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Shenyang J-8

The Shenyang J-8 (Chinese: 歼-8; NATO reporting name: Finback) is an interceptor aircraft developed by the 601 Institute (Shenyang) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was conceived in the early 1960s as a low-risk program based on enlarging the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21F, a version of which the PRC was producing as the Chengdu J-7. The original J-8 experienced protracted development due to disruption from the Cultural Revolution; the prototypes first flew in 1969 but the design was not finalized until 1979 with the aircraft entering service in 1980.

The J-8II/J-8B (NATO reporting name: Finback-B) was a major development of the J-8 and was essentially a new aircraft. The J-8II replaced the distinctive nose air intake with a conventional radome and side air intakes to create room for a modern fire-control radar, and used more powerful engines. The aircraft started development in 1982, and was cleared for production and service in 1988. The J-8II was the basis for all later major additions to the J-8 family.

J-8
By 1964, the Chengdu J-7 was inadequate to perform long-range, high-altitude interceptions. The Chinese Aeronautical Establishment held a conference on 25 October to discuss future fighters. The 601 Institute had two proposals; a twin-engined "scaled-up" J-7 which became the J-8, and a higher-performing single-engined option that became the Chengdu J-9. Both options were pursued. The J-8 offered lower technical risk and received higher priority and political support; the J-9 was later cancelled in 1980. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) approved the operational requirements on 17 May 1965. Huang Zhiqian and Gu Songfen became, respectively, the chief and vice chief designers.

The J-8 was shared some features with the J-7, including the front-hinged single-piece cockpit canopy, landing gear design, and positioning of the ventral air brakes. The tail had two ventral fins similar in shape to the J-7's single ventral fin. The aircraft was powered by two Liyang WP-7B afterburning turbojets. The nose intake had a small inlet cone enclosing a radar rangefinder. Two Type 30-1 (Nudelman-Rikhter NR-30) cannon were mounted under the cockpit. There were three hardpoints, one under each wing and one on the centerline under the fuselage, with a total carrying capacity of 2.5 tonnes.

The programme suffered disruptions into the 1970s. Huang was killed in an air crash in May 1965 and replaced by Wang Nanshou. Design work was completed in September and a full-size mock-up completed and reviewed by December. The Shenyang Aircraft Factory was expected to complete a prototype by the end of 1966, but Gao Fangqi – its chief engineer – died and his successor, Liu Hongzhi, was dismissed in November 1966 during the Cultural Revolution. Development was transferred to the "Joint J-8 Development Command" led by Wang Xin. The construction of two prototypes was slow due to being done "almost clandestinely"; the first, "001 Red" was built from August 1967 to June 1968. 001 Red was damaged during high-speed taxiing tests on 19 December 1968, and made its first successful flight on 5 July 1969 piloted by Yin Yuhuan. Shortly afterward, the programme stalled due to the disbanding of Flight Test Command and Shenyang's Chief Design Office The Chief Design Office was only reformed in 1979 with Gu being promoted to chief designer.

From 1969 to 1979, 001 Red and 002 Red logged a total of only 1025 flights and 663 flight hours. Flight and static testing revealed several problems, including severe buffeting at transonic and supersonic speeds, overheating of the rear fuselage at supersonic speeds, engine unreliability, and airframe weaknesses. All were eventually resolved, although it continued to suffer poor directional stability. The design was finalized on 31 December 1979.

J-8A
The J-8 was already recognized as obsolescent when it formally entered service on 2 March 1980. Development of the improved J-8 I (later the J-8A) began at Shenyang in February 1978. The J-8 I replaced the radar rangefinder with the SR-4 radar and the capability to fire the PL-4 air-to-air missile (AAM); both radar and missile were still in development when the aircraft's specifications were approved by State Certification Commission on 2 March 1980. Ultimately, the PL-4 failed and the PL-2B and PL-5 were used instead. The cockpit used a two-piece canopy – as on the J-7 II – and a newer ejection seat. Each Type 30-1 cannon was replaced with a Type 23-III (Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L).

The first prototype was completed on in May 1980 and destroyed on 25 June during its first engine run when a burst hydraulic line caused a fire in the engine bay; the J-8's hydraulic system was subsequently reworked. The second prototype first flew on 24 April 1981. Testing was completed in November 1984, and the aircraft was cleared for production on 27 June 1985. The J-8 I also fell short of contemporary requirements and only about 100 were built before production ended in 1987.

Some were converted into the J-8 IE with the JL-7 radar from the J-7C and various avionics from the J-8 II.

J-8B
In 1980, Shenyang began investigating improving the J-8 by using ideas embodied by contemporary aircraft like the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23. Gu and He Wenzhi began design work on what became the J-8 II (later the J-8B) in 1982.

70% of the J-8's airframe structure and systems were reworked. The nose air intake and its shock cone were replaced with an ogival radome and lateral air intakes to create room for the larger Type 208 pulse-Doppler radar. The number of external hardpoints increased to seven; a single Type 23-III cannon was carried. The aircraft was area ruled and the powerplants replaced by the more powerful WP-13A-II turbojets. The two ventral fins under the tail were replaced by a single larger fin copied from the MiG-23; the fin folded to starboard on the ground for ground clearance. Performance was greatly improved with the higher thrust-to-weight ratio, as was handling. Improvements to manoeuvrability was limited due to the 6.9 g limit. The prototype was completed in March 1984 and made its first flight on 12 June. Production and entry into service was approved in October 1988. The greatest problems were with the avionics, particularly the radar.

The improved J-8 IIB (or J-8B Block 02), fitted with the KLJ-1 (Type 208A) radar and avionics from the J-7C, flew in November 1989 and entered production in 1996.

J-8C and J-8F
The J-8 III (later the J-8C) was an attempt to upgrade the J-8 II in the early 1990s. The Israeli avionics company Elta Systems was contracted to adapt the EL/M-2034 radar for the aircraft, although ultimately the domestic Type 1471 radar was used. The prototypes flew with WP-13B engines as the intended Liyang WP-14 Kunlun turbojets were under development. The wing had four, rather than two, fences, and a detachable aerial refueling probe was fitted on the starboard side. The J-8 III was certified in 1995 but production was cancelled because the WP-14 remained unavailable.

The J-8C led to the J-8F, which started development in 1999 and first flew in 2000. The latter was equipped with the JL-10 (Type 1473) radar and WP-13B-II turbojets.

J-8D and J-8H
The J-8 IV (also known as the J-8 IIA, and later as the J-8D) was a J-8 II with similar avionics to the J-8 IIB and the same detachable IFR probe as the J-8 III; the IFR probe was later modified because it generated noise in the cockpit. It first flew on 21 November 1990 and entered service in 1996; it was China's first IFR-capable fighter. The J-8 IV was used primarily by the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force and armed with the PL-9 AAM.

The J-8D was developed into the J-8H fighter/strike aircraft. The J-8H was equipped with the KLJ-1 (Type 1492) radar; armament was the PL-11 AAM and possibly the YJ-91 anti-radiation missile. It also had four wing fences like the J-8C. Development started in 1995 and it entered service in 2002.

Peace Pearl
The 1986 "Peace Pearl" program with the United States included upgrading 50-55 J-8 IIs with US avionics, Martin-Baker ejection seats, and possible US engines for US$502 million. Two aircraft were flown to the US for prototyping, and work was underway by the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Peace Pearl was cancelled by China in 1990; the US had permitted it to continue despite the post-Tiananmen sanctions.

Operational history
On 1 April 2001, a J-8B collided with a United States Navy Lockheed EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft 70 miles southeast of Hainan Island. The J-8B crashed and its pilot, Wang Wei, was killed after his parachute failed to open. The EP-3E was severely damaged and made an emergency landing on Hainan; all 24 crew members survived.

Variants

 * J-8: Original version. NATO reporting name Finback-A.
 * J-8A: Improved J-8 equipped with SR-4 radar and air-to-air missiles. Originally designated J-8 I.
 * J-8 IE: Improved J-8A with upgraded avionics, including JL-7 radar. Converted from J-8A after the development of the J-8B.
 * JZ-8: Reconnaissance version carrying a camera pod on the center hardpoint. Converted from J-8 in the mid-1980s after the development of the J-8B.
 * J-8 ACT: "Active Control Technology" testbed for domestic analog and, later, digital fly-by-wire control system. One J-8 converted in the late-1980s and crashed on 23 April 1991.
 * J-8B: Radically redesigned J-8 with Type 208 pulse-Doppler radar, WP-13A-II turbojets, and increased payload. Originally designated J-8 II, with NATO reporting name Finback-B.
 * J-8B Block 02: Improved J-8B with KLJ-1 (Type 208A) radar and improved avionics. Originally designated J-8 IIB.
 * "Peace Pearl" upgrade: Improved J-8B with American avionics and engines. Cancelled following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
 * J-8C: Improved J-8B with IFR probe, Elta EL/M-2034 and then Type 1471 radar, and WP-13B turbojets. Cancelled due to unavailability of the intended powerplant, the WP-14 turbojet.
 * J-8D: Improved J-8B with IFR probe and avionics similar to the J-8B Block 02. NATO reporting name Finback-B Mod.
 * J-8F: Development of the J-8C with JL-10 (Type 1473) radar and PL-11 missiles.
 * J-8H: Development of the J-8D for the fighter/strike role. Equipped with the KLJ-1 (Type 1492) radar, PL-11 and YJ-91 anti-radiation missiles.
 * JZ-8F: Reconnaissance version of the J-8F with the cannon replaced by an internal camera.
 * J-8 II ACT: Testbed for digital fly-by-wire control system. Small canards were fitted to the air intake trunks to cause instability. Flew 49 times from 1996 to 1999.
 * F-8B: Export version of the J-8B.
 * F-8 IIM: Improved J-8B for export with Russian avionics and weapons.

Operators

 * People's Liberation Army Air Force: 50 J-8F/H, 24 JZ-8, 24 JZ-8F
 * People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force: 24 J-8F
 * People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force: 24 J-8F

title: Shenyang J-8


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Alain Boublil

Alain Boublil (born 5 March 1941) is a French national musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End. These include La Révolution Française (1973), Les Misérables (1980), Miss Saigon (1989), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006), and Marguerite (2008).

