title: Hawker Siddeley HS 748

text: The HS 748 had been able to achieve some triumphs over competing rivals, including the F27 Friendship. Philippine Airlines had been the F27's largest operator prior to its decision to replace both it and its remaining DC-3s with the HS 748, which represented a significant sales coup for the latter. Other major civil operators included Aerolíneas Argentinas, VARIG, Thai Airways, LAN-Chile, and Bouraq Airlines. Several of these operators would utilise its STOL capabilities in their services; according to Flight International, over one-third of all scheduled operations were reportedly involved operations from rough airstrips with minimalist facilities.


title: Hawker Siddeley HS 748

text: Another key market for the HS 748 was the executive role; the type was repeatedly procured to serve as the designated aircraft for various heads of state, including of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Venezuela, Zambia, Thailand and the United Kingdom. The HS 748 was one of the last planes to be flown by noted aviator and business magnate Howard Hughes. During 1972, Hughes performed several flights of the type, each time accompanied by Hawker Siddeley test pilot Tony Blackman, flying from the company's airport in Hatfield.


title: Hawker Siddeley HS 748

text: The Australian military purchased several aircraft; specifically, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) procured a fleet of ten HS 748s, the first of which arriving in 1968, for navigation training and transporting VIPs. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) operated a pair of HS 748s starting in 1973 as a navigational trainer. Following Cyclone Tracy, relief aid was delivered across Darwin, Northern Territory using the type; after being fitted with various electronic countermeasures (ECM) during the late 1970s, HS 748s were also used for electronic warfare training.


title: Hawker Siddeley HS 748

text: In a typical passenger configuration, the HS 748 can accommodate around 40–48 economy class seats in a four abreast layout; however, the majority of later-serving passenger HS 748s were typically operated as quick change "combis". These aircraft are fitted with a movable bulkhead that divides the main cabin, housing between 4 and 40 seats in the rear section while cargo is placed the forward section. The 748 has also been widely used as a pure freighter, having a typical max payload of about 12,000 lbs. Several carriers have used the 748 as a bulk fuel hauler, in which capacity it is normally with either seven or eight fixed tanks in the cabin, possessing a total capacity of about .


title: Hawker Siddeley HS 748

text: As of July 2018 a total of 12 HS 748 aircraft (all variants) remained in airline service. As of September 2018 Transport Canada (TC) list 13 HS 748 in Canada with a current Certificate of Registration and 1 with a cancelled certificate. Current operators are:


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The Equality Act is a bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (including titles II, III, IV, VI, VII, and IX) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service. The Supreme Court's June 2020 ruling in "Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia" protects gay and transgender people in matters of employment, but not in other respects. The "Bostock" ruling also covered the "Altitude Express" and "Harris Funeral Homes" cases.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The bill would also expand existing civil rights protections for people of color by prohibiting discrimination in more public accommodations, such as exhibitions, goods and services, and transportation.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Much like the "Bostock v. Clayton County" decision, the Equality Act broadly defines sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity, adding "pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition of an individual, as well as because of sex-based stereotypes". The bill also defines this to include the intersex community. The intended purpose of the act is to legally protect individuals from discrimination based on such.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: While various similar bills have been proposed since the 1970s, the modern version of the Equality Act was first proposed in the 114th United States Congress. During the 116th Congress, it passed the United States House of Representatives on May 17, 2019 in a bipartisan 236–173 vote. However, the United States Senate did not act upon the bill after receiving it; even if they had, then-President Donald Trump signaled that he would have vetoed it. On February 18, 2021, the act was reintroduced in the 117th Congress. The House passed the act by a vote of 224 to 206 on February 25, 2021, with support from three Republicans. The bill then moved on to the Senate for consideration.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: As of 2020, 29 states had not outlawed anti-LGBT discrimination, with members of the LGBT community being given little protection at a national level and two-thirds of LGBT Americans in the United States reported facing or having experienced discrimination in their personal lives. The Equality Act seeks to legally protect individuals from such discrimination, applying existing state anti-LGBT discrimination laws nationwide.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The Equality Act seeks to incorporate protections against LGBT discrimination into the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, it prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status in a wide variety of areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federally funded programs, employment, housing, credit, and jury service.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: It also seeks to expand existing civil rights protections for people of color, women, and other minority groups by updating the definition of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide:


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: According to the text of the act as introduced in the 117th Congress, discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity by governments violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, saying:Discrimination by State and local governments on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations, and in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In many circumstances, such discrimination also violates other constitutional rights such as those of liberty and privacy under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The original Equality Act was developed by U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug (D-NY) and Ed Koch (D-NY) in 1974. The Equality Act of 1974 (H.R. 14752 of the 93rd Congress) sought to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and marital status in federally assisted programs, housing sales, rentals, financing, and brokerage services. The bill authorized civil actions by the Attorney General of the United States in cases of discrimination on account of sex, sexual orientation, or marital status in public facilities and public education. On June 27, 1974, H.R. 14752 was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, but did not proceed to a vote in the full United States House of Representatives.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: From 1994, the more narrow Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was introduced, but faced opposition over whether transgender Americans would be protected. An expanded version of ENDA which included both sexual orientation and changed sex to gender identity in its protections passed the United States Senate in 2013, but did not advance in the House.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against gay and transgender people in employment. LGBTQ rights advocates welcomed the ruling and reaffirmed support for passage of the Equality Act, stating that the ruling only covered employment, and in many states LGBTQ people still lack non-discrimination protections in housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit, and jury service which would be covered under the Equality Act. The ruling said that the Civil Rights Act protects "gay and transgender" people in matters of employment but left the terms undefined.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in May/June 2019 found that most Americans do not know that LGBT people lack federal protections. Only one-third of respondents knew that such protections do not exist on the basis of transgender identity, and only one-quarter knew that they don't exist on the basis of lesbian, gay, and bisexual identity.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: A nationwide and state-by-state poll on the issue conducted throughout 2017 by the Public Religion Research Institute as part of the annual "American Values Atlas" survey said that 70% of Americans, including a majority in every state, supported laws that would protect LGBT people against discrimination, while 23% opposed such laws, and 8% had no opinion. A 2020 PRRI poll said 83% of Americans would favor such anti-discrimination laws, and specifically regarding discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. 16% of Americans oppose such laws. Support for such anti-discrimination laws was at 94% for Democrats, 85% for independents, and 68% for Republicans. According to a 2021 PRRI survey, about 22% of Americans support religious exemptions for business owners pertaining to anti-discrimination law based on sexual orientation, while about 76% of Americans oppose such exemptions.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University in April 2019 found that 92% of American voters believed that employers should not be allowed to fire someone based on their sexual orientation or sexual identity, while only 6% believed that employers should be allowed to do so. A wide consensus on this question was found among both Democratic and Republican voters, as well as Independents, although Democratic voters were slightly more likely to believe that this kind of discrimination should be illegal, with only 1% of them believing that employers should be allowed to fire someone based on their sexual orientation or sexual identity.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The Equality Act is supported by more than 547 national, state and local organizations. These include national organizations related to human rights and social justice, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch, Southern Poverty Law Center, Lambda Legal, the Navajo Nation, the National Organization for Women, NAACP, and the AARP.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Supporting organizations include those from national professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Teachers, American Bar Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as the National PTA.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Calling for the bill's passage in 2016, the Civil Rights icon John Lewis said, "This legislation is what justice requires. This legislation is what justice demands. And like the Supreme Court's recent decision, it is long overdue ... We are a society committed to equal justice under the law. ... We have fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The act is supported by at least 503 American businesses and the US Chamber of Commerce. These include technology companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, IBM, Facebook, Airbnb, Twitter, Intel, Red Hat and Netflix. Other companies supporting the act include 3M, Kellogg's, Visa, Starbucks, Mastercard, Johnson & Johnson, Alaska Airlines, and American Airlines.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Furthermore, many celebrities have expressed their support for the Equality Act and urged Congress to pass it. These include Alexandra Billings, Karamo Brown, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Nyle DiMarco, Sally Field, Marcia Gay Harden, Dustin Lance Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Justina Machado, Adam Rippon, Taylor Swift, Bella Thorne, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Feminist and women's groups in favor of the Equality Act legislation include but are not limited to the National Organization for Women, 9to5: the National Association of Working Women, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, Feminist Majority, Girls, Inc., Jewish Women International, The National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, NARAL, MANA, A National Latina Organization, MomsRising, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), National Association for Female Executives, National Women's Health Network, National Women's Law Center, Planned Parenthood, Positive Women's Network-USA, and United State of Women to name a few.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The National Taskforce to End Sexual and Domestic Violence and over 250 anti-sexual assault organizations have condemned opponents' attempts to portray transgender people as sexual predators and contends it is untrue that protections for transgender people endanger women's safety and privacy. The Taskforce's joint letter was signed by over 250 survivor organizations in full support of full and equal access for the transgender community, including in restrooms and locker rooms. The letter notes the [21] states and 200+ municipalities that have protected transgender people's access to facilities have not seen an increase in sexual violence and public safety incidents due to nondiscrimination laws. The letter also notes that anti-transgender initiatives put transgender people at further risk of assault.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The Women's Sports Foundation, the Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), Athlete Ally, along with Megan Rapinoe, Billie Jean King, Candace Parker and 176 current and former athletes in women's sports have spoken up for full LGBTQ inclusion in sports, including of transgender athletes.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Religious organizations and registered charities that have given public support to the act include Advocates for Youth, and various Catholic leaders and lobbying organizations such as Father James Martin S.J., Network, and DignityUSA. Catholic theologian and nun Joan Chittister released a statement saying that the Equality Act "must be passed, must be extended, and must be lived if religion itself is to be true". The Interfaith Alliance endorsed the Equality Act as part of "Faith for Equality", a coalition which provided a letter signed by over 17,000 religious Americans to Senator Chris Coons in support of the act.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Edith Guffey, a UCC minister and mother of a transgender, non-binary child testified to Congress in support of the Equality Act, saying "We should all be able to agree on this one thing, the law should treat all our children, God's children, equally. All of our children deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Every single one of us would go to the mat for our children. None of us wants them to be turned away or discriminated against for any reason."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Other faiths groups and organizations that have publicly supported the act include the Episcopal Church, The United Methodist Church, The United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, More Light Presbyterians, African American Ministers in Action, The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, The Union for Reform Judaism, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Muslims for Progressive Values, the Hindu American Foundation, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: At a 2021 Senate hearing for the Equality Act, 16-year-old Stella Keating became the first transgender teenager to testify before Congress saying, "Right now, I could be denied medical care or be evicted for simply being transgender in many states. ... What if I'm offered a dream job in a state where I can be discriminated against? Even if my employer is supportive, I still have to live somewhere. Eat in restaurants. Have a doctor", she added. "This is the United States of America. The country that I love. Every young person ... regardless of who they are or who they love, should be able to be excited about their future."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Numerous political pundits and politicians have stated their opposition to the Equality Act at various times. Notable among these was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which caused a brief political feud between her and Rep. Marie Newman. Greene had said in a speech that the proposed act "destroys God's creation, ... completely annihilates women's rights and religious freedoms", and "puts trans rights above women's rights".


