NationStates Jolt Archive

(A broadly focused thread concerning the aftermath of the Republic of Korea's invasion and partial occupation by the Choson People's Republic and Hotan's Two Billion Struggle as it relates to re-armament and the indoctrination of the south.)

Comrade Director Hotan, Secretary of the Drapoel Communist Party, stood now as unquestionably the most powerful man in modern Drapoel history, perhaps the most powerful Drapoel ever born. And still nobody knew his real name, his age, his place of birth or anything about his family. No one knew how many people he’d killed. It was apparent, though, that Hotan was the only man in the sixty six-year history of the Choson People’s Republic to simultaneously hold the positions of both Director and Party Secretary. He was also the first Director to sit unopposed in the three-generations-old struggle between Suloist and Kurosite. Kuro was most clearly the victor, the irony being that it had achieved dominance after the fall of the third and final member of the Kurosian family dynasty.

The Director/Secretary sat at the desk that once saved his life. The would-be-assassins’ bullets still lodged in its imported oak body, the table no longer stood in the Spartan office of a secretary but the lavish and cavernous Central Office at the Central Directoraute in DaKhiem.

“Yonniseyo, Sho Seung-Hu.” Hotan nodded as the Banat Major snapped his salute and ushered in the levies. Half a dozen or so little Drapoel men and women shuffled into the darkness of the great underground hall and set to their task of stripping it of all splendour bestowed by anything bar its grand dimensions or the reputation of its chief occupant. Hotan was a man of contrast. Arguably the most powerful man ever to set foot on the Korean peninsula, he still wore traditional peasant garb, his feet slipped into open sandals as he raised a glance to the removal team stripping Kurosian I’s ostentatious office of its trophies and exquisite diplomatic gifts.

Some of the removed items would go on display at Kurosian I’s tomb in DaKhiem, others to showcase cities such as Seoul, even now undergoing massive reconstruction. What few valuable material treasures belonged to the republic had to be shown-off, it was thought, in order to give the best possible impression of prosperity in a malnourished republic sinking a third of its resources into the military. This would be the way with future diplomatic gifts or certain spoils of war. They would either be displayed in places such as Kurosian I’s tomb to the hope filled and loyal Drapoel public, or else scattered around major cities like Seoul where they might impress the trickle of foreign visitors. Art works captured from the ROK were shifted about in this fashion –all those that were not accidentally lost to fighting or purposefully destroyed by the Banat anyway.

In high orbit over Korea, Lunasat 1 continued it's work, it's deep-scanning radar pulsing away, mapping the tunnel networks that ran under Dra-Pol.

More specialized systems would loft skywards in the coming months, as the drafted lunar probe's overtaxed systems would begin to fail.

The satillites moved overhead, and the air patrols juuuust skirted the new border. Kilean was done making war in Korea- the draw-down of army units had already begun- but it was keeping a very close eye on Hotan, a man the ISD had watched (with no small measure of fear) for some time....

In the cornfields and mist-shrouded jungles of Dibujante, Kileans (and perhaps Dra-Pol's) best kept secret carried on. The geurilla war being waged there- Dra-Pol backed insurgents against AFRD puppet troops and Kilean army/ISD units was shrouded in a cloak of media apathy, overridden by the countless homecoming specials. The three or four dead soldiers a day were hardly noticed after the slaughter of Korea, and the fact that Kilean air cavalry or ISD regiments were finding dead asians among the geurilla corpses was hushed up by Skarlswald- better a small insurgency than upsetting the fragile peace.

In the wake of the Two Billion Struggle resources allocated to Dibujante had been slight, every ounce of manpower and every pound of equipment being desperately required at home. Focus was now on small scale training and teaching operations where in usually retired, inexperienced, or unfit advisors attempted to impart Drapoel knowledge of shallow tunnel warfare and of ambush and booby-trapping. The more experienced amongst them would generally attempt to subtly impress Kurosite thinking upon groups willing to listen to their partisan warfare lectures.
DaKhiem still planned to smuggle in QW-2 MANPADs and I-69-RPGs with new penetrator warheads, but the programme was stalling in the face of funding difficulties... the proliferation of submarines and other craft able to infiltrate such supplies ironically meant that there was almost no money for sufficient fuel or resources for other supplies required by such a sustained a long-range operation.

South China Sea, near Vietnamese waters

Admiral Li-Il of the Yellow Sea Fleet continued to exude an unsettling degree of authority and order in spite of his apparent detachment from whatever problems seemed to confront him. He’d finished running away, now. As part of that professionalism and distance the Admiral never expressed the discomfort with which he wore the honours pressed upon him at the close of hostilities with the south and its allies. A medal for taking the whole Yellow Sea Flotilla –as it was then known- into hiding in China while several million of his comrades fought to the death was not a decoration Li-Il could wear with much pride. Still, to the Arabs he was about to receive, the little band on his tunic’s breast probably didn’t scream coward of the War For Korean Unity so much as proclaim some past distinction. The script carried by the flag of his business associates for the day was in contrast quite barefaced in its expression of wrong-headedness, so thought the Admiral. God is great? Bah! Religion is poison!

The Kurosite’s inward negativity was quickly forgotten at the moment of his first taking sight of the deal’s prize. The Al Khali-built Hotan –an ex-Omar Class Light Patrol Frigate remodelled to DaKhiem’s specification- displaced almost three times the mass of Li-Il’s Houjin. The three hundred-foot vessel would, following the official hand over, become the biggest ship ever to serve Dra-pol. It was just the first step in a programme –part of Hotan’s Two Billion Struggle- that would eventually make Admiral Li-Il commander of some 4,138 military vessels. Even this paled beside Admiral Kim-Kuro’s intended 5,269-piece East Sea Fleet. Factor in some thousand planned ships of the Drapoel merchant marine and it would become apparent that Kuro Progress was indeed a radical departure for the Drapoel, a people with countless millennia of distrust for the high seas. Coaxing towards one and a half million Drapoel into various maritime occupations may prove a challenge greater than sending them across the 38th Parallel

(OOC: Oh, I meant to ask, do you know much about the satellite's ground-penetration capabilities? Or where I might find out the basics? Of course the Drapoel themselves won't know the specifics, but anything a western civilian can find out the Banat ought to be able to. I'm hesitant to assume too much of the enemy's intelligence, because, I mean, if American satellites couldn't locate an entire Iraqi armoured brigade during the invasion, I dare say Dra-pol can hide some of its tunnels tens and hundreds of metres below earth, cities, mountains, granite, sea, and other tunnels. Of course we've filled some of them back in with material easily displaced later :) )

Hotan’s Black Dragon

The countless peaks of the Choson People’s Republic capped almost as many secret projects and military or industrial enterprises. Tens and even hundreds of metres underneath them lay bunkers, hangars, research facilities, and even airstrips, and there was much toing and froing, often via tunnels of various sizes. This was basically well enough known, as Drapoel hardened artillery sites, partially buried air bases, and tunnel warfare had played a significant role in the recent War for Korean Unification. As such it was hoped by the Central Directorature that no special attention would be paid to the few mountains and hills directly involved with the Black Dragon programme. Activity in these places was purposefully kept to levels not significantly greater than that seen at other facilities as DaKhiem bided its time.

But these were significant sites. Most were dotted about the southern extent of what was the republic until the recent expansion of its borders, and were now appearing too in the liberated northern extent of South Korea. One –probably the largest single piece of the Black Dragon programme- was situated deep in the heart of the CPRD, even further from prying eyes and probably less closely watched than the sensitive south.

Taka Oamarii-Il stood right in the middle of it all. This was where it all began, eh? Paektusan, birthplace of the peninsula’s humanity, rumoured to be birthplace of Hotan, too, and purportedly of Sulo before him, though he, unlike Hotan, had reported the fact as if a boast. The cries of Kim Hu-Sul, one of the brilliant PAAF chief engineer Oamarii-Il’s best assistants, still rang in Taka’s memory and, he rather felt, in the stone and concrete corridors down which the the Banat had just days earlier dragged the boy. Still, at least the memory of the teenager’s protests had replaced the melody of that western music he’d been arrested for persistently singing. Taka had been half-fearful of forgetting himself and whistling along too, in the past. How did it go? 'They promised me paradise if I fell under their spell, glazed-eyed passive citizens suit them very well'. Sounds innocent enough, he thought, I wonder what it means? Must have listed Frosch’s super-powers or something. Feeling guilty already, Oamarii-Il began at some volume to hum One Billion Human Bombs For Comrade Hotan, noting with mild awe the imposing acoustic effect.

As his melody rang off into the distance, the engineer –who was known for his work on Dra-pol’s first indigenous supersonic jet; the S-5; as well as the Republic's Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles and its early nuclear programme- glanced upwards. For the first time there could be seen a tiny point of light at the end of the shaft rising the better part of two hundred metres up the mountainside... Taka took a second look and felt himself gazing up through the dragon’s throat. What a beast! More than two metres across, already!

Many miles to the south, one of Oamarii-Il’s former students, who had also benefited from a semester studying engineering at a Quinntonian university, called from a hilltop down a shaft two thirds narrower than the one at Paektusan. “It is perfect!” He cried, his words carrying better than two score metres down the near fifty-degree slope to open ears beneath the hill’s north face. “We are ready to seal it!”

On the little road a couple of dozen metres below passed a single truck carrying one of eight six-metre cylinders required by the 9th June Hydroelectric Project on the next hill, situated just like this site suspiciously far from naturally occurring sources of water.

ooh, damn your suspense! rest assured, the best and brightest minds of the ISD are on this thing.

Oamarii-Il shook his soaked feet and replaced his sandals after stepping from the ditch into which he’d been jostled by passing members of the United Workers Militia pursuing a suspected Southern infiltrator. A slightly pale woman had been spotted in the area of a collective that denied knowledge of her. Somebody cried that she hadn’t a permit to be out of her home district, and the aged weekend warriors soon had Taka in the ditch and the woman under arrest.
An hour later, Oamarii-Il was finally aboard one of the north-eastern tube’s ‘brand new’ 1970s vintage electric trains, imported from a scrapyard in Beth Gellert and polished a bit. By morning he’d be back at work after his day off fell beside Kurosian I’s Birthday and he took the chance to see his family.

He had to be back on time, though, and even an engineer of his value couldn’t blame the United Workers Militia or the north-eastern subway should he be late today. The Dragon’s Throat was to roar for the first time at 0730hours, and that was that.

On arriving at the foot of Paektusan, Oamarii-Il was again delayed, this time by trucks carrying the last elements of some ten tonnes of specially formulated high explosive into the chamber in which Taka had lately stood. Twenty-three seconds past the designated start time, with the mountain locked-down and S-6 Flagon and S-7 Fishbed on patrol across the region, the Black Dragon opened its jaws.

The result was a seismic event that would reverberate around the world. Equivalent to 28kilotonnes –roughly twice the force of Dra-pol’s boosted fission weapons deployed in the war- it signalled the orbiting of what looked like another Sputnik, which would shortly begin to emit a historic beeping. Morse, reading in Drapoel, it announced the orbiter’s name over and over. Red Zero, Red Zero, Red Zero.

[a bump incase anybody else is interested in post-war activity in the CPRD]

The UPA parades were becoming more impressive. Hotan had just attended a display at Wonju, where he was on hand to confer upon the captured city the new name of Hotanang, and was due in Musan tomorrow for another parade and another renaming ceremony for what was to become Kurosian (City). Today the location was Seoul, which would not be renamed as it was still peopled by hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, who Hotan was trying to integrate rather than alienate. He hadn’t time for the Friendship Conference unfolding near by.

Building work was progressing extremely well, the Director observed, and Seoul was really beginning to look like a Drapoel city, if a few dozen times larger.

Of course Hotan’s integration hadn’t room for everybody. Facility 10 at Andong was prepared to deal with the misfits. Banat chief Sho Cheiy, who was also now in charge of filling it to capacity, selected the staff at Facility 10. People –capitalists- in the liberated south had to be introduced to the Kuro Revolution, and there had to be some record of their compatibility.

The Unified People’s Army was heavily responsible for dealing with the population during the early days of the Drapoel advance. Quick to contact its agents in the south and to identify their sympathisers and bring them to arms, the CPRD had seen its commandos wreak considerable confusion. The processes pioneered then were still in action weeks later, with countless South Koreans and other nationals detained in complete isolation until it came their turn to be interviewed or otherwise processed. It happened that a tall Celt had been employed in the construction of Facility 10. Strange, indeed.

“Where am I?”
“In the Facility.”
“What do you want?”
“Information.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“That would be telling. We want information.”
“You won’t get it.”
“By hook or by crook, we will.”
“Who are you?”
“Brother Number 2”
“Who is Brother Number 1?”
“You are number 1620.”
“I am not a number, I am a free man!”

Yoshiro Ichida was later convinced to reveal his less than brilliant pedigree as a Japanese businessman in some sector that held no interest for the Kurosite progress in action across the CPRD. He died before giving very much useful information pertaining to the skills and fate of his countrymen in the area. Several of them had proved similarly useless in the days previous.

On the far side of Facility 10, a steady flow of South Koreans returned to their lives, or rather to living lives belonged to the Choson People’s Republic and to the Kuro Revolution, now much better informed and more able to apply themselves in a progressive, revolutionary manner. The foreign co-architect of Facility 10 was hurried on to the Friendship Conference, following news of a coup in his homeland.

[OOC: As long as you dont start deploying lava-lamp suffocating death balloons...]

Officials and academics attatched to the Spyran Space Directorate observe what appears to be the first Drapoel satellite launch. An attempt is made to send congratulations and requests for information to their counterparts in Dra-pol.

The Spyran Ministry of Humanity states its hope that Dra-pol is humane in the integration of territories which have been newly brought under its control, and offers assistance in accomplishing such a laudable goal.

In response to Spyran approaches, DaKhiem has confirmed the orbiting of the satellite Red Zero. The item is said to be a small device, weighing barely a couple of dozen kilos, and programmed only to transmit a confirmation of its survival and continued operation. It is said by The Central Directorature to be the first step in making the space above the Choson People's Republic a safer place, and the first sign that said space must be respected.

Red Zero is said to be planned for an orbit of just a few short years, before the completion of which time it is hoped that a more advanced satellite may be launched. DaKhiem has also stated that the satellite was orbited at an equivalent cost of less than a quarter of a million US dollars.

