Types.

Recognizing the difficulty of hitting moving ships during the Spanish Civil War, the Germans were first to develop steerable munitions, using radio control or wire guidance. The U.S. tested TV-guided (GB-4), semi-active radar-guided (Bat), and infrared-guided (Felix) weapons.

Inertial-guided weapons.

The CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon is an air-dropped guided bomb containing metal penetrator rods of various sizes. It was designed to attack targets where an explosive effect may be undesirable, such as fuel storage tanks or chemical weapon stockpiles in civilian areas.

Radio-controlled weapons.

The Germans were first to introduce PGMs in combat, with KG 100 deploying the 1,400-kg (3,100-lb) MCLOS-guidance Fritz X armored glide bomb, guided by the "Kehl-Straßburg" radio guidance system, to successfully attack the Italian battleship "Roma" in 1943, and the similarly "Kehl-Straßburg" MCLOS-guided Henschel Hs 293 rocket-boosted glide bomb (also in use since 1943, but only against lightly armored or unarmored ship targets).  The closest Allied equivalents, both unpowered designs, were the 1,000-lb (454-kg) VB-1 AZON (from "AZimuth ONly" control), used in both Europe and the CBI theater, and the US Navy's Bat, primarily used in the Pacific Theater of World War II — the Navy's Bat was more advanced than either German PGM ordnance design or the USAAF's VB-1 AZON, in that it had its own on board, autonomous radar seeker system to direct it to a target. In addition, the U.S. tested the rocket-propelled Gargoyle, which never entered service. Japanese PGMs—with the exception of the anti-ship air-launched, rocket-powered, human-piloted [[Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka] suicide ("Kamikaze" flying bomb—did not see combat in World War II.  Prior to the war, the British experimented with radio-controlled remotely guided planes laden with explosive, such as [[Larynx (unmanned aircraft)|Larynx]]. The [[United States Army Air Forces]] used similar techniques with [[Operation Aphrodite]], but had few successes; the German [[Mistel]] (Mistletoe) "[[parasite aircraft]]" was no more effective, guided by the human pilot flying the single-engined fighter mounted above the unmanned, explosive-laden twin engined "flying bomb" below it, released in the "Mistel's" attack dive from the fighter.  The U.S. programs restarted in the [[Korean War]]. In the 1960s, the "electro-optical bomb" (or "camera bomb") was reintroduced. They were equipped with [[television camera]]s and flare sights, by which the bomb would be steered until the flare superimposed the target. The camera bombs transmitted a "bomb's eye view" of the target back to a controlling aircraft. An operator in this aircraft then transmitted control signals to steerable fins fitted to the bomb. Such weapons were used increasingly by the [[USAF]] in the last few years of the [[Vietnam War]] because the political climate was increasingly intolerant of civilian casualties, and because it was possible to strike difficult targets (such as bridges) effectively with a single mission; the [[Thanh Hoa Bridge]], for instance, was attacked repeatedly with iron bombs, to no effect, only to be dropped in one mission with PGMs.  Although not as popular as the newer [[JDAM]] and [[JSOW]] weapons, or even the older [[laser-guided bomb]] systems, weapons like the [[AGM-62 Walleye]] [[TV guidance|TV guided]] bomb are still being used, in conjunction with the [[AAW-144]] Data Link Pod, on [[US Navy]] [[F/A-18 Hornet]]s.

Infrared-guided/electro-optical weapons.

In World War II, the U.S. [[National Defense Research Committee]] developed the VB-6 Felix, which used infrared to home on ships. While it entered production in 1945, it was never employed operationally. The first successful electro optical guided munition was the [[AGM-62 Walleye]] during the Vietnam war. It was a family of large glide bombs which could automatically track targets using contrast differences in the video feed. The original concept was created by engineer Norman Kay while tinkering with Televisions as a hobby. It was based off a device which could track objects on a television screen and place a "blip" on them to indicate where it was aiming. The first test of the weapon on On 29 January 1963 was a success, with the weapon making a direct hit on the target. It served successfully for three decades until the 1990s.  The [[Raytheon]] [[AGM-65 Maverick|Maverick]] is the most common electro optical guided missile. As a heavy anti-tank missile it has among its various marks guidance systems such as electro-optical (AGM-65A), imaging infra-red (AGM-65D), and laser homing (AGM-65E). The first two, by guiding themselves based on the visual or IR scene of the target, are [[fire-and-forget]] in that the pilot can release the weapon and it will guide itself to the target without further input, which allows the delivery aircraft to manoeuvre to escape return fire. The Pakistani [[NESCOM]] [[H-2 MUPSOW]] and [[H-4 MUPSOW]] is an electro-optical (I.R imaging and Television guided) is a drop and forget precision-guided glide bomb. The Israeli Elbit [[Opher]] is also an I.R imaging "drop and forget" guided bomb that has been reported to be considerably cheaper than laser-homing bombs and can be used by any aircraft, not requiring specialized wiring for a laser designator or for another aircraft to illuminate the target. During NATO's air campaign in 1999 in Kosovo the new Italian AF AMX employed the Opher.

Laser-guided weapons.

[[File:BOLT117LGB.jpg|thumb|[[BOLT-117]], the world's first [[laser-guided bomb]] ]] In 1962, the US Army began research into [[laser]] guidance systems and by 1967 the USAF had conducted a competitive evaluation leading to full development of the world's first [[laser-guided bomb]], the [[BOLT-117]], in 1968. All such bombs work in much the same way, relying on the target being illuminated, or "painted," by a laser target designator on the ground or on an aircraft. They have the significant disadvantage of not being usable in poor weather where the target illumination cannot be seen, or where a target designator cannot get near the target. The laser designator sends its beam in a coded series of pulses so the bomb cannot be confused by an ordinary laser, and also so multiple designators can operate in reasonable proximity.  Originally the project began as a surface to air missile seeker developed by Texas Instruments. When TI executive Glenn E. Penisten attempted to sell the new technology to the AirForce they inquired if it could instead be used as a ground attack system to overcome problems they were having with accuracy of bombing in Vietnam. After 6 attempts the weapon improved accuracy from 148 feet to within 10 feet of the target and greatly exceeded the design requirements. The system was sent to Vietnam and performed well. Without the existence of tracking pods they had to be aimed using a hand held laser from the back seat of an F-4 Phantom, but still performed well. Eventually over 28,000 were dropped during the war.  Laser-guided weapons did not become commonplace until the advent of the microchip. They made their practical debut in Vietnam, where on 13 May 1972 they were used in the second successful attack on the [[Thanh Hóa Bridge]] ("Dragon's Jaw"). This structure had previously been the target of 800 American sorties (using unguided weapons) and was partially destroyed in each of two successful attacks, the other being on 27 April 1972 using [[AGM-62 Walleye|Walleyes]].  They were used, though not on a large scale, by the British forces during the 1982 [[Falklands War]]. The first large-scale use of smart weapons came in the early 1990s during Operation [[Desert Storm]] when they were used by coalition forces against [[Iraq]]. Even so, most of the air-dropped ordnance used in that war was "dumb," although the percentages are biased by the large use of various (unguided) [[cluster bomb]]s. Laser-guided weapons were used in large numbers during the 1999 [[Kosovo War]], but their effectiveness was often reduced by the poor weather conditions prevalent in the southern Balkans.  There are two basic families of laser-guided bombs in American (and American-sphere) service: the [[Paveway]] II and the Paveway III. The Paveway III guidance system is more aerodynamically efficient and so has a longer range, however it is more expensive. Paveway II 500-pound LGBs (such as [[GBU-12]]) are a cheaper lightweight PGM suitable for use against vehicles and other small targets, while a Paveway III 2,000-pound penetrator (such as [[GBU-24]]) is a more expensive weapon suitable for use against high-value targets. GBU-12s were used to great effect in the first [[Gulf War]], dropped from [[General Dynamics F-111|F-111F]] aircraft to destroy Iraqi armored vehicles in a process informally referred to by pilots as "[[tank plinking]]."  [[AGM-123 Skipper II]] is a short-range laser-guided missile developed by the [[United States Navy]]. The Skipper was intended as an [[Anti-ship missile|anti-ship weapon]], capable of disabling the largest vessels with a 1,000-lb (450-kg) impact-[[fuze]]d warhead. It is composed of a [[Mark 83 bomb]] fitted with a [[Paveway]] guidance kit and two Mk 78 solid propellant rockets that fire upon launch.  [[File:Laser guided munition CIA report.jpg|thumbnail|left|Diagram showing the operation of a laser-guided ammunition round. From a CIA report, 1986.]] [[Sudarshan laser-guided bomb|Sudarshan]] is an Indian [[laser-guided bomb|laser-guided]] [[bomb]] [[Electronic kit|kit]], developed by [[Aeronautical Development Establishment]] (ADE), a [[Defence Research and Development Organisation|DRDO]] lab with technological support from another DRDO lab [[Instruments Research and Development Establishment]] (IRDE), for the [[Indian Air Force]] (IAF).  [[KAB-1500L]] and [[KAB-500L]] are Russian laser-guided bombs.  [[LT PGB]] is a family of Chinese [[laser-guided]] [[munition]]s.  [[LS PGB]] is a family of Chinese GPS+INS or laser guided munitions.  The [[Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System]] (APKWS) also known as Laser, infrared Guided Rocket (LiGR) is a design conversion of [[Hydra 70]] [[unguided rocket]]s with a [[laser guidance]] kit to turn them into precision-guided munitions (PGMs).  [[Ugroza]] (, meaning "menace") is a precision-guided weapons system made in [[Russian Federation]]. It is an upgrade for standard Russian "dumb" rockets, including the [[S-5 rocket|S-5]], [[S-8 rocket|S-8]], and [[S-13 rocket]]s. The system upgrades the "dumb" rockets with [[laser guidance]], very significantly increasing their accuracy. It requires a [[laser target designator]], from either an airborne or land based source, to "paint" a target. [[Circular error probable]] (CEP) is about 0.8 to 1.8 m, while maximum ranges of rockets varies from the rockets used 1.5–8 km. Ugroza allows rockets to be ripple-fired up to 7 at a time. The notable novelty is that the system does not use aerodynamic flight control (e.g. tail fins), but [[reaction control system|impulse steering]] with mini-thrusters. It has been dubbed as the Russian concept of impulse corrections (RCIC).  [[Roketsan Cirit]]: Turkish [[laser guided]] missile. Cirit is a 70 mm (2.75 in) [[precision guided|guided]] missile system fitted with a [[semi-active laser]] homing seeker. The seeker and guidance section is attached to a purpose-built [[warhead]] with a Class 5 [[Insensitive Munitions|Insensitive Munition (IM)]]. The multipurpose warhead has a combined [[armour-piercing]] ammunition with enhanced behind armor [[anti-personnel]] and [[Incendiary device|incendiary]] effects. The engine is of reduced smoke design, with IM properties. It is connected to the rear section by a roll bearing that enables it to rotate in flight. There are four small stabilising surfaces at the very rear of the missile in front of the exhaust nozzle that ensures stable flight. Roketsan has developed a new launch pod and a new canister in which Cirit is delivered as an all-up round. The Cirit has a maximum effective guided range of 8 km with a high probability of hit on a 3×3 m target at this range.

