Two more Repulse 51B destroyers have joined the fleet, these are 51-203 Dovecote and 51-204 Walcote. With the escort fleet now reaching a level of "comfort" for NS, discussions are now being made about the Proxima Centauri light destroyer fleet.
These nine ex-Starsystems are not expected to be further life extended and will be withdrawn during the second half of this decade. Indeed, the first could be withdrawn next year.
Emperor MBH has disbanded the Dino Senate and Assembly. Elections will now be held for a new Assembly which will replace them. In early October the results of the elections are expected to be known, the head of the largest party in the Assembly will become the first Consul of the Dino Empire.
The Consul will lead the empire alongside the Emperor and Censor Ronald. A slimmed down Dino Elders will also act as an advisory body.
Molab has called on the Clone Star Empire-East to be disbanded and for planets like Austini 55 and Woloron 12 to be restored to their former Eritran populations. Molab, who say they are speaking for the Free Eritran States, say the invasion and crushing of the Eritran Trade Federation was a crime which will never be forgotten.
"The Eritrans were weak then, but now are strong." the Molab president said, "Now the Free Eritran States stand ready to avenge the loss of our former lands and to restore the Federation."
The Clones have not commented.
NS has said it will begin field testing of the next generation W2 family worm drive, which will increase the speed of fitted ships to an equivalent of 7000c. The drive will be fitted into an Alpha drone early next year and conduct a number of unmanned test flights before the engine is man rated. Later in 2125 the engine will be fitted to a larger ship. Full testing is expected to take around two years but ships could start being fitted with W2 family worm drives in 2127.
NS are already working on the third generation, a 10,000ec target has been given for W3 though this will probably nor be achievable until well into the next decade.
The Clones have conducted a large scale test of it's Clone Space Missile. Five missiles were fired from mobile launchers deployed to Randalf 74 (the first time CSM is known to be been deployed to the planet). Several days later a small asteroid near to Petric was hit by all five missiles which had nuclear warheads. The asteroid is said to have been pulverised.
Admiral Anderson has hailed the test of the CSM, which is understood to have recently received upgrades to it's guidance and management systems. The test will also be a warning to rival powers of the Clone interstellar nuclear deterrent. One source has said that the Clones now possess over 100 armed CSMs ready to launch from land silos, mobile launchers and submarines.
The Clone Air Force has planned to replace the K45C with the K55 Future Combat Fighter sometime in the late 2130s, however the K55 has now been cancelled. Instead, the CAF will continue to improve and refine the K45 Falcon with the C mid-life upgrade the CM now pushed back to the early 2130s. It will also be now called the K45F.
The K45F will have the hybrid engines planned for the K55 which will improve loiter capabilities and reduce IR and sonic emissions. It will also have the next generation radar and databus system planned for the K55.
In other fighter news, the CAF have conducted a survey of it's K40S fleet (late production K40s which included some K45 technology) and these planes will be able to stay in service until the early 2130s. The rest of the K40 fleet is ageing fast with withdrawals likely to speed up over the next couple of years.
The third Walrus ballistic missile submarine has entered service with the Clone Navy. It is understood that the ship will be only equipped with the CSM version of SeaGale (SeaCSM) and not normal SLBMs. The other two Walrus will also be re-equipped with SeaCSM when they complete their current patrols or maintenance cycles. Admiral Anderson said that the Walrus fleet, which will eventually number six, will become the key component of the Clone interstellar nuclear deterrent.
The veteran training ship CNSS Warhammer which was also used an auxiliary attack asset will now revert to just the training role.
The Swordfish patrol ship is expected to become the standard patrol and light combatant ship of the DTA, replacing a number of older types. It has been given the Dinomark code RA though the Dino Army have not yet said if they will field the type.
Krok Industries say they will unveil the Swordfish next year with an entry into service in 2126. Krok Industries say the Swordfish is based on the prototype Dinomark GL (which was not taken up by the Dino Army) and is a compact ship like the Dinomark PT. The Swordfish will have a high power-to-mass ratio which will give it very high agility. It will also have a high degree of mission flexibility.
Two more Violet 57B light patrol ships have joined the fleet, 57-213 Vallea and 57-214 Vriesea. These will join the patrol pool next month.
Two more Deterrence patrol ships have been withdrawn, 53-134 Oriel Road and 53-144 Lime Street. Just two Deterrence remain in service but are now officially in ready reserve and are expected to be withdrawn in a couple of months.
The K-18D close support aircraft were already due to be withdrawn by 2127 but NS has bought this forward by two years. All 120 K-18Ds in service will now be out of service by the end of next year. NS are currently negotiating with the Dinos about the possibility of selling the Dino built aircraft back to them. The Dino Army also uses the type though production ended some years ago, the Army is keen to have the planes back to bolster their own stocks and provide spares.
NS are currently developing a replacement, the OA-25 ACSA (Advanced Close Support Aircraft) though this will not be in service before the withdrawal of the K-18D.
Miliaris is a fairly unremarkable world in the Clone Star Empire - East, notable only for it being the location of two mobile CSM regiments. One of these has come under attack from the previously unknown Freedom Miliaris group. A Clone Army base, home to one of the CSM regiments, came under mortar attack. A truck bomb was also detonated near to the base's entrance.
A Clone Army source said that four soldiers had been killed and some others injured in the attacks. No CSMs or their launchers were damaged.
