title: Dunnock

text: The dunnock was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae". He coined the binomial name of "Motacilla modularis". The specific epithet is from the Latin "modularis" "modulating" or "singing". This species is now placed in the genus "Prunella" that was introduced by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1816.


title: Dunnock

text: The name "dunnock" comes from the English "dun" (dingy brown, dark-coloured) and the diminutive "ock", and "accentor" is from post-classical Latin and means a person who sings with another. The genus name "Prunella" is from the German "Braunelle", "dunnock", a diminutive of "braun", "brown".


title: Dunnock

text: Some taxonomists have recently suggested that dunnock might be better treated as three species, with "P. m. mabbotti" and "P. m. obscura" being elevated from subspecies status.


title: Dunnock

text: A European robin-sized bird, the dunnock typically measures in length. It possesses a streaked back, somewhat resembling a small house sparrow. Like that species, the dunnock has a drab appearance which may have evolved to avoid predation. It is brownish underneath, and has a fine pointed bill. Adults have a grey head, and both sexes are similarly coloured.


title: Dunnock

text: Unlike any similar sized small brown bird, dunnocks exhibit frequent wing flicking, especially when engaged in territorial disputes or when competing for mating rights. This gives rise to one of their common names, "shufflewing".


title: Dunnock

text: The main call of the dunnock is a shrill, persistent "tseep" along with a high trilling note, which betrays the bird's otherwise inconspicuous presence. The song is rapid, thin and tinkling, a sweet warble which can be confused with that of the Eurasian wren, but is shorter and weaker.


title: Dunnock

text: Dunnocks are native to large areas of Eurasia, inhabiting much of Europe including Lebanon, northern Iran, and the Caucasus. They are the only commonly found accentor in lowland areas; all the others inhabit upland areas. Dunnocks were successfully introduced into New Zealand during the 19th century, and are now widely distributed around the country and some offshore islands. Favoured habitats include woodlands, shrubs, gardens, and hedgerows where they typically feed on the ground, often seeking out detritivores as food.


title: Dunnock

text: Dunnocks are territorial and may engage in conflict with other birds that encroach upon their nests. Males sometimes share a territory and exhibit a strict dominance hierarchy. Nevertheless, this social dominance is not translated into benefits to the alpha male in terms of reproduction, since paternity is usually equally shared between males of the group. Furthermore, members of a group are rarely related, and so competition can result.


title: Dunnock

text: Female territorial ranges are almost always exclusive. However, sometimes, multiple males will co-operate to defend a single territory containing multiple females. Males exhibit a strong dominance hierarchy within groups: older birds tend to be the dominant males and first-year birds are usually sub-dominant. Studies have found that close male relatives almost never share a territory.


title: Dunnock

text: The male's ability to access females generally depends on female range size, which is affected by the distribution of food. When resources are distributed in dense patches, female ranges tend to be small and easy for males to monopolise. Subsequent mating systems, as discussed below, reflect high reproductive success for males and relatively lower success for females. In times of scarcity, female territories expand to accommodate the lack of resources, causing males to have a more difficult time monopolising females. Hence, females gain a reproductive advantage over males in this case.


title: Dunnock

text: The dunnock possesses variable mating systems. Females are often polyandrous, breeding with two or more males at once, which is quite rare among birds. This multiple mating system leads to the development of sperm competition amongst the male suitors. DNA fingerprinting has shown that chicks within a brood often have different fathers, depending on the success of the males at monopolising the female. Males try to ensure their paternity by pecking at the cloaca of the female to stimulate ejection of rival males' sperm. Dunnocks take just one-tenth of a second to copulate and can mate more than 100 times a day. Males provide parental care in proportion to their mating success, so two males and a female can commonly be seen provisioning nestlings at one nest.


title: Dunnock

text: Other mating systems also exist within dunnock populations, depending on the ratio of male to females and the overlap of territories. When only one female and one male territory overlap, monogamy is preferred. Sometimes, two or three adjacent female territories overlap one male territory, and so polygyny is favored, with the male monopolising several females. Polygynandry also exists, in which two males jointly defend a territory containing several females. Polyandry, though, is the most common mating system of dunnocks found in nature. Depending on the population, males generally have the best reproductive success in polygynous populations, while females have the advantage during polyandry.


title: Dunnock

text: Studies have illustrated the fluidity of dunnock mating systems. When given food in abundance, female territory size is reduced drastically. Consequently, males can more easily monopolise the females. Thus, the mating system can be shifted from one that favours female success (polyandry), to one that promotes male success (monogamy, polygynandry, or polygyny).


title: Dunnock

text: The dunnock builds a nest (predominantly from twigs and moss and lined with soft materials such as wool or feathers), low in a bush or conifer, where adults typically lay three to five unspotted blue eggs.


title: Dunnock

text: Broods, depending on the population, can be raised by a lone female, multiple females with the part-time help of a male, multiple females with full-time help by a male, or by multiple females and multiple males. In pairs, the male and the female invest parental care at similar rates. However, in trios, the female and alpha male invest more care in chicks than does the beta male. In territories in which females are able to escape from males, both the alpha and beta males share provisioning equally. This last system represents the best case scenario for females, as it helps to ensure maximal care and the success of the young.


title: Dunnock

text: A study has found that males tend to not discriminate between their own young and those of another male in polyandrous or polygynandrous systems. However, they do vary their feeding depending on the certainty of paternity. If a male has greater access to a female, and therefore a higher chance of a successful fertilisation, during a specific mating period, it would provide more care towards the young.


title: Pile driver

text: A pile driver is a heavy-duty tool used to drive piles into soil to build piers, bridges, cofferdams, and other "pole" supported structures, and patterns of pilings as part of permanent deep foundations for buildings or other structures. Pilings may be made of wood, solid steel, or tubular steel (often later filled with concrete), and may be driven entirely underwater/underground, or remain partially aboveground as elements of a finished structure.


title: Pile driver

text: The term "pile driver" is also used to describe members of the construction crew associated with the task, also colloquially known as "pile bucks".


title: Pile driver

text: The most common form of pile driver uses a heavy weight situated between vertical guides placed above a pile. The weight is raised by some motive power (which may include hydraulics, steam, diesel, electrical motor, or manual labor). At its apex the weight is released, impacting the pile and driving it into the ground.


title: Pile driver

text: There are a number of claims to the invention of the pile driver. A mechanically sound drawing of a pile driver appeared as early as 1475 in Francesco di Giorgio Martini's treatise "Trattato di Architectura". Also, several other prominent inventors—James Nasmyth (son of Alexander Nasmyth), who invented a steam-powered pile driver in 1845, watchmaker James Valoué, Count Giovan Battista Gazzola, and Leonardo da Vinci—have all been credited with inventing the device. However, there is evidence that a comparable device was used in the construction of Crannogs at Oakbank and Loch Tay in Scotland as early as 5000 years ago. In 1801 John Rennie came up with a steam pile driver in Britain. Otis Tufts is credited with inventing the steam pile driver in the United States.


title: Pile driver

text: Ancient pile driving equipment used human or animal labor to lift weights, usually by means of pulleys, then dropping the weight onto the upper end of the pile. Modern piledriving equipment variously uses hydraulics, steam, diesel, or electric power to raise the weight and guide the pile.


title: Pile driver

text: A modern diesel pile hammer is a large two-stroke diesel engine. The weight is the piston, and the apparatus which connects to the top of the pile is the cylinder. Piledriving is started by raising the weight; usually a cable from the crane holding the pile driver — This draws air into the cylinder. Diesel fuel is injected into the cylinder. The weight is dropped, using a quick-release. The weight of the piston compresses the air/fuel mixture, heating it to the ignition point of diesel fuel. The mixture ignites, transferring the energy of the falling weight to the pile head, and driving the weight up. The rising weight draws in fresh air, and the cycle continues until the fuel is depleted or is halted by the crew.


title: Pile driver

text: The initial start-up of the hammer requires that the piston (ram) be raised to a point where the trip automatically releases the piston, allowing it to fall. As the piston falls, it activates the fuel pump, which discharges a metered amount of fuel into the ball pan of the impact block. The falling piston blocks the exhaust ports, and compression of fuel trapped in the cylinder begins. The compressed air exerts a pre-load force to hold the impact block firmly against the drive cap and pile. At the bottom of the compression stroke, the piston strikes the impact block, atomizing the fuel and starting the pile on its downward movement. In the instant after the piston strikes, the atomized fuel ignites, and the resulting explosion exerts a greater force on the already moving pile, driving it further into the ground. The reaction of the explosion rebounding from the resistance of the pile drives the piston upward. As the piston rises, the exhaust ports open, releasing the exhaust gases to the atmosphere. After the piston stops its upward movement, it again falls by gravity to start another cycle.


title: Pile driver

text: Vertical travel leads come in two main forms: spud and box lead types. Box leads are very common in the Southern United States and spud leads are common in the Northern United States, Canada and Europe.


title: Pile driver

text: A hydraulic hammer is a modern type of piling hammer used instead of diesel and air hammers for driving steel pipe, precast concrete, and timber piles. Hydraulic hammers are more environmentally acceptable than older, less efficient hammers as they generate less noise and pollutants. In many cases the dominant noise is caused by the impact of the hammer on the pile, or the impacts between components of the hammer, so that the resulting noise level can be similar to diesel hammers.


title: Pile driver

text: Hydraulic press-in equipment installs piles using hydraulic rams to press piles into the ground. This system is preferred where vibration is a concern. There are press attachments that can adapt to conventional pile driving rigs to press 2 pairs of sheet piles simultaneously. Other types of press equipment sit atop existing sheet piles and grip previously driven piles. This system allows for greater press-in and extraction force to be used since more reaction force is developed. The reaction-based machines operate at only 69 dB at 23 ft allowing for installation and extraction of piles in close proximity to sensitive areas where traditional methods may threaten the stability of existing structures.


