The Dinos and the Space Nazis clash! (Nazis P2)
31.7.12
Wayne King-Meiouf : The real New DDS
Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of ProximaThe pace of change is breath taking, the latest DDS change being the relocation from Proxima 7 to 5. This however is a rather overdue move which i know the DDS have been considering for some years as the edges of GHQ and Hexian City have grown ever nearer.
Years ago when Rotarios came to power he rebranded the DDS as the New DDS and promised a whole raft of changes. Indeed we did see some though the most notable change appeared to be the tyranny of the Hoods. On the whole the DDS remained pretty much as it had been before, and AP in his remix of the worst excesses of Rotariosism did not change things much either.
But now in a few weeks Firefly has changed the structure of the DDS, bringing in a new Territorial Force, the Internal Security & Special Forces division, reorganising the fleet, will move GHQ and there is likely to be more to come. One of the first things Firefly did ironically was remove the "New" prefix on the DDS name, ironic because the DDS he is rebuilding can pretty much be seen as a "New DDS".
So what next? Well i think we have seen the biggest changes for now, reorganisations that Firefly's lieutenants have been planning for some time. The next changes will wait now until the various DDS reviews on the fleet, non-space forces, special forces and technology report back over the next 12 months. If change is recommended then Firefly has shown that he will carry them out. The New DDS is here to stay!
New GHQ to cost 350 million
The Shiner has told the media that building the new GHQ on an island on Proxima 5 will cost around 350 million zarks. Part of the cost will be offset by a 75 million zark land sale on Solaris as the Land Division part of Territorial Force (the old New DDS Army) will move its HQ to DDS City next year allowing their current location on Solaris to be sold. The Proxima 5 government will not contribute The Shiner said, as they are not rich like their P7 neighbours, though they will upgrade Camacote Spaceport and the adjoining airport next year adding a dedicated DDS terminal.
The Shiner also revealed some more details on what will be built on Helnikan Island. The major sites on the island will be linked by an underground railway, this also implies that an underground bunker will be built under GHQ though The Shiner did not comment on this. The small Rotos Isle which is close by Helnikan will be joined by a line of the railway as well as a bridge. Rotos will host an ISSF base, thought to be where the Marine Prowler Unit will be based.
One of the priorities will be the construction of an airbase, this will house a squadron of TPM-A equipped F-10S as well as being able to receive passenger planes from Camacote. The Shiner revealed that the DDS were currently in negotiations with the Clones for 25 A-85NTK COIN aircraft, this is the "marinized" version of the NT which has modifications to its sensors, filters and emergency equipment to suit operations over water. The DDS will use these to patrol the waters around Helnikan. Extra passenger jets will also be bought though this will wait until next year.
A geological survey of Helnikan will begin next week and construction is hoped to start of the airbase and GHQ in September. The Shiner said that the aim was for command functions to transfer to the new GHQ by the end of the year and for the new GHQ to be fully operational by the end of 2113.
The Shiner also revealed some more details on what will be built on Helnikan Island. The major sites on the island will be linked by an underground railway, this also implies that an underground bunker will be built under GHQ though The Shiner did not comment on this. The small Rotos Isle which is close by Helnikan will be joined by a line of the railway as well as a bridge. Rotos will host an ISSF base, thought to be where the Marine Prowler Unit will be based.
One of the priorities will be the construction of an airbase, this will house a squadron of TPM-A equipped F-10S as well as being able to receive passenger planes from Camacote. The Shiner revealed that the DDS were currently in negotiations with the Clones for 25 A-85NTK COIN aircraft, this is the "marinized" version of the NT which has modifications to its sensors, filters and emergency equipment to suit operations over water. The DDS will use these to patrol the waters around Helnikan. Extra passenger jets will also be bought though this will wait until next year.
A geological survey of Helnikan will begin next week and construction is hoped to start of the airbase and GHQ in September. The Shiner said that the aim was for command functions to transfer to the new GHQ by the end of the year and for the new GHQ to be fully operational by the end of 2113.
- Bolitic Emperor Melson and his rival Erinthorn have met on the battle planet of Smolask, though "holding their swords by the blades" which is a Bolitic saying for talk not war (it sounds better in Bolitician : "kela wakaki sa!") Its not thought the talks were that fruitful but as no battles or murders occurred that in Bolitic terms can only be a success.
- Windy is in talks with Consolidated Spacecraft for a replacement for his destroyed personal ship SS Stoke City.