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Tucker Carlson called the Equality Act a "terrifying agenda that eliminates women". Candace Owens appeared on Carlson's Fox News talk show in the same segment and said about the Equality Act that Democrats "don't know what equality is".


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Some single-issue women's groups have opposed the provision of the bill which defines sex to include gender identity. They say this endangers the "sex-based rights" of women and girls, including women's sports and women-only spaces such as locker rooms, prisons, and shelters. Among these groups has been the Women's Human Rights Campaign USA (WHRC USA), the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF), Feminists in Struggle (FiST), Standing for Women, and Save Women's Sports. They oppose the bill unless it is amended to protect sex and not gender identity. Both WHRC USA and FIST have proposed amendments to the act. Some of these organizations are funded by fundamentalist anti-LGBT hate groups (as designated by the SPLC) such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and have shifted messaging to sound more secular and feminist.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Georgia State University criminology professor Callie H. Burt published a paper in the June 2020 issue of "Feminist Criminology" in which she examined the potential effects of the Equality Act on women's rights. While saying the act is "laudable in its aims", Burt lamented the lack of scrutiny and discussion by Democratic representatives in Congress into the real consequences the act's "imprecise language" would bring to women: "The result is the erosion of females' provisions, which include sex-separated spaces (e.g., prisons, locker rooms, shelters), opportunities and competitions (e.g., awards, scholarships, sports), and events (e.g., meetings, groups, festivals)". She also said, "I submit that the bill, in current form, fails to strike a balance between the rights, needs, and interests of two marginalized (and overlapping) groups—trans people and females—and instead prioritizes the demands of trans people over the hard-won rights of female people."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: "The Economist" stated in October 2020 that the act as written endangers the rights of women in areas such as sports, where they would be at a physical disadvantage having to compete against trans women, and in spaces previously segregated by biological sex, such as public bathrooms and prisons, stating that "parts of the bill appear to put the needs of transgender people above those of women. This is because the act redefines 'sex' in Title IX and other amendments of the Civil Rights Act to include 'gender identity; rather than making transgenderism a protected category of its own. Its definition of 'gender identity' is fuzzy and appears to downplay the reality of sex."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Law professor Douglas Laycock told NPR that the law is "less necessary" now, after the "Bostock" decision, and that the bill "protects the rights of one side, but attempts to destroy the rights of the other side."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Some religious leaders oppose the bill for various reasons, saying for example that it would infringe on religious liberty.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On March 20, 2019, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter addressed to the United States Senate that opposed the Equality Act on the grounds of freedom of expression and freedom of religion, among other concerns.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On May 7, 2019, a coalition of Christian organizations sent a letter to the House of Representatives to state opposition to the Equality Act, which they said "undermines religious freedom, and threatens charitable nonprofits and the people they serve, regulates free speech, hinders quality health care, and endangers the privacy and safety of women and girls." In addition to four committee chairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, signers included leaders from the Christian Legal Society, the Center for Law and Religious Freedom, the Center for Public Justice, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty (affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod), the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, and the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said that "The Equality Act is the most comprehensive assault on religious liberty, the right to life, and privacy rights ever packaged into one bill." Donohue also stated his concern that "Catholic hospitals would no longer be allowed to govern as Catholic facilities, threatening healthcare for everyone, especially the poor."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On May 16, 2019, Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association sent a letter to lawmakers in the House expressing concern that the act, as written, would roll back religious liberty protections. "Federal law has long recognized that certain services can present conflict for some faith-based health care providers with religious or moral objections to providing those services, and protected them from having to do so. We are concerned that the Equality Act omits and could erode or reduce those protections." The legislation, she said, "lacks conscience protection language and precludes application of RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act)."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On May 13, 2019, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement that read in part, "The Equality Act now before Congress is not balanced and does not meet the standard of fairness for all. While providing extremely broad protections for LGBT rights, the Equality Act provides no protections for religious freedom". In 2021, the LDS Church endorsed a competing bill, the Fairness for All Act. The competing bill would add faith-based exemptions to anti-discrimination law. Other than the LDS Church, its supporters have included the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The Heritage Foundation has argued that the act would adversely affect five groups of people (employers and workers; medical professionals; parents and children; non-profit organizations and their volunteers; and women), and they describe specific harms the Foundation believes each group would experience from the act's passage.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: President Obama and Vice President Biden voiced support for the Equality Act when it was first introduced in the 114th United States Congress.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: The Trump Administration opposed the Equality Act. In August 2019, the White House issued a statement, "The Trump Administration absolutely opposes discrimination of any kind and supports the equal treatment of all; however, the House-passed bill in its current form is filled with poison pills that threaten to undermine parental and conscience rights."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: President Biden and Vice President Harris are vocal defenders of the Equality Act, issuing a statement from the White House, "I applaud Congressman David Cicilline and the entire Congressional Equality Caucus for introducing the Equality Act in the House of Representatives yesterday, and I urge Congress to swiftly pass this historic legislation. Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all."


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: In March 2022 President Biden called for the passage of the Equality Act during the State Of The Union. On the March 2022 Trans Day of Visibility, the Biden administration announced that it was fighting for the passage of the Equality Act to advance the civil rights of trans Americans.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On July 23, 2015, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced H.R. 3185, the Equality Act of 2015, in the United States House of Representatives. The bill was supported by President Barack Obama. In January 2016, Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL) became the first Republican Representative to co-sponsor the bill. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) became the second Republican to co-sponsor the bill in September 2016. Jenniffer González (R-PR) also co-sponsored the bill.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On July 23, 2015, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced S. 1858, the Equality Act of 2015, in the United States Senate. In January 2016, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) became the first and only Republican Senator to co-sponsor the bill. All Democrats and Independents cosponsored the bill with the exception of Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT).


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On May 2, 2017, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced H.R. 2282, the Equality Act of 2017, in the United States House of Representatives. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) was the only Republican to co-sponsor the bill from the outset, with Rep.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On May 2, 2017, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced S. 1006, the Equality Act of 2017, in the United States Senate. All Democrats and Independents cosponsored the bill with the exceptions of Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On March 13, 2019, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced H.R. 5, the Equality Act of 2019, in the United States House of Representatives. The bill is sponsored by 237 Democrats and 3 Republicans. On May 1, 2019, the bill passed the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 22-10, with all Democratic members of the committee voting in favor and all Republican members against. A vote by the full House was held on May 17, 2019; the vote carried with 236 votes for and 173 against. Eight Republicans voted in favor of the bill and no Democrats opposed it.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On March 13, 2019, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced S. 788, the Equality Act of 2019, in the United States Senate. The bill was sponsored by 43 Democrats, 2 Independents, and 1 Republican.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On February 18, 2021, H.R. 5 was reintroduced to the House of Representatives. It was passed by the House for the second time on February 25, 2021, and now moves on to the Senate. Notable speeches were heard by, among others, Nancy Pelosi, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Marie Newman. Among Republican Representatives, only Tom Reed, John Katko, and Brian Fitzpatrick voted in favor; fewer than in the previous Congress. Mario Díaz-Balart and Elise Stefanik previously voted in favor but now voted against.


