Third generation Type 51 may be air-capable

Although production of the second generation Repulse 51B has only just begun, NS is already working on the third batch of twenty ships (Type 51C) which will be built late in this decade and in the early 2130s. An NS source said that the Type 51C may be capable of operating in atmospheres, the design team is working with the Revolution 35Z team analysing data and assisting computer modelling.

"If the Revolution is a success then we feel it will herald the future of the NS fleet, thus we will want the 51C to be part of that." Dr Forbidden said at a briefing.

Operation Civilian Partnership 2122

NS have announced the first major exercise since the take-over by the MBO will take place in early August. Viceroy Caratore canceled the existing exercise schedule but has said a new schedule will be drawn up in 2123 with adhoc exercises held in 2122. Atomic Fist was supposed to be held now though Caratore has decided to not hold it this year due to the shortage of ships.

Instead Civilian Partnership, the annual humanitarian and disaster response exercise, will be held. The theme will be recovery from a nuclear attack on a UNP major city. Mock evacuations, rescue and decontamination exercises will be held at locations on Solaris and Proxima 7.

The ships involved are:

36-106 Madwort (flagship)

37-101 Solaris

51-116 Cassandra

66-101 Triumph (amphibious HQ)

63-103 South East Asia

71-113 Starlifter

75-204 Rhone

73-112 Butane

First five Nectar 52A destroyers accepted into service

Twenty Nectar fighters have been transferred from the Mutre Bee Organisation fleet to New Sparta to help plug the gaps after war losses. The Nectar 52As are classified as light destroyers and will be crewed by joint MBO and NS personnel during an orientation period with full NS crewing later on.

The ships have undergone some modifications so they can operate in the NS fleet including changes to the communication systems, data link integration and the fitting of a TPM-VLS cell. The interiors have also been modified and system interfaces changes to the standard NS user interface.

The second batch of five will be completed in the early Autumn, NS hopes for all twenty to be in service by the end of the year.

Caratore accuses Dinos of harbouring traitors

Viceroy Caratore has accused the Dinos of harbouring traitors after reports of the stolen ship SS Cicero, commanded by the traitor Torus, was seen refuelling at the Dino Empire planet of Pulsin. Caratore has demanded the Dinos capture the ship and hand over Torus and her fellow so-called Real DDS traitors to NS.

Censor Ronald said NS was not in a position to demand anything. Cicero is thought to have already left Dino space.

Molab to remain NS ally, Starbot has to decide

After a period of reflection Molab and the Free Eritran States has said it will remain an ally of New Sparta after the take over by the Mutre Bee Organisation. Molab has said to have been reassured by Viceroy Caratore who spoke to Molabite officials earlier this month. Caratore said that MBO-New Sparta would not interfere in Free Eritran State foreign affairs. This could mean the FES may begin to put pressure on the Clone Star Empire East.

Molab has also said it is preparing the final specification for it's Kalahati Tuul replacement. Molab has twenty ships which are due for replacement by the mid-2120s, the export Corkscrew is thought to be the front runner. If Molab go for a 1-to-1 replacement of the KTs then this could be the biggest export order in NS history.

Starbot is the only NS ally that has said it does not want to remain in the system. However, with the Molab / Free Eritran States decision Starbot is now isolated. One report states Starbot may decide to remain an ally after all.

Much changed Dinomark LM/2 revealed

The Mark 2 Dinomark LM (or LM/2) has been revealed by the Dino Army. Although around thirty Dinomark LM/1s had been built there had been a number of flaws in the design which caused the Dinos to end production and begin looking elsewhere for a Dinomark XT replacement (the XT has recently resumed production).

However, good performance of the LM in recent armed conflicts has prompted the Dinos to look again at the LM and try and fix it's flaws instead of going clean sheet. The LM/2 has a number of notable differences in it's internal layout. It also lands vertically (a major flaw in the LM was it's instability during take offs and landings). Trials of the LM/2 will begin next month.

Type 35Z enters trials, named Revolution

The Type 35Z, the latest development of the main NS cruiser design, has begun lengthy trials which should take up the rest of the year at least. The Type 35Z, which has been named Revolution, is a multi-mode ship which can operate in planetary atmospheres as well as space. The Revolution's atmospheric capabilities will be used for ground attack and ground support.

Compared to an existing Type 35 (the Revolution has the same dimensions as the Kinetic), it has twin turbines for atmospheric operation as well as triple landing rockets. A number of aerodynamic changes have also been made including wing extensions outside of the weapon pods.

After the successful completion of trials NS will decide if they will produce more ships like the Revolution, the full review into the NS armed forces will also play a role here.

LRMs returned to NS control

A number of LRMs were launched by the MBO during the war with New Sparta and were a key part in forcing the UNP and NS to surrender and accept the rule of the Mutre Bee. The missiles were kept cloaked in deep space, each containing a number of nuclear warheads. One missile was used against iP Services, the others have remained hidden in deep space.

Today Gomber, the deputy to the Viceroy, announced that the missiles had been stood down. The missiles had powered down and decloaked. NS ships have retrieved them. The space attack stages will now be refurbished and will be mated with new booster stages before being returned to strategic attack squadrons.

