Legate Dralson, ex-Dino Army and Security CouncilThe Dinomark RS is to get worm drive and some other upgrades, though no more will be built and indeed the next Dinomark is likely to be a smaller ship. Many non-Dinos think the Dinos actually hate the RS. Is that true?
It might be helpful to look back to the genesis of the RS. Back in the 2090s the Dinos began their great military build-up that eventually saw them have an army 6 times the size in 2110 as they had in 2090. Part of that build-up was also to look at the space fleet. At the time the DDS were introducing the Pulsar cruiser, the Tarbotians had the Kenora and the Clones were planning their battlecruiser which ended up being the Soulaki.
Although this will not be confirmed by anyone it is fairly common knowledge that the RS exists mostly because Ronald felt the Dinos needed a big cruiser like their rivals. There was an (incorrect) fear that the Dinos were falling behind as they had NGs and XTs and rivals like the DDS were developing formidable new warships that were much bigger and more powerful. It was felt that only a ship the same size could take on the likes of a Pulsar and live to tell the tale.
Of course the advent of transphasic weapon technology and other advancements has rendered that view false but the RS was proceeded with to give the Dino fleet a powerful core. A problem though for the Dinos was that production of NGs, XTs and later PTs had to continue apace to keep up with the military expansion. This meant that RS production was restricted to a smaller jig which meant only one could be built at a time (a similar problem that later affected the classic Velocity). This makes production much slower as each ship has to be built in virtually a bespoke manner and of course more expensive.
Thus the RSs came online slowly and over budget and because they take up so much money and resource the Dinos have often been loathe to use them (although they have proven effective when let off the leash such as the brief Dino-DDS war in the end of the last century when an RS under the command of Cruggson blew the crap out of the DDS fleet - sorry i only mention this because i was serving on that ship at the time!)
I think the Dinos do like the RS but don't really know how to use it. Dino doctrine is for small, agile units operating asymmetrically. An RS is a big and hard to hide asset which is only really effective in a classic space battle scenario, not one the Dinos like to enter. It is because of this not anything else that the RS is not heavily utilised though it has a role as the flagship of the protection force. I suspect the RS will remain in service for several more decades as a bit of a white elephant, a curiosity but still very useful for a limited number of roles.
The new Dinomark, if it has to avoid being the RS 2.0, will need to reflect Dino doctrine not Dino ego. Though as Zanus plans to look at Dino doctrine it could be the new ship will give us a guide to how the Dinos are going in general militarily over the next couple of decades.
