbursements) was , private contributions totaled , and came from other operating revenue. According to Planned Parenthood, 59% of the group's revenue is put towards the provision of health services, while non-medical services such as sex education and public policy work make up another 15%; management expenses, fundraising, and international family planning programs account for about 16%, and 10% of the revenue in 2013–2014 was not spent.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood receives over a third of its money in government grants and contracts (about in 2014). By law (Hyde Amendment), federal funding cannot be allocated for abortions (except in rare cases), but some opponents of abortion have argued that allocating money to Planned Parenthood for the provision of other medical services allows other funds to be reallocated for abortions.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: A coalition of national and local anti-abortion groups have lobbied federal and state governments to stop funding Planned Parenthood. As a result, federal and state legislators have proposed legislation to reduce funding levels. Eight statesAlabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Utahhave enacted such proposals. In some cases, the courts have overturned such actions, citing conflict with federal or state laws; in others the federal executive branch has provided funding in lieu of the states. In some states, Planned Parenthood was completely or partially defunded.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In August 2015, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal attempted to end Louisiana's contract with Planned Parenthood to treat Medicaid patients at a time when there was an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases in Louisiana. Planned Parenthood and three patients sued the state of Louisiana, with the United States Department of Justice siding with Planned Parenthood.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: On February 2, 2016, the U.S. House failed to override President Obama's veto of (Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015) which would have prohibited Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal Medicaid funds for one year.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Late in 2016, the Obama administration issued a rule effective in January 2017 banning U.S. states from withholding federal family-planning funds from health clinics that give abortions, including Planned Parenthood affiliates; this rule mandates that local and state governments give federal funds for services related to sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy care, fertility, contraception, and breast and cervical cancer screening to qualified health providers whether or not they give abortions. However, this rule was blocked by a federal judge the day before it would have taken effect. In 2017, it was overturned by new legislation.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: The proposed American Health Care Act (), announced by Congressional Republicans in March 2017, would have made Planned Parenthood "ineligible for Medicaid reimbursements or federal family planning grants."


title: Planned Parenthood

text: On August 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from Title X funding due to a regulatory gag order stating that medical institutions that receive Title X funding cannot refer patients for abortions.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood is an advocate for the legal and political protection of reproductive rights. This advocacy includes helping to sponsor abortion rights and women's rights events. The Federation opposes restrictions on women's reproductive health services, including parental consent laws for minors. To justify this position, Planned Parenthood has cited the case of Becky Bell, who died following an illegal abortion rather than seek parental consent for a legal one. Planned Parenthood also takes the position that laws requiring parental notification before an abortion can be performed on a minor are unconstitutional on privacy grounds.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: The organization opposes laws requiring ultrasounds before abortions, stating that their only purpose is to make abortions more difficult to obtain. Planned Parenthood has also opposed initiatives that require waiting periods before abortions, and bans on late-term abortions including intact dilation and extraction, which has been illegal in the U.S. since 2003. Planned Parenthood supports the wide availability of emergency contraception such as the PlanB pill. It opposes conscience clauses, which allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense drugs against their beliefs. Planned Parenthood has been critical of hospitals that do not provide access to emergency contraception for rape victims. Citing the need for medically accurate information in sex education, Planned Parenthood opposes abstinence-only education in public schools. Instead, Planned Parenthood is a provider of, and endorses, comprehensive sex education, which includes discussion of both abstinence and birth control.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood's advocacy activities are executed by the "Planned Parenthood Action Fund", which is registered as a 501(c)(4) charity, and files financial information jointly with PPFA. The committee was founded in 1996, by then-president Gloria Feldt, for the purpose of maintaining reproductive health rights and supporting political candidates of the same mindset. In the 2012 election cycle, the committee gained prominence based on its effectiveness of spending on candidates. Although the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) shares some leadership with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the president of PPAF, Cecile Richards, testified before Congress in September 2015 that she did not manage the organization. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund has 58 active, separately incorporated chapters in 41 states and maintains national headquarters in New York and Washington, D.C. Planned Parenthood has received grants from the Obama administration to help promote the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood spends money on politics and elections through the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (its federal political action committee), through its Super PAC, and through a variety of related 501(c)(4) entities. Planned Parenthood endorsed Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. In the 2014 election cycle, Planned Parenthood spent on contributions to candidates and political parties (overwhelmingly to Democrats) and on independent expenditures.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood regional chapters have been active in the American courts. A number of cases in which Planned Parenthood has been a party have reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Notable among these cases is the 1992 case "Planned Parenthood v. Casey", the case that sets forth the current constitutional abortion standard. In this case, "Planned Parenthood" was the Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter, and "Casey" was Robert Casey, the governor of Pennsylvania. The ultimate ruling was split, and "Roe v. Wade" was narrowed but upheld in an opinion written by Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter. Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens concurred with the main decision in separately written opinions. The Supreme Court struck down spousal consent requirements for married women to obtain abortions, but found no "undue burden"—an alternative to strict scrutiny, which tests the allowable limitations on rights protected under the Constitution—from the other statutory requirements. Dissenting were William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Byron White. Blackmun, Rehnquist, and White were the only justices who voted on the original "Roe v. Wade" decision in 1973 who were still on the Supreme Court to rule on this case, and their votes on this case were consistent with their votes on the original decision that legalized abortion. Only Blackmun voted to maintain "Roe v. Wade" in its entirety.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: "Planned Parenthood v. Casey", along with "Roe v. Wade", was eventually overturned by "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" in 2022.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Some state attorneys general have subpoenaed medical records of patients treated by Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has gone to court to keep from turning over these records, citing medical privacy and concerns about the motivation for seeking the records.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 2006, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican, released some sealed patient records obtained from Planned Parenthood to the public. His actions were described as "troubling" by the state Supreme Court, but Planned Parenthood was compelled to turn over the medical records, albeit with more stringent court-mandated privacy safeguards for the patients involved. In 2007 Kline's successor, Paul J. Morrison, a Democrat, notified the clinic that no criminal charges would be filed after a three-year investigation, as "an objective, unbiased and thorough examination" showed no wrongdoing. Morrison stated that he believed Kline had politicized the Attorney General's office. In 2012, a Kansas district attorney found that the practices of the Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood clinic were "within accepted practices in the medical community" and dropped all of the remaining criminal charges. In all, the Planned Parenthood clinic had faced 107 criminal charges from Kline and other Kansas prosecutors, all of which were ultimately dismissed.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 2006, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that Planned Parenthood was not required to turn over its medical records in an investigation of possible child abuse. In 2005, Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota was fined for violating a Minnesota state parental consent law.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 2012, a Texas state court judge, Gary Harger, denied Planned Parenthood request for a temporary restraining order against the State of Texas, concluding that the State may exclude otherwise qualified doctors and clinics from receiving state funding if the doctors or clinics advocate for abortion rights.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In 2022, Nicole Moore, a Black woman who was the director of Planned Parenthood's multicultural brand engagement from January 2020 to November 2021, filed a lawsuit alleging that she faced months of racial discrimination while working at Planned Parenthood.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: A 2020 study found that closures of Planned Parenthood clinics resulted in increases in the maternal mortality rate: "Planned Parenthood clinic closures negatively impacted all women, increasing mortality by 6%–15% across racial/ethnic groups."