title: Equality Act (United States)

text: On February 23, 2021, a companion bill, S. 393, was introduced in the Senate. It was referred to the Judiciary Committee, where it awaits debate. It has, as of February 26, 2021, 48 co-sponsors.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Barbershop: The Next Cut (also known as Barbershop 3 or Barbershop 3: The Next Cut) is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver and produced by Ice Cube, Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr. It is the sequel to 2004's "" and the third mainline installment in the "Barbershop" film series. It stars an ensemble cast, including returning actors Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Anthony Anderson, Eve, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Deon Cole and new cast members Regina Hall, J. B. Smoove, Lamorne Morris, Tyga, Common, and Nicki Minaj. This is the first film in the series that Michael Ealy and Leonard Earl Howze did not reprise their roles as Ricky and Dinka respectively.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: The project was announced in March 2014, and Lee was hired to direct the film in February 2015. Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia in May 2015 with some aerial shots filmed in Chicago, Illinois.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: "Barbershop: The Next Cut" was released on April 15, 2016 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the performances of the cast, Lee's direction, and the screenplay. It was a moderate box office success, grossing $55 million worldwide on a $20 million production budget.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Calvin (Ice Cube) expresses his love for the city of Chicago for being his hometown and the place where he has been running his barbershop business and supporting his family. Unfortunately, the city has been plagued by gang violence and criminal activity as of late, and tensions have begun to rise, especially in Calvin's neighborhood.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Eddie (Cedric The Entertainer) comes running into the barbershop frightened because he claims to have made a comment at some thugs over their pants sagging. Eddie gets Calvin panicked as the door starts banging, but it's really just a delivery man bringing Eddie his breakfast, to Calvin's annoyance.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: The barbershop is now co-run by Calvin and Angie (Regina Hall), allowing a separate section for women to work, with new recruits Bree (Margot Bingham) and Draya (Nicki Minaj). On the men's side are Jerrod (Lamorne Morris), Raja (Utkarsh Ambudkar), and Rashad (Common), new husband of Terri (Eve). Isaac (Troy Garity) and Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) no longer work there, but still keep in touch as customers. JD (Anthony Anderson), the estranged cousin of former barber Ricky, has given up a life of crime and now runs a food truck business.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: However, he openly lies about what he does with the proceeds - claiming that he donates the money to charity but in truth, he and his overbearing grandmother (Auntie Fee) keep the money for themselves. The shop also has a boy named Anthony Clark (Torion Sellers) working there while he puts his focus on school. Rashad's son Kenny (Diallo Thompson) has been hanging out with Calvin's son Jalen (Michael Rainey, Jr.). The boys come in one morning before school, and Calvin catches Kenny trying to swipe two Snickers bars.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Outside, some Gangster Disciples pull up and try to steal the boys' shoes, until the Vice Lords of that area come outside and tell the other gang to step off. The Vice Lords leader, Yummy (Tyga) is friendly with the boys based on the assumption that they are willing to join his gang.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: The men and women of the barbershop converse on the subject of modern women, with Bree arguing that good women are always losing to the "hoes" and that men complain about women having fake body parts but still lust after those same women. Another topic of discussion is racism against black people, which Raja disagrees with on the basis that the country has a black president, to which Rashad counters that Obama has done nothing when recent cases involving murdered black youths have been all over the media. Still, Raja insists that there has never been a better time to be a black person.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Calvin has recently been talking to a smooth-talking businessman called One-Stop (JB Smoove) about taking the barbershop business from the south side to the north side to avoid the dangers in the streets. Only Calvin's wife Jennifer (Jazsmin Lewis) is aware of this, and she's only considering for Jalen's sake.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: A regular client, Jay (Renell Gibbs), enters to be taken care of by Draya, but another man, Marquis (Jamal Woolard), shows up, clearly having beef with Jay. The two men nearly fight in the shop as it is revealed they are both "shot callers" from rival gangs, until Calvin and Rashad intervene.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Jalen and Kenny get in trouble at school after being involved in a fight with the gang from earlier that morning. Jalen is unharmed but Kenny has a bruise under his eye. This pushes Calvin to consider putting his son in Catholic school, and also makes him trust Kenny even less, to the point where he confronts Rashad and tells him their sons shouldn't be hanging out so much. It gets more serious when Jennifer goes through her son's drawers and finds gang paraphernalia.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: With all the trouble going on in the neighborhood, Jimmy stops by and announces an enclosure with heavy police presence. The members of the shop band together to organize a forum that night with the community to set up a ceasefire, along with free haircuts to anyone that passes by.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Outside the shop, Terri becomes suspicious of Draya for being flirty and close to Rashad. He offers to take Draya home one evening on his way to pick up his daughter. Draya invites Rashad up to her apartment to talk but Rashad knows what's up, even if she denies it being sexual and declines her offer.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: The barbershop team set up for Jay and Marquis to arrive at the same time so they can get involved in the ceasefire. After a bit of tension and another near-altercation, both men agree to the ceasefire out of respect for Calvin. Over the weekend, the ceasefire commences. Jerrod and Raja put the word out on Twitter for people to come to the barbershop. A large number of people show up, and things appear to be going smoothly.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: While at the barbershop, Rashad goes in the supply room in the back of the shop to grab some items, and Draya goes to do the same. He apologizes for misinterpreting her motives from the other night. She forgives him but then tries to kiss him. Terri enters and heads into the back, looking for Rashad. She catches Rashad and Draya both hiding closet after he ignored her calling his name, leading her to believe they were hooking up. Terri attempts to fight Draya, chasing her to the front of the shop, however Calvin and others stop her. Terri then storms out and Rashad follows to try and explain himself, but she doesn't believe or trust him.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: As the shop celebrates a day of peace, Officer Terrence (Timon Kyle Durett) stops by to announce the tragic news that Anthony was shot to death on his way home from the library. Understandably devastated, Calvin gives up on the ceasefire and loses hope that they can make a difference in the neighborhood. The tension leads to Rashad revealing Calvin's intentions (after overhearing his conversation on a phone call) of moving the shop to the north side get out, which upsets Angie the most since Calvin kept it from her.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Calvin storms out of the shop and goes to the bar, with Eddie joining him after. He tries to assure Calvin that although Anthony's death was a terrible loss, they still may have prevented even more lives from being taken. This inspires him to return to the shop and apologize, while also putting the ceasefire back on. Almost immediately, the shop gets a visit from Anthony Davis, which brings more attention to the shop.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: By that evening, the shop sees even more business, including media coverage, as well as becoming a trending topic on Twitter. JD brings his food truck along and racks up some nice business as well, until his lies catch up to him and is guilt-tripped into giving up a substantial amount of his earnings to a real charity. Terri goes to the shop and sees Rashad. She apologizes for accusing him of adultery and they reconcile.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Kenny runs into the shop and tells Calvin that Jalen is at the park ready for a gang initiation (which Kenny had previously backed out of). Calvin rushes to the park as we see Jalen approaching Yummy over the initiation. When Calvin gets there, the gang has left, but Jalen decided to stay behind. Without a word, he joins his father.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: In the morning, the ceasefire comes to an end, and the shop celebrates. Everyone starts to go home. Bree and Jerrod walk together, and they admit having feelings for each other, and they set up dinner for the next night. Draya later visits Terri and apologizes for coming onto Rashad, stating that she feels that Terri has her life figured out while Draya doesn't. Terri forgives her and Draya offers a proposition for the couple.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Jalen visits his dad at the shop and asks him to cut his hair for him. Calvin obliges and cuts off his dreads. The two reaffirm their love for each other, and then Calvin tells Jalen to sweep the floor. Calvin's closing words state that he still loves his city, and he never gave up on it, since it never gave up on him. He and Jalen join Jennifer, along with Rashad, Terri and the kids.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: During the closing credits, the shop gets an unexpected visit from President Obama (Reggie Brown). Eddie volunteers to give the man a haircut after earlier claiming to have cut his hair years ago. Visibly nervous, Eddie messes up and accidentally shaves a good part on the back of Obama's head.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: On March 26, 2014, Deadline Hollywood reported that MGM was in negotiations with Ice Cube to produce a third "Barbershop" film. On February 19, 2015, Malcolm D. Lee was set to direct the third film, while Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer were in talks to join the film. On March 25, 2015, New Line Cinema signed on with MGM to release the film, while MGM would handle the production. Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia on May 11, 2015. On November 14, 2015, director Malcolm D. Lee said in an interview at the 7th Annual Governors Award ceremony that the title of the film had been changed from "Barbershop 3" to "Barbershop: The Next Cut".


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: The film was originally scheduled for release on February 19, 2016, but was pushed back to April 15, 2016.


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside "The Jungle Book" and "Criminal", and was projected to gross $26–30 million from 2,661 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $7 million on its first day (including $735,000 from Thursday night previews) and went on to gross $20.2 million, finishing second at the box office behind "The Jungle Book" ($103.6 million).


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on 93 reviews, with an average rating of 6.84/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Heartfelt, thought-provoking, and above all funny, "Barbershop: The Next Cut" is the rare belated sequel that more than lives up to the standard set by its predecessors." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported a 63% "definitely recommend".