In response to Spyran approaches, DaKhiem has confirmed the orbiting of the satellite Red Zero. The item is said to be a small device, weighing barely a couple of dozen kilos, and programmed only to transmit a confirmation of its survival and continued operation. It is said by The Central Directorature to be the first step in making the space above the Choson People's Republic a safer place, and the first sign that said space must be respected.

Red Zero is said to be planned for an orbit of just a few short years, before the completion of which time it is hoped that a more advanced satellite may be launched. DaKhiem has also stated that the satellite was orbited at an equivalent cost of less than a quarter of a million US dollars.

With increased observation from the ground-based telescopes scattered over the LRR landscape, it becomes clear that the object in orbit is nothing more than a small spacecraft. Missile defense units are taken off high alert.

No radiation is detected from the proposed nuclear bomb explosion, so that too is ruled out as an explaination for the seismic activity detected in Dra-pol.

Some LRRMFs joint command (which deals with SIGINT, anti ballistic missile defense, and other facets of military intelligence, except outright spying. More of a detection and analytical force, really) employees begin to wonder if Dra-pol used a cannon to launch their sattelite. LRR currently had only a single gamma ray observatory in space, part of the LRR government's big commitment to astronomy, but more could be launched rather easily.

But what relief the LRRMFs have at the benign intentions of the Dra-pol space program (or at least so its seems) is short-lived with the news of Dra-pol military buildup. While it is hoped that with the Dra-pol opening-up, by the time they have all their stuff they will be a progressive communist country as opposed to a maoist one, the new Dra-pol military might be used, it is feared, to take over the rest of the ROK. And even worse, it is estimated that the Dra-pol navy, when finally completed, will comprise of thousands of ships, highly superior (numerically) to the LRRN.

Mauerstadt Space Center

The mission controllers looked at the big screen in the control room of the Kilean Space Agency. A tiny blip showed up on the map, in a low, wavering orbit. One of the controllers turned to the air force major standing next to a console.

"so....um....can we just blow it out of the sky?"

The major considered it for a moment.

"yeah, I mean, we have Tacit Angle already up there. It's just a bleeping two-foot tin ball. I mean, it's shouting 'kill me! kill me!' every couple seconds, so, you know, I think we can hit it."

Another controller spoke up

"wouldn't that sort of be, you know, an act of war?"

"it....well.....yeah, I guess" the air force major looked sort of deflated.

"we could go public about spiderweb?"

the major gave a dirty look to the controller

"spiderweb is so secret, we can't even be talking about it right now"

the controller went back to staring at his monitor "we still need to one-up them" he grumbled.

The major looked at the screen, now showing video of the dra-pol satillite, taken from a Kilean NAME OF SYSTEM CENSORED in a paralell orbit.

"oh, that's gonna be reeeeeal hard."

After the Drapoel information on launch costs reaches officials at the PRS Space Directorate, enquiries begin immediately as to the nature of the Drapoel launch system, as well as the possibility of cooperative space operations between the PRS and Dra-pol.

DaKhiem announces major People's Army Air Force acquisition in closing Two Billion Struggle

Designated S-10 and S-11, and slated to replace S-8 (Fighter China 1) and S-9 (Chengdu J-10) for which the CPRD has been unable to reliably and cheaply obtain spares and replacement airframes, two Beth Gellen-origin fighter aircraft types are due to begin arriving in Dra-pol within the next few weeks.

S-10 shall be a modified version of the NT5I "Cardinal" interceptor, called a "point defence fighter" by the Beth Gellen State Arsenal export literature. This shall replace Chinese-built FC-1 fighters in taking-on enemy jets in a defensive posture, using exceptional agility and low radar cross-section, along with good rate of climb to pop-up at the last moment from Dra-pol's many small airstrips in the mountains to engage enemy aircraft close-in.

The S-10's known specifications read as such:
Crew: 1
Dimensions: length 42.5ft span 29ft.
Powerplant: One BG T5 afterburning turbofan for 22,870lb thrust.
Maximum Speed: 1,397mph, Mach 2+
Ceiling: 52,500ft
Range: 759miles.
Armament: Two internal 30mm aviation cannon (120rnds each); two small internal bays for one PL-11 or one AA-10/R-27 ALAMO each; four external hardpoints for AA-10/R-27 ALAMO, AA-11/R-73 ARCHER, or DRAR-1.
The S-10’s 280km+range radar can engage four targets simultaneously.

S-11 is to be a version of the NT4ASF "Hobgoblin" built for Dra-pol. This shall replace J-10 as the PAAF's top air superiority fighter. It has been seen to be capable of exceptional aerobatics, is super-cruise capable, and displays a low radar signature when flying without external stores.

The S-11's specifications are along these lines:
Crew: 1.
Dimensions: length 71ft, span 51ft.
Powerplant: Two Sprite-B thrust-vectoring super-cruise engines for 32,000lb
Maximum Speed: 1,585mph, super-cruise Mach 1.25
Ceiling: 58,500ft.
Range: 1,670miles plus in-flight refuelling (though the PAAF may not have capability to provide this).
Armament: Internal 30mm aviation cannon (180rnds); four external hardpoints for DRAR-1 SRAAM, AA-11/R-73 ARCHER, AA-10/R-27 ALAMO; internal bay for four PL-11, AA-10/R-27 Alamo, or AA-12/R-77 Adder, plus two AA-11/R73 ARCHER or DRAR-1 SRAAM.
The Hobgoblin’s mighty 400km+range radar can engage six targets at once.

According to comrade Director Secretary Hotan's Two Billion Struggle, there should be quickly placed into service some 1,200 S-10 and 720 S-11 fighters. A similar number of S-8 and S-9 existed in service previously, and their fate is not clear. It is reported that some are being prepared for transit to Beth Gellert, where the Central Directorature has been assured that the Igovians, "shall find a use for them", while the rest may be sold to China or else scrapped or used for testing and target duties. It is unlikely that the PAAF can afford to keep so many aircraft variants in service at once, and there are already countless S-6 and S-7 fighters filling-out the force's vast ranks.

The deal is certainly worth several hundred billion dollars.

"SHIBAL!" cried Vice Premier Park upon hearing the bad news.

****
hmm... not sure wut it means, but i'll juss say it for now.

Dont take it personally if it means a bad thing.

(I believe that may be appropriate (F***!). On the bright side, we may not be able to afford as many CS-400 SAM systems as hoped, as a result of the Black Dragon and PAAF Interceptor programmes.)

DaKhiem announces major People's Army Air Force acquisition in closing Two Billion Struggle

Designated S-10 and S-11, and slated to replace S-8 (Fighter China 1) and S-9 (Chengdu J-10) for which the CPRD has been unable to reliably and cheaply obtain spares and replacement airframes, two Beth Gellen-origin fighter aircraft types are due to begin arriving in Dra-pol within the next few weeks.

S-10 shall be a modified version of the NT5I "Cardinal" interceptor, called a "point defence fighter" by the Beth Gellen State Arsenal export literature. This shall replace Chinese-built FC-1 fighters in taking-on enemy jets in a defensive posture, using exceptional agility and low radar cross-section, along with good rate of climb to pop-up at the last moment from Dra-pol's many small airstrips in the mountains to engage enemy aircraft close-in.

The S-10's known specifications read as such:
Crew: 1
Dimensions: length 42.5ft span 29ft.
Powerplant: One BG T5 afterburning turbofan for 22,870lb thrust.
Maximum Speed: 1,397mph, Mach 2+
Ceiling: 52,500ft
Range: 759miles.
Armament: Two internal 30mm aviation cannon (120rnds each); two small internal bays for one PL-11 or one AA-10/R-27 ALAMO each; four external hardpoints for AA-10/R-27 ALAMO, AA-11/R-73 ARCHER, or DRAR-1.
The S-10’s 280km+range radar can engage four targets simultaneously.

S-11 is to be a version of the NT4ASF "Hobgoblin" built for Dra-pol. This shall replace J-10 as the PAAF's top air superiority fighter. It has been seen to be capable of exceptional aerobatics, is super-cruise capable, and displays a low radar signature when flying without external stores.

The S-11's specifications are along these lines:
Crew: 1.
Dimensions: length 71ft, span 51ft.
Powerplant: Two Sprite-B thrust-vectoring super-cruise engines for 32,000lb
Maximum Speed: 1,585mph, super-cruise Mach 1.25
Ceiling: 58,500ft.
Range: 1,670miles plus in-flight refuelling (though the PAAF may not have capability to provide this).
Armament: Internal 30mm aviation cannon (180rnds); four external hardpoints for DRAR-1 SRAAM, AA-11/R-73 ARCHER, AA-10/R-27 ALAMO; internal bay for four PL-11, AA-10/R-27 Alamo, or AA-12/R-77 Adder, plus two AA-11/R73 ARCHER or DRAR-1 SRAAM.
The Hobgoblin’s mighty 400km+range radar can engage six targets at once.

According to comrade Director Secretary Hotan's Two Billion Struggle, there should be quickly placed into service some 1,200 S-10 and 720 S-11 fighters. A similar number of S-8 and S-9 existed in service previously, and their fate is not clear. It is reported that some are being prepared for transit to Beth Gellert, where the Central Directorature has been assured that the Igovians, "shall find a use for them", while the rest may be sold to China or else scrapped or used for testing and target duties. It is unlikely that the PAAF can afford to keep so many aircraft variants in service at once, and there are already countless S-6 and S-7 fighters filling-out the force's vast ranks.

The deal is certainly worth several hundred billion dollars.


OCC: Damn! You aren't supposed to have those, Dra-pol! That ruined my whole day. *Goes away and sulks in the corner for a little while*

I'm gonna have to make a new jet just for that.

But I still have some pretty nifty tricks up my sleeve, such as the SA-20 SAM, all sorts of awesome ground vehicles, organized units, and all that other stuff.

IC:

Probably in order to keep up with Dra-pol military buildups, the LRRAF has commissioned a new fighter aircraft, the F-5 "Purple Haze." It has actually been planned for several months, but a motive was yet to appear.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/eurofighter-w1_800.jpg

The F-5 uses many components common with the MiG-29I in order to seriously reduce production and maintainance costs, such as the RM-21 engines, radar, and avionics. The twin RM-21s provide nigh-unparallelled fuel efficency, and supply a maximum speed in excess of mach 2.3 at altitude.

The F-5 can carry a total of 12 AAMs, such as AA-11 MOD short/medium range missiles, which have their seeker slaved to the pilot's helmet, and L&F RAMJET BVRAAMs, which have a range of nearly 200km. A wide range of air/ground and anti-shipping munitions can also be carried. A pair of 30mms are also included, taken off the Jaguar II (which i'm sure you remember from the war).

The F-5 is, in many respects, not terribly different from the MiG-29I. But what sets it apart is its much higher ceiling and delta-canard airfoil configuration. While still equipped with the same heavy-duty landing gear, the F-5 has a much higher landing speed than the MiG-29I.

The F-5 is meant to replace the MiG-29I fleet, which will be bumped into the niche occupied by MiG-21s in the LRRAF. A total of 900 aircraft are planned, which will bring LRRAF fighter strength to 1,700 twin-engine, up-to-date aircraft, and mabye 2,000 others, which include 500 flying and combat-capable MiG-21 2000s, 1,000 various rusty hulks languishing in somebody's backyard, and another 500 Jas-35s, modified appropriately.

Significantly smaller than the Dra-pol AF still, but arguably more capable and better-supported.

No air force is more capable than that belonging to the Choson People's Republic!

So goes the official line, anyway. Of course the PAAF has no in flight refuelling capacity, no long range or heavy bombers, the closest thing to a helicopter gunship is the Mi-8 with guns, bombs, and rocket packs strapped all over it (backed-up by the Mi-2 similarly modified), and the replaced but competent J-10 and FC-1 have not been used to replace even older models, but have been sold or scrapped, and the really old second-line aircraft have remained in service, instead. There's no known advanced ground-based flight simulators in the CPRD, and fuel and spare parts, as well as security, dictate flying times between one and two thirds (depending on which sources your choose to believe) lower than those expected for pilots in training south of the border.

Still, and it's an unrealistic situation, but if the two air forces (Drapoel and LRR) were to meet head on and without outside involvement, it is hard to see how 1,700 up to date aircraft could face-off 1,920 while 500 MiG-21-2000s were answered by 4,240 S-7 Fishbed and 8,240 S-6 Flagon, and 500 Jaguar ( ? ) were compared to 5,520 K-1 Feda-Kwong, 4,800 K-2 Fitter, and 18,000 S-5 1st generation jets flitted about in answer to a thousand rusting hulks of none descript sort. And while we've not got S-400/SA-20, we do have limited CS-400 batteries, which are the Beth Gellen-built equivalent to the Triumf, and then 12 S-200/SA-5 batteries and 120 HQ-2B regiments, as well as 14,000 DRAR-19-SAM posts/mobile units (think Chaparral but a generation ahead in terms of missile range/ceiling), the most dense anti-aircraft artillery grid on earth, and more than half a million all-aspect MANPADS, plus tens of thousands of heavy machineguns.

Well, it gives six and a third million comrades something to do, and the right to say they're in one of the biggest airforces going.

Of coruse we don't actually advertise those specifics, but from that you may have your own agencies make some vague estimations, if desired. That was all supposed to be achieved in the Two Billion Struggle, but we're way behind time. As such, we mean to make it 10% greater by... yesterday, and the CPRD is working like crazy (as ever).

The LRR SA-20 is actually not the same as the russian SA-20. I sort of didn't research it and used the same name by accident.

But hey, my populace isn't starving! MUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!cough, cough, cough. Meh.

But your military spending and mine are two different things. And of course, you'd have to get all those planes into LRR airspace. And since the LRRAF is, save a few squadrons, completely a defensive air arm, it doesn't need to be able to face another airforce plane for plane, because not everything is going to be in the air at once, whereas the LRRAF can deploy its entire force at once.

But hey, mabye I should build up my numbers a little. Mabye 1,000 F-5s instead of just 900. That'd bring it to 1,800 modern and up to date. You know what? I think I could mabye "come up with" 200 or so Gripens, what say? :)

OOC: Well, yeah, the PAAF was originally a defensive force, too. There's no way we could attack LRR, except by IRBMs if you're within 5,500km, or some sort of infiltration method. We wouldn't have any offensive aircraft if we'd not been repeatedly attacked by the Christian Crusader states. It was the loss of Hamhung that created the aggressive streak in the CPRD, and that essentially set in motion Hotan's rise to power. We'd not have had the mechanism to attack the South, nor the desire, nor the need for land, if we'd not lost Hamhung. Still, these things happen when the 1st and 2nd worlds ignore crazy rogue states and their concerns until it's convenient or too late :D
ROK citizens should be sueing Quinntonia and their allies!