title: Planned Parenthood

text: A 2016 study found that the exclusion of Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics from Texas's Medicaid fee-for-service family-planning program was linked to reductions in the provision of contraception and an increase in child-bearing for women who used injectable contraceptives and who were covered by Medicaid.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In the 1920s, various theories of eugenics were popular among intellectuals in the U.S. In her campaign to promote birth control, Sanger teamed with eugenics organizations such as the American Eugenics Society, although she argued against many of their positions. Scholars describe Sanger as believing that birth control and sterilization should be voluntary, and not based on race. Sanger advocated for "voluntary motherhood"—the right to choose when to be pregnant—for all women, as an important element of women's rights. As part of her efforts to promote birth control, however, Sanger found common cause with proponents of eugenics, believing that she and they both sought to "assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit".


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Critics of Planned Parenthood often refer to Sanger's connection with supporters of eugenics to discredit the organization by associating it, and birth control, with the more negative modern view of eugenics. Planned Parenthood has responded to this criticism directly in a leaflet acknowledging that Sanger agreed with some of her contemporaries who advocated the voluntary hospitalization or sterilization of people with untreatable, disabling, or hereditary conditions, and limits on the immigration of the diseased. The leaflet also states that Planned Parenthood "finds these views objectionable and outmoded" but says that it was compelled to discuss the topic because "anti-family planning activists continue to attack Sanger[...] because she is an easier target" than Planned Parenthood.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood has occupied a central position in the abortion debate in the U.S., and has been among the most prominent targets of the U.S. anti-abortion movement for decades. Some members of Congress, overwhelmingly Republican, have attempted since the 1980s to end federal funding of the organization, nearly leading to a government shutdown over the issue in 2011. Planned Parenthood has consistently maintained that federal money received by Planned Parenthood is not used to fund abortion services, but anti-abortion activists have argued that the federal funding frees up other resources that are, in turn, used to provide abortions.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the U.S., but pro-choice advocates have argued that the organization's family planning services reduce the need for abortions; in the words of Megan Crepeau of the "Chicago Tribune", Planned Parenthood could be "characterized as America's largest abortion preventer". Anti-abortion activists dispute the evidence that greater access to contraceptives reduces abortion frequency.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Periodically, anti-abortion advocates have tried to demonstrate that Planned Parenthood does not follow applicable state or federal laws. The groups called or visited Planned Parenthood health centers posing as victims of statutory rape, minors who by law need parental notification before abortion, racist donors seeking to earmark donations to reduce the African-American population, or pimps seeking abortions for underage prostitutes. As a result of some of these videos, several Planned Parenthood workers have been disciplined or fired. However, a 2005 review by the Bush administration's Department of Health and Human Services "yielded no evidence of clinics around the nation failing to comply with laws on reporting child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape or incest".


