NationStates Jolt Archive

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Zinairian Military Authority
Department of Procurement
19 National Plaza, Zinaire City

Through a length administrative error stretched over several years, the Zinairian government has awarded the Military Authority with a budget of $1.18 trillion Numers ($1.98 trillion USD). Never a wasteful people, we have decided that overpriced consultants will be the best route for disposing of this money.

Therefore, the Zinairian Military Authority (ZMA) is seeking a trusted international defense consultant to review our current equipment inventory and purchasing procedures, our military and command structure, etc. and offer recommendations for improvement based upon their findings. The chosen consultant will also be asked to assist in the design of a defense plan and various other procedural documents.

Compensation can be negotiated as a flat fee for all services rendered or as an itemized bill for each. Payment will be made in Universal Standard Dollars (USD). A maximum of $1 trillion USD per year over the next five years has been authorized for this project.

Consultants wishing to work with the ZMA must provide their credentials as well as offer a rough cost estimate based upon the needs listed above. Companies based in nations with poor relations towards Zinaire need not apply. The selected company will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

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Sir Logan Montelimar Sr.
Chancellor of Procurement

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: In response to your tender seeking a military consultant

Sir,

Redwood Defence Consulting (RDC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sequoia Defence Systems (SDS), registers its formal interest to bid for the position as consultant to the Zinairian Military Authority (ZMA). We help defence organizations meet rising performance demands by helping them identify needs and deliver cost-effective solutions that produce immediate, consistent, high-performance results.

RDC can address the rising costs of maintaining legacy systems through top-down transformation of the technology, doctrines and capabilites of the ZMA by implementation of a progressive program of recaptilisation and modernisation of its current equipment inventory. Our goal at RDC is to exceed your existing capabilities and enhance technological parity while controlling procurement and life-cycle costs. As part of a large defence conglomerate with global reach we are best placed deliver substantial cost advantages through solutions that achieve seamless integration and synergy across all echelons of your organisation.

Further information of the services and solutions provided by RDC can be found on both the Sequoia Defence Systems corporate web site (http://z11.invisionfree.com/Sequoia_Defence/index.php?) and the Sequoia Weaponworks online catalogue (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5573941).

About SDS

Sequoia Defence Systems Inc. (SDS), headquartered in New Harrisberg, Etoile Arcture, employs approximately 12.7 million people worldwide and had 2007-2008 revenues of US$15 trillion. The company has five main business segments providing a full spectrum of air, land and amphibious combat systems, subsystems, and components worldwide. Company strengths are world-class design and systems integration, superior production and innovative life cycle support.

About RDC

Redwood Defence Consulting Ltd. (RDC) delivers a combination of defence knowledge, defence experience and skilled personnel, and is dedicated to helping clients achieve high performance in the face of complex challenges. RDC provides services, advice and guidance to clients in both government and industry to help them manage change and reduce costs through the application of innovative technology and pragamatic program management.

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Armed Forces of Zinaire

As of now, our most pressing need is for a consultant to help us establish ORBATS etc. with the equipment current available (see the list here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Equipment_of_the_Zinairian_Armed_Forces)). If RDC feels it is capable of fulfilling this task and doing it well, whatever the cost, we would be interesting in speaking with you more directly in order to get a feel for your consultative capabilities.

The Armed Republic of Cascade States,
Is an Arms nation,
we build and sell all sorts of major military hardware to nations,
Ships, tanks, planes, missiles and bombs.

We sell everything a nation needs to be a first world power.

I noticed that you use ( or plan on using ) the F-35?
That is an excellent choice, It is our primary aircraft as we field almost 3,000
currently, as well as many reserves.

I think that our Nation could also produce the ships you desire, as well as the small arms and supplies which you've stated.

Would your Grand Nation permit us to send a delegation to your nation to
discuss the details of such an arrangement?

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Re: In response to your tender seeking a military consultant

Sir,

Using information provided by the Department of Procurement we have begun a review of the order of battle, equipment capabilities, and base infrastucture of the Zinaire armed forces.

Our preliminary report has identified some weaknesses and areas of concern in your armed forces current organisation. Our primary concern is the centralised basing of the various branches of the armed forces at just a handful of mega-bases, that leave the majority of the armed forces and their equipment vulnerable to any mass attack against those facilities.

Another major issue, and one identified by ZMA itself, iis the large drain on its defence budget incurred from the maintaining large equipment stocks. To some degree the logistical and maintenace costs can be controlled by better usage of the existing equipment inventory and greater use being made of dry storage and preposition of materiel. But of concern to us is a lack of standardisation between even some of the most basic systems.

For example, the mix-and-match of different calibres and ammunition types (cased and cased-telescoped) with squad machine guns and assault rifles, increases logistic footprints and training costs while lowering supportability at even the fireteam level.

Other areas of concern are basically areas where, despite large force densities the Zinaire armed forces are severely lacking in capability. These include far too few air refueling tankers to support the large fighter forces and airlifters to support all branches of the military. A near 1:1 ratio of tanks to infantry fightings vehicles that hamper the mobility and size of the mechansied infantry force. A lack of naval aviation assets, and of littoral and patrol warships. And lack of air defence systems, at both theatre and strategic level, including an integrated air defence system and anti-ballisitic missile interceptors to protect Zinaire cities and military facilities.

Our preliminary conclussion are the following:

We recommend that the Zinairian armed forces commence a program of military base building to disperse military assets and personnel at a larger number of defendable locations.

We recommend the dry storage of some equipment at dispersal sites, and the canabilisation of some equipment as spares to reduce annual imports from foreign suppliers, and control maintenance costs.

We recommend introduction of standardisation to lower training costs, logistic footprints and increase supportability. This would include common calibres for assault rifles and light machine guns, and between crew served weapons.

We recommend addressing the capability gaps of the armed forces, especially in the areas of air defence and naval aviation.

We also recommend the establishment of a training command in each branch/service and the purchase of simulators to improve and increase training and maintain the readiness of personnel.

This completes phase one of our report.

The phase two review will address the organisation and doctrine of the Zinare armed forces to produce a balanced combined arms force.

To better understand the factors and forces shaping the current structure of the armed forces, RDC require completion of a short survey by the client, enclosed below.

What are the foreign policy aims of the armed forces: homeland defence, power projection, national prestige? Please add as many aims and objectives, weighted by their importance.

Which are the most common environments that the armed forces operate in? Please describe geography, terrain, climate, etc.

Which nations are classified as enemies or potential enemies of Zinaire?

We commend this report to the Zinairian Military Authority.

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Armed Forces of Zinaire
CLASSIFIED

Thank you for your extensive report.

(OOC: I'll pretend you already signed a non-disclosure agreement).

We propose the construction of two new army bases, one in the jungle on the east side of the island and one along the White Mountains. All army activies would be relocated to these bases while the air force would remained centered at the Zinairian National Facilities and the navy at Southern Zinairian Facilities.

Pleas explain your suggestion of dispersal sites further. Are you proposing nation-wide equipment caches?

As for our over-equipment, we are currently working to reduce unnecessary equipment. As you hopefully know, the armed forces are currently undergoing a major refit which is leaving us with less equipment (albeit at a higher quality). (OOC: You can look at our old equipment lists by looking through the revisions on that wiki article).

The unstandardized nature of our ammunition is in part because we are in limbo between new and old equipment. Once we are totally refitted, this should even out somewhat. However, you mention specifically assault rifles and light machine guns and these items are some of the most standardized in use with the armed forces. All three variants of the AVIR (service rifle, personal defense rifle and automatic rifle) and the ADEC light machine gun use the same ammunition– 6.7x35mm CTA. When you mention crew-served weapons, are you referring to heavier guns, grenade systems, mortars, artillery or something else altogether?

We are currently working to select new tankers and transports and when we do we will be certain to procure more than we currently have in service. (OOC: although, technically I own the DPRs to my tankers and transports, so I could have produced more that are not shown on that list)

When you say our 1:1 tank to IFV ratio hampers mobility, are you saying we have too many tanks, too many IFVs or too few IFVs?

Please explain how our naval aviation assets are lacking. We have a variety of carrier-capable fighters and strike aircraft, the Greyhound carrier-capable transport and the Advanced Hawkeye carrier-capable AEW in addition to a slew of helicopters capable of naval work. Also, our fleet of 165 littoral vessels does not undersized to us.

We will look into air defense systems as that is indeed an important oversight. (OOC: I think I purchased an air defense system a while back (the successor to the Patriot, I think) but I never put it on that list).

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Survey

We have completed, to the best of our abilities, the survey you provided.

What are the foreign policy aims of the armed forces?
1. Homeland protection
2. Power projection
3. Peacekeeping

Which are the most common environments that the armed forces operate in?
The Armed Forces of Zinaire have seen extremely little deployment– none on a large scale, actually.

The island of Zinaire itself though is part tropical and part temperate with a mountain range separating the two climates. North Zinaire is relatively cool and rainy with a fairly constant temperature throughout the year. The land is hilly with some forestation. Part of the Mossy River, a broad, mid-speed river, runs through north Zinaire. The northern coast is cliffy and rocky. South Zinaire is much warmer and more tropical. It is covered in dense jungle except along the coast which is made up of sandy beaches. The Mossy River continues through south Zinaire before emptying back into the Caribbean Sea. A map of Zinaire can be found here (http://img.skitch.com/20080709-rmy2h8m2m76i3xnni86gxfp8ei.png).