title: Pile driver

text: Such equipment and methods are specified in portions of the internal drainage system in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina, as well as projects where noise, vibration and access are a concern.


title: Pile driver

text: Vibratory pile hammers contain a system of counter-rotating eccentric weights, powered by hydraulic motors, and designed so that horizontal vibrations cancel out, while vertical vibrations are transmitted into the pile. The pile driving machine positioned over the pile with an excavator or crane, and is fastened to the pile by a clamp and/or bolts. Vibratory hammers can drive or extract a pile. Extraction is commonly used to recover steel I-beams used in temporary foundation shoring. Hydraulic fluid is supplied to the driver by a diesel engine-powered pump mounted in a trailer or van, and connected to the driver head via hoses. When the pile driver is connected to a dragline excavator, it is powered by the excavator's diesel engine. Vibratory pile drivers are often chosen to mitigate noise, as when the construction is near residences or office buildings, or when there is insufficient vertical clearance to permit use of a conventional pile hammer (for example when retrofitting additional piles to a bridge column or abutment footing). Hammers are available with several different vibration rates, ranging from 1200 vibrations per minute to 2400 VPM. The vibration rate chosen is influenced by soil conditions and other factors, such as power requirements and equipment cost.


title: Pile driver

text: A piling rig is a large track-mounted drill used in foundation projects which require drilling into sandy soil, clay, silty clay, and similar environments. Such rigs are similar in function to oil drilling rigs, and can be equipped with a short screw (for dry soil), rotary bucket (for wet soil) or core drill (for rock), along with other options. Expressways, bridges, industrial and civil buildings, diaphragm walls, water conservancy projects, slope protection, and seismic retrofitting are all projects which may require piling rigs.


title: Pile driver

text: The underwater sound pressure caused by pile-driving may be deleterious to nearby fish. State and local regulatory agencies manage environment issues associated with pile-driving. Mitigation methods include bubble curtains, balloons, internal combustion water hammers.


title: Huan Yi

text: General Pang Nuan of Zhao occupied several towns of the state of Yan in 236 BCE, whereupon Yan asked the state of Qin for help. Huan Yi, Yang Duan, and Wang Jian commanded the relief campaign against Zhao and took its towns Ye (today's Linzhang, Hebei) and Anyang (Hebei), as well as Eyu (Heshun, Shanxi), and Liaoyang (Zuoquan, Shanxi).


title: Huan Yi

text: In 234 BC, Huan Yi attacked Pingyang (Linfen, Shanxi) and Wucheng (Cixian, Hebei), killed general Hu Zhe and massacred 100,000 troops of Zhao. He then left Shangdang, passed the Taihang Ridge and invaded Zhao by taking Chili and Yi'an (Gaocheng, Hebei). Zhao thereupon laid the supreme command in the hands of Li Mu, who defeated Huan Yi in the battle of Fei (Jinxian, Hebei).


title: Huan Yi

text: No record of Huan Yi is found in the Shiji after his defeat at Feixia, however in the Zhan Guo Ce (a different historical source) it's mention that Huan Yi later died by attacking Handan, the capital of Zhao defended by Li Mu in one of the last Qin-Zhao battles.


title: Huan Yi

text: Huan Yi is portrayed by the actor Lü Xiaohe in the film "The Emperor and the Assassin" (1998) and by Wang Ya'nan in the television series "Assassinator Jing Ke" (2004).


title: Huan Yi

text: In the Manga and Anime Kingdom, he is portrayed as an ex-bandit leader nicknamed "The Beheader" and one of the new appointed "Qin Six Great Generals" for his prodigious skill for warfare relying mostly on unconventional tactics and psychological warfare. He initially served as one of the Vice Generals in Meng Ao's army alongside General Wang Jian.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Scandinavian Scotland was the period from the 8th to the 15th centuries during which Vikings and Norse settlers, mainly Norwegians and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, and their descendants colonised parts of what is now the periphery of modern Scotland. Viking influence in the area commenced in the late 8th century, and hostility between the Scandinavian earls of Orkney and the emerging thalassocracy of the Kingdom of the Isles, the rulers of Ireland, Dál Riata and Alba, and intervention by the crown of Norway were recurring themes.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Scandinavian-held territories included the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, the Hebrides, the islands of the Firth of Clyde and associated mainland territories including Caithness and Sutherland. The historical record from Scottish sources is weak, with the Irish annals and the later Norse sagas, of which the "Orkneyinga saga" is the principal source of information, sometimes contradictory although modern archaeology is beginning to provide a broader picture of life during this period.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: There are various competing theories that have addressed the early colonisation process, although it is clear that the Northern Isles were the first to be conquered by Vikings and the last to be relinquished by the Norwegian crown. Thorfinn Sigurdsson's rule in the 11th century included expansion well into north mainland Scotland and this may have been the zenith of Scandinavian influence. The obliteration of pre-Norse names in the Hebrides and Northern Isles, and their replacement with Norse ones was almost total although the emergence of alliances with the native Gaelic speakers produced a powerful Norse–Gael culture that had wide influence in Argyll, Galloway and beyond.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Scottish influence increased from the 13th century on. In 1231, an unbroken line of Norse earls of Orkney ended and the title was since held by Scottish nobles. An ill-fated expedition by Haakon Haakonarson later in that century led to the relinquishing of the islands of the west to the Scottish Crown and in the mid-15th century Orkney and Shetland were also transferred to Scottish rule. The negative view of Viking activities held in popular imagination notwithstanding, Norse expansion may have been a factor in the emergence of the Gaelic kingdom of Alba, the forerunner of modern Scotland, and the trading, political, cultural and religious achievements of the later periods of Norse rule were significant.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Northern Isles, known to the Norse as the "Norðreyjar", are the closest parts of Scotland to Norway and these islands experienced the first and most long-lasting Norse influence of any part of Scotland. Shetland is some due west of Norway and in favourable conditions could be reached in 24 hours from Hordaland in a Viking longship. Orkney is further to the south-west.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Some due south of Orkney is the Scottish mainland. The two most northerly provinces of mainland Scotland, Caithness and Sutherland, fell under Norse control at an early date. South of there the entire western seaboard of mainland Scotland from Wester Ross to Kintyre was also subject to significant Scandinavian influence.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The total distance from the southern tip of the Isle of Man to the Butt of Lewis, the northern extremity of the Outer Hebrides, is approximately . This entire region became dominated by Norse culture for much of the period under consideration. For example, it is likely that the Norse language became as dominant throughout the Inner Hebrides as it did on Lewis during the 10th and 11th centuries.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: There was also significant direct Norse influence exerted in Galloway in south-west Scotland and for much of the period, up until the 1266 Treaty of Perth, Norwegian and Danish foreign policy and the activities of independent or semi-independent Norse rulers of the above parts of Scandinavian-dominated Scotland had a powerful influence on the affairs of Scotland as a whole.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Contemporary documentation of the Viking period of Scottish history is very weak. The presence of the monastery on Iona led to this part of Scotland being relatively well recorded from the mid-6th to the mid-9th century. But from 849 on, when Columba's relics were removed in the face of Viking incursions, written evidence from local sources all but vanishes for three hundred years. The sources for information about the Hebrides and much of northern Scotland from the 8th to the 11th century are thus almost exclusively Irish, English or Norse. The main Norse text is the "Orkneyinga Saga", which was written in the early 13th century by an unknown Icelander. The English and Irish sources are more contemporary, but may have "led to a southern bias in the story", especially as much of the Hebridean archipelago became Norse-speaking during this period. Dates should therefore be regarded as approximate throughout.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The archaeological record for this period is relatively scant, although improving. Toponymy provides significant information about the Scandinavian presence and examples of Norse runes provide further useful evidence. There is a significant corpus of material from the Gaelic oral tradition that relates to this period, but its value is questionable.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Language and personal names provide some difficulties. The former is an important indicator of culture but there is very little direct evidence for its use in specific circumstances during the period under consideration. Pictish, Middle Irish and Old Norse would certainly have been spoken and Woolf (2007) suggests that a significant degree of linguistic balkanisation took place. As a result, single individuals often appear in sources under a variety of different names.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Given what is known about the frequency of sea transport around the Hebrides and Orkney in the 7th century it is highly likely that Gaelic and Pictish sailors were aware of Scandinavia before the commencement of the Viking Age. It has also been suggested that an assault by forces from Fortriu in 681 in which Orkney was "annihilated" may have led to a weakening of the local power base and helped the Norse come to prominence. Scholarly interpretations of the period "have led to widely divergent reconstructions of Viking Age Scotland" especially in the early period and Barrett (2008) has identified four competing theories, none of which he regards as proven.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The traditional explanation is the earldom hypothesis. This assumes a period of Norse expansion into the Northern Isles and the creation of an aristocratic dynasty that lasted well into the Medieval period, which exerted considerable influence in western Scotland and Mann into the 11th century. This version of events is essentially as told by the Norse sagas and is supported by some archaeological evidence although it has been criticised for exaggerating Orcadian influence in the "Suðreyar".