title: Planned Parenthood

text: Beginning in 2010, Live Action released several series of undercover videos filmed in Planned Parenthood centers. Live Action said one series showed Planned Parenthood employees at many affiliates actively assisting or being complicit in aiding a prostitution ring, advising patients on how to procure sex-selective abortions, while one who said they would immerse a child born alive after a botched abortion in a chemical solution to make it stop moving and breathing. No criminal convictions resulted, but some Planned Parenthood employees and volunteers were fired for not following procedure, and the organization committed to retraining its staff. Additionally, one center was placed on probation.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: In the U.S., abortion providers have been threatened with death, and facilities that provide abortions have been attacked or vandalized. Planned Parenthood clinics have been the target of a number of instances of violence by anti-abortion activists, including bombing, arson and attacks with chemical weaponry. In 1994, John Salvi entered a Brookline, Massachusetts Planned Parenthood clinic and opened fire, murdering receptionist Shannon Elizabeth Lowney and wounding three others. He fled to another Planned Parenthood clinic where he murdered Leane Nichols and wounded two others. In 2012, a Grand Chute, Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood clinic was subject to a bombing perpetrated by an unknown individual. In 2015, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Pullman, Washington was heavily damaged by arson.


title: Planned Parenthood

text: On November 27, 2015, a gunman shot and killed two civilians and a police officer during a five-hour gun battle at the Colorado Springs, Colorado clinic. The 57-year-old gunman, Robert Dear, surrendered to police and was taken into custody. During his arrest, he gave a "rambling" interview in which, at one point, he said "no more baby parts", echoing language used in the news media about the clinic following the Center for Medical Progress videos. Dear was declared incompetent to stand trial for the shooting, citing experts' finding that he has "delusional disorder, persecutory type" and is now confined indefinitely to a state mental hospital.


title: USS Nimitz

text: USS "Nimitz" (CVN-68) is an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, and the lead ship of her class. One of the largest warships in the world, she was laid down, launched, and commissioned as CVAN-68, "aircraft carrier, attack, nuclear powered", but she was later redesignated as CVN-68, "aircraft carrier, multi-mission, nuclear-powered", on 30 June 1975, as part of a fleet-wide realignment that year.


title: USS Nimitz

text: The ship was named after World War II Pacific fleet commander Chester W. Nimitz, USN, (1885–1966), who was the Navy's third fleet admiral. "Nimitz" had her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, when she was relocated to Naval Station Bremerton in Washington (now part of Naval Base Kitsap). Following her Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2001, her home port was changed to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego County, California. The home port of "Nimitz" was again moved to Naval Station Everett in Washington in 2012.


title: USS Nimitz

text: In January 2015, "Nimitz" changed home port from Everett back to Naval Base Kitsap. With the inactivation of in 2012 and decommissioning in 2017, "Nimitz" is now the oldest U.S. aircraft carrier in service, and the oldest serving aircraft carrier in the world.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz" was authorized by the U.S. Congress in fiscal year 1967 and Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in Newport News, Virginia, was awarded the $106.5 million contract (equivalent to $ million today). The keel was laid down on 22 June 1968. The vessel was christened on 13 May 1972 by Catherine Nimitz Lay, the daughter of the late Admiral Nimitz, six years after his death. "Nimitz" was delivered to the Navy in 1975, and was commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on 3 May 1975 by the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz" is part of Carrier Strike Group Eleven (CSG-11) with Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) embarked, with "Nimitz" as the flagship of the strike group and the home of the commander of Destroyer Squadron 9.


title: USS Nimitz

text: USS "Nimitz" first deployed to the Mediterranean Sea on 7 July 1976 with Carrier Air Wing 8 embarked in company with the nuclear-powered cruisers and . In November 1976, "Nimitz" was awarded the Battle "E" from Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet, for being the most efficient and foremost aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Fleet. The cruise was uneventful, and the carrier returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 7 February 1977.


title: USS Nimitz

text: A second uneventful Mediterranean cruise was conducted from 1 December 1977 to 20 July 1978. The third deployment began on 10 September 1979 to the Mediterranean. The ship moved to the Indian Ocean in response to the Iran hostage crisis in which the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, was overtaken and 52 hostages were held. Prior to this trip, the ship took part in the shooting of the 1980 film "The Final Countdown", whose story was specifically set aboard the "Nimitz". After four months on station, Operation Evening Light was launched from "Nimitz"s decks in an attempt to rescue the U.S. Embassy staff. The mission was aborted after a helicopter crashed at a refueling point in the Iranian desert. The ship returned home 26 May 1980, having spent 144 days at sea.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 26 May 1981, a Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) crashed on the flight deck, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others. The Prowler was fuel-critical after a "bolter" (missed approach), and its crash and the subsequent fire and explosions destroyed or damaged nineteen other aircraft.


