HCSN rejig submarine fleet

The veteran submarine CNSS Tinfish, the only surviving submarine from the old HCSN, has begun a final refit and upgrade ahead of its final role as a trials submarine from 2114-2120 when it will retire for the second time. As before it will go to a museum, presumably for good this time. When Tinfish returns from its upgrade it is thought it will help develop a new generation of cruise missile.

The HCSN have also put their Walrus SSBNs back until 2117 because of delays completing the design. The ships are scaled up versions of the Sealion nuclear attack boats, the first of which is currently in final construction. Experience gained during the construction of CNSS Sealion has meant the Walrus design will be amended, the final 2 of 4 Sealions are also likely to see changes.

Report calls for DDS "Space Marines"

After the ABBO-Bolitic War the then-new DDS Commander Firefly instigated a number of reviews into the DDS, its structure and how it fights. One report has recently been finished and delivered to the DDS Politburo who are said to have broadly agreed with its findings and recommendations.

The report on "Future Close Quarter Space Warfare Trends" says that as offensive stand-off weapons like TPM get more deadly then enemies may aim to get in very close to the DDS in space combats. One possible offensive weapon may be the use of special forces to infiltrate DDS ships and sabotage or even seize control. The Zones have used this tactic a lot in fact.

Ship-board security is the responsibility of a small team under the overall command of the First Officer but the number of specialist security personnel is small (DDS crews on the whole are small). The report says that the DDS should form a specialist branch of the Prowler special forces (part of Internal Security Special Forces - ISSF) optimised for space combat. These "space marines" would protect against incursions and also be able to mount offensive operations themselves. "The future of space warfare is a tight matrix of competing and countering technologies, the DDS needs to be proficient in all possible offensive and defensive measures in order to possess the correct one to unlock an enemy defence and push for victory" the report concludes.

Firefly has asked ISSF Commander Torus to examine the feasibility of such a new force.

• The DDS have begun work on an improved version of the NDAA A-12 light attack aircraft which is currently in production. 29 have been delivered of an order for 121 so far. The A-12PE could enter production in 2114 and comprise the final 40-50 NDAAs built. Improvements could include an uprated engine (one is in the works) along with improved avionics and aerodynamic refinements.
• The number of T-88++ tanks in HCS service has dropped to 300, the type will be finally withdrawn in September and for many years was the backbone of the HCS with 220,000 tanks in total built! The remaining tanks are nearly all the final T-88++ R7A variant. 

189/2

Banging On! 
The Dinos come under attack! (Inner Spiral P3)

Castaris 9065A order DDS ships, weapons

Castaris 9065A, a member of the Eritran Free States, has placed a follow-on order for 2 Coril-E shuttles on top of the 3 already in service. The shuttles will likely be delivered next year along with the 2 Extender-E oiler transports that are outstanding.

Castaris has also ordered a quantity of land weapons including ex-HCS T-88 tanks, Tapir APCs and personal firepower. The equipment, which is to be refurbished by the DDS and also localised to order, is part of the large quantity of ex-HCS equipment sold to the DDS by the Clones recently.

DDS investigating "Mini Missileer" for export

The DDS have begun market research and design studies into a missile carrier and command vessel based on the Olympus platform. The ship would perform a similar role to the Missileer except for ship hosting and strategic attack. The "Mini Missileer" as the project is currently called (it will not get a proper name until it becomes a firm project) would use missile launchers based on TPM-VLS though would have a non-TPM option for non-Tier 1/2 customers.

The DDS Exports Agency is also hoping to soon give more details of its mid-life refresh of the highly successful Pentekonter-E.

March Hare ends in tragedy

The latest DDS exercise March Hare 2113 ended yesterday unfortunately in tragedy. In the final event the "enemy" Red Team led by M106 Eocene tried to repel the Blue Team from an asteroid field near Barnard's Star. During the exercise a navigational error (though to be due to incorrect data being entered into the auto collision system) saw the Panther 35A H105 Ocelot hit an asteroid causing a hull breach.

Two crewmen were sucked into space (and died more or less instantly), one more crewman died in a fire aboard the Fleet Combat Ship. The damage was quickly contained and Ocelot has now returned to Solaris for repairs. An investigation is being carried out.