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The second of these theories is the genocide hypothesis, which asserts that the aboriginal populations of the Northern and Western Isles were eradicated and replaced wholesale with settlers of Scandinavian stock. The strength of this argument is the almost total replacement of pre-existing place names by those of Norse origin throughout much of the region. Its weakness is that the place name evidence is from a relatively late date and the nature of this transition remains controversial. Genetic studies show that Shetlanders have almost identical proportions of Scandinavian matrilineal and patrilineal ancestry, suggesting that the islands were settled by both men and women in equal measure.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The pagan reaction hypothesis proposed by Bjørn Myhre suggests a long tradition of mobility amongst the various populations of the North Atlantic seaboard and that the expansion of Christian missions resulted in ethnic tensions that led to or exacerbated Viking expansion. There is some evidence of such mobility, such as Irish missionary activities in Iceland and Faroe Islands in the 8th century, but little that is conclusive.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The fourth suggestion is the "Laithlind" or Lochlann hypothesis. This word appears in various forms in the early Irish literature and is usually assumed to refer to Norway itself, although some have preferred to locate it in the Norse-dominated parts of Scotland. Donnchadh Ó Corráin is a proponent of this view and claims that a substantial part of Scotland—the Northern and Western Isles and large areas of the coastal mainland—were conquered by the Vikings in the first quarter of the 9th century and that a Viking kingdom was set up there earlier than the middle of the century. Essentially a variant of the earldom hypothesis, there is little archaeological evidence in its favour, although it is clear that extensive Viking incursions on the Irish coasts were supported by a presence of some kind in the Hebrides, even if the date the latter became prominent is far from certain. As Ó Corráin himself admits "when and how the Vikings conquered and occupied the Isles is unknown, perhaps unknowable".


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Norse contacts with Scotland certainly predate the first written records in the 8th century, although their nature and frequency are unknown. Excavations at Norwick on the island of Unst in Shetland indicate that Scandinavian settlers had reached there, perhaps as early as the mid-7th century, consistent with dates produced for Viking levels at Old Scatness.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: From 793 onwards repeated raids by Vikings on the British Isles are recorded. "All the islands of Britain" were devastated in 794 with Iona being sacked in 802 and 806. (These attacks on Christian settlements in the islands of the west were not new. In the 6th century Tiree was raided by Pictish forces, Tory Island was attacked in the early 7th century by a "marine fleet" and Donnán of Eigg and 52 companions were murdered by Picts on Eigg in 617.) Various named Viking leaders, who were probably based in Scotland, appear in the Irish annals: Soxulfr in 837, Turges in 845 and Hákon in 847. The king of Fortriu Eógan mac Óengusa and the king of Dál Riata Áed mac Boanta were among the dead in a major defeat to the Vikings in 839. Another early reference to the Norse presence in the Irish records is that there was a king of "Viking Scotland" whose heir, Thórir, brought an army to Ireland in 848. Caittil Find was a reported leader of the "Gallgáedil" fighting in Ireland in 857.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Frankish "Annales Bertiniani" may record the conquest of the Inner Hebrides by Vikings in 847. Amlaíb Conung, who died in 874, is described as the "son of the king of Lochlainn" in the "Fragmentary Annals of Ireland" also suggesting an early date for an organised kingdom of Viking Scotland. In the same source Amlaíb is also recorded as having gone to the aid of his father Gofraidh who was under assault from Vikings in Lochlainn, circa 872. Gofraidh died in 873 and may have been succeeded by his son Ímar who also died that year. A lament for Áed mac Cináeda, a Pictish king who died in 878, suggests Kintyre may have been lost to his kingdom at that time. The Isle of Man may also have been taken by the Norse in 877 and was certainly held by them by 900.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Northern Isles were "Pictish in culture and speech" prior to the Norse incursions, and although it is recorded that Orkney was "destroyed" by King Bridei in 682 it is not likely that the Pictish kings exerted a significant degree of ongoing control over island affairs. According to the "Orkneyinga Saga", about 872 Harald Fairhair became King of a united Norway and many of his opponents fled to the islands of Scotland. Harald pursued his enemies and incorporated the Northern Isles into his kingdom in 875 and then, perhaps a little over a decade later, the Hebrides as well. The following year the local Viking chieftains of the Hebrides rebelled. Harald then sent Ketill Flatnose to subdue them. Ketill achieved this quickly but then declared himself an independent "King of the Isles", a title he retained for the rest of his life. Hunter (2000) states that Ketill was "in charge of an extensive island realm and, as a result, sufficiently prestigious to contemplate the making of agreements and alliances with other princelings". According to the "Landnámabók" Kettil became ruler of a region already settled by Scandinavians. Some scholars believe that this entire story is apocryphal and based on the later voyages of Magnus Barelegs. For example, Woolf (2007) suggests that his appearance in the sagas "looks very much like a story created in later days to legitimise Norwegian claims to sovereignty in the region" and suggests an early-11th-century creation of the earldom of Orkney, prior to which local warlords competed for influence with one another and local populations of farmers.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Nonetheless, the Norse tradition states that Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland from Harald as an earldom as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland, and then passed the earldom on to his brother Sigurd the Mighty. Sigurd's line barely survived him and it was Torf-Einarr, Rognvald's son by a slave, who founded a dynasty that controlled the Northern Isles for centuries after his death. He was succeeded by his son Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson and during this time the deposed Norwegian king Eric Bloodaxe often used Orkney as a raiding base before being killed in 954. Thorfinn's death and presumed burial at the broch of Hoxa, on South Ronaldsay, then led to a long period of dynastic strife. Whatever the historical details, it seems likely that Orkney and Shetland were being rapidly absorbed into Norse culture by this time.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The evidence of toponymy and language is unequivocal. Placenames in Orkney with a Celtic derivation are few in number and it is clear that Norn, a local version of Old Norse, was widely spoken by the inhabitants into historic times. Norn was also spoken in Shetland and evidence for Pictish elements in placenames is virtually non-existent, the three island names of Fetlar, Unst and Yell excepted.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Jarlshof in Shetland contains the most extensive remains of a Viking site visible anywhere in Britain and it is believed that the Norse inhabited the site continuously from the 9th to the 14th centuries. Amongst the many important finds are drawings scratched on slate of dragon-prowed ships and a bronze-gilt harness mounting made in Ireland in the 8th or 9th centuries. Brough of Birsay in Orkney is another important archaeological site, which like Jarlshof has a continuity of settlement spanning the Pictish and Norse periods. There is a remarkable collection of 12th-century runic inscriptions inside Maeshowe.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In early Irish literature Shetland is referred to as "Inse Catt"—"the Isles of Cats", which may have been the pre-Norse inhabitants' name for these islands. The Cat tribe certainly occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland and their name can be found in Caithness, and in the Gaelic name for Sutherland ("Cataibh", meaning "among the Cats"). There is limited evidence that Caithness may have had an intermediate phase of Gaelic-speaking control between the Pictish era and the Norse takeover, but if it existed it is likely to have been short-lived.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Sigurd Eysteinsson and Thorstein the Red moved on northern Scotland, conquering large areas variously described in the sagas as constituting all of Caithness and Sutherland and possibly including territory in Ross and even Moray during the last decade of the 9th century. The "Orkneyinga Saga" relates how the former defeated the Pict Máel Brigte Tusk but died from an unusual post-battle injury.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Thorfinn Torf-Einarsson married into the native aristocracy and his son, Skuli Thorfinnsson, is recorded as having sought the support of the King of Scots in the 10th century in pursuing his claim as mormaer of Caithness. Njáls saga relates that Sigurd the Stout was the ruler of "Ross and Moray, Sutherland and the Dales" of Caithness and it is possible that in the late 10th century the Scots kings were in alliance with the Earl of Orkney against the Mormaer of Moray.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Thorfinn Sigurdsson expanded his father's realm south beyond Sutherland and by the 11th century the Norwegian crown had come to accept that Caithness was held by the earls of Orkney as a fiefdom from the Kings of Scotland although its Norse character was retained throughout the 13th century. Raghnall mac Gofraidh was granted Caithness after assisting the Scots king in a conflict with Harald Maddadson, an earl of Orkney in the early 13th century. This joint earldom ceased after 1375 and the Pentland Firth became the border between Scotland and Norway.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: No Norse place names have been found on the northern Scottish mainland south of Beauly and so far no archaeological evidence of Norse activity has been found in the north-west mainland.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Like the Northern Isles, the Outer Hebrides and the northern Inner Hebrides were predominantly Pictish in the early 9th century. By contrast, the southern Inner Hebrides formed part of the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The obliteration of pre-Norse names in the Outer Hebrides and in Coll, Tiree and Islay in the Inner Hebrides is almost total and there is little continuity of style between Pictish pottery in the north and that of the Viking period. The similarities that do exist suggests the later pots may have been made by Norse who had settled in Ireland, or Irish slaves. There are frequent references in early Icelandic history to slaves from Ireland and the Hebrides, but none from Orkney. Gaelic certainly continued to exist as a spoken language in the southern Hebrides throughout the settlement period, but place name evidence suggests it had a lowly status and Norse may have survived as a spoken language until the 16th century in the Outer Hebrides.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: There is no evidence of any direct Norwegian rule in the area other than a few brief occupations although the written record is weak and no contemporary records of the Norse period from the Outer Hebrides exist. It is, however, known that Hebrides were taxed using the Ounceland system and evidence from Bornais suggests that settlers there may have been more prosperous than families of a similar status in the Northern Isles, possibly due to a more relaxed political regime. Latterly, the Hebrides sent eight representatives from Lewis and Harris and Skye and another eight from the southern Hebrides to the Tynwald parliament on Man.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Colonsay and Oronsay have produced important pagan Norse burial grounds. An 11th-century cross slab decorated with Irish and Ringerike Viking art on Islay was found in 1838. Rubha an Dùnain, today an uninhabited peninsula to the south of the Cuillin hills on Skye, contains the small Loch na h-Airde, which is connected to the sea by a short artificial canal. This loch was an important site for maritime activity for many centuries, spanning the Viking and later periods of Scottish clan rule. There is a stone-built quay and a system to maintain constant water levels. Boat timbers discovered there have been dated to the 12th century. Only three rune stones are known from the west coast of Scotland, on Christian memorials found on Barra, Inchmarnock and Iona.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In the Firth of Clyde, Norse burials have been found on Arran, although not Bute and place name evidence suggests a settlement pattern that was much less well-developed than in the Hebrides. On the mainland coast there is cluster of Norse place names around Largs and an ornate silver brooch was found on a hillside near Hunterston that is of likely 7th-century Irish origin but with a 10th-century runic inscription. Five Hogback monuments found in Govan hint at Scandinavian enclaves inland.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Isle of Man (which was absorbed into Scotland from 1266 until the 14th century) was dominated by the Norse–Gaels from an early date and from 1079 onwards by the Crovan dynasty as attested by the "Chronicles of Mann" and evidenced by the numerous Manx runestones and Norse place names. The modern-day Diocese of Sodor and Man retains the centuries-old name.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: South of Sutherland there is considerable place name evidence of Norse settlement along the entire western coast, although unlike on the islands the settlement in the south seems to have been less prolonged and undertaken in tandem with pre-existing settlement rather than replacing it entirely. The distinction between the "Innse Gall" (islands of the foreigners) and the "Airer Goidel" (coastland of the Gael) is further suggestive of a distinction between island and mainland at an early date. In Wester Ross most of the Gaelic names that exist on the coastline today are of likely Medieval rather than pre-Norse origin and a now-lost charter refers to the mainland village of Glenelg opposite Skye as having been in the possession of the king of Man. As in Orkney and Shetland, Pictish seems to have been entirely replaced wherever the Norse encountered it.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In the 9th century the first references to the "Gallgáedil" (i.e. "foreign Gaels") appear. This term was variously used in succeeding centuries to refer to individuals of mixed Scandinavian-Celtic descent and/or culture who became dominant in west and south-west Scotland, parts of northern England and the isles. This alliance between the two cultures, which also took place in Ireland, may have been instrumental in saving the Gaels of Dál Riata from the fate of the Picts in the north and west. Evidence for Norse settlement in mainland Argyll is limited although the Port an Eilean Mhòir ship burial in Ardnamurchan is the first boat-burial site to be discovered on the mainland of Britain.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: By the mid-10th century Amlaíb Cuarán controlled the Rhinns and the region gets the modern name of Galloway from the mixture of Viking and Gaelic Irish settlement that produced the Gall-Gaidel. Magnus Barelegs is said to have "subdued the people of Galloway" in the 11th century and Whithorn seems to have been a centre of Hiberno-Norse artisans who traded around the Irish Sea by the end of the first millennium. However, the place name, written and archaeological evidence of extensive Norse (as opposed to Norse–Gael) settlement in the area is not convincing.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The ounceland system seems to have become widespread down the west coast including much of Argyll and this is just as true of most of the south-west apart from land adjacent to the inner Solway Firth. In Dumfries and Galloway the place name evidence is complex and of mixed Gaelic, Norse and Danish influence, the last most likely stemming from contact with the extensive Danish holdings in northern England. One feature of the area is the number of names with a "kirk" prefix followed by a saint's name such as Kirkoswald. Interpretation of this is not certain but it is also indicative of a mixed Gaelic/Norse population.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: There is no evidence of permanent Viking settlement on the east coast south of the Moray Firth, or of Norse burials, although raids and even invasions certainly occurred. Dunnottar was taken during the reign of Domnall mac Causantín and the "Orkneyinga saga" records an attack on the Isle of May, by Sweyn Asleifsson and Margad Grimsson:


