Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of ProximaRecently there has been a lot of doom and gloom around the DDS as billions has been cut from the budget, including the latest air force cuts being announced just a few hours ago. However i think the negative feelings are misplaced, these reductions are a necessary evil in order to facilitate a much stronger DDS in the years to come.
First of all some background, why exactly has the DDS budget got so out of control. The war is always blamed but actually the main cause of budget problems are the various big spaceship projects of the mid-2100s. Projects like the Panther, Missileer and Solaris III costs billions of zarks and in order to afford these big ticket projects the DDS decided to delay spending in other areas especially in infrastructure upgrades.
The simple fact is the rest of the DDS was neglected for awhile and some key parts of the infrastructure began to crumble, most notably DDS Communications. A little known memo from 2107 warns that unless a big investment is made in rebuilding the DDS communications network soon then it may collapse by 2109. Luckily the DDS heeded that warning in time and began a 12 year project to totally rebuild the network, a project that will eventually cost over 70 billion zarks. However affording this is proving problematical.
So the DDS are having to adjust in other areas but it should result in a much more even budget spread and should ensure sustainable spending. The DDS is moving away from being a full spectrum arm as was a common aim in the late 2100s and instead will concentrate on having a powerful space fleet with a small expeditionary army and air force. Priority spending over the next 10 years will be on the fleet and key infrastructure, the other arms being reduced but kept viable and well equipped.
So fear not for the future of the fleet. Corkscrew will happen as will this new cruiser actually, which i can exclusively reveal will (most likely) be officially named the Carbon project later in the year. Why am i so confident? Well i have been a DDS watcher for years and i can tell when a ship project is going to succeed and fail. If the DDS have a clear need or mission for the ship (as they do for Carbon) then it will likely succeed. If instead they decide they need a ship then try and think up a mission for it (Chrysalis, LCX) then it usually fails.
In 10 years time a fleet of Carbons, Quasars, Panthers, Indies, Solaris, Isos and Corkscrews will rule space backed up with a new informational backbone able to cope with modern and projected future needs. It will happen, you just need to have some faith.
