NationStates Jolt Archive

The following is an excerpt from the Tilsitsinian magazine "Modern Defense Forces Worldwide", which focuses on the organization and capabilities of the NS world's militaries. The feature article in this month's edition is reprinted below:

Page 1

TILSITSIN'S ARMED FORCES: FUTURE FIGHT READY?

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Tilsitsinian Troops on the firing line at the new Joint Warfare Training Center, established on Harding Beach Island for the purpose of interservice training exercises.

With the conclusion of the HBI conflict, analysts of several nations have drawn some key conclusions on the structure and capabilities of the Tilsitsinian armed forces, while also raising some valid questions about the current reorganizations and reforms within the Tilsitsinian military structure. One of the main questions of many analysts was that of how, with such a large coastal zone and several island possessions, could the Tilsitsinian Navy afford to operate with such a small naval fleet? Also with this in mind, it has been stated by several both within and outside of the military that the Tilsitsinian army and navy's amphibious capabilities, doctrine and training were entirely inadequate for Tilsitsin's needs. While the airforce continues to be the most effective of the armed forces (Tilsitsin has an army, navy and airforce, with only a small and non-independent marine contingent), the navy has traditionally struggled with a near non-existent budget and poor acquisition staff.

But with the end of combat operations on HBI, the Tilsitsinian military establishment has began reforms focused on several key areas:

1) Reevaluating and expanding the military budgets of all the services
2) Instituting vast reforms and initiating a massive restructuring of army forces
3) Expanding and further modernizing the airforce and navy
4) Reevaluation and correction of operational and tactical deficiencies, such as the amphibious capabilities issue

We will now focus on the reforms and reorganization brought to each of the individual services, starting with the Tilsitsinian Army.

<OOC: This article will be covered over several "pages", each having it's own post>

Page 2

The Tilsitsinian Army

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The revolutionary Liahona Defense Industries L-4A "stealth" MBT, now entering service with the Leaderguard forces as their primary MBT.

The current reorganization and reforms within the armed forces can be seen occuring most drastically in the Tilsitsinian Army. Traditionally, the army has maintained a large infantry contingent, with mechanized and armored support added only as an afterthought for central defense. The only force created exclusively for fighting outside of Tilsitsin was the Foreign Legion, with the other major commands, or MAACOMs of the army being devoted to internal defense.

With the HBI conflict, the army was taught a costly lesson: All units of the army should be prepared for any eventuality and any possible type of mission. The most graphic illustration of Tilsitsinian Army misplanning occured with the initial Leaderguard Army amphibious assault on HBI (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46072&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20). The landing was plagued from the start by lack of sufficient landing craft or specialized landing troops, lack of amphibious warfare training, and no clear joint inter-service cooperation doctrine. Worse yet, the problems of the Leaderguard Army were also problems army-wide. To remedy this, each army-level command was assigned an assault engineer regiment, with the Leaderguard Army getting a brigade.

Furthermore, the MAACOM structure was reorganized and redesignated to reflect actual capabilities and operational realities as follows: (Note how armies and certain corps are no longer generic, and now have a specific mission or capability designation)

LEADERGUARD ARMY (Now serves as the national reserve)
1st LG Armored Corps with 56,500 troops
2nd LG Armored Corps with 54,200 troops

FOREIGN LEGION ARMY (The army's primary foreign deployment force)
1st Foreign Legion Corps (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1051291#1051291) with 66,500 troops
2nd Foreign Legion Corps with 60,000 troops

1ST MECHANIZED ARMY (The army's main offensive warfighting force)
II Army Corps (Mech) with 69,500 troops
X Army Corps (Mech) with 61,500 troops

2ND AREA ARMY (Responsible for home territory defense)
III Army Corps with 78,000 troops
IV Fortress Corps with 88,000 troops**
XII Army Corps with 60,500 troops

7TH AIRBORNE ARMY (The national rapid-response force)
V Airborne Corps with 38,600 troops
IX Airborne Corps with 20,900 troops (still forming)

111TH CORPS GROUP (The nation's special forces contingent)
Specific information on the 111th is difficult to obtain, but it is thought that this formation contains between 40 and 60,000 special forces troops

There are also two area air defense commands totalling about 40,000 troops and the army air transportation command, with about 9,000 troops.