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Place name evidence of Scandinavian settlement is very limited on the east coast and in the south-east Anglian was the predominant influence during this period of history.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The first phase of Norse expansion was that of war bands seeking plunder and the creation of new settlements. The second phase involved the integration of these settlers into organised political structures of which the most prominent in the early part were the earls of Orkney in the north and the Uí Ímair in the south.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Even if the commencement of a formal earldom of Orkney is a matter of discussion (see above) there is little doubt that the institution experienced continuity thereafter. Until the mid- to late 11th century the earls of Orkney and kings of the Western Isles were probably independent rulers. The imposition of direct Norwegian rule at the end of this century brought this to a close in the north and unusually, from c. 1100 onwards the Norse "jarls" of the Northern Isles owed allegiance both to Norway for Orkney and to the Scottish crown through their holdings as earls of Caithness. In 1231 the line of Norse earls, unbroken since Rognvald Eysteinsson, ended with Jon Haraldsson's murder in Thurso. The Earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of the Earl of Angus, whom Haakon IV of Norway confirmed as Earl of Orkney in 1236. In 1379 the earldom passed to the Sinclair family, who were also barons of Roslin near Edinburgh although Orkney and Shetland remained part of Norway for a century more.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The situation in the Suðreyar was more complex. Different kings may have ruled over very different areas and few of them can be seen as exerting any kind of close control over this "far-flung sea kingdom". The Uí Ímair were certainly a powerful force from the late 9th to the early 11th centuries with dynasts such as Amlaíb Cuarán and Gofraid mac Arailt claiming kingship of the Isles. Norse sources also list various rulers such as "jarls" Gilli, Sigurd the Stout, Håkon Eiriksson and Thorfinn the Mighty as rulers over the Hebrides who were vassals of the Kings of Norway or Denmark. The dates from the Irish and Norse sources do not significantly overlap, but it is not clear if these are records of competing empires, or reflect Uí Ímar influence in the south and direct Norse rule in the north, or both. Furthermore, two records in the "Annals of Innisfallen" may suggest that the Western Isles were not "organised into a kingdom or earldom" at this time but rather that they were "ruled by assemblies of freeholders who regularly elected lawmen to preside over their public affairs". The "Annals of the Four Masters" entries for 962 and 974 hint at a similar arrangement. Crawford (1987) suggests that influence from the south rather than the north was "usually predominant" whilst admitting that the islands probably formed "groups of more or less independent communities".