Don't I know it.

Now, on to navies!

So, what's your navy like, Dra-pol? What's planned?

Well, this is strictly out of character, for anyone interested, because, uhm, it could really screw us over, but I'll go on, anyway.

The navy is -by the standards set in the army, air force, special forces, and so on- fairly modest. The largest surface ships weigh 1,400ts. According to the plans in Hotan's Two Billion Struggle (which in pop. we're 10% beyond, but since I've been slow myself, I'm accepting that the Republic is struggling, and has only just started to meet its original aims, and isn't thinking about the updated ones, yet), the Unified People's Navy recruits at least 1.2million men and women. That's compared to 6.3million in the PAAF, 70million in the UPA, 2.5million in the Red Bamboo (the Banat Combat Corps has been re-organised to replace the old Sulosit Red Bamboo, and has adopted its name).

The UPN is split in two.
Admiral Kim-Kuro (about whom little is known to the outside) is listed as commanding the East Sea Fleet out of Wonsan, with major bases at Najin, Kimch'aek, and Kangung.
Admiral Li-Il (who escaped into China, with the Yellow Sea Flotilla as it was then called, during the war, and was about to begin conducting light commerce raiding missions when the war wound-down) commands from Namp'o, with major bases at Haeju and Inch'on.
Both forces counts scores of small bases and fortified pens, often hidden in the cliff face and rarely accessed overtly. Some are resistant to serious penetrator weapons.

It is not expected that the two forces could directly support one another’s operations in any serious fashion.

Vessels are built in Dra-pol, with some built co-operatively abroad or purchased either with Dra-pol-specific modifications in mind or purchased in a bare state and modified in the CPRD. Involved nations include Penglai (which was a China-based state that may have gone inactive, I’m not sure), Beth Gellert (in the southern Indian Ocean) and Al Khals (on the east coast of southern Africa).

The East Sea Fleet is marginally the stronger, patrolling a longer coastline, while the Yellow Sea is fairly contained, within range of the PAAF, and skirted by reasonably friendly PR China. It (the Yellow Sea) is also being quite extensively mined.

The East Sea Fleet has at its core 24 Kurosian I Class Frigates, which are Al Khali-built Omar Class Light Patrol Frigates modified for Drapoel service. They are the largest ships available, and have anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities with long-range sea-skimming missiles, ASW mortars, and DRAR-19 SAM as well as guns and cannon. They’re capable of 39knot sprints and 18knot cruising, and in their original form may be seen in action off Africa, in the Al Khals/Lusaka war.
These are supported by 24 Houjian Class missile attack-boats, similar to vessels seen in Chinese service (the 520 T), and armed with Drapoel and Drapoel-Penglai co-operative venture anti-ship missiles. They’re reasonably modern, but not top-of-the-line.
Then there’s 120 Mogi Class missile attack boats, which are the first listed indigenous vessels, 25metres long and capable of 40knots, and armed with two DSJ-1 single-tube missile launchers plus machineguns.
42 Tiburon Class patrol craft are each 38.2metres long, capable of 26knots, and armed with 2x485mm anti-sub/ship torpedo tubes, 75mm gun, twin-47mm AAA, machineguns, and a 240mm MLRS mounted aft.
There are 800 Kae Class torpedo boats, which are 19metres long and capable of 49knots. They’re armed with just two above-water 485mm TTs and two 14.5mm machineguns.
240 Hound Class D/E submarines are of Beth Gellen origin, and are increasingly aged. They’re not the latest sort in service with BG, which mount 517mm TTs, but make do with old 485mm torpedoes, and mines. I believe they’re about 1,100ts or a little above.
250 Bap Class miniature submarines are native boats produced in two versions, one with torpedoes and one with mines. They carry four torpedo tubes or 12 mines, and can transport up to 6 agents or commandos at about 9knots.
200 Inchon Class landing craft utility are 33.9metres long, capable of 10knots, armed with dual-mount 14.5mm machineguns, and can transport two tanks or 150 troops.
1,100 Three Day Class assault-support boats, which are 25metres long and can make 40knots. They’re armed with machineguns and 32 122mm rocket tubes. Of course they’re meant to appear, saturate the coast with rocket artillery, and vanish, either leaving the way clear for a landing, or just making a mess at little risk.
300 Hungnam Class landing craft personnel are each 47metres long, can make 12knots, and are armed with 30mm guns and QW-2 SAMs. They can transport three tanks or other large vehicles and equipment.
1,200 Cholima Class hovercraft assault vehicles can travel at sea or inshore at up to 50knots, carrying 40 infantrymen.
18 Goat Class minesweeping vessels are Al Khali-built and fairly run-of-the-mill mine clearing vessels.
1 Kowan Class submarine rescue ship rather speaks for its self.
100s of 75mm, 100mm, 105mm, 115mm, 150mm, and 190mm coastal battery guns and 50 DSJ-1 and 30 Qian Wei fortified anti-ship missile batteries exist on the east coast.
That’s some 5,269 vessels in all.
Whew.

Now, the Yellow Sea Fleet...
That has 18 Kurosian I Class frigates, 24 Houjian, 85 Mogi, 28 Tiburon, 650 Kae, 160 Hound, 200 Bap, 100 Inchon, 720 Three Day, 200 Hungnam, 600 Choson, 1,350 Cholima, 12 Goat, 1 Kowan, hundreds of shore-based guns and 5 DSJ-1and 15 Qian Wei anti-ship missile batteries. 4,138 vessels.

There’s also about 1,000 shore-based Mi-14 naval rescue/ASW helicopters covering both coasts.
The down side is a lack of carriers, nuclear subs, cruisers, destroyers, or any serious blue-water capability at all. Force projection is pretty much limited to the south, plus China, Russia, and Japan, in theory. Whether Hotan would like to attack any of those is a different matter. It should be noted that the UPA has thousands of light tanks, APCs, and other AVs that are capable of swimming several dozen km over sea, given clear enough weather.

Whether all the import vessels have arrived yet is a bit ambiguous. Time is moving at a funny rate, at the moment. We have begun to receive frigates, but I don’t know if I should say that we have all 42 as yet.

The problem, by the by, is that Al Khals has been building us frigates, and is at war with Lusaka, which is backed by Beth Gellert, which is building us jet fighters and possibly surface to air missiles, and previously supplied tanks and submarines.

This is why the CPRD does not like having to import things :)

If we have a plan, it is to acquire the ability to build our own 'large' surface combatants, with anti surface, sub-surface, and air capacity. By large, we mean something akin to the Omar/Kurosian Class frigate. Whether we'll ever be able to do so economically is not yet apparent.

The LRRN (as you have witnessed) has a reasonable amount of large surface ships, in the form of 25 Sovremenny MOD and 5 Iroquois MOD destroyers, 2 Kirov MOD missile cruisers, 15 Krivak MOD frigates, and 5 carriers, albeit small and rather aging ones. They usually are deployed to escort the LRRN's four RO/RO ships from port to port. This, contrasted with other navies, is pitiful.

A modest submarine fleet comprises of 20 U-214 attack submarines, excellent craft and very quite, optimised for coast defense, 10 Kilo MOD attack submarines, a bit old but still good, and 5 Aluka MOD attack submarines. Two were actually deployed to your waters, but they didn't do anything. The LRRMFs haven't the heart to torpedo anything besides a military vessel.

But where the LRRN really goes over the top is with missile FACs and coast defense vessels. The LRRN operates no less than 400 Spike-class missile boats, capable of 40 knots and armed with AS and AA weaponry. They are not some throwaway craft, but are actually extremely survivable, with 8 long-range ASMs, two CIWS mounts, and 6 AAMs, as well as ECM and decoy launchers. The thing can actually self-right, allowing it to operate in the perpetually stormy LRR waters. They can be used for search and rescue and fisheries patrol as well, which is actually what they pass the time doing.

The Skjold MOD (now named the Son House class to keep with the theme) is also one of the LRRN's favorite craft. It can reach a good 70 knots with its catamaran/air cushion hull, and has many low-observable features. The LRRN operates 50, and they carry 10 ASMs, 8 AAMs, a 57mm cannon, two CIWS mounts and an excellent ECM/decoy launching system. Four homing torpedos are also carried. The Son House can do AA, ASW, and AsSW.

Its cousin, the Howlin' Wolf, is a single-hulled vessel with an ASW focus. It is a modified albatross (Grisha) corvette, with a helipad perched somewhat precariously on the stern. It has two CIWS mounts, the same decoy/ECM system as the Skjold, 4 ASMs, 8 AAMs, 4 homing torpedos, a 23mm cannon, and a pair of rocket launchers, which can fire ASW rockets as well as artillery rockets. The LRRN has 70.

The LRRN relies on the Ka-27 (modified heavily, of course) to provide ship-borne ASW, and relies on the LRRAF for coastal air cover with Nimrods and Tornados. The navy has Sea Knights for transport and utility, and Sea Kings for SAR. The airforce does most of the SAR work with its Sea Kings, but the navy figures its good to have some. They are painted the regular dull blue-grey livery, punctuated by orange stripes, instead of the bright yellow which adorns LRRAF sea kings.

There are also tenders and offshore tugs, of which the LRRN has about 50. Mabye 1,000 various landing craft and assault boats are used by the LRRN. These range from CB-90s with AMOS mortars and BM-21 rocket launchers to pole barges and pirouges.

The LRRA, however, being a primarily defensive force, has far fewer vehicles than your army, but they're considered better than Dra-pol vehicles vehicle for vehicle. And LRR territory, being heavily forested and relatively mountainous (hilly), is very hard to invade, especially with the tall cliffs that line the coast.

Hey, while I'm at it, I might as well talk about the LRRA!

The LRRA has 1,000,000 active infantrymen in 50 infantry divisions. These 50 divisions are charged with the land defense of LRR, and are highly mobile. They pack a fair amount of firepower, and the CV-90P and Wiesel 3 gives the LRRA infantry unit a strong armored means of support. The infantry divisions are some of the world's best anti-tank units, and are exceedingly well accustomed to the LRR landscape.

They are supported by the logistics corps, which, surprisingly enough, packs quite a bit of firepower itself.

There are 20 paratrooper divisions, which are the LRR rapid-reaction forces. They are, well, paratroopers. They don't have the benefit of the beastly firepower available to LRRA infantrymen, but they are pretty well covered in the vehicles department. Then there's the four armored divisions, the LRRA's hammer. They might be used for national defense or for going overseas, like in Korea.

They've got CV-9040 MOD IFVs, MBT-6 Mohawk MBTs, attack helicopters, SPHs, and are quite a force.

Perhaps the LRRA is better supplied and supported than the UPA, but then the LRRA is 2.5 times smaller than the Red Bamboo, the CPRD's elite commando force :D
The Red Bamboo shall shoon begin operating seriously in the south and probably abroad, and their capability will be seen... or at least the results will be seen hours after they've left, I rather suspect.
The UPA is more than seventy million strong, and if the programme ever gets on track with its official requirements, it'd be 84 million strong, by now. The UPA contains men from 17-44 and women from 17-32, and both trains and works them hard, after an infancy of indoctrination into Kurosite thinking, nationalism, xenophobia, and other important things. Many are of rural background and grew up with a rifle in their hands, or at least doing hard work and accepting a strict and almost militant discipline, enduring fairly tough lives and being taught exactly who was to blame...what with the brain hard-wiring to a large degree during this time, it's pretty effective training in its own right.

With seventy million heads, the UPA is largely straight-leg, but bicycle infantry are increasingly common. Korea is an extremely mountainous land, and in the north at least its infrastructure is limited and dedicated almost entirely to military and industrial transit.

There are about 200,000 APCs, mostly native Type-192s, which are fully amphibious and usually armed with 6.5mm, 7.7mm, or 14.5mm machineguns.
150 MT-3 Hotan MBTs are as good as anything else in the modern world, and the loss of the other 35 during Kilean nuclear strikes was a considerable pain to the People's Army. The possibility for further acquisition exists since the Igovian coup in Beth Gellert.
The main tank strength is in 62,000 Type D-18, which can generally be considered the Drapoel T-62. Not usually a match for modern MBTs, its 115mm gun will still cause a mess, especially at close range, which is exactly where the UPA intends to deploy it, using the uneaven terrain to avoid conflict on open plains. 58,000 Type D-14 medium tanks are very nimble off road, and carry 105mm guns. They're mainly meant to support infantry and mechanised infantry in difficult terrain where enemy MBTs should be relatively few and immobile.
There's 12,000 old Type D-42, which is a distant relative of a Japanese WWII experiemental tank, with a 115mm gun crammed into it. It's not fun to use.
There's a frightening 250,000 self-propelled guns of 75, 100, 105, and 150mm calibre, as well as a brand new 190mm SPG and a turreted 150mm gun seen on parade at Kanggye.
120,000 122mm and 240mm multiple-launch rocket systems are being brought into service, along with tens of thousands of 51 and 80mm mortars.

Total reserve strength is 500million, with 125million in the People's Rear Defence Organisation, 100million in the Kuro Student Defence League, 2million in the Working Women's Home Brigade, and 275million in the United Worker's Militia.

Only the first one is really close to a credible fighting force, unless you credit the child soldiers of the KSDL, the AAA gunners of the WWHB, or the idiots, cripples, and pensioners of the UWM. Most can only deploy piecemeal to defend their home districts as attacked.

OOC: Hmm... I'd better start posting the Hudecian stats here too I guess. Just to be completely fair.

IC:

Hudecian Naval Forces

(I'll only list vessels frigates and larger since those are the only ones that'll affect you)

The Hudecian navy has long been the way that Hudecia projected its power in the Pacific region. As such, up until the Drapol wars, the navy was the focus of Hudecian military spending. Although once dependent on other nations for its naval military needs, the Hudecian government has established a domestic company to furnish warships. Hudecia Industries (HI) received a major boost from initial foreign purchases but is now completely self-sustaining.

Still, the Hudecian navy is lacking in missile boats, having focused on long range transport capabilities for the past few months. Only about 40 missile destroyers are in service, about half of the Arleigh Burkes and the other half David D. Porter class.

Hudecia has greatly expanded its long range naval transportation systems since the war with Drapol. With 200 Ottawa class AOR transports and 25 Watson class troop transports, transport of thousands of troops to safe harbours can be arranged. Landing in hostile territory is acheived through the 15 LHD Wasp class, 8 Mistral class, 10 Albion class and 50 of the much smaller Pacificat class landing vessels.