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote: "It’s impressive how well director Malcolm D. Lee (working from a script by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver) balances the serious material with the bawdy, freewheeling comedy pieces."


title: Barbershop: The Next Cut

text: The soundtrack was released digitally by Atlantic Records on April 8, 2016, and consists of hip hop and R&B music.


title: American Airlines Group

text: American Airlines Group Inc. is an American publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It was formed on December 9, 2013, by the merger of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and US Airways Group, the parent company of US Airways. Integration was completed when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a single operating certificate for both carriers on April 8, 2015, and all flights now operate under the American Airlines brand.


title: American Airlines Group

text: The group operates the largest airline in the world, as measured by number of passengers carried, by fleet size and by scheduled passenger-kilometers flown. The company ranked No. 70 in the "Fortune" 500 list of the largest United States corporations based on its 2019 revenue, but, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it lost $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2020 alone and accepted government aid. American Airlines is reported to be shrinking its passenger fleet.


title: American Airlines Group

text: In January 2012, US Airways Group, the parent company of US Airways, expressed interest in taking over AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines. In March, AMR's CEO Thomas W. Horton said that the company was open to a merger. US Airways told some American Airlines creditors that merging the two carriers could yield more than $1.5 billion a year in added revenue and cost savings. On April 20, American Airlines' three unions said they supported a proposed merger between the two airlines. With AMR under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, American Airlines had been looking to merge with another airline. Earlier in July, a bankruptcy court filing stated that US Airways was an American Airlines creditor and "prospective merger partner"; on August 31, US Airways CEO Doug Parker announced that American Airlines and US Airways had signed a nondisclosure agreement, in which they would discuss the possibility of a merger.


title: American Airlines Group

text: In February 2013, American Airlines and US Airways announced plans to merge, creating the largest airline in the world by some measurements. In the deal, which was expected to close in the third quarter of 2013, stakeholders of AMR would own 72% of the company and US Airways shareholders would own the remaining 28%. Rothschild & Co served as the investment bank for the transaction. The combination was considered a "merger of equals" between the two airlines, but retaining the more well-established "American" name going forward, and accordingly the holding company was renamed American Airlines Group Inc. The headquarters for the new group was also consolidated at American's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, but the US Airways' management team, including CEO Doug Parker, retained most operational management positions.


title: American Airlines Group

text: A judge approved the merger on March 27, 2013, but denied a proposed $20 million severance package to AMR chief Thomas W. Horton. On July 12, US Airways shareholders approved the proposed merger. Horton later received a smaller $17 million dollar severance.


title: American Airlines Group

text: On August 13, 2013, the United States Department of Justice, along with attorneys general from the District of Columbia, Arizona (headquarters of US Airways), Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas (headquarters of American Airlines), and Virginia filed a lawsuit seeking to block the merger, arguing that it would mean less competition and higher prices. American Airlines and US Airways both said that they would fight against the lawsuit and defend their merger. In early October 2013, the Attorney General of Texas quit the anti-trust lawsuit.


title: American Airlines Group

text: The Department of Justice reached a settlement on November 12, 2013, requiring the merged airline to give up landing slots or gates in 7 major airports. Under the deal, the new American was required to sell 104 slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and 34 slots at LaGuardia Airport. It was also required to sell gates at O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Logan International Airport, Dallas Love Field and Miami International Airport. Some of the slots were expected to be sold to low-cost carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines.


title: American Airlines Group

text: A private antitrust suit, filed by a group of 40 passengers and travel agents, also sought to block the merger. American's bankruptcy court judge refused to enjoin the two airlines from merging, saying that the group did not demonstrate that the merger would irreparably harm them. The plaintiffs' lawyer appealed and was turned down at the U.S. District Court level and was further rebuffed at the Supreme Court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denied a stay request filed by him.


title: American Airlines Group

text: Following the Department of Justice approval, the merged Group company traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol AAL. In December 2013 a severance package valued at about $17 million was agreed for Tom Horton, the outgoing AMR CEO, who had led American Airlines through bankruptcy and the major merger.


title: American Airlines Group

text: US Airways exited Star Alliance upon completion of the merger, and American retained their membership in the Oneworld alliance.


title: American Airlines Group

text: On July 13, 2015, American announced that it planned to discontinue the US Airways brand name by October 17, 2015, and on October 16, 2015, US Airways flew its final flight, US Airways Flight 1939, from Philadelphia-Charlotte-Phoenix-San Francisco-Philadelphia.


title: American Airlines Group

text: In March 2021, American Airlines Group said that it will repay the US government debt by issuing a private offering of notes worth about $5 billion, half due in 2026 and half in 2029, and a $2.5 billion term loan credit facility.


title: American Airlines Group

text: American Airlines Group, Inc. is publicly traded under , with a market capitalization of about $6 billion as of August 2020, and is included in the S&P 500 index.


title: American Airlines Group

text: The group operates through its principal wholly owned mainline operating subsidiary, American Airlines.


title: American Airlines Group

text: It also has three subsidiaries, regional carriers Envoy Air Inc., Piedmont Airlines, Inc., and PSA Airlines Inc. that, together with three independent carriers, operate American Eagle under a codeshare and service agreement with American Airlines.


title: American Airlines Group

text: The key trends for American Airlines Group since December 9, 2013, the earliest date that American and US Airways were under common control, are shown below (as at year ending December 31):


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The Soko J-22 Orao () is a Yugoslav twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova in neighbouring Romania, being known in the latter as the IAR-93 Vultur.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The Orao was designed as either a single-seat main attack version or as a combat-capable twin-seat version, the latter being principally intended for advanced flight- and weapons-training duties. It was developed as a joint Yugoslav-Romanian project, known as YuRom, during the 1970s. Early ambitions to produce a supersonic fighter were scuppered by Britain's unwillingness to permit the desired engine to be license-produced in Eastern Europe. Further difficulties in fitting an afterburner to the older Rolls-Royce Viper also hindered development and the performance of early-build aircraft.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: First flying during November 1974, the resulting aircraft would equip the air forces of both Romania and Yugoslavia, as well as several of Yugoslavia's successor states. On 22 November 1984, the Orao became the first Yugoslav-designed aircraft to exceed Mach 1, albeit achieved while in a shallow dive. During the 1990s, the type saw action during the Yugoslav Wars, typically flying ground-attack missions in and Kosovo. As of July 2019, the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence was the only entity still operating the type.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: During 1970, the neighbouring nations of Romania and Yugoslavia began discussions on the subject of jointly developing a new ground-attack orientated fighter aircraft. On 20 May 1971, the Romanian and Yugoslavian governments signed an agreement for the formation of "YuRom", a joint research and development venture between the two nations. According to aviation author John C. Fredriksen, the announcement was a logical extension of political policy, as the two nations' heads of state, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and Nicolae Ceaușescu, had both historically sought to avoid overreliance upon the Soviet Union, preferring to build ties and cooperative projects with other friendly or neutral nations.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The research programme was headed by Dipl. Dr. Engineer Teodor Zanfirescu of Romania and Colonel Vidoje Knezević of Yugoslavia. The aircraft was intended to be a replacement for both the lightly armed Soko J-21 Jastreb and the Republic F-84 Thunderjet that were then in the Yugoslav People's Army's (JNA) arsenal. The requirements called for a lightweight aircraft that featured a relatively simple and rugged structure, that would use locally produced equipment and avionics, capable of operating from austere airstrips (including the ability to operate either from grass or damaged runways), as well as being reliable and easy to maintain.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The resulting design was of a conventional twin-engine monoplane, featuring a high-mounted wing complete with all-swept flight surfaces. According to Fredriksen, the design emphasised simplicity as well as modernity. Due to political sensitivities and a strong desire to avoid one nation upstaging the other, the aircraft featured two separate names; in Romania, it was known as the IAR-93 Vultur while in Yugoslavia it was referred to as the J-22 Orao.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The design team had originally planned to develop a single-engined aircraft capable of supersonic speeds, but the United Kingdom would not authorize the license to produce the British engine that the designers had selected; the rejection was reportedly due to Romania being a member of the Soviet-aligned Warsaw Pact. In its place, the less-powerful Rolls-Royce Viper was chosen as the powerplant, as Soko already possessed experience with license-building this engine. It was originally intended that an afterburner would be developed for the Viper engine, but there were prolonged difficulties with this project. Due to these complications, none of the pre-production aircraft or any early production examples would be equipped with afterburners; these would be largely restricted to conducting reconnaissance missions. During the 1980s, both countries developed slightly different versions of the aircraft to take advantage of the afterburning engines that had since become available.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: During 31 October 1974, the Yugoslav prototype "25002" conducted its first flight from Batajnica Air Base near Belgrade, with Major Vladislav Slavujević at the controls. For political reasons, this flight was timed to deliberately coincide with the first flight of the IAR-93 Vultur prototype. The third aircraft, numbered "25003", which was a pre-production two-seater version, performed its first flight on 4 July 1977. This aircraft was lost almost a year later, the cause of the accident was attributed to the occurrence of tail flutter.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: Construction of further pre-production aircraft was unimpacted by the loss; during 1978, the first batches of pre-production machines were delivered to the Air Force Aircraft Testing Facility in Belgrade. Subsequent serial production was established at a facility outside Mostar, (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina); this facility would be abandoned in 1992 and heavily damaged during the Yugoslav Wars. Production would never be resumed either in Yugoslavia or in its successor states.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: During October 1983, the first afterburner-equipped J-22 Orao was flown in Yugoslavia. On 22 November 1984, an Orao broke the sound barrier while in a shallow dive; this instance made the J-22 the first Yugoslav-designed aircraft to exceed Mach 1. The aircraft is incapable of breaking the sound barrier in level flight, so it is classified as being a subsonic aircraft.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The J-22 Orao is a twin-engined combat jet aircraft designed for performing close air support (CAS), ground-attack and tactical reconnaissance missions, it also features a limited air-defense capability. The twin-seat version, the NJ-22, was primarily assigned for various training purposes, including the advanced flight and weapons training syllabuses, but could also be used for combat missions.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The Orao was provisioned with standard communication and navigation equipment, the latter including a Honeywell-built SGP500 twin-gyroscope navigation system. It incorporated a fire control and weapons management system which used the Thomson-CSF-built VE-120T head-up display (HUD) (which had replacing the original Ferranti ISIS D-282 gyro-sight). In terms of defensive sensors and systems, it was equipped with an Iskra SO-1 radar warning receiver (RWR) and provision for up to three chaff/flare dispensers, as well as a P10-65-13 passive jammer pod. Further pods could be optionally fitted, including an optical/infrared reconnaissance pod or an optical reconnaissance/jammer pod.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: Various upgrade programmes for the J-22 had been proposed during the 1990s; reportedly, such efforts would have been focused upon the aircraft's avionics. However, such ambitions were heavily undermined by the dismantling of the Mostar factory during the Yugoslav Wars and the collapse of Romania's communist government. During the late 2010s, Serbia launched a major modernisation programme involving both its J-22 and NJ-22 fleets. Unofficially referred to as "Orao 2.0", this work involved the installation of new navigation and targeting systems, including Safran's Sigma 95 inertial navigation system, a mission computer and multi-function displays, into the NJ-22's rear cockpit which, along with new weapons, is intended to make the type more effective in ground attack missions. A more comprehensive second phase is to achieve the "complete digitalisation" of the aircraft's cockpit.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: The first Yugoslav Air Force unit to receive the J-22 was the 351st reconnaissance aviation squadron of the 82nd Aviation Brigade, Cerklje. Until the 1991 war, . There were also about three squadrons partly equipped with J-22s.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: At the beginning of the Yugoslav wars, in Slovenia, J-22s flew over in a show of force, but did not drop any bombs. During 1991, the first offensive action to be conducted by the J-22 occurred when the Yugoslav National Army used them to strike targets in Croatia.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: As a result of the conflicts of the 1990s, the majority of the former Yugoslav Air Force's aircraft were relocated to the Union of Serbia and Montenegro, with smaller numbers ending up under the control of the other new states created by the break-up of Yugoslavia. The JNA left a squadron equipped with nine Oraos in the Bosnian-Serb Republika Srpska, with these aircraft becoming part of the new Republika Srpska Air Force, based at Mahovljani Airport outside Banja Luka. The airworthiness of these aircraft soon deteriorated due to the combination of limited funding and the impact of international embargoes. By June 2003, the Republika Srpska Air Force had a force of seven J-22 Oraos. These aircraft were ultimately inherited by the unified Bosnian Air Force. By 2008, all of Bosnia's J-22s had been placed into storage while the nation negotiated with neighbouring Serbia to potentially buy them; reportedly, Serbia was viewed as the only viable customer for the type.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: Several ex-Yugoslav Air Force J-22s were also operated by the Air Force of the Republic of Serbian Krajina following the withdrawal of the Yugoslav National Army from Croatia.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: During 1999, Yugoslav J-22s saw limited combat against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), reportedly flying 36 combat missions. One J-22, piloted by Lt. Colonel Života Ðurić, was lost on 25 March 1999 in unclear circumstances, either through malfunction, pilot error or ground fire from KLA units. In addition, eleven aircraft were destroyed on the ground, the majority of these at Ponikve Air Base, when a NATO air strike hit one hangar that reportedly had six J-22 and two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 aircraft inside.


