Other Fleet News (30/06/11)

• The Dinos have built 3 Dinomark PTs and 4 Dinomark XTs, though one old XT has returned to the civilian reserve. All 3 PTs and 1 XT are said to have worm drive. From next month the Dinos expect to be able to fit worm drive to all new PTs and XTs.
• The DDS export backlog continues to be worked down, Putri 500 have received an Isometric-E, Helinox a Pentekonter-E and Sear N7 2 Coril-Es.

Dr Forbidden : Some notes on DDS worm drive production

Dr Forbidden, head of DDS Research

I am so often asked "Whats happening with DDS worm drive production?" Its a question that crops up all the time, well we are getting there but it is taking time.

We currently have 5 ships in the fleet with worm drive*, all but one of these powered by worm drives bought or supplied from the Dinos. One ship has a DDS built pre-production drive, though this was virtually hand-built by my team. Our production line is now in place and there are 4 new drives in various stages of construction. Much of this first batch remains hand-built as we are still learning how to work with Dino technology which is often radically different to our own.

I am confident that all 4 drives plus at least 2 more will be completed and will be in service with DDS warships (or at least ready for fitting) by the end of the year. True serial production is expected early next year and we are geared up to build 8-10 worm drives a year.

At the moment the priority is to fit them to the new build Indy 35B ships though we are also aiming to equip as many Panther 35As as we can too. Work is currently on-going on drawing up the field geometry for the Quasar 15A and Type 37 (you can't just fit a worm drive to a ship, it has to have its field correctly set otherwise attempting a worm jump would be suicidal). Currently we have geometries set up for the Type 35, Isometric and Isometric Prototype.

Its going to be a long process, new ships like the Indy and the forthcoming Corkscrew and Carbon will have worm drives from new and we'll fit them to existing ships as they come up for major updates. By 2120 we will likely have a majority of the combat fleet equipped, thats our aim. By 2130 we want all ships in the fleet equipped including transports. Now that is a long time but there is a huge amount of work to do as well...

* The 6th D101 Panther is currently in testing and will rejoin the fleet in a few weeks.

AP announces Type 16A bomber

On the deck of the newly withdrawn Pulsar 12A cruiser SS Europa DDS Commander AP has announced its (eventual) replacement. The Carbon project has been given the full go-ahead and will result in a new strike bomber known as the Type 16A to enter service in 2114. AP said that 12 of these new bombers (the DDS are no longer using naval terms like cruiser) would be built and would form the core of the future strike fleet.

Once in service the Quasar 15As would form a supplementary attack force with their primary role switching to command. AP said the Type 16A (a name will be chosen later, it will not be known as Carbon) would be able to carry a large number of MRMs, TPM-2s and other ordinance as well as being equipped with a Zip cannon.

Specification lock-down is scheduled for the Autumn and the first design impressions are also expected then. The prototype will begin building in early 2113 for an entry into service about a year later. The Type 16A is expected to be fairly low-tech in some areas as with the HCS Kelsan KS to cut costs and save time though will be fully equipped with heavy weaponry and sensors. Top speed of the Type 16A has been listed as being in the 700-800c band, though it will also have a worm drive so you can list 5000c also.

• Together with the Type 16A announcement the DDS have phased out nautical terms for its existing ships. Destroyers are now known as Heavy Combat Ships, frigates as Medium Combat Ships and corvettes as Light Combat Ships though there are some variations where roles are not quite as clear cut. The prefices on pennant numbers would be remaining unchanged for now though but these are expected to change at some later date too.
• There are reports of mysterious transmissions eminating from unclaimed space between the CSE-E and the Eritran Free States, close to Sear N7. The HCS are understood to have despatched a ship to investigate.

Pulsars leave service

Following a final formation "flypast" at Solaris Dock One the final 3 Pulsar 12As have arrived at the DDS Engineering Holding Area for decommissioning. The ships have today been officially withdrawn from DDS service though will retain the ability to travel under their own steam for at least 2-3 months until their reactors run out of fuel. The ships will be stripped of armament and other sensitive equipment before being preserved.

DDS strike capabilities are now solely the responsibility of the 8 Quasar 15As until the arrival of the future bomber later in the decade. The DDS is keen to have 3 strike squadrons of 3 ships each however so it is likely the Indie 35B destroyers may be used as auxiliary bombers, they are true multirole ships and have a full SAS suite (though would not be able to carry as heavy a weapon load as the Quasars).

Dino View : Ronald's power game

Legate Dralson, ex-Dino Army and Security Council

We Dinos are used to our political system providing us with a few shocks and surprises thus the events of the last few days are not without precedent in terms of impact though some of the events did cause a few raised eyebrows (if i had such a disgusting mammal trait of course).

Ronald removed Gibson as SS Commander, made him Executive Officer of the Senate and then Ronald made himself SS Commander. Whats all this about then? Some see it as Ronald preparing the ground for a massive power grab when he becomes Consul at the start of the year. But is this right?

Since he stood down as Consul the first time he has stepped back from the forefront of politics for awhile though in recent months he had made his presence felt as he worked to overcome his party, Imperial Order's, loss of top-level political power for the first time in decades. He removed El Diablo who he saw as unreliable and instigated a campaign to become Consul again (and he will win, he could be caught be bed with 100 dead girls and live boys and still win).

However taking over the SS is an unusual move, some have questioned why he has done this as the SS worship him as a god anyway. Has he taken over the SS to help cement himself in power as some claim? But why does he need to? No i think he has taken over the SS for a simple reason : there isn't anyone else he trusts to do it at the moment!

Gibson wanted out and Ronald made Gibson Senate EO to maintain Gibson's vote in Senate (and Gibson was forced to join Imperial Order too thus he will have to follow the party whip). Ronald took over the SS but i expect him to give most of the duties to a deputy, Solax has been considered even though he is a MBH man.

Ronald does not want Imperial Order to miss out on top-level power again so we can expect GBH to become Consul as well in a year or so. Cruggson will take his turn again but IO need another candidate to keep up the chain. Can Gibson be that fourth man? Gibson as Consul of the Republic. You read it here first, many will hope it never comes true though.

Pulsars prepare for final flourish

C108 Europa is due to return from Liberation early tomorrow when it arrives at Proxima 7. It will be joined by its sister ships C103 South America and C109 Antarctic for a celebration "flypast" of the main DDS orbital base over the planet. The three remaining Pulsar 12As will then travel onto Solaris where they will perform a similar maneuver past Solaris Dock One and then will arrive at the DDS Engineering Holding Area in high-orbit for decommissioning.

This will bring to an end 17 years of service for the type with the DDS (though the oldest ship remaining South America is only 13 years old). All ships will be preserved with one ship intended for the UNP Space Museum on Promixa 7, the fate of the other 2 ships is as yet undecided).

A fourth Pulsar SS Central America has already been preserved. It is possible the ships will be able to make their own way to their final destinations as they are fueled up for 2-3 more months reactor time though will need to be disarmed and have other sensitive equipment removed first.

• At one stage the DDS planned to give the Voth 2 Pentekonter 44A patrol boats, P107 Sophocles and P112 Hipponas were withdrawn from service in late 2109 ready for the Voth but delivery never took place, though some localisation did take place, and the Voth eventually joined the DTA. The Voth still tried to claim the 2 ships which have lain in limbo at a Remedian space yard but a UNP court has ruled the DDS can keep the ships if they wish. The 2 ships may be converted into minesweepers and rejoin the DDS fleet though it is also possible the DDS may sell them to quickly fulfil 2 Pentekonter-E orders.