Hudecia's aircraft carrier fleet is extremely varied, but its staple tends to be the Nimitz and the Kitty Hawk class. Between these two classes there are 10 carriers. The others, Peregrine class, Echo class, Elessar class,Vulpine class and the light Endeavor class all are in use but in total number about 7.

To protect its expensive and large aircraft carrier fleet, Hudecia employs hundreds of frigates and destroyers, most of them domestically produced. Ulsan and Halifax class frigates dominate as well as the Province class destroyer. As for battleships, the Hudecian navy has about 14 assorted ones.

The Hudecian sub fleet has undergone a recent boom thanks to the introduction of HI, but still numbers less than a dozen and does not pose a significant threat anytime soon.

Hudecian Armed Forces

As the Drapol wars showed, the Hudecian army has no where near the capabilities that it should. Long having been ignored in major defence spending reviews, the army was often an after thought.

Initially the army was geared towards smaller conflicts, having been arranged to have only 5000 men in a single division and 1000 in a brigade. This setup proved useful in many wars, allowing the deployment of troops quickly to the front lines and making it simpler for transport. Still, the beaucratic costs of such an arrangement have come under increasing fire from pundits who suggest that larger divisions are needed to combat enemies in the world today.

The Hudecian armed forces still only have approximately 1.5 million troops, although there are over 10 million Hudecians involved in the army reserves. These numbers, when compared to other nations is quite small, since the army reserves are slow to call up and more apt to suffer casualties since they are less well trained as the regular army.

The majority of Hudecian army equipment is US-style. From the M1A2 Abrams to the assault rifles that the majority of units carry. However, British and Canadian style weaponry is also employed by certain units.

Woah! That's quite a force there, Dra-pol. The LRRA has 20,000 CV-90P APCs, which are considered quite the vehicle. They've got excellent armor, two long-range ATGMs, a 35mm cannon, and can float. They carry 10 troops instead of the 8 usually carried by the CV-90, and are used by the infantry divisions. This gives them so much firepower, it isn't funny.

There's also a good 50,000 Wiesel 3 light tanks, which can float and destroy a tank with either ATGMs or a high-velocity cannon. The Wiesel is meant to go places with the infantry, so it is much smaller than the CV-90P, and doesn't have troop capacity.

The LRRA relies on the TGB-20AL truck to get around, and it has mobility equal to a tracked vehicle. It can float, and carry 20 troops or a lot of cargo. The LRRA has almost 1,000,000 in many variants.

The LRRA has 1,000 tank destroyers, which are excellent vehicles with a long arm and high mobility. They give the infantry divisions even more serious firepower.

The terrain of LRR is sort of like scotland. Hilly, but open. Its hard to move a lot of tanks through it though.

The LRRA, while a lot smaller than your army, Dra-pol, is (at least I think) better equipped.

But in a time of dire straits, almost 100,000,000 people can be called into military service. However, the LRRA prefers to have a smaller, better-equipped and better-trained professional army than a giant one. Its just too expensive.

The LRRA uses mostly eurpoean equipment, such as the CV-90s and Wiesels, and the modified Leopards and Leclercs, the RBS-56, and the TGB-20 truck. However, there are some soviet influences in helicopters (the 2,000 Mi-8s used by the LRRA and the 500 Mi-24s) and weaponry, such as the Ak-74 and RPG-7. The LRRA uses many american missiles, however, such as the AGM-65 II and the EFOGM II.

OOC: Yes, the Drapoel military is a big monster. We make use of what we have and grudgingly accept what we can not have. It's probably fairly obvious that a lot of our capability is based on that of the DPRK in reality, so I don't go over the top (well, that's assuming that we accept that the DPRK hasn't gone over the top :) ). We have some advantages on them- we've a few advanced SAM systems, and they don't, really. This is because in reality the Cold War is more or less over, and there's no one to supply the DPRK with S-400s for political end- in NS the cold war is far from over, in fact it's pretty darn warm. It's likely that a hard-line authoritarian socialist government in Beth Gellert will provide Dra-pol with a limited ammount of modern equipment, and then -like North Korea- we'll do our damndest to apply its improvements to our ancient equipment.

If anyone ever thinks I'm godmodding, do raise your points, and I'll either explain them, or -if I can't- try to modify the offending statistics. In truth the two billion struggle would have given us more modest statistics than the DPRK, relative to population... and we failed to reach it. In truth Dra-pol is a tame version of North Korea, even though I mean it to be more extreme. Like I say, we have some advantages- we've better Manpads than they (they have SA-7 variants, I believe, and we have Chinese QW-2, which are very good and can take down cruise missiles and such) and we've a good number of modern fighters. They have MiG-29, though, but these are likely running out of spare parts. For now we're better off, but there's no certainty we'll be able to keep two thousand modern jets flying safely in ten years time. We really do have an advantage thanks to the political climate, though. I suppose BG is like our Soviet Union. So long as we keep them on-side we're set.

Our forces aren't brilliantly equipped, no, but they are quite well trained, and are generally tough people, fanatically commited to their cause. The Red Bamboo is reasonably well supplied, and is 2.5million strong. It is seriously under-sized compared to DPRK special forces, and those guys are seriously hard. Two of them were stranded in the ROK, and kept on the run for something like two months with the whole ROKA after them, and killed... I don't know, *a lot* of their pursuers before being caught or killed or something. The Red Bamboo is certainly as good or better- and combat experienced. I should think that man for man, the Red Bamboo -on Korean soil- is a match for any force on earth. It's just that it can't expect naval superiority to last forever (maybe it will, maybe it won't) and that air superiority is likewise only sure for as long as we've got trained pilots to send to their death.

Now special forces is something the LRRA doesn't have. It has light infantry, which might be called special forces, but they are more for operating in places where an entire infantry division would be unwieldy. The dispersed nature of LRR infrastructure and the fact that the LRRA's got the entire landscape covered means that special forces would have a hard time.

But the LRRMFs have limited special forces capability if any at all.

As for the size of rhe Dra-pol army, yeah its fine. The LRRMFs don't want a big army because it would be unwieldy in LRR terrain, and it would cost way too much to maintain. But your army gets a much higher percentage of the government funds.

OOC: Indeed, I estimate about a third of the nation's efforts go into defence. This rather depends upon the people accepting that their lives remain simple and local, of course- but then they need a pass to leave their village of birth, so that's pretty much taken care of. Everything else goes in to keeping people from dying of malnutrition, and educating them on how it is everybody else's fault that they're hungry, or how the outside is actually less healthy because their government feeds them synthetic fatty food to keep them lethargic and complicit, not like the Drapoel!

(Oh, and Kilean, if you want to try taking down that satellite, be my guest. Dra-pol has absolutely no other tricks up its sleeve, and certainly hasn't anticipated such a reaction, at all!)

Hey, what's this conflict in Dibjuante...er...whatever its called? I've heard this and that but I still don't quite know what it is.

Could there be perhaps an LRRA observation team looking about the countryside, trying to figure out what is going on?

OOC: Oh, I'm not fully sure- it's Kilean's thing, really. I think Kilean's neighbour was communistic, and got itself invaded by Kilean. The Drapoel infiltrated a few advisors during the war to help the communist rebels, and would have sent more help, but we're horribly distracted by the Two Billion Struggle. Several agents have been killed, so Kilean knows that somebody Asian is involved in helping the resistance. I had something else to add, but I'm apparently too drunk to remember it.

OOC: Oh, I'm not fully sure- it's Kilean's thing, really. I think Kilean's neighbour was communistic, and got itself invaded by Kilean. The Drapoel infiltrated a few advisors during the war to help the communist rebels, and would have sent more help, but we're horribly distracted by the Two Billion Struggle. Several agents have been killed, so Kilean knows that somebody Asian is involved in helping the resistance. I had something else to add, but I'm apparently too drunk to remember it.

Ah. I see. I'll have to talk to him about that.

Dra-Pol summed it up pretty good. Kilean socialist educated (or indoctrinated) in Dibujante burned down our parliment. We go to war, the communist regime in dibujante collapses, we prop up a regime that's just horribly corrupt, try to get the country to actually *work* for once, and then an insurgency gets going against us, our allies in the fight, and the Free Dibujante (our puppet) government. Resistance is rurally based (government, kilean, or allied troops control the cities) but growing, and with Dra-Pol help, the rebels are getting SAM"s and RPG's. Mostly we're trying to pull a "vietnamization" program and let the Free Dibujante government do most of the fighting, but Kilean air cavalry is seeing sporadic combat over there, and our intelligence agency is still heavily involved.

oh, and beacuse we're all doing this- I give you the post-war Kilean army! This excludes the army air corps and air force, but it should give you an idea of what we got. Check the gumi conference thread for more on forces in korea.

Also expect the huge Kilean naval buildup to have it's own thread (odd to have our first liberal government jack up any military spending, but the navy is seen as a moderate, middle-class political counterweight to the hidebound army and the still apolitical, technocratic air force.)

_______________________________________________________________
The post-war Kilean Landsmaacht is still a powerful juggernaut, but it will be (proportionally) the smallest active-duty military in Kilean’s history. The liberalization that has come about after the extended period of war has led to a huge cutback in military funding. Even many of the units that are listed as “active duty” will basically be semi-active reserve due to relaxed training standards and fewer exercises. The reserve formations are still, of course, huge- but they are called up even less frequently than before.

It is noteworthy, however, to point out that of this new, smaller military budget, the R&D allocation is simply huge, some 26% of the total budget, and the vast majority of those kept on active duty are a cadre of experienced NCO’s. In addition, the active duty Kilean military will have more elite units than ever before, with the reconstruction of the Kilean airborne units having top priority, and many more independent sub-divisional units, including some independent regiments, something unheard of in the pre- red wars Kilean army.

Also, for the first time standing corps and army headquarters units will be created, in addition to one standing army group HQ unit (Army Group Korea)- yet another sign of radical transformation in the Landsmaacht.

Active Units

Standing HQ units

1 army group HQ unit (Army Group Korea, Pusan)
9 army HQ units (1-9th armies, most of these are HQ groups for reserve units)
4 corps HQ units (II, III, IV, X corps)

Combat Divisions:: 59 (~2.5 million men active duty)

20 infantry divisions
5 mountain divisions
6 airborne divisions (2 air landing/glider)
18 panzer divisions
8 panzergrenadier divisions
2 air cavalry divisions

Sub-Divisional Independent Combat Units:
(Note: these are combat units that operate independent of any division, and are not a listing of all sub-divisional combat units in the kilean military. These tend to be elite units. This is by no means a comprehensive list of independent units- there are many more corps artillery, air defense, CBW, supply, etc, etc- but these are the significant sub-divisional combat formations in the Kilean army)

16 air cavalry brigades
7 light infantry brigades
12 armored cavalry brigades
6 independent light infantry regiments (Raiders)
9 theatre missile brigades (5 Longbow, 4 FROG)

Reserve Units:

(with the military draw down, this is where the majority of Kileans might is. In their present state, the reserves would need about four months to become ready to ship out, although that fact is a closely-guarded secret- the impression the rest of the world has is one of hair-trigger readiness)

Combat Divisions: 308 (~7.8 million men)

135 infantry divisions
105 panzer divisions
5 mountain divisions
6 light divisions
52 panzergrenadier
3 air cavalry divisions
2 air landing/glider divisions

Sub-Divisional Independent Combat Units:

9 air cavalry brigades
12 armored cavalry brigades
6 light infantry brigades
8 theatre missile brigades (6 Scud, 2 FROG)


Kilean divisional makeup

The division is the building block of the Kilean military, and is a very complete unit- individual brigades and regiments are almost never deployed separately from their division, and the division is considered a complete and stand-alone unit. Kilean divisions are large (~25,000 men) although some types are smaller (~15,000 men). The standard Kilean division is made up of brigades (roughly 5,000 men) or regiments (about 2,500 men). Full-size Kilean divisions are made up of four brigades and two regiments. They are organized with an emphasis on divisional self-reliance, as evidenced by the large artillery and air defense units.

NOTE: this only includes regiment/brigade sized units. Each division has many smaller units contained in those brigades and regiments. For example, engineer battalions are often included in the artillery regiments, HQ companies are usually folded into one of the infantry or armored brigades, etc. In addition, this only includes the combat units that a Kilean division is made up of, and support units are NOT included. I’m not being unrealistic by not including them, I’m just saving myself time and effort by not prattling on about field kitchen units.

Infantry Division (25,000 men): the most common in the Kilean Landsmaacht.

3 motorized infantry brigades
1 panzer brigade
1 artillery regiment
1 air defense regiment

Panzer Division (25,000 men): the hitting power of the KLM

3 Panzer brigades
1 mechanized infantry brigade (panzergrenadiers)
1 artillery regiment
1 aviation regiment (anti-aircraft troops + attack helicopter battalion)

Panzergrenadier Division (25,000 men): these are basically infantry units that are made up of mechanized, instead of motorized troops. This means that they use fighting-vehicle variants of Kilean APC’s, and also have a panczer battalion in every brigade.

4 mechanized cavalry brigades
1 artillery regiment
1 air defense regiment (mechanized)

Mountain Division (15,000 men): the largest bodies of specialist troops fielded by Kilean, the mountain troops are short on heavy equipment, lack mechanization, and have time and time again proven their lethality in tough terrain. These are smaller divisions, differentiated from light infantry by their lack of artillery or APC’s.

2 mountain infantry brigades
1 mountain gun regiment (pack howitzers, mortars, etc)
1 air defense halbsregiment (half a regiment)
1 anti-tank halbsregiment (extra antitank troops, to compensate for lack of heavy firepower elsewhere)

Light Infantry Division (20,000 men): these are smaller units that are easier to deploy strategically, and faster tactically than regular infantry. Needless to say, they also lack the hitting power of heavy mechanized formations.

3 motorized infantry brigades
1 light artillery regiment (non-SPG guns)
1 air-defense regiment (light- MANPADS and APC mounted AA systems only)

Airborne Division (15,000 men) these are the crème de la crème of the Kilean army. Re-formed after the slaughter of Operation Drumroll, they are based around hardened survivors and the best of the new recruits. They are all-volunteer units; no conscripts.

2 parachute infantry brigades
1 combined anti-tank/air defense regiment.
1 Raider regiment (elite light infantry)

Air-Landing Divisions (15,000 men): who said glider troops were out? These divisions are the punch of the Kilean airborne troops, using their gliders to bring in heavy equipment that couldn’t be otherwise be available.