title: USS Nimitz

text: Despite having no connection to the accident, the media focused on the autopsy results of several members of the "Nimitz"s enlisted flight deck crew who were killed, who tested positive for marijuana. In an article by Robert Reinhold in the 17 June 1981 edition of "The New York Times", it was reported that "Experts at the National Institute on Drug Abuse say that it would probably be impossible to establish conclusively that any of the Nimitz crew had been smoking marijuana on the night of the crash because the test does not directly detect the component of marijuana smoke that acts on the brain. Because the metabolites may persist in the blood for many days, the test may detect marijuana that was used many days earlier long after the effects have worn off". As a result, President Ronald Reagan instituted a "Zero Tolerance" drug policy across all of the U.S. armed services, which started the mandatory drug testing of all U.S. military personnel.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz" deployed again to the Mediterranean on 3 August 1981. The ship, in company with , conducted a Freedom of Navigation exercise in international waters in the Gulf of Sidra near Libya on 18 and 19 August 1981. On the morning of 19 August 1981, two Grumman F-14 Tomcats of VF-41 were engaged by two Libyan Su-22's, resulting in the two Libyan aircraft being shot down in what became known as the Gulf of Sidra incident.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz"s fourth deployment, from 10 November 1982 to 20 May 1983, was to the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. "Nimitz" deployed for a fifth time on 8 March 1985. On 14 June 1985, two Lebanese gunmen hijacked TWA Flight 847, which carried 153 passengers and crew and included Americans. In response, "Nimitz" was deployed to the coast of Lebanon, where the ship remained until August 1985. The embarked Airwing 8 flew continuous sorties for 67 days, bombing several sites in Beirut including the runways of Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport. The ship returned to Norfolk on 4 October 1985.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz", again with CVW-8 embarked, departed Norfolk for the sixth and final Mediterranean deployment on 30 December 1986. After four months and numerous Mediterranean port visits, the carrier crossed the equator en route to Rio de Janeiro. From Rio de Janeiro, she proceeded south around Cape Horn and into the Pacific Ocean. After a brief stop in San Diego, to offload the East Coast air wing, "Nimitz" arrived at her new home port of Bremerton, Washington, on 2 July 1987.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz" deployed to the Western Pacific with Carrier Air Wing 9 embarked on 2 September 1988. During the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, "Nimitz" provided security off the coast of South Korea, then in October, operated in the North Arabian Sea participating in Operation Earnest Will, the protection of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers. On 30 November 1988, while in the Arabian Sea, a 20 mm cannon accidentally fired during maintenance, striking a KA-6 Intruder. The ensuing fire spread to six other aircraft, and two sailors were killed. "Nimitz" returned to Bremerton on 2 March 1989.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 25 February 1991, "Nimitz" departed Bremerton for the Persian Gulf in relief of in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, returning to Bremerton on 24 August 1991. "Nimitz" again deployed to the Persian Gulf on 1 February 1993, in support of Operation Southern Watch, returning on 1 August 1993.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 27 November 1995, "Nimitz" deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf with Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9). In March 1996, the ship patrolled the waters off Taiwan amid missile tests conducted by the Chinese in the area, becoming the first American warship to pass through the Taiwan Strait since 1976. "Nimitz" also cruised the Persian Gulf in support of Southern Watch prior to returning from deployment on 20 May 1996.


title: USS Nimitz

text: Between 14 and 24 July 1997, "Nimitz" participated in Joint Task Force Exercise 97-2 (JTFEX 97–2) off the coast of southern California, which also served as a "Revolution in Strike Warfare" demonstration. The latter event was designed to demonstrate the capability of an aircraft carrier and an embarked air wing to project carrier-based airpower into littoral warfare. On 20 July 1997, "Nimitz" and Carrier Air Wing Nine began a high-intensity strike campaign. When flight operations were completed four days later, "Nimitz" and Carrier Air Wing Nine had carried out 771 strike sorties while dropping 1,337 bombs on target. Carrier Air Wing Nine flew 975 fixed-wing sorties during this four-day surge operation. Almost 80 percent of the sorties flown were strike sorties, with strike support accounting for another 10 percent. F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters flew nearly 80 percent of the strike sorties. Of the 771 strike sorties, 727 were loaded with ordnance, while 44 were electronic support by EA-6B Prowlers. During this four-day period, only a portion of the medium-range interdiction strikes required tanking support. KC-135 and KC-130 tanker aircraft provided most of this support. S-3 Vikings conducted recovery tanking and supplied more than one-third of the fuel passed to Carrier Air Wing Nine aircraft during this surge operation. This surge had been preceded by a 16-hour preparation after undergoing four days that had generated about 700 fixed-winged sorties. A following study by the Center for Naval Analyses determined that "Nimitz" and Carrier Air Wing Nine could have maintained this high-sortie operational tempo for another twelve to twenty-four hours before requiring equipment maintenance, rest for the crews while ordnance and aviation fuel stocks to be replenished.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 1 September 1997, "Nimitz" began an around the world cruise, again supporting Southern Watch, which ended in Newport News, Virginia on 2 March 1998. She next spent the next three years undergoing a nuclear Refueling and Complex Overhaul that ended on 25 June 2001.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 21 September 2001, after sea trials in the Virginia Capes, "Nimitz" began to transit around South America to the new home port of NAS North Island in San Diego, California, arriving there on 13 November 2001. Aircraft from Carrier Air Reserve Wing 20 were embarked for the transit. From January to May 2002, a four-month post-shakedown maintenance availability was completed at North Island; during this time Advanced combat direction system was installed.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz"s eleventh operational deployment began on 3 March 2003. The group relieved in the Persian Gulf in mid-April 2003, launching Carrier Air Wing 11 aircraft sorties over Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). She returned to San Diego on 5 November 2003. "Nimitz" and CVW-11 were awarded the 2003 Battle "E" and Flatley Award in early 2004.


