Porquat 640 receive first Pentekonter-Ms

Porquat 640 have received the first of five Pentekonter-ME minesweepers it has on order. Two ships, officially known as Pentekonter 633M in Porquat 640 service are now being localised and will begin working up before an expected entry into service late next year.

DF are keen to get their export orders flowing again after the chaos of the MBO regime, delays have put some customers off. The first ships from the huge order of 25 Pentekonter minesweepers for the CIN are also under final build and could be delivered by the end of the year.

Porquat to send ships to assist Raegris

Porquat 640 have sent four ships from it's fleet to the Raegris where it will assist with patrolling Raegris space. The Raegris fleet was badly depleted in the war against the Terrasaurs and it will take years to rebuilt it. NS has sent an eight ship deployment already though more ships were needed so the Raegris could withdraw some of their own ships which badly need maintenance and in some cases repair from the war.

The Porquatian ships will remain for six months. It is possible a Molab deployment could replace them next year. Admiral Gomber was keen to highlight the co-operation of NS allies. "Team work makes the dream work!" he said.

NS allies weigh up staying or leaving new regime

New Sparta has a number of allies, some rightly interwoven into NS. They are all weighing up whether to stay in NS or leave after the take over of the Mutre Bee Organisation.

The Raegris are Tier 1 allies. In normal circumstances they would be expected to distance themselves but their fleet has been wrecked by the Terrasaurs. With a remaining Terrasaur threat and a resurgent Utrek on their borders, the Raegris face a difficult time until they can rebuild their fleet. It is likely they will remain in the NS orbit.

The Free Eritan States meanwhile are likely to leave. They have become powerful and are beginning to plan to take the Eritran planets the Clone Star Empire seized years ago. NS would never agree to such an operation, of course if the FES leave the NS alliance system then any objections would be moot.

Starbot is also likely to leave. Mutre Bee was once their leader too and this did not go down well. Starbot could join a new alliance with the Free Eritran States.

The Remedians, like the Raegris, cannot really afford to leave. Their fleet on it's own is too weak to stand against the Utrek. 

Finally, the Porquatians are likely to stay in alliance with NS though may subtly distance themselves.

Whether any of this will concern MBO-New Sparta or not is another question. Viceroy Caratore has yet to meet with any allies or even mention them.

NS scores new customer

New Sparta has sold three Coril ST shuttles to the minor planet of Lem 319. The planet is inhabited by ethnic Porquatians (and relies on Porquat 640 for it's own defence) though has bought the shuttles for VIP duties. Deliveries are expected from 2123.

Lem 319 is also considering the purchase of a Defender multi-mission ship to support government operations though as yet no order is forthcoming.

Porquat 640 order more Protectors

Porquat 640 have ordered two more Pentekonter Protectors E2P1s to add to their existing fleet. The ships will be of a similar specification apart from having e-Core engines. The older ships in their fleet are expected to also be re-engined. All this is expected to take place in 2123.

NS have also confirmed that the two Velocity-Es which are being returned by Putri 500 in a part-exchange deal for new Corkscrews will be added to the NS fleet in about 2124 following rebuilds and conversion to Solaris 37C standard.

Operation Ground Shock 2119

This month's exercise is Ground Shock, NS' annual ground attack exercise and the first of the "big four" on the schedule. Due to shortages of ships (due to the light patrol fleet situation) most escorts for the bombers and transports will be Porquatian and Raegris ships. However President Sea Urchin said it would be a great opportunity for training with NS allies.

The exercise will take place in Remedian space before crossing over to an asteroid near Sanga Alpha where the final "attack" will take place. As usual this will be with live nuclear weapons. The exercise will begin next week and include the following ships:

21-101 Missileer (flagship)
16-101 Warrior (attack wing flag)
16-109 Wave
16-111 Wild Swan
35-107 Snow Leopard
35-203 Invincible
71-116 Voyager
73-102 Stratotanker

+ 3 Raegris and 4 Porquat 640 ships

NS finally secure new ship order!

New Sparta has received it's first order for spaceships since last May when Porquat 640 ordered five Pentekonter-M minesweepers. Castaris have ordered two more Pentekonters to join their existing fleet of the type.

The lack of new orders has been worrying New Sparta, though they have received a number of small upgrade orders and won some service contracts. There is a fear that the market for warships has become saturated. A reboot of the export portfolio is still expected though is now long overdue.

Porquat 640 decides to build mine warfare squadron

New Sparta has received a surprise order for five Pentekonter-M minesweepers. Until now only Molab had ordered the type (for a joint Free Eritran States pool) and it had been thought NS had removed the type from it's export portfolio.