Which nations are classified as enemies or potential enemies of Zinaire?
None at present.

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Once again, we thank you for your comprehensive report and recommendations. As an initial bonus, we have wired $5 million to you. Full payment can be discussed later.

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Phase 2 report on reorganisation of the Zinaire Armed Forces

Sir,


Due to the fragmented nature of some of the records kept e.g., http://nationstates.wikia.com/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Zinaire and http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Equipment_of_the_Zinairian_Armed_Forces we have found some confusion as to what equipment is currently being fielded by the ZMA. We appreciate and thank ZMA for any clarifications in this area, though our general thesis of a lack of integration among different parts of the armed forces remain.

In the area of logistics, supportability and battle management, the armour force is a case in point. The two IFVs in service use two different cannons, the Eclipse with a Mauser MK 30-2 30 mm cannon and Bradley with its Bushmaster 25 mm chaingun, both of which must be supported using the same logistics train. In the area of interoperability the Bradley, Eclipse and Nakil tank in the current force mix use incompatible communications gear hampering their ability to support each other on the battlefield. The mix of Boxer and Stryker APCs is somewhat wasteful due to a lack of interchange of components (turrets, engines, electronics, etc) between the two vehicles, which increase maintenance requirements. While some of these issues can be cured through recapitlisation of the current vehicle fleets to rebuild them all to a single standard, such modifications and work would be expensive and time consuming. Standardisation on a single IFC and APC would mean only needing to support one type of engine, managing one set of spares and repair parts, and allow training of infantry on one type of vehicle.

Specific recommendations

Army and Air Force organisation and deployment

We recommend that Zinaire be divided into a series of military districts, each district having one major base and a number of smaller satellite bases, camps and depots in where equipment and munitions can be cached at times of war, and assets such as armoured vehicles and aircraft be dispersed. The districting will allow pre-positioning of heavy forces along likely avenues of attack, allowing them to react faster to territorial incursions, and reduce vulnerabilty againt attack when concentrating forces and personnel at just a few facilities. Similarly, satellite air fields will allow the air force to quickly disperse its assets to avoid destruction on the ground, maintain the tempo of its operations, and quickly support defending forces.

Air and ground forces should be mutually supportive and both the army and air force must train together to develop combine arms doctrines. We recommend allocation of part of the air force to directly support the army with close air support and ground attack, as well as surviellance and logistics. The army should also recieve heavy lift helicopters or tiltrotors to enable it to self-deploy materiel and personnel quickly over the hilly and jungle terrain.

Based on the policy objectives of the Zinairian government, the army should be divided into:

A lightweight rapid reaction force.

Creation of a rapid reaction force (RRF) will allow timely foreign interventioins as per the policy objective of peacekeeping forces. The RRF can also provide provide early entry forces at time of war for reacting to invasions, or spearheading attacks against foriegn nations by providing a foothold on foreign territory in which heavier follow-on forces may deploy. The RRF would contain elements of the special forces, lightweight motorised forces (easily air transportable mine-protected vehicles, et al), and logistics units. The navy should support the RRF with amphibious assault and ship-to-shore replenishment and the air force with strategic and tactical airlift.

A medium weight homeland defence force.

Due to the hilly and jungle terrain typifying Zinaire, and the escarpments protecting many potential beach-heads, it is our view medium weight forces would be most effective in reacting to any invasion force, being able to rapidly deploy over land or airlifted by heavy lift helicopter or transport aircraft to quickly counter an attack. The army should be allocated a substantial number of UAVs for reconnaisance, along with scout and attack helicopters, and fighter ground attack assets from the air force, which will provide a potent force multiplyer during homeland defence. It is also critical that there be an organic air defence component as part of all echelons of the ground forces.

A supporting heavy armour force.

The role of the heavy force (Nakil tanks, et al) is to provide a follow-on force and armoured manouevre capability to out-fight and defeat an enemy. The heavy force would be a critical war fighting tool as the spearhead of any operation conducted on Zinairian or foreign soil. In reference to our earlier analysis of force numbers, the 15,000 Nakil tanks of the current armour force are supported by an estimated 12,250 Eclipse and and 4,000 Bradley’s, producing a near 1:1 ratio in tank to fighting vehicles. A force mix of 1:4 vehicles weighted by IFVs will allow the armoured spearhead to support operations of mechanised forces able to maintain pace and mutually support the tanks on different terrain. We consider the Eclipse as the best candidate option as it has the greatest adapatability to different roles, and can be brought far easier to the same equipment standards as the Nakil heavy force. the armour force must also be equipped with more engineering vehicles and bridge-layers to enhance its mobility and fightability on different terrains.

The air force

The air force should be divided unto a long range and short range aviation arm, respectively to provide maritime and air patrol and air defence to Zinaire, protect transports and the navy during long range deployments, a striking arm to retalitate against distant enemies. The bomber force should be adapatable to both over-land and over-ocean operations so that it can counter threats from the sea or perform long range strikes into enemy territory. It is critical that the air tanker fleet be massively expanded to enable increased range and endurance of the fighter, bomber and transport fleets. A buy of a thousand tankers would be minimum to sustain two thousand aircraft during any campaign. The air force should also be given responsibility for management and operation of the integrated air defence network, containing SAM and ABM batteries, which is a number one priority for the defence of Zinaire. Defending forces should operate within a “missile umbrella” to ensure air superiority of the air force over Zinaire and surrounding sea during war time. Investment should specially be made on long-range and over-the-horizon radar.

The navy

Ships and submarines provide one of the most persistent and mobile platforms for national defence, and are key to successful power projection. While this is not a stated aim of the Zinairian government, the aim of effective peacekeeping relies on the ability to force entry and sustain operations over long distances. The ability to transport large forces is reliant on sea transportation and naval protection . This is not the entire picture as the navy must also patrol and protect terrtitorial waters. Therefore, it is our recommendation to split the navy into a blue-water deep ocean force and littoral maritime patrol force. The carriers and warships of the fleet will support foreign operations and conduct deep ocean patrols, while territorial waters will be protected by the littoral force. We would recommend the procurement of littoral submarines to support to the existing corvette and patrol boat fleet, and investment in undersea detection networks. As with the army and air force, to ensure the survivability of the fleet, a mixture of base dispersal and sea-basing (maintain ready forces at sea), while expensive will ensure the survival of the navy at war time. The picture regarding naval aviation is confusing (documents are not consistent between sources on the number of attack and combat air patrol available to the navy), and our analysis remains incomplete.

Conclusions

Overall, the defensive strategy of the Zinaire armed force should be that of a classic defence in depth. Integration of the separate branches should be driven by the need to effectively coordinate and mutually support each combat arm. Logistics trains must also be reduced by standardisation on single types of vehicles and weapons (a process which appears to have already begun). Future procurement should be guided by how new systems compliment or enhance the current force structure, rather than be add-ons to the armed forces. In spite of some of our concerns, the Zinaire armed forces already contains the capacity to successfully transform itself to these roles.

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Armed Forces of Zinaire
CLASSIFIED

(OOC: In general, trust the simple equipment list over the article. It's easier to update so it had the latest stuff on it.)

We have reviewed your report and immediately began implementing some of the suggestions. Effective immediately, the Bradley and Stryker (and Paladin howitzer) have been retired from service in favor of the Eclipse and Boxer (and Braveheart) respectively.

We find your idea for military districts interesting but we are somewhat worried that in a country as small as Zinaire (only 120,000 square kilometers, mind), there is not room for the level of infrastructure you have suggested. Nevertheless, with an explanation of how this would work, we would be willing to implement the idea.

We have identified a number of potential army and naval bases, but the air force presents a problem. We would rather not place aircraft alongside mountains or in the middle of the jungle, so that leaves us with only north Zinaire for airfields.

If we read your section on heavy armored forces correctly, it seems that you are suggesting a four-fold increase in IFVs meaning that we would have 60,000 by the end of the expansion. This seems like an awfully high number. Also, bear in mind, that we are hoping to replace the Eclipse during our current refit.

Your suggestion of 1,000 tankers seems somewhat ridiculous. All the planes of the air force are hardly going to be on mission at the same time and of those that will be, not all will need refueling. 1,000 tankers is also a large investment monetarily and spatially and in a country where land is rather dear, such as Zinaire, we don't exactly have room for 1,000 large aircraft when it seems most of them won't be doing much.

The issue of air defense is obviously an important one and we would like to see an entire report devoted to our options in that area.

As per your suggestion, we will soon acquire some diesel littoral submarines. We would also like you to further explain the undersea detection network you mentioned. Please alert us of any way we can clear up confusion regarding our assets as the last thing we want is a confused consultant.

Requested Topics for Future Reports

In addition to standard, wide-reaching reports such as the ones we have been receiving and whatever other reports you deem necessary, we would like to see the following, more detailed examinations of our force. The last two could probably be lumped into one report.