title: USS Nimitz

text: In November 2004, "Nimitz" was contacted by , which was tracking reported unidentified flying objects. "Princeton" subsequently contacted two Navy F/A-18F fighters from "Nimitz" whose cockpit instrumentation recorded data and imagery that some pilots interpreted as an object accelerating and maneuvering at extraordinary speeds. The incident was publicized in December 2017 along with details of the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz", again with CVW-11 embarked, deployed to the Persian Gulf on 7 May 2005, returning on 8 November 2005. This deployment marked three decades of service, and was depicted in the Emmy award-winning 2008 PBS documentary series "Carrier". In June 2006, "Nimitz" was awarded the 2005 Battle "E".


title: USS Nimitz

text: The carrier departed North Island for her thirteenth deployment on 2 April 2007 to the Arabian Sea, relieving in support of OIF. The carrier anchored off Chennai, India on 2 July 2007 as part of efforts to expand bilateral defense cooperation between India and the United States. Sailors participated in community work in Chennai prior to departing, on 5 July 2007, along with the destroyer towards the Persian Gulf, and then returned to North Island on 30 September 2007.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 24 January 2008, "Nimitz" deployed to the Pacific for a "surge"-deployment. On 9 February 2008, two Russian Tu-95 'Bear' bombers overflew the carrier in the Western Pacific. Four F/A-18C Hornets were launched when the bombers were away from the US ships, and intercepted the bombers south of "Nimitz". Two F/A-18s trailed one of the bombers, which twice flew over the deck of the carrier at an altitude of , while the other two F/A-18s trailed another Tu-95 circling about away from the carrier. Reportedly, there was no radio communication between the American and Russian aircraft. According to the Department of Defense, one of the two aircraft was said to have flown above "Nimitz" at an altitude of . On the same day, Russian aircraft entered Japanese airspace, which caused the Japanese to raise protest to the Russian ambassador in Tokyo.


title: USS Nimitz

text: Again, on 5 March 2008, a Russian bomber came within and flew above "Nimitz", and the battle group. Two F/A-18 fighters intercepted the Russian aircraft and escorted it out of the area.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz" was awarded the Navy Battle "E" for battle efficiency for 2007 along with the Ney award for food service excellence, and returned to her home port of San Diego on 3 June 2008.


title: USS Nimitz

text: The "Nimitz" Strike Group, including CVW-11, departed the States for a scheduled Western Pacific deployment on 31 July 2009, and began to fly combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 21 September.


title: USS Nimitz

text: In January 2010, while in the Persian Gulf, the ship was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for back-to-back deployments in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. The award was presented by Admiral Gary Roughead in a ceremony on the ship on 6 January 2010.


title: USS Nimitz

text: "Nimitz" visited Hong Kong for five days in February 2010 to allow the crew to rest and visit the city. The visit occurred despite China previously preventing a visit by the carrier .


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 9 December 2010, the Navy formally announced that Everett, Washington was to be the new home port for "Nimitz". This move was expected to save the Navy $100 million. On 9 March 2012, "Nimitz" arrived at her new homeport of Naval Station Everett after spending nearly a week at sea conducting post overhaul sea trials.


title: USS Nimitz

text: In March 2012, "Nimitz" arrived at the new home port of Naval Station Everett in Washington state after more than a year of maintenance work in Bremerton, replacing sister carrier, "Abraham Lincoln". On 3 August 2012, "Nimitz" departed from Pearl Harbor after a two-day port call, arriving at NAS North Island on 9 August 2012 to begin Fleet Replacement Squadron carrier qualifications. On 6 October 2012, a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft from squadron VMM-165 landed and refuelled on board "Nimitz". This operation was part of an evaluation of the feasibility of the MV-22 as a potential replacement for the C-2 Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) cargo transport aircraft.


title: USS Nimitz

text: The BBC reported that "Nimitz" was located in the Persian Gulf, ready to contribute to an operation against Syria when President Obama ordered a military strike. Two days later it was reported that the carrier task group had been re-routed westwards across the Arabian Sea.


title: USS Nimitz

text: It was reported that "Nimitz", after eight months at sea, transited the Suez Canal on 20 October 2013 into the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility, where the Navy intended to keep her for a few weeks conducting joint training with allied nations before returning home. "Nimitz" returned to Everett on 16 December 2013.