Clones go-ahead with Randalf 74 CSM deployment

A treaty signed in January as part of the DDS-CSE pact saw Clone Space Missiles (CSM) stationed on Cloneworld "de-targeted" from the DDS. However the Clones have continued work on a second site on Randalf 74 and today declared 6 silos at a protected site on the planet operational.

Like the Cloneworld silos however (up to 67 may be operational in the Gale-III ICBM ring around Ailier City and HCS GHQ though many of these may be ICBMs) the target of these missiles is unknown. One source states the missiles have no target set though one could be given within minutes. A planned third CSM site on Austini 55 was covered by the treaty and will not go ahead, Randalf 74 went ahead due to the advanced nature of the work.

Wayne King-Meiouf : The Tarbotians (1) : The Empire

Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of Proxima

This is part one of my series on the Tarbotian Empire which i have been researching for the last few months. In later parts i will cover topics such as the Tarbotian military and their culture and ethos but first lets describe the empire itself.

The Tarbotian Empire is often misunderstood, for a start many people think it is a lot smaller than it actually is. Unlike other powers such as the DTA and HCS which can be covered in weeks by fast ships the Tarbotian Empire is many times larger. Its so large that only about 20% of it has been mapped by the UNP or allies! (Other sources including Tarbotian maps captured during wars which map the entire empire are available to the DDS though these are kept outside of the public sphere). If you look at the UNP Starmap then you can see that quite a sizeable portion these days includes the Tarbotian Empire, however this is only a tiny fraction of their total spread.

The capital itself Tarbot, has only recently been shown on UNP maps (which currently shows space  200 light years around Proxima Centauri) and is about 150 light years from P7. Only with the advent of worm drive is that reachable in anything less than "many months". Tarbot itself is fairly close to the border of the empire, the furthest reach of the empire is said to be about 980 light years from P7.

The empire thus is over 1000 light years across and encompasses a vast area of space. A colleague of mine calculated that if you could combine the DDS, DTA and HCS space together (itself a large area of space) it could fit around 27 times in the Tarbotian Empire!

Hundreds of inhabited systems are under the Tarbotian yoke and hence trillions of individuals. As you can imagine the Tarbotian Empire is a massive juggernaut however luckily for everyone else a massive empire has massive borders and so the vast majority of the Tarbotian Empire's resources are devoted into border and internal security.

That does not mean they don't pose a dire threat to us, their fleet is very powerful as i shall explore in part 2.

UV188 : Incident On The Rim

• Mind Games R M Thang - Can Ronald and company escape the IKA? (Long Shot P3)
• Melaris 12 Incident - A DDS team is sent in to help lowly Melaris 12 (Rim Incident P1)
• Death From Above! - Windy is sent to Melaris 12 (Rim Incident P2)
• The Boyz On The Case - Melaris 12 and the DDS come under attack (Rim Incident P3)
• Ending Up In Jail - Windy is on the hunt (Rim Incident P4)
• Energy Sapping - Will the DDS fall into the Tarbot trap? (Rim Incident P5)
• Double Trouble - An old friend of El Diablo is murdered (Inner Spiral P1)

Porquat 640 order shuttles and extra oiler

Porquat 640 have placed a 450 million zark order with the DDS for 12 Coril-E shuttles, a 6th Extender-E oiler and upgrades for some of their existing ships including TPM launchers for its 2 Teknan 902 combat support ships and sensor updates for its fleet of Quagan frigates.

The order is on top of existing orders for Pentekonters, Extenders, Providers and Ferret UCVs. The Porquatians are said now to have total orders outstanding in excess of 2.4 billion zarks though this is understood to have been restructed over a longer period for affordability.

189/1

Biscuit Base Base
Ronald encounters a weird new alien species (Inner Spiral P2)

Wayne King-Meiouf : The Tarbotians, my major new report coming soon

Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of Proxima

I have not been posting much lately on the DDS website, in fact this is only my second piece of the year. The reason for that is that i have been commissioned by the DDS to study the Tarbotian Empire and its military capabilities. For the last 4 months i have met with experts on the Tarbotians and have consulted with military intelligence officials in several states. I submitted my full report to the DDS Politburo last week.

Soon i shall present an abridged version of my report for this website, the DDS Politburo do not want all details out into the open though much of what i have said in my report will be published here. I will split my report into a number of parts covering the structure of the Tarbotian Empire, its armed forces and also the culture and philosophies behind this vast power which is truly the most powerful faction in the known galaxy.

