亚美尼亚航空967号班机空难

Flight.

The aircraft took off from Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) at a scheduled departure time at 01:45 Armenian Daylight Time (20:45 UTC, May 2) and with a scheduled arrival time at Sochi International Airport (AER) of 02:00 Moscow Daylight Time (22:00 UTC, May 2).  In order to make their decision for departure, the crew obtained the observed weather data and the weather forecast for the takeoff, landing and alternate aerodromes all of which met the requirements for IFR flights. All the crew were correctly licensed and adequately rested to operate the flight.  The airplane took off from Zvartnots airport at 20:47. There were 113 occupants on board: 105 passengers (including 5 children and 1 infant), 2 pilots,1 aircraft engineer and 5 flight attendants. Takeoff, climb and cruise were uneventful.  The first communication between Sochi approach controller and the crew took place at 21:10. At that moment the airplane was beyond the coverage area of the Sochi radar. Up until 21:17 the approach controller and the crew discussed the observed and forecast weather, and as a result the crew decided to return to Yerevan. At 21:26, after the decision had already been made, the crew asked the controller about the latest observed weather. At 21:30 the controller informed the crew that visibility was and the cloud ceiling. At 21:31 the crew decided to continue the flight to Sochi airport.  The next communication with the approach controller was at 22:00. At that moment the aircraft was descending to an altitude of and was being tracked by the Sochi radar. The approach controller cleared the flight for a descent to and reported the observed weather at Sochi, as at 22:00, for runway 06, which was above the minimums.  The crew was then handed over to the holding and tower controllers, and was cleared for descent to, before entering the turn to the final approach. Whilst performing the turn, the runway extended centreline was overshot. After eliminating the deviation, the crew started descending the aircraft along the glide slope, following the approach pattern.  At 22:10 the crew reported that the gear was down and that they were ready for landing. In response they were advised that they were from the airport and that the weather was now visibility x cloud ceiling, and were cleared for landing. However, about 30 seconds later, the controller advised the crew of the observed cloud ceiling at and instructed them to cease their descent, abandon the landing attempt, and carry out a right turn and climb to and also to contact the holding controller, who gives instructions for entering the airport's holding pattern.  The last communication with the crew was at 22:12. After that the crew did not respond to any of the controller's calls. At 22:13 the aircraft struck the water, and broke up on impact.

Aircraft.

The aircraft involved was built in France with its first flight in June 1995. It had a MSN number of 547 with a test registration code of F-WWIU. The aircraft was delivered in 1995 to Ansett Australia, registered in Australia as VH-HYO. It was acquired by Armavia in 2004 registered as EK-32009 with its name as "Mesrop Mashtots." Armavia repainted the aircraft with its new livery on 31 October 2004. The aircraft had flown more than 10,000 hours before the crash.

Passengers and crew.

Most of the passengers were citizens of Armenia. According to reports, the flight had 85 Armenian citizens, 26 Russian citizens, one Georgian citizen, and one Ukrainian citizen.  The Captain of Flight 967 was Grigor Grigoryan. Born in 1966, he had completed his primary training in Krasnokutsk Civil Flight School. He graduated in 1986 and also graduated from Moscow Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers. He joined Balaklavsky United as a co-pilot in 1986. He then joined Ararat Airlines in 1997 as a Captain of a Yakovlev Yak-40. He then joined Armavia as a co-pilot of an Airbus A320 in 2004 and subsequently promoted to a Captain in 2005. He had passed a test for an Airbus A320 Captain in SAS Flight Academy in Stockholm, Sweden with satisfying results. Captain Grigoryan had a total flight hours of 5,458 hours, including 1,436 hours on the Airbus A320.  The First Officer (Co-pilot) of Flight 967 was Arman Davtyan. He was born in 1977 and had completed his primary training in Ulyanovsk Civil Flying School and graduated in 1999. He then joined Chernomor-Avia in December 2001 as a co-pilot of a Tupolev Tu-154. He joined Armavia in 2002, joined Armenian Airlines in 2004, and then joined Armavia again in the same year. First Officer Davtyan had passed a training course for an Airbus A320 in SAS Flight Academy in Stockholm, Sweden with satisfying results. He had a total flying hours of 2,185 hours, including 1,022 hours on the Airbus A320.

Recovery efforts.

Flight 967 disappeared from Sochi's radar at 02:13 local time. Chief of Flight Operation N.G Savelyev alerted all the search and rescue services in the area and deployed an Mi-8 helicopter. At 02:19, the disappearance of Flight 967 was informed to Russia's Minister of Emergencies. A search helicopter was ready for take off to find the missing flight, but was not allowed by Sochi due to the deteriorating weather. The search and rescue operation was then suspended. At 04:08, the Ministry of Emergency's boat Valery Zamarayez found the probable crash area. Rescuers then went to the search area. From 07:30 to 12:30, the search and rescue team recovered 9 body parts from the crash site.  Search and rescue personnel only managed to recover some of the flight's debris. They recovered the Airbus' nose, landing gear, fin, elevator, and several other fragments. Wiring and electronic units were also found. A total of 52 body fragments were found by the search and rescue team as well. The BEA noted that, at the time when Flight 967 impacted the sea, the landing gear was extended. The lower part of the rudder was severely damaged due to the impact forces. Several parts of the aircraft elevator were also damaged. Some of the aircraft parts recovered from the sea were severely deformed.

Causes.

Weather.

The weather at the time was considered to be fine. Low pressure was present near Sochi at the time. A cold front was also detected and was forming in the Caucasian Edge and further to the east of Turkey at the time. Rain was also present in Adler (Sochi). In the spring transition period, low clouds often occurred in the Caucasian Edge, which, could have limited visibility for the pilots. This proved to be dangerous, as most Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) occurs due to this kind of cloud (which obscures the pilots visual reference).  Prior to take off from Yerevan, the crew was briefed on the weather conditions in Sochi. At the time, the weather in Sochi was fine. After the take off of Flight 967, the pilots were given another weather briefing. It was still in good condition, with considerable clouds, mist, and light rain. The weather at the time would not have allowed for a vortex (i.e. storm, tornado, downdraft). In the following hours, the probability that a vortex might occur was reduced to zero. By the time Flight 967 entered Sochi, the weather conditions had deteriorated. A cold front wave occurred in Sochi, producing Cumulonimbus cloud. The rain intensified, and the visibility was reduced to 1,500 m. For several minutes, the weather became better for landing. The controllers instructed Flight 967 to abort their descent and conduct a go-around immediately, as low clouds were present in Sochi Airport. Shortly afterwards, Flight 967 disappeared from Sochi Radar.

Recorders analysis.

Shortly after Flight 967 impacted water, the radio beacon signals, known as the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), started to sound. French BEA retrieved the submerged Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) from the Black Sea and found that there were only minor damages in both recorders. BEA later examined both the CVR and the FDR.

Examination.

Based on the examination, the flight was uneventful until the approach. However, during the cruise stage of the flight, First Officer Davtyan stated: "**** it.. who operates such flights with the jitter and not enough sleep". This may indicate that he didn't have adequate sleeping hours, meaning he was fatigued at the time. The BEA also noted that neither pilot understood how the autopilot of an Airbus A320 works. Analysis of the internal communications at this stage of the flight shows that Captain Grigoryan was annoyed by the fact that in DESCENT mode (MANAGED MODE) the descent rate was not as high as he expected. BEA noted that in this mode, the descent rate is calculated automatically, depending on a number of parameters describing the descent, e.g. the aircraft attitude in relation to the preset profile and so on. This fact shows that either the Captain did not fully understand the autopilot work algorithm in the DESCENT mode, or was in a state of high psycho-emotional strain with an imperative to land at Sochi as soon as possible.  Flight 967 was then instructed by Sochi Tower to pass waypoint GUKIN and TABAN. It then passed both waypoints. While banking to turn to final approach, the rain started. First Officer Davtyan then overreacted by saying exclamation words, possibly due to emotional stress. The Sochi controller then told the crew of Flight 967 that the weather in Sochi had deteriorated, and instructed the pilot to abort their descent. The crew overreacted to this report, responding with negative words and expletives to the controller. The crew had been discussing the issue for three minutes, swearing about the controller's actions even between the items on the check list. Such behaviour by the crew must have inevitably resulted in an increase of their psycho-emotional stress.  The aircraft climbed, started to bank and the flaps were extended to 18°. At this point, Captain Grigoryan was heard in the CVR saying: "**** him" to the Sochi controller. The crew then contacted Sochi's holding controller, as well as the final controller. They then selected the "glide-slope capture" descent mode, which is an automatic descent. The aircraft was descending with two engaged autopilots and engaged auto-thrust. The speed was controlled by the auto-thrust at the target speed of, stabilised on the glide-slope, in the landing configuration and ready for landing. The crew then proceed to the landing check list.  Sochi Tower instructed them to abort their descent and conduct a go-around, as low clouds had formed near the airport. The aircraft climbed, the thrust levers were moved to climb position, the flaps and slats remained fully extended, and the landing gear remained fully extended. A few minutes later, the "Speed Speed Speed" (LOW ENERGY) warning sounded. This warning advises the crew that "the aircraft energy is decreasing to the limit, below which the engine thrust must be increased to regain a positive angle of the flight path". At the moment when the aural warning sounded, the aircraft altitude was, the crew then pushed the TO/GA button.  BEA stated that none of the crew's actions were important and necessary for a go-around procedure, such as extending the flaps and the landing gear. This demonstrated that, at that time, both flight crews' condition were not at the optimum level. BEA also suspected that the LOW ENERGY warning wasn't detected or noticed by the crew.  The autopilot was then disengaged by the crew, as they cast doubts on the autopilot (on the cruise stage of the flight, First Officer Davtyan joked about the autopilot, stating that Captain Grigoryan's autopilot was better than him, indicating that they had doubts about the autopilot and suspected that it wasn't functioning properly.) Captain Grigoryan then banked the aircraft to the right.  Both crew members then became more physically and emotionally stressed, as further conversations among them revealed that their intonations became higher and higher. The aircraft then decreased its pitch up attitude and banked to the right. Then, one of the crew stepped on the rudder pedals, causing the rudder to deflect. This was not necessary. The BEA suspect that Captain Grigoryan stepped the pedals, while under psycho-emotional stress. Due to the emotional stress he was suffering at the time, he didn't notice that he had stepped the pedals.  BEA then found that the crew may have been suffering a somatogravic illusion in flight. Somatogravic illusion, in aviation, is a type of optical illusion which can cause the crew to think that they are pitching up, while in reality, they are not. This could happen during night-time flying (causing the crew to lose their visual reference, as it was dark) accompanied by the lack of monitoring of the flight's indicator. Somatogravic illusion was responsible for the crash of Gulf Air Flight 072 in Bahrain. However, the BEA also suspected the specific features of the speed indication on the PFD, especially speed limitations for the Airbus A320 configuration that are shown as the red bars at the top of the speed indication strip. One of the crew members might have adopted the reflex acquired in training, for example, in response to a TCAS warning when the pilot is anxious to avoid the displayed red part of the instrument scale, which may result in the instinctive forward movement of the side stick, especially when the pilot is in a state of psycho-emotional strain. This version is substantiated by the fact that the pilot was monitoring the flight speed and its limitations (VFE) that depended on the Airbus A320 configuration and retracted the flaps and slats in a timely manner, and the control inputs on the side stick coincided with the moments when the current speed was getting close to the limit value. However, neither of these probable causes have enough evidence.  The crew of Flight 967 then communicated with Sochi Tower. Their words were not completed; "Sochi Radar, Armavia 967...". This was the last communication from Flight 967, as Captain Grigoryan ordered First Officer Davtyan to fully extend the flaps.  After First Officer Davtyan extended the flaps to full, few seconds later, the master warning sounded, and continued to do so until the end of the recording. The speed at the time was too fast, which could tear the flaps apart and could cause the plane to crash, similar to Austral Lineas Aereas Flight 2553. The plane was banking to the right. Flight 967 began a nose-down attitude and the flaps then retracted to 18°. Captain Grigoryan then made an 11° nose-down input, causing the plane to descend even further.  Captain Grigoryan aggravated the condition further by making a right bank input, causing the plane to bank severely to the right, with a roll angle of 39°. The Ground Proximity Warning System then sounded. First Officer Davtyan then ordered Captain Grigoryan to level off. At this moment, First Officer Davtyan intervened and moved the stick to the left position (20° to the left) to counter the increasing right bank, while Captain Grigoryan continued making his control inputs to increase the right bank. Apparently, First Officer Davtyan was trying to counter the bank only, as he also made a nose-down input, causing the plane to descend even further.  While intervening, First Officer Davtyan had not pressed the take-over push button, therefore, both pilot's control inputs were added and prohibited. This is known as dual input. Such dual piloting is prohibited. The dual input warning should have sounded at the time, however, because its priority is lower than the Ground Proximity Warning, it did not, and so neither pilot knew that they were making dual inputs on the aircraft.  The crew's attention might have been distracted by the controller's direction. The controller was sending the crew a 20-second long message, which was too long. While the plane was descending, one of the crew members suddenly moved the thrust lever way back, into its idle position, and then moved the thrust lever forward, causing the autothrottle to disengage. The crew then desperately tried to lift the plane up, but the plane impacted water at a speed of, killing all on board instantly.

