The Provider and Extender fleets of transports and oilers are the hardest working ships in the DDS. The majority of their year is spent in space. The average combat ship spends 192 days a year in space, for one of the DDS' transports that figure is an incredible 317! Last month A101 Provider was the first SUP derived type to complete its Intermediate Life Update or ILU and the DDS say the benefits are already being felt.
The new HS-760AY is more efficient, reliable and easier to maintain which is a boon for the crews of ships which are nearly always under way somewhere. Other updates and improvements to the ships' systems will also reduce the workload on the ship's engineering department and enhanced diagnostic and monitoring systems will help detect problems early. FIDO-VR is also helping to reduce the workload of the crew in general with distributed crewing in quiet periods enabling crews, who might be in space for months at a time, extra leisure and relaxation time.
With the SUP fleet's workload unlikely to reduce any time soon the ILU update can't be rolled out to the fleet fast enough though it will take a number of years to update all 50 ships.