Its worth the wait, some details of the Tarbotian Empire are quite eye-opening.

DDSAF announce upgrades for F-10 fleet

The DDSAF have announced a multi-tiered upgrade for its varied fleet of F-10ASE/S/SIM fighters. The F-10S and SIM fleets will be bought up to current production standard SEP with updated systems and uprated powerplant. All aircraft will also receive a new terrain following radar and ECM sub-system.

The older F-10ASE fleet will also receive a more modest update including the improved ECM sub-system and enhancements to their radars and datalinks.

• The DDS has reduced its alert status to CYAN, the lowest state.

"Sunshine Agreement" between DDS and HCS ratified

The mutual pact between the DDS and Clone Star Empire agreed by Firefly and Oojok earlier in the year has now been fully ratified by both sides. Known as the "Sunshine Agreement" the pact was ratified by the HCS Council and Clone parliament following ratification by the DDS Politburo last month.

Little has been changed on the pact which includes agreements on shared border patrols, arms sales and the Clones giving up their recent Eritran annexed worlds. A timetable for the latter has been agreed with Unatel Gamma and Kontai to be demilitarised by the HCS by the late Summer and Porquatian troops providing law and order in the interim period.

188/7

Double Trouble
An old friend of El Diablo is murdered (Inner Spiral P1)

Fleet News (14/03/13)

• The two final ships from the Ship Building Plan for 2112/3 have been completed they being the Oceania 63A landing ship L156 North America and the Zephyr 76A oiler A182 Zebra.
• The Solaris 37C fleet combat ship H167 Regulus has been fitted with worm drive.
• The DDS are to reduce the active Starsystem 91X training fleet to 6 active ships in order to save costs and to prolong the lives of the aging ships. One ship in the fleet will be stood down at any one time, likely for 6 months at a time. X106T Oscar Wilde is the first ship to be stood down, it will be powered down following its current assignment. 

F-45K production begins, Ailier II

Following pressure from the HCS Navy Air Service, which currently has no carrier capable jet fighters, production of the long awaited F-45C/K has begun early. 12 of the naval F-45K version will be built this year and it is hoped the first can be handed over to the HCSNAS by September with an entry into service before the end of the year.

The first of 2 new Ailier II frigates has entered service. Originally it was to have been 12 ships in this class but budget cuts meant that all but the 2 ships already in construction were cancelled. In other HCSN news construction has begun of the first of 4 Sealion class nuclear attack submarines.

• Za'Enyu, who are already among the Clones' best customers, have placed a top-up order for 20 F-40s and 20 AH-26s. All will be ex-HCSAF and refurbished. Localisation will be carried out by the Zaenyuites themselves.

Operation March Hare 2113

The latest exercise is this year's edition of March Hare and will take place next week. Unlike last year which combined space combat with special forces exercises the 2113 edition will be purely space combat and will take place in Remedian space. "Enemy" forces will be provided by the Remedians and the DDS training fleets. The ships involved are :

Blue Team :
H164 Castor (flagship)
H105 Ocelot
M122 Furious
M160 Solomon Sea

Red Team :
M106 Eocene (flagship)
H204 Mila II
H206 Lord Argrox II
X104T Proxima Centauri
X132T Luyten 726

Support Team :
P112 Tacitus
A155 Pentane

The ships are split into two teams (Blue Team for the DDS and Red Team for the Enemy), a small support team will host observers and provide supplies for both sides.

188/6

Energy Sapping
Will the DDS fall into the Tarbot trap? (188/6)

Terran Sea ILU finally begins

A couple of months late (it was planned to begin in January) but the Terran Sea ILU, which in terms of scope and cost is the biggest and most expensive upgrade programmes in the history of the DDS, has finally begun. M152 Mediterranean Sea has been chosen to begin the programme, the 8 Barents Sea 43B Medium Combat Ships will be the first to be completed followed by the Arafura Sea and SOT variants of the Type 43. The updated ships will form a single unified Terran Sea 43G class.

The upgrade (which is more a full rebuild especially with the older ships) includes worm drive, a new uprated engine, Z6 cannon (Z7 will follow later), EA-X, IWC 3.0 and hull modifications to allow for a larger TPM and equipment load. There will also be other improvements and updates depending on the ship. SS Mediterranean Sea is due be completed in the early Summer. All ships will be renumbered in the M170-190 range.