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Godred Crovan became the ruler of Dublin and Mann from 1079 and from the early years of the 12th century the Crovan dynasty asserted themselves and ruled as "Kings of Mann and the Isles" for the next half century. The kingdom was than sundered due to the actions of Somerled whose sons inherited the southern Hebrides whilst the Manx rulers held on to the "north isles" for another century. The origins of both Godred Crovan and Somerled are obscure—the former may have been an Uí Ímair dynast from Islay, the latter married a Crovan heiress.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Thus it is clear that although there were competing factions in play, the Hebrides and islands of the Clyde were essentially under the control of rulers of Scandinavian origin from "at least the late tenth century" until the emergence of the kingdom of Scotland and its 13th-century expansion into the west.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The early Viking threats may have speeded a long term process of gaelicisation of the Pictish kingdoms, which adopted Gaelic language and customs. There was a merger of the Gaelic and Pictish crowns, although historians continue to debate whether it was a Pictish takeover of Dál Riata, or the other way around. This culminated in the rise of Cínaed mac Ailpín in the 840s, who brought to power the House of Alpin who were leaders of a combined Gaelic–Pictish kingdom for almost two centuries.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In 870 Dumbarton was besieged by Amlaíb Conung and Ímar, "the two kings of the Northmen", who "returned to Dublin from Britain" the following year with numerous captives. Dumbarton was the capital of the Kingdom of Strathclyde and this was clearly a major assault which may have brought the whole of mainland Scotland under temporary Ui Imair control. Three years earlier Vikings had seized Northumbria, forming the Kingdom of York and subsequently conquered much of England except for a reduced Kingdom of Wessex, leaving the new combined Pictish and Gaelic kingdom almost encircled. Amlaíb and his brother Auisle "ravaged the whole of Pictland and took their hostages" and later occupied this territory for a protracted period. The 875 Battle of Dollar was another major setback for the Picts/Scots.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In 902 the Norse suffered a serious reverse in Ireland losing control of Dublin and this seems to have intensified attacks on the emerging kingdom of Alba. A year later Dunkeld was attacked and Ímar, the "grandson of Ímar" was killed in battle with the forces of Constantine II in mainland Scotland. In the late tenth century the battle of "Innisibsolian" was won by Alban forces over Vikings. Yet these events were setbacks for the Norse rather than a definitive moment. Of more significance were their defeats at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937 and at the Battle of Tara in 980.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In 962 Ildulb mac Causantín, King of Scots, was killed (according to the "Chronicle of the Kings of Alba") fighting the Norse near Cullen, at the Battle of Bauds but the line of the House of Alpin held firm and the threat posed by the Scandinavian presence to the emergent Kingdom of Scotland lessened. Perhaps to counter growing Irish influence in the Western Isles Magnus Barelegs re-established direct Norwegian overlordship there by 1098. He first took Orkney, the northern Scottish mainland and the Hebrides, where he "dyed his sword red in blood" in the Uists. In that year, Edgar of Scotland signed a treaty with Magnus which settled much of the boundary between the Scots and Norwegian claims in the islands. Edgar formally acknowledged the existing situation by giving up his claims to the Hebrides and Kintyre.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Following the intervention of Somerled and his death at the Battle of Renfrew the Kings of the Isles were weakened relative to the Scottish state, but more than 150 years later Norway intervened again, this time unsuccessfully. Following Haakon Haakonarson's ill-fated invasion and the stalemate of the Battle of Largs the Hebrides and Mann and all rights that the Norwegian crown "had of old therein" were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland as a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: In 1468 Orkney was pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as king of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. As the money was never paid, the connection with the crown of Scotland has become perpetual.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Although there is evidence of varying burial rites practised by Norse settlers in Scotland, such as grave goods found on Colonsay and Westray, there is little that enables a confirmation that the Norse gods were venerated prior to the reintroduction of Christianity. The Odin Stone has been used as evidence of Odinic beliefs and practices but the derivation may well be from "oathing stone". A few Scandinavian poetic references suggest that Orcadian audiences understood elements of the Norse pantheon, although this is hardly conclusive proof of active beliefs. Nonetheless, it is likely that pagan practices existed in early Scandinavian Scotland.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: According to the sagas, the Northern Isles were Christianised by Olav Tryggvasson in 995 when he stopped at South Walls on his way from Ireland to Norway. The King summoned the "jarl" Sigurd the Stout and said "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I'll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke, receiving their own bishop, Henry of Lund (also known as "the Fat"), who was appointed sometime prior to 1035. The greatest source of Scottish influence after the appointment of the Scottish earls in the 13th century was probably through the church, although it is clear that Scots influence on the culture of Orkney and Shetland was fairly limited until the close of the 14th century or later. An influx of Scottish entrepreneurs helped to create a diverse and independent community that included farmers, fishermen and merchants that called themselves "Communitas Orchadensis" and who proved themselves increasingly able to defend their rights against their feudal overlords, be they Norwegian or Scots. This independence of mind may have been fostered by the influence of Norwegian government which was essentially communal and federal by contrast with Scotland. It was not until the mid-16th century that the Norse institutions were replaced by Scottish systems following large-scale immigration from the south and the islanders were probably bi-lingual until the 17th century.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Once again, the situation in the Hebrides is much less clear. There was a Bishop of Iona until the late 10th century and there is then a gap of more than a century, possibly filled by the Bishops of Orkney, before the appointment of the first Bishop of Mann in 1079. The conversion of Scandinavian Scotland and the resultant end to slavery and integration of Viking society into mainstream European culture was a significant event. It took place at an early date, although the popular image of marauding berserkers and of the Norse as "enemies of social progress" remains despite considerable evidence that in their latter phase the Norse-speaking populations were rather "enlightened practitioners of maritime commercial principles". Þings were open-air governmental assemblies that met in the presence of the "jarl" and the meetings were open to virtually all free men. At these sessions decisions were made, laws passed and complaints adjudicated. Examples include Tingwall and Law Ting Holm in Shetland, Dingwall in Easter Ross, and Tynwald on the Isle of Man.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Women enjoyed a relatively high status during the Viking Age, possibly due to the high degree of mobility in society. There is little knowledge of their role in the Scandinavian colonies of Scotland although the indirect evidence of graves during the pagan and Christian periods suggests roles similar to those held elsewhere. Amongst the best known figures are Gormflaith ingen Murchada, Gunnhild Gormsdóttir, Aud the Deep-Minded and Ingibjörg, the daughter of Earl Hakon Paulsson and wife of King Olaf Godredsson.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Norse legacy of art and architecture is limited. The Christchurch at Brough of Birsay, now reduced, was the early seat of the Bishops of Orkney. St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall is peerless as an example of Norse-era construction in Scotland and St. Magnus Church, on Egilsay retains its round tower. The iconic Lewis chessmen are the best-known treasure trove and numerous finds of grave goods, including brooches and weaponry such as the Scar boat burial, are well documented.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: There is growing evidence of the importance of trade and commerce. Data from the Outer Hebrides suggests that pigs were a more important aspect of Viking farming than prior to that time, that red deer numbers may have been controlled rather than the species simply being subject to hunting, that herring fishing became an important commercial consideration and that trade with centres to the south such as Dublin and Bristol may have been important. Coins found at Bornais and Cille Pheadair were produced in Norway, Westphalia, and England, although there were none from Scotland. Ivory from Greenland was also found there.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Norse and Viking colonisations and settlements have made an impression on peripheral Scotland, the evidence for which can be found in place names, language, genetics and other aspects of cultural heritage.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Scandinavian influence in Scotland was probably at its height in the mid-11th century during the time of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, who attempted to create a single political and ecclesiastical domain stretching from Shetland to Man. The "Suðreyjar" have a total land area of approximately . Caithness and Sutherland have a combined area of and the permanent Scandinavian holdings in Scotland at that time must therefore have been at minimum between a fifth and a quarter of the land area of modern Scotland.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: The Viking invasions may have inadvertently played a role in the creation of modern Scotland. Their destructive raids initially weakened Pictland, Strathclyde and Dál Riata, but these "harassed remnants" eventually became a united front and Norse aggression thus played a significant role in the creation of the kingdom of Alba, the nucleus from which the Scottish kingdom expanded as the Viking influence waned, just as in the south Wessex expanded to become the kingdom of England.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Some Scots take pride in their Scandinavian ancestry. For example, Clan MacLeod of Lewis claims its descent from Leod, who according to tradition was a younger son of Olaf the Black. Clan MacNeacail of Skye also claim Norse ancestry, and occasional references are made to the idea of Scotland joining "the Nordic circle of nations" in modern political debate. Yet, unlike the Danelaw in England, the Scandinavian occupation of Scotland has no single common name. This may be a reflection of the less well documented nature of the various invasions involved, but it also hints at a relative lack of popular understanding of the history. By comparison to the Roman occupations of Scotland the Norse kingdoms were much longer lived, more recent and had a significantly more dramatic influence on spoken language and by extension culture and lifestyles generally. They were however confined to areas that are relatively remote from the main centres of modern population. Furthermore, regardless of the actual impact of Scandinavian culture, the hereditary leaders of the Scots nation are generally descended from Pictish and Gaelic stock. The Vikings are thus often seen in a negative light and as a foreign invasion rather than as a key part of a multi-cultural polity.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Nonetheless, in the Northern Isles the Scandinavian connection is still celebrated, one of the best-known such events being the Lerwick fire-festival Up Helly Aa. In particular, Shetland's connection with Norway has proven to be enduring. When Norway became independent again in 1905 the Shetland authorities sent a letter to King Haakon VII in which they stated: "Today no 'foreign' flag is more familiar or more welcome in our voes and havens than that of Norway, and Shetlanders continue to look upon Norway as their mother-land, and recall with pride and affection the time when their forefathers were under the rule of the Kings of Norway." At the 2013 Viking Congress held in Shetland the Scottish Government announced plans to strengthen Scotland’s historic links with Scandinavia.


title: Scandinavian Scotland

text: Canadian scholar Michael Stachura explores Scottish literature’s engagement with “northness” in his Ph.D. dissertation for Simon Fraser University, “A Polar Projection: The Northern Dimension in Modern Scottish Literature” (2015). He includes a chapter on Orkney writer George Mackay Brown and his imaginative use of Orkney’s Norse past.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad (also spelled Desaad) is a supervillain, appearing in books published by DC Comics. He is one of the followers of Darkseid from the planet of Apokolips in Jack Kirby's Fourth World meta-series.


title: DeSaad

text: As DeSaad serves as Darkseid's master torturer, his name refers to the Marquis de Sade. At one point, DeSaad had an assistant named Justeen, a reference to de Sade's novel "Justine", although she bore little resemblance to the title character.


title: DeSaad

text: Steve Byers portrayed DeSaad in the television series "Smallville". The character made his cinematic debut in "Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021), portrayed through voice and motion capture by Peter Guinness.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad's first recorded appearance in the history of the DC Universe was as a hanger-on at the side of Drax, heir to Apokolips. He had already taken his "god-name", which he claimed to have taken in tribute to a being from the future "who has taught me much in my chosen field".


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad's origins were revealed during Darkseid's chess game with Eclipso. After Eclipso told Darkseid of how he had caused the Biblical Great Flood, Darkseid shared how he had corrupted an innocent youth by tricking him into believing the youth's cat had killed his other pet, a bird. Goading the boy to avenge the bird, Darkseid manipulates the youth into burying the cat alive. The bird returned, having flown off, and in a rage, the youth killed the bird and left New Genesis to become Darkseid's lackey.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad appeared to be helping Drax with his attempt to master the Omega Force. In fact, he was plotting with Drax' brother, Uxas. As a result, Drax was presumed killed and Uxas mastered the Omega Force, taking the god-name Darkseid. DeSaad went on to serve as Darkseid's torturer.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad is a racist and a coward. He is naturally treacherous, but is sufficiently afraid of Darkseid that he will not turn against his master unless someone else takes the lead (and will probably switch sides again if it looks like they will fail). He spent some time posing as Darkseid to keep Intergang going. While Darkseid had been involved with Intergang as part of his search for the Anti-Life Equation, DeSaad simply wanted to cause suffering.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad was seemingly killed during an attempt by Darkseid to penetrate the Source. He was subsequently found to have "bonded" with Orion, causing the latter to become cruel and manipulative. They were later separated. While missing, his second-in-command, Justeen, plots to overthrow DeSaad's position and become closer to her beloved Darkseid.


title: DeSaad

text: In the "Superman/Batman" story "Torment", DeSaad is tasked by Darkseid to retrieve Highfather's staff from the Source Wall and use it to restore Darkseid's waning powers. Working with the Batman villain the Scarecrow he brainwashes Superman. However, when the time came to recharge Darkseid's powers, using the staff as a conduit to the Omega Realm, DeSaad betrays Darkseid and tried to take the power for himself. The Omega Effect, however, possessed a horror within it that even DeSaad could not stand and Darkseid simply siphoned the energy off of him.


title: DeSaad

text: At the end of "Countdown to Final Crisis" #25, DeSaad, who had captured and tortured Professor Martin Stein, is able to take over the mantle and the power of Firestorm for himself. He is defeated and separated from the Firestorm Matrix by the Atomic Knights, but flees before he can be captured. After disrupting a battle between Darkseid and Mary Marvel, DeSaad gives Darkseid a compound that was unsuccessfully used to access the Anti-Life Equation. DeSaad is then released from Darkseid's service, but he has transported the Pied Piper to Apokolips as Brother Eye arrives. DeSaad claims the Piper can channel the Anti-Life Equation and control the planet. Before the Piper can do so, Brother Eye finishes assimilating Apokolips. After recovering, DeSaad confesses to masterminding the Trickster and the Piper's ordeal. They are then attacked by an OMAC and the Piper is captured. DeSaad continues to pursue the Piper and convinces him to finally play, but the Piper's first act is to try to kill DeSaad.