Primary conclusions of the final accident report.

The crash of Armavia Flight 967 was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), specifically water, while conducting a climbing maneuver after an aborted approach to Sochi airport at night with weather conditions below landing minimums for runway 06.  While performing the climb with the autopilot disengaged, the captain, being in a psychoemotional stress condition, made nose down control inputs due to the loss of pitch and roll awareness. This started the abnormal situation. The captain's insufficient pitch control inputs led to a failure to recover the aircraft and caused it to crash.  Along with the inadequate control inputs from the captain, the contributing factors of the crash were also the lack of monitoring the aircraft's pitch attitude, altitude and vertical speed by the first officer and no proper reaction by the crew to GPWS warnings.

Contributory factors and shortcomings.

Source:

Safety recommendations.

To eliminate the shortcomings revealed during investigation of this accident, the final accident report made 22 safety recommendations as follows:

Armavia Flight 967 (U8 967/RNV 967) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Armavia from Zvartnots International Airport, Zvarnots in Armenia to Sochi, a Black Sea coastal resort city in Russia. On 3 May 2006, the aircraft operating the route, an Airbus A320-200, crashed into the sea while attempting to go-around following its first approach to Sochi airport, killing all 113 aboard.

亚美尼亚航空967号班机空难是亚美尼亚航空一班的来回亚美尼亚埃里温至俄罗斯索契定期航班,2006年5月3日,一架空中客车A320客机于索契国际机场附近坠毁,机上有113名乘客遇难。


Personal life.

Pie is tall, born on March 4, 1986 in Bayaguana, Monte Plata. He is the older son of José Beltrán, a Haitian, and Marisol Pié Desquile, who was born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents. Pié's father, an agricultural labourer in the Dominican Republic, lacked care for him and did not give him his surname. He was raised by his Dominican step-father Euclides Reyes and his mother.  He went to the Morayma Veloz de Báez High school and as of 2016, as of 2016, studies Physical education at Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Salomé Ureña in 2015, before switching to Universidad Nacional Evangélica in 2016. Pie joined the "Centro de Iniciación Deportiva Escolar (CIDE)" led by Isaac Ogando, where he were signed after his participation in the 2012 National Elementary School Games, practicing track and field with the coach Francisca Tiburcio when he was ten but later the coach Héctor Rodríguez helped him to switch to Taekwondo one year later. He is a member of the Dominican Navy since 2011 with the lowest rank.  His brother Bernardo, is also a professional Taekwondo fighter, who competed together in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Nationality controversy.

Following his achievement of a Central American and Caribbean Games gold medal in Veracruz 2014, his Haitian origin sparked some discussion. His mother, Marisol Pie Desquile, appeared in TV news expressing her excitement for his son's victory, speaking with a heavy Haitian accent, which made many people doubt the Dominicanness of Pie.  Two years later, after he won an Olympic bronze medal in Rio 2016, a controversy burst about Pie's nationality, especially in social media.  On 19 August 2016 the Junta Central Electoral (), issued a press release congratulating Luisito Pie's for his Olympic medal and stating that Marisol Pie's father had a cédula, meaning that he was legal, and denied that she —and thereby her children— had any problem with.  Nevertheless, she appears indeed in the JCE official list of people that were unlawfully registered in the Dominican Civil Registry. Hence, Marisol and Luisito Pie were benefited of the special Dominican law for said people, law 169-14.

Career.

2013.

Pie won the 2013 Bolivarian Games silver medal in the 58 kg category after 16-17 falling to the Colombia Luis Muñoz in the final contest. He later blame the lack of experience the reason of his loss.

2014.

Pie fought against the Olympic medalist Gabriel Mercedes and César Martínez for the 58 kg category spot in the national team, both Martínez and Pie eliminating Mercedes in the process, and Martinez defeating Pie in the final contest. Pie later was changed to the 63 kg cat for the Central American and Caribbean Games qualifier, while Martínez defended the 58 category. While training for the Central American Caribbean Games with his coach Héctor Rodríguez, he expressed that his dream was climb through the regional games then compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics, dream that he wanted to achieve with strong dedication, even though he had only been a member of the national team for one year. He thanked his teammates and coaches when he won the gold medal in the qualifier mixing different technics in front of every fighter of the 63 kg category. He defeated 10-0 to Rafael Mota Jr from Puerto Rico in the preliminary round, he then win 20-0 over Guayanese Jibreel Malik and 11-6 to the Cuban Ernesto Molina in the semifinals before defeating Venezuelan Gustavo Machado. Soon after that, Pie won the gold medal in the Santo Domingo Open, when he defeated the Mexican Abel Mendoza helping the Dominican Republic to reach the second place in the event. He later won the 58 kg category gold medal of the Pan American Championship held in Aguascalientes, Mexico, winning over the Argentinian Lucas Guzman in the championship contest.  After this series of victories, Pie was said to be one of the main figures and biggest medal hopes for his home country by the Dominican Republic Taekwondo Federation president, Francisco Camacho. He won the 58 kg Central American and Caribbean Games gold medal recovering from a last minute tie kick from silver medalist the Venezuela Mario Leal. He considered this medal a step towards his Olympic medal dream and said that he only worked for the gold medal and would not settled with anything else, while considering that hard and teamwork were the secret for this success.

2015.

The Dominican Republic Olympic Committee awarded Pie as 2014 Taekwondo Atlhete of Year while being defined as one of the new talents of the Dominican Republic sport and the heir of the dynasty of national taekwondo. Pie was also awarded Most Valuable Fighter from the National University Taekwondo tournament held in April, when he won the gold medal by winning by superiority -margins of more than 12 points- all his combats, helping Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Salomé Ureña to reach the tournament's second place. He later went to the 2014–15 University Sports Gala with fellow athletes and his university sport director to pick up the top award for the second year in a row.  The president of the Dominican Republic University Sports Commission, Vice Minister Marcos Díaz regretted that the Pan American Games were taking place at the same time of the 2015 Summer Universiade, because the nation had to prioritize the first ones, not being able to count with Pie representing his home country. He then participated in the qualification tournament in Aguascalientes, Mexico, winning the berth for the 2015 Pan American Games. He was focus to give his home country and for himself a medal. And he started winning 8-6 to the Argetinian Lucas Guzmán, 13-14 to the Venezuelan Mario Leal in the quarterfinals and 3–4 in the semifinals to the Aruban veteran John Maduro before he lost by sudden death point to the Mexican Carlos Navarro 7–8, winning the 58 kg Pan American Games silver medal. He later confessed that lack of international warm ups before the games affected his level of fighting, because of the quality of rivals that he had to face in the preliminary rounds.  After the regional games, Pie was invited for his ranking points, to take part in the WTF World Grand Prix Series held in Moscow, falling to the Portuguese Rui Bragança in the first contest 5–6 in the 58 kg Pie lost 11-13 once again to the Mexican Navarro in the Pan American Open WTF G1 in Aguascalientes, winning again the silver medal. and later in Samnsun, Turkey falling 4–5 in golden point to Nursultan Mamayev in the first round.  He was selected to participate in the Military World Games along with Moisés Hernández and he won the 58 kg bronze medal. In the Dominican Republic Hall of Fame 2015 Ceremony, Pie was invited to carry one of the hall symbols, the Machete during the induction ceremony. His 2015 competition year ended by winning to the Tunisian Hedi Nefatti the Morocco Open G1 gold medal.