**This corps also contains the new and lethal '2nd Artillery Division', specifically formed to defend the nation's coast from naval and air assault. The division contains both Harpoon and Exocet missiles, as well as numerous air defense weapons systems.

Page 3

The Tilsitsinian Air Force

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The "Fox" stealth tactical bomber, now entering widespread service with the Tilsitsinian Airforce.

Of all the military services of Tilsitsin, none has gained greater capability in the last year more than the airforce. Initially conceived with a hodge-podge of ageing Soviet-era fighters and tactical bombers, the airforce has since been transformed into an ultra-moden, fully capable and massive fighting force. The airforce was the only one of Tilsitsin's armed services that was deemed as not requiring major reorganization or restructuring.

Performing flawlessly and effectively during the HBI Conflict (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46072&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=80), the airforce exited the war in a strong position. With an increased budget in hand, the airforce went about the task of replacing losses, expanding and modernizing it's force. The remainder of the airforce's older aircraft such as the A-4 Skyhawk and even the Su-25 sttack aircraft were finally retired to the airforce storage facility, while the new Li-151/A-1 and Li-149/A-0 began to enter service in large numbers.

Now reflecting an emphasis on size, modern firepower and multi-mission capability, the current airforce organization contains a total of 12 fighter groups, 4 bomb groups, 5 attack groups and 4 transport groups, which are organized as:

Unified Fighter Command
1st Fighter Wing with 25,800 personnel and 168 fighters*
2nd Fighter Wing with 20,000 personnel and 140 fighters*
3rd Fighter Wing with 18,400 personnel and 126 fighters*
4th Fighter Wing (Training) with 4,200 personnal and 36 aircraft
5th Fighter Wing with 12,000 personnel and 84 fighters**

Unified Bomber Command
1st Bomb Wing with 12,400 personnel and 60 B-52 bombers
2nd Bomb Wing with 12,900 personnel and 62 B-1 and Tu-160 bombers
1st Attack Wing with 13,800 personnel and 88 attack aircraft***
2nd Attack Wing with 13,600 personnel and 84 attack aircraft***
3rd Attack Wing with 4,000 personnel and 28 G-7 Stealths

Air Transport Command
1st Air Transport Group, with 8,800 personnel and 48 transports****
2nd Air Transport Group with 7,200 personnel and 48 transports****
3rd Air Transport Group with 7,200 personnel and 48 transports****
4th Air Transport Group with 7,200 personnel and 48 transports****

The Airforce also has control of the Air Defense Forces Command, numbering about 30,000 troops, and the Strategic Missile Forces Command, numbering about 20,000 and charged with control and operation of the national land-based nuclear arsenal.

*These may include Su-47 Berhhuts, F-15E's, Is-39s, G-7 Stealths, F-117 Stealths, Su-27s, and Li-149s.

**These include Is-39s and F/A 2000A's.

***These include A-10s and Tornado GR1's.

****These include Sky One heavy transports, Li-504A's, C-141A's, C-130's and C-141 transports.

If you see any holes in your military, we'd like to help.

Visit Wolfish Now. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42953/)

[OOC: You sure have lots of time to kill! :shock: :shock:
Great Job! :D I wouldn't have the patience to compile such figures! :shock: ]

Page 4

The Tilsitsinian Navy

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The Tilsitsinian 1st Surface Fleet joins the new fleet carrier "Admiral James", a Taraskovyan Sokrushitel-class carrier, as she cruises for the 1st time to her home port of Hollister in Tilsitsin.

For the Tilsitsinian Navy, the HBI conflict verified the worst fears of many naval planners and commanders within Tilsitsin. For the duration of the conflict, the navy was streched to the limit, unable to both enforce a blockade of HBI and fend off any foreign naval intervention (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46072&start=0). Only through the intervention of Europa Brittanian naval forces was the Tilsitsinian Navy able to even barely hold the blockade.