Life and career
Boublil was born in Tunisia, to a Sephardic Jewish family. Boublil's first musical, La Révolution Française, was the first-ever staged French rock opera. It was conceived by Boublil in 1973 after he watched the premiere of Jesus Christ Superstar in New York. The composer was Claude-Michel Schönberg, with whom Boublil has since collaborated on a number of successful projects, including Les Misérables and Miss Saigon. Les Misérables first opened in Paris in 1980.

On 8 October 1985, an English-language production of Les Misérables produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird premiered in London at The Royal Shakespeare Company's Barbican Theatre. The show transferred to the West End's Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985. It is the longest-running musical in West End history.

Les Misérables
Productions based on the Nunn/Mackintosh staging of Les Misérables have been staged all over the world, including a second French production which opened in Paris in 1991. Worldwide, Les Misérables has been seen by over 50 million people, with a total box office gross of over $1.8 billion.

Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon opened in London on 20 September 1989 where it played for 10 consecutive successful years at the Drury Lane Theatre. It spawned two US touring companies, a Toronto production and has been seen by more than 13.2 million people in North America for a gross of $612 million.

Other works
With Javier Arroyuelo and Rafael Lopez Sanchez, Boublil worked on the French translation of The Rocky Horror Show for its French premiere in 1975.

Alain and Daniel Boublil created Abbacadabra, a French children's musical based on songs from the pop group ABBA, for French television in 1983.

Martin Guerre reached the West End in 1996 and won the 1997 Olivier Award for Best Musical. Productions on tour in the UK and the US, and Europe followed, but the show failed to repeat the success of its two predecessors.

Boublil has also written the play Le Journal d'Adam et Eve, based on two short stories by Mark Twain. It premiered in Paris in 1994 at Le Petit Montparnasse.

He has worked on the stage adaptation of Jacques Demy's Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, together with composer Michel Legrand, that opened at Le Palais des Congrès in 2003.

Boublil and Schönberg's The Pirate Queen—a musical about the 16th century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley—debuted at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in fall 2006. It then moved to Broadway, where it closed in 2007. The musical starred Stephanie J. Block as Grace, and Hadley Fraser as Tiernan.

The musical Marguerite is by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, and includes music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Set during World War II in occupied Paris, and inspired by the romantic novel The Lady of the Camellias (by Alexandre Dumas, fils), Marguerite is about the mistress of a high-ranking German officer who attracts the love of a pianist half her age. The musical premiered on 6 May 2008 at the Royal Haymarket Theatre in London. Marguerite received its London revival at the Tabard Theatre, Chiswick in October 2012. Staged by Alex Parker Productions, the revised show had a new book by Boublil and Guy Unsworth, and a reworked score (adaptation, orchestration and arrangement) by Jude Obermüller.

He was nominated for Best Original Song at the 70th Golden Globe Awards for the song "Suddenly" from the 2012 film version of Les Misérables.

Family
Alain Boublil has two sons, born in 1969 and 1975, with his first wife Francoise Pourcel. He then had two more sons with his second wife Marie Zamora.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Alain Boublil


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Claude-Michel Schönberg

Claude-Michel Schönberg (born 6 July 1944, in Vannes) is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with lyricist Alain Boublil. Major works include La Révolution Française (1973), Les Misérables (1980), Miss Saigon (1989), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006), and Marguerite (2008).

Early career
Schönberg began his career as a record producer and a singer. He wrote most of the music for the French musical and rock opera La Révolution Française, France's first rock opera, in 1973. He played the role of King Louis XVI in the show's production that year.

In 1974 he wrote the music and the lyrics of the song "Le Premier Pas", which became the number one hit in France that year, selling over one million copies. Le Premier Pas was produced by Franck Pourcel. That year he also wrote a French version of the ABBA song "Waterloo", which was recorded by the group.

Schönberg then made an album in which he sang his own compositions. In 1978 he dedicated his attention to musicals when he and Alain Boublil conceived the idea for a stage musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. The original production was staged at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980. In 1985 and 1987 respectively, the musical opened in London and on Broadway, to acclaim in each instance. The Broadway production was nominated for twelve Tony Awards in 1987 and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

In 1989, Schönberg and Boublil produced the London showing of the musical Miss Saigon, which starred Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce. In its transition to Broadway, the show broke advance-ticket sales, earning $24 million before its premiere on 11 April 1991. The show was nominated for ten Tony awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

In 1997 Schönberg and Boublil premiered a new musical, Martin Guerre, at the Prince Edward Theatre in London. The musical won the 1997 Olivier Award and went on to tour the UK and the United States.

2000 to present
In 2001, Schönberg composed his first ballet score, Wuthering Heights. This production was performed by the United Kingdom's Northern Ballet Theatre Company in September 2002.

Schönberg's next project with Boublil was The Pirate Queen, a musical about the 16th-century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley. The Pirate Queen completed its eight-week pre-Broadway tryout at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre on 26 November 2006, and underwent further development in preparation for Broadway at the Hilton Theater in March 2007. The Broadway opening date was 5 April 2007. Miss Saigon co-lyricist Richard Maltby Jr. worked with Boublil on revisions to the book and lyrics, and Graciela Daniele worked on the musical staging.

Following a critical savaging and poor ticket sales, The Pirate Queen closed on 17 June 2007 after 85 performances and 32 previews, resulting in a loss of almost $18 million, ranking it among the largest commercial flops in Broadway history.

Les Misérables celebrated its twentieth anniversary in London on 8 October 2005. The Broadway production closed on 18 May 2003, making it the third-longest-running Broadway musical, following Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Schönberg oversaw the production of Les Misérables that returned to Broadway for an intended six-month engagement at the Broadhurst Theatre on 9 November 2006, although it later extended its run.

Schönberg's Marguerite includes music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Set during World War II in occupied Paris, and inspired by the romantic novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, Marguerite is about the mistress of a high-ranking German officer who attracts the love of a musician half her age.

In 2011, Schönberg created the musical score for the ballet Cleopatra for the Northern Ballet, based in Leeds. Choreography is by the Ballet's artistic director David Nixon. The show toured the UK throughout 2011.

Schönberg was nominated for Best Original Song at the 70th Golden Globe Awards and in the same category at the 85th Academy Awards for the song "Suddenly" from the 2012 film version of Les Miserables.

Personal life
Schönberg was born in Vannes, France, to Hungarian Jewish parents. His father was an organ repairer and his mother was a piano tuner. He was formerly married to evening news anchor Béatrice Schönberg.

Broadway productions

 * The Pirate Queen: music, book, 5 April 2007 – 17 June 2007
 * Les Misérables: music, book, 9 November 2006 – 6 January 2008
 * Miss Saigon: music, book, 11 April 1991 – 28 January 2001
 * Les Misérables: music, book, 12 March 1987 – 18 May 2003

Awards

 * 1987 Tony Award

Decorations

 * Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)
 * Knight of the Legion of Honour (2024)

title: Claude-Michel Schönberg


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Budding

Budding or blastogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. For example, the small bulb-like projection coming out from the yeast cell is known as a bud. Since the reproduction is asexual, the newly created organism is a clone and excepting mutations is genetically identical to the parent organism. Organisms such as hydra use regenerative cells for reproduction in the process of budding.

In hydra, a bud develops as an outgrowth due to repeated cell division at one specific site. These buds develop into tiny individuals and, when fully mature, detach from the parent body and become new independent individuals.

Internal budding or endodyogeny is a process of asexual reproduction, favored by parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii. It involves an unusual process in which two daughter cells are produced inside a mother cell, which is then consumed by the offspring prior to their separation.

Endopolygeny is the division into several organisms at once by internal budding.

Cellular reproduction
Some cells divide asymmetrically by budding, for example Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast species used in baking and brewing. This process results in a 'mother' cell and a smaller 'daughter' cell. Cryo-electron tomography recently revealed that mitochondria in cells divide by budding.

Animal reproduction
Hydra Budding.svg'' budding:

1. Non-reproducing

2. Creating a bud

3. Daughter growing out

4. Beginning to cleave

5. Daughter broke off

6. Daughter clone of parent]] In some multicellular animals, offspring may develop as outgrowths of the mother. Animals that reproduce by budding include corals, some sponges, some acoels (e.g., Convolutriloba), echinoderm larvae, placozoans, symbions, pterobranchians, entoproctans, some polychaetes, bryozoans, tunicates, flatworms and a single phoronid species.

Colony division
Colonies of some bee species have also exhibited budding behavior, such as Apis dorsata. Although budding behavior is rare in this bee species, it has been observed when a group of workers leave the natal nest and construct a new nest usually near the natal one.

Virology
In virology, budding is a form of viral shedding by which enveloped viruses acquire their external envelope from the host cell membrane, which bulges outwards and encloses the virion.

Plant multiplication
In agriculture and horticulture, budding refers to grafting the bud of one plant onto another.

title: Budding


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Premier of China (disambiguation)

The Premier of China is the head of government of the People's Republic of China.

Premier of China  may also refer to:
 * Li Qiang, the Chinese premier who succeeded Li Keqiang in 2023
 * Premier of the Republic of China
 * Chen Chien-jen, premier of Taiwan (ROC) since 2023
 * Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet
 * Yikuang, China’s first premier (prime minister)

title: Premier of China (disambiguation)


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Larry Spencer

Larry Spencer (December 21, 1941—March 14, 2022 ) is a Baptist pastor in Canada, and former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Saskatchewan riding of Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre. He later served as interim national president of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada.

Biography
Spencer was born in Stockton, Missouri, United States, in 1942. He worked in Kansas City, Missouri, for Hallmark Cards after graduating from Sheldon High School. He left Hallmark after eight years, and in 1967 worked as a farm hand. He moved to Canada in 1974, after responding to a request to come to Saskatchewan as a church planner for the Regina, Saskatchewan, area. He established Discovery Baptist Church in Regina in 1978 and now assists at Calvary Baptist Church in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where he now resides.

He is married to Sue Brown, whom he met in high school.