30.7.12
DDS buy island for new GHQ
The DDS have bought the island of Helnikan off the Proxima 5 government (or rather "swapped" it for some land they already owned that the P5 government wanted) for its new GHQ. The island is to the south of the main archipelago on the mostly water covered planet some 300km from the P5 capital Camacote and 40km from the DDS Communications HQ which is on the neighbouring island of Vanta.
Helnikan has been chosen because of its sheltered location and also the fact it is undeveloped so the DDS will have a clean sheet of paper with which to work with. A cable communication link to DDS Communications HQ will be laid over the next few weeks with direct-line laserlinks to other locations as back-up. Helnikan is not a big island, being around 7km from end to end, but will provide perfectly adequate space for the DDS' intended facilities.
Sea Urchin told the media that the DDS would aim to get the new GHQ up and running by the end of the year. Facilities for the command staff and an airbase would be built first with barracks for troops and other facilities following next year. A dedicated dock for ferries and cargo ships would also be built in the island's natural harbour Ren's Bay. Until the new GHQ was operational Sea Urchin said the DDS would continue to use DDS Communications. That means that the old GHQ on Promixa 7 will now be known as DDS City from immediate effect.
The new GHQ would be much more secure than the old GHQ ISSF chief Torus said. "Being an island in itself will help deter casual visitors and we will be putting in place layered security to help deter the more determined intruder."
An upgrade for the Proxima 5 Orbital Dock would also be arranged including upgraded self-defence systems and to extend the existing docking facilities.
A provisional map of Helnikan has been published by DDS Technology showing possible locations for the buildings to be erected on the island. It is thought that large storage silos and other unspecified buildings will also be erected but kept secret.
Helnikan has been chosen because of its sheltered location and also the fact it is undeveloped so the DDS will have a clean sheet of paper with which to work with. A cable communication link to DDS Communications HQ will be laid over the next few weeks with direct-line laserlinks to other locations as back-up. Helnikan is not a big island, being around 7km from end to end, but will provide perfectly adequate space for the DDS' intended facilities.
Sea Urchin told the media that the DDS would aim to get the new GHQ up and running by the end of the year. Facilities for the command staff and an airbase would be built first with barracks for troops and other facilities following next year. A dedicated dock for ferries and cargo ships would also be built in the island's natural harbour Ren's Bay. Until the new GHQ was operational Sea Urchin said the DDS would continue to use DDS Communications. That means that the old GHQ on Promixa 7 will now be known as DDS City from immediate effect.
The new GHQ would be much more secure than the old GHQ ISSF chief Torus said. "Being an island in itself will help deter casual visitors and we will be putting in place layered security to help deter the more determined intruder."
An upgrade for the Proxima 5 Orbital Dock would also be arranged including upgraded self-defence systems and to extend the existing docking facilities.
A provisional map of Helnikan has been published by DDS Technology showing possible locations for the buildings to be erected on the island. It is thought that large storage silos and other unspecified buildings will also be erected but kept secret.
29.7.12
Firefly agrees to initial design funding for "Protector 35C"
Firefly has agreed funding for initial design and specification work on the third generation Type 35 heavy combat ship. Although nothing has been ordered yet the initial design work is a strong indicator that the DDS will go ahead with a third batch of the ship following on from the Panther 35A and Indy 35B. The DDS are said to want the third generation to bridge the gap between the combat focussed Panther and multi-role Indy, it is possible the third generation will feature a more modular design.
Its rumoured the ships could be known as the Protector 35C though this may be just a temporary name, ship class names often change during development.
Its rumoured the ships could be known as the Protector 35C though this may be just a temporary name, ship class names often change during development.
27.7.12
August Flourish 2012
The 2012 edition of August Flourish has been announced and will take place in early August. Like last year it will be a chance for DDS and Starbotian forces to train and exercise alongside each other. Two ships from Molab's fleet are also likely to join in for the final exercise which will take place in Molabite space. The rest of the exercises (mostly mock combat exercises) will take place in space between Starbot and Molab (and hence near to Clone territory). The ships that will take part are :
S202 Lancer (flagship)
H107 / I-21 Tiger
H161 Solaris
M104 Teritary
M131 / I-41 Fearless
M162 North Sea
A163 / I-17 Energy Of Starbot
S202 Lancer (flagship)
H107 / I-21 Tiger
H161 Solaris
M104 Teritary
M131 / I-41 Fearless
M162 North Sea
A163 / I-17 Energy Of Starbot
- The HCSAF have announced a modest upgrade to around 450 baseline A-85NT COIN aircraft. The upgrade includes modifications to the engine to add the improved turbocharger and IR suppression system of the current production version the NT2. It will also have some modifications to the undercarriage to strength it based on work on the navalised NTN version. The aircraft (to be known as NT2A) will also receive software updates.
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