Air defense
Obsolete and over-procured equipment
Detailed force structure
Training
Uniforms and other equipment


OOC: Also, that equipment list has been updated.

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Armed Forces of Zinaire
AMMUNITION REPORT

We have reviewed the ammunitions used by our various small arms and we have assembled the following list.

.40 S&W
Equinox Combat (Special Forces) pistol

9x19mm Parabellum
Equinox Combat (Special Forces) pistol

12 Gauge
Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun
Franchi SPAS-15 shotgun

6.7x35mm CTA
AVIR service rifle
AVIR infantry automatic rifle
ADEC light machine gun
AVIR personal defense rifle

12.7x99mm
Barrett M82
MGM2 heavy machine gun

8.8x77mm DoomMag
DRS-84 sniper rifle

7.8x63mm Imperial
DRS-83 designated marksman rifle

7.62x51mm NATO
FN MAG

15.7x131mm
MGM2 heavy machine gun

The total, nine different cartridges, does not seem horrifically high to us (OOC: the U.S. uses eight) but nevertheless we understand that reduction is in our best interest.

By retiring the 9mm Equinox in favor of the .40 S&W variation, we could eliminate one cartridge. Although the 9mm Parabellum does have some advantages over the .40 S&W we feel that this move would not have any significant negative effects.

We also operate the MGM2 chambered at both .50 BMG (12.7x99mm) and a heavier 15.7x131mm. Once we have selected a new anti-material sniper rifle (to replace the Barrett at .50 BMG) and know its caliber, we will be free to select which, if any of these machine guns we will be eliminating. If the new rifle, like the old, fires a 12.7x99mm round, we will obviously keep the lighter of the two MGM2s, otherwise, either could go (although it is still more likely that the .50 BMG version will remain).

We are currently seeking a new general purpose machine gun, so it is likely that the round used by it will not remain the 7.62x51mm NATO. However, whatever weapon we select, it will likely use a caliber not used elsewhere in the armed forces. Therefore, we tentatively suggest that, because the ADEC light machine gun uses the 6.7x35 CTA round which (OOC: correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not an ammunition expert) is heavier than the 5.56x45mm NATO used by our previous light machine gun, the FN Minimi, we could potentially use it as both a light and a general purpose gun.

Both our standard sniper rifle and our designated marksman rifle use ammunition not in service anywhere else. We could retire those rifles and seek new ones that either share one cartridge or use one common to another gun in service with us.

If these options are implemented, they have the potential to reduce our number of in-service cartridges by up to five (if all suggestions are optimally implemented), greatly reducing strain on our logistical department.

(OOC: So, do any of those sound like viable options?)

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Report on small arms ammunition

Sir,

RDC largely concur with the conclusions of the ZMA in regard to ammunition systems. We advocate phasing out of 7.62 mm NATO and the introduction of a common cartridge for all infantry small arms to greatly reduce logistics and training costs. We recommend that 6.7x35 mm CTA become the common cartridge, and that the new general purpose machine gun also be implementable as a pintle or coaxial weapon for vehicles. This would result in retention of the AVIR and ADEC weapon systems.

RDC favour the .40 S&W over 9 mm Luger as a handgun cartridge, but our recommendations would be once a single cartridge is chosen that all pistols be modified by armourers to this standard to save the costs of procuring new weapons.

RDC also recommend ZMA to standardise on a single heavy machine gun cartridge, either .50 BMG (12.7x99 mm) or 15.7x131 mm, for easier logistics and maintenace by operating a single type of MGM2 machine gun. It is a matter of preference for ZMA on which cartridge to choose. As with pistols, to save costs all MGM2 weapons can be converted to a single calibre through barrel and headspace adjustments made by armourers.

In regards to sniper weapons we feel there is no requirement to reduce calibres, and in fact to do so would be counter productive. Match grade precision ammunition is by its nature non-standard, and cartridges used should be optimised for their particular mission. It would therefore be difficult to provide any benefits by bringing them into a standardised ammunition system as, even if common calibres were used, the Match ammunition would still be different than that used in infantry small arms. Nonetheless, RDC advocate that the designated marksman rifle (DMR) be capable of firing Match grade and standrd 6.7x35 mm CTA ammuntion for maximum flexibility.

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Comprehensive Defence Review, Part 1

Sir,

RDC are grateful for the clarifications and comments the ZMA has made to the interim report which are allowing us to further refine the work being conducted on this contract. The following is the first of a two part comprehensive review. Part Two will address legacy systems, units of action, training and logistics. The main goal of Part One is to outline effective means to decentralise command and control systems and military facilities to make them more resistant and responsive to attack.

a) Due to the heavy cost of maintaining armoured forces at full readiness, we would recommend to mothball part of the Nakil fleet to achive a significant reduction in running costs by rotating between stored and fielded equipment, increasing life times and reducing costs associated with wear and tear. The following recommendations are made:

Option 1: Reduce the Nakil fleet to only 5,000 tanks while maintaining the current numbers of Eclipse IFVs. This can be achieved by retiring all 5,000 pre-1A3HA series Nakils and using the remaining 5,000 tanks as operational spares to sustain the fleet.

Option 2: Increase the Eclipse fleet to match currently fielded Nakil 1A3HA fleet, which would be a mix of 10,000 1A3HA tanks and 40,000 Eclipse vehicles.

In both options RDC would see the Eclopse being fielded in more than just its IFV confguration, such as medical evecaution, command post, logistics carrier, engineering, mortar carrier, and so on.

b) Military districts: RDCs concept of the military district is an adminstrative area placed under the control of a single headquarters (joint between army and air force) and containing one large base (possibly army and air force combined due to the limited space). Each district will have its own command and control system that will work alongside the centralised national command system. In both cases hardened communications networks with backup landlines should be implemented. RDC recommends that at least four districts be established, one of which will encompass the capital city and surrounding area.

Also vital to the survability of operating forces should be a dispersal strategy. A number of smaller depots and camps in which personnel, equipment and munitions are dispersed. These secondary sites would be of an austere nature only having the most basic of facilities. We accept that in the case of the navy it may be difficult to expand beyond a single large base, but would advise that fuel caches be established to support dispersal of the navy, and that some replenishment ships be kept at sea at all time, just as the surface and sub-surface fleet mount permanent patrols.

c) Air refueling: Current Zinaire air forces, excluding the navy, number c.5,000 tactical aircraft and c.400 bombers supported by only 250 deadicated tankers. Even with conversion of some transports with cargo hold auxillary tanks and refueling pods (100 A400Ms and 250 C181s), a maximum of 1,250 aircraft can be simultaneously fueled opposed to the current 500 aircraft. This is the upper limit of any strike package that can be staged beyond Zinairian territory. In war time tankers will be in high demand by air defence, AWACs, maritime patrol, airlift, etc, which will quickly exceed the operational capacity.

Our recommendations are:

Option 1: double the existing tanker fleet to sustain at least 500 combat aircraft for long range staging.

Option 2: introduce multirole tanker transports that can be quickly converted between the tanker and airlifter roles when required.

Option 3: create a mix of deadicated tanker, multirole tanker transports and easily convertable airlifters.

d) RDC recommend a substantial funding increase on long range detection and tracking, both underwater detection (SOSUS or SOund SUrveillance System using hydrophone arrays) and OTH (over the horizon) radar using phased array radar. In both cases, SOSUS and OTH can provide early warning, detection and tracking of approaching threats that compliment satellite assets and maritime patrol aircraft.

e) As previously stated, RDC feels that construction of an integrated air defence system (IADS) should be the number one priority for the ZMA. The IADS will provide command and control that pull together early warniong, long and short range surviellance and tracking radar, and counter-air assets including manned interceptors, SAM and ABM batteries, and anti-aircraft artillery. Zinaire should be divided into air defence sectors coinciding with the four proposed military districts.

Key to the survability of the fighter force (and ground and naval forces) is dispersion. The current centralised command and control and basing leaves the bulk of ZMA forces vulnerable to destruction by a single, overwhelming, devastating attack by an opponent whether using conventional or nuclear arms. The tactical aircraft fleet should be divided between short and long range aviation, with short range aviation tasked for air defence and close air support. The short range force should be dominated by aircraft with minimal take-off rolls and rugged landing gear, to be better adapated to operate from emergency runways and soft-field locations.

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Armed Forces of Zinaire
RE: AMMUNITION REPORT

Thank you for confirming the viability of our plans. We will immediately be removing the 9mm Equinox, the FN MAG and the 15.7mm MGM2 from service. This reduces the number of calibers in service to just five and it should significantly simply logistical operations in the armed forces.

http://img.skitch.com/20080708-8u2if8s7yf6driicuhn4qe652h.png

Armed Forces of Zinaire
CLASSIFIED
RE: COMPREHENSIVE DEFENSE REVIEW

a) While the consensus seems to be to retire in a portion of our Nakíl fleet, your specific instruction is a little unclear. When you say "pre-1A3HA", we assume you mean the 1A3 of which we have 10,000, not 5,000. Do you suggest "mothballing" all 10,000 of these or only a portion?