2016.

In February he won the 63 kg category bronze medal in the U.S. Open held in Reno, Nevada. He won the qualifier tournament 58 kg gold medal and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics and for the first time his country would have more than one representative, when two other fellow competitors also qualified. He considered this qualification revealed the country's new level as they test themselves at that high standard, they would fight for medals no matter what kind. After the qualifier, he won the 63 kg bronze medal in the Mexico Open, held in the same venue.  The Guild of Sports Writers gave Pie the 2015 Taekwondo Athlete of the year award in its April Gala. Pie traveled to Benicàssim, Spain, there he won the 58 kg silver medal after losing 6-7 to the Mexican Carlos Navarro in the 14th Spanish Open and two weeks later, the Hamburg German Open 58 kg bronze medal. With the results from Spain and Germany, he was focus in his preparation for the Olympics and confessed that he felt not pressure but commitment to a medal result. He did not travel to the Pan American Championship to take time to treat an injury.  With the guidance of his coach Miguel Camacho, he said that he felt himself in good shape and ready to face any of the best competitors. He advanced to the Olympic tournament quarterfinal round after his first opponent, the German Levent Tuncat was injured in training and unable to compete; Pie said that he was ready to pursuit his Olympic glory after the training base they spent in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He defeated 4-1 to the Portuguese Rui Bragança in the quarterfinals and lost 7-11 to Tawin Hanprab from Thailand in the semifinal round but recovered to win 6-5 by sudden death to the Spanish Jesús Tortosa to win the bronze medal, that was the country's only medal in the games.  After he returned to his homeland, he proclaimed that he fought for all the 10 million of Dominicans, at the time he was welcome by the President of the Dominican Republic Olympic Committee and the Minister of Sports Danilo Díaz, who revealed that Pie would be awarded with an apartment and an amount in cash that will be revealed in private. He received congratulatory letter from the Dominican president Danilo Medina, hoping that Pie keeps behaving himself as an example for the youth. The Universidad Nacional Evangélica took advantage of the 2015-16 University sport top award celebration to give Pie a recognition for his Olympic success.

Luisito Pié (, born March 4, 1994), also known as Luis Pie (), is a Dominican taekwondo athlete who won the bronze medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 58 kg category.

路易西托·皮耶(,,1994年-3月4日)生于蒙特普拉塔巴亚瓜纳,是一名多米尼加男子跆拳道运动员,拥有海地血统。他曾于2011年加入多米尼加海军。2016年,他在里约奥运中获得跆拳道男子58公斤级铜牌,这是多米尼加队在该届奥运所获得的唯一一枚奖牌。他的弟弟贝尔纳多同样是一名跆拳道选手。


History.

In August, 1965, Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC) issued the request to develop a medium-range SAM. The 25th Research Institute of the 2nd Academy of the Chinese Defense Ministry (CDM) was tasked to do the feasibility study. A month later, in September, 1965, the plan was rapidly finalized and the project was code named Project Hongqi-41 (红旗4l号, Hongqi = Hong Qi, or 红旗, meaning Red Flag or Red Banner). Preliminary design work begun in the same month, and in January, 1966, the plan formally became a national project, and the missile was designated as Hongqi-61 (HQ-61), to reflect the time of its creation and the technologies of 1960’s. By March, 1966, design was in full swing by the 25th Research Institute. In 1967, CMC changed the project to a ship-born SAM due to the urgent Chinese need of fleet air defense, and the primary contractor was changed from the 25th Research Institute of the 2nd Academy of CDM to the 2nd Electro Mechanical Bureau of Shanghai (later reorganized as Shanghai Aerospace Bureau in the early 1980s).  In May, 1970, People's Liberation Army Navy, the 7th Academy of the 6th Ministry of CDM, and 2nd Electro Mechanical Bureau of Shanghai jointly set future developmental plan, and begun the development of HQ-61 series SAM. Contractors and subcontractors involved in the development and production of HQ-61 series SAM included 12 research institutes, 11 factories, 2 test facilities and other smaller players. To reduce risk and costs, a plan of developing a land-based version first, designated simply as HQ-61, and then based on the expertise gained from HQ-61, a naval version designated as HQ-61B would be developed, though other equipments of HQ-61B would be developed in parallel with HQ-61 whenever the situation would have allowed. When a land-based mobile version was added around a decade later, it was designated as HQ-61A, so despite have the A suffix, HQ-61A was actually a later model than HQ-61B. Due to the political turmoil in China, namely, the Cultural Revolution, HQ-61A/B were not completed until 1986, more than two decades later after the project had started, and certification of mass production for HQ-61A/B were granted in 1988.

HQ-61.

Because China had not developed any ship-borne SAM system, China decided to first develop a land-based, fixed-site version of HQ-61 SAM, and then progress to the naval version after the development of the land-based version had been matured. The naval version would be based on the expertise gained from the land-based version to reduce costs and risks. The land-based, fixed-site version was designated as HQ-61, while the naval version was designated as HQ-61B. Before 1970, the HQ-61 went through two major redesigns based on the feedback of earlier tests. In September 1970, new problem arose when it was discovered the speed of the missile had dropped drastically after the redesign. Based on the suggestion from staffs of the SAM testing range, the 2nd Electro Mechanical Bureau of Shanghai organized another redesign in 1973, successfully solved problems encountered, including speed reduction and vibration. Meanwhile, new technologies were also adopted, including transistors, gyro accelerometer and measures against salinity and other environmental hazards.  From March 1975 through April 1975, four rounds of prototype of HQ-61 missile with independent closed-loop were test-fired, with satisfactory result. In 1976, tests were conducted on subsystem interfacing, including that of radar seekers and ground equipment, and one of the results was that the seeker had successfully locked on the target, proving the design was sound for the time being. The success convinced the developer to extend the test over the sea and beginning in December 1976, 45-day-long sea trials were conducted on 12 sorties completed by frigates of Chinese navy, and 13 sorties completed by Harbin H-5 for supporting. Various tests were conducted during the sea trial, including test launches, tracking of the parachute targets, engaging parachute targets, guidance accuracy, reliability of the launcher, effects of launching in different sea states, noise and vibration caused by the launch. During the sea trial, two duds and two remotely controlled rounds were fired, and the result was less than satisfactory. The two duds were relatively successful, but the two remotely controlled rounds resulted in complete failure, missing the parachute targets. The unsatisfactory result convinced the developer not to rush to the sea, but instead, to keep a prudent pace on land first to stamp out all the problems before going any further. In 1978, a flight test of HQ-61 was conducted on a SAM test range in western Liaoning. This flight test was a mixture of simulation of mathematical modeling and real equipment, with targets being simulated by simulators. A total of nine ballistic trajectories and more than eighty scenarios were tested over four hundred times, providing valuable data and proving the design so far. The prototypes of HQ-61 were also test-fired against Type 381 parachute targets for further evaluation, but the result was not completely satisfactory: although the C3I system developed for HQ-61 worked fine, the first shot missed while the second shot scored a direct hit. In order to resolve problems revealed during these tests, the system of general designer was established, and during the development of HQ-61 and later models, Mr. Wu Zhongying (吴中英) and Mr. Liang Jincai (梁晋才) had been assigned as the general designers of HQ-61 series missiles. However, when the development of the land-based version of fix-site HQ-61 was completed, its service (only with limited numbers) in Chinese military had never gone beyond the evaluation stage, because the need it intended to fill could be filled with HQ-2, and there were no mass production plans for HQ-61 since resources were allocated on concentrating on the development of HQ-61B, the naval version. Furthermore, the fixed-site version was deemed by the Chinese military as not adequate in mobile warfare on the modern battlefield.

HQ-61B.

By the end of 1980, the developers were confident enough to move from land to sea, and HQ-61B thus begun its own tests. However, the very first test ended in failure and investigation revealed that the cause of the failure was that the fuse did not activate during the entire test. After rework, the test was moved back to land in the spring next year, but met with two continuous failures again, when the fuse detonated earlier than it should. As a result, in February, 1981, the 2nd Electro Mechanical Bureau of Shanghai concentrated most of its effort on solving the difficulties on fuse, and its staffs came up with three plans to answer the problem: large rework/redesign, intermediate rework/redesign, and minor rework/redesign. After testing samples built according to each plan and comparing result, the intermediate rework/repair plan was adopted, result in a new combined fuse that was reliable. During this time, the 2nd Electro Mechanical Bureau of Shanghai was reorganized as Shanghai Aerospace Bureau, and measures were taken to address the numerous problems encountered in the development of HQ-61B, totaling more than 410. When these problems were solved, the subsequent test on land in November, 1984 was successful, including downing of two Changkong-1 (长空1号) drones.  Meanwhile, the C3I system associated with HQ-61B was also making slow but steady progress. In addition to extra temperature and salinity factors, noise and stability were also challenges of ship-based system, while the space is cramped on board. As a result, developer was forced to adopt new technologies and new means, many of them were first in China. A mono-pulse centimeter wavelength tracking radar was developed for HQ-61B for surveillance / tracking, while a continuous-wave centimeter wavelength illuminating radar was developed for HQ-61B for engagement. Fire control computer of HQ-61B was a newly designed digital computer, incorporating analog – digital and digital – analog conversions. The launching system was hydraulically operated with twin launchers, connecting to ammunition drum below, where additional missile were stored vertically. The control consol of HQ-61B also performs maintenance tests / checks on missiles mounted on the launcher.  From November 1986 through December, 1986, tests were resumed at sea, achieving satisfactory results, including downing five Sea Eagle-1 (海鹰1号) drones and two Changkong-1 drones in a single test. After these successful tests, the HQ-61B entered low-rate production and saw limited service in Chinese military, and the production pickup in November, 1988 when Chinese State Department and the Chinese Central Military Commission certified so. HQ-61B served only in relatively short time with Chinese navy, and it has been converted to air-to-air and anti-radiation versions after it was retired from Chinese service. One of the reasons of its short service time was that as a design originated in the 1960s, it could not adequately meet the modern threats faced by naval ships. For example, the system can only engage a single target at a time and with two launchers on each ship, the maximum number of threat it can face is only two, which is not sufficient enough to defend the ship from saturated attack.