Radar-guided weapons.

The Lockheed-Martin [[Hellfire II]] light-weight anti-tank weapon in one mark uses the radar on the [[Boeing]] [[AH-64 Apache#ah-64D|AH-64D Apache Longbow]] to provide fire-and-forget guidance for that weapon.

Satellite-guided weapons.

[[File:F-22 bomb.jpg|thumb|A [[F-22]] releases a [[Joint Direct Attack Munition|JDAM]] from its center internal bay while flying at supersonic speed]]  [[File:BGT Hosbo.jpg|thumb|left|[[HOPE/HOSBO]] of the [[German Air Force|Luftwaffe]] with a combination of GPS/INS and electro-optical guidance]] Lessons learned during the first Gulf War showed the value of precision munitions, yet they also highlighted the difficulties in employing them—specifically when visibility of the ground or target from the air was degraded. The problem of poor visibility does not affect satellite-guided weapons such as [[Joint Direct Attack Munition]] (JDAM) and [[Joint Stand-Off Weapon]] (JSOW), which make use of the United States' [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] system for guidance. This weapon can be employed in all weather conditions, without any need for ground support. Because it is possible to [[Radar jamming and deception|jam]] GPS, the guidance package reverts to [[inertial navigation]] in the event of GPS signal loss. Inertial navigation is significantly less accurate; the JDAM achieves a published [[circular error probable|Circular Error Probable]] (CEP) of 13 m under GPS guidance, but typically only 30 m under inertial guidance (with free fall times of 100 seconds or less).  The [[Joint Direct Attack Munition]] (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts [[unguided bomb]]s, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather "smart" munitions. JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated [[inertial guidance system]] coupled to a [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS) receiver, giving them a published range of up to. JDAM-equipped bombs range from to. When installed on a bomb, the JDAM kit is given a GBU (Guided Bomb Unit) nomenclature, superseding the [[Mark 80]] or BLU (Bomb, Live Unit) nomenclature of the bomb to which it is attached.  [[Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser]] (WCMD) is a [[Global Positioning System|GPS]]/[[Inertial navigation system|INS]]-guided US tail kit for use with the TMD (Tactical Munitions Dispenser) family of cluster bombs to convert them to precision-guided munitions.  [[Wan Chien|Wan chien]] – Taiwanese indigenous version of JDAM.  The Griffin Laser Guided Bomb ([[Griffin LGB]]) is a [[laser-guided bomb]] system made by [[Israel Aerospace Industries]]' MBT missile division. It is an add-on kit which is used to retrofit existing [[Mark 82 bomb|Mark 82]], [[Mark 83 bomb|Mark 83]], and [[Mark 84 bomb|Mark 84]] and other "dumb fire" [[unguided bomb|gravity bomb]]s, making them into [[laser-guided bomb|laser-guided]] smart bombs (with the option of [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] guidance). Initial development completed in 1990. The Griffin conversion kit consists of a front "seeker" section and a set of steerable tailplanes. The resulting guided munition features "trajectory shaping", which allows the bomb to fall along a variety of trajectories – from a shallow angle to a vertical [[top attack]] profile. IAI publishes a [[circular error probable]] figure for the weapon of 5 metres.  The '[[GBU-57A/B]] Massive [[Aircraft ordnance|Ordnance]] Penetrator (MOP) is a [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], precision-guided, "[[bunker buster]]" [[bomb]]. This is substantially larger than the deepest penetrating bunker busters previously available, the [[GBU-28]] and [[GBU-37 GPS-Aided Munition|GBU-37]].  The [[SMKB]] (Smart-MK-Bomb) is a Brazilian guidance kit that turns a standard [[Mk 82]] (500 lbs) and [[Mk 83]] (1.000 lbs) into a Precision-guided weapon, respectively called SMKB-82 and SMKB-83. The kit provides extended range up to and are guided by an integrated [[inertial guidance system]] coupled to three satellites networks, relying on wireless to handle the flow of data between the aircraft and the munition.  [[FT PGB]] is a family of Chinese satellite and [[Inertial navigation system|Inertial]], guided munitions.  [[LS PGB]] is a family of Chinese GPS+INS or laser guided munitions.  The precision of these weapons is dependent both on the precision of the measurement system used for location determination and the precision in setting the coordinates of the target. The latter critically depends on intelligence information, not all of which is accurate. According to a CIA report, the accidental [[United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade]] during [[Operation Allied Force]] by NATO aircraft was attributed to faulty target information. However, if the targeting information "is" accurate, satellite-guided weapons are significantly more likely to achieve a successful strike in any given weather conditions than any other type of precision-guided munition.

Advanced guidance concepts.

Responding to after-action reports from pilots who employed laser or satellite guided weapons, [[Boeing]] developed a Laser JDAM (LJDAM) to provide both types of guidance in a single kit. Based on the existing [[Joint Direct Attack Munition]] configurations, a laser guidance package is added to a GPS/INS-guided weapon to increase its overall accuracy. Raytheon has developed the Enhanced Paveway family, which adds GPS/INS guidance to their Paveway family of laser-guidance packages. These "hybrid" laser and GPS guided weapons permit the carriage of fewer weapons types, while retaining mission flexibility, because these weapons can be employed equally against moving and fixed targets, or targets of opportunity. For instance, a typical weapons load on an F-16 flying in the [[Iraq War]] included a single 2,000-lb JDAM and two 1,000-lb LGBs. With LJDAM, and the new GBU-39 [[Small Diameter Bomb]] (SDB), these same aircraft can carry more bombs if necessary, and have the option of satellite or laser guidance for each weapon release.  [[Spice (munition)]] is an Israeli [[Electro-optics|EO]]/[[GPS]]-guided guidance kit for converting air-droppable unguided [[bomb]]s into precision guided bombs. Spice can be preprogrammed, with up to 100 different targets it may have to engage during a mission. The one target it will "actually" engage may then be selected, inflight, by an aircrewman.  [[HGK (bomb)|The HGK guidance kit (HGK)]], ), developed by [[TÜBİTAK Defense Industries Research and Development Institute|TÜBİTAK-SAGE]], is a [[Global Positioning System|GPS]]/[[Inertial navigation system|INS]] guidance kit that converts 2000-lb [[Mark 84 bomb]]s into [[Smart bomb|smart weapon]]s. It enables precision strike capability in all weather conditions with long range at a dispersion of.  [[Armement Air-Sol Modulaire]] (AASM) is a French equivalent to JDAM. AASM comprises a frontal guidance kit and a rear-mounted range extension kit matched to a [[dumb bomb]]. The weapon is modular because it can integrate different types of guidance units and different types of bombs. It uses hybrid [[inertial navigation system]] (INS) / [[Global Positioning System]] (GPS) guidance. Other variants add [[infrared homing]] or [[laser guidance]] to increase accuracy.  [[Paveway IV]] is a dual mode [[Global Positioning System|GPS]]/[[inertial navigation system|INS]] and [[Laser guidance|laser-guided]] bomb manufactured by [[Raytheon|Raytheon UK]] (formerly Raytheon Systems Limited). It is the latest iteration of the [[Paveway]] series.  [[Denel Dynamics Umbani]] a [[Precision guided munition|precision-guided]] bomb kit manufactured by [[Denel Dynamics]] in South Africa. It consists of a number of modules fitted to [[NATO]] standard [[Mark 81 bomb|Mk81]], [[Mark 81 bomb|Mk82]] or [[Mark 83 bomb|Mk83]] low drag free-fall bombs to convert them to [[glide bomb]]s.  [[DRDO Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon]] is an Indian precision-guided [[Anti-runway penetration bomb|Anti-Airfield Weapon]] with the range up to 100 km.  Moving Target Artillery Round (MTAR)  The U.S. Navy leads development for a new 155mm artillery round called Moving Target Artillery Round, capable of destroying moving targets in GPS-denied environments". The Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWC Dahlgren), and the [[U.S. Army Research Laboratory]] (ARL) have been coordinating MTAR, with final development scheduled for 2019.  Key features of the MTAR shell include extended range against moving targets, precision guidance and navigation without GPS, subsystem modularity, subsystem maturity, weapon system compatibility, restricted altitude, all-weather capability, reduced time of flight, and affordability. The new munition is intended for the Army or Marine Corps M777A1 howitzer, the M109A6 Paladin, and M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) self-propelled 155-millimeter artillery systems. The shell also would be for the Navy's Advanced Gun System (AGS) aboard the Zumwalt-class destroyer, and other future naval gun systems.  Precision Guidance Kit – Modernization (PGK-M)  The U.S. Army is planning for GPS-denied environments with the new Precision Guidance Kit – Modernization (PGK-M). An enhancement of previous technologies, PGK-M will give U.S. forces the ability to continue launching precision strikes when GPS is compromised by the enemy.  Picatinny Arsenal engineers are leading the development of a GPS alternative using image navigation for precision guidance of munitions, under the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). Other research partners include Draper Labs, [[U.S. Army Research Laboratory]], [[Air Force Research Laboratory]] and the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center.  The enhanced munition can navigate to a desired location, through a reference image utilized by the technology to reach the target. The PGK-M includes a collection of ad hoc software programmable radio networks, various kinds of wave-relay connectivity technologies and navigational technology.  [[PBK-500U Drel]] is a Russian guided jamming-resistant stealth glide bomb.

Cannon and mortar-launched guided projectiles.