2 light infantry brigades (line infantry equipment, sans vehicles; full antitank weapons compliment)
1 light artillery regiment (pack howitzers, light SPG’s)
1 glider mechanized regiment (Chasseur light tanks and wheeled APC’s delived by cargo glider)

Air Cavalry Division (15,000 men): Helicopter-borne assault troops, not as popular as they once were in the Kilean military, but still very useful for counter-insurgency missions. All of these divisions are currently in Dibujante.

2 air-mobile brigades (helo-mobile infantry)
1 attack helicopter brigade

Just an edit- when I say 1,000,000 troops I mean the 1,000,000 combat infantrymen in the 50 infantry divisions. That does not include the 32,000 combat infantrymen in four armored divisions, or the 100,000 combat infantrymen in 20 airborne divisions, or the million-odd troops in the logistics corps, or the vehicle crews and support personnel (medical, engineer) associated with the said units.

Just FYI.

The information on LRR division makeup (which I sort of forgot to give out):

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=341955

Take all the statistics with a grain of salt- they tend to change daily, so the final word is from me.

The LRRA actually has a few special forces, mostly counterterrorist and raiding forces, made up of people that know martial arts and such and are not the average gangly LRRA infantryman, but show a little bit more finesse and stuff. Martial artists are not terribly hard to come by, because Taekwon-do is actually a somewhat popular sport among LRR citizens.

The Dragon's Throat, Paektusan

Dra-pol's first earth satellite had been orbiting for some days, during which time a further ten tonnes or so of special propellant charge had been brought into the land's greatest mountain. There in waited a more sophisticated and valuable piece of technology than was the original orbiter.

Now it was known that Hotan's Black Dragons could work, and that the concept of such a cheap space programme was viable, and it was worth risking the more sensitive items in storage, under construction, and in design. CPRD technicians along with several Chinese and tall white foriegners went over the final considerations associated with the safe containment and efficient direction of a twenty-eight kilotonne event, and the protection through such of an experiemental piece of hi-tech spy gadgetry.

An hour later, Blue One had entered orbit over the CPRD, and before day's end was doing its part in mapping and patroling the space above the republic while Hotan's Black Dragon sharpened its talons...

Again, Seismeic monitoring stations in LRR detect a second large tremor from Dra-pol, the same spot as last time, and again observatories watch as a small sattelite is catapulted into space.

But what's worrying about this one is that its not a Sputnik copy- it appears to be a mapping or spy sattelite by what's coming out of it, although none of this is confirmed...

In other news, all the LRRAF's MiG-29Is have been transferred to the Kilean airforce, presumably to 'make room' for another 500 Super Gripen light fighters, bringing the total number of the type in the LRRAF inventory to 1,000 aircraft.

This is coupled with the delivery of the final F-5 "Tempest II" air superiority fighter, the most advanced aircraft in the LRRAF inventory, bringing the total in service to 450. The F-5 is, in many ways, similar to an enlarged super gripen. However, the F-5 has a higher maximum speed, a higher weapons capacity, and a more advanced pilot interface.

This brings the total LRRAF fighter inventory to 2,900 aircraft, which breaks down like this:

450 F-5s, 450 Super Viggens, 1,000 Super Gripens, 500 Drakens, 500 MiG-21s.

The Super Viggen is an LRRAF conversion from the late '80s which replaced the Viggen's radar and engine with domestic models. The 1,000 Drakens and MiG-21s that continue to soldier on with the LRRAF are, by now, much improved from their former state. They are usually employed as overseas aircraft, and a total of 200 MiG-21s and 250 Drakens are currently deployed in the ROK.

Even with the influx of new aircraft, the LRRAF does not plan to retire its force of 500 An-2 tactical transports or any of the older fighters in its inventory for some years to come.

Near Suwon, concentrated in the hills around the pre-liberation air force base

Much as was occuring at several locations near Andong, construction and security crews made ready for new arrivals as the 7th Air Assault Group was re-deployed from its former station near Haeju, one of the primary liberation staging areas. Huge lifts were tested, carrying mundane loads from the hillsides down scores of metres below earth, rock, steel, and concrete. These bases were far from complete, and hundreds of technicians worked away amongst thousands of peasants and indentured capitalist labourers, under the watch of entire units of the UPA.

The hum of aircraft engines now growing in the north would continue none stop for days as the 7th made its hope south, giving some pilots their longest flying time since the war itself, if they'd been amongst those lucky enough both to fly and to survive. Scores of the PAAF's fifteen thousand AN-2 Colt utility transports joined dozens of Mi-8 Hip and Mi-2 Hoplite helicopters configured for utility and special forces transport, fire-support with rockets and guns, battlefield command, communications relay, observation, and just about everything else that could be managed. Then would come the screech of turbojets as previously little seen S-5's arrived by the hundred, their cannon rounds, air to ground rockets, unguided bombs, and few IR-guided AAMs and ECM pods borne by the transport aircraft.

Almost all of the aircraft would eventually be placed under the hills themselves, in deep, hardened bunkers. Many tiny airstrips poked their faces out of the hills, some travelling a few metres in the open air along hillsides, climbing ever so slightly to cast the planes into the air as quickly as possible. Flying time to T/Daejon, about six minutes.

*Pohang*

Advance Hudecian military intel units had already begun to arrive in this damaged port city. A lot of Hudecian money had been spent rebuilding this crucial town and the surrounding area. Even now, among the tons of humanitarian aid that was pouring in through the city, several dozen ADATS Bradley anti-air batteries were snuck in and setting up in camoflauged areas surrounding the newly rebuilt airfield.

Hudecian satellite images of the hills near Suwon had given this venture a new urgency.

Hudecian fighters were quitely being transferred to Japan as part of a regular 'shift change'. However, the return flights for the air squadrons were being delayed by weather, administration problems or simply insubordination. Seven flight controllers had been put on leave for disobeying orders, and the remainder were struggling just to keep up with incoming flights.

LRRA SA-22 ABM sites are finally up and running. The huge tracked vehicles crack the pavement on the roads by which they had to travel, but they give the ROK a level of protection against ballistic missiles that many other nations don't even possess at all.

However, the backbone of ROK air defense, as far as the LRRA is concerned, is the SA-20 SAM system. Mounted in six-missile launchers on the back of TGB-20AL trucks, they dot the countryside, protected from Banat raids by LRRA squads.

The LRRA 1st and 2nd Guards Armored divisions remain in the ROK, along with most of the LRRN's high-seas fleet, including one Kirov missile cruiser. The giant ship, bigger than many battleships and armed with one of the most impressive anti-ship and anti-aircraft suites in the world, must make the mouths of Drapoel admirals water, and for precisely that reason it is kept well out to sea.

Along the coast of the ROK, a total of 50 Spike-class missile boats operate in the maritime defense role, supporting ROK patrol boats. The fast, well-armed Spikes operate out of several bases in the southern end of the ROK. Considered the best missile boat in the world by the LRRN anyway, the Spikes form a large part of the allied naval force, and far outclass pretty much everything else.

The Igovian Soviet Commonwealth Final Senate, Portmeirion, Beth Gellert

"...would be completely immoral!"
"But the placement of comparable systems in the south leaves Dra-pol at a distinct disadvantage!"
"Then who are we to readdress this imbalance?"
"We're good internationally conscious socialists!"
"Yeah! Yeah!" "Like the Drapoel?"
"Booo!"
"Order! Order!"

While debate on the future of ISCBG/CPRD co-operation on air defence continued, the Commonwealth Consular Service was conveying to DaKhiem information on the disposition of BG's own satellites over the People's Republic, and the Commonwealth Kosmonautical Co-operative was preparing to withdraw many of its orbiters.

Back in the Final Senate...

"So then, the immediate request for inspection crews -with a view to significant and then on-going maintenance- shall be accepted and its features initiated..." Said Commonwealth Chief Consul comrade Chivo. "...Ah, and that is to include re-supply of previously expended munitions..." He went on, hesitating at length to regard the tempestuous assembly. "As for the sale or donation-as-aid of further complete Red Sky systems, or inclusion in such programmes of CS-500, the Senate is to be re-assembled from scratch, by week's end.
"Are we all resigned?"

The murmurs that followed sufficiently indicated Chivo's permission to close proceedings for the time being.

Preparations for the LRRA/LRRAF summer excersizes have gotten underway throughout LRR. Infantry divisions split evenly on the 25/25 line, and there are already reports of mock battles raging throughout the country.

http://www.army.lt/guns/ptrk/gallery/bill-1.jpg

LRRA troopers armed with an RBS-56 BILL ATGM waiting for the 'enemy' in a wooded grove.

http://www.haaland.info/norway/storm/bilder/cv90s.jpg

A CV-90P on the edge of a patch of forest, probably waiting for 'enemy' tanks.



(The attachment is a map of LRR. The blue line indicates the border. The excersizes are taking place pretty much all over, but the biggest battles will probably take place in the northern plains areas.)

Preliminary reports indicate few gains by either side in the excersizes, but it is clear that, whatever the outcome, the LRRA is giving itself quite a thrashing.

Neither side can seem to gain the upper hand, and this is interpreted as a good thing for the LRRA.

Massive tank formations duke it out on the northern plains, as infantry divisions fight pitched battles everywhere else, supported by helicopters and CAS jets. Most of LRR, while relatively open, is very hilly and wet. The hills really prevent armor from playing anything but a supporting role, but LRRA APCs and tank destroyers are well suited to the terrain and can go wth the infantry in many areas.

The Central Directorature, DaKhiem, 36 hours after the start of LRR exercises

"Sho Ko-Han, Direction from The Centre."

The Major returned a given salute and regarded the folded document's visible headings. 'Responsive Manoeuvres, Late Summer, Approval.'

"Hm." He thought, setting to the further transit of the order. "Then the final liberation can not come this year. Unless we walk."

Kaesong-Si, days later

Admiral Li-Il himself would be heard screeching the order to attack as the last huge wave of S-5 began to pull up from its run of cannonfire, rocketry, and bombing on the beaches. Flagon and Fishpot aircraft continued to wander overhead as the smoking tubes of the assault support boats withdrew from the area having obliterated everything within several thousand yards of the shore. Cholima Class hovercrafts careened up the flanks of the imagined defenders, landing hundreds of troops inshore after a 50 knot dash, while LCU and LCUP rolled armour and men on to the beach even as amphibious tanks and APCs began to arrive from miles away, some joining the frontal assault and others appearing suddenly to support the flanking troops.

The highlands of Hamgyon Bukto, about the same time

36,000 bicycle-mounted Red Bamboo accounted for just a tiny fraction of the fight occuring here. They were outnumbered several fold simply by armoured vehicles, and the skies honestly did darken a little as aircraft and parachutes appeared. 190mm self propelled guns and turreted 150mm weapons made their first showing, moving with surprising agility across the difficult but well understood land.

Here, several hundred figures gave flesh to the elsewhere imagined target. It was not well to be captured by the armed forces of the Republic, as tiny dark skinned Asians, marginally larger and paler Asians, and big white people began to recover their drugged and tortured senses in time to be vanquished anew.

Hudecia Asia Military Command has received an invitation to join the LRRA exercises and has accepted said invitation.

The 6th Army Group is in transport to LRR (about 80 000 men).

-Pohang-

Several dozen unmarked Avro Arrows made landing at the Pohang International Airport late at night. The Hudecian pilots got out only to be detained by local police for making an illegal landing. Their planes were impounded and turned over to the S. Hanguk Air Force. The Hudecians were promptly escorted to a Hudecian frieghter in port and told not to come back.

-Japan-

The arrival of the 7th and 8th Army groups was largely expected because of the crisis in Xinjiang. These two groups were destined to go to Xinjiang once safe passage was acquired through Xiaguo, which didn't appear likely to occur though.

Similarly the 5th Air Defence Corps joined the 3rd and 4th already in Japan. The 3rd was supposed to be transferred back to Hudecia, but a lack of air flight controllers and the grounding of all planes following the Pohang incident was delaying their return.

-Hudecia-

The crisis in Xinjiang had reached a fevered pitch in recent days, and concern was running high. The entire military command was placed on high alert and the army and reserves were being mobilized.

The summer excersizes continue, still with no apparent gains on either side. Tanks and APCs slosh through the mud and fire their cannons and ATGMs at shilouettes of old Dark Terror MBTs and other vehicles from the former Bisons.

The Hudecian forces are assigned the "attacker" designation, and while traveling towards the nothern plains area, a squadron of A-2s screams in, 'cannons' blazing, from low altitude, dropping flares and simulated ATGMs before being chased away by a group of Super Gripens, which are in turn engaged by a group of other Super Gripens, and a huge dogfight ensues.

But from the flank of the combined Hudecian/LRRA opfor column comes the 7th Guards Armored. Their PT-91s and CV-9040s bore into the advancing column as they negotiate the hills and rocks.

http://www.stat.ohio-state.edu/~brian/hobbies/travel/pics/scotland.jpg

A photo of typical LRR terrain.

Of course, there is nothing special about the Summer excersizes, since they have happened since the 1920's, of course with major differences as the years went on.

Hudecian troops found it increasingly difficult to fight over the rough terrain. LRR troops, who were more comfortable in this setting, made mince meat of the Hudecian army.

Hudecian anti-tank and APCs were forced into exposed positions and became easy kills for anyone who could hit them. Infantry, after taking heavy 'casualties' began learning how to take advantage of natural cover and pick off enemy troops.

The flanking manouvre again put the Hudecians into disarray as they struggled to adapt to the changing circumstances.

The 7th Guards Armored cuts through the ranks with T-72s, followed by infantry supported by CV-9040 IFVs, these modified ones armed with 4 ATGMs, which had by this time been spent.

Hit tanks emit orange smoke, and the air is thick with the color. It soon becomes apparrent that the 7th Guards armored is not the only division on the attack, as Wiesel 3 light tanks enter the fray, supporting LRRA infantrymen as they battle it out with Hudecian forces and the counterattacking LRRA forces. The battle turns into a huge sprawling engagement, where neither side can get the upper hand.

Hudecian troops, on the verge of collapse, are reinforced by other LRRA divisions.

Not too far away, six LRRA armored divisions fight a giant tank battle similar to Kursk or El Alamein on the flat, open northern plains. Tanks only get into gun range after their ATGMs had been spent, so by that time both sides were severely depleted.

The LRRMFs high command, however, is quite pleased. No units are shabby and the equipment performs superbly. Surprisingly, many vehicles are slated for replacment, such as the CV-90P and T-72, not something one would expect given their performance. But the CV-90P has been dumped in favor of a cheaper alternative with better performance and the T-72s have been in service since the mid-70's.