HQ-61A.

To improve the land-based air defense for Chinese ground force, Chinese State Department and the Chinese Central Military Commission decided to develop a mobile low-to-medium level surface-to-air missile based on HQ-61B, and named the mobile SAM system as Hongqi-61A (红旗-61甲), or HQ-61A for short. This would lead to HQ-61A being a later model than HQ-61B, which is an earlier model of HQ-61 series, despite have the A suffix. In August, 1979, the 8th Industrial Bureau of Machinery and the artillery corps of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force jointly redefined the requirement of the mobile SAM system, stating that the C2I system used by HQ-61B should be utilized as much as possible to keep the cost down. The primary contractor remains the same, as the 2nd Electro Mechanical Bureau of Shanghai, which would later be reorganized as Shanghai Aerospace Bureau in the early 1980s. The prime subcontractor was the Shanghai Broadcasting Equipment Factory, which was tasked to develop vehicle-based version of C4I system of HQ-61A.  HQ-61A SAM system consists of three vehicles: launcher / transporter, radar vehicle, C2I vehicle, all of which are based on the same SX250 6 x 6 cross country truck to simplify logistics and reducing operational cost. In November, 1984, two initial trials were completed, proving the design was sound. More intensive testing followed, lasting from April, 1986 through June, 1986, which included the successful continuous downing of three drones, and the missile subsequently entered Chinese service, but it was not until two year later, in November, 1988, did the production pickup its pace, when Chinese State Department and the Chinese Central Military Commission finally gave their certifications to do so. Specifications:

HQ-61 ARM (YJ-5).

In addition to SAM versions of HQ-61, an anti radar version is also developed in the 1980s. China was seeking a replacement after the termination of Fenglei-7 anti-radar missile (FL-7), and it was decided to utilize HQ-61 to develop an anti-radiation missile (ARM) to meet the urgent need. Development of most subsystems of FL-7 continued as research projects after the production was shelved, and these subsystems were mated with HQ-61 to create the anti-radar missile needed, and most experience was gained via the reverse engineering attempt of AGM-45 Shrike, and to a much less extend, that of AGM-78 Standard ARM. Samples of both missiles were mainly obtained from down American jets and provided to China by North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, though several unexploded samples launched by American jets failed to detonate were also transferred. HQ-61 ARM is basically a HQ-61 missile equipped with the guidance and control system of FL-7 and thanks to the research development rooted from FL-7, HQ-61ARM was quickly completed. HQ-61 ARM also has a less known name as YJ-5, with YJ is short for Yingji (鹰击), meaning Eagle Strike. Due to the highly classified nature and small number produced, HQ-61 ARM is relatively unknown to the public and its YJ-5 designation is often erroneously identified as an anti-ship or land attack cruise missile, as most of other YJ series produced by China. In reality, it is a totally different missile with a different mission in comparison to other better known Chinese missiles of YJ series.  The first batch of YJ-5/HQ-61 ARM was completed in 1984, and was test-fired by Harbin H-5. The missiles met the original requirements, but also revealed many shortcomings, including poor ECCM capability, narrow frequency band coverage, and not being able to lock on to the target after the targeted radar has been switched off. The second batch was completed in 1986, incorporating improvements to solve these shortcomings. The coverage of frequency band was expanded, and memory circuitry was added to calculate the approximate location of the target after the targeted radar had been switched off. The third and final batch was completed in the early 1990s with a new capability added to counter the frequency-hopping radars, and to a limited degree, phased array radars. Despite these improvements, the Chinese technological and industrial capability at the time was not adequate enough to face modern threats on the battlefields, and only limited number entered Chinese service, with Harbin H-5 modified as the carrier, designated as HD-5. The performance of YJ-5/HQ-61 ARM is better than AGM-45, though not too much, and for this reason, plus the purchase of Kh-31 by China, the missile did not enter mass production, and HD-6, the planned modified Xian H-6 intended as another platform did not materialize as a result, and other planned platforms such as proposed modifications for Shenyang J-8, Xian JH-7 and Nanchang Q-5 were also shelved. After receiving newer ARMs such as Kh-31, YJ-91 and YJ-12 entered Chinese service, the surviving HQ-61 ARMs are believed to have been exhausted in training already.

HQ-61C.

HQ-61C is the upgrade of previous version, excluding the ARM. The primary improvement is in the electronics. Fully solid state and highly digitized microelectronics are used to upgrade both the missile itself and the associating C3I system. In addition to simplifying logistics and reducing costs, the upgraded system can also be automatically linked to larger air defense networks, with all information transmitted electronically in real time. Previously, such information could only be transmitted verbally by operators because the older HQ-61 system could not be easily integrated into larger air defense network, and the communication subsystem of the C3I system of HQ-61 was only consisted of wired and wireless vocal communication equipment. Another improvement is the adaptation of new rocket motor which boosted the speed of the missile by a third, from the original Mach 3 of earlier versions of HQ-61 to Mach 4 of HQ-61C. The range is also increased but exactly how much is unknown. Some Chinese enthusiasts have claimed that because of the new rocket motors adopted, the size and the weight of the missile is also reduced slightly, but this has yet to be confirmed by other credible sources.

PL-11.

PL-11 is the air-to-air derivative of HQ-61, and it is also developed by the same developer of HQ-61, Shanghai Aerospace Bureau. The first successful flight test of PL-11 was conducted in 1992, and the missile entered Chinese service in the mid-1990s. The latest upgrade of PL-11 was completed in 2002. The first PL-11 was an air-launched HQ-61 armed with a mono-pulse SARH seeker based on Italian Selenia Aspide, and eventually upgraded with an ARH seeker. To meet the airborne requirement, PL-11 is slightly shorter than its SAM counterparts, and has a different set of redesigned control surfaces, which has much smaller wingspans while ensure the same performance. Versions: Specifications: PL-11 did not enter Chinese service in very large numbers because it was only used as a stopgap measure until the more advanced PL-12 became available, and there is no confirmed export either.

The Hongqi-61 () is the first generation Chinese SARH guided surface-to-air missile (SAM). It is classified by Chinese as a low-to-medium air defense missile, and the series includes both land-based and shipborne versions, and an anti-radiation version and air-to-air version (designated as PL-11) have also been developed. The naval and anti-radiation versions have been retired from Chinese service but PL-11, the air-to-air version and HQ-61A, the land-based mobile version are still currently in limited service with the Chinese military.

红旗61号防空导弹是中国人民解放军装备的近程防空导弹,1965年开始研制,70年代装备于海军053K型护卫舰上用于实验。直至80年代才正式装备部队。是解放军海军装备的第一代舰对空导弹武器系统。陆基型为红旗-61,海基型为红旗-61B,出口型为猎鹰-60(LY-60)。


History.

The region of Vestfold and Telemark consists of the two former counties of Telemark and Vestfold, whose administrative histories are separate.  Telemark County was established in 1919 as a continuation of the former "Bratsberg amt", which had been a "len" and "amt" since the union with Denmark. "Bratsberg amt" and the later Telemark county consist of several partly overlapping historic districts. The name Telemark itself did not originally cover the coasts, and the minority at the Storting therefore proposed the name "Grenland-Telemark" when the modern county was established.  Vestfold County was established in 1919 as a continuation of the former "Jarlsberg and Larviks amt". The latter was established in 1821 when the counties of Laurvig and Jarlsberg were dissolved and merged into a common county.

The merging process.

A possible merger of the counties has been discussed for several years with different constellations. Telemark County Council voted in April 2017 against a merge with Vestfold. Vestfold County Council voted for a merge with both Telemark and Buskerud. The Storting decided a merger of Telemark and Vestfold on 8 June 2017 with effect from 1 January 2020.  The Language Council of Norway (Språkrådet) recommended the name "Telemark and Vestfold" as the name of the new region. Telemark County Council decided that the name Telemark under any circumstances had to be included in the new name, while Vestfold suggested the name of "Vest-Viken", which was criticized because the name was originally created by the Nazi Quisling regime during World War 2 and because Telemark County is mostly located outside the historical Viken area; at best the small coastal area of the county may be included in the periphery of Viken. Media in Norway, such as the state broadcaster NRK, mocked the proposal "Vest-Viken" as a "Nazi name." On 10 November 2017 Vestfold withdrew the proposal of "Vest-Viken" and it became apparent that both counties supported the Language Council's proposal on "Telemark and Vestfold". Eventually the local politicians agreed on "Vestfold og Telemark" as a compromise, although Telemark politicians stated that Telemark should be the first part of the name, both for alphabetical reasons and because of the Telemark name's iconic status in Norway and internationally, a status that the Vestfold name lacks. As of 2018 "Telemark og Vestfold" is already the name of the relevant branches of several government agencies and both name forms are widely used.  As Vestfold was forcibly merged with Telemark, Svelvik municipality decided to vote for a merger with Drammen municipality, which would lead Svelvik to leave Vestfold (Vestfold og Telemark in 2020) county and join Viken county on 1 January 2020. The vote turned in favor for joining Drammen and Viken.

Municipalities.

Vestfold og Telemark.

Vestfold og Telemark County has a total of 23 municipalities:

Urban areas.

The largest urban areas of Vestfold og Telemark, sorted after population (municipalities in parenthesis):  Brevik, Holmestrand, Horten, Kragerø, Langesund, Larvik, Notodden, Porsgrunn, Rjukan, Sandefjord, Skien, Stathelle, Stavern, Tønsberg and Åsgårdstrand all have town status.

Vestfold og Telemark ( ]), lit. Vestfold and Telemark in English, is the southernmost county in Eastern Norway that consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions, the former counties of Telemark and most of Vestfold. The county capital is Skien, which is also the county's largest city. While Skien is the capital of the county municipality, the seat of the County Governor is Tønsberg. It borders the counties of Viken, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder.