Also, would you consider the Eclipse a good long-term IFV to keep in service or would you suggest replacing it with a different variety?

b) Four districts seems like a good number as it will allow for easy division. Below is a rough map showing 1) existing military bases (squares), 2) proposed district division (black lines), 3) proposed base locations (green or blue circles).

http://img.skitch.com/20080710-tpsp3cb7swyyjet4hk43u6seid.png

We would like to keep Zinairian National Facilities (the red and green square) as both our national base of operations and the District 1 base. It is already a combined army/air force facility.

In District 2, we suggest the construction of a second naval base along the coast as well as an army/air force base along the river and NNE of Tiamona. A second naval base will decentralize as well as allowing faster deployment to areas farher north.

District 3 is unique in that it contains nothing but jungle. It is devoid of cities, roads and water (besides the coast). The base(s) could be placed essentially anywhere in this area.

In District 4, we would like to keep Southern Zinairian Facilities as one of two naval bases and move army/air force operations to the area NW of Menning.

c) You have convinced us. We will purchase an additional 350 tankers for a total of 500.

d and e) These are certainly extremely important projects and we are willing to allocate large amounts of funds to them. Therefore, we request a report dedicated entirely to early warning/long range detection systems and integrated air defense. Over the years, I imagine we will be willing to invest as much as $1 trillion in these systems. The following three systems seems like promising additions to our air defense, your opinion?

LY471 Skyguard (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=539827&postcount=1)
LY4030 Extreme Range SAM (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13622310#post13622310)
LY4031 Long-Range SAM/AAM/ABM (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=554668)
Gemini Air Defense System (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9578072&postcount=129)
Project Pegasus (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13272944&postcount=209)

OOC: Just a quick OOC question. Since I assume you do all the amazing artwork for your weapons and such yourself, would it be possible for us also to contract Sequoia to design (and draw) the new Zinairian military uniform?

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/USCMC/nationstates/SequoiaSDS.jpg

MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Comprehensive Defence Review, Part 2

Continued.

f) Armoured vehicles recapatlisation and modernisation: In RDCs opinion the large number of Nakil tanks (15,000 all marks) far exceed the current operational capacity of the ZMA as these represent a significant overprocurement equivalent to 187 brigades or regiments (assuming 80 tanks per formation). RDC recommend that the 5,000 modernised Nakil 1A3HA tanks become the sole frontline main battle tank of the ZMA, and that 5,000 Nakil 1A3 tanks be placed in long term storage with the remaining 5,000 1A3 tanks recycled as operational spares or converted to other uses.

The benefit of this reorganisation will be to reduce running costs by two thirds and allow cost-effective long term support and upgrade of the Nakil fleet without resort to a costly re-equipping. ZMA should also investigate whether Kriegzimmer offer upgrade kits to further modernise legacy systems. The proposed 5,000 strong tank force will yeild an operational strength of 62 armoured regiments equivalent with 1:1 combat spares. The total 12,500 strong Eclipse infantry fighting vehicle fleet should be employed to support the Nakil’s on a 2:1 ratio as previously dicussed, and the Boxer 8x8 APC employed by the mechanised infantry. This will allow the flexibility to field armoured and emchanised divisions with different mixes of tank and IFV regiments as required.

RDC recommend to also retire the M88 Hercules from service as even two units is insuficient to tow one heavy Nakil tank. In the long term RDC also recommend retiring the Buffel armoured recovery vehicle in favour of a Nakil-based solution to streamline maintenance and logistcs, and to procure a Nakil-based armoured engineering vehicle and a bridgelayer to support the tank force. A large proportion of the 5,000 Nakil 1A3 hulls recommended for spares could alternatively be diverted to this purpose to save the costs of procuring new vehicles, and ZMA should investigate whether Kriegzimmer already supply kits for this purpose

g) Air defence systems: Zinaire has a pressing need for a strategic theatre-level integrated air defence system (IADS) to protect vital assets, national infrastructure, military basess and population centers; and an organic short-range hybrid gun-missile anti-aicraft system to protect mechanised forces and ground installations.

The Gemini Air Defence System with combination of towed twin rapid fire guns and SLAMRAAM missiles provides the most cost effective intereim solution to the short-range air defence (SHORAD) mission. Existing wheeled vehicles such as a Piranha IV and Fuchs 2 can be easily converted into a platform for the Gemini system and its towed guns and launchers. Project Pegasus was found to only increase complexity and cost, and as a gun-only solution, is not recommended for service.

RDC would not recommend a Lyran-based air defence system at this current time due to the proprietary Cromwell II battle management system, as the vendor does not provide any information on how to integrate its commnand and control and datalinks with a nations existing communication and command networks. Nonethless the LY471 Skyguard was considered to have superior performance in the combined anti-ballsitic missile (ABM) and surface to air missile (SAM) mission compared to any other alternative, in part thanks to its S-400 Triumph lineage.

At this time RDC would recommend fielding an interim system based on Patriot PAC-3 missiles using HEMTT-based transporter erector launcher, radar and commanbd vehicles. Patriot PAC-3 will provide an upgrade path to the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) using upgraded PAC-3 MSE missiles that provide full spectrum theater air and missile defense against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft. The MEADS/PAC-3 MSE has also been selected as the In-Theatre Area Air Defence System (ITAADS) for Etoile Arcture.

h) RDC have conducted various internal parametric studies over possible force mixes, force structures and units of action for the Zinaire armed forces. Below are estimates of the current size of the ZMA using publically available sources of data. The forces would be divided under four commands for each of the new military districts.

Total size of the Zinaire armed forces: 3,150,000

Total Army size: 2,000,000
Total Army field personel: 1,220,000
Personnel divided by branch: 634,400 infantry, 48,800 artillery, 48,800 air defence, 192,200 armour, 73,200 special forces (See below), 780,000 logistics and maintenance, 54,900 army aviation (including pilots, air crew and maintenance)
Organisation: 35 divisions split into 105 regiments/brigades
Major equipment: 5,000 Nakil 1A3HA, 12,500 Eclipse IFV

Special Forces size: 73,200
Total Regiments: 12
Personnel divided by speciality: 58,560 infantry, 732 snipers, 7,320 scouts/recon, 6,588 aviation (including pilots, air crew and maintenance)

Total Navy size: 500,000
Total Navy field personel: 305,000
Personnel divided by branch: 244,000 shipboard ratings, 195,000 shore ratings, 3,050 officers, 14,488 naval aviation, 43,463 logistics
Organisation: 83 tactical fighter squadrons (1,000 TF-71N1), 20 attack squadrons (200 MSE-2 Blackadder), 5 refueling squadrons (100 MSE-2R Blackader), 20 transport squadrons (100 C-2 Greyhound), 20 transport squadrons (100 V-22 Opsrey)

Total Air Force size: 450,000
Total Air Force field personnel: 274,500
Personnel divided by branch: 41,175 pilots and air crew, 233,325 maintenance, 78,000 logistics
Organisation: 83 tactical fighter squadrons (2,000 TF-71A1), 41 strike fighter squadrons (1,000 FA-15 Cardinal), 20 strike fighter squadrons (500 FA-16 Priest), 20 electronic warfare squadrons (200 TEF-62), 15 strategic bomber squadrons (310 B-1B Lancer), 4 strategic bomber squadrons (60 B-22/SB-22 Sariel), 25 refueling squadrons (500 KP-191D Starkeeper), 6 tactical airlift squadrons (100 Airbus A400M), 12 strategic airlift squadrons (250 C-181A Starlifter II), 1 strategic airlift squadron (15 C-225B Cossack), 1 VIP/Liason Squadron (4 C-32 VIP)

Notes: In addition to the recommendation to expand the tanker fleet, we would also propose to expand tactical airlift capacity to meet threatre transport and resupply demand through purchase of additional Airbus A400Ms, and purchasing the KC-45A (Airbus A330-203) multi-role tanker transport to provide hose and boom refueling.

i) To enhance training of the various services and branches of the ZMA we at RDC would recommend a renewed emphasis on joint-service training to allow the development and practice of combined arms tactics. The two main objectives should be in homeland defence and operations-other-than-war (peacekeeping), but also general warfighting so as to maintain the readiness and skill levels of ZMA personnel. Etoile Arcture itself provides excellent training facilities, and we would encourage and support the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Zinaire and Etoilian governments setting out cooperation between the Zinaire Military Authority and Etoile Arcture Defence Forces (EADF). This may include officer exchanges, and Zinaire taking part in the Annual Aerospace Forces Flag exercises, aka Blue Flag, and the Annual Ground Forces Exercises, aka Meridia Manouevres that occur in Etoile Arcture. Both provide realistic live fire war games and Command Post Exercises (CPX) for testing troop training, logistics, doctrine, and commanders. The EADF would also welcome assistance to develop Annual Maritime Forces Exercises with the Zinairian Navy.

http://img.skitch.com/20080714-engi3h9hhxtyewhsucey13314s.png

Armed Forces of Zinaire
CLASSIFIED
RE: COMPREHENSIVE DEFENSE REVIEW (PART 2)

f) We will put half of our stock of 1A3s into storage while the other half will be reserved either for "cannibalization" or for conversion into various engineering vehicles. We will also retire our entire stock of M88s and make plans to retire our stock of Buffels upon the conversion of a portion of our Nakíls into appropriate replacements.

