The DDS have said they are going to greatly increase their air power. Currently their entire combat aviation component is the 56 surviving F-10As though production of the F-10S has now begun. The DDS have confirmed eventual orders for 120 F-10S in 2 batches of 60, the second batch (from 2110) having improvements. The F-10A fleet will retained for around 10 years leaving a total F-10 force of over 170 by 2113. Its possible the DDS will keep building F-10S though to maintain a fleet of 200 fighters.
The NDAA A-12 will also be produced in numbers, the DDS are to build 120 of the light attack aircraft from 2109 with a possible further order of 100 later on. An attack UCAV is said to be in development called LLAD (Long Loiter Attack Drone) MQ-14 and could be entering service by 2110. The DDS are looking to have a 1:1 ratio of A-12 and MQ-14.
So in the mid part of the next decade the DDS could have 170-200 F-10s, 220 A-12s and 220 MQ-14s. Deputy Commander Firefly told reporters it was essential the DDS develop their non-space forces. "As the Utrek war showed us, the future wars may be fought in space but land warfare will be a key area and thus we need to rebuild our army and airforces and maybe also look at our naval assets."
Firefly was speaking at the unveiling of the new version of the Achiever MBT. The Achiever EAP (Enhanced Armour Pack) has, as you can guess, improved protection and reliability.