西福尔-泰勒马克()是挪威的一个郡,成立于2020年1月1日。该郡的成立是挪威行政区划改革的结果。该郡是通过合并之前的泰勒马克郡和西福尔郡的大部分而成的。该郡的首府为希恩,也是郡内最大的城市。而郡长的办公室则设在滕斯贝格。


Gameplay.

"Pokémon Sword" and "Shield" are role-playing video games with adventure elements, and in most cases it is presented in a fixed camera, third-person perspective; in certain instances free camera movement is available. The player controls a young trainer who goes on a quest to catch and train creatures known as Pokémon, and win battles against other trainers. By defeating opposing Pokémon in turn-based battles, the player's Pokémon gains experience, allowing them to level up and increase their battle statistics, learn new battle techniques, and in some cases, evolve into more powerful Pokémon. Players can capture wild Pokémon, found during wild encounters, by weakening them in battle and catching them with Poké Balls, allowing them to be added to their party. Players are also able to battle and trade Pokémon with other human players using the Nintendo Switch connectivity features. As with previous games in the series, certain Pokémon are only obtainable in either "Sword" or "Shield", with players encouraged to trade with others in order to obtain all Pokémon from both versions.  "Sword" and "Shield" takes place in the Galar region, based on the United Kingdom. As with all regions, Galar consists of a number of cities and towns connected by "Routes"; however, there is also an open world area in the center of the region known as the "Wild Area", a concept new to the series. Random encounters with wild Pokémon may take place in tall grass or in bodies of water along routes or in the Wild Area. Wild Pokémon may also be encountered outside of tall grass and elsewhere in the environment, and may chase or run away from the player depending on their disposition. The player occasionally battles Trainers in cities, towns, along routes, and in the Wild Area. The driving force bringing the player to travel around the Galar region is to take part in the "Gym Challenge", an open-tournament to decide the greatest Pokémon Trainer in the region, dubbed the Champion. Eight of the game's cities and towns are homes to stadiums housing "Gym Leaders", powerful Trainers specializing in certain types of Pokémon; beating a Gym Leader gives the player a "Badge". After attaining eight Badges the player will be able to take part in the "Champion Cup", where they will face off in a single-elimination tournament against the previously faced Gym Leaders and other Trainers remaining in the Gym Challenge. After emerging victorious the player will face the Champion of the Galar region.

New features.

Several new features for the games are also firsts for the series, including cooperative raid encounters, akin to those seen in "Pokémon Go"; the Wild Area, a fully explorable open world area with free camera movement and dynamic weather, which has implications on which Pokémon species appear at a given time; and "Dynamaxing" and "Gigantamaxing", both of which temporarily allow Pokémon to grow to larger sizes. Gigantamaxing is limited to select Pokémon and feature different forms from the Pokémon's normal appearance. A new mechanic called "Poké Jobs" tasks the player's Pokémon with completing requests, such as assisting in construction or cooking, to gain experience or rare items. In addition, Pokémon native to the game's region can be transferred to the games from the Nintendo 3DS app "Pokémon Bank", "Pokémon Go", and via the "Pokémon Home" service. Pokémon Gyms make a return after being absent in "Sun", "Moon", "Ultra Sun", and "Ultra Moon". As is typical with the series, the two games have version-exclusive content, such as available Pokémon and, for the first time, Gym Leaders. Some features from previous entries, such as Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, are absent from the games. A new 'Camp' mode allows the player to interact and play with their Pokémon and cook different types of curry to provide bonuses for Pokémon. New customization options for the player character have been added, like outerwear and other accessories. In most instances, the PC box can be accessed outside of Pokémon Centers, except when inside Gyms, for example.

Connectivity.

"Sword" and "Shield" only support direct game-to-game connectivity between themselves. The games are also compatible with "Pokémon Home", an online cloud storage service for storing Pokémon, released in February 2020. "Home" is the only path to bringing Pokémon from previous generations into "Sword" and "Shield"; this includes "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!", the previous games in the series which were released for the Switch.

Plot.

Setting.

"Sword" and "Shield" take place in the Galar region, a large, narrow expanse of land and one of many regions in the "Pokémon" world. Game director Shigeru Ohmori described it as a more modern setting. The region itself is inspired by Great Britain, with its many landmarks resembling places such as the Houses of Parliament and the Cerne Abbas Giant. Within the Galar region lie countryside towns featuring cottages and Victorian architecture to the south. An Industrial Revolution-like city with steampunk-style elements populates the center of the region. Many of the region's towns and cities feature Pokémon Gyms stylized like football stadiums, which show off both Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing, implemented by the Galar Pokémon League Chairman, Rose. Snow-covered mountains dominate much of the northern areas of the region. Encompassing a large portion of the south-central part of the region is the Wild Area, an open world area with numerous roaming Pokémon species. Weather across the Wild Area changes regularly. Like with "Pokémon Sun" and "Moon", Pokémon previously introduced in older games, such as Weezing, gain regional Galarian Forms with new typings, stats, and appearances. Some Pokémon, such as Linoone, even gain regional evolutions.

Story.

Similar to many previous entries in the "Pokémon" franchise, players embark on a journey to become the strongest trainer. The player and their best friend, Hop, receive one of three starter Pokémon: Grookey, Scorbunny, or Sobble from Leon, Champion of the Galar region and Hop's older brother. Afterward, the two explore a forest called the Slumbering Weald but are driven off by a powerful Pokémon. During their subsequent visit to the region's Pokémon Professor, Magnolia, they convince Leon to endorse them to take part in the Gym Challenge. After traveling to the next city to register for the Gym Challenge, they encounter rivals Bede and Marnie along with Team Yell, a devout group of hooligans who act as Marnie's unintentional fanbase and are determined to stop anyone else from completing the Challenge. As their quest continues, the player and Hop learn about two Legendary Pokémon who saved Galar from an ancient crisis called the Darkest Day and deduce that they are the same Pokémon they encountered in the Slumbering Weald. After beating the 8 Gym Leaders, including the leader of Team Yell (who's also Marnie's brother, while the members are the Gym Trainers from Spikemuth, Marnie's hometown, when revealed by one member who'd forgotten a part of the Team's uniform while the player was challenging that Gym in particular), the player makes their way to Wyndon where they compete in the Champion's Cup for the opportunity to fight Leon. After winning the tournament, the player and Leon agree to have their battle the next day and decide to go have dinner together with Hop. They meet at the hotel, but Leon doesn't show up. The player and Hop find him discussing something with Chairman Rose. The next day, before the battle between the player and Leon can commence, Chairman Rose awakens the Pokémon Eternatus in an attempt to harness its power to provide energy to Galar, triggering a second Darkest Day. The player and Hop return to the Slumbering Weald and secure the aid of the legendary Pokémon, Zacian and Zamazenta, to defeat Chairman Rose and Eternatus, after which the player catches Eternatus. The player then faces and defeats Leon in a battle and becomes the new Champion of the Galar region.  After defeating Leon, the player and Hop return to the Slumbering Weald to return Zacian and Zamazenta's artifacts to their rightful place. However, they are confronted by Sordward and Shielbert, two brothers claiming to be descendants of ancient Galarian kings. The two steal one of the relics and begin forcing innocent Pokémon to Dynamax. The player and Hop work with the Gym Leaders to subdue the Dynamax Pokémon and then track down and confront the brothers. They use Dynamax energy to drive Zamazenta (in "Sword") or Zacian (in "Shield") berserk, and the player drives them off with the help of Zacian (in "Sword") or Zamazenta (in "Shield"). They then are challenged to a battle by the Legendary Pokémon and allowed to catch it, while Hop follows Zamazenta/Zacian back to the Slumbering Weald and calms it down, being chosen by it as its Trainer. The player and Hop have a final battle, after which Hop decides to become a Pokémon Professor.

Development.

Development of "Pokémon Sword" and "Shield" began immediately following the development of "Sun" and "Moon" in autumn 2016. Shigeru Ohmori, who previously directed Sun and Moon, formed a team who begun thinking about ideas for the title. Kazumasa Iwao, director of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon later joined the project as planning director and full production started in September 2017. One of the first ideas the team had was making Pokémon giant because you now could play Pokémon in the TV in a big screen, so then Ohmori thought about having a sword and a shield Pokémon to defeat the giant Pokémon; that's how the games titles were decided.  Approximately 1,000 people from multiple companies were involved in the development, marketing, and public relations associated with "Sword" and "Shield". Approximately 200 Game Freak employees worked directly on the games while around 100 Creatures Inc. employees worked on 3D modeling, with an additional 100 involved in debugging and game testing. Junichi Masuda estimated the total number of people involved to be 50% greater than previous "Pokémon" titles.  The idea of strength and striving to be the greatest and strongest was one of the core themes that Game Freak used in designing the games. This is expressed through the Nintendo Switch's status as the most powerful console to run a "Pokémon" game, with features such as Dynamaxing, and references to British folklore. The games' soundtrack is inspired by British rock music. One track was composed by Toby Fox, best known for being the creator of "Undertale". The Switch's ability to render larger Pokémon models and better show size differences between species is the root of the Dynamax feature. The idea of "growing and evolving" is a core concept of the games—for both the trainer and their Pokémon—stemming from producer Junichi Masuda and director Shigeru Ohmori's experience with the franchise. Unlike other core "Pokémon" games, not all existing Pokémon species appear or are usable in "Sword" and "Shield". Masuda addressed this as a potential issue in a 2018 interview with "GameSpot", at which point he said that "it does get complicated when you talk about the details and we're still figuring it out, but we do have plans to find ways to let players use their Pokémon in the next game." By 2019, Masuda explained that the sheer number of species, combined with the need to produce assets relating to new features such as the Dynamaxing system, preserve game balance, and maintain a degree of quality made it infeasible to include all existing Pokémon without extensively lengthening development time. As such, only Pokémon that appear within the Galar region are transferable from previous titles via "Pokémon Home". Furthermore, according to the developers, the higher fidelity models, which were designed to be more "expressive," had to be built from the ground up as simply transferring existing ones produced for the 3DS platform was not possible. Masuda confirmed that all three companies involved in the development, Nintendo, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company, agreed to cut down the National Dex.

