Zephyr fails again on exercise

Earlier in the year the Zephyr 76A made its combat debut as the oiler supply ship on the February Flourish exercise. However it suffered multiple problems with cargo handling forcing the premature end of the exercise. Now a Zephyr has failed again on its second exercise deployment as part of August Flourish 2113 (maybe the "Flourish" is unlucky for the Zephyr?)

SS Zenith suffered an accident while transferring supplies to SS Foxhound. Three crew were injured when a crane collapsed, though none of the crew are said to be in danger. The exercise is continuing for now though an Extender 73A oiler is en route to replace Zenith. Director of Operations Knobhead has asked for a full review of the Zephyr's cargo handling equipment.

Operation August Flourish 2113

The latest exercise is August Flourish which is a series of simulated space combats. This year the DDS have invited the Porquatians to take part, they will provide 3 ships to act as the "enemy" and also train fighting alongside the DDS. The exercises will take place in Porquatian space next week. The DDS ships involved are to be :

S202 Lancer (flagship)
H105 Ocelot
H162 Polaris
M128 Foxhound
M133 Firedrake
M157 Andaman Sea
A183 Zenith

Winter Candle 2112 / Exercise schedule for 2113

The final exercise of the year began yesterday, like last year Winter Candle involves special forces. This year the Dino SS-D have joined the DDS Prowlers for a series of simulated incidents including hostage recovery, covert surveillance and anti-terrorism operations. One exercise that has been missed this year is Ground Shock which has taken place in November in previous years but the DDS say this will now occur next month and will start the 2113 programme.

As for Winter Candle the ships taking part are :

A301E Marconi (flag)
H122 Illustrious
H169 Sanger Alpha
M125 Forward
A155 Pentane

A full schedule for 2113 has been published and will be as follows :

• January - Ground Shock 2113 (ground attack / amphibious)
• February - February Flourish 2113 (EW / ECM / cyber warfare)
• March - March Hare 2113 (combat)
• April - Atomic Fist 2113 (nuclear attack)
• May - May Mission 2113 (new internal defence exercise, full details TBA)
• June - June Fade 2113 (minesweeping)
• July - July Wave 2113 (amphibious)
• August - August Flourish 2113 (combat)
• September - September Sunrise 2113 (strategic attack / interdiction)
• October - Civilian Partnership 2113 (humanitarian / disaster relief)
• November - Northern Project 2113 (joint exercise with Raegris)
• December - Winter Candle 2113 (special forces)

HCS warships approach August Flourish

August Flourish 2112 is the latest exercise in the DDS calendar and this year is taking place near Starbot and involving DDS, Starbotian and Molabite warships. The final operation began yesterday and is taking place in free space inbetween Starbot and Molab, some 2.1 lightyears from the CSE-E border.

As the operation began 2 Cosmos cruisers were spotted approaching the fleet. The HCS ships were uncloaked though had weapons powered up. They came within 0.2 lightyears of the exercise though turned back when a DDS warship approached. The DDS think a cloaked ship is also shadowing the fleet.

August Flourish 2012

The 2012 edition of August Flourish has been announced and will take place in early August. Like last year it will be a chance for DDS and Starbotian forces to train and exercise alongside each other. Two ships from Molab's fleet are also likely to join in for the final exercise which will take place in Molabite space. The rest of the exercises (mostly mock combat exercises) will take place in space between Starbot and Molab (and hence near to Clone territory). The ships that will take part are :

S202 Lancer (flagship)
H107 / I-21 Tiger
H161 Solaris
M104 Teritary
M131 / I-41 Fearless
M162 North Sea
A163 / I-17 Energy Of Starbot

• The HCSAF have announced a modest upgrade to around 450 baseline A-85NT COIN aircraft. The upgrade includes modifications to the engine to add the improved turbocharger and IR suppression system of the current production version the NT2. It will also have some modifications to the undercarriage to strength it based on work on the navalised NTN version. The aircraft (to be known as NT2A) will also receive software updates.

HCS to reorganise special forces

The famous Red Lizard special forces are to be reorganised ahead of an expected transfer of their personnel from the army and to a new HCS Strategic Forces arm. Under the plans all Red Lizard units will be collected into a number of Action Area Groups (AAGs). One AAG will be Cloneworld with others spread throughout the empire.

The special purpose units such as the Space Red Lizard and the elite of the elite Emperor Bodyguard will be collected into a central AAG based at HCS GHQ. Its thought the HCS Navy will also be setting up Marine Red Lizard (there is already a navalised Red Lizard unit but its mostly aimed at riverine operations) units which will, in due course, also join HCS Strategic Forces.

• Operation August Flourish has ended after a final exercise with Starbotian forces. Most ships in the deployment are now returning to Solaris. The next exercise will be September Sunrise though no details have as yet been released.

Windy reaches Starbot

Windy has reached Starbot aboard SS Snow Leopard and will stop off for a few days before continuing onwards to Molab in the Eritran Free States. Windy will hold talks with S101 as well as addressing DDS personnel assembled for the August Flourish exercise being held jointly with Starbotian forces. He will give them some encouragement.

Windy has signed a deal on behalf of the DDS for Starbotian Type 35 ships (they have 2 Panthers and will also have 2 Indys under a joint-ownership scheme with the DDS) to be fitted with W1A worm-drive starting from later in the year. Calibration will also be done on the Starbotian flagship I-1A Iona ready for it being fitted with worm drive at a later date, maybe 2113 when it is due for an overhaul.

• New Bolitic Emperor Melson has solidified his regime with a modest amount of reprisals but his rule on Castarian seems pretty secure. The Bolitic barons away from the capital planet however have proved more lukewarm in their loyalty with some barons not yet acknowledging the new Emperor.

Operation August Flourish

The next in the series of monthly "mini-exercises" has begun and will involve the DDS training with Starbotian ships in a series of mock-combats and joint-exercises over the next few weeks in space around Starbot. The operation will culminate in a mock-attack on Saeou by Starbotian ships with the DDS defending. The DDS ships to be involved are:

D105 Cheetah (flag)
F151 North Sea
F112 Holocene
F142 Arabian Sea
A164 Energy Of Starbot

• Panther 35A D110 Topcat has been fitted with a worm drive.
• The Dinos have bought a licence to produce their own Extender-E oilers and will produce a localised version of the ship as they currently do with the Provider. The Extender-EDA will become the standard DTA oiler. The DDS will get a royalty fee for every ship the Dinos produce, the Dinos will only be able to build them for DTA members. Sirikwan and New Arit are already Extender-E users. The Dinos have said they will begin production for themselves, Sirikwan, New Arit, Voth and Yeng from next year though numbers have not been announced.

July Wave ends, August Flourish announced

The July Wave deployment has ended following some mock-combat exercises involving DDS and Remedian RCPP ships. Director of Operations Knobhead has said that the new policy of smaller monthly training exercises is working well and shall continue for the rest of the year.

The next exercise is due to begin next week and is called Operation August Flourish. It will involve DDS and Starbotian warships engaged in mock-combat. The ships to be involved will be announced next week.