A cannon-launched guided projectile (CLGP), is fired from [[artillery]], [[naval artillery|ship's cannon]], or [[armored vehicle]]s. Several agencies and organizations sponsored the CLGP programs. The [[United States Navy]] sponsored the Deadeye program, a laser-guided shell for its [[5"/54 caliber Mark 45 gun|5" guns]] and a program to mate a [[Paveway]] guidance system to an 8" shell for the [[8"/55 caliber Mark 71 gun]] in the 1970s (Photo). Other Navy efforts include the [[BTERM]], [[ERGM]], and [[LRLAP]] shells.  The [[U.S. Army]]'s [[MGM-51 Shillelagh]] missile can be considered a type of CLGP. Intended for use on the [[M551 Sheridan]] light tank, the Shillelagh missile was fired out of the Sheridan's cannon to provide robust anti-tank capability. The Army's [[M712 Copperhead]] laser guided artillery round was used in Desert Storm. Army CLGPs include the [[M982 Excalibur]] 155mm artillery shell, the [[XM395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition]], and the [[XM1156 Precision Guidance Kit]] to refit existing 155mm shells with precision guidance, as the [[United States Air Force|Air Force]]'s [[JDAM]] program converts dumb bombs into precision munitions.  [[M982 Excalibur]], GPS-guided munitions (XM982) for 155mm artillery was developed in a collaborative effort between [[U.S. Army Research Laboratory]] (ARL) and the Armaments Research and Development Center (ARDEC). Research included developing GPS and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) Inertial Sensor Technology. Excalibur was fielded in Operation Iraqi Freedom in the summer of 2007. Technology developed on the Excalibur is also applied in the Army's Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) for use on existing conventional projectiles and the Mortar Guidance Kit (MGK) for use on conventional mortars.  [[XM1111 Mid-Range Munition]] is cancelled 120mm tank gun launched missile.  [[LAHAT]] is Israeli [[semi-active laser homing]] guided low-weight anti-tank guided missile that can be launched from [[smoothbore]] tank guns.  [[KSTAM]] is South Korean guided munition shot from the gun of [[K2 Black Panther]] tank.  [[Krasnopol (Weapon)|30F39 Krasnopol]] is a Russian 152/155 mm [[cannon]]-launched, fin-stabilized, [[base bleed]]-assisted, semi-automatic [[laser-guided]], [[explosive]] [[projectile]]. It automatically 'homes' on a point illuminated by a laser designator, typically operated by a ground-based artillery observer.  [[Kitolov-2M]] is a Russian laser-guided 120/122mm artillery shell with Malakhit automated artillery [[fire control system]].  [[9M119 Svir/Refleks]] are Russian [[tank gun]]-launched laser-guided projectiles.  [[Strix mortar round|Pansarsprängvinggranat m/94 "STRIX"]] is a Swedish endphase-guided projectile fired from a 120 mm [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]] currently manufactured by [[Saab Bofors Dynamics]]. STRIX is fired like a conventional mortar round. The round contains an [[infrared]] imaging sensor that it uses to guide itself onto any [[tank]] or [[armoured fighting vehicle]] in the vicinity where it lands. The seeker is designed to ignore targets that are already burning.  [[Basir]] is an [[Iran]]ian artillery fired [[laser-guided]], 155 mm [[explosive]] [[projectile]] designed to destroy enemy tanks, vehicles and other moving or non-moving targets with high precision. This weapon is similar in function with Russian [[Krasnopol (Weapon)|Kransnopol]] or American [[M712 Copperhead]]. Basir put [[Iran]] among the five countries in the world with laser targeting technology.  [[SMArt 155]] is a German 155 mm artillery round, designed for a long range, [[indirect fire]] [[top attack]] role against armoured vehicles. The SMArt [[carrier shell]] contains two [[submunition]]s with [[infrared sensor]] and [[millimeter wave]] [[radar]], which descend over the battlefield on [[ballute]]s and attack hardened targets with [[explosively formed penetrator]] warheads. Built with multiple redundant self-destruct mechanisms, these submunitions were specifically designed to fall outside the category of submunition weapons prohibited by the 2008 [[Convention on Cluster Munitions]].  Rheinmetall Denel Munitions 155 mm V-LAP  GP1: Chinese laser-guided 155mm artillery projectile based on Krasnopol.  GP6: Chinese laser-guided 155mm artillery projectile based on Krasnopol.  [[XM395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition]]  [[Strix mortar round]]  [[KM-8 Gran]] is a Russian guided 120mm mortar shell with Malakhit [[fire control system]].  GP120 (GP4) is a Chinese terminal corrected 120 mm mortar shell.  GP140 is a Chinese [[semi-active laser]] (SAL) guided 120 mm mortar shell.

Guided small arms.

Precision-guided [[small arms]] prototypes have been developed which use a laser designator to guide an [[smart bullet|electronically actuated bullet]] to a target. Another system in development uses a laser range finder to trigger an explosive small arms shell in proximity to a target. The U.S. Army plans to use such devices in the future.  In 2008 the [[EXACTO]] program began under [[DARPA]] to develop a "[[fire and forget]]" smart sniper rifle system including a guided smart bullet and improved scope. The exact technologies of this smart bullet have not been released. EXACTO was test fired in 2014 and 2015 and results showing the bullet alter course to correct its path to its target were released.  In 2012 [[Sandia National Laboratories]] announced a self-guided bullet prototype that could track a target illuminated with a [[laser designator]]. The bullet is capable of updating its position 30 times a second and hitting targets over a mile away.  In mid-2016, Russia revealed it was developing a similar "[[smart bullet]]" weapon designed to hit targets at a distance of up to.  [[Pike (munition)|Pike]] is a precision-guided mini-missile fired from an underslung grenade launcher.  [[Air burst]] grenade launchers are a type of precision-guided weapons. Such grenade launchers can preprogram their grenades using a [[fire-control system]] to explode in the air above or beside the enemy.  [[Category:Weapon guidance| 01]]

External links.

[[Category:Aerial bombs]] [[Category:Targeting (warfare)]]

A precision-guided munition (PGM, smart weapon, smart munition, smart bomb) is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gulf War guided munitions accounted for only 9% of weapons fired, but accounted for 75% of all successful hits. Despite guided weapons generally being used on more difficult targets, they were still 35 times more likely to destroy their targets per weapon dropped.


Early life.

Norris and Ross were the twin sons of William McWhirter, the editor of the "Sunday Pictorial", and Margaret Williamson. In 1929, as William was working on the founding of the Northcliffe Newspapers chain of provincial newspapers, the family moved to "Aberfoyle", in Broad Walk, Winchmore Hill. Like their elder brother, Kennedy (born 1923), Norris and Ross were educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Oxford. Norris chose to complete his law degree in two years rather than the usual three. Between 1943 and 1946, Norris served as a sub-lieutenant with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on escort duty in Atlantic and on board a minesweeper in the Pacific.

Sports.

McWhirter was an all-round athlete and represented Scotland at running during the 1950s. He and his brother became sports journalists in 1950. In 1951, they published "Get to Your Marks" and that year they founded an agency to provide facts and figures to Fleet Street, setting out, in Norris McWhirter's words: "to supply facts and figures to newspapers, yearbooks, encyclopedias, and advertisers". At the same time, he became a founding member of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians.  McWhirter came to public attention while working for the BBC as a sports commentator. On 6 May 1954, he kept the time when Roger Bannister ran the first sub four-minute mile. After the race, he began his announcement:  As a result of Event Four, the one mile, the winner was R. G. Bannister of Exeter and Merton colleges, in a time which, subject to ratification, is a track record, an English native record, a United Kingdom record, a European record, in a time of three minutes...  at which the rest of McWhirter's announcement was drowned out in the enthusiastic uproar.  One of the athletes covered was runner Christopher Chataway, the employee at Guinness who recommended them to Sir Hugh Beaver. After an interview in which the Guinness directors enjoyed testing the twins' knowledge of records and unusual facts, the brothers agreed to start work on the book that became "The Guinness Book of Records" in 1954. In August 1955, the first slim green volume – 198 pages long – was at the bookstalls, and in four more months it was Britain's No. 1 nonfiction best-seller.  In 1954, the McWhirter brothers sued "Daily Mail" sports writer J. L. Manning for his critical piece about non-journalist (i.e. not members of the National Union of Journalists) sports writers. The McWhirters were awarded £300 in damages.  McWhirter was also part of the BBC commentary team for their Olympic Games coverage between 1960 and 1976.

Political activity.

He was an active member of the Conservative Party in the early 1960s and fought, unsuccessfully, to recapture Orpington in the 1964 and 1966 UK general elections after its loss to the Liberals in the 1962 by-election.  His brother, Ross, was a critic of British government policy in Northern Ireland, and called for a "tougher" response by the Army against Irish republicans. Ross was shot dead by the IRA in 1975 at his home in Middlesex after offering a reward for information leading to the apprehension of those carrying out a bombing campaign in London at the time. Following Ross's murder, Norris co-founded the right-wing political organisation the National Association for Freedom (now The Freedom Association) in 1975. This organisation initiated legal challenges against the trade union movement in the UK, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the European Economic Community (EEC) in Brussels. All of the work it undertakes falls within the following Eight Principles of a Free Society: Individual Freedom, Personal & Family Responsibility, The Rule of Law, Limited Government, Free Market Economy, National Parliamentary Democracy, Strong National Defences and a Free Press and Other Media. It continues its political activities to this day.  Norris was a member of the Secretariat of the anti-communist European Freedom Campaign, established in London at an Inaugural Rally at Westminster Central Hall on 10 December 1988.

"Record Breakers".

Both brothers were regulars on the BBC show "Record Breakers". They were noted for their photographic memory, enabling them to provide detailed answers to any questions from the audience about entries in the "Guinness Book of Records".  After Ross's death, Norris continued to appear on the show, eventually making him one of the most recognisable people on children's television in the 1970s and 1980s. McWhirter was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 New Year Honours.

Personal life and death.

In 1957, McWhirter married Carole Eckert, who died in 1987; they had a son and a daughter. In 1990, he married his secretary, Tessa von Weichardt, née Pocock.  He retired from "The Guinness Book of Records" in 1985, though he continued in an advisory role until 1996. He continued to write, editing a new reference book, "Norris McWhirter's Book of Millennium Records", in 1999.  In 1985, he launched an unsuccessful defamation case against the Independent Broadcasting Authority for the TV programme "Spitting Image", which had inserted a subliminal image of McWhirter's face imposed on the body of a naked woman.  McWhirter died from a heart attack at his home in Kington Langley, Wiltshire, on 19 April 2004, aged 78. His memorial service – attended by, among others, Baroness Thatcher, John Gouriet, Jeremy Beadle, Christopher Gill (who read The Lesson), Jeffrey Archer, Gregory Lauder-Frost and Sir Roger Bannister (who read an appreciation) – was held in St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, on 7 October 2004. however, He was interred at St Peter's Church, Wiltshire, England.