We would like to once again ask if you feel that, disregarding cost, the Eclipse should replaced with a different IFV. We would also like to ask whether you think that replacing the Boxer, either with the Piranha V selected by the British, or with another vehicle altogether.

g) Upon hearing your recommendation to use MEADS, we were reminded of an order (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13655648&postcount=1989) that included 6,000 MEADS units. If you feel that higher quantities of this system or any other system are necessary, we will be willing to purchase them.

h) We are somewhat confused by your suggestion regarding force sizes. The sum of the parts of individual branches and the branches themselves do not add up to the larger totals (i.e., the full branch size and the size of the armed forces respectively).

The size of the army also seems unnecessarily large as it would be doubling our current force size. Although we yield to your expertise, we feel that maintaing the the same proportion of non-combat to combat personnel in the army as in other branches where more extensive maintenance and logistics are required is somewhat unnecessary and may be supplementing this increase in size.

(OOC: In case this wasn't clear, I have capped Zinaire's population at 200 million. While our population is only about 2/3 of that of the US, our military budget is slightly higher and our armed forces are of pretty comparable size. We want to maintain the small-but-elite paradigm prevalent in many Western militaries where troops maintain high amounts of equipment and training at the expense of troop size.)

We would also like to clarify that, currently, the FA 16 Priest is used only by the navy.

The A400M is also pending replacement with another tactical transport, possibly of Willinkian origin and we will be sure to purchase additional aircraft when the new one is selected.

i) The ZMA would be extremely interested in participating and developing these training exercises and we would appreciate it if you were to put us in contact with the appropriate officials at the Etoilian government.

Other Notes

1) We would like receive your opinion on our proposed districts.

2) We are not entirely satisfied with the Lyran uniforms currently in use. We would like to contract with your parent company to develop a new uniform (and possibly new body armor) for our troops.

OOC: Limited time means I can only manage an IIC reply right now. I’ll address specifics IC later on. Anyways, this allows me to explain rationale better than in an IC reply allows.

To explain the force numbers they’re only guestimates based on the total force numbers on your wiki, which I ran through an Excel spreadsheet (steady there, not as exciting as it sounds). As with today I was strapped for time so didn’t check the figures before posting. Chances are I just copied them wrong, hence the errors. Damn you work...

Specific numbers aside, the Zinairian Army has only 105 regular regiments or brigades and 12 special forces regiments, and just 35 divisions in all. That makes the ZMA small - I mean, seriously, really small - by most NS standards. Even a 2007 country can throw around army groups larger than that. As a side note, I wish everyone capped their populations like you. I applaud your aim to have a realistic force size. EA could potentially put 270 million troops in the field based on my 2.7 billion+ pop, which is what you often see. I’ve capped my own military at 25 million so over time the proportion of pop serving in the military will decline, which means like you I can invest in better and better technology.

In comparison your Air Force is freakishly huge - as big as EAs probably, tho we have more transports lol. Getting the ratio of support to active duty is always tricky (I probably got it wrong, it should be 3:1 or higher even). Never underestimate the amount of logistics and maintenance you need to keep your armed forces going. According to an old book I have one US army infantry division during the 1980s would consume 147 tons per day alone in dry rations. Talk about marching on your stomach!

Concerning onbsolete and over-procured equipment. Keeping track of the sheer number of purchases you’ve made from storefronts is proving difficult. I would suggest you retcon that you cancelled most of these contracts since you’ve made multiple orders for the same kind of equipment. Just pick and choose the stuff you need out of the original orders. As a side note you don’t need to purchase real world equipment from a NS storefront at all. It’s a given than all countries automatically have access to RL tech. For instance, you can just say you’ve been down to Farnborough this year and you beat down EADS and Northrop Grumman on the price of A400Ms and KC-45A tankers...

The missing thing here is doctrine - how does the equipment fit into how you want to fight wars? Your survey stated homeland defence, followed by power projection and peacekeeping as foreign policy aims. For the former the four main districts I think will work well, with the national bases as the overall headquarters for all four districts. For the latter two you need to expand your expeditionary capacity so you can quickly deploy forces abraad. You’ve got the maritime base for that, but not the air support (hence my drive for more tankers and transports).

The other issues you mention:

I’ll look into uniform designs, but can’t promise anything right now as I’m also working on a few other NS things as well. for the time-being the EA armed forces are equipped with uniforms and body armour designed by Crye Precision: http://www.cryeprecision.com/view_catalog.asp

We can start a new thread regarding joint exercises and work out some kinks in doctrine by testing our military against each other (simulated, of course lol). The Meridia Manouevres is basically a land wargame between combined arms units on the Meridian Plains of central EA, and Blue Flag is, well, Red Flag, or Top Gun. As Zinaire is a democracy like EA we would also be receptive to signing a mutual defence pact, which would also allow us to assist Zinaire a little more directly i.e. with technology and equipment. In either case officer exhanges and the such would be possible.

6,000 MEADS systems seems a good start. EA currently uses the Aster 30 SAMP/T as primary SAM and Patriot PAC-3 for ABM, and will be transitioning to MEADS as well unles a better NS design emerges.

OOC: We'll see how things look with the correct numbers, but I am a little concerned that even though the force maybe be small compared to that of other nations, it may still be too big. Right now, I basically want to have an extremely professional military whose job it is to train and prepare 9-5. I suppose this is a two part question, 1) do you think that training 40 hours a week, 45 weeks a year is any more effective than a less strenuous training schedule? and 2) do you think that at the size you're proposing it's economically possible to do that kind of training?

Sorry about all the purchases, Sir Montelimar (AKA me) seems to be something of an impulse buyer. The equipment page of the wiki stays pretty up to date though, so you can use that if it's any help.

I'll increase our airlift/refueling capabilities. Do you figure a 50% increase will be enough or should I opt more for doubling them?

Thanks to your suggestion, we're now using Crye stuff until you or someone else comes along with something better.

As for Blue Flag, will it be like Red Flag in that there will be multiple visiting nations? As for the training stuff in general, I think we'll be ready to start once some final procurement choices have been made and an ORBAT is drawn up.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/USCMC/nationstates/SequoiaSDS.jpg

MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Force structure analysis

Please find enclose the prelimary results of our latest force structure analysis for the Zinaire Military Authority. Based on private dicussions we have looked at ways of achieving a significant reduction in the armed forces to meet the current goal of a small elite fighting force. This has required de-manning the Army by over 50% and divesting all services of 25-50% or higher of their current equipment inventory. Such cuts are believed to be fully realisable. The option would remain to provide sufficient equipment held in dry storage to provide operational spares to active duty units, and equip reserve units stood up at a time of emergency if ZMA decides tocreate some form of national reserve.

Zinaire Military Authority

Rrmed Forces Organisation: 1 national command and 4 regional commands
Total active duty personnel: 1,583,000

Zinaire Army: 633,000 total personnel organised as 105 regiments with 35 division HQs

Armour Corps: 20 armour/mechanised regiments w/ 1,500 Nakil 1A3HA and 2,400 Eclipse IFV

Infantry Corps: 25 infantry regiments w/ 5,500 Boxer APC

Aviation Corps: 25 aviation regiments w/ 2,574 helicopters including 270 RAH-66 Comanche, 450 AH-72F Viper, 216 ACI-39 Bellicus, 675 UH-69A Jaguar, 450 UH-28E Black Falcon, 225 CH-105E Hurricane, 72 MH-105D Black Storm, 216 CH-47F Chinook

Special Forces Command: 2 special forces regiments w/ 200 Shadow RST-V, etc

Support Troops: 33 other regiments including artillery (AS90 Bravehart, M777, M270 MLRS, HIMARS), air defence (MEADS), logistics (HEMTT, HET, PLS), etc

Zinaire Air Force: 450,000 total personnel w/ 4,207 aircraft all types

42 fighter squadrons w/ 1,008 FA 15 Cardinal
60 tactical fighter squadrons w/ 1,440 TF-71A1 (ACI-74 Aquila-II)
20 electronic attack squadrons w/ 200 TEF-62 Suzume
1 strategic bomber wing w/ 30 B-22 and 30 SB-22 Sariel
25 air refueling squadrons w/ 500 KP-191D Starkeeper
25 tactical airlift squadrons w/ 100 Airbus A400M and 400 other aircraft
18 strategic airlift squadrons w/ 360 C-181A Starlifter II
1 strategic airlift squadron w/ 15 C-225B Cossack
1 VIP/Liason Squadron w/ 4 VC-32 (Boeing 757-200)
1 AWACS Wing w/ 40 EP-191B Aurora
1 Electronic Warfare Wing w/ 40 EP-191E Apollo
1 Electronic Reconassiance Wing w/ 40 RP-191C Canopus

Zinaire Navy: 500,000 total personnel w/ 1,860 aircraft all types, 30 aerostats and 599 ships all types

28 fighter squadrons w/ 336 TF-71N1 (ACI-74 Aquila-II)
27 attack squadrons w/ 324 FA 16B Priest
20 attack squadrons w/ 200 MSE.2 Blackadder
10 refueling squadrons w/ 100 MSE.2R Blackadder
20 transport squadrons w/ 100 C-2(R) Greyhound
10 AWACS squadrons w/ 100 E-2D Hawkeye
2 maritime patrol squadrons w/ 20 P-191A Arcturus
40 utility helicopter squadrons w/ 240 SH-28E Black Falcon, 120 SH-96M Sea Panther and 120 SH-105C Sea Hellion
20 heavy airlift squadrons w/ 200 CH-53X Super Stallion
10 medium airlift squadrons w/ 100 MV-22 Osprey
1 aerostat surviellance wing w/ 30 T-class patrol airship

http://img.skitch.com/20080714-engi3h9hhxtyewhsucey13314s.png

Armed Forces of Zinaire
CLASSIFIED
RE: FORCE STRUCTURE

We have wired you an additional $1 billion USD bonus for your excellent work here.

