The Pulsar cruiser was intended to begin it's run down in late 2109 with a final withdrawal by the end of 2111 but now the DDS have changed plans and delayed the beginning of the run down to 2111. The fleet is expected to be totally withdrawn by the end of 2112 though a DDS source said it could be 1 or 2 survive into 2113.
The reason for this extension is the Utrek war and the Panther delays. Combat losses plus the DMZ commitments allied to delays in the Panther programme mean the DDS will not have the desired number of Quasars and Panthers in situ to allow the Pulsar run down to begin as planned. "We have to make sure we have enough ships to cover commitments with a decent reserve - just in case." A DDS Fleet spokeswoman said, "Therefore we are going to prolong the Pulsar in service a little longer."
Pulsar fans need not get too excited though as this is only a delay of the end not a true reprieve, the fleet reaches the end of it's operational life in 2114-6 and would need an expensive remanufacturing programme like ILU or MULE to keep operating after that. Because of the change of plans however it now looks like next year's Pulsar update will not be the last and there will be one more in 2110. Three Pulsars are expected to be preserved though none are expected to be preserved in working order.