Norris Dewar McWhirter (12 August 192519 April 2004) was a British writer, political activist, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a television presenter. He and his twin brother Ross were known internationally for the founding of "Guinness World Records" (as "The Guinness Book of Records") which they wrote and annually updated together between 1955 and 1975. After Ross's assassination by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), Norris carried on alone as editor.


Conception.

Devised by Swedish telecommunication company Ericsson, Bluetooth is an open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances from mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and personal computers. Originally, Bluetooth was only intended for wireless exchanging of files between these devices, but it was later discovered that it could also be used for sexual intentions. The hoax concept of toothing started around March 2004 in the form of a forum designed by Ste Curran, then Editor at Large at games magazine "Edge", and ex-journalist Simon Byron. Toothing was conceived as a merger of the two concepts dogging with bluejacking, both of which were frequently mentioned in the UK media around that time. Byron said he and Curran were "idly messaging about the Stan Collymore dogging scandal, and how this stupid sexual buzzword had (apparently) come from nowhere," when they came up with the concept. "We wondered if we could create our own. We wonder a lot of things, and rarely push them past concept, because we’re as collectively creative as we are frustratingly idle. This particularly concept was simple enough to outstrip the temptations of grinning, saying 'Yeah!', and wandering off to see what was on [television]." Several newspapers have also compared toothing to dogging.  In toothing, a Bluetooth device is used to find other Bluetooth enabled devices within a close distance (on trains or buses, for example), and then send the expression "toothing?" as an initial greeting, letting the person with the enabled Bluetooth device know you are looking for sex. If sending of text messages via Bluetooth is not possible, the Bluetooth name of the mobile phone can be set to "toothing?" or something else to indicate interest. The pair of hoaxers wrote fake news articles on the forum about toothing and sent them off well-known Internet-based news services. Byron said he had to write ""Penthouse"-letters-page style sexual adventure stories" for articles and interviews with the media. The point with hoax was, according to Byron, to "highlight how journalists are happy to believe something is true without necessarily checking the facts."

Spread in media.

The concept of toothing quickly reached a large audience, even in countries outside of the UK. Curran and Byron said they kept a record from the start of all their mentions in the media, "but there were soon too many to record in full." They agreed to do an interview with "The Daily Telegraph" and "many papers read that and followed up, broadsheet and tabloid, regional, national, all over the planet." One of the hoaxers made an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live, and a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom reportedly declared his interest in toothing as a way of meeting women. The couple also received offers to license official toothing merchandise such as sex lines, websites, and mobile-phone software. Dozens of news organizations, including BBC, Wired News, Infosyncworld, and "The Independent" fell for the story and printed it. "The Guardian" also printed the story, but the article's author suspected it to be an April Fools' Day prank. The BBC wrote in their article:  One practitioner is Jon, a "Toother" living near London.  "One morning I received an anonymous text message via bluetooth," he told BBC News.  "I didn't understand what had happened, but that evening I did some research and worked out how to send my own."  The pair started to exchange messages on a train station platform; messages which got gradually more flirty.  "Eventually she asked me if I fancied a quickie in the toilets at the station we were travelling to.  "It happened, but I never saw her again."  Since that day Jon - who claims to have had Toothing success five times - has set up a website dedicated to the practice but he admits it takes a degree of perseverance.

Aftermath.

On April 4, 2005, the creators of the forum admitted that the whole thing was a hoax. Though the concept of toothing is possible, the hoaxers never intended for it to turn into something real. The couple said: "It's like going into a crowded nightclub, throwing a brick at the dance floor with a love letter attached, and hoping that the person it hits will agree to sleep with you." When announcing the hoax, Curran and Byron reassured that toothing was nothing more than a practical joke gone too far and despite all the articles in newspapers and tabloids, "no one has ever ever, ever toothed." Shanna Petersen, a sexologist, disagreed with the hoaxers' statement that no-one has ever toothed: "It's simple, doesn't take a lot of guts and rejection is nowhere as personal. Of course it's popular. Show people a new way through which they have a chance to have more sex and they'll do it. No matter how much effort goes into it or how meager the results." Multiple forums were in fact created throughout Europe, Asia and America within months of the original post of toothing. People signed up to the forums looking for good locations in their area to tooth, and to share their toothing stories with other members. There have later been real Bluetooth dating devices to hit the market.  University of Bath psychologist Linda Blair said the practice of toothing is down to the human need to take risks: "I think we protect ourselves too much in modern society, and risk is a human need. We need motivation. In some ways this is a tame way of picking people up, it's almost a natural follow up from randomly picking people's names out of the phone book. It's voluntary at all stages, and has choice. As long as that's there and it's legal, then people should be able to do what they want." Sue Peters of the Terrence Higgins Trust worried that anonymous sex made possible by toothing would cause an increase of sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia in the United Kingdom. University of Amsterdam sociologist Albert Benschop researched the hoax. He said toothing is "the next logical step" in dating and that the "old game is just adapting to new times". Benschop added that toothing is "just like picking up people in bars but without the silly time-consuming conventions of decorum that people are obliged to keep to these days. This is much more direct. You both know what you want." He also sees it as a way for people "to satisfy their need for intimacy. As long as it helps people out of loneliness and gives them more to enjoy in life, I think it's a very good development."  The term "toothing" was included in the 2006 version of "The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English". It was described as an "anonymous casual sexual activity with any partner arranged over Bluetooth radio technology enabled mobile phones." In addition, toothing is listed in the "Sex Slang" dictionary, authored by Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, with an explanation similar to the one in the "New Partridge Dictionary". Toothing was referenced in an episode of the American television series "", called "", that aired in the United States on April 18, 2005.

Toothing was originally a hoax claim that Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones or PDAs were being used to arrange random sexual encounters, perpetrated as a prank on the media who reported it. The hoax was created by Ste Curran, then Editor at Large at the gaming magazine "Edge", and ex-journalist Simon Byron. They based it on the two concepts dogging and bluejacking that were popular at the time. The creators started a forum in March 2004 where they wrote fake news articles about toothing with other members and then sent them off to well-known Internet-based news services. The point of the hoax was to "highlight how journalists are happy to believe something is true without necessarily checking the facts". Dozens of news organizations, including BBC News, Wired News, and "The Independent" thought the toothing story was real and printed it. On April 4, 2005, Curran and Byron admitted that the whole thing was a hoax. There have, however, been real Bluetooth dating devices since.


Examples.

Trader A ("A") has 500 shares of XYZ stock, valued at $10,000. A sells (writes) 5 call option contracts, bought by Investor B ("B") (in the US, 1 option contract covers 100 shares) for $1500. This premium of $1500 covers a certain amount of decrease in the price of XYZ stock (i.e. only after the stock value has declined by more than $1500 would the owner of the stock, A, lose money overall). Losses cannot be prevented, but merely reduced in a covered call position. If the stock price drops, it will not make sense for the option buyer ("B") to exercise the option at the higher strike price since the stock can now be purchased cheaper at the market price, and A, the seller (writer), will keep the money paid on the premium of the option. Thus, A's loss is reduced from a maximum of $10000 to [$10000 - (premium)], or $8500.  This "protection" has its potential disadvantage if the price of the stock increases. If B exercises the option to buy, and the stock price has increased such that A's shares of XYZ are now worth more than $10,000 in the market, A (the option writer) will be forced to sell the stock below market price at expiration, or must buy back the calls at a price higher than A sold them for.  If, before expiration, the spot price does not reach the strike price, the investor might repeat the same process again if he believes that stock will either fall or be neutral.  A call option can be sold even if the option writer ("A") does not initially own the underlying stock, but is buying the stock at the same time. This is called a "buy write". If XYZ trades at $33 and $35 calls are priced at $1, then A can purchase 100 shares of XYZ for $3300 and write/sell one (100-share) call option for $100, for a net cost of only $3200. The $100 premium received for the call will cover a $1 decline in stock price. The break-even point of the transaction is $32/share. Upside potential is limited to $300, but this amounts to a return of almost 10%. (If the stock price rises to $35 or more, the call option holder will exercise the option and A's profit will be $35–32 = $3) If the stock price at expiry is below $35 but above $32, the call option will be allowed to expire, but A (the seller/writer) can still profit by selling the shares. Only if the price is below $32/share will A experience a loss.  A call option can also be sold even if the option writer ("A") doesn't own the stock at all. This is called a "naked call". It is more dangerous, as the option writer can later be forced to buy the stock at the then-current market price, then sell it immediately to the option owner at the low strike price (if the naked option is ever exercised).  To summarize:

Marketing.

This strategy is sometimes marketed as being "safe" or "conservative" and even "hedging risk" as it provides premium income, but its flaws have been well known at least since 1975 when Fischer Black published "Fact and Fantasy in the Use of Options". According to Reilly and Brown,: "to be profitable, the covered call strategy requires that the investor guess correctly that share values will remain in a reasonably narrow band around their present levels."  Two recent developments may have increased interest in covered call strategies: (1) in 2002 the Chicago Board Options Exchange introduced a benchmark index for covered call strategies, the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (ticker BXM), and (2) in 2004 the Ibbotson Associates consulting firm published a case study on buy-write strategies.  This type of option is best used when the investor would like to generate income off a long position while the market is moving sideways. It allows an investor/writer to continue a buy-and-hold strategy to make money off a stock which is currently inactive in gains. The investor/writer must correctly guess that the stock won't make any gains within the time frame of the option; this is best done by writing an out-of-the-money option. A covered call has lower risk compared to other types of options, thus the potential reward is also lower.

A covered call is a financial market transaction in which the seller of call options owns the corresponding amount of the underlying instrument, such as shares of a stock or other securities. If a trader buys the underlying instrument at the same time the trader sells the call, the strategy is often called a "buy-write" strategy. In equilibrium, the strategy has the same payoffs as writing a put option.


Route.