It seems that there are only a few more matters to attend to before your work with us is done– at least for the time being.

1) Specific ORBATs for some of the regiments listed in your report (OOC: basically, just a couple example ORBATs so I have a better idea of how the regiments are made up)
2) Your suggestions regarding base design and capabilities (OOC: what each base should have at it, basically)
3) Our recent purchase of highly recommended Lyran equipment, the wiseness of this decision and what must still be procured from Lyran Arms. (OOC: Such as command vehicles etc. I only purchased the IFV and APC version of the Ironheart and I imagine we'll need some others. Also, I'm sorry for procuring more stuff, but it came highly recommended from TPF and I'm working to minimize the problem with proprietary computer systems).
4) The retention of the Boxer wheeled APC or the procurement of a different model (perhaps the Piranha V) to compliment the Ironheart tracked APC.
5) The replacement of various logistical vehicles with the VLT M5 truck.
6) The replacement of the DRS-84 sniper rifle and possibly the DRS-83 DMR currently in service with the M110 sniper rifle. And, because they use the same caliber, the reintroduction of the FN MAG.
7) The development or procurement of some sort of future soldier system (e.g. a modified Land Warrior system).

Once these matters, and any others you feel are necessary, have been discussed, we are free to discuss compensation for your most excellent services.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/USCMC/nationstates/SequoiaSDS.jpg

MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Force structure analysis, Part 2

Sir,

Redwood Defence Consulting see the options facing ZMA as those of whether to organise under the Regimental system of rigid units of a single combat arm such as tank, infantry and artillery; or to reorganise as modular combined arms battalions that bring together different combat arms and organic support including reconnaissance, artillery, engineering and logistics support under a single tactical command.

The Regimental system, of essentially two battalions of the same combat arms, is one that has been optimised during past large conflicts for massed operations where the regiment, brigade and division has been employed as the main effort of the army. The driving force to move away from this monolithic structure is the non-linear nature of the modern battlefield that lacks any fixed frontline, and the asymmetric threat posed by terrorists and insurgents. This, coupled with the foreign policy shift away from war operations to peace keeping and force protection typical of most modern democracies, the frequency of deployments becomes higher and the sizes required smaller. The modular force structure offers the greatest flexibility in how the force may be task organised for a particular mission, and the adaptability to match and counter the enemy through the application of new tactics and weapons.

RDC therefore recommends that ZMA adopt a modular force structure with the battalion as the core element and smallest self sufficient tactical unit. The modular battalion will be a combined arms unit that incorporates multiple combat arms (tank, infantry, reconnaissance, artillery, etc) under a single headquarters unit. Additionally, the combined arms battalion becomes the basis of an enhanced combined arms battlegroup that includes both active and support elements, to help the unit perform a specific mission or to enhance combat firepower.

The following describes the organisation of a Combined Arms Battalion in the Heavy Manoeuvre Brigade order of battle (OOB) in the Etoile Arcture Ground Forces (EAGF):Combined Arms Battalion

2 Combat Manoeuvre Companies w/ a total of 36 M35A2 Cataphract main battle tanks across 12 platoons
2 Close Combat Companies w/ 60 M65CA7 Talon+, 120 crew and 600 dismounted infantry across 12 rifle platoons
1 Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition Company w/ 30 M96 LUMPS-RSTA, 60 crew and 120 dismounts across 3 platoons
1 Mechanised Engineer Company with separate platoons each with: 4 M23A1E1 AEV, 4 M23A1E2 ARRV, 3 M9A1 ACE and 4 CL70 Leguan
1 Indirect Fire Company with 8 M345 Excalibur 120 self-propelled mortars in 1 platoons
The wide variety of equipment types, and mission and combat capabilities allow the Combined Arms Battalion to accomplish a wide variety of tasks ranging from detecting, closing with and destroying enemy armour with its tanks, fighting infantry in open or close terrain, holding ground, locating enemy targets to be engaged by artillery or joint fires, and performing patrol and security operations. The Combined Arms Battalion also contains its own organic engineering vehicles for mobility enhancement, entrenching positions and recovery and repair of damaged vehicles in the field so as to maintain the tempo of operations.

The modular force structure applied along all echelons of the armed forces up to division level enable a “mix and match” of tactical units and tailoring of forces towards their mission. Thus, the battalion becomes the battle group when enhanced by additional units, and the brigade a task force constructed of modular battalions.

Further scope for modification and enhancement of units is also available to the ZMA thanks to its large equipment surpluses that make it possible to further customised each company element in the modular battalion to perform even more specialised tasks. Supported by multi-displinary training it would be possible for a mechanised infantry company to swap its tracks for wheeled APCs and back again (tracks having superior cross country mobility and wheeled better adapted to urban operations and operations other than war). This "weapon locker" approach provides limitless options to the tactical commander on how to tailor is force, but relies heavily on high quality training and the professionalism of his troops.

To conclude we make the following recommendations:

A) To abandon a traditional organisation of the combat arms as battalion-regiment-brigade-division and adopt a modular organisation of combined arms battalions and brigade task forces combining active and support elements under a single command.

Under the modular system the ZMA will have 210 battalions, including:20 Tank battalions
20 Mechanised infantry battalions
50 infantry battalions
50 aviation battalions
4 special forces battalions (organised in two regiments)
and 66 support battalions
The proposed organisation structure of a brigade task force may be:4 modular tank and 4 modular mechanised infantry battalions
1 artillery battalion of three batteries of two platoons each
1 engineering battalion
1 support battalion containing headquarters, logistics, maintenance, medical and intelligence companies
B) Retention of honorific regiment titles as a purely paper-only organisation to maintain esprit de corps among the troops.

C) Implementation of a “weapons locker” equipment approach where the commander can select the equipment required for a particular mission, such as a tank commander swapping his battalions tanks for fighting vehicles, or a mechanised commander swapping his tracks for wheeled APCs.

http://img.skitch.com/20080714-engi3h9hhxtyewhsucey13314s.png

From: The Zinairian Military Authority
To: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting
Re: Force Structure Analysis, Part 2
Priority: High
Encryption: Level 5

(OOC: I feel that I should point out that the ZMA [Zinairian Military Authority] is the government agency responsible [equivalent to the M/DOD] while you're talking about the Zinairian Army.)

A. We are certainly in agreement regarding the decision to use a modular unit structure. However, there are a few minor concerns and questions that we have.

1. We are somewhat confused by your discussion of combined arms battalions as in your list of suggested battalions, none are included.

2. We feel that the balance of battalions may be off. Fifty aviation battalions seems excessive while only twenty mechanized infantry battalions seems insufficient.

3. Support also seems rather scant. There are only 66 support battalions serving 144 combat battalions. Within a brigade, one support battalion (only one company of which is logistics) must serve ten combat battalions.

4. The brigade structure you have suggested seems rather heavy. A total of eleven battalions seems excessive. Perhaps some tank and mechanized infantry battalions could be shaved off?

5. In the breakdown of the 210 battalions, you do not list artillery or engineering battalions. Are these included in infantry and support respectively?

6. Are we correct in assuming that non-mechanized infantry will be motorized, traveling in Lyran Foxes, Bushmasters (which may be replaced by VLT M6s) and trucks?

B. We are not entirely sure what you mean. Do you suggest grouping battalions into regiments that exist only on paper?

C. While we see the value in this idea, we see two problems. Firstly, it seems that this would complicate logistics and add cost. Secondly, we fear that accidents could occur when troops begin using equipment other than what they are specially trained in as they may be inexperienced with the new equipment. If you were to ease these concerns, we would be willing to adopt the idea.

D. In addition to the army structuring currently on the table, we have produced several naval group structures that we would like you to evaluate.

