"As a pilot scheme the DDS will be taking over civil defence in the Central District of Proxima 5." he said at a media briefing. "DDS personnel and troops, including the Hoods, will be taking responsibility in civil defence and law enforcement support and also absorbing some 350 UNP employees. We will get 80 million zarks a year for this contract and if successful it will allow the DDS to make cost savings and pump more money into ship and weapon procurement."
Observers see this as part of AP's stated plans to merge all UNP paramilitary forces into the DDS or at least be highly integrated into the DDS command structure. This is thought to be an idea being batted around for the New DDS Army with the DDS itself maintaining a small highly trained core of troops supported by UNP member state armies which will integrate with the DDS command and communication structure.
- The hacked together Barrage Barge is to become a permanent weapon in the DDS arsenal. Three new barges are to be built this year and will be spread across the DDS network ready for deployment. The DDS say the new barges will be refined but will still be fairly cheaply and quickly built.
- The Dinos have begun field trials with holographic communications where a holographic representation of the person being spoken to remotely appears instead of just a screen image. This is thought to use technology similar to the FIDO VR projectors being trialled with the DDS though in the DDS' case it will be used for remote crewing.