title: Soko J-22 Orao

text: By July 2019, the Serbian Air Force was reportedly operating a fleet comprising ten J-22 and NJ-22 Oraos; in addition to these airworthy examples, the service reportedly also had further airframes in storage, including the IJ and INJ reconnaissance variants. According to aerospace periodical "Flight International", the Orao's service life had been originally anticipated to be around 24 years; based on structural inspections, some airframes are in such good condition that this forecast could be effectively doubled; following an overhaul, individual J-22s can be approved to perform a further 1,000 flight hours.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Operation Citadel () was a German offensive operation in July 1943 against Soviet forces in the Kursk salient, proposed by Generalfeldmarschall Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein during the Second World War on the Eastern Front that initiated the Battle of Kursk. The deliberate defensive operation that the Soviets implemented to repel the German offensive is referred to as the Kursk Strategic Defensive Operation. The German offensive was countered by two Soviet counter-offensives, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev () and Operation Kutuzov (). For the Germans, the battle was the final strategic offensive that they were able to launch on the Eastern Front. As the Allied invasion of Sicily began, Adolf Hitler was forced to divert troops training in France to meet the Allied threats in the Mediterranean, rather than use them as a strategic reserve for the Eastern Front. Germany's extensive loss of men and tanks ensured that the victorious Soviet Red Army enjoyed the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The Germans hoped to weaken the Soviet offensive potential for the summer of 1943 by cutting off a large number of forces that they anticipated would be in the Kursk salient.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The Kursk salient or bulge was long from north to south and from east to west. The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of pincers breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient. Hitler believed that a victory here would reassert German strength and improve his prestige with his allies, who were considering withdrawing from the war. It was also hoped that large numbers of Soviet prisoners would be captured to be used as slave labour in the German armaments industry.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The Soviet government had foreknowledge of the German intentions, provided in part by the British intelligence services, the intelligence transmitted by the Lucy spy ring, and Tunny intercepts. Aware months in advance that the attack would fall on the neck of the Kursk salient, the Soviets built a defence in depth designed to wear down the German armoured spearhead. The Germans delayed the offensive while they tried to build up their forces and waited for new weapons, mainly the new Panther tank but also larger numbers of the Tiger heavy tank. This gave the Red Army time to construct a series of deep defensive belts. The defensive preparations included minefields, fortifications, artillery fire zones and anti-tank strong points, which extended approximately in depth. Soviet mobile formations were moved out of the salient and a large reserve force was formed for strategic counter-offensives.


title: Operation Citadel

text: After the conclusion of the battle for the Donets, as the spring rasputitsa (mud) season came to an end in 1943, both the German and Soviet commands considered their plans for future operations. The Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and some senior Soviet officers wanted to seize the initiative first and attack the German forces inside the Soviet Union, but they were convinced by a number of key commanders, including the Deputy Supreme Commander Georgiy Zhukov, to assume a defensive posture instead. This would allow the German side to weaken themselves in attacking prepared positions, after which the Soviet forces would be able to respond with a counter-offensive.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Strategic discussions also occurred on the German side, with Erich von Manstein arguing for a mobile defence that would give up terrain and allow the Soviet units to advance, while the German forces launched a series of sharp counterattacks against their flanks to inflict heavy attrition. But for political reasons, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler insisted that the German forces go on the offensive, choosing the Kursk salient for the attack. On 15 April 1943 he authorised preparations for "Unternehmen Zitadelle" (Operation Citadel).


title: Operation Citadel

text: Operation Citadel called for a double envelopment, directed at Kursk, to surround the Soviet defenders of five armies and seal off the salient. Army Group Centre would provide General Walter Model's 9th Army to form the northern pincer. It would cut through the northern face of the salient, driving south to the hills east of Kursk, securing the rail line from Soviet attack. Army Group South would commit the 4th Panzer Army, under Hermann Hoth, and Army Detachment "Kempf", under Werner Kempf, to pierce the southern face of the salient. This force would drive north to meet the 9th Army east of Kursk. Von Manstein's main attack was to be delivered by Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, spearheaded by the II SS Panzer Corps under Paul Hausser. The XLVIII Panzer Corps, commanded by Otto von Knobelsdorff, would advance on the left while Army Detachment "Kempf" would advance on the right. The 2nd Army, under the command of Walter Weiss, would contain the western portion of the salient.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The German offensive, originally slated to commence in the beginning of May, was postponed several times as the German leadership reconsidered and vacillated over its prospects, as well as to bring forward more units and equipment.


title: Operation Citadel

text: As soon as Operations Order 6 was issued, which dictated that the operation should be ready to start on six days' notice after 28 April, the Ninth Army, which was to command the offensive in the Army Group Center zone, protested that its deployment could not be completed by 3 May. At a 3 May meeting, Hitler conferred with Manstein, Kluge, Zeitzler, Guderian, Speer, Chief of Staff OKL "Generaloberst" Hans Jeschonnek, and Commanding General, Ninth Army, "Generaloberst" Walter Model. There followed a discussion on the problems Model expected the Ninth Army to encounter in breaking through a "well-fortified" Soviet front and the inability of the Panzer IV tanks to stand up to the new Soviet antitank weapons. Hitler closed the meeting without giving a decision but indicated privately to Model that there would be a postponement. Manstein, Kluge, Zeitzler, Jeschonnek objected to the delay; Guderian and Speer objected to Citadel being executed at all because, even if successful, they argued, it would cause heavy tank losses and upset plans for an increase in armor strength for the German forces. Hitler decided to let Citadel wait until June, by which time he expected to have tanks of a newer model available in quantity. On 6 May, the OKH announced that Citadel was postponed to 12 June.