The deficiencies of the navy hardly went unnoticed, and immediately upon the conclusion of hostilities the naval high command went about totally reorganizing the fleet and acquiring new ships with an increased budget and an official mandate from the Premier himself. Originally containing only two small surface "fleets", the navy sought about expanding and reorganizing the fleet into a formidable fighting force of two greatly expanded fleets, with seperate submarine and transport commands for support.

While still undergoing a general expansion, the navy is currently organized as:

Open Seas Surface Forces Command
1st Surface Fleet
TSS Admiral James (Sokrushitel Class Fleet Carrier) (Fitting Out Now)
TSS Walters (Albatross Class Battle Carrier) 12x Ka-27 Helo
TSS Wilson Howard (Albatross Class Battle Carrier) 12x Ka-27 Helo
TSS Crevin (Albatross Class Battle Carrier) 12x Ka-27 Helo
TSS Strawson (CGN-9 Class)
TSS Travis Lawson (CGN-9 Class)
TSS Harstadt (Guided Missile Cruiser)
TSS Folksen (Guided Missile Cruiser)
TSS Yarwegh (Medium Cruiser)
TSS Calliope (FFG-7 Class)
TSS Prose (FFG-7 Class)
TSS Ivory Coast (FFG-7 Class)
TSS Vindictive (Frigate)
5x Destroyers
TSS Inverness (Command Ship Class)
1st Marine BDE with 7,000 troops

2nd Surface Fleet
TSS Starlight (Albatross Class Battle Carrier) 12x Ka-27 Helo
TSS Gregorovich (Albatross Class Battle Carrier) 12x Ka-27 Helo
TSS Pleasant (Albatross Class Battle Carrier) 12x Ka-27 Helo
TSS Glover (CGN-9 Class)
TSS Sadmussenn (CGN-9 Class)
TSS Gardner (Guided Missile Cruiser)
TSS Uhweh (Medium Cruiser)
TSS Exeter (FFG-7 Class)
TSS Lauphin (FFG-7 Class)
TSS Gold Coast (FFG-7 Class)
TSS Ajax (Frigate)
3x Destroyers
TSS Yarmouth (Command Ship Class)
2nd Marine BDE with 7,000 troops

Naval Transportation Command*
TSS Parthenon (LHA/LSD Class)
TSS Athens (LHA/LSD Class)

Submarine Forces Command
1st Submarine Fleet
(This fleet is now being organized, but does not yet have any boats assigned)

While the surface forces are simply experiencing a general expansion, the transport and submarine forces are being created essentially from scratch. This will undoubtedly prove to be the crucial weak point for some time, especially so for the submarine force. it will undoubtedly take some time for Tilsitsinian submariners to begin to gain the level of experience and effectiveness of their peers in other militaries.

*This was one of the main areas of deficiency within the navy, as the naval transportation fleet was deemed entirely too small to be even marginally effective or provide any real support for the army.

Page 5

The Home Guard-Reserve

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Tilsitsinian G-R air assault troops assigned to the 7th Air Assault Division on maneuvers during "ORANGE FOX", a joint army/airforce annual exercise for the reserve forces of both services.

While it is clear to see that the active duty components of all of Tilsitsin's services are rapidly being molded into ultra-modern fighting forces, it is up to the reservists of the Home Guard-Reserve, or G-R, to make do with what remains of both the defense budget and older equipment.

Rarely has a general mobilization or call up of the G-R occured, even with the hard-fighting and close proximity of the enemy during the HBI conflict. The structure of the G-R is extremely simple when compared to the reserve forces of other countries, as a single unified command controls all of the individual army divisions and airforce fighter groups until they are called up, at which point the units become directly assigned to a parent active duty unit. The structure of the G-R is as follows:

Central Office of the Home Guard-Reserve

G-R Army Forces
350,000 army reservists total, formed into 2 armored divisions with Leopard 1a3 and M-60 tanks, 3 motorized divisions with OT-810 halftracks and M-113 APCs, and 12 infantry divisions. There are also numerous smaller support units, such as medical, engineer, civil affairs, etc.