Release.

The games were originally teased through a special message by The Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara during Nintendo's E3 2017 presentation, where Ishihara mentioned that Game Freak was working on a new core series "Pokémon" role-playing game for Nintendo Switch but that it would not be released for more than a year. During a press conference held by The Pokémon Company in Japan on May 30, 2018, Junichi Masuda confirmed that the next "Pokémon" core series games would release on Switch in the second half of 2019. Ishihara also assured that the then-upcoming titles would not have influences from "Pokémon Go" like "Let's Go, Pikachu!" and "Let's Go, Eevee!" had and that it would introduce many new Pokémon and "polished" graphics.  "Sword" and "Shield" were fully unveiled in a special Nintendo Direct presentation on February 27, 2019, introducing the games' region and starter Pokémon. The presentation coincided with Pokémon Day, a fan celebration of "Pokémon" on the anniversary of the Japanese release of "Pokémon Red" and "Green". A second Nintendo Direct about the games was held on June 5, 2019, which revealed some of its new features, characters, and Pokémon, including the legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta, which appear on the box art. The release date of November 15, 2019, was also announced as part of this presentation. Game Freak intentionally limited the number of new Pokémon revealed through promotional material to encourage players to discover them in-game.  A promotional crossover between "Sword" and "Shield" and "Tetris 99" occurred from November 8–11, during which a limited-time unlockable theme based on the games was available. A web app was also released, allowing the viewer to explore the Wild Area online. In "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", an online tournament themed around "Pokémon" was held from November 15–18 to promote "Sword" and "Shield" release, while a spirit event occurred from November 22–27, with some Pokémon being available as collectible spirits.

Expansion packs.

During the "Pokémon Direct" on January 9, 2020, a pair of expansion packs were announced which will be released throughout 2020 as part of an expansion pass. The first pack, titled "The Isle of Armor", was released on June 17 2020 while the second pack, "The Crown Tundra", will release in Q3/Q4 2020. The expansion packs introduce new legendary Pokémon such as Kubfu and its evolved forms in "The Isle of Armor" and Calyrex in "The Crown Tundra", along with new regional forms for pre-existing Pokémon such as Slowpoke. Between both expansion packs, more than 200 pre-existing Pokémon that weren't available at launch will be added into "Sword" and "Shield".

Reception.

Pre-release.

The decision not to include all pre-existing Pokémon in the games drew criticism from many fans, who referred to it as "Dexit", a portmanteau of Pokédex and Brexit, and used the hashtag "#BringBackNationalDex" to discuss the matter on social media. Fan backlash focused on the removal of a long-standing aspect of the franchise, the discarding of its former English tagline "gotta catch 'em all," and a perceived lack of improvements in other areas of the games, such as graphics and animations. Some fans called for the games to be delayed until all of the Pokémon could be added.  Writing for "Polygon", Patricia Hernandez commented that "to some degree, the backlash makes sense" while adding that it had "gotten out of hand". Alex Donaldson of "VG247" noted that feature creep—where an increase in new features over time may lead to removal of previous ones—had finally reached "Pokémon", and long-overlooked design shortcomings of Game Freak were brought to the forefront as a result. "Kotaku" Gita Jackson summarized the backlash as "the tension of a desire to indulge in nostalgia against a desire to experience more complexity." Joe Merrick, the webmaster of fansite "Serebii", considered the controversy to have caused the most unrest among "Pokémon" fans since the troubled launch of "Pokémon Bank" in 2013.  Masuda formally responded to the criticism on June 28, 2019, two weeks after it erupted, expressing appreciation for the love and passion shown by fans. He reiterated that the removal of certain Pokémon was a difficult decision to make and that they would be available in different games in the future. Michael McWhertor of "Polygon" noted that while Masuda's statement acknowledged the fans' discontent, it "[did not] amount to much".

Critical response.

Upon release, "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics praised the games' simplicity, new elements such as Dynamaxing, and streamlined battle encounters but criticized the incomplete Pokédex and not taking full advantage of the games' potential.  Brian Shea from "Game Informer" particularly praised the new Dynamax feature for being visually and strategically exciting without being overused: "while the Dynamax mechanic has the potential to disrupt the flow of any battle, it doesn't factor into most encounters, since it can only be used in Gym battles and select other situations". Casey DeFreitas for "IGN" also praised "Sword" and "Shield" for their fun gameplay and lack of monotonous activities, while criticizing aspects such as cutscenes and lack of a full Pokédex. Writing for "GameSpot", Kallie Plagge also praised the pair for easy-to-understand game systems and a sense of freedom stating, "you're not held back by overly complicated back-end systems or hoops to jump through; from the outset, you can start wandering the Galar region, seeing its new Pokémon, and trying out its new battle strategies with very little in your way."  Conversely, Chris Tapsell for "Eurogamer" criticized the games, commenting that it lacked substance and did not live up to previous titles in the series. Tapsell commented "this is a new generation of "Pokémon" games that promises much, with brilliant new Pokémon, a raft of intricate system-tinkering for long-term fans and a series-first stab at an 'open-world' area. But all that's new seems to have come at a cost – and the cost is almost everything else in the game." James Grebey and Tom Philip of "GQ" also felt somewhat underwhelmed, praising the Wild Area but stating that the games were "satisfying but pedestrian" and feel like "proof of concept [with] another stage of evolution left for console "Pokémon" games". They also said that "there is... a lot in "Sword" and "Shield" that doesn't feel like it couldn't have been achieved on the Nintendo 3DS."

Sales.

In Japan, "Sword" and "Shield" sold two million copies during their first three days on sale, surpassing "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" as the fastest-selling Switch games in that region. In the US, they sold more than two million copies in their opening weekend. By November 21, 2019, "Sword" and "Shield" had sold more than six million copies worldwide, surpassing "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" as the fastest-selling Switch games. By the start of 2020, the games had sold over 17 million copies worldwide.

In January 2020, paid downloadable content (DLC) for the games, titled Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, were announced; the DLC consists of two expansion packs: The Isle of Armor," released on June 17, 2020, and The Crown Tundra", due for release in Winter 2020.

是由Game Freak开发,Pokémon Inc.发行,并在任天堂Switch平台上发售的角色扮演游戏,也是宝可梦系列第八世代。本作于2019年2月27日的任天堂直面会上公布,并于2019年11月15日在全球同步发售。


Parliament Hall.

The oldest part of Parliament House is Parliament Hall, which the Town Council of Edinburgh, at its expense, had built as a permanent home for the Parliament of Scotland, and as such is the oldest extant purpose-built parliamentary building in the British Isles. It was completed in 1641 to the design of James Murray. The main interior feature is the elaborate oak trussed flat roof supported on carved stone corbels. Often described as a hammerbeam roof, it is a false hammerbeam, necessitated by the flat roof design. The internal ornamentation is provided by downward thrusting radial struts. The roof of the former Tron Kirk further down the High Street is similar in style but, because of the pitch of the roof, is a true hammerbeam.  After the Act of Union 1707, the Parliament of Scotland was adjourned, and the building ceased to be used for its original function. The Hall was used for the sitting of courts, but in recent times has been subject to restoration work and now remains open as a meeting place for lawyers.  Beneath Parliament Hall lies the Laigh Hall, of similar plan form but considerably less height.

Artwork in Parliament Hall.

The right-hand example of the two smaller fireplaces has carved scenes from The Merchant of Venice.  Statues on the north wall include: The 1st Viscount Melville by Sir Francis Chantrey (1818); The 2nd Viscount Melville by Sir Francis Chantrey (1824); Lord Cockburn by William Brodie (1863).  On the east wall: Duncan Forbes by Roubiliac (1752); Lord Jeffrey by Sir John Steell (1855); Lord President Boyle by Sir John Steell (1860); Lord President Blair by Sir Francis Chantrey (1815).  On the west wall: Sir Walter Scott by John Greenshields (1835); Henry Erskine by Peter Turnerelli (1811); and various busts by William Brodie and Sir John Steell.  There are multiple paintings by Sir Henry Raeburn: George Joseph Bell; Sir William Nairne, Lord Dunsinane; William Craig, Lord Craig; Matthew Ross; and Lord Abercromby of Tullibody. Paintings by John Watson Gordon include Lord Robertson, Alexander Wood, General Boyle and Erskine Douglas Sandford. Other works include Sir Thomas Hope by George Jameson, Lord Mansfield by David Martin, George Deas, Lord Deas by John Graham Gilbert, Sir Ilay Campbell by John Partridge, John Inglis, Lord Glencorse by George Reid. and Duncan McNeill by John Phillip.  In a corridor beyond the south door of the hall stand figures of "Justice" and "Mercy" by Alexander Mylne (1637) which formerly stood over the main entrance on Parliament Square.

Courts.

Even while the old Parliament was still in existence, parts of the buildings were used for legal cases, and afterwards this became the main function of the building. The building is now used to house the College of Justice and other connected functions. In modern times, the building is chiefly used by the Court of Session, which hears civil cases, whilst most of the work of the High Court of Justiciary, which hears criminal cases, takes place in a dedicated building on the other side of the Royal Mile which formerly housed Edinburgh's Sheriff Court.

Libraries.

The Advocates' Library was founded in 1682, and is currently located in a William Henry Playfair-designed building to the west of the south end of Parliament Hall. It remains a heavily used legal resource. As well as collecting legal works, it was also a deposit library, and in 1925 the non-legal books in their collection were given to the new National Library of Scotland, which is located next to the library, on George IV Bridge.  To the west of the north end of Parliament Hall is The Signet Library. It is a private library, funded by members of The Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, who are generally practising solicitors. Construction began in 1810 to a design by Robert Reid, and it presents a classical front to Parliament Square. This façade wraps around Parliament House as well, and replaced the existing Scottish baronial façade.

Parliament House in Edinburgh, Scotland is a complex of several buildings housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The original building was home to the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland from 1639 to 1707. It is located in the Old Town, just off the High Street section of the Royal Mile, beside St Giles Cathedral.