Member of Parliament
He was first elected as candidate of Canadian Alliance in the 2000 federal election. He was appointed family issues critic for the CA caucus, but was later suspended from the caucus for his controversial remarks. When the CA merged into the new Conservative Party of Canada, he did not join the caucus of the new party, and thus became an independent. He sought re-election in the 2004 federal election as an independent conservative, but lost.

Views on homosexuality
In late November 2003, Spencer caused controversy in Canada by Vancouver Sun reporter Peter O'Neil when he said that he would support any initiative to outlaw homosexuality. He stated that in the 1960s, a "well-orchestrated" conspiracy began and led to recent successes in the gay rights movement. This conspiracy, he further said, included seducing and recruiting young boys in playgrounds and locker rooms, and deliberately infiltrating North America's schools, judiciaries, entertainment industries, and religious communities. According to him, this conspiracy started with a speech given by a U.S. gay rights activist in the 1960s whose name he could not remember. Spencer stated:
 * His quote went something like this ... "We will seduce your sons in the locker rooms, in the gymnasiums, in the hallways, in the playgrounds, and on and on, in this land." It was quite a long quote stating what was going to happen to the young boys of North America.

Spencer further blamed former Canadian prime-minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau for the "movement" gaining public acceptance since he legalized homosexuality in Canada in 1969. He mentioned that although no government would have the courage to strike down these laws, and that he would support any initiative that advocated such a move.

He also feared that "Polygamy is next on the list. More than one [spouse] ... We'll see that within the next very, very few years. Pedophilia is being pursued as we speak ... Some will say down to an eight-year-old, they think it's OK."

He believed that gay people can rid themselves of homosexuality if they put their minds to it.

As a result of his comments, Spencer was stripped of his job as family issues critic by Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper on November 27, 2003. He also temporarily removed himself from the party's caucus, and apologized "completely and without reservation" for his remarks.

He has written a book, Sacrificed: Truth or Politics telling of his experience as an MP and how he was treated by the Canadian Alliance and the Canadian press.

title: Larry Spencer


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The Secret Adversary

The Secret Adversary is the second published detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in January 1922 in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in that same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $1.75.

The book introduces the characters of Tommy and Tuppence who feature in three other Christie novels and one collection of short stories; the five Tommy and Tuppence books span Agatha Christie's writing career. The Great War is over, and jobs are scarce. Childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley meet and agree to start their own business as The Young Adventurers. They are hired for a job that leads them both to many dangerous situations, meeting allies as well, including an American millionaire in search of his cousin.

Reviews were generally positive on this adventure, which manages to keep the identity of the arch-criminal secret to the very end.

Plot summary
In 1920 London, demobilised soldier Tommy Beresford reunites with his childhood friend and war volunteer Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley. Out of work and money, they form "The Young Adventurers, Ltd". Their first client, a Mr Whittington, makes Tuppence a suspiciously generous offer. Remembering a seemingly unrelated anecdote of Tommy’s, when Whittington asks Tuppence her name, she gives him the alias "Jane Finn." A shocked Whittington offers her £50 hush money and disappears. Carter, an old friend of Tommy's from British intelligence, tells them that Jane Finn was a British agent who disappeared while attempting to deliver a secret treaty to the American embassy in London. Tommy and Tuppence agree to find her, but Carter warns them about an enemy agent known only as "Mr Brown." Also searching for Jane Finn is her cousin Julius Hersheimmer, an American multimillionaire.

Tommy and Tuppence's investigation leads them to the home of Mrs Marguerite "Rita" Vandemeyer, a woman with several powerful friends, including Whittington and Sir James Peel Edgerton, K C. Tuppence obtains a job as Mrs Vandemeyer's maid and enlists the help of a young boy working there named Albert. Tuppence hears Mrs Vandemeyer mention Mr Brown and forces her to admit she knows his real identity. Mrs Vandemeyer screams, collapses, and murmurs "Mr Brown" to Tuppence just before dying. Tuppence receives a telegram signed by Tommy and rushes after him.

Meanwhile, Tommy follows Boris Ivanovitch, another of Rita's associates, to a house in Soho, where Tommy is taken prisoner while attempting to eavesdrop on a meeting of Bolshevist conspirators. A young French woman at the house, Annette, arranges his escape, but refuses to leave herself. Tommy returns to the Ritz and finds Tuppence.

Sir James discovers Jane Finn, who has recovered her memory after an accident. She tells them where she hid the treaty, but they find instead a message from Mr Brown. While searching for writing paper in Julius's drawer, Tommy finds a photograph of Annette. Tommy concludes that Annette is the real Jane Finn and the Jane Finn they met was a plant to stop their investigation. He gets an original copy of the telegram sent to Tuppence and sees that her destination was altered on the copy he read. Tommy and Albert proceed to the correct destination.

Hersheimmer arranges for the release of Tuppence and Annette. At Sir James's residence, Jane tells her story: after receiving the packet, she became suspicious of Mrs Vandemeyer. Jane placed blank sheets in the original packet, sealing the treaty inside magazine pages. Travelling from Ireland, she was mugged and taken to the house in Soho. Perceiving the intent of her captors, Jane faked amnesia, conversing only in French. She hid the treaty in a picture frame in her room and has maintained her role as "Annette" ever since. Tuppence suspects that Hersheimmer is Mr Brown. Sir James agrees, adding that the real Hersheimmer was killed in America and that his imposter killed Mrs Vandemeyer. They rush to Soho, recovering the treaty at the house. Sir James identifies himself as the true Mr Brown, and announces his plan to kill them, wound himself, and then blame it on the elusive Mr Brown. Julius and Tommy, who are hiding in the room, overwhelm Sir James. He commits suicide using poison concealed in his ring, the compelling evidence to persuade Mr Carter of his old friend's guilt.

Tommy’s role in solving the mystery persuades his estranged rich uncle to support him financially and make Tommy his heir. The novel ends with both Hersheimmer and Jane, and Tommy and Tuppence, engaged to marry.

Characters

 * Thomas Beresford: Tommy, young redheaded Englishman who fought in the Great War, wounded twice, considered slow but steady and clear-headed in his thinking, at his best in a tight situation. In his early twenties.
 * Prudence L Cowley: Tuppence, young woman with black bobbed hair, one of several children of a conservative archdeacon, served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) during the Great War. She is modern and stylish, quick and intuitive in her thinking, acts rapidly on her ideas. In her early twenties.
 * Julius P Hersheimmer: Millionaire from America, seeking his first cousin Jane Finn, a girl he never met in America due to a family quarrel. He is quick-thinking, quick-acting, and being from America, he carries a gun and knows how to use it. In his early thirties.
 * Mr Carter: Englishman skilled in the intelligence service and connected with the highest political powers, known only by this alias. He seeks the treaty and the girl who might have carried it off the ship.
 * Jane Finn: American woman, 18 years old when she left the US, with good skills in speaking French, who aimed to work in a war hospital during the Great War. She sailed on the Lusitania, and she survived, carrying a document from a man named Danvers.
 * Marguerite Vandemeyer: Rita, a beautiful woman in society who followed Danvers on the Lusitania. She is affiliated with the conspirators and uniquely knows "Mr Brown"'s true identity. Her character is steely and powerful and she sees Sir James socially. She dies by poison.
 * Albert: Lift boy at the building in which Rita Vandemeyer lives, becomes helper to Tuppence, then to Tommy.
 * Mr Whittington: Member of the conspirators who first encounters Tommy and Tuppence as they plan their joint venture over lunch in a restaurant. He spoke Jane Finn's name in the streets as Tommy passed him.
 * Boris Ivanovitch, Count Stepanov: Member of the conspiracy, who keeps in touch with Whittington and Rita.
 * Mr Kramenin: Russian Bolshevik, serving in London, and one of the conspirators, called number one. Julius selects him to lead him to the girls.
 * Dr Hall: Runs the nursing home in Bournemouth where he took in the amnesia patient as a niece of Rita Vandemeyer, under the name Janet, for several years.
 * Sir James Peel Edgerton: MP and prominent London defence lawyer, known to instinctively identify a criminal. He is socially and politically well known, and seen as a potential future prime minister. Mr Carter respects his intelligence, going back years. He sees Rita socially. He is known for his persuasive ways.
 * Mr Brown: Elusive leader of the conspirators, who appears as a man named Brown often, but in a minor role, so others do not recall his appearance. He is key to all decisions of the conspirators, subtle with information, brutal or fatal with his enemies, the master criminal mind of the age.

Literary significance and reception
Upon publication of the first book edition it was reviewed by The Times Literary Supplement in its edition of 26 January 1922, which described it as "a whirl of thrilling adventures". It stated that the characters of Tommy and Tuppence were "refreshingly original" and praised the fact that the "identity of the arch-criminal, the elusive "Mr Brown", is cleverly concealed to the very end".

The critic for The New York Times Book Review (11 June 1922) was also impressed: "It is safe to assert that unless the reader peers into the last chapter or so of the tale, he will not know who this secret adversary is until the author chooses to reveal him." The review gave something of a backhanded compliment when it said that Christie "gives a sense of plausibility to the most preposterous situations and developments." Nevertheless it conceded that"Miss Christie has a clever prattling style that shifts easily into amusing dialogue and so aids the pleasure of the reader as he tears along with Tommy and Tuppence on the trail of the mysterious Mr Brown. Many of the situations are a bit moth-eaten from frequent usage by other writers, but at that Miss Christie manages to invest them with a new sense of individuality that renders them rather absorbing."

Robert Barnard described the novel as "The first and best (no extravagant compliment this) of the Tommy and Tuppence stories. It tells how the dauntless pair foils a plot to foment labour unrest and red revolution in Britain, masterminded by the man behind the Bolshevists. Good reactionary fun, if you're in that mood."

Some additional blurbs regarding the book, and used by The Bodley Head for advertising subsequent print runs, are as follows:
 * "It's an excellent yarn and the reader will find it as impossible as we did to put it aside until the mystery has been fathomed." — Daily Chronicle

 * "We promise our readers an exciting story of adventure, full of hairbreadth escapes, and many disappointments if they try to guess the riddle before the author is ready to give them the clue. — An excellent story." — Saturday Review.

