A series of occasional papers on interstellar defence and fleet issues, from Jim's Fighting Fleets study group, the Defence Estimation - Longterm Planning, Homeworlds & Interstellar group.

Paper 1/3205 : A Reorganisation of the Venerian Navy in light of operational experience
3205.001

Introduction

Prior to the appearance of the Exterminator menace the Venerian Navy (VN) was a highly structured force. Each interstellar fleet had a standard organisation irrespective of its duty station or task.

The standard organisation was 1 BBI, 2 CAI, 4 CVI, 2 DDI, 1 ALSI, 3 LSSI.

In addition there were a small number of CLI, attached to specific fleets, and the 7th Fleet had a slightly different organisation with 2 BBI and 1 CAI instead of the standard organisation, all other elements were standard.

All the Human polities realised, after the appearance of the Exterminator menace, that there were large numbers of naval ships tied up in duty stations merely watching each other. These units could be more usefully deployed in the frontline Quadrants contributing to the war. Under the Treaty of Old London (ToOL) a level of naval commitment was agreed as a standard for the unaffected Quadrants so that surplus forces could be redeployed.

The VN had already re-designated its second Home fleet, 9th, as a Strategic Fleet and deployed it to Quadrant 6. From the released forces and newly built units the VN was able to despatch to Quadrant 5 a complete replacement fleet to cover losses to the 5th Honour Fleet as well as a recently commissioned Strategic Fleet, 11th. A third Strategic Fleet, 12th, was subsequently commissioned and the remaining released naval units went to form the 13th Ghost Fleet. The CLI then existing within the VN were all gifted to the Wolf Commonwealth to assist in the rebuilding of their navy.

Each strategic fleet was given a higher than normal allocation of DDI and ALSI, with the addition of a TPTI, to provide a scouting force and planetary assault force, this being at the expense of the colonial Quadrants.

Whereas the VN had been organised on the basis of a standard fleet structure it was now in a different climate, controlled rather more by the ToOL. With the proposed Asteel Revision of ToOL the VN needed to consider reorganising into a "horses for courses" fleet structure.

This led to the reorganisation of 3203 which meant having Home Defence/Training Fleets (10th Training and 14th Defence Fleets) in Q0, Colonial Defence Fleets in Q's 1 - 8 (Fleets 1 - 4, 11 and 6 - 8 respectively) and four Strategic Fleets for deployment as the heavy fighting forces to reinforce a colonial Quadrants or take the fight to the NME (5th Honour, 9th & 12th Strategic and 17th Liberty Fleets). A further Strategic Fleet (13th Ghost Fleet) was mothballed as a reserve. Also the formation of dedicated scout flotillas to replace the destroyers in the Strategic Fleets, all destroyers being redeployed to Anti-Piracy and Defence Fleet support roles.

The VN has now had several years of operational experience with the mixed structure for the Strategic Fleet, that is a heavy space combat component and a planetary assault component. Whilst the Strategic Fleet commander was responsible for all operations he had to enlarge his staff to provide for expertise in the planetary assault operations. This is a command overhead that it was found difficult to reconcile as the priorities for the two components of the fleet are on occasions diametrically opposed.

It has also proved too great an overhead on the resources of the VN to maintain a full planetary assault component in each Strategic Fleet and at the same time provide each Colonial Defence Fleet with the capability of delivering ground forces into a trouble spot for police action, e.g. as was required at Binni and Cowboy.

Therefore this reorganisation will address these issues and during 3205 the VN Strategic Fleets will be split into two separate fleet structures.

Proposed New Structure for Strategic Fleets

1: Major Combat Forces - will maintain their current establishment of capital ships, thus they will have an establishment of 2 BBI + 1 CAI + 4 CVI.

2: Fleet Support Forces - these will be reduced to 2 LSSI per fleet.

Proposed New Fleets

1: The new fleets will comprise the planetary assault components from the Strategic Fleets and three new Fleets will be formed.

2: These Fleets will be attached to Strategic Fleets as required, and will have their own specialised command group who will be subordinate to and advise the Strategic Fleet commander on planetary assault operations.

3: Major Combat Forces - as a planetary assault force the major combat forces will be 2 ALSI + 1 TPTI. These will be carrying a Ground Force Corps of two Ground Force Divisions, one of these Divisions will be a Naval Landing Force Division permanently attached to the Planetary Assault Fleet and the second will be detached from the local Quadrant Ground Force command. It is planned that, when resources allow, a second TPTI will be added to each fleet with an additional Naval Landing Force Division to bring the Ground Force Corps up to three Ground Force Divisions in strength.

4: Fleet Support Forces - to provide support for the combat forces the Fleet will have, attached to it on a permanent basis 1 CLI + 2 DDI to provide protection and a dedicated planetary bombardment force and also 1 LSSI to provide logistical support. Logistical support will be increased if/when the Fleet is equipped with a second TPTI.

Conclusion

(I) The aim is to provide 8 Colonial Defence Fleets, each comprising 2 CAI. 2 CVI, 1 ALSI, 1 DDI & 1 LSSI, in each colonial Quadrant. These are Fleets 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 6, 7 and 8 in Quadrants 1 to 8 respectively.

(II) The 14th Home Defence Fleet will be on the same standard as a Colonial Defence Fleet, in Quadrant 0 and allocated to the secondary role of Training.

