Provider MULE 2126 announced

The hard-worked Provider 71A transport fleet, literally the backbone of UNDF, is to receive a much needed upgrade and refurbishment which will keep the ships in service until their planned replacement in the mid 2130s (though as yet no replacement has been designed).

The ships will receive a full refurbishment and replacement of life-expired structural components. The engines will be replaced by the Proton RM-07MEGA e-Core which is a re-working of the original engine with e-Core technology. Navigational systems will also be upgraded and communications will receive fractal encryption support.

The upgrade is known as Provider Multi-Upgrade Life Extension (MULE) 2126 and will be the last major upgrade to the type before it's retirement. A similar upgrade is expected to be made to the Extender fleet at a later stage.

Clones unveil active visual stealth for aircraft

The Clone Aircraft Corporation has unveiled a K45 Falcon fighter with a new active visual stealth coating. This is known as the "chameleon layer" (not that there are such creatures on Cloneworld). It changes the colour of the coating depending on the terrain the aircraft is traveling over, depending on the viewpoint of the threat.

It is thought the new technology could be part of the forthcoming mid-life upgrade of the K45A fleet due at the end of the decade (now known as the K45M) and also new build K45C from 2128 or 2129.

Other aircraft such as the K85QA may also receive the layer.

Nectars to replace Alpha Centauri

DF has two Alpha Centauri 93A training ships, plus a third which was going to join the fleet though has ended up being cannibalised to keep the other two going, for use in aggressor training. The ships are ex-Bolitic Helwin destroyers and are well regarded but DF are having trouble in keeping the ships going due to their age and a lack of spares. Plus the ships are now considered obsolete and not really that relevant to the kind of threat DF ships now face.

DF has decided to withdraw the ships by the end of the year. Instead, they will maintain a fleet of 4 or 5 Nectar 52A Medium Combat Ships in the aggressor role. DF was considering to sell them but Triple Megan have said they cannot afford to buy them for a number of years yet. DF have twelve Nectars and will begin to phase them out soon. The ships not retained are likely to be kept as a source of spares.

Molab signs biggest export order in DF history!

The Deputy leader of Molab and the head of the Molab military have signed a huge deal with UNDF which is said to be worth 12.7 billion zarks! DF are saying this is the biggest export order in history. 

The core part of the order will be 16 Advanced Rome medium combat ships for delivery from 2128. As part of the order, DF will loan Molab 6 Romes which are expected to enter service later this year following some localisation work.

Other parts of the order include an upgrade programme for Molab's four Isometrics including e-Core engines, tactical updates and sensor updates. Molab will also receive updated tactical systems for their Pentekonter Protectors, thirty more MRMs and more Ferret UCVs.

Depender fleet to receive e-Core engines

Following a successful test with 161-106 Illicit, the rest of the Depender 161A fleet of multi-role support ships (the official role, actual role is thought to be intelligence gathering) will receive e-Core engines during an upgrade later this year.

The engine upgrade will be carried out during scheduled heavy maintenance. The ships will also lose their Canister TPMs as these missiles are now obsolete, plus they have TPM-VLS cells in any event.

DF to develop future heavy combat ship to replace Solaris and Panther

DF have announced a new ship programme called Future Heavy Combat Ship or FHCS. This is a feasibility study which will look into potential specifications and future trends for a new heavy combat ship for the second half of the 2130s which will replace the Solaris 37C and Type 35 fleets between 2135 and 2150.

A modular design is expected which can replace the two heavy combat ships which form the backbone of the DF combat fleet. DF expect FHCS to feed into the Solaris replacement plan in the early 2130s with the first ship planned to enter service in 2135.