 * "The atmosphere of the book is admirable and the story will be read with avidity by all. Undoubtedly the book is a success." — East Anglian Daily Times.

 * "A book of thrilling adventure. Sensational adventures which make thrilling and gripping reading. Mrs Christie has certainly succeeded in writing a story not only entertaining, but ingenious and amazingly clever." — Irish Independent.

The one critic who was not so keen on the book was Christie's publisher, John Lane, who had wanted her to write another detective novel along the lines of The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Film
The Secret Adversary was the second Christie work to be turned into a film. Made in Germany by the Orplid Film company, it was released in that country on 15 February 1929 as Die Abenteurer G.m.b.H., a silent movie which ran for 76 minutes. It was released in the UK and US under the title Adventures Inc. Character names from the book were changed for the film. Previously thought to be lost, it was given a rare showing at the National Film Theatre on 15 July 2001 (see National Film Theatre: A Tribute to the Work of Agatha Christie)

 * Adaptor: Jane Bess
 * Director: Fred Sauer
 * Photography: Adolf Otto Weitzenberg
 * Art Direction:' Leopold Blonder and Franz Schroedter

Cast:
 * Eve Gray as Lucienne Fereoni
 * Carlo Aldini as Pierre Lafitte
 * Elfriede Borodin as Jeanette Finné
 * Hilda Bayley as Rita van den Meer
 * Eberhard Leithoff as George Finné
 * Jack Mylong-Münz as Boris
 * Shayle Gardner as Julius Vardier
 * Hans Mierendorff as Hans Mierendorff
 * Valy Arnheim as Wittington

Television
The novel was adapted twice for television, in 1983 and in 2014 (aired July–August 2015 in the UK).

The book was adapted by London Weekend Television as a 115-minute drama, and transmitted on Sunday, 9 October 1983. It acted as an introduction to a ten-part adaptation of Partners in Crime, made with the same stars, which began transmission one week later under the title Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime.

 * Adaptor:''' Pat Sandys
 * Director:''' Tony Wharmby

Cast:
 * Francesca Annis as Prudence Cowley
 * James Warwick as Thomas Beresford
 * Reece Dinsdale as Albert
 * Arthur Cox as Detective Inspector Marriott
 * Gavan O'Herlihy as Julius P Hersheimmer
 * Alec McCowen as Sir James Peele Edgerton
 * Honor Blackman as Rita Vandemeyer
 * Peter Barkworth as Carter
 * Toria Fuller as Jane Finn
 * John Fraser as Kramenin
 * George Baker as Whittington
 * Donald Houston as Boris
 * Joseph Brady as Dr Hall
 * Wolf Kahler as The German
 * Peter Lovstrom as Henry
 * Matthew Scurfield as Conrad
 * Gabrielle Blunt as Annie

In February 2014, the BBC announced it had commissioned the TV series Partners in Crime, with three episodes as an adaptation of The Secret Adversary, written by Zinnie Harris. It aired in July/August 2015, marking the 125th anniversary of Dame Agatha Christie's birth. It is not set in the post-Great War period, so Tommy and Tuppence are not the young things of that era, are married and have a son sent off to school. It is instead set in 1952, with references made to the Cold War against Stalin.

Cast:
 * Jessica Raine as Tuppence
 * David Walliams as Tommy
 * Camilla Marie Beeput as Jane Finn
 * Alice Krige as Rita Vandemeyer
 * James Fleet as Mr. Carter
 * Clarke Peters as Julius Hersheimer
 * Matthew Steer as Albert Pemberton

Graphic novel adaptation
The Secret Adversary was released by HarperCollins as a graphic novel adaptation on 20 May 2008, adapted by François Rivière and illustrated by Frank Leclercq (ISBN 0-00-727461-0). This was translated from the edition first published in France by Emmanuel Proust éditions in 2003 under the title of Mister Brown.

Stage
Agatha Christie’s The Secret Adversary was presented for the stage for the first time in 2015 as a Watermill Theatre production, adapted from the Christie novel by Sarah Punshon and Johann Hari for a company of seven actors. A play in two acts, it was described in the publicity as being "shot through with fast-paced action, comedy, live music and a dash of romance". The live music was performed by the cast. Tuppence was played by Emerald O’Hanrahan, and Tommy by Garmon Rhys. It opened and ran at The Watermill Theatre, West Berkshire Playhouse from Thursday 12 February to Saturday 21 March, and then toured until Saturday 9 May, ending its run at the Rose Theatre, Kingston.

On 16 February 2016, Great Lakes Theater debuted a 70-minute stage adaptation as part of their educational programming. Adapted by David Hansen, this production is performed by a cast of five (3 men, 2 women) with most performers playing more than one role.

Publication history

 * 1922, John Lane (The Bodley Head), January 1922, Hardback, 320 pp
 * 1922, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1922, Hardback, 330 pp
 * 1927, John Lane (The Bodley Head), February 1927, Hardback (Cheap Edition – two shillings)
 * 1946, Avon Books (New York), Avon number 100, Paperback, 264 pp
 * 1955, Pan Books, Paperback (Pan number 357)
 * 1957, Pan Books, Paperback (Great Pan GP82)
 * 1967, Bantam Books (New York), Paperback
 * 1976, Panther Books (London), Paperback; ISBN 0-586-04424-8
 * 1991, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 256pp; ISBN 0-00-617478-7
 * 1991, Ulverscroft Large Print Edition, Hardcover; ISBN 0-7089-2441-7
 * 2001, Signet (Penguin Group), Paperback
 * 2007, Facsimile of 1922 UK first edition (HarperCollins), 5 November 2007, Hardcover, 320 pp; ISBN 0-00-726515-8

Like its predecessor, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary was first published as an unillustrated serialisation in The Times weekly edition (aka The Weekly Times) as a complete and unabridged text in seventeen instalments from 12 August (Issue 2328) to 2 December 1921 (Issue 2343). Christie was paid £50 for the serialisation rights (£1,545 in 2003 currency).

Book dedication
The dedication of the book reads: "To all those who lead monotonous lives in the hope that they experience at second hand the delights and dangers of adventure".

This rather whimsical statement was one of only two times that Christie addressed a dedication to her readers, the other occasion being the penultimate Tommy and Tuppence book, By the Pricking of My Thumbs in 1968.

Dustjacket blurb
The dustjacket front flap of the first edition carried no specially written blurb. Instead, it repeated the text which appeared on the jacket of The Mysterious Affair at Styles (the back jacket flap carrying review quotes of the earlier novel). In later editions, blurbs first published in the back of Poirot Investigates were used.

title: The Secret Adversary


text:
People's Liberation Army Air Force

The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force or the People's Air Force , is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The Air Force is composed of five sub-branches: aviation, ground-based air defense, radar, Airborne Corps, and other support elements.

The PLAAF traces its origins to the establishment of a small aviation unit by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1924, during the early years of the Republic of China. This initial group comprised nine cadets who trained under the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government Aviation Bureau, with further advanced training in the Soviet Union. Despite initial resource constraints, including a lack of aircraft and airfields, the CCP's Central Military Commission (CMC) established foundational aviation schools and, by the end of World War II, had begun significant organizational developments.

The formal establishment of the PLAAF occurred in November 1949, following the CCP's victory in the Chinese Civil War. Early on, the PLAAF operated a mix of captured Kuomintang (KMT) and Soviet aircraft and began organizing its structure around several aviation divisions. The PLAAF first faced combat in the Korean War against the United States using primarily the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter aircraft provided by the Soviet Union, which also assisted with the expansion of the Chinese aerospace industry. Post-Korean War, the PLAAF focused on enhancing air defense capabilities, a strategy influenced by political decisions to limit offensive operations. The 1960s brought considerable challenges due to the Sino-Soviet split, which strained resources and technical support. This period also saw the detrimental impacts of the Cultural Revolution on the PLAAF's development and readiness. In the following decades, especially the 1980s, the PLAAF underwent significant reforms which included force reduction and reorganization aimed at modernizing its capabilities in line with advancing air power technology. These efforts were somewhat hampered by the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, which resulted in Western sanctions but eventually led to increased military collaboration with Russia in the 1990s.

Entering the 21st century, the PLAAF made substantial progress in transitioning to more modern airpower with the acquisition and development of advanced aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-27 and domestic models such as the J-10 and J-20. The strategic orientation of the PLAAF continued to evolve with a focus on expanding its operational capabilities, including the development of long-range bombers and enhancing joint operational capacity with other branches of the Chinese military. The PLAAF is recognized as one of the world's most capable air forces, reflecting extensive training programs, and a strategic shift towards developing a formidable aerospace force capable of projecting power regionally and globally.

Origins
Today's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) traces its roots back to September 1924 when a small group of nine cadets from the still-young Chinese Communist Party graduated from Sun Yat-sen's military flight school in Guangzhou. Having only been founded three years prior in July 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) formed a united front with the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party against competing warlords in a bid to reunite a fractionalized China. The eighteen graduate pilots of the military flight school, under Sun's Guangzhou Revolutionary Government Aviation Bureau, included nine nationalist and nine communist pilots who were sent to the Soviet Union for two years of advanced flight training under the tutelage of the more experienced Soviet Air Force. Two of the CCP's graduates, Chang Qiankun and Wang Bi, continued to serve in the Soviet Air Force for fourteen years until, in September 1938, they returned to Dihua (now Ürümqi) as instructors. Chang and Wang would play instrumental roles in the founding of the PLAAF.

In January 1941, as intensifying clashes between CCP and KMT forces ended the united front against invading Japanese forces, and despite having neither aircraft nor airfields, the CCP's Central Military Commission (CMC) established the Air Force Engineering School with Wang as commandant and Chang as head instructor. In May 1944, just over a year before the Japanese surrender to Allied forces, the CMC established an Aviation Section in Yan'an with Wang as its director and Chang as deputy director. Two years later in May 1946 and after the withdrawal of Japanese troops, the CMC established the Northeast Old Aviation School in Jilin. By 1949 the Aviation Section of the CMC had 560 trained personnel (125 pilots and 435 ground support specialists), purchased 435 aircraft from the Soviet Union, acquired 115 Nationalist aircraft, and operated seven military flight schools.