Heavy Carrier Battle Group x 2

- Ark Royal Class heavy aircraft carrier x 1
- Houston Class nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser x 1
- Bellerophon Class anti-aircraft guided missile cruiser x 1
- Guardian Class guided missile destroyer x 2
- Acheron class general purpose guided missile destroyer x 3
- Bermuda class guided missile frigate x 2
- Defiance Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine x 2
- Supply Class replenishment ship x 1 (on standby)

Total Ships: 13

Carrier Battle Group x 6

- Triumph Class aircraft carrier x 1
- Houston Class nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser x 1
- Bellerophon Class anti-aircraft guided missile cruiser x 1
- Acheron class general purpose guided missile destroyer x 3
- Bermuda class guided missile frigate x 2
- Defiance Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine x 2
- Supply Class replenishment ship x 1 (on standby)

Total Ships: 11

Battlecruiser Battle Group x 3

- Sovereign Class nuclear-powered guided missile battlecruiser x1
- Houston Class nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser x 1
- Bellerophon Class anti-aircraft guided missile cruiser x 1
- Guardian Class guided missile destroyer x 2
- Acheron class general purpose guided missile destroyer x 3
- Bermuda class guided missile frigate x 2
- Defiance Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine x 2
- Supply Class replenishment ship x 1 (on standby)

Total Ships: 13

Amphibious Strike Group x 4

- Foxbury Class assault carrier x 1
- Troy Class logistical landing ship x 1
- La Belle Class landing dock ship x 1
- Houston Class nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser x 1
- Bellerophon Class anti-aircraft guided missile cruiser x 1
- Acheron Class general purpose guided missile destroyer x 1
- Bermuda Class guided missile frigate x 1
- Defiance Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine x 1
- Supply Class replenishment ship x 1 (on standby)

Total Ships: 9

Further information on the ships listed can be found here (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Equipment_of_the_Zinairian_Armed_Forces).

D. The possibility of a shorter-range AA system (such as the Lyran Shepherd) to compliment out long-range systems.

F. Finally, our requests for evaluation regarding the Piranha V, VLT M5, M110 (and FN MAG) and Land Warrior (or other future warrior system) as well as our request for your advice regarding the organization of Zinairian military bases still stand.

We appreciate the extensive research you and your firm perform and the incredible expertise that you lend to this process. It will certainly be taken into account when talk of payment begins.

The Zinairian Military Authority does not divulge classified information, information with the potential to endanger military operators or information related to another government entity without explicit permission to do so. If you believe you have received information in error, please report it immediately.

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Sir Logan Montelimar Sr., Department of Procurement, Zinairian Military Authority

CLASSIFICATION: Restricted, Eyes Only

FROM: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman, Redwood Defence Consulting, Harmony City, Etoile Arcture

SUBJECT: Force structure analysis, Part 3

Appendix A: Ground Forces

1, 2, 3) Our discussion of the modular battalion has included a description of a Etoile Arcture Ground Forces (EAGF) Combined Arms Battalion, which consists of two Combat Manoeuvre (tank) and two Close Combat (mechanised infantry) companies, supported by reconnaisiance, fires and mechanised engineer companies The modular manouevre brigade in the EAGF reflects this approach, combining combined arms battalions with a fires (artillery), reconnaisiance and support battalion, and in the division two manouervre brigades, a combat aviation brigade and fires brigade form the core units. Below is provided a divisional order of battle for the EAGFs armoured division.Organisation:
(XX) Heavy Division
--(II) 1 Divisional Support Battalion (DSB)
----(1) 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)
----(I) 1 Division Intelligence and Communications (DIC) Company
----(I) 1 Military Police (MP) Company
----(I) 1 Military Intelligence (MI) Company
----(I) 1 Network Signals (NS) Company
-(X) 1 Manouevre Enhancement Brigade
--(II) 1 Mechanised Engineering Battalion
--(II) 1 Sustainment Battalion
--(II) 1 Distribution Battalion
--(II) 1 Maintenance Battalion
-(X) 1 Fires Brigade
--(II) 1 Brigade Support Battalion
----(1) 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
----(1) 1 Target Acquisition Battery
----(I) 1 Network Signals Company
----(I) 1 Tactical UAV Company
--(II) 2 Field Artillery (FA) Battalion
----(1) 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
----(1) 1 Services Battery
----(1) 3 Cannon (or MLRS) Battery
--(II) 1 Air Defence Artillery (ADA) Battalion
----(1) 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
----(1) 1 Services Battery
----(1) 3 Air Defence Battery
-(X) 4 Heavy Manouevre Brigade
--(II) 1 Brigade Support Battalion (BSB)
----(1) 1 Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)
----(I) 1 Network Signals Company
----(I) 1 Sustainment Company
----(1) 1 Maintenance Company
----(1) 1 Distribution Company
----(I) 1 Medical Company
--(II) 2 Combined Arms Battalion
----(1) 1 Headquarters and Services (H&S) Co
----(I) 2 Combat Manouevre Company
----(I) 2 Close Combat Company
----(I) 1 Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Company
----(I) 1 Fires Battery
----(I) 1 Mechanised Engineer Company
----(I) 1 Forward Support Company
-(X) 1 Combat Aviation Brigade
--(II) 1 Aviation Support Battalion
--(II) 2 Attack Aviation Battalion
--(II) 2 Medium Airlift BattalionA correction to the revised order of battle is that 20 existing regiments brake down as 40 combined arms battalions, replacing 20 tank and 20 mechanised infantry battalions. These units dispose of 1,500 Nakil 1A3HA main battle tanks and 2,400 Eclipse infantry fighting vehicle and can become the basis of 10 new modular tank brigades. There are also 50 aviation battalions (split between attack helicopter and airlift battalions, that would would advise to be organised as an aviation regiment of 1 attack and 2 airlift battalions, plus a small number of independent battalions), and 66 additional support battalions.

A proposed brigade order of battle for the Zinaire Army appropriately scaled for the smaller troop and equipment numbers might be:-(X) 1 Brigade
----(1) 1 Reconnaisiance Company
--(II) 4 Combined Arms Battalion
--(II) 1 Armoured Engineering Battalion
-(III) 1 Field Artillery Regiment: (II) 2 Field Artillery Battalion
-(III) 1 Sustainment Regiment: (II) 1 Logistics Battalion, 1 Maintenance Battalion
-(III) 1 Aviation Regiment: (II) 1 Attack Helicopter Battalion, 2 Assault Helicopter Battalion
Our Force structure analysis Part 1 study also identified 50 infantry battalions equipped with 5,500 Boxer wheeled armoured personnel carriers, which were mistakenly omitted from the Part 2 study. RDC determine there are a number of options open to the ZMA regarding how best to employ these units:

a) Retention as medium weight battalions for expeditionary operations and to enhance the proposed modular brigades.

b) A partial or complete reorganisation into modular battalions using spare Nakil 1A3Ha and Eclipse IFVs being held in dry storage.

c) Inactivating a number or all of the infantry battalions and redeploying personnel to stand up new support battalions in the other combat arms such as artillery, air defence, or signals, medical, engineering, construction and other service support roles. If this option was chosen it would leave only 40 active battalions and 20 helicopter regiments to form 10 modular brigades, supported by 116 battalions.

d) Our recommended option is to find a balance between options A through C to maintain the combat effectiveness and grow the number of modular brigades in the Army, while retaining tactical flexibility offered by the modular force and providing a small number of pure infantry battalions for expeditionary operations and homeland defence.

4) RDC have endeavoured to create a compact and capable force for the Zinaire Army which has resulted in a line strength of only 10 brigades. Modularisation and combined arms requires that a large proportion of the force be mutually supporting. That aside, the 11 battalion brigade is well within the battalion strength seen in the modular and non-modular brigades of foreign armies.

5) RDC have not yet quantified the number of artillery and engineering battalions required, but we estimate this would be one regiment (2 battalions) of artillery per brigade, 1 air defence battalion and 1 battalion of engineers. In the modular battalion one company should be a logistics unit, in the brigade one battalion tasked to combat service support and in the division one brigade tasked to combat service support (in the EAGFs Heavy Division order of battle, this is the Manouevre Enhancement Brigade, and Sustainment Brigade in other divisions).

While initially confusing or counter-intuitive, we advise that the army retain its regiment structure so that two or more battalions belong to a parent regiment. The purpose of this is that while the battalion is the basic tactical unit on the battlefield and has its own command and control, reconnaisiance and support assets, in a larger battle situation battalions can also be formed either into their parent regiments or ad hoc combined arms units such as the Regimental Combat Team (RCT) used by the U.S. during World War 2. Other types of regiments may also be formed from combat arms that enhance the modular battalion but themselves cannot be modularised, such as artillery, aviation and service support. Most modularised armies retain their regiments to allow them this flexibility, as well as maintain esprit de corps by having battalions train together and compete against each other within their regimental organisations.

6) RDC would recommend the Zinaire Army have units capable of early entry (either through air insertion using low velocity air drop (LVAD) of equipment or amphibious assault). These units would be medium weight i.e. having lighter wheeled vehicles compared the combined arms battalion. These could be trained as elite airborne, Marines or mountain troops. Such troops receive higher quality training and are therefore ideal to implement the ‘weapon locker’ approach of mixing and matching equipment to suit the mission. Thus, these units will have the level of training, experience and confidence to refit before each mission, such as swapping between tracks and wheels, operating as light infantry or mechanised infantry, etc.

Appendix B: Naval Forces

1) RDC largely concur with ZMA as regards their proposed naval organisation. In two respects we would recommend modifications.

a) To integrated each replenishment ship into the battle group to directly support all assets.

b) Addition of a LPD-class ship into the carrier battle group to provide some amphibious assault capacity and to provide a command centre for joint operations.