title: DeSaad

text: Also during "Countdown" in "Detective Comics" #837, it is revealed that he is supplying the Amazon Women's Shelters with special drugs from Apokolips.


title: DeSaad

text: In "Salvation Run", DeSaad oversees the training of the New Gods of Apokolips on a planet where Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad had dumped the exiled villains. When he discovers them on this planet, he arranges for the Parademons to eliminate the least powerful villains so that he can train the stronger ones for an unknown goal. Ultimately, the villains escape back to Earth.


title: DeSaad

text: Following "Death of the New Gods", many of the fallen Apokoliptan gods had taken on human forms. DeSaad, posing as "Doctor Bud Fogel" raises the public against Lex Luthor's Everyman experiments, eventually trapping and capturing Infinity, Inc. This version of DeSaad has been seen in the "Terror Titans" miniseries, conditioning the Infinitors to fight in the Dark Side Club's metahuman tournament. After the brainwashed superhumans break free of the Anti-Life Equation and begin to destroy the arena, DeSaad is electrocuted and captured by Static.


title: DeSaad

text: In "Final Crisis" #6, Mary Marvel has been possessed by DeSaad. It is not known what has happened to DeSaad after Freddy Freeman as the new Shazam changes Mary to normal in the same issue. In "Final Crisis: Secret Files", it was revealed that he was the one who brought Libra back to cohesion after the villain disembodied himself using a Transmortifier device.


title: DeSaad

text: During Darkseid's first incursion on Earth during "The New 52" (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), DeSaad appears in Apokopolis discussing with Steppenwolf about cloning the DNA of a captured and tortured Superman for a new race of Parademons. Five years later, he impersonates Michael Holt, attempting to capture Power Girl.


title: DeSaad

text: Although DeSaad does not have great powers, he is still immune to all diseases and toxins and is extremely long-lived. He is also stronger and more resistant than a human of his weight and build. DeSaad is a brilliant inventor of weapons and master of torture. DeSaad has created many torture machines and devices. His most spectacular achievement is "Happyland", an amusement park that served as a prison for his victims. The prisoners were anguished over the seeming indifference of the park's customers to their plight, unaware that DeSaad's technology caused the visitors to see them as something other than what they were. As the closest assistant to Darkseid, DeSaad is familiar with the functioning and resources of the planet.


title: DeSaad

text: In "The New 52", DeSaad reappears with the status of a New God, but much more powerful and showing new abilities. DeSaad is strong and resistant enough to lift several tons easily and can face powerful beings like Power Girl. In addition, he has a high level of invulnerability and is functionally immortal. The new DeSaad's powers include telepathy, absorption and control of emotions. DeSaad is able to enter people's minds to manipulate their emotions and feed on their worst feelings; even without manipulating them, he becomes more powerful. He has demonstrated the ability to create illusions either in its real form or in the form of other people. Another of his powers is the absorption of energy; he can feed on different types of energy and even manipulate it, as was demonstrated when he absorbed energies from a particle accelerator on Earth-2. Although it is not explained, DeSaad can open a "Boom Tube" to other dimensions at will only when he is at maximum power.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad originally appeared in "Justice League" (2017), portrayed through voice and motion capture by Peter Guinness, but these scenes were later removed from the theatrical version. His appearance was restored for Zack Snyder's director's cut of the film, "Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021). In the film, he serves as an intermediary between Darkseid and Steppenwolf, the latter reporting updates on his conquest of Earth. DeSaad is shown to be scornful toward Steppenwolf for his attempted betrayal against their master, reminding the Apokoliptan general that he still owes 50,000 worlds before he can even consider hearing his plea to return to his home planet. However, after Steppenwolf reports his discovery of the Anti-Life Equation on Earth, he summons Darkseid himself to deal with Steppenwolf, the former promising to lift his banishment by forming the unity and preparing for his invasion of Earth. Desaad appeared alongside Darkseid during the film's climax, witnessing Steppenwolf's defeat by the Justice League. After the portal closes, Desaad asks Darkseid how they'll be able to take over Earth with the Unity sabotaged by the League and the Mother Boxes now destroyed. Darkseid commands him to prepare the Parademon armada, planning to use "the old ways" to obtain the Anti-Life Equation.


title: DeSaad

text: DeSaad was included in Series 12 of Mattel's DC Universe Classic toys, patterned after his appearance in the earlier Kenner Super Powers Collection. The character as depicted in Zack Snyder's Justice League was created as a 1/4 scale high-end polystone sculpture by Wētā Workshop Collectibles in 2021.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Pontus Sven Gustav Jansson (; born 13 February 1991) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Brentford, where he serves as club captain.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Jansson started his career with local club Malmö FF before moving to Italy to join Torino. He failed to impress at the Turin-based club and was sent out on loan to Leeds United, before making the move permanent. After three years in Leeds, he signed for fellow Championship side Brentford in 2019, becoming captain shortly after.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: A full international between 2012 and 2021, Jansson won 27 caps for the Sweden national team and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2016, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2020.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Jansson started his career at local club Arlövs BI. In 2006 at age 15 he transferred to Malmö FF. He played in youth teams until he made his first team debut in 2009. Jansson played in a variety of positions in the early stages of his career until deciding on centre back in the start of the 2010 season. He had made his first team debut as forward the year before. When teammate Jasmin Sudić was long term injured in the beginning of the year the manager decided that Jansson would take Sudić's place at centre-back despite mostly playing as a striker. Jansson played in 18 games in the 2010 league winning season for Malmö. He missed the latter part of the season due to injury problems.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Starting out the 2011 season on the bench, Jansson gained new manager Rikard Norling's trust and once again took a spot in the starting eleven. Jansson finished the season with 15 league matches and nine matches in Europe played. Many considered Jansson to be the club's best player of 2011 even though he only played for half of the season. Jansson was also mentioned as a potential candidate for becoming the club's new captain as Daniel Andersson announced that he would step down during the 2012 season. The 2012 season was Jansson's big breakthrough season as he played all 30 league matches for Malmö FF, playing the first part of the season with Daniel Andersson and the latter part with newcomer Filip Helander by his side in the defensive line.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Jansson continued to be one of the club's most important players during the league title winning 2013 season where he played 24 matches and scored one goal. The goal was an important equalizer against title contender IFK Göteborg in the home fixture on 25 August 2013, Malmö FF went on to win the match 3–1. He was nominated as defender of the year for the 2013 Allsvenskan for his overall performance during the season. Jansson also played all of Malmö FF's matches in the qualification stage for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: During the 2014 season Jansson played nine out of 12 possible matches before his transfer to Torino. He also played all of the matches for the club in the 2013–14 Svenska Cupen campaign where the club progressed to the semi-finals. He started the 2014 season in the starting eleven but was replaced by Erik Johansson when it was clear that Jansson would leave the club during the summer transfer window.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 24 April 2014, Torino announced they had signed Jansson on a free transfer. He officially joined the Italian side on 1 July 2014. He made 16 appearances in all competitions during his first season, with nine coming in the league, one in Coppa Italia and six in the UEFA Europa League.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 30 April 2016 he scored his first goal in Serie A, opening the score in a 5–1 defeat of Udinese. During the 2015-16 season, he played seven league games and two Coppa Italia matches.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 18 August 2016, Jansson joined English side Leeds United on a season-long loan, where he was handed the number 18 shirt. Torino also revealed that as part of the deal Leeds had a clause to make the deal a permanent move. He made his debut for Leeds on 23 August 2016, starting in an EFL Cup fixture against Luton Town. His league debut came on 10 September 2016 in a 1–0 defeat against Huddersfield Town in a West Yorkshire derby. On 17 September, Jansson received the man of the match award in a 2–0 victory against Cardiff City. He scored his first goal for Leeds on 5 November 2016 — a headed goal in a 3–2 victory against Norwich City at Carrow Road — and won the Championship Player of the Month Award for December 2016. After returning to the side following a two-match suspension for accumulating 10 yellow cards, on 25 January 2017 Jansson made his 22nd appearance for Leeds in a 2–0 win over Nottingham Forest. On 2 February 2017, Jansson signed a permanent deal with Leeds worth £3.5 million which would officially take place when his loan expired at the end of the 2016–17 season. Jansson subsequently went on to sign a three-year contract at the club.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 11 March, Jansson was named in the EFL Team of the Season. On 21 March, Jansson and teammate Chris Wood were named in the Sky Bet Championship Team of the Season.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: After being handed a three-match ban for receiving 15 yellow cards during the 2016–17 season, with two of these games carried over to the start of the 2017–18 season, he made his first start as a permanent Leeds player on 12 August 2017 in a 0–0 draw against Preston North End. On 25 October 2017, Jansson signed a new five-year contract, with the long-term deal keeping him at Leeds until the end of the 2021–22 season. He scored his first goal of the season on 1 December 2017, in Leeds' 1–1 draw against Aston Villa.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: After his participation for Sweden at the World Cup Quarter-Finals, Jansson was given extra vacation for the 2018–19 pre-season and as a result missed all of Leeds' pre-season friendlies. In August 2018, Leeds rejected a bid of £10 million for Jansson from Russian Premier League side FC Krasnodar.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: After a controversial performance from the referee in Leeds' 1–1 draw against Brentford on 6 October, Jansson spoke out against the referee in the post match interview. As a result, he was given a one match ban on 23 October for his comments relating to the referee's performance and/or use of foul language.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: After helping Leeds to a third-place finish, on 24 April, Jansson was voted into the Championship PFA Team of the Year for the 2018/19 season.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: After Jansson's team-mate Mateusz Klich scored a controversial goal against Aston Villa on 28 April 2019, Head Coach Marcelo Bielsa declared that his team should allow an unchallenged equaliser to be scored (Bielsa could be seen shouting "Give the goal! Give the goal!" from the touchline). From the restart, Albert Adomah essentially walked the ball into net unchallenged by 10 Leeds players, with only a frustrated and disbelieving Jansson giving chase and nearly dispossessing the forward.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 14 May 2019, Leeds Head Coach Marcelo Bielsa described Jansson as "Leeds' best player in the Championship for the 2018–19 season."