title: USS Nimitz

text: In late 2014, following the completion of work up qualifications, "Nimitz" participated in her first deployment, a two-week multi-national fleet exercise involving the Third Fleet, as well as ships from the Royal Canadian Navy and JMSDF. Following the conclusion of the exercise, on 3 November the first F-35C Lightning II to land on an aircraft carrier recovered aboard "Nimitz" to begin a two-week Development Testing I deployment. This saw a pair of aircraft from VX-23 undertaking carrier operations of launch, recovery and handling aboard ship in both day and night conditions. The initial deployment was completed on 14 November 2014. In 2015, "Nimitz" transferred to Bremerton to undergo a 16-month maintenance cycle.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 1 June 2017, "Nimitz" left Naval Base Kitsap for her next scheduled deployment. This deployment was against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Her F/A-18s played an important role in the Battle of Tal Afar, providing precision air support for advancing Iraqi soldiers.


title: USS Nimitz

text: In April 2020, the coronavirus was reported to have spread to "Nimitz" when the first case was reported on 7 April. One sailor had received a positive result the previous week after exhibiting symptoms, and was subsequently placed in isolation and removed from the ship. Another crew member also tested positive, but was reported to have not been working on the ship. On 27 April, "Nimitz" completed a 27-day quarantine and began COMPTUEX training.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 31 December 2020, acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller ordered "Nimitz" to return directly to her home port following a nearly ten-month deployment in the Fifth Fleet area of operation. The carrier was at the time supporting the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Somalia along with and her amphibious ready group.


title: USS Nimitz

text: On 3 January 2021, in an abrupt reversal, acting Defense Secretary Miller ordered "Nimitz" to redeploy due to "Recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials."


title: USS Nimitz

text: The "Nimitz"-class carriers have a lifespan of approximately 50 years. Estimates on decommissioning for "Nimitz" herself were updated in April 2022, with the Navy Press Corps indicating that, “USS "Nimitz" (CVN 68) is planned to be removed from the battle force in fiscal year (FY) 2025, when the ship's Terminal Off-load Program begins, with inactivation scheduled to begin in 2027.”


title: USS Nimitz

text: "The Final Countdown", a 1980 alternate history science fiction film about a modern aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was set and filmed on board the real-life USS "Nimitz".


title: USS Nimitz

text: The PBS series "Carrier" followed the May–November 2005 deployment of "Nimitz" to the Persian Gulf, documenting the life and shipboard routines of the crew over 10 episodes.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle (van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, and Freightliner nameplates. In the U.S., it was built from complete knock down (CKD) kits by Freightliner. Re-badged and re-engined Sprinters were also sold by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles as the Volkswagen LT and the Volkswagen Crafter. They are now primarily marketed by Mercedes-Benz.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: In the Mercedes-Benz van lineup, the Sprinter is the largest model offered, followed by the mid-size Vito (aka Viano, V-Class, and EQV) and small Citan.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The first generation Sprinter was launched in Europe in 1995 to replace the famous but outdated T1 Transporter van dating from 1977. Compared to the T1, the Sprinter had reduced the aerodynamic drag and moved the engine further forward to increase cabin space. It was the first Mercedes-Benz product to carry a name rather than an alphanumeric designation. It was released with four-wheel disc brakes equipped with an antilock braking system and was driven by the most powerful diesel engine in its class, with a power output of . The Sprinter was voted International Van of the Year for 1995.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The styling was updated in 2000 and 2002, accompanied by technical changes that included standard electronic stability control (2002).