Gomber said that there had been changes to the launch protocol for NS' strategic weapons. Missiles will only be launched after receiving a fractal encrypted key from a small number of MBO-New Sparta personnel (thought to be Caratore, Gomber, General Honey and the Mutre Bee himself). One LRM squadron has been put under the direct control of the MBO Honour Guard.

Parallax to lead Home Defence Fleet

Viceroy Caratore has announced a reorganisation of the NS Space Fleet with a dedicated Home Defence Fleet to defend the core systems of the UNP including Proxima Centauri. The HDF will be commanded by Parallax, who has been promoted to Admiral.

Parallax, the captain of SS Palaeozoic (which will become the HDF flagship) is a former Hood though has proven himself worthy of MBO-New Sparta.

Final Corkscrew enters service

The twentieth and final Corkscrew 51A destroyer, 51-120 California has completed trials and been accepted into service with the NS fleet (although due to war losses the fleet only has fifteen Corkscrews). The ship has been fitted with upgraded tactical and ECM systems which will be used on the follow-on Repulse 51B class. California will perform some in service tests with the upgraded systems before the first Repulse arrives later this year.

In other fleet news the Guardian 54A light patrol craft 54-107 Helen Milford has been withdrawn due to large fatigue cracks discovered during recent maintenance. An NS source said the rest of the Guardian fleet is expected to be retired by the end of 2123.

Asian Hawk to lead Rapid Reaction Force

Viceroy Caratore has promoted Asian Hawk to Admiral and appointed him the new head of the Rapid Reaction Force. This appointment has caught people by surprise as Asian Hawk has had a low profile for a long time, even relegated to commanding a training ship for a number of years though in the last couple of years he has commanded a Corkscrew destroyer.

The Rapid Reaction Force is to be enlarged to five ships plus a support oiler, however due to the depleted nature of the fleet this enlargement may be delayed for a year or so.

Sixteen arrests made by NSIS of anti-MBO faction

NSIS, backed up by the MBO Honour Guard, have arrested sixteen middle ranking NS officers ranging from a Major in the Terrestrial Forces to the First Officer on an unnamed cruiser in the Space Fleet. All have been accused of being against the MBO, of spreading anti-Mutre Bee and anti-Caratore propaganda and attempting to disrupt loyal MBO-New Sparta personnel.

The head of NSIS, Koval said that all will be executed once they have made full confessions. Viceroy Caratore said the problem was minor and had been dealt with.

Link between traditional transporters to DSBT established

The Dinos have cleared a translation gateway for both sides of the Deep Subspace Burrowing Teleport link between Dino-Land and Jeloka. The gateways mean than teleports between any point on both planets are now possible, as well as teleports from ships in orbit of both planets. The link is seamless and achieved in less than a second even though the trip covers nearly five light years.

A link between Jeloka and Pulsin is still in development, the trip of nine light years can only be carried out via a relay node (a Dinomark) at the mid-way point. Chief Scientist Dougson said that upgrades to the DSBT sub-system have been made and direct beamings between the two planets will be tested next year.

Trader becomes a Skytrain

The Provider 71A transport SS Trader has been converted to a Skytrain 131A, it's new number is 131-106 Trader. The upgrade includes the fitting of a W1AA worm drive and improved self-defence systems. The ship has also been fully refurbished. This is probably going to be the last Skytrain conversion.

NS will build a new Provider however, an order has been placed for a new one for next year, as well as a new Marconi to replace the war loss.

Dinos begin rolling out auto-DNA scanners to fleet

The Dinos have begun mass producing auto-DNA scanners, the design given to them by the traitor Torus. The scanners automatically check the DNA of anyone in range and can detect cloned DNA within microseconds. The scanners will be fitted to every Dinomark in the fleet, firstly to key parts of the ship including the bridge, armoury and engineering which is hoped to be completed by the end of this year. Extra scanners will then be fitted over the following two years to cover all parts of the ship.

Scanners will also be put in key parts of the Dino Army including GHQ, strategic weapon bases and also the Dino Senate. The SS will continue random testing using handheld scanners.

The Clone Star Empire has also been given the scanner design and are constructing a new factory on Daggaddon to build the scanner.

Final F-10SNGs delivered

The final F-10SNG Shark 2100 fighters have been delivered to NS Terrestrial Forces' Air Division (NS-TFAD), this brings to an end production of the F-10S and it's earlier Clone Wars' era F-10A. TFAD now have 130 F-10SNGs (though the latest planes will not enter service for a number of months). In the early 2130s the oldest F-10Ss will be replaced by the F-20 (though little has been revealed about this type).

The F-12 Hammerhead will take over LEO defence duties from the F-10SNG later this decade. The first flight is due this year with an entry into service now planned for 2124.

Windscorpion announces the "Real DDS"

Former NS President Windscorpion, currently recuperating in an unknown location after injuries sustained in the Raegris war against the Terrasaurs, has made a surprise broadcast to the UNP and NS. He said he was against the MBO and had formed a new faction which he called the "Real DDS". The broadcast was quickly jammed by New Sparta.

Later, Viceroy Caratore scoffed at the announcement. He called Windy's new faction a collection of "has-beens and never-beens" and a "retirement home for obsolete old NS members". He formally added Windscorpion and Firefly to the list of traitors and issues warrants for their arrests.