And that brings us to our next news item:

The LRRA has announced its intention to purchase 30,000 Tracked and 10,000 wheeled SEP armored personnel carriers from Western Asia, a major SEP user.

The SEPs to be used by the LRRA will have several modifications including a Lunkwill&Fook hybrid drive system, a 20mm cannon/quad AGM-65 turret, and increased armor protection. Most LRRA vehicles will also be equipped with the Barracuda signature managment system.

The SEP tracked provides a more easily maintained and more manouverable platform than the CV-90P, while offering equal or greater protection against missiles, cannons, and RPGs, and far greater protection against mines in a lighter, more customizable, cheaper package.

The SEP wheeled will replace all current wheeled APCs in LRRA usage, such as the XA-185, and half of the BMP-2 IFVs.

The replacement for the T-72 will be either the T-80U or the MBT-8 Huron main battle tank, with the Huron obviously the favorite.

http://www.bulba.eu.org/mil/free/cv90/cv90120.jpg

The MBT-8 Huron uses many common components with the MBT-6 Mohawk, but is similar in design to the Merkava, with the engine in front, and the capacity to carry three troops, usually an anti-aircraft missile team with a Starstreak SAM.

The MBT-8 huron is powered by the same hybrid gas/electric drive system as the Mohawk, and this coupled with lighter weight means that the Huron is faster and more manouverable. However, it only has 100mm of composite armor without applique packages, so this speed and manouverability come with a price. The engine placement, however, gives the crew additional protection against frontal attack.

The MBT-8 is equipped with the Galix decoy launcher system and an excellent ECM system, capable of spotting off laser-guided projectiles.

The MBT-8's main gun is a smoothbore 120mm cannon, with a high muzzle velocity and an effective range of 2.75km. Four AGM-114M missiles (the replacement for the AGM-65, with a range of 15km) are mounted in box launchers on either side of the turret. They provide long-range anti-tank firepower and can be used against helicopters.

The MBT-8 carries a crew of four, and is actually (believe it or not) amphibious! It is also fully NBC protected and can, at range, withstand tank shells (like the 115mm cannon on Dra-pol's copy of the T-62).

Regaining their posture, Hudecian troops begin to hold firm, using the hilly heights as platforms from which to target tanks with their portable anti-tank weaponry (mostly NLAWBM or M136 AT4s) and beat down any armoured assault.

As well, marine brigades are increasingly used during counter attacks because of their manouvreability. Instead of attempting to carry the bulky M-16 up the hills to attack, Marine divisions carry H&K MP-5s or MP-5Ks, which can be easily used and carried up and down hills. They sacrifice range abilities, so they are supported by sniper fire from other infantry units.

Note: A Typical Hudecia Division Composition (20 000 men)

1 Armoured Brigade (4000 men about 800 tanks and anti-tanks)
1 Mechanized Infantry Brigade (4000 men in about 750 light vehicles)
1 Marine Brigade (4000 men and about 100 helos)
1 Engineering Brigade (4000 men armed w/ anti tank, anti air, and other engineering tools)
1 Artillery Brigade (4000 men and about 500 guns and 500 vehicles)

Designed to be a self-contained army. A division can provide its own armour, artillery and air lift capabilities.

Before long, the 7th Guards armored withdraws, having caused quite enough havoc thank you very much.

But the counterattack stalls totally. Long-range ATGMs such as EFOGM IIs and AGM-65 IIs cut down advancing tanks from up to 15km away, and MT-12 anti-tank cannons provide protection at short range.

The Hudecian marines find their H&Ks woefully inadequate for the task at hand, as snipers are countered by simulated mortar fire and the longer-ranged Ak-5s cut down attacking troops before they can fire back. The whine of MILES gear can be heard all over LRR, but in the

The Wiesel 3 support tanks anchor the infantry with anti-tank weaponry, as the infantrymen themselves beat back wave upon wave of attacking forces. Both sides essentially beat eachother senseless while howitzer batteries engage in vicious counterbattery action.

The terrain of LRR proves to be excellent defense, and once a unit occupies a hilltop, there's not much that can be done to dislodge it. Long-range ATGMs mean that armored advances are often stalled before they even get in gun range, and tank battles are conducted without even firing one cannon round.

But the high command is all very pleased with this. The LRRA shows itself to be quite adept at defensive fighting.

After about a week of fierce battles, the LRRA has worn itself down to such a point that the summer excersizes are concluded, in much the same fashion as all the other excersizes are ended- firing on target tanks laden with explosive.

The Hudecian participation shows that with attacking infantry, things are a little more evenly matched, but against tanks the defenders are without question number one in their own terrain.

In the few areas where paratroops were dropped, they proved to be useful but not a useful force by themselves. The problem was that few aircraft survived being shot down by defending fighters, and where paratroops managed to land safely they could not compete with the defenders in the terrain.

This might send the message to Dra-pol observers that the LRRA, reliant on long-range weapons and trained to fight in LRR terrain, is no good at urban combat. That would be a correct assertion.

General O'Neil wipes his brow after the final hour of simulated fighting.

Turning to his LRR counterpart he says woefully "Perhaps the Hudecian Army should stick to urban warfare from now on. We seem to be better at it."

If anything, the Hudecian army has yet to learn how to efficiently fight from a distance in mountainous terrain. Still, the makeup and weaponry of the Hudecian army is configured for different terrain, so the Hudecian army takes some consolation in its painful loss.

"Perhaps we should stay out of it," responds Colonel Vasily Andropov as he walks down from the hilltop positions held by his troops of the 1st Brigade, 45th infantry division. He carries an RPG-7 configured for MILES, an odd weapon for a senior officer to carry around. "I admit, we did have you outclassed in this kind of environment. But just see how we fare in urban warfare."

Overhead, Gazelle scout helicopters make low passes over the troops before turning and heading back to wherever they happened to come from. The Gazelle is the workhorse helicopter of the LRRA, besides the Mi-8, and is usually employed in the scout or ATGM role.

*Hint hint*

The East China Sea, approaching the Yellow Sea

"...And this time you're sure we'll get through without any trouble, right?"
"Pounds and pence*, Everik, if you're going to keep asking that the whole way we'll drop you off in Shanghai! The war's cool, the Drapoel have a navy, now, and for all anyone knows, these girls could be pipelines replacing war damage, or part of that innocent space programme they've got, now!"
"Yeah... no one would risk upsetting that, right? I mean..." The young man laughed nervously, "...that'd start a nuclear war or something, wouldn't it? Heh...heh...aw, man, I don't think I made the right choice, I don't like the merchant marine, blasted Civil Service entrance exams, I could've been a Consul! I..."
"With nerves like that?" Scoffed Lt.Jones B., "'Ere, have that down you." He said, handing the youngster a tankard full of strong ale."

The scene may by now have started to appear a little unusual as the Beth Gellen merchant vessels began to draw together in the gradually narrowing waters of their course to Korea. Resupply in munitions and mid-life repair of Red Sky SAMs in Dra-pol had been cleared easily enough, but it'd been harder to secure the two new batteries on their way. It was eventually passed by convincing military novices in the Senate that Korea's terrain meant that more systems were needed to give even basic anti-cruise missile defence.


*Used as a mild curse in the currency-free Commonwealth, probably equivalent to or a little less harsh than, "bloody hell"

***** NEAR THE YELLOW SEA ******

"Con, Sonar we have contact, bearing 30 degrees of the starboard."

The Hudecian Los Angeles class submarine continued its course near the Beth Gellert merchant fleet.

"All engines stop, communication, prepare a report for HQ, tell them we are tailing a Beth Gellert merchant fleet heading to the KP (Korean Peninsula)." The XO spat out orders in a brief but efficient manner.

***** HUDECIAN PACIFIC HQ ******

"Sir, we've got a report of a merchant fleet approaching Drapol. It was called in by Henri's boat."

"Alright, we can't fire on them or stop them. But tell Henri to slow them down and get as much information as possible from them."


***** YELLOW SEA ******

Henri was woke up upon receiving the response from HQ. Heading to the command center he read the report and formulated a plan.

"Take us in close to the Beth Gellert fleet, then lets get some fresh air." Henri said it so casually but in truth he was fairly worried, although he didn't see any warships it didn't mean these merchants weren't armed and trigger happy. "Alert HQ to our intentions."

The LA class attack submarine moved closer to the fleet, probably being detected if any of the merchant vessels were sufficiently equiped. They were definately spotted when the submarine came crashing to the surface and continued its path parallel to the fleet.

"Signal the fleet, tell them we wish to speak with the commanding officer"

Over the Beth Gellert merchant fleet, an LRRAF Tu-142 based out of Jeju-do spots the ships headed for Dra-pol.

The Tupolev comes in closer, and snaps some archival photographs of the fleet and the Hudecian Los Angeles submarine next to it. Any informed observer would know that it belongs to the 34th Patrol Aviation Squadron of the LRRAF, the only squadron operating the Tu-142, which is currently operating out of Jeju-do as part of the LRR/Kilean/Hudecian coastal defense force.

It begins to circle the merchant fleet, snapping pictures of the freighters. The crew quickly identifies the ships as Beth Gellert in origin, and using long-range cameras they focus in on the ships' names.

Hudecian military command is looking at starting a yearly urban war games and is in the process of searching for a suitable site.

We are considering a site in Hudecia itself but considering the distance from allied nations other sites are being considered.

If such an excersize is started, the LRRA would be interested in sending a few para-rifle divisions to participate.

In other news, the LRRA has announced that it will replace 100,000 trucks, approximately one-tenth of the fleet of TGB-20 series and MAN MOD series trucks which are used for troop transport, as SAM and ATGM platforms, artillery tractors, fuel transporters, ambulences, command vehicles, cargo transporters, and other utility tasks, with Bv-206T tracked carriers.

http://www.haaland.info/norway/recon/bilder/bv206frm.jpg

The Bv-206T is a modified version of the Hagglunds Bv-206. It has a L&F hybrid diesel/electric motor system and many composite parts. It can carry 20 troops, up to twice that many by towing another 20 behind the vehicle on skis. The Bv-206T is fully amphibious and NBC protected. It can carry up to 4,000 KG of cargo or tow up to 8,000 KG in trailers. The Bv-206T is far more mobile than a truck, with improved performance in snow, mud, and uneven terrain. The Bv-206T will give the LRRA logistics corps and infantry divisions improved mobility over a wide range of terrains.

Generally, the Bv-206Ts being produced by the LRR state arsenals are armed with a 12.7mm MG over the passenger's seat, plus whatever weapons the occupants are carrying. Some carry six Hellfire II ATGMs or Mistral SAMs in a launcher over the rear module, and these vehicles are deployed one per 15 standard Bv-206T. The only major drawback of the Bv-206T is its light armor, which does not protect the vehicle from anything larger than heavy machine guns and light machine cannons, but the Bv-206T is not meant to be a fighting vehicle, so this is generally not a major problem in practice.

Hudecia has settled on having its urban war games in the western part of Hudecia along the pacific coast line. With the coast, the makeshift urban area and the Rocky Mountains it is expected that the terrain will be diverse and challenging enough.

Naval forces will only be used in mock amphibious assaults.

We would like to send one para-rifle division, embarked on 5 LSTs, to the excersizes.

LLR troops are more than welcome, as are S. Hanguk and Kilean forces.

Planned schedule:

Day 1-4: Amphibious landings and beachead securing.

Day 5-15: Urban/guerrila warfare

Day 16-20 Mountain combat

********************************

----Off the Queen Charlotte Islands----

Together with the LLR troops, members of the Hudecian marine and mechanized infantry brigades prepared for a rough landing.

The morning fog still hung heavily in the air when the landing craft were disembarked. Helicopters took off from their assault carriers carrying loads of Hudecian marines.

Keeping low the helicopters would land shortly after the landing craft. On the beaches, members of the 87th mechanized Infantry Brigade stood ready to fight any invaders.

As the landing craft approached, they would be receiving fire from the 89th Artillery Brigade near the beach and from mortars carried by the 87th. Snipers would also be taking pot shots at the troops as they approached the landing site.

Simulated fire rained down on the craft as they approached the beach, but fortunately the fog obscured the vision of the gunners, helping many of the craft make it in.

Eight LRRN LSTs approach the shore, taking heavy fire from shore. The LST crewmen return fire with heavy MGs, as well as artillery rockets.

One by one, the LSTs beach themselves. As their crews lay down covering fire, the troops of the 84th Para-rifle division disembark. SV-90 IFVs provide cover for the infantry as they advance towards cover.

However, competent Dra-pol observers would probably notice the resurgance of Dark Terror, coupled with massive LRRA buildup in the department of anti-tank weaponry, as well as the construction of nearly one hundred more Spike class missile boats and 40 Gotland-class attack submarines.

As the heavy tanks and LAVs rumble ashore they push back the lightly armed defenders back.

Without the benefit of heavy tanks of their own yet, the defenders are forced to retreat over hilly ground as they try to regroup. The few tanks that are available are quickly put into action trying to slow the advance of the 'attackers'.

The engagement becomes more of a running skirmish as both sides hesitate to engage their forces in large scale combat.

The paratroopers soon reach the outskirts of the city, where they encounter heavier resistance and are forced to stop and re-organize their attack.

The 'city' was made to mimick the style and arrangement typical to Korean cities. It was not a coincidence that it occured this way.

Hudecian defenders take full advantage of the narrower streets, anti-tank weaponry in the form of M136 AT4s and mortars stall any armoured advances into the city by targeting lead and rear tanks in columns, trapping the ones in the middle.

Snipers and light machine guns have chosen choice positions to rain fire down on advancing troops.

Advancing towards the city, Hudecian defenders take opportunities to ambush columns to delay their progress. All of this makes it very rough going for the attackers, who respond by adding more armour protection for convoys outside the city, and by almost eliminating armour movement inside.

The defenders of the city will be forced to do without much armoured support. Hopefully this would provide the Hudecian High Command with information about how to deal with situations in which armour is not available.

The lightly equipped paratroopers use their SV-90 IFVs and recoil-less rifle carriers to take the outskirts of the city, by simply plastering defenses with 106mm RR rounds and missiles.

Then, they move into the city itself.

"Third window from the right!"
"Damnit I'm hit."
"Get 'em out of here."

The paratroopers wheel their 90mm recoil-less rifle into position, using a small garage as cover. The aim is adjusted, and a simulated 90mm round is fired into the window.