The line begins at the HSB's narrow gauge station in Nordhausen (Nordhausen Nord). It lies in northwest of and parallel to the standard gauge railway station. After passing the link line to the Nordhausen Tramway that joins it from the right, the railway bends towards the north and runs for 7 km to the station of Niedersachswerfen Ost almost parallel to the standard gauge line from Nordhausen to Ellrich (the South Harz Line). The Harz mountains begin beyond Ilfeld (km 10.7). Behind "Netzkater" (km 14.0) lies the station of "Eisfelder Talmühle" (km 17.3), where the Selke Valley Railway branches off in a curve to the right.  The Trans-Harz Railway continues to follow the B 81 federal road as far as "Tiefenbachmühle" halt (km 19.5) before turning in a westerly direction in order to reach the request stop of "Sophienhof" (km 21.0), the last stop in Thuringia. The line runs through spruce forests over the state border with Saxony-Anhalt. At Benneckenstein station (km 29.8) the line crosses the ridge at, its highest point so far. It then runs downhill into the valley of the Warme Bode, where the halt of Sorge (km 33.4; ) is located. Next the route climbs to its next summit at 557 m. After Elend (km 41.6) the line reaches the junction with the Brocken Railway at "Drei-Annen-Hohne station" (km 46.4). In 2009 the construction of a new stub line from Elend to Braunlage was discussed (see "South Harz Railway Company").  Behind Drei-Annen-Hohne the line runs steeply downhill and the railway reaches the 58 m long tunnel below the "Thumkuhlenkopf". It is the only tunnel in the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway network. On emerging from the tunnel Wernigerode Castle can soon be seen in the distance. In the vicinity of the station at "Steinerne Renne" (km 54.5) the line enters one of the HSB's tightest curves with a 60-metre radius, before reaching the station of Wernigerode-Hasserode (km 56.3). The next stations en route are "Hochschule Harz" halt (formerly "Wernigerode-Kirchstraße") and "Westerntor" station (where the Wernigerode-Westerntor Bahnbetriebswerk is found) at Wernigerode. Its terminus is the station at Wernigerode (km 60.5).

History.

The first section of the Trans-Harz Railway to go into service was the line from Nordhausen to Ilfeld on 12 July 1897. On 7 February 1898 it was extended as far as Netzkater and on 15 September that year to Benneckenstein. From the north the section Wernigerode to Drei-Annen-Hohne was completed on 20 June 1898. The remaining section between Drei-Annen-Hohne and Benneckenstein was finally opened on 27 March 1899 along with the line up to the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountains. The original operating company was the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company. After the compulsory acquisition of the line in 1949, the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn ran it until 1993.  From 1899 the Trans-Harz Railway crossed another metre gauge line at Sorge. This other line was operated by the South Harz Railway Company (SHE) and ran from Walkenried via Brunnenbachsmühle and Sorge to Tanne. A link line, initially just for passenger trains, was laid in 1913. In 1945 services between Sorge and Brunnenbachsmühle were closed, because this section crossed the Inner German Border. The section from Sorge to Tanne continued to be worked until 1958. The tracks were left on the border bridge until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Operations.

Railway traffic has sharply increased in recent years on the section between Nordhausen and Ilfeld. Since 2004 Nordhausen hybrid-trams have run directly from Ilfeld into the tram network at Nordhausen. Other trains run to Eisfelder Talmühle and continue onto the Selke Valley Railway. Apart from one pair of steam trains, all services are worked by diesel railbuses. The only remaining goods trains on the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways work the line between Nordhausen and Eisfelder Talmühle. These regularly transport standard gauge ballast wagons from the "Hartsteinwerken Unterberg" on rollbocks to Nordhausen. A number of converted diesel locomotives are available for this, which have couplers and buffers at the right height for handling standard gauge goods wagons.  After 1993 daily trains services between Eisfelder Talmühle and Drei-Annen-Hohne were restricted to four pairs of trains. Only two pairs were hauled by steam locomotives. In addition, between Drei Annen Hohne and Wernigerode through trains run on the Brocken–Wernigerode route, the majority being steam-hauled.

The Harz Railway or Trans-Harz Railway () was formerly the main line of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways ("Harzer Schmalspurbahnen" or "HSB") and runs north to south right across the Harz Mountains from Wernigerode to Nordhausen. However, the tourist attraction of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz, is so great that the Brocken Railway is effectively the main line today. The Trans-Harz Railway joins up with the Selke Valley Railway to Quedlinburg at Eisfelder Talmühle where all trains are organised to make good connections.


History.

World War II.

Assault guns were primarily used during World War II by the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Early in the war, the Germans began to create makeshift assault guns by mounting their infantry support weapons on the bed of a truck or on obsolete tanks with the turret removed. Later in the war, both the Germans and the Soviets introduced fully armoured purpose-built assault guns into their arsenals.  Early on, the Soviets built the KV-2, a variant of the KV-1 heavy tank with a short-barrelled 152 mm howitzer mounted in an oversized turret. This was not a success in battle, and was replaced with a very successful series of turretless assault guns: the SU-76, SU-122, and the heavy SU-152, which were followed by the ISU-122 and ISU-152 on the new IS heavy tank chassis.  The primary German assault gun was the "Sturmgeschütz III" (StuG III). At about the same time (March 1942) as the howitzer-like KwK 37 gun was dropped from the Panzer IV's use, its "Sturmkanone" equivalent in the StuG III up to that time, was likewise replaced with a longer-barreled, high-velocity dual-purpose 75mm gun that had also been derived from the successful PaK 40 anti-tank towed artillery piece. The Germans also built a number of other fully armoured turretless assault guns, including the StuG IV, StuIG 33B, "Brummbär" and "Sturmtiger". The latter two were very heavy vehicles, and were built only in small quantities.  Battalions of assault guns, usually StuG IIIs, commonly replaced the intended panzer battalion in the German panzergrenadier divisions due to the chronic shortage of tanks, and were sometimes used as makeshifts even in the panzer divisions. Independent battalions were also deployed as "stiffeners" for infantry divisions, and the StuG III's anti-tank capabilities bolstered dwindling tank numbers on the Eastern and Western fronts.  US and UK forces also deployed vehicles designed for a close support role, but these were conventional tanks whose only significant modification was the replacement of the main gun with a howitzer. Two versions of the American Sherman tank were armed with the M4 105 mm howitzer, the M4(105) and the M4A3(105); these were designated assault guns in US usage of the term. The M8 Scott, based on the chassis of the M5 Stuart light tank, was also an assault cannon and carried a 75 mm short howitzer. The Churchill, Centaur and Cromwell tanks were all produced in versions armed with 95 mm howitzers: the Churchill Mark V and Mark VIII, the Centaur Mark IV and the Cromwell Mark VI. Earlier British tanks, such as the Crusader cruiser tank and the Matilda II Infantry tank were produced in versions armed with the 3-inch howitzer; the first versions of the Churchill tank also had this gun in a hull mounting. American tank destroyer units were often used in the assault gun role for infantry support.  The AVRE version of the Churchill Tank was armed with a Spigot mortar that fired a HE-filled projectile (nicknamed the "Flying Dustbin"). Its task was to attack fortified positions such as bunkers at close range (see Hobart's Funnies).

Post-war use.

In the post-WWII era, vehicles fitting into an "assault gun" category were developed as a light-weight, air-deployable, direct fire weapon for use with airborne troops. Those weapons were either based on jeeps or small tracked vehicles and the airborne troops thus always fought at a distinct disadvantage in terms of heavy weapons. The Soviet Union and the United States were the most attracted to the idea of providing this capability to traditionally light airborne forces. Their answers to the problem were similar, with the United States developing the M56 Scorpion and the Soviet Union developing the ASU-57, both essentially air-droppable light anti-tank guns.  The Soviets went on to develop an improved air-droppable assault gun, the ASU-85, which served through the 1980s, while their SU-100 remained in service with Communist countries, including Vietnam and Cuba, years after World War II. The US M56 and another armoured vehicle, the M50 Ontos, were to be the last of the more traditional assault guns in US service. Improvised arrangements such as M113 personnel carriers with recoilless rifles were quickly replaced by missile carrier vehicles in the anti-tank role.  The only vehicle with the qualities of an assault gun to be fielded after the removal of the M50 and M56 from service within the US military was the M551 Sheridan. The Sheridan's gun was a low-velocity weapon suitable in the assault role, but with the addition of the Shillelagh missile could double in the anti-tank role as well. The Sheridan, however, was not developed as an assault gun but as a light reconnaissance vehicle.  Currently there appears to be a move toward wheeled vehicles fitting a "tank destroyer" or "assault gun" role, such as the M1128 Mobile Gun System of the US Army, the Centauro Wheeled Tank Destroyer of the Italian and Spanish Armies, the Chinese anti-tank gun PTL-02 and ZBL08 assault gun, and the French AMX-10 RC heavy armoured car. While these vehicles might be useful in a direct fire role, none were developed with this specifically in mind, reminiscent of the use of tank destroyers by the US military in the assault gun role during World War II.

An assault gun is a form of self-propelled artillery which uses an infantry support gun mounted on a motorized chassis, normally an armored fighting vehicle. Assault guns are designed to provide direct fire support for infantry attacks, especially against other infantry or fortified positions. The term is a literal translation of the German word "Sturmgeschütz", which was applied to the first purpose-built assault gun, the StuG III, in 1940.


Biography.

Dora Pejačević (in old documents also Pejacsevich) was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, the daughter of a Croatian ban, Hungarian-Croatian Count Teodor Pejačević and Hungarian Baroness Lilla Vay de Vaya, herself a fine pianist. Her mother gave her first piano lessons. Paternally, she descended from the old Croatian noble Pejačević family, one of the most distinguished noble families in Slavonia, eastern region of Croatia.  Dora began to compose when she was 12. She studied music privately in Zagreb, Dresden and Munich and received lessons in instrumentation (from Dragutin Kaiser and Walter Courvoisier), composition (from Percy Sherwood) and violin (from Henri Petri in Munich). She was largely self-taught, however. She married Ottomar von Lumbe in 1921. Although Pejačević led a lonely life, she met many prominent musicians and writers, and befriended Austrian journalist and writer Karl Kraus and Czech aristocrat and patroness of arts Sidonie Nádherná von Borutín. Dora died in Munich in 1923, a result of complications following a difficult childbirth (of her son Theo), and is buried at the cemetery in Našice, Croatia.  Dora Pejačević is considered a major Croatian composer. She left behind a considerable catalogue of 58 opuses (106 compositions), mostly in late-Romantic style, including songs, piano works, chamber music, and several compositions for large orchestra, arguably her best. Her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars the first modern symphony in Croatian music. Most of her music has yet to be published and released on compact disc, although concerted efforts have been made recently to rectify this situation. For example, the Croatian Music Information Centre has published some of her scores, including three of her orchestral works (Piano Concerto, Symphony, and Phantasie Concertante). In 2008, the Center also published a bilingual monograph (in English and Croatian), written by the Pejačević scholar Koraljka Kos, accompanied by a first all-Pejačević CD of piano and chamber music.  Her life is the subject of a fictionalized Croatian biographical film "Countess Dora" (1993), directed by Zvonimir Berković and starring Alma Prica and Rade Šerbedžija.