Founding
The first organized air unit of the People's Liberation Army was formed in July 1949 at Beijing Nanyuan Airport (built and first operated under the Qing Dynasty) and operated American P-51 Mustangs, PT-19s, and British DH.98 Mosquitos. The squadron had acquired the Western-made aircraft once donated to the KMT for use against the Japanese, through a series of airfield captures and nationalist defections.

In March 1949, the CMC elevated its Aviation Section to the shortly-lived Aviation Bureau with Chang and Wang appointed as the bureau's director and political commissar, respectively. On 1 October 1949, the victorious communist forces established the People's Republic of China and, on 11 November 1949, the CMC dissolved its Aviation Section founding instead the People's Liberation Army Air Force. Initially manned by a variety of units from ground forces, the new PLAAF organized its headquarters (PLAAF HQ) in Beijing and organized administrative aviation divisions for each of the PLA's six military regions, later to each be named a Military Region Air Force (MRAF). The new organization, which was not yet seen as a service separate from the army, was headed by ground force commander Liu Yalou with Xiao Hua (former ground force commander and political commissar) as the PLAAF's first political commissar. Chang was appointed as a PLAAF deputy commander and as director of the PLAAF's Training Department while Wang was named deputy political commissar and director of the Aeronautical Engineering Department.

In June 1950, the first PLAAF aviation unit, the 4th Composite Air Brigade was established in Nanjing based on the 30th Army's 90th Division and commanding the 10th, 11th and 12th Air Regiments. In the same year, the PLAAF created the 2nd and 3rd Composite Air Brigades. Although the 4th Composite Air Brigade would be renamed in 1950 to the PLAAF 4th Air Division, it would become the 1st Air Division in 1956 with the 2nd and 3rd Composite Air Brigades becoming the 2nd and 3rd Air Divisions, respectively.

Korean War to the Sino-Soviet Split
The PLAAF expanded rapidly during the Korean War. Two brigades were created in 1950, but disbanded in the early 1950s and replaced by division; both had subordinate regiments. During the war, 26 divisions and a smaller number of independent regiments and schools were created by personnel transfers from the army; the air force inherited the army's organization and was commanded by army officers. By early 1954, there were 28 divisions, with 70 regiments, and five independent regiments operating 3000 aircraft. The Soviets provided Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft (J-2 in Chinese service), training, and support for developing the domestic aviation industry. Shenyang Aircraft Corporation built the two-seat MiG-15UTI trainer as the JJ-2, and during the war manufactured various components to maintain the Soviet-built fighters. By 1956 the People's Republic was assembling licensed copies of MiG-15s and eight years later was producing both the Shenyang J-5 (MiG-17) and the Shenyang J-6 (MiG-19) under license.

The PLAAF emerged from the war as an air defense force. The main role was to support the army by achieving air superiority using fighters, radar, and ground-based weapons. This was reinforced through the 1950s and 1960s when the PLAAF's main activities were skirmishing with the Republic of China Air Force near the Taiwan Strait, and intercepting American aircraft. The PLAAF was passive in applying offensive airpower due to the limited range of capabilities and political considerations. PLAAF was used as a deterrence due to the political culture at the time. The Chinese leadership, in many instances, would cancel offensive bombing missions to prevent escalation, affecting the decision-making autonomy of the PLAAF.

In 1960, Soviet engineers and advisors left China due to the Sino-Soviet split; although the Soviet Union granted licensed rights to MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, MiG-21, Il-28, and Tu-16, China didn't retain the technical material or machinery as the Soviet advisory withdrew. China had to reverse-engineer aircraft and missile systems to set up production lines. Internal political and economic chaos from the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward severely impacted the modernization and development of the PLAAF.

The prioritization of the missile and nuclear weapon programs also removed necessary resources from the aviation industry, which markedly declined through 1963. PLAAF as a whole stagnated, in metrics such as flight safety, pilot education, training, and strategic planning. However, flight hours recovered around 1965 as China started to support North Vietnam and was involved in the Vietnam War. Due to difficult conditions, the accident rates raised from 0.249 to 0.6 per 10,000 sorties in 1965.

Between January 1954 and 1971, 22 divisions were created for a total of 50.

1970s to 1980s
In the 1970s, the Culture Revolution (1966-1976) continued to damage the PLAAF readiness, leading to devastating impacts on pilot training, maintenance operation, and logistics. All PLAAF technical and maintenance schools were closed for a prolonged time, halting nearly every activity besides pilot flights. Moreover, the Chinese aviation industrial base was vandalized heavily due to the political turmoil, with many aircraft development programs stretched out, and the quality control in factories wasn't sustained due to disruptions caused by Red Guards. Political fallouts from the Culture Revolution could still be felt by the leadership, and recovery only began in the 1980s.

PLAAF leadership recognized the importance of modern airpower and the existing weakness of the force in the late 1980s. After critical assessments, the 1985 reform led to force reduction, reorganization, and streamlining. Before the 1985 reorganization, the Air Force reportedly had four branches: air defense, ground attack, bombing, and independent air regiments. In peacetime the Air Force Directorate, under the supervision of the PLA General Staff Department, controlled the Air Force through headquarters located with, or in communication with, each of the seven military region headquarters. In war, control of the Air Force probably reverted to the regional commanders. In 1987 it was not clear how the reorganization and the incorporation of air support elements into the group armies affected air force organization. The largest Air Force organizational unit was the division, which consisted of 17,000 personnel in three regiments. A typical air defense regiment had three squadrons of three flights; each flight had three or four aircraft. The Air Force also had 220,000 air defense personnel who controlled about 100 surface-to-air missile sites and over 16,000 AA guns. In addition, it had a large number of early-warning, ground-control-intercept, and air-base radars operated by specialized troops organized into at least twenty-two independent regiments.

In the 1980s, the Air Force made serious efforts to raise the educational level and improve the training of its pilots. Superannuated pilots were retired or assigned to other duties. All new pilots were at least middle-school graduates. The time it took to train a qualified pilot capable of performing combat missions reportedly was reduced from four or five years to two years. The training emphasized raising technical and tactical skills in individual pilots and participation in combined-arms operations. Flight safety also increased.

From 1986 to 1988, each military region converted a division into a division-level transition training base (改装训练基地), which replaced training regiments in operational divisions.

In 1987 the Air Force had serious technological deficiencies — especially when compared with its principal threat, the Soviet Armed Forces — and had many needs that it could not satisfy. It needed more advanced aircraft, better avionics, electronic countermeasures equipment, more powerful aircraft weaponry, a low-altitude surface-to-air missile, and better controlled antiaircraft artillery guns. Some progress was made in aircraft design with the incorporation of Western avionics into the Chengdu J-7 and Shenyang J-8, the development of refueling capabilities for the B-6D bomber and the A-5 attack fighter, increased aircraft all-weather capabilities, and the production of the HQ-2J high-altitude surface-to-air missile and the C-601 air-to-ship missile.

Although the PLAAF received significant support from Western nations in the 1980s when China was seen as a counterweight to Soviet power, this support ended in 1989 as a result of the Chinese crackdown on the Tiananmen protests of 1989 and the later collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. After the fall of the USSR, the Russian Federation became China's principal arms supplier, to the extent that Chinese economic growth allowed Russia to sustain its aerospace industry.

1990s to 2000s
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, PLAAF still remained a large yet antiqued force. As of 1995, the air force consisted of approximately 4,500 combat aircraft based on the 1950s and 1960s technologies, which were approaching the end of their service life. The overall force strategy is defensive, with the primary objectives limited to protecting cities, airbases, economic and industrial centers, and important institutions and facilities. The air fleet continued to shrink, with RAND Corporation predicting PLAAF being halved by the early 2000s. PLAAF leadership also lacked strategic options, given the severe constraints in China's budgets, manpower, and technology at the time. The force lacked joint operation capabilities, had no combat experience since 1979, and lacked command and control infrastructure to support offensive operations beyond the Chinese borders. The Chinese aviation industrial base was inadequate and weak, and China lacked the capacity to produce modern avionics, composites, turbofan engines, and integrated systems.

Despite the difficulties, PLAAF was determined to introduce modern airpower and secure technological self-sufficiency. The air force inducted the Sukhoi Su-27, the most sophisticated fighter Soviets had at the time. The sales were approved in December 1990, with three fighters delivered to China before the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contracts with the Soviet Union and later Russia also included manufacture license for China to build the Su-27 domestically, which helped the Chinese aviation industry to accumulate know-how and experience. Other technology transfer and license agreements were also signed between China and countries such as Russia, France, Israel, which allowed Chinese access to many state-of-the-art technologies. China and Western countries also made several attempted to modernize the aging Chinese fleet in the form of Peace Pearl program and Chengdu Super 7. However, the political fallout from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests terminated some of these efforts.

In the early 1990s, PLAAF continued to invest in domestic aircraft programs, including the J-10, the Project Sabre II, and the Sino-Pakistani FC-1. However, the concerns over the US possible intervention during Taiwan independence scenario in 1992 to 1993 pressurized PLAAF to build near-term combat capability by prioritizing procurement of foreign platforms, which led to the further induction of platforms such as Sukhoi Su-30 and S-300 PMU-1.

At the same time, PLAAF leadership advocated for more active roles in the Chinese military but was sidelined by the PLA headquarters due to concerns over political reliability and a general lack of capabilities. PLAAF continued persuasive efforts, and their plans were eventually endorsed by the PLA leadership in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1999, PLAAF set up a combined arms training base to conduct multi-force joint operations. In 2003, PLAAF began structural reforms and reduced the number of personnel by 200,000 (85% were officials), freeing up resources for the force overhaul. The leadership was consolidated to become more operationally efficient. Three dedicated training bases were established to provide research, testing, training, and combat support. In 2004, PLAAF released the force reform concept "Strategic Air Force", aiming to reconstruct the PLAAF into an integrated fighting force capable of both offensive and defensive operations in air and space. The 2004 reform included changes in doctrine, equipment, training, education, organizational structure, and strategic thinking.