Five Pentekonter 106Ps will be delivered from 2119 it has been reported. It is not known yet what will act as the minesweeper director. The 3.5 billion zark order includes three Pave Yellow MCM control suites.

Operation Material Asset 2117

Operation Material Asset 2117 is this month's NS exercise and is another new type of exercise being run for the first time. Material Asset is an exercise in strategic lift, rapid deployment and logistics under fire. The aim of the exercise will be for troops and material to be picked up from Solaris and then transported to Liberation. A group of "enemy" ships (which will include 2 Raegris and 1 Porquatian ship) will try and prevent the deployment.

The ships involved are:

015-108 Tachyon (flagship)
035-306 Kale
041-207 Faithful
051-102 Centurion
063-101 Oceania
063-106 North America
071-120 North Star
073-101 Extender

036-107 Magnolia (opposing force flagship)
+ 2 Raegris DF-1 Isometric
+ 1 Porquatian Quagan

Porquatians build final Quagan?

Porquat 640 have accepted 2 more Quagan 665 frigates to their fleet, the final ships on an order of 19. It is not known if the Porquatians will build anymore of the type as the next programme will be to update the 5 older Quagan 658s to 665 standard. This was due to run concurrently with new build but the Porquatians were unable to fund it as well as other ongoing procurements.

As part of a new 5 year fleet plan the older Quagans will be updated and a 5th Xian 508 cruiser will be built before the end of the decade. Porquat will also accept its second Olympus 884 carrier next year.

Operation Atomic Fist 2117

Atomic Fist is NS' annual strategic attack exercise. It is usually held in July but had been delayed due to the pirate war. NS has just launched this year's edition of the exercise which will be held over the next 2 weeks. The August scheduled exercise Peak Performance 2117 will still go ahead but towards the end of the month.

Atomic Fist 2117 will be staged in the Rim Worlds and include joint-exercises with the Porquatians. The final exercise will have live nuclear warheads. An asteroid will be the lucky recipient. The ships involved will be:

015-101 Quasar (flagship)
015-103 Deuteron
015-108 Tachyon
023-201 Anubis
035-103 Cheetah
036-103 Magnificent
051-102 Centurion
051-109 Cygnet
041-101 Proxima Centauri
071-106 Condor
076-101 Zephyr

Porquatian ship destroyed by pirates using NS codes

The pirate crisis has deepened after an allied ship has been destroyed by a pirate ship using NS codes to disguise itself as a New Sparta ship. A Porquatian Quagan 665 frigate was destroyed in a surprise attack by a pirate ship which, according to recovered telemetry, was using a NS transponder code.

Knobhead has ordered a full lock-down of all NS and allied ships which are not to move until further notice and the full propagation of replacement codes. Ships will be permitted to act in self-defence but are to hold station and to not use active sensors until further notice.

Operation Mass Field 2117

The latest exercise is Operation Mass Field, one of the new exercises making its debut this year. The aim of Mass Field is to practice co-operation between New Sparta and its allies. An NS fleet and ships from the Remedians, Raegris, Porquat 640 and Free Eritran States will take part in a number of mock combats and training scenarios over the next 2 weeks. The NS ships involved will be:

036-101 Mulberry (flag)
041-107 Oligocene
051-107 Crescent
073-108 Octane

Specific details of the training scenarios has not been revealed but as one of the NS ships involved (SS Oligocene) is one of the minesweeper directors and some of the FES ships coming are Pentekonter-M minesweepers it is a fair guess that minesweeping will be one of them!

Operation Ground Shock 2117

The latest edition of the Ground Shock exercise, the main training for NS' ground attack and strategic forces has begun. Apart from an actual war scenario Ground Shock is the only time NS will use live nukes in training, which will be the final simulated attack set-piece.

This time the exercises will take place in Porquat 640 space with the Porquatians acting as the "enemy" though also training alongside NS in other scenarios. A mock-base on an asteroid just outside Porquat space will be where the final live nuclear warhead attack will take place next week. The NS forces involved will be:

021-104 Grenadier (flag)
016-101 Warrior
016-105 Whirlwind
016-110 Weazel
021-201 Anubis
035-103 Cheetah
035-108 Puma
041-101 Cambrian
041-210 Formidable
051-104 Conflict
071-106 Condor
076-104 Zephyr

NS deliver 2 Extenders to Porquat

Porquat 640 has received 2 Extender 123P oilers taking their fleet of, what they term the Extender 908, to 5. They have so far been used mostly as transports but the Porquatians intend to take a larger role as NS allies over the next few years and take part in NS exercises.

