Free Republic

4/28/2006 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- A new weapon system in the Air Force arsenal takes Airmen out of the gun turret and into the safety of a fully up-armored Humvee. The 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron operates the only Common Remote Operated Weapon Station, or CROWS, in the Air Force inventory. As one of three security forces squadrons in Iraq with an outside-the-wire combat patrol mission, CROWS offers an additional capability for the unit. The CROWS sensor unit includes a daylight video camera, a thermal imager for night operations and a laser rangefinder. It is furnished with...

Sand-covered Huns city unearthed! 10/08/2002 XI'AN: Chinese archaeologists recently discovered a unique, ancient city which has lain covered by desert sands for more than 1,000 years. It is the first ruined city of the Xiongnu (Huns) ever found, said Dai Yingxin, a well-known Chinese archaeologist. The Xiongnu was a nomadic ethnic group, who for 10 centuries were tremendously influential in northern China. The unearthed city occupies 1 square kilometre in Jingbian County, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, adjacent to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north of the country. It is believed that the city was built by more...