议会大厦(Parliament House)位于苏格兰爱丁堡爱丁堡老城的议会广场,皇家一英里旁,曾经是苏格兰议会所在地(1639-1707),现在是苏格兰最高法院,毗邻圣吉尔斯大教堂。


Description.

The "Mese" started at the Milion monument, close to the Hagia Sophia, and led straight westwards. It passed the Hippodrome and the palaces of Lausos and Antiochus, and after ca. 600 meters reached the oval-shaped Forum of Constantine where one of the city's two Senate houses stood. This stretch of the street was also known as the Regia (, "Imperial Road"), as it formed the original ceremonial route from the Great Palace and the Augustaion square to the forum of the city's founder.  From there, the street continued to the square Forum of Theodosius or Forum of the Bull ("Forum Tauri"), as it was also known. In about the middle of this stretch, the great mall known as "Makros Embolos" joined the "Mese". At their junction stood a "tetrapylon" known as the "Anemodoulion" ("Servant of the winds").  Shortly after it passed the Theodosian Forum, the street divided in two branches at the site of the Capitolium: one branch going northwest, passing by the Church of the Holy Apostles, towards the Gate of Polyandrion, while the other continued southwest, through the Forum of the Ox (Forum Bovis) and the Forum of Arcadius towards the Golden Gate, where it joined the "Via Egnatia".  The "Mese" was 25 metres wide and lined with colonnaded porticoes which housed shops. The "Mese" was the route followed by imperial processions through the city at least until Comnenian times. The most characteristic was the triumphal entry of a victorious emperor, who entered the city through the Golden Gate and followed the "Mese" to the Great Palace, while jubilant crowds lined along the street would greet him and the imperial army back home.

The Mese ( "i Mése [Odós]", lit. "Middle [Street]") was the main thoroughfare of ancient Constantinople. The street was the main scene of Byzantine imperial processions. Its ancient course is largely followed by the modern Divanyolu Avenue.

梅塞大道(,"Mese")意为“中央大街”,是古代君士坦丁堡(今土耳其伊斯坦布尔)的主要干道。这条街是拜占庭帝国礼仪的主要场景。现代的Divanyolu大道大致上沿着古代街道的路线。


Results.

House of Representatives.

Independents: Andrew Wilkie (Clark), Helen Haines (Indi), Zali Steggall (Warringah).

Senate.

Out of 40 Senate seats up for election, the Coalition won 19, while Labor won 13 seats. The Greens won 6 seats, while the only other minor party candidates elected were former senator Malcolm Roberts for One Nation in Queensland, and Jacqui Lambie (JLN) in Tasmania. The Senate crossbench became substantially smaller, with incumbent senators Derryn Hinch, Duncan Spender, Peter Georgiou, Brian Burston, and Fraser Anning, as well as former parliamentarians Clive Palmer and Skye Kakoschke-Moore, failing in their bids to win Senate seats.

Background.

Previous election.

The outcome of the 2016 federal election could not be determined on election night, with too many seats in doubt. After a week of vote counting, neither the incumbent Turnbull Government led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of the Liberal/National Coalition nor the Shorten Opposition led by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten of the Australian Labor Party had won enough seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a majority government.  During the uncertain week following the election, Turnbull negotiated with the crossbench and secured confidence and supply support from Bob Katter and from independents Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan in the event of a hung parliament and resulting minority government. During crossbench negotiations, Turnbull pledged additional staff and resources for crossbenchers, and stated "It is my commitment to work in every way possible to ensure that the crossbenchers have access to all of the information they need and all of the resources they need to be able to play the role they need in this parliament".  On 10 July, eight days after the election took place and following Turnbull's negotiations with the crossbench where he secured sufficient confidence and supply support, Shorten conceded defeat, acknowledging that the incumbent Coalition had enough seats to form either a minority or majority government. Turnbull claimed victory later that day. In the closest federal majority result since the 1961 election, the ABC declared on 11 July that the incumbent Coalition would be able to form a one-seat majority government.  It was the first election result since federation where the post-election opposition won more seats than the post-election government in both of Australia's two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria.

Result.

In the 150-seat House of Representatives, the one-term incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government suffered a 14-seat swing, reducing it to 76 seats—a bare one-seat majority. With a national three-point two-party swing against the government, the Labor opposition picked up a significant number of previously government-held seats to gain a total of 69 seats. On the crossbench, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team, Katter's Australian Party, and independents Wilkie and McGowan won a seat each. On 19 July, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced a re-count for the Coalition-held but provisionally Labor-won Division of Herbert. At the start of the Herbert re-count, Labor led by eight votes. The AEC announced on 31 July that Labor had won Herbert by 37 votes.  The final outcome in the 76-seat Senate took more than four weeks to determine, despite significant voting changes. Earlier in 2016, legislation changed the Senate voting system from a full-preference single transferable vote with group voting tickets to an optional-preferential single transferable vote. The final Senate result was announced on 4 August: Liberal/National Coalition 30 seats (−3), Labor 26 seats (+1), Greens 9 seats (−1), One Nation 4 seats (+4) and Nick Xenophon Team 3 seats (+2). Derryn Hinch won a seat, while Jacqui Lambie, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm and Family First's Bob Day retained their seats. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20. The Liberal/National Coalition will require at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of three. The Liberal and Labor parties agreed to support a motion in the parliament that the first six senators elected in each state would serve a six-year term, while the last six elected would serve a three-year term.

Changes in parliamentary composition.

Since the 2016 election, a number of parliamentarians resigned from their seats, while some were disqualified by the High Court of Australia in the parliamentary eligibility crisis as a result of the dual citizenship of some MPs. However, in the cases of disqualified House of Representatives MPs, most of these were returned in resulting by-elections. Some MPs changed their party affiliation or their independent status.  Following the parliamentary eligibility crisis, the AEC's form for nomination was updated to ask detailed questions on whether candidates are disqualified under Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. Three Victorian Liberal candidates had to withdraw based on section 44 issues.

Change of Prime Minister.

Following the Liberal Party leadership spill on 24 August 2018, Malcolm Turnbull was replaced as Prime Minister by Scott Morrison. Turnbull resigned from parliament on 31 August, triggering a by-election in his former seat of Wentworth. The by-election was won by independent Kerryn Phelps. This, combined with National MP Kevin Hogan's move to the crossbench and the resignation of MP Julia Banks from the Liberal Party, reduced the government to 73 seats going into the election; a net three-seat deficit.  Further dissatisfaction within the Liberal Party saw a number of centrist and economically-liberal candidates announce that they would nominate as independents in wealthy electorates, with a specific focus on "addressing climate change".

Candidates.

The nomination of candidates closed on 23 April 2019.  There were 1,514 candidates in total (1,056 for the House of Representatives and 458 for the Senate).

State of electorates.

After effects of boundary redistributions for the next election, and the 2018 Wentworth by-election, the Mackerras pendulum had the Liberal/National Coalition government on 73 of 151 seats with the Labor opposition on 72 seats and a crossbench of six seats.  Assuming a theoretical nationwide uniform swing, the Labor opposition needed at least 50.7% of the two-party vote (at least a 1.1-point two-party swing) to win 76 seats and majority government. The incumbent Coalition government no longer held a majority, and required at least 51.1% of the two-party vote (at least a 0.7-point two-party swing) to regain it.  The key marginal seats were as follows:  Although the seats of Corangamite and Dunkley were Liberal wins at the previous election, the redistribution in Victoria changed them to notionally marginal Labor seats.

Retiring members.

Members of Parliament and Senators who chose not to renominate for the 2019 election are as follows:

Opinion polls.

Assessment of polling accuracy.

The result of the 2019 election was in stark contrast to the aggregation of opinion polls conducted over the period of the 45th parliament and the 2019 election campaign. Apart from a few outliers, Labor had been ahead for the entire period, by as much as 56% on a two-party-preferred basis after Scott Morrison took over the leadership of the Liberal Party in August 2018—although during the campaign, Labor's two-party estimate was between 51 and 52%.  During the ABC's election coverage, election analyst Antony Green stated, "at the moment, on these figures, it's a bit of a spectacular failure of opinion polling", with the election results essentially a mirror image of the polls with the Coalition's two-party vote at around 51%.  The former director of Newspoll, Martin O'Shannessy, cited changes in demographics and telephone habits which have changed the nature of polling from calling random samples of landlines to calling random mobile numbers and automated "robocalls"—with the ensuing drop in response rates resulting in lower quality data due to smaller samples and bias in the sample due to who chooses to respond.  Several analysts and statisticians found the lack of variance of the two-party preferred estimates concerning—truly random poll sampling would see the results "bounce around" within each poll's margin of error, but the differences between figures in the final few weeks of the campaign were so consistently small as to be highly improbable to happen under random chance. Some analysts suspected the phenomenon of "herding" had occurred—as polling companies attempted to adjust for bias, they had "massaged" their results to be similar to other polls, resulting in an artificial closeness.

Election date.

An election for the House of Representatives can be called at any time during the maximum three-year parliamentary term. The term of the House of Representatives starts on the first sitting day of the House following its election, which in the case of the 45th Parliament was 30 August 2016. The House therefore would expire on 29 August 2019, unless it were dissolved earlier. In this case, the Parliament was dissolved on 11 April and an election called for 18 May 2019. This occurred after Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the Governor-General advising him to prorogue Parliament and dissolve the House of Representatives. The Governor-General accepted Morrison's recommendations, as is the custom in Australia's Westminster system of government.  The Constitution of Australia does not require simultaneous elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives, but it has long been preferred that elections for the two houses take place simultaneously. The most recent House-only election took place in 1972, and the most recent Senate-only election took place in 1970. However, the writs for a half-Senate election could not be issued earlier than 1 July 2018. Section 13 of the Constitution requires that the election of senators must take place within one year before the terms expire for half-Senate elections. Since the previous election was a double dissolution, half of the senators were allocated three-year terms that end on 30 June 2019, while the other half were allocated six-year terms that end on 30 June 2022. Senators from the territories serve terms timed with House elections. Since campaigns are for a minimum of 33 days, the earliest possible date for a simultaneous House/half-Senate election was 4 August 2018. The latest that a half-Senate election could be held must allow time for the votes to be counted and the writs to be returned before the newly elected senators take office on 1 July 2019. This took over a month in 2016, so practically the last possible date for a half-Senate election to take place before the three-year terms expire is 18 May 2019.  An election for the House of Representatives needed to be held on or before 2 November 2019. The latest date for the election is calculated from the Constitution and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (CEA). Section 28 of the Constitution provides that a term of the House of Representatives expires three years from the first sitting of the House, unless dissolved earlier. The last federal election was held on 2 July 2016. The 45th Parliament opened on 30 August 2016 and its term would expire on 29 August 2019. Writs for election can be issued up to ten days after a dissolution or expiry of the House. Up to 27 days can be allowed for nominations, and the actual election can be set for a maximum of 31 days after close of nominations, resulting in the latest election date for the House of Representatives of Saturday, 2 November 2019.  A double dissolution cannot take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives. That meant that any double dissolution of the 45th Parliament had to have been granted by 28 February 2019. Allowing for the same stages indicated above, the last possible date for a double dissolution election would have been 4 May 2019. This could only have occurred if a bill that had passed the House of Representatives was rejected by the Senate twice, at least three months apart.