title: Operation Citadel

text: On 10 May, Guderian was summoned to the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, for a discussion on the production of the Panther tank, and potential delays in its program. After the conference, Guderian asked for an audience with Hitler, in which Keitel, Guderian's Chief of Staff Wolfgang Thomale, and Karl Saur of the Armaments Ministry were also present. There, as Guderian reports in his memoirs, he asked the Führer, "Why do you want to attack in the East at all? How many people do you think even know where Kursk is? It is a matter of profound indifference to the world whether we hold Kursk or not. Why do we want to attack in the East at all this year?" Hitler, according to Guderian, responded:


title: Operation Citadel

text: Hitler assured Guderian that there was as yet no commitment to the operation. However, at a May meeting of high Nazi Party officials, Hitler compared the current situation in the Eastern front to the predicament of the party in 1932, when it seemed to go down in political defeat at the hands of Franz von Papen and Hindenburg. He stated In 1932, we attained victory only by stubbornness that sometimes looked like madness; so, too, we will achieve it today.In the first weeks of June, the forces for Citadel were at their peak strength. On 18 June, the OKW Operations Staff submitted a proposal that Citadel be abandoned, and that all troops that could be spared should be deployed into strategic reserves for the defense of Italy and the Balkans, as well as Germany proper. On the same day, Hitler responded that he "fully appreciated" the General Staff's view, but had decided to go ahead; two days later, he set the time for 5 July.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The Soviet leadership, through their intelligence agencies and foreign sources, had been informed about the German intentions, and therefore the multiple delays by the German high command, OKW, allowed them a great deal of time to prepare their defences. Employing defence in depth, they constructed a series of defensive lines to wear down the attacking panzer formations. Three belts made up of extensive minefields, anti-tank ditches, and anti-tank gun emplacements were created; behind those were an additional three belts, which were mostly unoccupied and less fortified. The Voronezh Front, commanded by General Nikolai Vatutin, was tasked with defending the southern face of the salient. The Central Front, commanded by Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, defended the northern face. Waiting in reserve was the Steppe Front, commanded by Ivan Konev. In February 1943, the Central Front had been reconstructed from the Don Front, which had been part of the northern pincer of Operation Uranus and had been responsible for the destruction of the 6th Army at Stalingrad.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Fighting started on the southern face of the salient on the evening of 4 July 1943, when German infantry launched attacks to seize high ground for artillery observation posts before the main assault. During these attacks a number of Red Army command and observation posts along the first main belt of defence were captured. By 16:00, elements of the Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland", 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions had seized the village of Butovo and proceeded to capture Gertsovka before midnight. At around 22:30, Vatutin ordered 600 guns, mortars and Katyusha rocket launchers, of the Voronezh Front, to bombard the forward German positions, particularly those of the II SS Panzer Corps.


title: Operation Citadel

text: To the north, at Central Front headquarters, reports of the anticipated German offensive came in. At around 02:00 5 July, Zhukov ordered his preemptive artillery bombardment to begin. The hope was to disrupt German forces concentrating for the attack, but the outcome was less than hoped for. The bombardment delayed the German formations, but failed in the goal of disrupting their schedule or inflicting substantial losses. The Germans began their own artillery bombardment at about 05:00, which lasted 80 minutes in the northern face and 50 minutes in the southern face. After the barrage, the ground forces attacked, aided by close air support provided by the Luftwaffe.


title: Operation Citadel

text: In the early morning of 5 July, the VVS launched a large raid against German airfields, hoping to destroy the Luftwaffe on the ground. This effort failed, and the Red Army air units suffered considerable losses. The VVS lost 176 aircraft on 5 July, compared to the 26 aircraft lost by the Luftwaffe. The losses of the VVS 16th Air Army operating in the northern face were lighter than those suffered by the 2nd Air Army. The Luftwaffe was able to gain and maintained air superiority over the southern face until 10–11 July, when the VVS began to obtain ascendency but the control of the skies over the northern face was evenly contested until the VVS began to gain air superiority on 7 July, which it maintained for the rest of the operation.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Model's main attack was delivered by XLVII Panzer Corps, supported by 45 Tigers of the attached 505th Heavy Tank Battalion. Covering their left flank was XLI Panzer Corps, with an attached regiment of 83 "Ferdinand" tank destroyers. On the right flank, XLVI Panzer Corps consisted at this time of four infantry divisions with just 9 tanks and 31 assault guns. To the left of XLI Panzer Corps was XXIII Army Corps, which consisted of the reinforced 78th Assault Infantry Division and two regular infantry divisions. While the corps contained no tanks, it did have 62 assault guns. Opposing the 9th Army was the Central Front, deployed in three heavily fortified defensive belts.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Model chose to make his initial attacks using infantry divisions reinforced with assault guns and heavy tanks, and supported by artillery and the Luftwaffe. In doing so he sought to maintain the armoured strength of his panzer divisions to be used for exploitation once the Red Army defences were breached. Once a breakthrough had been achieved the panzer forces would move through and advance towards Kursk. Jan Möschen, a major in Model's staff, later commented that Model expected a breakthrough on the second day. If a breakthrough was achieved, the briefest delay in bringing up the panzer divisions would give the Red Army time to react. His corps commanders, however, thought a breakthrough extremely unlikely.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Following a preliminary bombardment and Red Army counter bombardments, the 9th Army opened its attack at 05:30 on 5 July. Nine infantry divisions and one panzer division, with attached assault guns, heavy tanks, and tank destroyers, pushed forward. Two companies of Tiger tanks were attached to the 6th Infantry Division, and were the largest single grouping of Tigers employed that day. Opposing them were the 13th and 70th Armies of the Central Front.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The 20th Panzer and 6th Infantry Divisions of the XLVII Panzer Corps, spearheaded the advance of the XLVII Panzer Corps. Behind them the remaining two panzer divisions followed, ready to exploit any breakthrough. The heavily mined terrain and fortified positions of the 15th Rifle Division slowed the advance. By 08:00 safe lanes had been cleared through the minefield. That morning information obtained from prisoner interrogation identified a weakness at the boundary of the 15th and 81st Rifle Divisions caused by the German preliminary bombardment. The Tigers were redeployed and struck towards this area. Red Army formations countered with a force of around 90 T-34s. In the resulting three-hour battle, Red Army armoured units lost 42 tanks while the Germans lost two Tigers and a further five more immobilized with track damage. While the Red Army counterattack was defeated and the first defensive belt breached, the fighting had delayed the Germans long enough for the rest of 29th Rifle Corps of the 13th Army – initially deployed behind the first belt – to move forward and seal the breach. Red Army minefields were covered by artillery fire, making efforts to clear paths through the fields difficult and costly. Goliath and Borgward IV remote-controlled engineer mine-clearing vehicles met with limited success. Of the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion's 45 Ferdinands sent into battle, all but 12 of them were immobilized by mine damage before 17:00. Most of these were later repaired and returned to service, but the recovery of these very large vehicles was difficult.


title: Operation Citadel

text: On the first day, the XLVII Panzer Corps penetrated into the Red Army defences before stalling, and the XLI Panzer Corps reached the heavily fortified small town of Ponyri, in the second defensive belt, which controlled the roads and railways leading south to Kursk. In the first day, the Germans penetrated into the Red Army lines for the loss of 1,287 men killed and missing and a further 5,921 wounded.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Rokossovsky ordered the 17th Guards and 18th Guards Rifle Corps with the 2nd Tank Army and 19th Tank Corps, backed up by close air support, to counterattack the German 9th Army the following day on 6 July. However, due to poor coordination, only the 16th Tank Corps of the 2nd Tank Army commenced the counterattack on the dawn of 6 July after the preparatory artillery barrage. The 16th Tank Corps, fielding about 200 tanks, attacked the XLVII Panzer Corps and ran into the Tiger tanks of the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, which knocked out 69 tanks and forced the rest to withdraw to the 17th Guards Rifle Corps of the 13th Army. Later that morning, the XLVII Panzer Corps responded with its own attack against the 17th Guards Rifle Corps entrenched around the village Olkhovatka in the second defensive belt. The attack commenced with an artillery barrage and was spearheaded by the 24 serviceable Tigers of the 505th Heavy Tank Battalion, but it failed to break the Red Army defence at Olkhovatka, and the Germans suffered heavy casualties. Olkhovatka was on a high ground that provided a clear view of much of the frontline. At 18:30, the 19th Tank Corps joined the 17th Guards Rifle Corps further bolstering resistance. Rokossovsky also decided to dig in most of his remaining tanks to minimize their exposure. Ponyri, defended by the 307th Rifle Division of the 29th Rifle Corps, was also concertedly attacked on 6 July by the German 292nd and 86th Infantry, 78th Assault Infantry and 9th Panzer Divisions, but the Germans were unable to dislodge the defenders from the heavily fortified village.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Over the next three days from 7 to 10 July, Model concentrated the effort of the 9th Army at Ponyri and Olkhovatka, which both sides considered as vital positions. In response, Rokossovsky pulled forces from other parts of the front to these sectors. The Germans attacked Ponyri on 7 July, and captured half of the town after intense house-to-house fighting. A Soviet counterattack the following morning forced the Germans to withdraw, and a series of counterattacks ensued by both sides with control of the town being exchanged several times over the next few days. By 10 July, the Germans had secured most of the town, but Soviet counterattacks continued. The back and forth battles for Ponyri and the nearby Hill 253.5 were battles of attrition, with heavy casualties on both sides. It became referred to by the troops as "mini-Stalingrad". The war diary of the 9th Army described the heavy fighting as a "new type of mobile attrition battle". German attacks on Olkhovatka and the nearby village of Teploe failed to penetrate the Soviet defences; including a powerful concerted attack on 10 July by about 300 Germans tanks and assault guns from the 2nd, 4th, and 20th Panzer Divisions, supported by all available Luftwaffe air power in the northern face.