By 2005, PLAAF was in the process of modernizing force composition by retiring obsolete aircraft. The antiquated Shenyang J-6 fighters were completely phased out of the service, and the more competent Chengdu J-7 and Shenyang J-8 platforms were partially retired with the remaining fleet upgraded with improved technologies. The number of second and third-generation aircraft was reduced to about 1,000 planes. Fighters of foreign and domestic origin with modern avionics and missiles began to enter the service more rapidly. From 2000 to 2004, PLAAF incorporated 95 home-built Shenyang J-11A with license, acquired 76 Sukhoi Su-30MKK and 24 Su-30MK2 from Russia with improved composite material, weapons, and avionics akin to Sukhoi Su-35, and negotiated the purchase of 38 Ilyushin Il-76 and Ilyushin Il-78 transport/tanker aircraft. To replace the antiquated Nanchang Q-5 attacker, PLAAF introduced fighter-bomber Xi'an JH-7A with precision strike capabilities. The homegrown Chengdu J-10 platform also matured into a highly capable, multirole fighter as PLAAF continued to accumulate experience in operating modern aircraft since the 1990s. By the mid-2000s, PLAAF had grown familiar with precision-guided munitions, aerial refueling, AEW&C aircraft, and networked command&control systems.

Several uncertainties troubled the PLAAF leadership, including China's inability to produce advanced jet engines, the lack of bombers to conduct long-range strike missions, and the dilemma between procuring foreign designs or supporting the homegrown defense industry that could only produce less capable ones. Thus, generous resources were devoted to research and development, with every possible approach, including purchase, license, technology transfer, reverse-engineering, and intelligence gathering to absorb foreign technology and build up the domestic defense industry. New home-built airframes emerged in the late 2000s, including CAIC Z-10 attack helicopter and KJ-2000 airborne early warning & control aircraft in 2003, Shenyang J-11B air superiority fighter in 2006, Shaanxi Y-9 medium airlifter and Shenyang J-15 carrier-born fighter in 2009, and Chengdu J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter in 2010. Other crucial aviation technologies that support the airframes, such as turbofan engines, advanced aerospace materials, full authority digital engine control (FADEC), integrated avionics, missile technologies, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, saw substantial progress in this decade.

2010s
In the 2010s, PLAAF began to transform expeditiously and emerged as one of the significant competitors in airpower. According to the US Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, PLAAF was projected to become one of the most capable air forces in 2020. PLAAF improved capabilities in several areas, including fighters, advanced missiles, early warning systems, and air defense systems; the force also started major reforms in training and doctrines. PLAAF leadership realized the force was insufficient to counter US intervention in the Taiwan strait confrontations, thus invested heavily in a wider range of conventional capabilities to transition the PLAAF from a large, technologically inferior force to hold advantageous positions in both quality and quantity at its own geopolitical theater.

In 2013, it was estimated that China had 400 modern fighters in the fourth-generation class, and the number of fourth-generation aircraft was projected to increase further with improvements in training and force compositions. According to a 2015 Pentagon report, PLAAF had approximately 600 modern aircraft and phased out more outdated platforms. The percentage of fourth-generation fighters raised from 30 percent in 2010 to 50 percent in 2015, projecting a majority fourth-generation force structure in the near future. The PLAAF also focused on developing long-range strike options with improved bomber platforms based on Xian H-6K, long-range cruise missiles, as well as fielding more multirole aircraft such as Shenyang J-16. In 2014, the Pentagon noted PLAAF was rapidly closing the gap in its training, equipment, and power projection capabilities with the United States.

From 2014 to 2016, PLAAF intensified its joint operation effort with the PLA Navy, building up power projection and expeditionary strike capabilities with other service branches, and engaged in joint patrol missions with PLA Navy in East and South China Sea. In 2015, PLA separated PLA Ground Force headquarters from the senior position, putting all service branches in the same echelon, thus ending the tradition of Army domination in PLA's command structure. A joint command structure under the newly reformed theater commands was established, improving inter-service support, command and control efficiency, and cross-service warfighting capability. In 2016, PLA established People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force, which stripped PLAAF's responsibilities in space and information domain, leaving the air force focused on air operations, air defense, electronic warfare, airborne early warning, and air-to-ground surface strike missions. At the same time, PLAAF actively developed one of the most sophisticated integrated air defense systems, capable of providing air defense coverage beyond the coastline and borders. In the same year, PLAAF general Ma Xiaotian announced that China was developing a new type of long-range bomber on the air force's open day, which is later coined as the Xian H-20 stealth bomber.

After the reform, analysts noted PLAAF's joint operation and integrated fighting capabilities were considerably improved. In March 2017, PLAAF incorporated Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter into service and formed the first combat unit in February 2018, making China the second country in the world and the first in Asia to field an operational stealth aircraft. Around the same time, PLAAF introduced PL-10 and PL-15 missiles to noticeably improved the PLAAF's air combat capability. By 2019, aviation researchers believed that Chinese weapon platforms have reached approximate parity with Western equivalents, and surpassed Russia in most aspects of aviation technology development and implementation. In 2019 and 2020, PLAAF began to reform its pilot curriculum and transitional training programs, inducting advanced jet trainers and active-service fighters at dedicated training academies, ending the traditional practice of training pilot at operational units. The measure improved training efficiency and prevented distraction to the defense responsibilities of the active units.

According to International Institute for Strategic Studies, PLAAF had an unprecedented military build-up between 2016 and 2022. The force successfully closed the gap with the West due to improved domestic production, introducing indigenously developed airframes, composite materials, turbofan engines, advanced avionics, and weapon systems. In six years, PLAAF incorporated over 600 fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft in more than 19 frontline combat brigades. The modern Chengdu J-10C, Shenyang J-16, and Chengdu J-20 are all equipped with AESA radar systems, domestic WS-10 engines, standoff weapons, and long-range air-to-air missiles. PLAAF also made substantial progress with larger aircraft design and production in the form of Xian Y-20 and WS-20 engines. In 2021, PLAAF announced the force had achieved the status of "Strategic Air Force". Though the self-claimed designation wasn't universally agreed upon, many analysts acknowledged the rapid modernization progress. According to the Air University assessment in 2022, PLAAF was adjudged a strategic air force with the capabilities of long-distance power projection, maintaining combat readiness, and conducting global operations to protect Chinese interests. In 2023, PLAAF planned to decommission all older Chengdu J-7 and Shenyang J-8 platforms, which completed the PLAAF's transition to an air fleet composed of only fourth-generation and fifth-generation combat aircraft.

Ranks and insignia
The ranks in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force are similar to those of the Chinese Army, formally known as the People's Liberation Army Ground Force, except that those of the PLA Air Force are prefixed by. See Ranks of the People's Liberation Army or the article on an individual rank for details on the evolution of rank and insignia in the PLAAF. This article primarily covers the existing ranks and insignia.

The markings of the PLAAF are a red star in front of a red band, very similar to the insignia of the Russian Air Force. The Red star contains the Chinese characters for eight and one, representing August 1, 1927, the date of the formation of the PLA. PLAAF aircraft carry these markings on the fins as well.

Commanders

 * Liu Yalou (October 1949 – May 1965)
 * Wu Faxian (May 1965 – September 1971)
 * Ma Ning (May 1973 – February 1977)
 * Zhang Tingfa (April 1977 – July 1985)
 * Wang Hai (July 1985 – November 1992)
 * Cao Shuangming (November 1992 – October 1994)
 * Yu Zhenwu (October 1994 – November 1996)
 * Liu Shunyao (November 1996 – May 2002)
 * Qiao Qingchen (May 2002 – September 2007)
 * Xu Qiliang (September 2007 – October 2012)
 * Ma Xiaotian (October 2012 – August 2017)
 * Ding Laihang (August 2017 – September 2021)
 * Chang Dingqiu (September 2021 – present)

Headquarters
The highest leadership organization is PLAAF Headquarters (PLAAF HQ). PLAAF HQ's peacetime responsibilities are force generation, modernization, and operational control of some units like the Airborne Corps and the 34th Air Transport Division. PLAAF HQ contains four first-level departments: the Staff (formerly Headquarters), Political Work (formerly Political), Logistics, and Equipment Department.

The Staff Department manages the PLAAF organizational structure, personnel management, intelligence, communications, air traffic control, weather support, development of air force military theory, and air force education and safety. The Staff Department is led by the chief of staff who is the "principal organizer and coordinator of military operations." The Staff Department's chief of staff has a number of deputy chiefs of staff. Previously known as the Headquarters Department, the post-2016 Staff Department maintains a number of subordinate bureaus including the Operations Bureau, Information and Communications Bureau, Training Bureau, Ground-based Air Defense Bureau, Air Traffic Control Bureau, Pilot Recruitment Bureau, Flight Safety Bureau, Test Flight Bureau, Aviation Bureau, Confidential Bureau, Unit Management Bureau, and Planning and Organization Bureau.

The Political Work Department, sometimes abbreviated PWD, is responsible for managing propaganda, security, political education, personnel records, civil-military relations, party discipline, party organizations within the PLAAF, and cultural activities to include song and dance troupes or public events. The Political Work Department is led by a director and at least two deputy directors. Subordinate to the department include bureaus such as a Cadre Bureau, Propaganda Bureau, and a Soldier and Civilian Personnel Bureau.

The Logistics Department (, led by a director and political commissar, oversee the PLAAF's logistics to include transportation, materials, supplies, finance, medical care, and petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL). Since the 2016 reform, subordinate bureaus include a Finance Bureau, Transport and Delivery Bureau, Procurement and Supply Bureau, Air Force National Defense Engineering Development Command Bureau, Real Estate Management Bureau, Ordnance General-use Equipment Bureau, Military Facilities Construction Bureau, Combat Service Planning Bureau, Materials Bureau, and Audit Bureau.

The Equipment Department, originally the Air Force Engineering Department, manages the PLAAF's cradle-to-death lifecycle including repair and maintenance of the branch's weapons systems and instruments. Led by a director and political commissar, the department leads bureaus to include the Comprehensive Planning Bureau, Airfield Support Bureau, Scientific Research and Procurement Bureau, Major Type/Model Bureau, Project Management Bureau, Equipment Purchasing Bureau, Testing and Inspection Bureau, Armament General-use Equipment Bureau, Flight Safety Bureau, and Aviation Equipment Bureau.