On an adjacent street, a company of paratroopers advances under fire down the street, shooting RPG-7s at the sources of gunfire. On opposite sides of the street, MGs trade fire as infantry battle in the street.

Aboard the Igovian Merchant Ship Potter, a trio of civilian hands on deck peered, pointed, and instinctively ducked a little as the LRR aircraft flew overhead. Obscured in a half-open doorway, Mariana James-Govski, a twenty-something member of the cabin crew, directed a portable laser weapon system against the aircraft, hoping to blind either crew or any camera.

Near the Hudecian submarine were two fairly large vessels, one over 12,000 tonnes. A third was gradually closing, for now just over the horizon, while two further ships followed a few miles from that, also closing at a gradual rate. The vessels near the submarine had not slowed significantly, and were still making between 14 and 16 knots.

"Transmission, comrade Captain, from the submarine, I think!"
"Is it an apology for getting in the way? A floating off-licence? Chinese?"
"I don't...think so, comrade Captain..."
"Bah. 'Submabloodyrine'" The Captain said, indicating his intent to transmit a reply, "What d'yer want? It'd be well not to hinder the progress of these merchant vessels, we're a few miles from Chinese waters, and 'sides, to do so could be interperated as an act of war on The People's...oof...The Igovian Soviet Commonwealth of Beth Gellert."

Below deck doors were knocked, rousing half a dozen armed men from whatever slumber or drinking game that may have distracted them, while transmissions were sent to the other ships in the convoy, alerting them in Beth Gellen Welsh of the hostile presences.

****** Aboard the Submarine *******

"Sir we seem to have their attention, they have slowed down and have begun radioing the other vessels in the fleet."

"Let them." The Captain replied curtly. "Inform them that they are entering a hazardous area of water, (OOC: nuclear weapons were detonated above the Yellow Sea) and that we merely wish to inform them that passage in this area could be hazardous to both the crew and the supplies you are bringing. If you are carrying food supplies or medical equipment we recommend that you turn back immediately to prevent radiation exposure to them. Otherwise, we'd be more than happy to help safely guide them around the irradiated area."

There was an element of truth to what the captain was saying. There were still some areas of high radiation in the area thanks to the Drapoel nuclear strikes on allied fleets. The LA class submarine had been mapping these areas to help allied fleets avoid them.

The Tu-142 continues to circle, snapping photos and writing in charts, as well as monitoring radio communications.

It turns around for another low-level pass over the merchant fleet. A convoy of ships might keep such an aircraft and its crew occupied for hours, as ship names are charted, destinations reckoned, detalied photo records made of every ship. The Los Angeles class submarine is not of great interest, as the LRRN had enough data on those to sink a ship.

(The vessels have not slowed significantly, and at least one hand is still trying to direct a laser weapon against the optics of the over-flying aircraft)

"Eh? Bah, we know where we're going." Replied the Captain to the Hudecian warning of nuclear contamination. "We're quite prepared." He insisted, showing no sign of altering his course.

The Commonwealth had operatives in Dra-pol, and had at least basic indications of the worst effected areas. The ships were at least partially protected against the negative impact, as were the crews and cargo.

The vessels continued with their intent to proceed north, reasonably close to the Chinese side of the Yellow Sea, until around the 36th parallel, when they would come east and make for securely Drapoel waters. It was understood that the Korean bay extent of the sea was more or less closed to shipping not approved by DaKhiem and/or Beijing.

(OOC: sorry must have misread.. but don't get so upset by it)

"sir they are insistent upon following their current path."

"Alright, well, follow them in their baffles so we are not heard."

Hudecia was on particularly good terms with Beijing at the moment and was even secretly negotiating military arrangements in case of another invasion of Korea. So the presence of a Hudecian sub tailing transports heading for Drapol would not raise eyebrows.

The laser begins to annoy the crew of the Tu-142, so its source is located and the aircraft shines a several million-candlepower spotlight on the ship, which has its effect increased by the fading light.

(Oh, I'm not getting annoyed, just saying. And the laser weapon is... a weapon, it's not just some kid's toy keychain or anything. I'm not saying it has to find the mark, it's just that if it does strike the eye, you're blind or suffering significant damage to the eyes, and if it finds the sensitive optical equipment it's looking for, it'll ruin it, and it's effective to hundreds of metres, if not thousands. Like I say, doesn't have to find the mark, but if it did, you're not irritated so much as blind.)

The Beth Gellens dismissed the submarine with about the same highly professional attitude as which they'd greeted it, the Captain offering a grunt of some sort.

"Comrade Captain, they're moving behind us..." And then a minute later, "Contact obscured."

"Tell me if you detect them moving from the wake, comrade, for now it's safe to assume they're right there... we'll alert the Drapoel when we reach their waters... they can destroy anything that's still there... and if we're hit before then, at least we'll go overboard knowing that Hudecia has given-up on life."

"At least!"

"Oh, er, and we'll be close enough for rescue by Beijing, probably, don't worry, lad!"

"Mh."

OCC: Not sensitive optical equpment...that's turned off. More like more than average Polaroid cameras.

IC:

The Tu-142 flies once more over the convoy, shining its spotlight in displeasure and dropping flares, hoping to hit whoever was shining the laser.

The Tupolev then flies away back to base, with plenty of photographs and miscenaneous information about the convoy.

Irritated by the harrasment of the overflying aircraft, the comrade operating the laser weapon had given up as the ships continued on their course.

(OOC: I know, that's a terrible excuse for a post, but I suppose it clears-up that we did nothing else to hamper the plane, and that's that. My PC is dying and I'm in an awful mood, so there's no more unprompted creativity forthcoming!)

"ALright, people, ideas... we need them." The captain announced to his command staff. "Short of storming the vessel how can we figure out what is on the vessel?"

"Well, their path has taken them into light radioactive areas, nothing serious enough, but if they were carrying food or sensitive medical equipment they'd have to have them seal up tight or else they'd be worthless." The onboard physicist reported.

"So it's not a mission of mercy... what else can you tell me?"

"The ship is riding fairly low, indicating that whatever they are carrying, they are full of it.... pardon the play on words sir"

(OOC: I am taking some liberties here ... but BG you'll have to help me out, what other outside indications could there be of what you are carrying.)

Whatever may have been going on without, there was no relent in the pace of Kurosite Progress within the Choson People's Republic. Work continued just as hard, with comrades being told that the progress was going well, and that the enemies were trying almost as hard. Every new anti-Drapoel deployment was reported in state media and given high priority.

These reports came between documentary films depicting the high standard of public healthcare in the CPRD, which was rated second finest in all of Asia, in this respect. In terms of economic growth, the Republic was inside the top ten percent, and this, comrades were assured, was owing to wise Kurosite Hotan's Two Billion Struggle. It was really something to behold- the economy of the Kurosite CPRD was expanding more rapidly than ninety-some percent of the world's capitalist infrastructures. Despite his private reservations and his pushing of the Drapoel Wheel as an alternative, comrade Director Secretary Hotan's face was upon the most popular pin worn by Drapoel comrades.

Meanwhile the policy of creeping normalcy was maintained, with another few thousand soldiers and another wing of aircraft moved to the liberated south, and another single HARTS routeenly dug into the face of the mountains in the far north...

Dra-pol's second orbiter began to observe enemy positions to the south.

The Drapol satellite would pick up increased activity outside key bases like Pohang and Ulsan. Hudecian engineers had been active for weeks building new production facilities for aircraft and warships. Now, they were almost complete.

State of the art, these facilities would help S. Hanguk produce the means to defend itself.

Namp’o

“...and now they tell me that my losses shall not be replaced? What state are we in? To what have our victories condemned us?”
Admiral Li-Il was indignant, the Central Directorature didn’t know a thing about conditions without the traditional safety of Dra-pol’s mountainous interior. Dozens of young men and women had been lost to the waters of the Yellow Sea, and tonnes of shipping had gone with them. It was not an encouraging start for the largest navy in Drapoel history.
“No, comrade Admiral. There is...” The secretary was interrupted for a moment by Li-Il’s uncharacteristic lack of reserve. “There is a proposal for the cutting of another four dozen hulls from the promised Two Billion Struggle total.”
“In my fleet?”
“Yes, comrade Admir...”
“...And Kim’s?”
“Fifty hulls, comrade Admiral.”
Li-Il frowned a little. He was accustomed to being upstaged by the younger Admiral’s more prestigious East Sea Fleet, and gave a little, “Hm!” upon hearing of similar cut-backs in that force.
Seeing a slight calming in the Admiral’s briefly stormy disposition, the young secretary ventured to continue into still less placid waters.
“There are... indications, comrade Admiral, that these short-falls were planned at the Struggle’s conception... Project Mago.” He said, handing to Li-Il a thin folder of classified content.
Damn! Fumed the Admiral, inwardly. His opposite was to benefit from the cuts, after all.
“If one may direct the comrade Admiral’s attention overleaf...”
“Three score hulls? But we’ve received some of these, haven’t we?”
“Ah, no, comrade Admiral, the works were... delayed. Labour has been re-directed to Wonsan... Yongwang’s slip... it requires from-scratch construc...”
“...Mh, yes, yes.” Said Li-Il. Thinking I can’t let that upstart Kim take precedence again, he added, “You may send of my support for Mago.”
“Yes, comrade Admiral!” Came the reply topped with a crisp salute.
“I shall wait a while to tell him of Project Oryonggeo.” Thought the secretary as he marched from the Yellow Sea Fleet Central Direction Bureau, carrying the final official stamp required to set the full weight of Project Mago into action.

Before the day was out, huge camouflage nets and covers were being dragged across the docks and pre-fabricated roofs erected over the area surrounding Namp’o naval base. Similar thousands of comrades as were already bound for Wonsan found themselves lifted from other duties –building missile boats, lining transit and storage tunnels, and so on- and Directed to a new struggle.

Comrade Oamarii-Il, too was pulled from his work on the space programme and granted a perhaps impossible task- fit a more than hundred metre length of super-strong pipe across a 32.4metre beam, and so help you if the Talons loose efficiency.

Hundreds of kilometres south, the two largest tunnels protruding south of the new demarcation line were suddenly emptied of survey, drilling, and silencing equipment, and filled with loose stones and rubble as major programmes elsewhere ground to a halt.

Robinson earns dirty looks from the Hudecian delegates, and suddenly feels very alone.

He was obviously not interesting in the least to General Hozaro, and he had just leaked to Dra-pol a piece of information that probably should not have been leaked, and therefore was, indirectly, responsible for the death of 80 LRR sailors.

He makes his exit, and hops on a plane home, having nothing left to add to the conference.

Meanwhile, LRRA units in the ROK prepare for a Dra-pol invasion.

Ambassador Taylor and his entourage make their exit fearful of what might happen if they are caught behind enemy lines when Drapol invades.

Somewhere in the northern waters of the Yellow Sea

Sho Hutan, having applauded with a little more abandon than was expected of an officer in the People's Defence Forces' procurement service the demonstration that'd just occured, turned to the Chinese officials about him.

"I am satisfied... yes." He said, his speech slow and deliberate after only a few months being taught the language of his neighbours. "The Type 730 is quite adequate... yes, ah, sixteen."

Major Hutan saluted the men, whom he called comrades, and was soon headed back east aboard a Hound Class D/E submarine. The procurement was to follow in coming months.

Not many days later, in northern Dra-pol.

A small child ran excitedly home to tell his parents of how he actually saw some real Chinese, inciting a shout of mild annoyance from a sub-machinegun toting Red Bamboo recruit as he dashed by the soldier. The boy was the last unauthorised person to come near Paektusan for the rest of the week.
Sirens rang-out the next day, and were followed closely by another 28kilotonne event, and later by Chinese smiles as the PRC's latest satellite was put into orbit, this time by the CPRD and at a cost to Beijing of little more than was the shipment across the border. The remaining expense -equivalent to the paltry sum of a few hundred thousand dollars- was shouldered by DaKhiem.

Well mused a savagely over-worked Oamarii-Il, that's part of Contract 730 filled, but the Throat needs re-lining if we're to get a hundred thousand tonnes of steel. Taka hoped to The Greatest Director that the Central Directorature would heed his pleas for proper maintenance of the radical cannon.

(One of these days I'll find an active and reasonable player running a socialist China)

In news that dominates the front page of many prominent aviation weeklies, the LRRAF seems to have solved its indescision on the subject of fighter aircraft, resolving to use the MiG-29I as the primary fighter type. (1,500 in service).

Also, the LRRAF's 2,500-odd MiG-21s and JAS-35s have good news their way-their replacement will not come until, at the earliest, 2020.

Why is that good news, one might ask? Well...um...it depends on the way you look at it. The LRRAF might just possibly operate the most advanced fleet of pre-1970 aircraft on earth.

A MiG-29I, or rather what the LRR government wishes a MiG-29I was:

http://pyzeppelin.free.fr/photos/ledzep/1977/zep_77_moon.jpg

That's right. Keith Moon and Jimmy Page. If you are wondering about the significance of this, just look at my flag.

http://www.cjnetworks.com/~leis/album/ledzep/zep1.jpg

All I can say is that it's better than all your flags.

Also, the LRRN has gotten tired with, well...something, and has therefore decided to build a new Howlin' Wolf variant, the *gasp* Mk. II!!! That and its making about 250 more Son Houses, bringing the total to something close to...well...a lot.

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Images/Kora01.jpg

The difference between the Mk. I and Mk. II? The Mk. II is longer, at a whopping 91.1 meters, and has a better helipad (you don't have to imagine this one). It is armed with pretty much the same thing, and it has two Kashtan missile/gun systems, which provide AA and CIWS.

It replaces the dinky dual 23mm on the Mk. I with a whopping Ak-176 76mm gun, with a range of 15km. Take that Tiburons!

It has 6 homing torpedos and two RBU-6000 launchers, as well as antisub mortars and 8 SS-N-25 Switchblade ASMs. It can make a good 34 knots.

The helipad can accomodate a Ka-27, the LRRN's primary small ship ASW helicopter. (The NH-90 is the large ship ASW helicopter).

Also, the LRRN has decided that it does have at least 40 frigates, of the Leander MOD variety. With a maximum speed of 32 knots, they are relatively fast, and the use of old hulls coupled with top-notch technology cuts costs.