title: Pontus Jansson

text: During the 2018–19 Leeds United F.C. season, Jansson played 41 games in all competitions, scoring three goals, with Leeds finishing the regular season in third place after dropping out of the automatic promotion places with three games remaining after a defeat to 10-man Wigan Athletic on 19 April. Leeds qualified for the playoffs, but Jansson picked up an ankle injury and missed the first leg versus sixth-placed Derby County at Pride Park. Leeds took a 0–1 win into the home leg at Elland Road, where Jansson returned to the bench, but was an unused substitute with Gaetano Berardi favoured ahead of him by Bielsa. Leeds lost 2–4 in the encounter, with Leeds down to 10 men after Berardi's red card, and the defeat saw Derby progress to the final against Aston Villa after winning 3–4 on aggregate. (Villa subsequently won the final 2–1 and were promoted.) After the defeat to Derby, Jansson was pictured sitting alone by the pitch in silence, and following the game he posted on his Instagram account that "It shouldn’t end like that, still don’t understand it today how it all could end so quickly."


title: Pontus Jansson

text: At the start of the 2019–20 pre-season, Jansson was informed by the club to return to training later than the rest of the first-team squad to give him time to find a new club, as he was no longer in Bielsa's plans for the upcoming season.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 8 July 2019, Jansson joined Brentford F.C. for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract with the option of a fourth year and became club captain with the departure of Romaine Sawyers shortly after the Swede's arrival at the club.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: He scored his first goal for the club, the equaliser in a 2-1 win against Watford in the Premier League, then scored his second four months later against the same opponent, a last-minute winner in a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Jansson made his debut for the Sweden U21 national team in a friendly game against Portugal on 9 February 2011. On 2 June 2011 he captained the team in a match against Norway where he also scored the first goal in a 4–1 win for Sweden U21.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Jansson was selected for the annual training camp for the Sweden national team in January 2012. He made his senior debut for Sweden in the training match against Bahrain on 18 January 2012. During the summer of 2016, Jansson was selected to represent the Sweden squad for UEFA Euro 2016, however he remained an unused substitute for Sweden in all 3 of their games. On 27 March 2018, Jansson was named as the Sweden captain for a friendly match against Romania.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 15 May 2018, Jansson was named in Sweden's final 23 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 18 June, Jansson was named in the starting lineup ahead of Manchester United's Victor Lindelöf for Sweden's opening game of Group F in a 1–0 win against South Korea. Sweden reached the World Cup Quarter-Finals of the tournament after beating Switzerland in the last 16, however England knocked out Sweden in a 2–0 win on 7 July 2018, the match also saw Jansson play in an unfamiliar striker's role, with Jansson brought on as a second half substitute to try score a goal with Sweden trailing at the time.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 6 September 2018, Jansson was once again named Sweden captain in a 2–0 defeat against Austria. Jansson was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020, and served as a backup behind Victor Lindelöf, Marcus Danielson, and Filip Helander as Sweden reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by Ukraine.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: On 11 August 2021, Jansson announced his retirement from international football. He won a total of 27 caps for the Sweden national team between 2012 and 2021.


title: Pontus Jansson

text: Whilst at Leeds, Jansson has had a famous chant made for him, the song is called 'Pontus Jansson's Magic, He Wears A Magic Hat'. The song is a crowd terrace version of the song My Old Man's a Dustman originally performed by Lonnie Donegan. On 25 July 2017, Jansson married his fiancé Åsa Thornell and Jansson revealed on his Instagram that at their wedding reception they had a band sing a Swedish version of 'Pontus Jansson's Magic Hat' song. Leeds' fans also used to sing another Jansson chant, to the tune of Last Christmas by Wham!: "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart… This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it to Pontus Jansson".


title: Pontus Jansson

text: In August 2019, Jansson featured in Leeds United documentary 'Take Us Home' documenting the 2018–19 season on Amazon Prime, featuring in episodes, the documentary was narrated by Academy Award winning actor and Leeds United fan Russell Crowe.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: Josh Taylor (born September 25, 1943) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chris Kositchek and Roman Brady on the American dramatic serial "Days of Our Lives", Jack McKay on the teen drama "Beverly Hills, 90210" and as Michael Hogan, the father on the situation comedy "The Hogan Family".


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: Born in Princeton, Illinois as Tommy Tim Taylor and known as "Timmy", Taylor moved with his family to Chillicothe, Illinois when he was two years old. His dad became athletic director of Chillicothe Township High School (now Illinois Valley Central High School) as well as a respected football coach, and both Josh and older brother Ron played quarterback under him. Heavily recruited for his football skills, Josh chose Dartmouth College, where he was a member of two Ivy Championship teams and the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, graduating with an A.B. degree in sociology in 1965. He then received a full scholarship to the University of Denver law school, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1969. After law school, he moved to the West Coast.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: After earning his Juris Doctor, he decided to take a year off and work on the Alaska Pipeline. On the way to Alaska he stopped in Los Angeles to visit friends and was offered a job as manager of the Westwood Village Bratskeller. He spent a year and a half at the restaurant which catered to celebrities and, surrounded by actors and producers, decided to give up a future in law to pursue acting. After the Bratskeller closed, he worked as a bartender at the Riverside Lounge in Santa Monica until he snagged his first acting role playing a contemporary cowboy on an episode of "Barnaby Jones" in 1976. This was quickly followed with roles on "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Hardy Boys".


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: In 1977, he took the role of bartender Chris Kositchek on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives". His notoriety heightened as he became an integral part of the fictional landscape of Salem, the setting of the soap, and this eventually led to primetime starring tryouts. In 1981, Taylor went to CBS and had his own short-lived detective series, "Riker". His role on "Days" continued uninterrupted.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: In 1985, producers Tom Miller and Bob Boyett were casting the husband role for Valerie Harper on her new NBC series "Close to Home", which was retitled "Valerie" before its premiere. Harper's on-screen husband, Michael Hogan, was an airline pilot who was seldom around. Taylor was called in for the part, among many other actors who were willing to settle for part-time status on the show, and earned the role. "Valerie" premiered in March 1986 to moderate ratings but critical success, and as the series was picked up for a second season, Taylor successfully balanced his work on the sitcom with his long-running role on "Days".


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: In 1987, behind-the-scenes events on "Valerie" would cause Taylor to leave "Days of our Lives". Valerie Harper was fired by Lorimar-Telepictures, the series' parent studio, during that year's filming hiatus (between seasons two and three) following a contract dispute. Both her dismissal and her character's being written off as having died were controversial at the time, since the show was named after its star and lead character. Sandy Duncan was named as Harper's replacement, and Taylor felt that to ensure the continued success of the show, that he would leave "Days" in order expand his sitcom role. Seeing this as a foothold to a lasting role in primetime, Taylor only thought it appropriate that the Michael Hogan character would be home more often for his family, both in the wake of his wife's death and in order to help his sister (Duncan) settle into the household. The series was retitled "Valerie's Family: The Hogans" in September 1987, later becoming "The Hogan Family" (which all seasons of the show became known as syndication) in June 1988.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: Meanwhile, Taylor was preparing to make his last appearance as Chris Kositchek on "Days." In the fall of 1987, after a ten-year run, the character had passed the bar exam and become a lawyer, serving the residents of Salem, if only for a brief period.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: In 1988, Taylor starred opposite Barbara Eden in the made-for-television movie, "The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick", and guest starred on series including "", "", "Murder, She Wrote", "Matlock", and "L.A. Law". "The Hogan Family" moved to CBS for its sixth season in 1990, but was canceled by the end of 1990-91 season. Taylor followed this with the pilot of the television version of "North Dallas Forty". He played Jack McKay, Dylan's father, on "Beverly Hills, 90210" on and off between 1991 and 1993, with occasional appearances in later seasons.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: In 1997, he returned to "Days", this time playing the character of Roman Brady. In 2004, Roman was murdered by the Salem Stalker (who turned out to be his ex-wife, Marlena) during his and Kate's wedding reception. A few months later, it was revealed that Roman didn't die but was alive on a tropical island called Melaswen (New Salem backwards). He is still appearing on the show.


title: Josh Taylor (actor)

text: Taylor is a son of George Gail Taylor (July 25, 1910 – July 26, 1994) and Ragnhild "Rena" (Christensen) Taylor (May 29, 1902 – September 25, 1943). His mother was the daughter of Danish immigrants and died from pregnancy related causes. His father, now a widower with two young sons, married Dorothy Gubbins (November 28, 1913 – October 1, 2009) on November 23, 1946 in Bradford, Illinois. Their daughter Vicki was born around 1948. Taylor's older brother Ron died in 2014.


title: United States Army air defense

text: United States Army air defense relies on a range of ground launched missiles ranging from hand held to vehicle mounted systems. The Air Defense Artillery is the branch that specializes in anti-aircraft weapons (such as surface-to-air missiles). In the US Army, these groups are composed of mainly air defense systems such as the PATRIOT Missile System, Terminal High Altitude Air Defense, and the Avenger Air Defense system which fires the FIM-92 Stinger missile.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The Air Defense Artillery branch descended from the Anti-Aircraft Artillery (part of the Field Artillery) into a separate branch on 20 June 1968.