Commands
Below PLAAF HQ are five Theater Command Air Forces (TCAF), successors of Military Region Air Forces (MRAFs) prior to 2016.

Before 2003, MRAF had subordinate air corps and Bases which exercised direct control over units in their area of responsibility (AOR); MRAF only directly controlled fighter and ground attack divisions in the same province as MRAF headquarters (MRAF HQ). From 2004, leadership of units was consolidated in MRAF HQ, with air corps and Bases downgraded to command posts that acted on behalf of MRAF HQ. From 2012 onwards, the command posts were mostly replaced by Bases that exercised command and control over units (brigades) in their AOR and conducted joint exercises.

Below TCAF/MRAF and the air corps/command posts/Bases are corps, division, brigade, and regimental level units.

The first divisions in the 1950s was organized into a HQ and two or three regiments. In 1953, this was standardized to three regiments per division, including one training regiment. Regiments had three or four flight groups, each in turn made of three or four squadrons. Between 1964 and 1970, regiments were called groups. In the late 1980s, operational squadrons lost their training regiments. By 2010, many divisions had only two regiments. In 2019, the bomber, transport, and specialized divisions had not been reorganized into brigades and remained under the control of PLAAF HQ and TCAF headquarters.

Beginning in 2011, and in a similar process as the PLAGF, the PLAAF dissolved the majority of its air division headquarters changing previously subordinate air regiments to brigades and subordinating them directly under military region (now theater command) air forces. Brigades contain several subordinate flight groups; a flight group has one type of aircraft. All fighter and ground attack divisions and regiments were reorganized into air force brigades, organized into a brigade HQ and the flight groups organized under it.

Everything from battalions to squads are considered subunits.

Order of battle

 * PLAAF Headquarters
 * Staff Department
 * Political Work Department
 * Logistics Department
 * Equipment Department
 * Directly reporting units
 * Experimental Training Base
 * Flight Test Training Base
 * Research Institute
 * Airborne Training Base
 * Command Academy
 * Engineering University
 * Aviation University
 * Early Warning Academy
 * Harbin Flight Academy
 * Shijiazhuang Flight Academy
 * Xi'an Flight Academy
 * Medical University
 * Service Academy
 * Communications Sergeants Academy
 * 66th Blue Brigade
 * Eastern Theater Command Air Force
 * Southern Theater Command Air Force
 * Western Theater Command Air Force
 * Northern Theater Command Air Force
 * Central Theater Command Air Force

Airbases
The PLAAF has over 150 air bases distributed across each theater command.

Aerobatic display team
The August 1st (aerobatic team) is the first PLAAF aerobatics team. It was formed in 1962. Aircraft inventory of PLAAF August 1st Aerobatic Team includes the J-10 and it has previously flown the J-5 and J-7. The Sky Wing and Red Falcon air demonstration teams, which operate Nanchang CJ-6 and Hongdu JL-8 respectively, were established in 2011.

Equipment
The People's Liberation Army Air Force operates a large and varied fleet of some 4,000 aircraft, of which around 2,566 are combat aircraft (fighter, attack, and bombers). According to FlightGlobal, China has the second-largest active combat aircraft fleet and the third-largest total aircraft fleet in the world. In 2023, the [PLANAAF] transferred the majority of its fixed-wing combat aircraft to the PLAAF, with the intent of simplifying logistics and focusing on carrier based planes.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, PLAAF combat pilots acquire an average of 100-150 flying hours annually. For a list of aircraft no longer flown by the People's Liberation Army Air Force, see; List of historic aircraft of the People's Liberation Army Air Force. For aircraft and equipment of the Airborne Corps, see People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps.

Current inventory

Air defense
The People's Liberation Army Air Force operates a multi-layered, integrated air defense system combining radar stations, electronic warfare systems, early warning and surveillance zones, and air-missile defense systems of various ranges.

Chinese air defense systems are highly distributed and mobile, in order to improve survivability against SEAD missions.

title: People's Liberation Army Air Force


text:
Kurultai

Kurultai (Quriltai;, Хуралдай, ) was a political and military council of ancient Mongol and Turkic chiefs and khans. The root of the word is Proto-Mongolic *kura-, *kurija- "to collect, to gather" from which is formed khural meaning "meeting" or "assembly" in Mongolian languages. Khuraldai, khuruldai or khuraldaan means "gathering" or, more literally, "intergatheration". From this same root arises the Mongolian word хурим (khurim), which means "feast" and originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe but is used mainly in the sense of "wedding" in modern times.

Mongol Empire
All Great Khans of the Mongol Empire, for example Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan, were formally elected in a Kurultai; khans of subordinate Mongol states, such as the Golden Horde, were elected by a similar regional Kurultai.

During the Kurultai, Mongol Chiefs would convene to choose the next Great Khan. The Kurultai was often, but not always, held in the capital of the Mongolian empire. They were also a time to assign all critical positions of leadership, as well as an opportunity to decide the militaristic direction to be implemented under the new Khan and aforementioned new leadership.

After the new khan has been elected, an elaborate enthronement procedure followed. Johann Schiltberger, a 15th-century German traveler, described the installation of a new Golden Horde khan as follows (quoted in): When they choose a king, they take him and seat him on white felt, and raise him in it three times. Then they lift him up and carry him round the tent, and seat him on a throne, and put a golden sword in his hand. Then he must be sworn as is the custom.

Kurultai were imperial and tribal assemblies convened to determine, strategize and analyze military campaigns and assign individuals to leadership positions and titles. Genghis Khan was declared Khan in the Kurultai of 1206 CE. Most of the major military campaigns were first planned out at assemblies such as this and there were minor and less significant Kurultai under the Mongol Empire under political subordinate leaders and generals.

The Kurultai, however, required the presence of the senior members of the tribes participating, who were also military leaders. Thus, the deaths of Ögedei and Möngke in 1241 CE and 1259 CE, respectively, necessitated the withdrawal of Mongol leaders (and troops) from the outskirts of Vienna and Venice (in 1241) and from Syria (in 1259), hamstringing military operations against the Austrians and Mamluks that might otherwise have continued.

Although the Kurultai was a serious political event in the Mongol world, it was also a festival of sorts including great feasting and various traditional games. Many of these traditions have been carried on in the modern-day Mongolian event Naadam, which includes Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery competitions.

Politics
Various modern Mongol and Turkic peoples use it in the political or administrative sense, as a synonym for parliament, congress, conference, council, assembly, convention, gathering. Examples are: the World Qoroltai of the Bashkirs, Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, the National Kurultai of Kazakhstan, the People's Kurultai of Kyrgyzstan, the State Great Khural of Mongolia, the State Assembly — Kurultai of Bashkortostan, the People's Khural of Buryatia, El Kurultai of Altai Republic and Kurultáj held today in Hungary.

Language
In Mongolian, the following forms of the word are still in use today: khuraldai, khuraldaan and khural. Ulsin Deed Shuukhiin Khuraldaan means "session of the National Supreme Court".

Other spellings include: kurultay, qurultay, qurıltai, qorıltay, and qoroltay.

The word has several modern usages in the modern Turkish language as well, e.g. Yükseköğretim Kurulu "Higher Education Council", genel kurul toplantısı "general board meeting". Kurultay is also a commonly-used word in modern Turkish meaning "general assembly", such as for organisations, committees etc. Kurmak is also a verb in Turkish meaning "to set up, assemble, put together". It is also used for "extraordinary conventions" (Olağanüstü Kurultay) of political parties.

title: Kurultai


text:
One Day International

A One Day International (ODI) is a form of 50 overs limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The Cricket World Cup, generally held every four years, is played in this format. One Day International matches are also called Limited Overs Internationals (LOI), although this generic term may also refer to Twenty20 International matches. They are major matches and considered the highest standard of List A, limited-overs competition.

The international one-day game is a late-twentieth-century development. The first ODI was played on 5 January 1971 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. When the first three days of the third Test were washed out officials decided to abandon the match and, instead, play a one-off one day game consisting of 40 eight-ball overs per side. Australia won the game by 5 wickets. ODIs were played in white-coloured kits with a red-coloured ball.

In the late 1970s, Kerry Packer established the rival World Series Cricket competition, and it introduced many of the features of One Day International cricket that are now commonplace, including coloured uniforms, matches played at night under floodlights with a white ball and dark sight screens, and, for television broadcasts, multiple camera angles, effects microphones to capture sounds from the players on the pitch, and on-screen graphics. The first of the matches with coloured uniforms was the WSC Australians in wattle gold versus WSC West Indians in coral pink, played at VFL Park in Melbourne on 17 January 1979. This led not only to Packer's Channel 9 getting the TV rights to cricket in Australia but also led to players worldwide being paid to play, and becoming international professionals, no longer needing jobs outside cricket. Matches played with coloured kits and a white ball became more commonplace over time, and the use of white flannels and a red ball in ODIs ended in 2001.

The ICC, international cricket's governing body, maintains the ICC ODI Rankings for teams (see table on the right), batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.

Rules
In the main the laws of cricket apply. However, in ODIs, each team bats for a fixed number of overs. In the early days of ODI cricket, the number of overs was generally 60 overs per side, and matches were also played with 40, 45 or 55 overs per side, but now it has been uniformly fixed at 50 overs.

Simply stated, the game works as follows:
 * An ODI is contested by two teams of 11 players each.
 * The Captain of the side winning the toss chooses to either bat or bowl (field) first.
 * The team batting first sets the target score in a single innings. The innings lasts until the batting side is "all out" (i.e., 10 of the 11 batting players are "out") or all of the first side's allotted overs are completed.
 * Each bowler is restricted to bowling a maximum of 10 overs (fewer in the case of rain-reduced matches and in any event generally no more than one fifth or 20% of the total overs per innings). Therefore, each team must comprise at least five competent bowlers (either dedicated bowlers or all-rounders).
 * The team batting second tries to score more than the target score in order to win the match. Similarly, the side bowling second tries to bowl out the second team or make them exhaust their overs before they reach the target score in order to win.
 * If the number of runs scored by both teams is equal when the second team loses all its wickets or exhausts all its overs, then the game is declared a tie (regardless of the number of wickets lost by either team).