Constitutional and legal provisions.

The constitutional and legal provisions which impact on the choice of election dates include:

Election timeline.

On 11 April 2019, the office of the Governor-General released documents relating to the calling of the election. The documents set out a timeline of key dates for the election.  The election period included three national public holidays: Good Friday (19 April), Easter Monday (22 April) and Anzac Day (25 April), as well as May Day and Labour Day in Northern Territory and Queensland, respectively, both falling on 6 May.

Redistributions.

Since the previous election in 2016, there was a reapportionment of seats of the House of Representatives, as well as three scheduled redistributions of electoral boundaries. On 31 August 2017, the Australian Electoral Commission announced a reapportionment of seats based on calculation of each state and territory's entitlement determination: Victoria gained one seat to 38, the Australian Capital Territory gained a seat to 3, and South Australia lost one seat to 10. The total number of members of the House of Representatives increased from 150 to 151.  Following the reapportionment, which applied to the 2019 election, the allocation of seats was:

Northern Territory.

On 7 December 2016, the Electoral Commission for the Northern Territory announced the results of its deliberations into the boundaries of Lingiari and Solomon, the two federal electoral divisions in the Northern Territory. New boundaries gazetted from 7 February 2017 saw the remainder of the Litchfield Municipality and parts of Palmerston (the suburbs of Farrar, Johnston, Mitchell, Zuccoli and part of Yarrawonga) transferred from Solomon to Lingiari.

Tasmania.

A scheduled redistribution began in Tasmania on 1 September 2016, with the determinations announced on 27 September 2017. In addition to boundary changes, the Division of Denison was renamed the Division of Clark after Andrew Inglis Clark.

Queensland.

A scheduled redistribution began in Queensland on 6 January 2017, and was finalised on 27 March 2018. Changes were made to the boundaries of 18 of Queensland's 30 electoral divisions, and no division names were changed.

Australian Capital Territory.

A redistribution of federal electoral divisions in the Australian Capital Territory commenced on 4 September 2017, due to changes in the territory's representation entitlement. The AEC released a proposed redistribution on 6 April 2018, and the final determination on 3 July 2018. The redistribution resulted in the creation of a third ACT electoral division named Bean (notionally fairly safe Labor), after historian Charles Bean.

Victoria.

A redistribution of federal electoral divisions in Victoria commenced on 4 September 2017, due to changes in the state's representation entitlement. The determinations were announced on 20 June 2018, and created a 38th electoral division named Fraser (notionally safe Labor), named after prime minister Malcolm Fraser.  The commission also renamed several divisions: Batman to Cooper (after William Cooper), McMillan to Monash (after Sir John Monash), Melbourne Ports to Macnamara (after Dame Jean Macnamara) and Murray to Nicholls (after Sir Douglas and Lady Nicholls). A proposal to rename Corangamite to Cox (after swimming instructor May Cox) did not proceed.  The Coalition notionally lost the seats of Dunkley and Corangamite to Labor in the redistribution.

South Australia.

A was abolished due to population changes having occurred since the state's last redistribution in 2011. Although South Australia's population was still increasing, faster increases in other states saw a reduction in South Australia's representation from 11 to 10 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives. This was the third time South Australia had lost a seat since the 1984 enlargement of the parliament, with Hawker abolished in 1993 and Bonython in 2004. South Australia is the least-populated state where the current number of seats can decrease, as Tasmania's current representation is the minimum guaranteed by the Constitution.  A redistribution of federal electoral divisions in South Australia commenced on 4 September 2017, due to changes in the state's representation entitlement. The proposed redistribution report was released on 13 April 2018, and the final determination on 26 June 2018. The commission abolished the division of Port Adelaide. The hybrid urban-rural seat of Wakefield became the entirely urban seat of Spence, after Catherine Helen Spence. The more rural portions of Wakefield transferred to Grey and Barker.

Newspaper endorsements.

The Sunday and daily editions of Australian newspapers traditionally provide editorial endorsement for parties contending both federal and state elections. Alternative newspapers have in recent times also provided backing for minor parties.

Sunday editions.

All four newspapers published by News Corp Australia (Melbourne's "Sunday Herald Sun", Adelaide's "Sunday Mail", Brisbane's "The Sunday Mail" and Sydney's "The Sunday Telegraph") endorsed the Coalition. "The Sunday Telegraph" compared the major parties as a choice between Labor, which "seeks to present an agenda for social change, a generational correction for people doing it tough: pensioners, the unemployed, the working poor" and a Coalition "government that presents itself as being responsible in its spending, determined to return the budget to the black, eliminate waste and take a forward but steady approach to the broader social issues, such as climate change", ultimately describing Morrison a "safer pair of hands".  Both the Nine Publishing newspapers (Melbourne's "The Sunday Age" and Sydney's "The Sun-Herald") stopped short of endorsing a party, with "The Sunday Age" calling for bipartisan action on climate change. "The Sun-Herald" praised Morrison as "the former advertising executive has come into his own, appearing more sure-footed and on message than in the early days of his as leader" but warned that "his single-focus strategy needs some enhancement if he has a chance of pulling off victory", while contrasting it with Labor which has "overwhelmed us with its vision and plans. The party presents itself as a viable alternative government, with bold policy announcements across a variety of sectors, but they carry some risk for the disadvantage they may cause to some sections of the electorate. It runs the risk of hubris should reality not conform with voter expectations".  Seven West Media's newspaper (Perth's "The Sunday Times") also made no endorsement, but urged readers not to give the balance of power to "micro parties with wacky, divisive and extreme agendas".

Daily editions.

The majority of News Corp Australia's daily mastheads – "The Australian", Sydney's "The Daily Telegraph", Melbourne's "Herald Sun", Brisbane's "The Courier-Mail", Adelaide's "The Advertiser" and the "Geelong Advertiser" – endorsed the Coalition. "The Australian" wrote that "Mr Morrison’s plan errs on the side of being safe but deliverable; his policies, consistent with traditional values, do not unduly raise expectations as Mr Shorten has done". Hobart's "The Mercury" stopped short of endorsing a party, remarking that with "polls indicating that a hung Parliament remains a possible scenario... having [Independent candidate for Clark, Andrew] Wilkie advocating for Tasmania in Canberra would not be a terrible outcome". In Darwin, "the NT News" endorsed Labor, arguing the Morrison Government had "shown little to no interest" in Aboriginal affairs, an issue "which seriously threatens the future prosperity of the Northern Territory and Australia".  Two of Nine Publishing's mastheads – "The Sydney Morning Herald" and Melbourne's "The Age" endorsed Labor. "The Sydney Morning Herald" called for voters to bring an end to the "cycle of instability". It emphasised Shorten's "united team that looks like it will stick together", and contrasted this with the "blood feuds" within the Coalition cabinet, stating that "the ALP has used its time in the wilderness of opposition to sort out its factional differences and produce an unusually detailed agreed program". It expressed doubts with some aspects of Labor's economic policy, warning that "with the economy facing headwinds, people want solid, sensible government – not a revolution." It concluded that if Labor could overcome economic challenges and deliver "three years of normal government... it will be better than a continuation of instability under the Coalition". While critical of its stance on climate change and energy policy, its broadsheet "The Australian Financial Review" endorsed the Coalition, arguing the party "does at least grasp that Australia needs a growth policy in order to lift incomes and sustainably pay for the services government provides".  "The Guardian Australia" also endorsed Labor, arguing that "the climate emergency is the most pressing issue of our time" and that "the Coalition appears deaf to the rising clamour from the electorate...[while] it clings to an obviously deficient emissions reduction target". Concluding that "the Coalition has neither credible policies nor a competent team", it finds that "Labor is the only party with a credible climate policy and a chance of forming government", but also giving qualified support to The Greens as its "climate policy is more ambitious than Labor’s and its tax and spending policies more redistributive". It also wrote positively of "credible independent candidates who could make positive contributions in the parliament".  In Perth, the Seven West Media-owned "The West Australian" endorsed the Coalition as having "proved they will listen to Western Australia with their historic shakeup of the GST", and commending the Western Australian Liberal Party for "a proven track record of being powerful advocates for [the] state". "The Canberra Times" provided no endorsement, but concluded that the choice between the two major parties was "for changes that may benefit [Canberrans] personally" or "for change that has the potential to benefit those less fortunate than they are".

Aftermath and reactions.

Domestic reactions.

Morrison stated that "the quiet Australians... have won a great victory tonight". Although he described the outcome as a miracle, colleagues said that Morrison had been certain that he would win the election, unlike many other Liberal politicians or Shorten and most other Labor members. Shorten conceded defeat and announced his resignation as leader of the Labor Party, triggering the 2019 Australian Labor Party leadership election. Former Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who ran against Shorten in the October 2013 spill, announced his candidacy, and was elected unopposed to the role later that month. Albanese's path to the leadership was cleared after Chris Bowen, Shadow Treasurer in the Shorten Ministry and a member of the more fiscally-conservative Labor Right, withdrew his candidacy shortly after nominating.