They will probably make an appearance near the Korean penninsula in a little bit.

bump

Hey! The Tiburons are... oh, fine, they're primitive as heck, but this is Dra-pol's first navy... and that includes the imperial era that stretches back for centuries. Still, there are vessels in the fleet (Kurosian I Class Frigates and Houjian Class Missile Attack Boats) with weapons ranged out to 130km, but currently no guns afloat better than 100mm, as seen serving in anti-tank and anti-aircraft role on the mainland.
On the bright side, nobody seems to have noticed the significance in the nomenclature of the Republic's latest maritime projects. Bwahaha! Uhm.

What, 730 subs? Bah!

And I am pleased to inform you that the LRRN missile corvettes can easily strike targets out to 200km, large surface combatants out to 300km.

(730 subs? Nah.)

(730 subs? Nah.)

Oh. Er...ooops. Um...what exactly is it? 730km striking range?

Hey, are you using submarines as pieces of pipe? If so...thats awesome!

OOC: Hmm.. I'm lost as to the relevance of 730 to the sub, but knowing Drapol he probably has it all worked out.. lol...

Hey, do you like my retro frigates?

You know, I think I'll dump the Leander for 40 modified Duke-class frigates.

This will visibly enhance my surface warfare capability.

Months later...

"This is stupid! Stupid!" Cursed comrade Admiral Li-Il, Hero of the Revolution, inwardly, as he regarded the works going on under cover at Namp'o. "Five volleys! Even with the ugly re-sealing systems around the muzzles, five volleys and we have a giant patrol boat for...gah...

"How long does it take to lower the guns, replace the seals, extract the atmosphere, and restore elevation? How long?" He demanded "Fifteen minutes?

"She won't float for fifteen minutes after five minutes of firing on anything, fifty thousand tonnes of Chinese steel for five minutes."

Li-Il had clearly lost most of his enthusiasm for Project Mago*, but he thought that he'd better stop being so obvious about it before somebody informed on him. It was time to fit the Chinese Type 730s- at least his waste of resources was ahead of Kim-Kuro's!

The Admiral couldn't help being a little impressed when next he returned to see the first firing, conducted from dry-dock without removing the massive temporary roofing that'd been erected against prying eyes above.

Few Drapoel had seen something like this (http://www.sinodefence.com/navy/weapon/type730_1.jpg) first hand, perhaps heard about it from pilots lucky enough to survive attacks on enemy fleets, but that was all. The drone -based on a DSJ-1 missile and enlarged by the addition of some worthless scrap- that flew a few hundred metres outside the covers of Namp'o's newest slip was torn apart and crashed into the Yellow Sea, rousing some cheer from those observing and in the know.

"Comrades! That is but one! Continue the work! Seven remain before we can celebrate being better communists than the East Sea workers!"

On returning to his office, Li-Il was informed of Project Oryonggeo, and how it would benefit only the East Sea Fleet directly.

*730? Nah, this is the project to whit I refer when speaking on the significance of a name :D

With the news that Dra-pol is puttering about with CIWS systems, the LRRN sees it fit to upgrade its systems even further.

Pretty much a new radar, and better anti-jamming systems. The MDG-351 30mm CIWS is the LRRN standard, with two per Son House multirole corvette, of which the LRRN operates 'a reasonable number.' When the Andong Liberation visited the LRRN review, it saw quite a few such ships.

Meanwhile, revised LRRAF numbers have been published. The ranks of aircraft break down something like the following:

350 F-6 (Zas-42) Gecko Wildly advanced interceptors (purchased from LRR friend the Zoogie People)
500 MiG-29I air-defense fighters
1,500 Super Gripen air-defense fighters

1,000 MiG-21-2000 and variants
1,000 JA-37 fighters
1,500 Mirage III/5/50 attack/recon/fighters

500 Su-17 MOD attack jets
250 Jaguar II attack jets
350 Harrier GR7 MOD attack jets
250 Tornado IDS MOD attack jets

200 Nimrod MOD patrol planes
250 Atlantique MOD patrol planes

80 Il-80 tankers
45 Il-81 AWACs
200 Il-79 transports
500 An-3 Transports
250 An-72 Transports
150 C-135 Transports

Despite the old age of most of the LRRAF, the old aircraft are still quite useful in combat, with applied modifications. MiG-21s have seen action in Korea, perhaps to the surprise of Dra-pol pilots, not expecting to see something with an age similar to their own aircraft.

Observers may note that the PAAF has lately begun to fly a new aircraft along with S-5, S-6, and S-7, and sometimes K-1 and K-2 formations. Appearing to be a deviant of the S-7 (Fishbed), its main changes are apparent in an enlarged airframe (where the S-7 is essentially a shortened MiG-21) and a revised air-intake akin to that seen on some Chinese modifications seeking to incorporate improved radar into the old aircraft. It may be concluded that these are meant to act as command aircraft to wings comprised mainly of more basic planes currently turned out by the thousand in the CPRD.

Though there is no way for anyone to know it as most remain in reinforced hangars or underground facilities, the PAAF now lays claim to something in the area of ninety thousand aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing (less than three precent are truly modern designs). The S-5 Ultra Shinden 1st generation jet fighter/attacker remains the most common, though it has never yet been seen over foreign territory or even flying close to foreign airspace, perhaps in an attempt to hide some revolutionary capacity or horrible defect, or perhaps simply to keep-up the fear of a revolutionary capacity or the over-confident assumption of the lack of one.

In an all-too-regular change of mind, the LRRAF has replaced its Super Gripens with MiG-29Is, citing 'aesthetic concerns.' The MiG-29I does have a larger weapons capacity and longer range, however, with the same base cost. This is coupled with the aquisition of 400 Su-37 fighters.

The new S-7 variant has been noted by the LRRMFs records, and suspicion has arisen that it is a Dra-pol copy of the FC-1/Super 7. If so, it would bring the Drapoel AF in line with the mid/late 90's MiG-21 upgrades done by the LRRAF to its sizable MiG-21 fleet.

However, the Mirage III/5/50 fleet is now, with upgrade after upgrade, comparable to the Gripen at the very least, and perhaps even the earlier Super Gripen experiments. It is still a match for any modern fighter aircraft.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/images/mirage-3rs_036.jpg

An LRRAF mirage 50 in flight.

(Oh, and I forgot to add 500 L-39 and 500 L-159 trainers/attack planes.)

The LRRAF still considers itself to have the most advanced fleet of old aircraft in the world.

OCC: I've got a MiG-21 model around here somewhere. I should build it. Perhaps paint it in LRRAF colors! Or mabye I'll make the S-7 variant and paint it like the Choson People's Airforce.

Hee. Well, for the record, most of our aircraft fly with a simple matt green coat, though some of the Fishbed variants are primarily white, and some Flagon and imported Beth Gellen aircraft are still the colour they where when their metal sections were put together. All bear the Drapoel wheel as an airforce insignia (as seen on the flag), and they often carry improbably large numbers in a possible effort to make the enemy think there's *even more* of them.

I suppose I could keep going and give a bit more information that might be available to observers... the Fishbeds/S-7s were acquired in small numbers from Russia and China (in various types), brought across the border in pieces, and copied, shortened slightly and often stripped of what modest avionics may have existed anyway, and they may often be seen sporting DRAR-1 IR-guided SRAAMs known as the Drapoel Sidewinder. This weapon will have been encountered in past conflicts, first deployed in small numbers during the Crusader War. It's an effective missile, but being made to look a little below par next to new gas-dynamic weapons and such. Sometimes they will be seen carrying R-40/AA-6 Radar-guided missiles, but this is more common on the newly (and much less commonly) seen models with revised air-intakes that presumably allow the housing of an at least semi-decent radar. It would be simple enough to assume that Drapoel S-7s are more agile than most, but may have a shorter range, and often very very basic electronics. They're seen in large numbers in the south.

The Flagon/S-6 is a Drapoel built version of the Soviet interceptor that served until near the end of the USSR and was I believe made famous for shooting down a stray airliner. Usually carrying R-40/AA-6 missiles these are mostly seen practicing rapid ascent and dashes out to sea on from coasts right up both lengths of the CPRD.

The NT5I Cardinal/S-10 from Beth Gellert is seen flying only in small numbers, all around the Republic, armed usually with AA-10/R-27 Alamo, AA-11/R-73 Archer, or DRAR-1, though of course they have small internal weapons bays that could be housing almost anything. They don't fly too often, likely to preserve their airframes.

NT4ASF Hobgoblin/S-11 flys similarly infrequently and all around the Republic. It carrys DRAR-1, AA-11/R-73 Archer, AA-10/R-27 Alamo, and who knows what internally.

Other than the mentioned AAMs, the PAAF also posesses Chinese PL-11 in considerable quantities.

Then there's the K attackers. KJ-1 Feda Kwong being a native design seen operating in the south and on both coasts carrying gunpacks, rocket pods, bombs, DRAR-1, ECM pods, DSJ-1 and Qian Wei anti-ship missiles, and lately employed in testing AGMs.

K-2 is the Fitter, operating in fairly basic form and carrying many of the same weapons as KJ-1, but more often seen in the south and less often with ASMs.

The LRRAF uses two major types of AAMs- the AA-11 MOD, a modified AA-11 (what else could it be?), and the LRAAM-3 long range RAMJET missile, with very long legs. Not terribly accurate at long range, but it'll down a bomber without much doubt, and it can hit suborbital targets from high altitude, with a fair bit of luck, of course.

The AA-11 MOD is also the basis of the SA-20 SAM used by the LRRA, which you saw in Unification Pt. II. It can shoot down targets going at up to mach 4.5, up to mach six with a good lead, 30km away. Its usually deployed on truck launchers like this (http://www.bulba.eu.org/mil/free/roland/roland(3).jpg). The SA-21 is sort of in between the SA-22 and the SA-20, designed to shoot down high-speed targets including IRBMs at longer (say, 150km) ranges.

But the LRRAF's MiG-21s are all now, after extensive modifications, actually similar to the RL JAS-39. The 1,000 swedish aircraft in LRRAF employ are all JA-37s, modified to the point where they are similar to the super gripen upgrade, minus the cost of a new airframe. The airforce has about 800 aircraft that can reliably compete with anything out there, and another 1.5 thousand that are pretty good, and can in a defensive role survive against the best out there and compete with the best more regular fighters, and then there's 3,500 old planes that survive only because they're so heavily upgraded, to the point where they are still quite effective combat aircraft.

The L-159, however, is a very new aircraft.

Hey, what do you use as a trainer? L-29? Or perhaps the MiG-15UTI?

The LRRA has also recently taken delivery of 50,000 SEP armored personnel carriers. They're probably the best RL APC, and one of the best on NS. Since the army doesn't have that many tanks (relatively speaking- most of the LRRA tank force was and is deployed to Korea), the APCs are very heavily armed. The fire support variant has a 100mm BMP-3-style main gun plus two Hellfire II long-range ATGMs, and the regular variant has a 14.5mm main MG plus an 8km-range Spike ER missile.

There's also ambulence, command, AMOS, and ASM carrier (crazy, no?) variants. You probably won't see too many if you try the penninsula again, since the armored divisions use turretless MBT-5s as APCs, pretty heavy but they've got the benefit of tank armor.

And then there's the tracked BV-206TR carriers, the TGB-11 jeeps, the Wiesel 3 light tanks, the hundreds of thousands of trucks, the helicopters, the Pzh-2000 howitzers, the 2S5 howitzers, and all the towed guns, the rocket artillery, and the 25 or so 2S7 203mm howitzers.

planning thread for a character RP about the korean peninsula! quickly!

http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6867461&posted=1#post6867461

Hm, for trainers we use some modified versions of most existing service aircraft, but they are relatively few compared to what one might expect in a 1st world air force, and more usually we make do with the Shinden family.

-A bit of history, I think!
Dra-pol's Suloist revolution (against King/Emperor Wiman) was waged between 1931 and 1938- Wiman had been even more isolationist than the real Korea, and kept out of most of the region's disputes and treaties, and certainly didn't let any Catholic missionaries survive more than a few hours in Dra-pol. Then young Wiman was utterly uninterested in the Russo-Japan war, and would sign no annexation treaty with Japan following it, which I take to be the begining of the end of the old era, for it presumably didn't go down well with the Japanese, who invaded from the south, winning control there while Sulo's partisans continued to fight in the more mountainous north where they and the Royalists were both better able to resist Japanese aggression than they had been in the south. By '38 Wiman was over-thrown in the north by Sulo, and in the south by Japan, and the Suloists spent WWII co-operating with the Chinese communists and the Soviets against the Japanese, hoping to liberate the south as well. This is when the Drapoel first got their hands on aircraft, capturing Japanese planes from bases in the south, which they periodically over-ran, only to lose again in the face of superior technological might. The PAAF flew a small number of Zeros and such aircraft, and was not shy about commiting espionage against even mainland Japan... this didn't stop when the Americans arrived in Japan, and plans for the Shinden piston engine canard fighter were stolen from Japan. That eventually became the S-2, with the Zero being renamed S-1, and both were then used to attack the south after Japanese rule collapsed at the end of WWII- this is why the Drapoel maintain that they've never in history carried out a war of conquest or aggression, as they saw the first Korean war as just part of their revolution, begun across the whole peninsula in 1931. They could not understand why the Americans and UN got involved, being of course completely uninterested in and largely ignorant of the global balances of the cold war. So the revolutionaries lost, and had to settle for half of the country. Sulo presumably took it out on certain parts of the population as noticible in the vanishing of most of the paler Korean population from the north, as the Suloists blamed these people they saw as 'wider Asians' for losing half of the Drapoel Choson empire.
The point, eventually, is that the S-2 Shinden was still in service when the Crusader States came ashore in the 1990s, and of course were quickly shot to bits, along with the S-3, which was basically the same thing fitted with a modest jet engine, as theorised but never built by the Japanese. The S-4 came during the Crusader Wars, and fitted a more powerful engine and a delta wing configuration to the same basic design, giving Dra-pol it's first supersonic flight in the late 1990s. The S-4 also first utilised guided AAMs (DRAR-1), and is still used as a trainer today. The S-5 is the latest variant, and exists in massive numbers, but is rarely seen flying where the outside might recognise it, and is used in the interior, again as a trainer, though it's actual design role is as a cheap first strike aircraft.

There you go, what we train our pilots in (from time to time) and a history lecture in one. Woo.
Ahem, sorry, I'm half asleep. That had nothing to do with the thread, really :)

Ah. I see...

Well, I think my 1,500 Mirages could be better spent as some Mirage 2000 anti-shipping aircraft.

So they'll all be recycled to yield 700 Mirage 2000s for coastal anti-shipping, armed with RBS-15F ASMs and perhaps anti-radar missiles as well.