Where a number of overs are lost, for example, due to inclement weather conditions, then the total number of overs may be reduced. In the early days of ODI cricket, the team with the better run rate won (see Average Run Rate method), but this favoured the second team. For the 1992 World Cup, an alternative method was used of simply omitting the first team's worst overs (see Most Productive Overs method) but that favoured the first team. Since the late 1990s, the target or result has usually been determined by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method (DLS, formerly known as the Duckworth–Lewis method), which is a method with statistical approach. It takes into consideration the fact that the wickets in hand plays a crucial role in pacing the run-rate and that a team with more wickets in hand can play way more aggressively than the team with fewer wickets in hand. When insufficient overs are played (usually 20 overs) to apply the DLS, a match is declared no result. Important one-day matches particularly in the latter stages of major tournaments, may have two days set aside, such that a result can be achieved on the "reserve day" if the first day is washed out—either by playing a new game, or by resuming the match which was rain-interrupted.

Because the game uses a white ball instead of the red ball used in first-class cricket, the ball can become discolored and hard to see as the innings progresses, so the ICC has used various rules to help keep the ball playable. Most recently, ICC has made the use of two new balls (one from each end), the same strategy that was used in the 1992 and 1996 World Cups so that each ball is used for only 25 overs. Previously, in October 2007, the ICC sanctioned that after the 34th over, the ball would be replaced with a cleaned previously used ball. Before October 2007 (except 1992 and 1996 World Cups), only one ball would be used during an innings of an ODI and it was up to the umpire to decide whether to change the ball.

Fielding restrictions and powerplays
The bowling side is subjected to fielding restrictions during an ODI, in order to prevent teams from setting wholly defensive fields. Fielding restrictions dictate the maximum number of fielders allowed to be outside the thirty-yard circle.

Under current ODI rules, there are three levels of fielding restrictions: The three powerplays are referenced by P1, P2 and P3 respectively, usually displayed near the score in modern scorecards.
 * In the first 10 overs of an innings (the mandatory powerplay), the fielding team may have at most two fielders outside the 30-yard circle. This allows only attacking fields to be set during the powerplay.
 * Between 11 and 40 overs four fielders will be allowed to field outside the 30-yard circle. Either an Attacking or Normal Field can be set in the second powerplay.
 * In the final 10 overs five fielders will be allowed to field outside the 30-yard circle. All three types of fields (attacking, defensive and normal fields) Can be used in the third powerplay.

History
Fielding restrictions were first introduced in the Australian 1980–81 season. By 1992, only two fielders were allowed outside the circle in the first fifteen overs, then five fielders allowed outside the circle for the remaining overs. This was shortened to ten overs in 2005, and two five-over powerplays were introduced, with the bowling team and batting team having discretion over the timing for one-one each. In 2008, the batting team was given discretion for the timing of one of the two powerplays. In 2011, the teams were restricted to completing the discretionary powerplays between the 16th and 40th overs; previously, the powerplays could take place at any time between the 11th and 50th overs. Finally, in 2012, the bowling powerplay was abandoned, and the number of fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle during non-powerplay overs was reduced from five to four.

Trial regulations
The trial regulations also introduced a substitution rule that allowed the introduction of a replacement player at any stage in the match and until he was called up to play he assumed the role of 12th man. Teams nominated their replacement player, called a Supersub, before the toss. The Supersub could bat, bowl, field or keep wicket once a player was replaced; the replaced player took over the role of 12th man. Over the six months it was in operation, it became very clear that the Supersub was of far more benefit to the side that won the toss, unbalancing the game. Several international captains reached "gentleman's agreements" to discontinue this rule late in 2005. They continued to name Supersubs, as required but they did not field them by simply using them as a normal 12th man. On 15 February 2006, the ICC announced their intention to discontinue the Supersub rule on 21 March 2006. Two balls were trialed in ODI for two years but it was rejected.

Teams with ODI status
The International Cricket Council (ICC) determines which teams have ODI status (meaning that any match played between two such teams under standard one-day rules is classified as an ODI).

Permanent ODI status
The twelve Test-playing nations (which are also the twelve full members of the ICC) have permanent ODI status. The nations are listed below with the date of each nation's ODI debut after gaining full ODI status shown in brackets (Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Ireland, and Afghanistan were ICC associate members at the times of their ODI debuts):
 * 1) 🇦🇺 australia (5 January 1971)
 * 2) 🏴 england (5 January 1971)
 * 3) 🇳🇿 new zealand (11 February 1973)
 * 4) 🇵🇰 pakistan (11 February 1973)
 * 5) undefined (5 September 1973)
 * 6) 🇮🇳 india (13 July 1974)
 * 7) 🇱🇰 sri lanka (13 February 1982)
 * 8) 🇿🇦 south africa (10 November 1991)
 * 9) 🇿🇼 zimbabwe (25 October 1992)
 * 10) 🇧🇩 bangladesh (10 October 1997)
 * 11) 🇦🇫 afghanistan (5 December 2017)
 * 12) 🇮🇪 ireland (5 December 2017)

Temporary ODI status
Between 2005 and 2017, the ICC granted temporary ODI status to six other teams (known as Associate members). In 2017, this was changed to four teams, following the promotion of Afghanistan and Ireland to Test status (and permanent ODI status). The ICC had previously decided to limit ODI status to 16 teams. Teams earn this temporary status for a period of four years based on their performance in the ICC World Cup Qualifier, which is the final event of the ICC World Cricket League. In 2019, ICC increased the number of teams holding Temporary ODI status to eight. The following eight teams currently have this status (the dates listed in brackets are of their first ODI match after gaining temporary ODI status):
 * 🏴 scotland (from 27 June 2006, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇦🇪 united arab emirates (from 1 February 2014, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇳🇵 nepal (from 1 August 2018, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇳🇱 netherlands (from 1 August 2018, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇳🇦 namibia (from 27 April 2019, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇴🇲 oman (from 27 April 2019, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇺🇸 united states (from 27 April 2019, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)
 * 🇨🇦 canada (from 27 March 2023, until the 2026 Cricket World Cup Qualifier)

Additionally, eight teams have previously held this temporary ODI status before either being promoted to Test Status or relegated after under-performing at the World Cup Qualifier:
 * 🇰🇪 kenya (from 10 October 1997, until 30 January 2014)
 * 🇨🇦 canada (from 16 May 2006, until 28 January 2014)
 * 🇧🇲 bermuda (from 17 May 2006, until 8 April 2009)
 * 🇮🇪 ireland (from 13 June 2006, until 21 May 2017)
 * 🇳🇱 netherlands (from 4 July 2006, until 28 January 2014)
 * 🇦🇫 afghanistan (from 19 April 2009, until 14 June 2017)
 * 🇭🇰 hong kong (from 1 May 2014, until 17 March 2018)
 * 🇵🇬 papua new guinea (from 8 November 2014, until 5 April 2023)

The ICC occasionally granted associate members permanent ODI status without granting them full membership and Test status. This was originally introduced to allow the best associate members to gain regular experience in internationals before making the step up to full membership. First Bangladesh and then Kenya received this status. Bangladesh have since made the step up to Test status and full membership; but as a result of disputes and poor performances, Kenya's ODI status was reduced to temporary in 2005, meaning that it had to perform well at World Cup Qualifiers to keep ODI status. Kenya lost ODI status after finishing in fifth place at the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier event.

Special ODI status
The ICC can also grant special ODI status to all matches within certain high-profile tournaments, with the result being that the following countries have also participated in full ODIs, with some later gaining temporary or permanent ODI status also fitting into this category:
 * undefined (1975 World Cup)
 * 🇱🇰 sri lanka (1975 World Cup, 1979 World Cup)
 * 🇨🇦 canada (1979 World Cup, 2003 World Cup, 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off)
 * 🇿🇼 zimbabwe (1983 World Cup, 1987 World Cup, 1992 World Cup)
 * 🇧🇩 bangladesh (1986 Asia Cup, 1988 Asia Cup, 1990 Austral-Asia Cup, 1990 Asia Cup, 1995 Asia Cup, 1997 Asia Cup)
 * 🇦🇪 united arab emirates (1994 Austral-Asia Cup, 1996 World Cup, 2004 Asia Cup and 2008 Asia Cup)
 * 🇰🇪 kenya (1996 World Cup, 1996 Sameer Cup)
 * 🇳🇱 netherlands (1996 World Cup, 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and 2003 World Cup)
 * 🏴 scotland (1999 World Cup)
 * 🇳🇦 namibia (2003 World Cup)
 * 🇭🇰 hong kong (2004 Asia Cup, 2008 Asia Cup and 2018 Asia Cup)
 * 🇺🇸 united states (2004 ICC Champions Trophy)
 * 🇯🇪 jersey (2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off)

Finally, since 2005, three composite teams have played matches with full ODI status. These matches were:
 * The World Cricket Tsunami Appeal, a one-off match between the Asian Cricket Council XI vs ICC World XI in the 2004/05 season.
 * The Afro-Asia Cup, two three-ODI series played in 2005 and 2007 Afro-Asia Cup between the Asian Cricket Council XI and the African XI.
 * The ICC Super Series, a three-ODI series played between the ICC World XI and the then-top-ranked Australian cricket team in the 2005/06 season.

title: One Day International


text:
ODI

ODI may refer to:

 * Object Design, Incorporated, a defunct database software company
 * One Day International, a cricket match format
 * Open Data Institute, a UK not-for-profit company promoting open data
 * Open Data-Link Interface, a software interface
 * Oracle Data Integrator, software used in data transformation
 * Oral direct inhibitor, a type of anticoagulant
 * Oswestry Disability Index, a questionnaire for rating the severity of back pain
 * Outcome-Driven Innovation
 * Outward direct investment; see Internationalization of the renminbi
 * ODI, a UK think tank on international development

Odi may refer to:
 * Odi massacre, a military attack on the town of Odi, Nigeria
 * Odi Stadium, a stadium in South Africa

title: ODI