title: United States Army air defense

text: During World War II, US Army anti-aircraft systems were quite competent. Their smaller tactical needs were filled with four M2 (.50 BMG|.50 caliber) machine guns linked together (known as the "Quad Fifty"), which were often mounted on the back of a half-track to form the Half Track, M16 GMC, Anti-Aircraft. Although of even less power than Germany's 20 mm systems, they were at least widely available. They were also used to help suppress ground targets. Their larger 90 mm M2 gun would prove, as did the eighty-eight, to make an excellent anti-tank gun as well, and was widely used late in the war in this role. Also available to the Americans at the start of the war was the 120 mm M1 gun "stratosphere gun", which was the most powerful AA gun with an impressive 60,000 ft (~18 km) altitude capability. The 90 mm and 120 mm guns would continue to be used into the 1950s.


title: United States Army air defense

text: During the course of the Korean War, the U.S. Army decided to phase out all vehicles based on the M24 Chaffee chassis, such as the M19 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage with 2x 40mm Anti-Aircraft guns, in favor of designs that utilized the chassis of the M41. Since the 40mm guns were still seen as an effective anti-aircraft weapon, they became the basis of the Duster.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The first effective self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon (SPAAG) in U.S. Army service was the all-manual M42 Duster. While relatively capable for the era it was designed in, by the time it reached widespread service in the late 1950s it was clear that it was ineffective against high-speed jet-powered targets. The Duster was completely removed from service by 1963, only to be re-introduced briefly during the Vietnam War when its replacement never arrived.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The first proposed replacement for the Duster was the Sperry Vigilante, which referred to the six-barreled 37 mm Gatling gun proposed as the basis for a new SPAAG. Although the gun was extremely powerful, at some point in the late 1950s the Army decided that all gun-based systems were out of date.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The next proposed replacement for the Duster was the ambitious MIM-46 Mauler. Mauler mounted a nine-missile magazine on top of an adapted M113 Armored Personnel Carrier chassis, along with detection and tracking radars. Mauler featured a completely automatic fire control system, with the operators simply selecting targets and pressing "OK". It would be able to respond to low-flying high-speed targets at any angle out to a range of about five miles. However, Mauler proved to be beyond the state-of-the-art and ran into intractable problems during development. Realizing it was not going to enter service any time soon, it was downgraded to a technology demonstration program in 1963, and eventually cancelled outright in 1965.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Still lacking an effective anti-aircraft system, the Army started development of two stop-gap systems that were meant to operate in concert. The M163 VADS combined the M61 Vulcan cannon, the M113 chassis, and an all-optical fire control system with a simple lead-computing gunsight. Suitable for "snap shots" against nearby targets, the VADS system was equipped only with a small ranging radar for the gunsight, its firing range being too small to justify a larger tracking radar. VADS was intended to operate in concert with the MIM-72 Chaparral, which combined the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile with a modified version of the M548 Cargo Carrier chassis. The Chaparral's AIM-9D missiles were capable of tail-chase launches only, but offered ranges up to 5 miles. Also using an all-optical firing system, the Chaparral nevertheless required the operator to "settle" the missiles on the target for a period of time to allow them to lock on, limiting its ability to deal with quickly moving targets. Both vehicles were optionally supported by the AN/MPQ-49 Forward Area Alerting Radar (FAAR), but this system was towed by the Gama Goat and couldn't be used near the front lines. The pair of weapons was, at best, a nuisance to the enemy and had limited performance against modern aircraft.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Eventually the M48 and M163 were both replaced in US service by the M1097 Avenger and the M6 Linebacker (M2 Bradley with FIM-92 Stinger missiles instead of the standard TOW anti-tank missiles).


title: United States Army air defense

text: At one point the Army started to become concerned about developments in sensor technologies that would allow attacks by fixed-wing aircraft at night or in bad weather. They developed a requirement for a weapon system able to operate using FLIR and a laser rangefinder in order to counter these threats. However, the rest of the military establishment pooh-poohed the idea; even the US Air Force carried out only limited operations in bad weather, and the Soviets had a considerably less capable force in this regard. The idea gained little traction and died.


title: United States Army air defense

text: During the late 1960s the combination of helicopter and anti-tank missiles improved to the point where they became a major threat to armored operations. The U.S. led the field with their TOW missile on the Cobra gunship, demonstrating this powerful combination in combat in 1972's Easter Offensive. The Soviets initially lagged the U.S., but the introduction of the 9K114 Shturm (known in the west as the AT-6 "Spiral") missile on the Mi-24 "Hind" in the mid-1970s offered the USSR a level of superiority.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, attack helicopters had the ability to loiter near the front behind cover and pick their targets. They would then "pop up", launch a missile, and return to cover as soon as the missile hit its target. Using fast-reacting wire-guided or radio-command missiles meant the total engagement time was kept to a minimum, as there was little or no "lock-on" time required; the operator simply picked his target, fired, and adjusted its flight path while it flew.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Against these targets, the Vulcan/Chaparral combination was effectively useless. The Vulcan could react quickly enough to the fleeting targets, but its 20 mm gun had an effective range of only about 1,200 meters, far shorter than the 3,000 to 5,000 meters range of the "Spiral". While the Chaparral had enough range to engage the "Hind", its lengthy lock-on period meant they would have hit their target and hidden behind terrain again before the Sidewinder would reach it. Additionally, the older Sidewinder missiles used on Chaparral required hot targets, and had very limited capability against helicopters.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The limited effectiveness of the Vulcan/Chaparral was not the only problem the US Army was facing in the late 1970s. At the time, they were also in the process of introducing the new M1 Abrams and M2 Bradley vehicles, which had dramatically improved cross-country performance. The M113-based Vulcan and Chaparral could not keep up with them on the advance, and would leave them open to attack in a fast moving front.


title: United States Army air defense

text: For all of these reasons, the Army developed the "Advanced Radar-directed Gun Air Defense System" (ARGADS) requirement for a new weapon system with the speed of the Vulcan and range of the Chaparral, intending to replace them both with a chassis that could keep up with the new tanks in combat. They also worked in the original FLIR/laser requirement. The system was later renamed "Division Air Defense" (DIVAD).


title: United States Army air defense

text: At the time, most U.S. military policy was based on the US Air Force quickly gaining air superiority and holding it throughout a conflict. In keeping with this, the Army had previously placed relatively low priority on anti-aircraft weapons. This gave them time to mature through testing and shakedowns. In the case of DIVADs the threat was considered so serious and rapidly developing that the Army decided to skip the traditional development period and try to go straight into production by using a number of "off-the-shelf" parts. Colonel Russell Parker testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 1977 that "We expect this somewhat unorthodox approach to permit a much reduced development time, thus resulting in an earliest fielding date, albeit with higher but acceptable risks... the manufacturer will be required by the fixed price warranty provisions, to correct deficiencies." It was claimed that this would cut up to five years from the development cycle, although it would require problems to be found and fixed on the operational vehicles.


title: United States Army air defense

text: This system became the M247 Sergeant York DIVAD (Division Air Defense), a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon developed by Ford Aerospace in the late 1970s which featured twin radar-directed 40 mm rapid-fire guns.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Operational test and evaluation (OT&E) of the M247 T&E concluded that the system's gun could perform the mission as originally specified, but tests also showed that the system had considerable reliability problems, many as the result of trying to adapt a radar system developed for aircraft to the ground role. Subsequent production tests 5 turned up a continued variety of problems, failing 22 of 163 contract requirements, and 22 serious failures in operational readiness. The M247 OT&E Director, Jack Krings, stated the tests showed, "...the SGT YORK was not operationally effective in adequately protecting friendly forces during simulated combat, even though its inherent capabilities provided improvement over the current [General Electric] Vulcan gun system. The SGT YORK was not operationally suitable because of its low availability during the tests."


title: United States Army air defense

text: On 27 August 1985, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger halted the M247 project after about 50 vehicles had been produced.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK is an American medium range surface-to-air missile. As a backronym, some consider "HAWK" to stand for "Homing All the Way Killer" or "Home And Weekend Killer". The HAWK was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960, and a program of extensive upgrades has kept it from becoming obsolete. It was superseded by the MIM-104 Patriot in United States Army service by 1994. It was finally phased out of US service in 2002, the last users, the US Marine Corps replacing it with the man-portable ir-guided visual range FIM-92 Stinger. The missile was also produced outside the US in Western Europe and Japan.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Although the United States never used the Hawk in a combat situation, it has been employed numerous times by foreign nations. Approximately 40,000 of the missiles were produced.


title: United States Army air defense

text: Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) is a category of anti-aircraft weapons and tactics that have to do with defense against low-altitude air threats, primarily helicopters and low-flying close air support aircraft such as the A-10, Su-25 or MiG-27. SHORAD and its complements, HIMAD (High to Medium Air Defense) and THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) divide air defense of the battlespace into domes of responsibility based on altitude and defensive weapon ranges.


title: United States Army air defense

text: SHORAD teams are attached as organic air defense assets at the battalion or brigade level. US SHORAD teams are based around the FIM-92 Stinger missile and its mounted platforms, the M1097 Avenger and M6 Linebacker. Airborne and Air Assault units primarily employ MANPADS teams for SHORAD; armored units rely on the Linebacker and Bradley Stinger Fighting Vehicle. However, post-2006, there were no Linebacker units left in service, as all vehicles had been converted back to the Bradley ODS standard.


title: United States Army air defense

text: The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S. and by 29 other countries, the basic Stinger missile has to-date been responsible for 270 confirmed aircraft kills.


title: United States Army air defense

text: It is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems and under license by EADS in Germany, with 70,000 missiles produced. It is classified as a Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS).


title: United States Army air defense

text: Initial work on the missile was begun by General Dynamics in 1967 as the "Redeye II". It was accepted for further development by the U.S. Army in 1971 and designated FIM-92; the "Stinger" appellation was chosen in 1972. Because of technical difficulties that dogged testing, the first shoulder launch was not until mid-1975. Production of the FIM-92A began in 1978 to replace the FIM-43 Redeye.