title: Operation Citadel

text: On 9 July a meeting between Kluge, Model, Joachim Lemelsen and Josef Harpe was held at the headquarters of the XLVII Panzer Corps. It had become clear to the German commanders that the 9th Army lacked the strength to obtain a breakthrough, and their Soviet counterparts had also realized this, but Kluge wished to maintain the pressure on the Soviets in order to aid the southern offensive.


title: Operation Citadel

text: While the operation on the northern side of the salient began with a attack front, by 6 July it had been reduced to . The following day the attack frontage dropped to , and on both the 8 and 9 July penetrations of only occurred. By 10 July, the Soviets had completely halted the German advance.


title: Operation Citadel

text: On 12 July the Soviets launched Operation Kutuzov, their counter-offensive upon the Orel salient, which threatened the flank and rear of Model's 9th Army. The 12th Panzer Division, thus far held in reserve and slated to be committed to the northern side of the Kursk salient, along with the 36th Motorized Infantry, 18th Panzer and 20th Panzer Divisions were redeployed to face the Soviet spearheads.


title: Operation Citadel

text: At around 04:00 on 5 July, the German attack commenced with a preliminary bombardment. Manstein's main attack was delivered by Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, which was organized into densely concentrated spearheads. Opposing the 4th Panzer Army was the Soviet 6th Guards Army, which was composed of the 22nd Guards Rifle Corps and 23rd Guards Rifle Corps. The Soviets had constructed three heavily fortified defensive belts to slow and weaken the attacking armoured forces. Though they had been provided superb intelligence, the Voronezh Front headquarters had still not been able to pinpoint the exact location where the Germans would place their offensive weight.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The panzergrenadier division "Großdeutschland", commanded by Walter Hörnlein, was the strongest single division in the 4th Panzer Army. It was supported on its flanks by the 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions. "Großdeutschland's" Panzer IIIs and IVs had been supplemented by a company of 15 Tigers, which were used to spearhead the attack. At dawn on 5 July, "Großdeutschland", backed by heavy artillery support, advanced on a three-kilometre front upon the 67th Guards Rifle Division of the 22nd Guards Rifle Corps. The Panzerfüsilier Regiment, advancing on the left wing, stalled in a minefield and subsequently 36 Panthers were immobilized. The stranded regiment was subjected to a barrage of Soviet anti-tank and artillery fire, which inflicted numerous casualties. Engineers were moved up and cleared paths through the minefield, but suffered casualties in the process. The combination of fierce resistance, minefields, thick mud and mechanical breakdowns took its toll. With paths cleared, the regiment resumed its advance towards Gertsovka. In the ensuing battle, heavy casualties were sustained including the regimental commander Colonel Kassnitz. Due to the fighting, and the marshy terrain south of the village, surrounding the Berezovyy stream, the regiment once more bogged down.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The panzergrenadier regiment of "Großdeutschland", advancing on the right wing, pushed through to the village of Butovo. The tanks were deployed in an arrow formation to minimise the effects of the Soviet Pakfront defence, with the Tigers leading and the Panzer IIIs, IVs and assault guns fanning out to the flanks and rear. They were followed by infantry and combat engineers. Attempts by the VVS to impede the advance were repulsed by the Luftwaffe.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The 3rd Panzer Division, advancing on the left flank of "Großdeutschland", made good progress and by the end of the day had captured Gertsovka and reached Mikhailovka. The 167th Infantry Division, on the right flank of the 11th Panzer Division, also made sufficient progress, reaching Tirechnoe by the end of the day. By the end of 5 July, a wedge had been created in the first belt of the Soviet defences.


title: Operation Citadel

text: To the east, during the night of 4–5 July, SS combat engineers had infiltrated no-man's land and cleared lanes through the Soviet minefields. At dawn, 5 July, the three divisions of II SS Panzer Corps – SS Panzergrenadier Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler", 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Division "Das Reich" and the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division "Totenkopf" – attacked the 6th Guards Army's 52nd Guards Rifle Division. The main assault was led by a spearhead of 42 Tigers, but in total 494 tanks and assault guns attacked across a twelve-kilometre front. "Totenkopf", the strongest of the three divisions, advanced towards Gremuchhi and screened the right flank. The 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division advanced on the left flank towards Bykovka. The 2nd SS Panzer Division advanced between the two formations in the center. Following closely behind the tanks were the infantry and combat engineers, coming forward to demolish obstacles and clear trenches. In addition, the advance was well supported by the Luftwaffe, which greatly aided in breaking Soviet strong points and artillery positions.


title: Operation Citadel

text: By 09:00 hours, the II SS Panzer Corps had broken through the Soviet first belt of defence along its entire front. While probing positions between the first and second Soviet defensive belts, at 13:00, the 2nd SS Panzer Division's vanguard came under fire from two T-34 tanks, which were destroyed. Forty more Soviet tanks soon engaged the division. The 1st Guards Tank Army clashed with the 2nd SS Panzer Division in a four-hour battle, resulting in the Soviet tanks withdrawing. However, the battle had bought enough time for units of the 23rd Soviet Guards Rifle Corps, lodged in the Soviet second belt, to prepare itself and be reinforced with additional anti-tank guns. By the early evening, 2nd SS Panzer Division had reached the minefields that marked the outer perimeter of the Soviet second belt of defence. The 1st SS Division had secured Bykovka by 16:10. It then pushed forward towards the second belt of defence at Yakovlevo, but its attempts to break through were rebuffed. By the end of the day, the 1st SS Division had sustained 97 dead, 522 wounded, and 17 missing and lost about 30 tanks. Together with the 2nd SS Panzer Division, it had forced a wedge far into the defences of the 6th Guards Army.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The 3rd SS Panzer Division was making slow progress. They had managed to isolate the 155th Guards Regiment, of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division (of the 23rd Guards Rifle Corps), from the rest of its parent division, but its attempts to sweep the regiment eastward into the flank of the neighbouring 375th Rifle Division (of the 23rd Guards Rifle Corps) had failed when the regiment was reinforced by the 96th Tank Brigade. Hausser, the commander of II SS Panzer Corps, requested aid from the III Panzer Corps to his right, but the panzer corps had no units to spare. By the end of the day, the 3rd SS Division had made very limited progress due in part to a tributary of the Donets river. The lack of progress undermined the advance made by its sister divisions and exposed the right flank of the corps to Soviet forces. The temperatures, reaching over 30 degrees Celsius, and frequent thunderstorms made fighting conditions difficult.


title: Operation Citadel

text: The 6th Guards Army, which confronted the attack by the "XLVIII Panzer Korps" and "II SS Panzer Korps", was reinforced with tanks from the 1st Tank Army, the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and the 5th Guards Tank Corps. The 51st and 90th Guards Rifle divisions were moved up to the vicinity of Pokrovka (not Prokhorovka, site of one of future confrontations, to the north-east), in the path of the 1st SS Panzer Division. The 93rd Guards Rifle Division was deployed further back, along the road leading from Pokrovka to Prokhorovka.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Facing Army Detachment "Kempf", consisting of III Panzer Corps and Corps "Raus" (commanded by Erhard Raus), were the 7th Guards Army, dug in on the high ground on the eastern bank of the Northern Donets. The two German corps were tasked with crossing the river, breaking through the 7th Guards Army and covering the right flank of the 4th Panzer Army. The 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion, equipped with 45 Tigers, was also attached to the III Panzer Corps, with one company of 15 Tigers attached to each of the corps' three panzer divisions.


title: Operation Citadel

text: At the Milkhailovka bridgehead, just south of Belgorod, eight infantry battalions of the 6th Panzer Division crossed the river under heavy Soviet bombardment. Part of a company of Tigers from the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion was able to cross before the bridge was destroyed. The rest of the 6th Panzer Division was unable to cross further south due to a traffic jam at the crossing, and remained on the western bank of the river throughout the day. Those units of the division that had crossed the river attacked Stary Gorod, but were unable to break through due to poorly cleared minefields and strong resistance.