They have already supported the NS in patrolling Free Eritran Space and Aldebran space. This role in supporting NS operations will continue. Three more Quagan 665 frigates have been ordered which will give them a fleet of 25 frigates by the end of the decade.

DDS will keep to same exercise schedule for 2116

The DDS are to keep to the same exercise schedule next year as for 2115. There will be 5 exercises in 2116.

• Ground Shock 2116 in March (ground attack, amphibious assault)
• Info Affairs 2116 in May (special forces and cyber warfare)
• Atomic Fist 2116 in July (strategic attack)
• Civilian Partnership 2116 in September (humanitarian relief and UNP co-operation)
• Northern Project 2116 in December (full spectrum "mock" war)

The 2115 edition of Northern Project has meanwhile been set for early next month and will be the final set-piece of the year for the DDS before the Christmas break. DDS forces will engage in a mock war with Porquatian, Remedian and Raegris assets and the exercise will include space and land combat exercises.

DDS to resume normal operations

The DDS will aim to resume normal peace time operations by the end of June including scheduled maintenance cycles. Since the start of the war scheduled maintenance has been cancelled with only essential maintenance and repair work carried out in order for the DDS to have the maximum number of ship available. Now the DDS feel they can return to their normal cycles.

It will cause some problems however as the loss of Starbot and war losses will mean shortages of ships in some areas. Porquat 640 has offered to deploy 3 of its ships in DDS space to take part in routine patrols, the DDS are likely to take them up on the offer.

Two new regiments declared ready to join DDS Land Corps

Two new regiments, both consisting of Porquatian volunteers, have been declared operational by the DDS Land Corps Inspectorate. Infantry Regiments L16 and L17 have joined the X03 Reserve Brigade though will likely join one of the active brigades when the Land Corps shuffles the brigades later in the year.

Only a fire support unit and a communications regiment are still forming otherwise the DDS Land Corps is now at full strength. The DDS Land Commander Zeppelin said that a further expansion of the land component of Terrestrial Forces may occur but not for a while. The focus is now on improving the equipment and training of what is already there.

• The Dinos have bought 6 TPM-G ground based launchers from the DDS. The launchers will fire Dino built TPMs. Delivery is expected within the next few months.

Operation Northern Project 2114

Northern Project is the 4th and last of the major exercises run by the DDS during the year and is a "full-spectrum mock war" that involves elements from as many parts of the DDS as possible. The exercise will be centred on Sanger Alpha and involve the DDS forces trying to "retake" DDS City on Proxima 7 which has been seized by an enemy power.

Remedian, Raegris, Porquatian and some guest Dino ships will be acting as the enemy. Porquatian troops are already at DDS City as an occupying force though its thought ISSF Prowler units are already in action against them observing and preparing for the arrival of the DDS relief forces. The ships involved are:

S107 Charm Quark (flag combat squadron)
S108 Tachyon
S209 Bombardier
S224 Fuji
H110 Puma
H129 Impregnable
H162 Polaris
H174 Evolution
M135 Fox
M179 North Sea

K108 Senaca (flag minesweeper squadron)
K205M Pindar
K214MX Hector
K112 Tactitus

L131 Tethys Ocean (flag amphibious/transport squadron)
L111 Pangaea
L116 Kenora
L156 North America
A109 Expeditor
A160 Heptane
A224 Rhone
A301E Marconi

The exercise officially begins tomorrow and will run for 8 days.

Porquat 640 to reorganise and increase fleet

DDS Tier 1 ally Porquat 640 has just announced a reorganisation of its small but powerful fleet. The Porquat fleet is to be organised into 2 squadrons plus a reserve squadron for ships in refit, training and test.

The two squadrons will be centred around the powerful Xian 508 cruiser of which Porquat has 2 (with 1 building). The rest of the squadron will consist of 5-6 Quagan 658/665 frigates and 1 or 2 Pentekonter 632 frigates plus an oiler and support. One squadron will be stationed in Porquat 640's system and be responsible for home defence, the other will be stationed outside of the system and will perform patrols of the Rim Worlds (which Porquat 640 is a part of, indeed the DDS often leaves Porquat to organise patrols and intelligence gathering in the region) and join DDS exercises. The two squadrons will swap roles every 6 months.

In the longer term Porquat will make greater use of the Ferret MQ-5AP fighter drone which they will licence build. Two Olympus Mons carriers (to be known known as Olympus 884 in Porquat service) have been ordered as well as a 6th Pentekonter. Porquat have also ordered a 4th Xian and 2 more Quagan 665s. It is thought Porquat will aim to form a 3rd active squadron by 2120.