DDS shipbuilding at breaking point

A senior DDS Fleet officer has warned that the DDS' shipbuilding resources are at breaking point with production capacity at a maximum and staffing proving a problem, due to the high demand.

The DDS produces ships at large production rigs in three locations : Solaris Prime, Proxima 5 and 7. A rig may be bought into operation around Rathun's World in future too. Currently the DDS has :

Solaris

• The former Quasar rig is now retooled for the Quasar ILU programme
• A large new rig for Panther production
• A rig for SUP production
• The former Isometric rig now producing Terran Sea
• A small rig producing Velocity
• A small rig fitting out Extender oilers from SUPs

Proxima 7

• A large rig finishing off Pentekonter (Rome to be built from next year)
• A large rig fitting out Provider, Marconi and future SUP based classes
• The former second Isometric rig now modified for Rhombus rebuilds
• A large new rig for fitting out Intruder-Es

Proxima 5

• A small rig for fitting out Providers from SUPs
• A small rig for minor updates, currently being used for Pulsar updates

As well as these the DDS are looking for capacity for their next generation transport the Feeder class. The DDS want (and need) production sped up of some types but all rigs are running at capacity. Staffing is a problem at some sites as the amount of available personnel is finite. The Terran Sea rig has even banned vacations for it's staff because they don't have enough slack in staff numbers to cope with absenses. This has caused staff retention to drop of course.

The DDS said they are working with Consolidated Spacecraft to try and ease the strain on DDS facilities.