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The first generation (VA Chassis) North American Sprinter was launched in 2001 in the U.S. and was originally branded as a Freightliner. Units sold to the rest of North America were badged as Mercedes-Benz until 2003 when they received Dodge branding. Rather than redesign the aging Dodge Ram Van which had used the same basic body and layout since the 1970s, DaimlerChrysler chose to discontinue the Ram Van in 2003 and offer the Sprinter instead for the North American market. It was available exclusively with the inline-5 diesel engine and a 5-speed automatic transmission. The Dodge and Freightliner Sprinters were identical except for minor styling details and badging. Units in the United States and Canada, but not in Mexico, could be purchased as a Dodge or Freightliner from 2003.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The product was launched and supported by DaimlerChrysler Vans LLC, a small division based in Huntersville, North Carolina. Key individuals from DaimlerChrysler Commercial Vehicle Division and Freightliner Trucks were selected to spearhead the effort and made up the bulk of the division. DaimlerChrysler Vans LLC retained sole responsibility for the North American Sprinter market until the sales, service and parts support responsibilities were absorbed by Chrysler Commercial Vehicle Division in 2004. Nearly all of the original staff were retained, though the base of operations shifted from North Carolina to Auburn Hills, Michigan. The remainder of DaimlerChrysler Vans LLC remained active in Huntersville as an engineering, upfitter certification and safety compliance resource in support of the Sprinter.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: From 2001 to 2006, cargo versions of the Sprinter were manufactured in Düsseldorf, Germany, partially disassembled and shipped to a Freightliner factory in Gaffney, South Carolina where they were reassembled. The cargo versions, classified as light trucks, are subject to the 25% chicken tax if imported as a complete unit, which is avoided by the disassembly and importation as a semi knock-down kit, with subsequent reassembly in America. Passenger vans were not subject to the same tax classifications and were imported as an assembled unit through Mercedes-Benz in Jacksonville, Florida.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The Sprinter van was sold as the Mercedes-Benz Transporter T1N due to Toyota using the name Toyota Sprinter, a version of the Corolla.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The model "314" of the first generation is still assembled by Iran Khodro Diesel. It is used as an ambulance.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The first generation Sprinter was assembled by Mercedes Benz Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City from CKD kits to avoid high local import duties.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Since 2013, the 2000–2006 Sprinter model has been revived in Russian markets only as the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Classic. The phase 2 2002–2006 grille was chosen for use on the Sprinter Classic and the 2000–2006 dashboard design. Sprinter Classic used the steering wheel from the 2006–2014 Sprinter models. The Sprinter Classic is built by the Gorky Automobile Plant at Nizhny Novgorod for service in Russian/Eastern European markets only.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The second generation Sprinter was introduced in Europe in 2006. It was voted Van of the Year 2007 and again in 2008 by Professional Van and Light Truck Magazine.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Also known as the NCV3 or New Concept Van 3, the second generation Sprinter appeared in Europe and in other countries as the 2006 model year. North America received its own NCV3 for the 2007 model year.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The US cargo version of the 906 NCV3 comes in two wheelbase options (144", 170"), two roof heights (standard 60.6", high 72.4"), three lengths (Short 233.3", Standard 274.2, Extended 289.8"), and two weight classes (2500, 3500). 3500 models have the option of dual rear wheels or extra-wide "super single" wheels in some, but not all, markets. Neither the 128" wheelbase nor the rear super single tires are available in the United States market. The US cargo version are reassembled from kits in an assembly plant located in Ladson, South Carolina, while the passenger models are imported directly from Germany.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The second-generation 906 was produced in Argentina only for export markets—except Mercosur markets (Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay)—from 2007 until 2010, but in 2011 announced new production of the second generation in the Centro Industrial J. Manuel Fangio, in Buenos Aires with the brand new OM 651 engine (also local made) and exported to the rest of America (including Mercosur markets). Since 2012, it is manufactured for the Mercosur and 40 other countries. 70% of its production is exported.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter was built in Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde production plants.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: For the second-generation Sprinter marketed in the United States, to avoid "chicken tax" import duties, the cargo version was disassembled partially, shipped to the United States, and reassembled at a plant in Ladson, South Carolina (near North Charleston), in a process known as semi knock-down assembly (SKD), starting in June 2006; the passenger version continued to be imported as a complete unit. The Ladson factory previously was used as an American LaFrance factory for firefighting trucks. The previous SKD reassembly facility in Gaffney resumed operations under Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation. The Ladson plant was known as DaimlerChrysler Manufacturing International until the parent corporation was dissolved; importation and SKD reassembly of the Sprinter cargo van continued at Ladson under the auspices of Mercedes-Benz Vans, LLC.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Between July 2013 and the end of May 2014, Mercedes-Benz Vans sold around 134,000 units of the new model of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in Europe and North America.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Production version of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based Volkswagen Crafter by Mercedes-Benz Vans was set to end in 2016.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: A class action lawsuit was filed in California state court against Mercedes-Benz alleging the defendant has sold Mercedes-Benz Sprinter models 2500 and 3500 with water that leaked from the roof air conditioning unit into the passenger area. The leaking air conditioning unit was also discovered on Dodge Sprinters made by Mercedes-Benz from 2003 through 2009. The lawsuit affected California residents with the rooftop AC units and Sprinters equipped with the rear AC.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: From 2014 Algeria started manufacturing the latest model of sprinter Sprinter 319/519 4x2 and 4x4 for civilian and military use.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The second generation Sprinter was updated in 2013 with changes including the addition of new assistance systems (crosswind stabilization, collision avoidance system (optional), blind spot monitor (optional), adaptive highbeam, lane departure warning system), Euro VI emissions compliance, redesigned radiator grille, more angular headlights, new upholstery and seat coverings, thicker steering wheel, optional fresh air nozzles boast chrome applications, new-generation radio system.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Ordering began in June 2013, followed by deliveries in September 2013. Early models include ECO-Gear six-speed manual transmission or the 7G-TRONIC PLUS seven-speed automatic transmission with lock-up clutch.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: US models went on sale in fall 2013 as 2014 model year vehicles. Early models included a choice of 2 engines (2.1-liter 4-cylinder turbo diesel (163PS) with 7-speed automatic, 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel (190PS) with 5-speed automatic), 144" & 170" wheelbase (both engines), 3 body lengths, high-roof option, 5 configurations (Cargo, Crew, Passenger, MiniBus, Cab Chassis).


