The HCS are understood to be considering the biggest change (and cuts) in the HCS Army since its inception at the start of the Clone Wars. The army is the largest of the 4 HCS services and has 45% of the overall defence budget but despite that and because it is so big funding upgraded weapons is becoming harder and harder.
Under the proposals the amount of troops could be cut by nearly half with the member planets in the Clone Star Empire taking over much of their own internal security using locally recruited and funded territorial troops. This would allow the HCS troops on each planet to be reduced to a much smaller rapid reaction force. It is estimated nearly 100 infantry regiments, 40 transport regiments and 14 armoured regiments could be disbanded as a result saving the HCS Army 14 billion zarks a year.
Taragargi, a minor planet in CSE-W, has been cited as an example of what could happen. It currently has a garrison of 1 armoured regiment, 6 infantry regiments, 4 transport regiments and a combined artillery/engineering battalion. Half of the infantry and transport regiments could be replaced by local territorial battalions leaving a better equipped and concentrated brigade ready to react if the local forces could be cope.
However critics in the HCS say that the cost of setting up planetary territorial units would exceed any savings for at least 10 years and would also reduce the army's ability to absorb heavy losses as it was able to do several times in the Clone Wars. They also say that is it not certain the Army would get back all of the savings as the other services may request budget boosts of their own.