Recordings.

Public video recordings.

Complete Works for Piano First integral recording of Pejačević's works for piano, by pianist Yoko Nishii with help of PTNA (Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan). The videos are public, and as follows:

Dora Pejačević (10 September 1885 – 5 March 1923) was a Croatian composer, a member of the Pejačević noble family. She was one of the composers to introduce the orchestral song to Croatian music and her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars to be the first modern symphony in Croatian music.


Organs and bodies.

The BSO has the following bodies: President has been BM a.D. Rudolf Hundstorfer.

members.

Ordinary and extraordinary members are organized in the BSO. There are also supportive and honorary members.  " 'Full members:' " 'Supporting Members' may be natural or legal persons who support the Austrian sport, such as: B. funding agencies of Austrian sports or sports science institutes.  At the request of the Presidium, the Austrian Sports Assembly may appoint natural persons who have acquired special merits for all-Austrian sports and in particular for the BSO as "honorary members". The honorary membership can also be combined with an honorary function.

structure.

Matters of sport fall into the constitutional competence of the federal states. The Confederation primarily carries out a funding competence based on Article 17 of the Federal Constitutional Law ("Private Business Administration"). The federal government's Sports Promotion Act forms the basis of federal sports funding.

State area.

In the state sector, the Federal Ministry of Defense and Sport and the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy are responsible for the various tasks of the sport at federal level. In addition, individual sports-specific subject areas can also fall into the area of competence of other federal ministries (such as Youth & Sport, Violence prevention at major sporting events, etc.).  Since, according to Article 15 B-VG, agendas of sport fall within the constitutional sphere of action of the federal states, nine regional sports directorates are also established.

Non-governmental area.

The Austrian Federal Sports Organization is the non-governmental umbrella organization of the Austrian sport and coordinates matters of sport with the responsible state agencies. The regular members of the BSO are the three umbrella organizations ASKÖ, ASVÖ and Sportunion, which currently has 60 recognized trade associations as well as the Austrian Disabled Sports Association, the Austrian Olympic Committee, the Austrian Paralympic Committee and the Special Olympics. Extraordinary members are the provinces, as far as they declare their membership as well as all-Austrian associations of special importance (e.g. Österr. Betriebsssportverband, Österr. Heeressportverband, etc.). The full members have the right to vote in the individual committees of the BSO, such as the Austrian Sports Assembly, the Austrian Sports Council and the Austrian Sports Council.

Focus.

Service and advice.

The BSO offers its members a wide range of services. In addition to support in terms of subsidy billing, the BSO office advises its members in a variety of topics. The personal consulting activities of the BSO office are complemented by regular training courses offered by external experts.

Further education.

With a broad and above all high-quality training in the areas of sports club management and coaching, the Austrian Federal Sports Organization in cooperation with the Ministry of Sport and the Federal Sports Academy strives for high standards and accents in the world of Austrian sports. The athletic excellence and success of the local athletes are seen as a result of professional work and the commitment of the officials in the clubs and associations as well as well-trained coaches. The continuing education and training offers of the BSO should give all functionaries, co-workers or trainers working in Austrian sports the opportunity to develop themselves further and to be even more professional.

Sport in the EU and International.

Giving sport a voice not only nationally but also internationally is a goal that has been pursued by the BSO for many years. The partnership with the EU Office of the European Olympic Committees ensures an exchange of information and a strong representation of sport among decision-makers and institutions in Brussels.

Social and society.

A central topic of the work and the tasks of the BSO is the aspect "social responsibility and social policy". The BSO sees the need for issues such as inclusion and inclusion, the protection of children and adolescents, the greening of sport in terms of sustainability, gender equality in sport, as well as the invaluable voluntary commitment, without which organized sport in this form is not exist, create awareness and use sport as a positive multiplier.  The initiative for the "Daily Gymnastics lesson" 2012/13 was also a successful move to draw attention to the health of the children. With more than 150,000 supporters it was possible to raise awareness of the importance of daily exercise units for children and adolescents. The BSO was able to reach a broad public with this initiative.

Media cooperations and events.

Cooperations with the media, companies and initiatives are a central part of sports advocacy for the BSO. In order to be able to best represent the member associations and various sports, the BSO is committed to promoting the values and concerns of sport through partnerships, campaigns and events to communicate to a broad public.

BSO Cristall Gala.

At the BSO Cristall Gala, Austria's best coaches, officials, sports clubs and sports ambassadors are awarded each year by the BSO in cooperation with the Ministry of Sport. There is also a women's power award. All member associations of the BSO and their associations are entitled to nominate personalities and projects that meet the requirements for the respective categories.

The Austrian Federal Sports Organization (, BSO) is the Austrian Federal Government department responsible for the promotion of sports. It administers the means of promoting elite-level sports, and distributes these to its members.


History.

The first launching site of the sounding rockets in Poland was Błędowska Desert, where since 1958 to 1963, the rockets of different types had been launched; among others RD and Rasko. During a flight, the biological experiment with earlier trained two white mouses was conducted (the RM-2D rocket achieved the altitude of 1580 meters). Since 1965 to April 1970, the Meteor-1 rockets had been launched from "spaceport" located 5 km from Ustka town. This programme had been continued to 1974, when rockets were bearing out from the area of experimental center founded there during the years of the Second World War, located on west side of Łeba town. Currently, it is in the museum (the starting place with ramp and the radar bases).  There was 224 flights of "Meteor-1" rocket series (including prototypes). The valuable data both meteorological and connected with rocket techniques were found as the result of these researches.  The "Meteor-1", "Meteor-2H" and "Meteor 2K" (the largest civilian rocket developed in Poland) were single-stage rockets. The "Meteor 3" was a two-stage rocket, developed from "Meteor 1".  Meteor rockets had been launched from Łeba and Ustka. Five Meteor rockets missions were conducted around 1970 from Zingst, in the former Eastern Germany. The programme of flights of Meteor-2 was finished during the same year, when Poland started to participate in Interkosmos research, using the Vertical rockets.

Meteor-1.

One stage, but two units rocket called "Meteor-1" had the length of 2470 mm and the initial mass of 32.5 kg. The flight lasted for 80 second and reaching at the peak altitude of 36.5 km. The motor ignite for 2–3 seconds and reached the maximum velocity of 1100 meters per second. In 1965, 6 rockets of "Meteor-1" type was launched and after this time: 12 in 1966, 40 in 1967, 45 in 1968, 36 in 1969, 34 in 1970 and 4 in 1971.  The charge of metal dipoles was released by rockets and this material had later been observed on radar screens. It was the base of derivation of winds strength in the stratosphere and winds directions in the same atmospheric layer. After experiments that had been conducted in the years 1965-1966, during "The Year of the Quiet Sun", a cyclic pattern of variation in case of directions of these atmospheric flows was concluded.

Meteor-2.

The one stage "Meteor-2K" was the most advanced version of the Meteor rocket. On 7 October 1970, the flight took place and reached the altitude of 90 kilometers. This rocket had been used as sounding of the ionosphere, reaching the level of boundary between D and E layers. 10 flights of this version were realized, when the measurements of temperature were made. The length of rocket frame is 4.5 meters and some are more longer than an English rocket, Petrel (in service since 1968). The "Meteor-2" had not been produced in serial way. The cost of this rocket prototype was eight times higher than for the copy of "Meteor-1". The weight of useful charge, in form of "RAMZES" recovery probe, is 10 kg.

Meteor-3.

A two-stage rocket called "Meteor-3" was a developed version of "Meteor-1". The range of flight was increased and the rocket gained possibility of launching of few charges of dipoles. It can reach at ceiling altitudes between 67 and 74 kilometers. An idea of version "S" project had been considered. This model could be launch from airplane frame, about 5 kilometers above the surface.

Meteor-4.

"Meteor-4" rocket has ten times more thrust than "Meteor-2". This version could reach above 100 km. According to design, this rocket is longer than 5 meters and had the initial total mass of 407 kg with useful weight of 10 kg. 175 seconds into the flight, it would reach at the altitude of 120 kilometers.

Launch Log.

An incomplete list of Meteor launches

Meteor is a designation of a series of Polish sounding rockets. The Meteor rockets were built between 1963 and 1974.


History.

The association was introduced with a uniform tariff system on 1 August 2001 in four administrative districts and the two cities, and has since been expanded several times: on 1 August 2004, the last unaffiliated administrative districts in Saxony were included, and on 1 August 2005, Altenburg, the area of the former GDR district of Leipzig, which is still strongly oriented towards Leipzig, was completed in the MDV. Negotiations on the accession of the Bitterfeld district were also started shortly after its introduction, but have not been successful to date. In contrast to the first accessions, the state of Saxony-Anhalt now no longer wants to reimburse through tariffing losses.

Public authorities.

The MDV includes (year of accession in brackets):  From 2004, the former district of Döbeln was also part of the Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund. As a result of the Saxon district reform of 2008, however, this became part of the administrative district of Mittelsachsen. Since August 2011, the entire district of Mittelsachsen, including the former district of Döbeln, has belonged to Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen. Only for journeys between the former district of Döbeln and the Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund across all areas of the association there are still transitional tariff regulations.  It was announced in February 2018 that the area would be extended to include the districts of Anhalt-Bitterfeld and Wittenberg as well as the city of Dessau-Roßlau. As of December 2019, rail traffic in this area will initially be integrated into the MDV and full integration with bus and tram traffic will be sought. Also in December 2019, Könnern station in the Salzlandkreis district will become part of the network.

Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund (MDV) is a public transport association in the German Leipzig-Halle (Saale) area. The company is based in Halle (Saale), but its head office is in Leipzig.