Director of Operations Knobhead said the Terran Sea 43Gs would bring much enhanced new capabilities to Patrol Command and the DDS fleet in general. One item of interest is that the ships will be the first to have a full portfolio of offensive info-weapons as standard.

• The DDS have reduced their alert status to GREEN after the fears of attack in the wake of the Melaris incident have receded.
• The UNP Space Heritage Fund has awarded a 14 million zark contract with DDS Engineering to restore the preserved Pulsar 12A cruiser SS South America to a state where it can travel at sub-light under its own power (and be towed at faster than light). The work involved will just be phase 1 and will mostly prepare the hull for future work. The legacy power unit was removed prior to it entering the UNP Space Museum so a small portable reactor unit will be installed to power the ship's engine and systems. The aim is for the ship to be available in 2114.

El Diablo seeks to boost economy of Dino off-worlds

In his first major policy announcement since becoming Consul at the start of the year El Diablo has announced a 70 billion zark package of measures to boost the economies of the other planets in the Dino Republic. Apart from Pulsin which is fairly well developed the other planets of the republic rely heavily on Dino-Land for subsidies.

El Diablo said that the money will be used to develop new industries and improve communications. Agriculture on Xi for example would be boosted by the establishment of 2 farming schools and an agricultural research centre on the planet. El Diablo said that he hoped by the end of the decade the other planets would be at the stage where their economies break even. Migration from Dino-Land to the other planets would also be encouraged and supported.

• DDS Commander Firefly has invited Oojok and El Diablo for a conference on "mutual defence matters that affect the DDS, DTA and CSE" which most people think is code for "the Tarbotians". It is not known yet if either leader will be willing to attend.
• The HCSAF was been granted a 135 million zark top-up fund for upgrades of one of it's core types. Around 150 R-71 Mustang reconnaissance and EW aircraft will receive a mid-life upgrade and refurbishment which will include improvements to avionics and sensors. Around 50 of the oldest F-45As will also receive an update to their avionics to bring them up to later A standard.

Melaris 12 to build up their defences

Melaris 12 have reacted to the recent attacks on themselves by dipping into their meagre reserves to boost their defences. They have placed an order for 2 Coril-E shuttles off the DDS which will be used for communications and for maintenance of an orbital ring of surveillance and defence satellites. Some of these are already in place but they will be augmented by 3 multi-spectral sensor satellites and 2 armed sentry "killersats". A Terran company will provide these with DDS help, the total package has been costed at 57 million zarks which is a lot of money for the small colony.

The DDS will donate a quantity of ex-HCS ground weapons from their stocks (and following recent deals with the Clones the DDS have a large amount of equipment) for free. The equipment will be given to the Melaris Police and will be largely light armour and anti-aircraft weapons. One source says 150 TRV-5 Tapir IFVs and 50 TAA-4 Stoat AA tanks will be supplied along with small arms and other equipment.

Keen to foster relations with Melaris, who are not in the UNP, the DDS say they will regularly visit the planet and could open a DDS liaison office next year.

188/5

Ending Up In Jail
Windy is on the hunt (Rim Incident P4)

Other Fleet News (04/03/13)

• The Dinos have built 2 Dinomark XTs this month, one each for Sirikwan and Yeng.
• The Voth have received 4 more refurbished and localised Kalahati Tuuls.
• The Bolitic are reported to have completed 2 Meltinans.
• The Clones have taken delivery of 2 new build Cosmos CG ground-attack cruisers.
• Castaris have taken delivery of an Extender-E oiler and Haylei 2 Coril-E shuttles.

Melaris 12 comes under terrorist attack

A DDS/iP Services team led by Windscorpion has arrived on Melaris 12 to investigate 2 recent attacks. However within hours of arrival Windy and his team were caught up in a terrorist attack on the Melaris capital. A ship of unknown identity briefly appeared in orbit and teleported down 3 terrorists who began to attack the centre of the city. Windy and his team quickly stopped the attack and managed to capture one alive.

The DDS are reporting that the terrorists were of an obscure species in the Rim Worlds who are often hired as mercenaries. Windy is reported to have ordered SS Invincible out of orbit to hunt for the mysterious ship.