G-R Airforces
170,000 Airforce Reservists total, formed into 5 fighter wings, 2 bomber wings and 1 transport wing. Aircraft used include the MiG-29, MiG-25, Mirage 2000, B-52, F-111 and C-130.

G-R Naval Forces
90,000 naval reservists total, which are trained to act as replacement personnel to the active service. No ships are assigned to the naval G-R.

Page 6

The Tilsitsinian Special Forces

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A 5th Special Forces Regiment special recon detachment NCO draws a bead on a target during a training exercise.

Most enigmatic of all of Tilsitsin's military forces are easily the special forces units of the army's 111th Corps Group, the navy's Special Forced Landing Detachment 509 (SFL-D/509), and the airforce's 7th Special Operations Wing. On paper these forces are the expressed property of the services to which they are assigned. But in reality, these truly unique and highly capable units are under the direct command authority of the Tilsitsinian Armed Forces High Command. Little overall has been disclosed or understood about the Tilsitsinian SPECOPS forces up to this time, but with the country's continual progression from a socialist lock-box to an open democracy, the information available on these elite forces grows.

Army Special Forces

Currently, the largest of Tilsitsin's SPECOPS contingents is the army's 111th Corps Group, containing just under 56,000 troops divided into five major sub-commands. Three of the largest of these formations together contain over 48,000 from this total, with the remaining roughly 8,000 divided into more specialized formations. Below lists the units of the 111th Corps Group along with their purpose within the establishment and their equipment:

111th Corps Group (Special)

-1st Assault Division, with 32,600 troops forming oversized armored and motorized brigades with artillery, aviation, assault engineer and air defense support units assigned.

Although not technically a special operations unit, this specialist division is none the less considered elite and it's assignment to the 111th Corps Group shows the division's status as a special intervention force. The division contains 310 vehicles of all types, 24 Apache Longbows, and 3 OLDS arrays.

-5th SF Regiment (Multi-use), with 8,000 troops, 36 HH-60s, 13 MH-47E's, and 15 Little Birds.

This regiment has served as the vanguard for Tilsitsinian military intervention in numerous conflicts, most notably those occuring in Somalinam and Hrstrovokia. At any given time, almost a full third of the 5th SF is deployed to various locations worldwide.

-11th SF Regiment (Multi-use), with 7,800 troops, 34 HH-60s, 12 MH-47E's, 19 Little Birds.

It was well known that 11th SF was a key player in the HBI conflict, but other high-visibility deployments for the regiment also included a rotation to the nation of Raem.

-Yarlov Special Intervention Group, or Yarlov Group, with 2,500 troops assigned and various types of vehicles, arms and equipment.

The Yarlov Group, as it is known, is the public face of Tilsitsin's best of the best. Specifically earmarked as specialized counter terrorist and LLRP troops, specific information on recent yarlov deployments is sketchy. All that is known is that in certain verifiable instances, such as the terrorist hostage crisis at Tilsitsin City National Airport 7 years ago, Yarlov Group has proved both capable and prepared to handle both domestic and foreign crises with a near surgical level of skill.

-Detachment 2, Special Cartography Office, or Goraya Group

The Goraya Group is Tilsitsin's secret soldier force. Very little is known about them at all, and their strength is reported to vary between 50 and 500. Even their mission is unknown, as the only hard information regarding Goraya group actions has involved high-level assassination attempts on foreign military officials.

Bump for comments..

OOC:
Heh, I also have Border Guards and a seperate Air Defence Network of SAMs and interceptors. But very well written.

OOC: Dammit kid. Get a job!

Seriously though. Very nice, very well done.

OOC: very nice. I wish I had the patience to do something like that. But hey, if you're expanding your navy, check my storefront thread here (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62566). Mention this message and I'll give you a 10% discount off the final price of any naval weapons you purchase. :)