D101 Panther will officially enter DDS service tomorrow though actual operation will be delayed a few weeks. The ship suffered a few teething problems during final trials which was going to delay it's introduction until mid-January but Windscorpion has insisted the ship officially become a DDS ship on January 1st 2108. In reality however it will still be in test, final tests and acceptance will take place in mid-January and then training and readiness trials will take place for the next couple of months. The first combat patrol of the next generation DDS destroyer may take place in April.
R101 Missileer meanwhile has completed modifications and is now fully TPM-2 capable like it's sister ship R102 Lancer. It has taken over from it as DDS Fleet Flagship, a role it is expected to keep for the foreseeable future. Both ships however will receive final modifications early in 2108 to bring them up to "100% Missileer Specification".
Lancer will lead a small task force next month to conduct training with the Aritans. Four DDS ships (expected to be Lancer and 3 Isometrics) and 3 Aritan ships (2 Intrepids and 1 Solaris) will perform a variety of training tasks near New Arit and Artic.
L101 Intruder has been removed from the DDS fleet (though in reality was "de-DDS-ified" a couple of months ago) and returned to the HCS. This leaves the DDS without an amphibious warfare ship though the first Pangaea class LHD L111 Pangaea has just started trials and could enter service by the Spring. All in all a total of 10 Pangaea LHDs and 3 Tethys Ocean LHAs will be procured over the next few years.
The Heron SROPS local patrol lighter has now been revised again to Revision B. This includes a number of equipment and software improvements and an uprated engine. Existing Revision 0 and Revision A SROPS will be upgraded to this standard when they receive refits over the next couple of years. 16 SROPS are in service, the remaining order has been increased from 14 to 24 reflecting the usefulness of the type which has already proved it's worth in several combat scenarios.
