Naval bases hit by drone attacks on Cloneworld

Two small naval bases along the northern coast of Ailier, Cloneworld plus a Clone Naval Air Service base in Micom have been attacked by Molab type drones. Each base was attacked by around a dozen drones. All of the bases had working anti-aircraft defences. The Clone Navy is reporting that most drones were shot down though there was some damage caused to the facilities of one of the naval bases. There were some minor injuries, no Clone Navy ships or CNAS aircraft were damaged.

An investigation into these attacks is ongoing. It is thought that members of the Clone Defence Forces opposed to Admiral Anderson may be behind, or at least assisting, the drone operators.

Future of propulsion will merge hyper and worm drives, says Dr Forbidden

The Head of UNDF Research, Dr Forbidden, has said that in future the two separate methods of spaceship FTL propulsion - hyperdrive and wormdrive - will merge into a unified engine which can handle both modes. It is speculated this is the core technology behind the x-Core engine which is in early development and could replace n-Core sometime in the 2140s.

Dr Forbidden also said UNDF is working on it's first upgrade to the W1A worm drive, which will offer a greater speed in equivalent c (ec) thanks to refinements in the subspace tunnel and power management. DF are currently preparing to build a prototype of WX drive, this may be ready to enter service by the end of the decade.

Hammerhead cleared to enter DFAD service

The F-12 Hammerhead LEO interceptor has been cleared to enter service with the Air Department of the UNDF Terrestrial Forces. The Hammerhead will take over LEO attack duties from the F-10S. It is a high performance and long endurance fighter that can carry up to three TPM-As which can attack objects in low orbit.

DFAD will buy fifty Hammerheads, though may order more if a planned development into a general interceptor is given the go-ahead.

First two Dinomark KXs (Pentekonter-MD) enter service

The first two Dinomark KX, which are Pentekonter-MD minesweepers, have entered service with the Dino Army. The Dinos will eventually operate fifteen of them as part of the CIN Mine Warfare Command. Ships will also be operated by Sirikwan. A total of 25 Pentekonter-MDs will be built.

The Pentekonter-MD is known to the UNDF as Pentekonter Protector 284M with an e-Core engine.

MBO base led by Von Kane detected and destroyed

UNDF has reported that it has discovered a major MBO base in the Rim Worlds, on the previously unexplored planet of Beta Algol 635B. The MBO was led by Kommandant Kurt Von Kane, the former NS officer who betrayed NS to join the MBO. It is thought Von Kane was trying to build an army of new MBO drones loyal to him.

A DF force led by Stella attacked the MBO base, which was protected by four MBO ships - survivors of the destroyed MBO fleet - and destroyed it. Von Kane is reported to have been killed during a battle with Stella.

DF units are now searching for any MBO survivors in the area.

CDF core communications node hit by drones

Although the news is being heavily suppressed, non-Clone sources are reporting that a critical piece of CDF infrastructure has been hit by a drone attack. The key communications node for the CDF, which relays communications between GHQ and other vital bases and orbital assets, was struck by drones and attacked. It is not known if there were any casualties.

The node was knocked out of action. The problem for the Clones is that the back-up node, which is supposed to activate within a second, failed to activate. For 27 minutes data communications with orbital assets was unavailable, though within a few minutes radio communications were restored. The CDF are now reviewing their back-up facilities as a data communications gap of that length in the event of Cloneworld being attacked could be catastrophic.