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: In September 2018, e-commerce platform Amazon announced that they had contracted to acquire 20,000 Amazon-badged Sprinters to be available for small business partners of their proprietary logistics service.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Early models include Sprinter 313/513 BlueTec 4x4, Sprinter 316/516 BlueTec 4x4, Sprinter 319/519 BlueTec 4x4; Eco Gear six-speed manual or five-speed automatic (transmission with converter Sprinter 319/519 BlueTec 4x4).


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: US models were set to go on sale in the first quarter of 2015 as 2015 model year vehicles. Early models included 144" and 170" wheelbases in low and high roof configurations, 5 body styles (Passenger Van, Crew Van (mixed 2-row passenger and cargo application), and Cargo Van (both 8,550 and 11,030 GVWRs)), 1 engine choice (3.0 L V6 BlueTEC (exclusive 4x4 powertrain)).


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: For the 2014 model year the Sprinter received an updated grille with Mercedes' signature three-slat design. In an effort to make the Sprinter's fuel economy more competitive, North American models received the 2.1L OM651 two-stage turbo diesel engine formerly only available overseas, with an optional 3.0L engine. The 2.1L engine (in Europe also the 3.0 L) was mated to a new 7 speed automatic transmission. A 1.8 L supercharged I-4 gasoline engine was mated to 6- and 7- speed automatic transmissions. The 2014 Sprinter added several new driver assistance technologies including standard Crosswind Assist, optional Blind Spot Assist and Collision Prevention Assist, as well as Lane Keeping Assist and Highbeam Assist. The 2014 Sprinter began offering LED running lights. Air suspension was an available option on the 3500-series model. The 2014 Sprinter also gained navigation, iPod integration, and an air suspension for heavier-duty models.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: For the UK market in 2015, to celebrate 20 years since the first Sprinters were manufactured a run of 1200 special edition vans were sold to the public. These vans included the following additional interior comforts and exterior trim level;


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The third-generation Sprinter debuted on 6 February 2018 at the Mercedes-Benz logistics center in Duisburg and was available to purchase from June 2018. It is the first generation to include a front-wheel-drive van in the line-up. A new range of standard and optional technology and comfort features were made available.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: To prepare for the third-generation van, in 2015, Mercedes-Benz Vans decided to switch North American Sprinter production to complete knock-down kit (CKD) assembly, kicking off an expansion of the Ladson factory in 2016, and the first Ladson-built Sprinter rolled off the assembly line in September 2018. The Freightliner version was discontinued after the 2021 model year as part of the Daimler Truck divestment in the Freightliner brand in October 2021.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The third generation Sprinter was updated for the 2023 model year in the U.S., offering a new, all-time all-wheel-drive option with retirement of the selectable "4x4" option; additionally, a 2 liter 4-cylinder OM654 engine replaced the previous diesel engines with a standard and high output tunings offered. Power steering was updated to electromechanical from hydraulic.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The first eSprinter was announced in February 2018. It is a large battery-electric van based on the third-generation Sprinter with a unique front-wheel drive chassis; production of the eSprinter commenced at Düsseldorf in December 2019 for European markets. It is equipped with one of two batteries, with a usable/gross battery capacity of 35/41 (3 modules) or 47/55 kW-hr (4 modules), and is driven by an electric traction motor with an output of and . Initially, it was available exclusively as a high-roof panel van with a cargo capacity of .


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: Winter endurance testing under arctic conditions reduced range to . The production vehicles have an estimated range of for the 41 or 55 kW-hr batteries, giving an energy consumption of , respectively, under Directive 692/2008/EC test requirements. The gross vehicle weight rating is ; given the maximum payload is for the 55 or 41 kW-hr battery, respectively, the kerb weight is , and a single battery module is estimated to weigh .


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: One year after eSprinter production started, Mercedes-Benz announced its successor in December 2020. The second-generation eSprinter 2.0 will be released in late 2023. It is based on the Mercedes-Benz "Electric Versatility Platform" (EVP), a bespoke chassis designed for large vans; EVP shifts the traction motor to the rear axle and enables Mercedes-Benz to offer variants, including pickup truck, chassis cab, and cutaway versions. Three different battery capacities will be available, as Mercedes is aiming to double the range of the Europe-only first generation eSprinter. Production is scheduled to start in the second half of 2023 at the three Sprinter factories: Ladson; Düsseldorf; and Ludwigsfelde.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: In October 2022, a preproduction extra-long, high-roof eSprinter 2.0 was driven for on a single charge, taking a roundtrip journey from the Mercedes-Benz Museum to the Munich Airport and back. The computed energy consumption was and the eSprinter indicated there were of range remaining when the trip was completed, giving an estimated usable battery capacity of 108.5 kW-hr.


title: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

text: The Sprinter is designed primarily for business, not private users, although recreational vehicle (RV) conversions are available. In the United States, the first generation Sprinters (2001–2006) were offered solely with the Mercedes-Benz 2.7 litre straight 5 cylinder turbocharged Diesel.