History.

Prior to the advent of milter, an email filter was generally implemented as a program to which an MTA would hand the message once it has completely arrived, with most of the message's envelope information removed. That program could then analyze the header and body of the message and make a decision to accept the message (i.e. return a "success" status to the MTA) or reject it (i.e. return a "failed" status to the MTA). The MTA would then log a successful delivery or return a failure message to the sender as appropriate, and the filter would be responsible for effecting delivery of the message (to the intended inbox(es) as-is, or modified to remove unwanted content, or to specific folder(s), etc.).  An MTA that is milter-capable instead notifies filters to which it is connected about each phase of the delivery of a message, from initial client connection through completion of transmission. At each phase of the SMTP session, the filter is given data about the arriving message and then has an opportunity to terminate acceptance of the message early when appropriate. For very large messages, this can have an enormous impact when a decision to reject can be made as early as possible. Moreover, unlike the former model, a milter-capable MTA can connect to multiple filters in parallel that serve specific purposes such as anti-virus, anti-spam, message authentication, flow regulation, etc. Finally, such filters can take special action on the message: add or remove recipients in the envelope; alter the body prior to delivery; add, change or remove header fields in the message, etc.  The Sendmail Consortium includes a special thread-based library in the sendmail distribution that provides the milter API.  The use of milters has spread in recent years and milters are becoming increasingly important in mail processing on the large scale to block, verify and sort incoming mail.

MTAs.

Sendmail.

Milter was first officially introduced to Sendmail 8.12.0 released on September 8, 2001. Milter was available in sendmail 8.11.x versions as an FFR (For Future Release/Beta code). Milter has undergone substantial improvements since its first official release. Latest information is in SENDMAIL RELEASE NOTES to know about changes related to Milter in sendmail versions.

Postfix.

Milter support was added to Postfix 2.3.0 released July 12, 2006. Many, but not all, milters can be used with Postfix "out of the box".

Interface.

The Sendmail Consortium provides a documented Application Programming Interface that can be used to create milters for special needs. The library provided by The Sendmail Consortium is pthread-based. However, documentation of the protocol used for communication between sendmail and milter processes is not provided. This internal protocol is subject to changes in new sendmail versions.

Milter (portmanteau for "mail filter") is an extension to the widely used open source mail transfer agents (MTA) Sendmail and Postfix. It allows administrators to add mail filters for filtering spam or viruses in the mail-processing chain. In the language of the art, "milter" refers to the protocol and API implementing the service, while "a milter" has come to refer to a filter application that uses milter to provide service.


Definitions.

Gerbe.

A gerbe on a topological space "X" is a stack "G" of groupoids over "X" which is "locally non-empty" (each point in "X" has an open neighbourhood "U" over which the section category "G"("U") of the gerbe is not empty) and "transitive" (for any two objects "a" and "b" of "G"("U") for any open set "U", there is an open covering {V} of U such that the restrictions of "a" and "b" to each V are connected by at least one morphism).  A canonical example is the gerbe of principal bundles with a fixed structure group "H": the section category over an open set "U" is the category of principal "H"-bundles on "U" with isomorphism as morphisms (thus the category is a groupoid). As principal bundles glue together (satisfy the descent condition), these groupoids form a stack. The trivial bundle "X" x "H" over "X" shows that the local non-emptiness condition is satisfied, and finally as principal bundles are locally trivial, they become isomorphic when restricted to sufficiently small open sets; thus the transitivity condition is satisfied as well.

Examples.

Algebraic geometry.

Let formula_1 be a variety over an algebraically closed field formula_2, formula_3 an algebraic group, for example formula_4. Recall that a "G"-torsor over formula_1 is an algebraic space formula_6 with an action of formula_3 and a map formula_8, such that locally on formula_1 (in étale topology or fppf topology) formula_10 is a direct product formula_11. A G"-gerbe over "M may be defined in a similar way. It is an Artin stack formula_12 with a map formula_13, such that locally on "M" (in étale or fppf topology) formula_10 is a direct product formula_15. Here formula_16 denotes the classifying stack of formula_3, i.e. a quotient formula_18 of a point by a trivial formula_3-action. There is no need to impose the compatibility with the group structure in that case since it is covered by the definition of a stack. The underlying topological spaces of formula_12 and formula_1 are the same, but in formula_12 each point is equipped with a stabilizer group isomorphic to formula_3.

Moduli stack of stable bundles on a curve.

Consider a smooth projective curve formula_24 over formula_2 of genus formula_26. Let formula_27 be the moduli stack of stable vector bundles on formula_24 of rank formula_29 and degree formula_30. It has a coarse moduli space formula_31, which is a quasiprojective variety. These two moduli problems parametrize the same objects, but the stacky version remembers automorphisms of vector bundles. For any stable vector bundle formula_32 the automorphism group formula_33 consists only of scalar multiplications, so each point in a moduli stack has a stabilizer isomorphic to formula_4. It turns out that the map formula_35 is indeed a formula_4-gerbe in the sense above.. It is a trivial gerbe if and only if formula_29 and formula_30 are coprime.

Root stacks.

Another class of gerbes can be found using the construction of root stacks. Informally, the formula_29-th root stack of a line bundle formula_40 over a scheme is a space representing the formula_29-th root of formula_42 and is denotedformula_43.The formula_29-th root stack of formula_42 has the propertyformula_46as gerbes. It is constructed as the stackformula_47sending an formula_48-scheme formula_49 to the category whose objects line bundles of the formformula_50and morphisms are commutative diagrams compatible with the isomorphisms formula_51. This gerbe is banded by the algebraic group of roots of unity formula_52, where on a cover formula_49 it acts on a point formula_54 by cyclically permuting the factors of formula_1 in formula_56. Geometrically, these stacks are formed as the fiber product of stacksformula_57where the vertical map of formula_58 comes from the Kummer sequenceformula_59This is because formula_60 is the moduli space of line bundles, so the line bundle formula_40 corresponds to an object of the category formula_62 (considered as a point of the moduli space).

Root stacks with sections.

There is another related construction of root stacks with sections. Given the data above, let formula_63 be a section. Then the formula_29-th root stack of the pair formula_65 is defined as the lax 2-functorformula_66sending an formula_48-scheme formula_49 to the category whose objects line bundles of the formformula_69and morphisms are given similarly. These stacks can be constructed very explicitly, and are well understood for affine schemes. In fact, these form the affine models for root stacks with sections. Given an affine scheme formula_70, all line bundles are trivial, hence formula_71 and any section formula_72 is equivalent to taking an element formula_73. Then, the stack is given by the stack quotientformula_74withformula_75If formula_76 then this gives an infinitesimal extension of formula_77.

Examples throughout algebraic geometry.

These and more general kinds of gerbes arise in several contexts as both geometric spaces and as formal bookeeping tools:

History.

Gerbes first appeared in the context of algebraic geometry. They were subsequently developed in a more traditional geometric framework by Brylinski. One can think of gerbes as being a natural step in a hierarchy of mathematical objects providing geometric realizations of integral cohomology classes.  A more specialised notion of gerbe was introduced by Murray and called bundle gerbes. Essentially they are a smooth version of abelian gerbes belonging more to the hierarchy starting with principal bundles than sheaves. Bundle gerbes have been used in gauge theory and also string theory. Current work by others is developing a theory of non-abelian bundle gerbes.

In mathematics, a gerbe (; ) is a construct in homological algebra and topology. Gerbes were introduced by Jean Giraud following ideas of Alexandre Grothendieck as a tool for non-commutative cohomology in degree 2. They can be seen as an analogue of fibre bundles where the fibre is the classifying stack of a group. Gerbes provide a convenient, if highly abstract, language for dealing with many types of deformation questions especially in modern algebraic geometry. In addition, special cases of gerbes have been used more recently in differential topology and differential geometry to give alternative descriptions to certain cohomology classes and additional structures attached to them.


Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour

Organizational History.

Formation.

The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor is an interdenominational Christian youth society which provided a structure for church youth to work together to know God in Jesus Christ. After the Society was described in a magazine article in 1882 the Society grew initially in the United States and then spread throughout the British Empire and beyond. The movement peaked during the last decade of the nineteenth century and then declined as denominational youth societies imitated and adapted the forms of Christian Endeavor. The Society continues in various locations into the twenty-first century.  The first Christian Endeavor Society was formed on Feb 2, 1881 in Portland, Maine, under the direction of Francis E. Clark. Rev. Clark founded the first national church youth organization, Christian Endeavor, the forerunner of the modern denominational "youth fellowship". The society was formed in order to bring youth to accept Christ and work for Him. The youth were shown that the church cared for young people. The Society enabled youth to express themselves while participating in useful tasks. It stressed a devoted, evangelistic spirit that was expressed in the Christian Endeavor pledge:  Christian Endeavor created publications for youth, devised youth programs, and sponsored events. Christian Endeavor was maintained through private donations that often came from youth. Christian Endeavor began as a small group of youth that met at the house of their minister. Within a year, six societies had formed. After two years, the number of societies had grown to fifty-six. The organization expanded rapidly as it grew from a single church society into a world movement. By the end of the 19th century, Christian Endeavor was in the headlines of many major American newspapers. By 1906, 67,000 youth-led Christian Endeavor societies had been organized worldwide, with over four million members. Christian Endeavor took up many causes and was influential in supporting the temperance movement in the 1920s.  Christian Endeavor began extensive publications in 1886. World conventions were held to address major issues. In 1887, Clark was elected president of the United Society, and in 1895 he was chosen as the World President of the Christian Endeavor Union. Clark held this position until his death in 1927. Daniel A. Poling then assumed the presidency. Christian Endeavor societies met at the state level for local control and met in World Conventions at intervals of three to six years. (World Conventions were held in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1937 and 1951.) The organization's world headquarters moved from Boston, Massachusetts, to Columbus, Ohio, in 1952. Christian Endeavor is still operating today throughout the world; their activities are widely reported on international and state Christian Endeavor Websites. Drawing on ideas taken from other pastors, especially Presbyterian Theodore L. Cuyler from Brooklyn, Clark shaped the concept of "youth ministry" by asking young people in his Williston Congregational Church to sign a two-sentence pledge described in his book published in 1882, The Children and the Church, and the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, as a means of Bringing Them Together. Previously youth had been classified with children and not considered capable of active Christian involvement.

Development.