title: Operation Citadel

text: To the south of the 6th Panzer Division, the 19th Panzer Division crossed the river but was delayed by mines, moving forward by the end of the day. Luftwaffe bombed the bridgehead in a friendly fire incident, wounding 6th Panzer Division commander Walther von Hünersdorff and Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski of the 19th Panzer Division. Further south, infantry and tanks of 7th Panzer Division crossed the river. A new bridge had to be built specifically for the Tigers, causing further delays. Despite a poor start, the 7th Panzer Division eventually broke into the first belt of the Soviet defence and pushed on between Razumnoe and Krutoi Log, advancing , the furthest "Kempf" got during the day.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Operating to the south of 7th Panzer Division, were the 106th Infantry Division and the 320th Infantry Division of Corps "Raus". The two formations attacked across a front without armour support. The advance began well, with the crossing of the river and a swift advance against the 72nd Guards Rifle Division. Corps "Raus" took the village of Maslovo Pristani, penetrating the first Red Army defence line. A Soviet counterattack supported by about 40 tanks was beaten off, with the assistance from artillery and flak batteries. After having suffered 2,000 casualties since the morning and still facing considerable resistance from the Soviet forces, the corps dug in for the night.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Delaying the progress of "Kempf" allowed Red Army forces time to prepare their second belt of defence to meet the German attack on 6 July. The 7th Guards Army, which had absorbed the attack of III Panzer Corps and Corps "Raus", was reinforced with two rifle divisions from the reserve. The 15th Guards Rifle Division was moved up to the second belt of defence, in the path of the III Panzer Corps.


title: Operation Citadel

text: By the evening of 6 July, the Voronezh Front had committed all of its reserves, except for three rifle divisions under the 69th Army; yet it could not decisively contain the 4th Panzer Army. The XLVIII Panzer Corps along the Oboyan axis, where the third defensive belt was mostly unoccupied, now had only the Red Army second defensive belt blocking it from breakthrough into the unfortified Soviet rear. This forced the Stavka to commit their strategic reserves to reinforce the Voronezh Front: the 5th Guards and 5th Guards Tank Armies, both from the Steppe Front, as well as the 2nd Tank Corps from the Southwestern Front. Ivan Konev objected to this premature piecemeal commitment of the strategic reserve, but a personal call from Stalin silenced his complaints. In addition, on 7 July Zhukov ordered the 17th Air Army – the air fleet serving the Southwestern Front – to support the 2nd Air Army in serving the Voronezh Front. On July 7, the 5th Guards Tank Army began advancing to Prokhorovka. 5th Guards Tank Army commander, Lieutenant General Pavel Rotmistrov, described the journey:


title: Operation Citadel

text: The 10th Tank Corps, then still subordinate to the 5th Guards Army, was rushed ahead of the rest of the army, arriving at Prokhorovka on the night of 7 July, and 2nd Tank Corps arrived at Korocha, southeast of Prokhorovka, by morning of 8 July. Vatutin ordered a powerful counterattack by the 5th Guards, 2nd Guards, 2nd and 10th Tank Corps, in all fielding about 593 tanks and self-propelled guns and supported by most of the Front's available air power, which aimed to defeat the II SS Panzer Corps and therefore expose the right flank of XLVIII Panzer Corps. Simultaneously, the 6th Tank Corps was to attack the XLVIII Panzer Corps and prevent it from breaking through to the free Soviet rear. Although intended to be concerted, the counterattack turned out to be a series of piecemeal attacks due to poor coordination. The 10th Tank Corps' attack began on the dawn of 8 July but they ran straight into the antitank fire of the 2nd and 3rd SS Divisions, losing most of its forces. Later that morning, the 5th Guards Tank Corps' attack was repelled by the 3rd SS Division. The 2nd Tank Corps joined in the afternoon and was also repelled. The 2nd Guards Tank Corps, masked by the forest around the village Gostishchevo, north of Belgorod, with its presence unknown to the II SS Panzer Corps, advanced towards the 167th Infantry Division. But it was detected by German air reconnaissance just before the attack had materialized, and was subsequently decimated by German ground-attack aircraft armed with MK 103 anti-tank cannons and at least 50 tanks were destroyed. This marked the first time in military history an attacking tank formation had been defeated by air power alone. Although a fiasco, the Soviet counterattack succeeded in stalling the advance of the II SS Panzer Corps throughout the day.


title: Operation Citadel

text: By the end of 8 July, II SS-Panzer Corps had advanced about since the start of Citadel and broken through the first and second defensive belts. However, slow progress by the XLVIII Panzer Corps caused Hoth to shift elements of the II SS-Panzer Corps to the west to help the XLVIII Panzer Corps regain its momentum. On 10 July the full effort of the corps was shifted back to its own forward progress. The direction of their advance now shifted from Oboyan due north to the northeast, toward Prokhorovka. Hoth had discussed this move with Manstein since early May, and it was a part of the 4th Panzer Army's plan since the outset of the offensive. By this time, however, the Soviets had shifted reserve formations into its path. The defensive positions were manned by the 2nd Tank Corps, reinforced by the 9th Guards Airborne Division and 301st Anti-tank Artillery Regiment, both from the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Though the German advance in the south was slower than planned, it was faster than the Soviets expected. On 9 July, the first German units reached the Psel River. The next day, the first German infantry crossed the river. Despite the deep defensive system and minefields, German tank losses remained lower than the Soviet's. At this point, Hoth turned the II SS Panzer Corps away from Oboyan to attack toward the northeast in the direction of Prokhorovka. The main concern of Manstein and Hausser was the inability of Army Detachment "Kempf" to advance and protect the eastern flank of the II SS Panzer Corps. On 11 July, Army Detachment "Kempf" finally achieved a breakthrough. In a surprise night attack, the 6th Panzer Division seized a bridge across the Donets. Once across, Breith made every effort to push troops and vehicles across the river for an advance on Prokhorovka from the south. A linkup with the II SS Panzer Corps would result with the Soviet 69th Army becoming encircled.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Throughout 10 and 11 July, the II-SS Panzer Corps continued its attack toward Prokhorovka, reaching within of the settlement by the night of 11 July. That same night, Hausser issued orders for the attack to continue the next day. The plan was for the 3rd SS Panzer Division to drive northeast until it reached the Karteschewka-Prokhorovka road. Once there, they were to strike southeast to attack the Soviet positions at Prokhorovka from the flanks and rear. The 1st and 2nd SS Panzer divisions were to wait until 3rd SS Panzer Division attack had destabilised the Soviet positions at Prokhorovka; and once underway, the 1st SS Panzer Division was to attack the main Soviet defences dug in on the slopes southwest of Prokhorovka. To the division's right, the 2nd SS Panzer Division was to advance eastward, then turn southward away from Prokhorovka to roll up the Soviet lines opposing the III Panzer Corps' advance and force a gap. During the night of 11 July, Rotmistrov moved his 5th Guards Tank Army to an assembly area just behind Prokhorovka in preparation for a massive attack the following day. At 5:45 Leibstandarte headquarters started receiving reports of the ominous sound of tank engines as the Soviets moved into their assembly areas. Soviet artillery and Katyusha regiments were redeployed in preparation for the counterattack.


title: Operation Citadel

text: At around 08:00, a Soviet artillery barrage began. At 08:30, Rotmistrov radioed his tankers: "Steel, Steel, Steel!", the order to commence the attack. Down off the west slopes, before Prokhorovka, came the massed armour of five tank brigades from the Soviet 18th and 29th Tank Corps of the 5th Guards Tank Army. The Soviet tanks advanced down the corridor, carrying mounted infantrymen of the 9th Guards Airborne Division on the tanks. To the north and east, the 3rd SS Panzer Division was engaged by the Soviet 33rd Guards Rifle Corps. Tasked with flanking the Soviet defences around Prokhorovka, the unit first had to beat off a number of attacks before they could go over onto the offensive. Most of the division's tank losses occurred late in the afternoon as they advanced through mine fields against well-hidden Soviet anti-tank guns.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Although the 3rd SS succeeded in reaching the Karteschewka-Prokhorovka road, their hold was tenuous and it cost the division half of its armour. The majority of German tank losses suffered at Prokhorovka occurred here. To the south, the Soviet 18th and 29th Tank Corps had been thrown back by the 1st SS Panzer Division. The 2nd SS Panzer Division also repelled attacks from the 2nd Tank Corps and the 2nd Guards Tank Corps. Luftwaffe local air superiority over the battlefield also contributed to the Soviet losses, partly due to the VVS (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily – the Soviet Air Force) being directed against the German units on the flanks of II SS Panzer Corps. By the end of the day, the Soviets had fallen back to their starting positions.


title: Operation Citadel

text: Neither the 5th Guards Tank Army nor the II SS Panzer Corps accomplished their objectives. Though the Soviet counterattack failed with heavy losses, and were thrown back onto the defensive, yet they did enough to stop a German breakthrough.


title: Operation Citadel

text: On the evening of 12 July, Hitler summoned Kluge and Manstein to his headquarters at Rastenburg in East Prussia. Two days earlier, the Western Allies had invaded Sicily. The threat of further Allied landings in Italy or along southern France made Hitler believe it was essential to move forces from Kursk to Italy and to discontinue the offensive. Kluge welcomed the news, as he was aware that the Soviets were initiating a massive offensive against his sector, but Manstein was less welcoming. Manstein's forces had just spent a week fighting through a maze of defensive works and he believed they were on the verge of breaking through to more open terrain, which would allow him to engage and destroy the Soviet armoured reserves in a mobile battle. Manstein stated, "On no account should we let go of the enemy until the mobile reserves he [has] committed [are] completely beaten." Hitler agreed to temporarily allow the continuance of the offensive in the southern part of the salient, but the following day he ordered Manstein's reserve – the XXIV Panzer Corps – to move south to support the 1st Panzer Army. This removed the force Manstein believed was needed to succeed.