As the carrier group is often deployed as a patrol element it is thus often the closest to respond to a crisis by virtue of already being at sea. The assault ship will carry additional helicopters, troops and vehicles for shore operations, and berths for evacuation operations. Following recommendations from RDC the Etoile Arcture Maritime Force (EAMF) has added an amphibious assault ship to each of its carrier groups for this purpose.

Appendix C: Equipment

1) RDC continues to have concerns over the proprietary electronics used in Lyran equipment and sees these as a barrier to a purchase of the Shepherd short-range air defence (SHORAD) system. While the Shepherd provides a capable system its non-standard datalinks and Cromwell II battle management system requires a significant investment by the ZMA to integrate with its existing and future command and control systems.

The alternatively evaluated system has been the Gemini Air Defence System produced by AMI, with its combination of towed twin 50 mm rapid fire guns and SLAMRAAM missiles launchers. The driving factor behind RDCs preference for Gemini is greater flexibility in how it can be deployed, as it can be towed by HUMVEEs or light armoured vehicles, emplaced as fixed base defences or mounted on armoured vehicles to provide highly mobile air defence to manouevre units. In the latter case it would be possible to place the full Gemini system on a Nakil 1A3 chassis to produce a new anti-aircraft tank such as Sequoia Marine & Heavy Tool Works prototype M84 Argus system shown below.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c197/USCMC/nationstates/th_M84ArgusADA.png

The IRIS-T SL component of the Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) will also provide a mobile and fixed area defence platform when entering service.

2) RDC does not recommend a switch from Boxer to Piranha V as these have significant cost, training, maintenance and logistics implications. Both vehicles offer similar performance and reliability, and even if the Boxer fleet is resold at its market value the ZMA will not recover its original fielding and recurring sustainment costs.

3) The controversy concerning the FN MAG and 7.62 mm NATO cartridge is in our company’s view whether to standardise all small arms in the ZMA on the 6.7x35 mm CTA cartridge. Elimination of 7.62 mm was intended to simplify logistics by employing a single common cartridge for rifles and machine guns, and could be extended to self-defence and coaxial weapons on tracked and wheeled vehicles. Reintroducing of 7.62 mm NATO would not likely disrupt or hamper military logistics, but the 7.62 mm cartridge does not offer any significant increase in lethality or accuracy compared to the 6.7x35 mm CTA. Ultimately it is preferable but not necessary to have a general purpose machine gun using the same ammunition as ADEC light machine guns and AVIR rifles. The final choice whether to retain 7.62 mm NATO is a value decision weighing these factors against the benefit of having access to one of the worlds standardised calibres.

A decision on whether to field the M110 semi-automatic rifle is in our view an entirely separate issue, as the M110 uses Match quality ammunition that is not used in machine guns. It is impossible to harmonise standard infantry cartridges with specialised ammunition for sniping and precision weapons due to the exacting and specific requirements of these missions. The 7.62 mm Match cartridge can be sourced anywhere in the world which, as with the FN MAG, providing the only compelling argument.

Appendix D: Soldier Systems

RDC have conducted studies of various integrated soldier systems including the United States Future Force Warrior and Britian’s FIST (Future Integrated Soldier Technology), the French Félin, Australia’s Land 125, Germany’s Infanterist de Zukunft, the Spanish COMFU and Italian Soldato Futuro among others. The major hurdle these programs have faced has been achieving sufficient miniaturisation while retaining high ruggedness, reliability and battery life for extended dismounted operation.

Soldiers in the Etoile Arcture armed forces are already issued with a first generation soldier system that includes a personal role radio, ruggerised personal digital assistant, inertial compass and handheld GPS receiver in the basic version. Specialised troops have been issued electro-optic sights with fire control modules, and inertial reference sights and target locators in the case of scouts and snipers, and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) SATCOM radios and Panasonic Toughbooks for commanders and specialist soldiers. Work is being conducted in Etoile Arcture on a second generation Integrated Soldier System (ISS) that will use the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) to provide self-organising wireless networking of voice, video and data links between individual soldiers and across echelons.

A major stumbling block exists that among allied nations there will remain a dire lack of interoperability and standardization in equipment which will cause the network to break down as soon as it needs to communicate with a soldier or commander from a different nation. Even the types of batteries nations use may not be interchangeable.

Appendix E: Basing

As discussed in the memos Phase 2 Reorganisation of the Zinaire Armed Forces and Part 1 of the Comprehensive Defence Review, we have advocated division of the armed forces into four separate military districts, and a dispersed basing strategy to protect Zinairian assets, personnel and materiel from attack. Each district will have a main operating base which will be a joint headquarters for the Zinairian Army, Air Force and Navy where appropriate. The proposals set forth by the Armed Forces of Zinaire in their response to Part 1 of the Comprehensive Defence Review are recommended to be taken forward as the basis of this new strategy. Therefore, District 1 under these proposals would be cantered on the existing Zinairian National Facilities and would also act as the joint headquarters of the armed forces, District 2 in the Tiamona military district on the east coast, District 3 in the south east interior and District 4 at the existing Southern Zinairian Facilities.

In addition to these major superbases we recommend a number of smaller satellite bases for the Army and Air Force to further disperse forces. These will be lightly manned during peacetime and mainly consist of supply depots and dry storage facilities for holding equipment. The Navy should also have pre-positioned fuel caches to sustain operations during wartime. RDC also recommends that the ZMA put in place plans to use civilian airfields and airports as military airfields at a time of war to expand limited runway capacity, and investigate the use of ordinary highway as runways. In the case of District 3 we do not see the jungle terrain of the south-east interior as being a major bar to placing of new bases there as it only requires clearance and construction of roads through the jungle.

The new integrated air defence system being constructed for the whole nation should be extended to protect all these facilities, and we see the IRIS-T SL and Patriot MSE-3 batteries as defending each of the main district bases, and IRIS-T SL and Gemini batteries being employed to defend the secondary dispersal sites and bases.

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From: The Zinairian Military Authority
To: Dr. Oscar Bertlesman
Re: Force Structure Analysis, Part 3
Priority: Normal
Encryption: Level 4

Appendix A

1) We are afraid your technical information is out of date. Please check the list provided for updated information. Note however, that we have gone ahead with Lyran designs including the Ironheart (replacing the Eclipse and supplementing the Boxer), the Skyguard AA system and the Fox 4x4 (replacing the Eagle) and the Manticore MRS (replacing HIMARS) and the Lammasu self-proppelled howitzer (replacing the Braveheart). We understand your concerns regarding computer incompatibility and we have discussed them with Lyran Arms. At our request, they graciously provided free of charge the hardware and software required to install the Cromwell II system in our Nakíl tanks. We will also acquire the system for our Boxer and M6 wheeled vehicles and for out naval and air forces.

2) We are not sure that it is wise to incorporate airlift capabilities into the army. It seems that it would be better to have airlifts be the domain of the air force. Also, please clarify the difference between an attack and an assault helicopter unit.

3) We concur with your advisement to balance options A and C.

4) Thank you for your clarification, it is noted and accepted.

5) We appreciate the clarification and we will maintain regimental structure.

6) This is an interesting idea and we feel such units would be definite benefit. Do you feel additional procurement is necessary to support them?

Appendix B

1a) We assume that you suggesting imbedding the support ship into the group, rather than having it at a port, ready to resupply the ships. As we see it, this would have little use– endangering more soldiers and essentially just sending a pack mule with the other ships. Dispatching the resupply ship from a port also allows us to stock it with exactly the supplies that have been depleted rather that preloading it with what we suspect will be needed later down the road.

1b) Once again, we must dissent. The ship would be laden with troops incapable of naval combat (although I suppose the effectiveness of firing an assault rifle at an aircraft carrier is debatable), and another potential source of casualties during the intense naval warfare in which carrier groups are often caught. Also, because the naval warfare stage often lasts days to weeks, there is sufficient time for separate amphibious forces to arrive.

2) Also, we must mention that we have purchased 15 Clipper Class trading vessels from a company based in Alfegos. The airships are being modified for military airlift purposes and we feel it would be best to assign them to the navy as they have experience dealing with airships gained from the use of the T Class patrol airship.

Appendix C

1) As stated above, Cromwell II is being integrated force-wide (and at little cost since 5,000 systems were provided free and additional ones will be fairly cheap).

The Shepherd is also quite flexible, mountable on a number of platforms including the Ironheart and the Fox.

2) We will take your advise under advisement and not switch.

3) In light of your recommendations, there will be no change in small arms or calibers used.

Appendix D

We have learned that Lyran Arms is developing a future soldier system based on Cromwell II, allowing for even greater integration. We have requested more information from them.

Appendix E

We apologize if the question is was not clear. We would like your recommendations regarding the specific amenities of an average base.

In case it is not clear, we would also like to point out that in no districts are naval bases joined with army/air force bases.

Thank you for your suggestions regarding air defense. It should, however, be noted that we will be using the Skyguard system rather than the Patriot system.



The Zinairian Military Authority does not divulge classified information, information with the potential to endanger military operators or information related to another government entity without explicit permission to do so. If you believe you have received information in error, please report it immediately.