The Christian Endeavor movement began February 2, 1881. The process, pledge(promise), and principles for starting a youth-led, adult-mentored ministry can be found at http://www.CEworks.faith. Churches can take steps to help young people be in ministry today. The Christian Endeavor World office is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. The General Secretary (CEO) is Dr. Dave Coryell from the USA. The President is Raffi Messerlian from Lebanon.  People involved in Christian Endeavor gather every four years for a convention. The 29th C.E. World Convention will be held July 2019 in Flensunger Hof, Germany.

Literary References.

Christian Endeavor meetings are described in both "Cloudy Jewel" and "The Girl from Montana", by Christian author Grace Livingston-Hill.

The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor is a nondenominational evangelical society founded in Portland, Maine, in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark. Its professed object was "to promote an earnest Christian life among its members, to increase their mutual acquaintanceship, and to make them more useful in the service of God."


Objective.

The objective of video tracking is to associate target objects in consecutive video frames. The association can be especially difficult when the objects are moving fast relative to the frame rate. Another situation that increases the complexity of the problem is when the tracked object changes orientation over time. For these situations video tracking systems usually employ a motion model which describes how the image of the target might change for different possible motions of the object.  Examples of simple motion models are:

Algorithms.

To perform video tracking an algorithm analyzes sequential video frames and outputs the movement of targets between the frames. There are a variety of algorithms, each having strengths and weaknesses. Considering the intended use is important when choosing which algorithm to use. There are two major components of a visual tracking system: target representation and localization, as well as filtering and data association.  "Target representation and localization" is mostly a bottom-up process. These methods give a variety of tools for identifying the moving object. Locating and tracking the target object successfully is dependent on the algorithm. For example, using blob tracking is useful for identifying human movement because a person's profile changes dynamically. Typically the computational complexity for these algorithms is low. The following are some common "target representation and localization" algorithms:  "Filtering and data association" is mostly a top-down process, which involves incorporating prior information about the scene or object, dealing with object dynamics, and evaluation of different hypotheses. These methods allow the tracking of complex objects along with more complex object interaction like tracking objects moving behind obstructions. Additionally the complexity is increased if the video tracker (also named TV tracker or target tracker) is not mounted on rigid foundation (on-shore) but on a moving ship (off-shore), where typically an inertial measurement system is used to pre-stabilize the video tracker to reduce the required dynamics and bandwidth of the camera system. The computational complexity for these algorithms is usually much higher. The following are some common filtering algorithms:

Video tracking is the process of locating a moving object (or multiple objects) over time using a camera. It has a variety of uses, some of which are: human-computer interaction, security and surveillance, video communication and compression, augmented reality, traffic control, medical imaging and video editing. Video tracking can be a time-consuming process due to the amount of data that is contained in video. Adding further to the complexity is the possible need to use object recognition techniques for tracking, a challenging problem in its own right.


Biography.

Ernst's father, Ferdinand Johann von Bibra, (*1756; † 1807), fought under General Rochambeau in the American Revolutionary War on behalf of the colonies. Later he married his brother's daughter, Lucretia Wilhelmine Caroline von Bibra,(b.1778 - d. + 1857). Ernst's father died when he was 11⁄2 years old and Baron Christoph Franz von Hutten (d. 1830) raised Ernst in Würzburg. He graduated at nineteen from a boarding school in Neuberg on the Danube. Baron Ernst von Bibra started studying law at Würzburg but soon changed over to the natural sciences, especially chemistry. ("Dr. med. & phil." Doctor of medicine & PhD) Martin Haseneier, in his Foreword to the 1995 translation "Plant Intoxicants" relates that Ernst fought in no less than 49 duels as a young man! Many of his works have been reprinted in recent years. Besides the castle and estate at Schwebheim, Ernst was the owner of a half interest in the castle and estate at Willershausen (Herleshausen). Ernst sold his half of the castle and estate of Willershausen (Herleshausen) in 1850 to the Landgrave Carl August of Hesse.  He produced: "Chemical Research on Various Varieties of Pus" (Berlin 1842); "Chemical Research on the Bones and Teeth of Humans and Other Vertebrates" (Schweinfurt 1844) and "Helpful Tables for the Recognition of the Substances of Zoological Chemistry" (Erlangen 1846). Then in cooperation with Geist he published: "Investigations of the Diseases of the Workers in the Phosphorus Match Factories" (Erlangen 1847) as well as with Harleß "The Events of the Investigations of the Effects of Sulphur Fumes" (Erlangen 1847). After he had published "Chemical Fragments Concerning the Liver and Gall-Bladder" (Braunschweig 1849), he went to Brazil and around Cape Horn. He reported on this trip in his "Trips in South America" (Mannheim 1854, 2 vols.). After his return he lived mostly in Nuremberg where he also set up his rich collections of natural history ethnographics and died on 5 June 1878. Here he published "Comparative Investigations of the Human Brain and Those of Other Vertebrates" (Mannheim 1854); "The Narcotic Substances of Enjoyment and the Human Being" (Nuremberg 1855); "Bread and the Various Grains" (Nuremberg 1860); "Coffee and its Substitute" (Reports at the Meetings of the Academy of Sciences in Munich, 1858); "The Bronze and Copper Alloys of the Old and Most Ancient Peoples" (Erlangen 1869) and "Concerning Old Discoveries of Iron and Silver " (Nuremberg 1873).  Ernst work on narcotics is his most famous and was recently translated into English and publish under the name of "Plant Intoxicants". (). This was one of the first books to examine the cultivation, preparation, and consumption of the world’s major stimulants and inebriants. The book includes seventeen chapters : 1) coffee, 2)coffee leaves as a beverage 3) tea, 4) Paraguayan Tea (yerba maté), 5) Guarana, 6) chocolate, 7) Fahan Tea (the orchid Angraecum fragrans Thouars as a source of coumarin), 8) Khat, 9) Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) opiate derived from the "poison lettuce,"10) thorn apple, 11) coca, 12) opium, 13) Lactucarium 14) hashish, 15) tobacco 16) Betel and Related Substances (Areca catechu, areca nut; Piper siriboa, the betel leaf) and 17) arsenous acid or arsenic trioxide (AsO). Because of Ernst's early investigation and writing on coffee, he is occasionally referenced in modern coffee literature.  Starting with travel sketches and culturally historic descriptions rendered in novelistic style ("Memories of South America", Leipzig 1861, 3 vols.; "About Chile, Peru and Brazil", Leipzig 1862, 3 vols. and others) von Bibra preferred to busy himself in his later years with fictional works and developed an astonishing fruitfulness in this field. Of these writings which stand out especially because of successful characterizations and descriptions of beautiful landscapes we mention: "A Jewel" (Leipzig 1863); "A Woman with a Noble Heart" ("Ein edles Frauenherz" was featured in a radio broadcast on 26 August 2006 reading and concert)(2nd ed., Jena 1869); "The Adventures of a Young Peruvian in Germany" (Jena 1870); "The Nine Stations of Mr. von Scherenberg" (2nd ed. Jena 1880); "The Children of the Rogue":(Nuremberg 1872); "Brave Women" (Jena 1876.)

Honors.

Germany:  Bavaria:  Prussia:  Russia:

von Bibra Family.

Ernst was a member of the aristocratic Franconian von Bibra family which among its members were Lorenz von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia (1459–1519), Lorenz’ half brother, Wilhelm von Bibra Papal emissary, Conrad von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia (1490–1544) and Heinrich von Bibra, Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot of Fulda (1711–1788).

Germanisches Nationalmuseum.

Ernst was one of the co-founders of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum (formerly "Germanischen Museums“) located in Nuremberg. Founded in 1852, led by close friend and fellow Franconian baron, Hans von und zu Aufsess, whose goal was to assemble a "well-ordered compendium of all available source material for German history, literature and art". Ernst donated much of his personal collection, which included art, a rich natural history and ethnographic collection, to the museum. The "Bibra-Stube" was installed in the museum in 1887–1888.

"Theory on the action of ether" Anesthesia.

An outdated theory of anaesthetic action, Ernst von Bibra and Emil Harless, in 1847, were the first to suggest that general anaesthetics may act by dissolving in the fatty fraction of brain cells. They proposed that anaesthetics dissolve and remove fatty constituents from brain cells, changing their activity and inducing anaesthesia. Below is the abstract of a recent German scientific paper on their work.  "Abstract of Article:"  "Just three months after the first application of sulphuric ether to a patient in German-speaking countries the monography "Die Wirkung des Schwefeläthers in chemischer und physiologischer Beziehung" was published. In this book Ernst von Bibra and Emil Harless presented their experimental research on the effects of ether on humans and compared it to those on animals. The contents of the book are described. The authors "Theory on the action of ether" will be discussed in the context of contemporary criticism. Their hypothesis affected the discussion on the mechanisms of anaesthetic action up to the twentieth century."

Composition of Barley.

The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) cites the following composition of barley meal according to Ernst von Bibra, omitting the salts:

What others thought about Ernst von Bibra.

Richard Evans Schultes, "Father of Modern Ethnobotany" on Ernst von Bibra.

Richard Evans Schultes, Ph.D., F.L.S. who was the Curator of Economic Botany and Executive Director, Harvard Botanical Museum wrote in "The plant kingdom and hallucinogens" (1970):

Albert Hofmann on Ernst von Bibra.

Albert Hofmann writes and quotes Ernst in his book "LSD — My Problem Child", Chapter 7. "Radiance from Ernst Jünger"

Arthur Schopenhauer on Ernst von Bibra.

The famous philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), was extremely critical of Ernst for his vivisection of animals in "Parerga and Paralipomena" (quoting Payne's translation).  Schopenhauer further on states

The Westminster Review.

The Westminster Review. July and October, 1854. New Series Vol. VI. London: John Chapman History, Biography, Voyages and Travels. page 282  In contrast to other Germans, Ernst was found to be a consummate outdoors man.

Historian Ferdinand Gregorovius.

Ferdinand Gregorovius described vividly his visit to the eccentric Ernst published in 1893. Some of his novels include:

Dr. Ernst Freiherr von Bibra (9 June 1806 in Schwebheim – 5 June 1878 in Nuremberg) was a German Naturalist (Natural history scientist) and author. Ernst was a botanist, zoologist, metallurgist, chemist, geographer, travel writer, novelist, duellist, art collector and trailblazer in ethnopsychopharmacology.