(III) Each Colonial Defence Fleet and 14th Fleet will have an attached Hunter-Killer Group dedicated to anti-piracy operations, normally comprising 1 CLI & 2 DDI. Additional Hunter-Killer Groups may be formed as required. Logistical support will be provided by attached Star Guard on a rotational basis.

(IV) There will be 6 Strategic Fleets each normally comprising 2 BBI, 1 CAI, 4 CVI & 2 LSSI. These 6 fleets will be 5th Honour Fleet, 9th & 12th Strategic Fleets, 13th Ghost Fleet (mothballed), 16th Reserve Fleet (mothballed) and 17th Liberty Fleet.

(V) The 10th Training Fleet will be on the same standard as a Strategic Fleet and allocated to the secondary role of Home Defence.

(VI) Three Planetary Assault Fleets will be constituted during 3205 - 3207, these being the 15th, 18th and 19th Planetary Assault Fleets. Two will initially be attached to 5th Honour Fleet and 9th Strategic Fleet to project planetary assault capability into the threatened quadrants, the third fleet being attached to 10th Training Fleet and held in reserve. Each will initially be brought up to a strength of 1 CLI, 2 DDI, 2 ALSI, 1 TPTI & 1 LSSI.

(VII) There will be 3 Scout Flotillas, which will be allocated to Quadrants rather than to Fleets, each comprising 3 SCI + 1 LSSI. These will be in Quadrants 5, 6 and 7 until requested by the Supreme Human Commander to be allocated to another theatre of operations. Two additional Scout Flotillas are currently planned to be formed during 3206.

(VIII) The additional forces required to complete this ambitious scheme have already been scheduled into The Republic's Naval Build Plan which currently runs until early 3208, with the exception of the additional TPTI's, and after this the Build Plan will concentrate on improving the quality of the system defence forces.

(IX) For ease of deployment and operation the VN plans its operations around as limited a set of vessel types as possible. The VN doctrine suggests that the use of specialist vessels, particularly in the line of battle, tend to create additional problems for the commander as to battlefield deployment where these specialist vessels require protection to overcome any shortfalls in their capabilities. Therefore the VN relies on BBI & CAI for the line of battle supported by CVI for its capital ships, with CLI & DDI for fleet support & dedicated anti-pirate operations and SCI for scouting.

(X) However, the use of Swarm Multiple Pacifier Ships (MPS class) is under consideration, both for the role of home system defence and as an addition to the Strategic Fleet. A trial vessel has been built to provide practical experience and evaluate the concept in a live environment rather than in a computer simulation.

Commitment to the Supreme Human Commander

The VN will maintain a commitment of 4 Strategic Fleets to the common cause under the Supreme Human Commander plus 2 Planetary Assault Fleets and 3 Scout Flotillas. These forces being 5th Honour, 9th & 12th Strategic Fleets and 17th Liberty Fleet; 18th and 19th Planetary Assault Fleets; and Scout Flotillas 1, 2 & 3 (TFS1, TFS2 & TFS3).

These will be deployed on a basis of:-
a) 5th Honour Fleet, 19th Planetary Assault Fleet & TFS2 in Quadrant 5;
b) 9th Strategic Fleet, 18th Planetary Assault Fleet & TFS1 in Quadrant 6;
c) 17th Liberty Fleet & TFS3 in Quadrant 7;
d) 12th Strategic Fleet is based at Beza in Quadrant 0 as part of the distributed defence of Humanity, but this is under political review.

Economic considerations preclude any major combat force commitment to Quadrant 7 in the short term without assistance from other polities. A Treaty concluded in 3204 with the Solar Republic/Earth Empire (New Venus - Earth Naval Support Treaty 3204) allows for a reciprocal arrangement whereby the Solar Republic/Earth Empire provides support for 17th Liberty Fleet & TFS3 in Quadrant 7 whilst The Republic provides support for the IEN 14th Battle Fleet in Q6.

Under existing treaties The Republic has been receiving support for its naval forces in Q7 from the Union of Xyon and the Wolf Commonwealth and also providing support for the Greater Federation of Asteel naval forces in Q5.

Planned deployment of the Venerian Navy (3205 - 3208)

The VN will, under this plan, maintain 19 Fleets and 5 Scout Flotillas which will be deployed as detailed below.

1st Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 1
2nd Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 2
3rd Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 3
4th Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 4
5th Honour Fleet - Quadrant 5 SHC
6th Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 6
7th Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 7
8th Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 8
9th Strategic Fleet - Quadrant 6 SHC
10th Training Fleet - Quadrant 0
11th Colonial Defence Fleet - Quadrant 5
12th Strategic Fleet - Quadrant 0 SHC
13th Ghost Fleet - Quadrant 0 (mothballed)
14th Home Defence Fleet - Quadrant 0
15th Planetary Assault Fleet - Quadrant 0
16th Reserve Fleet - Quadrant 0 (mothballed)
17th Liberty Fleet - Quadrant 7 SHC
18th Planetary Assault Fleet - Quadrant 6 SHC
19th Planetary Assault Fleet - Quadrant 5 SHC
Scout Flotilla 1 - Quadrant 6 SHC
Scout Flotilla 2 - Quadrant 5 SHC
Scout Flotilla 3 - Quadrant 7 SHC
Scout Flotilla 4 - Quadrant 1 (provisionally)
Scout Flotilla 5 - Quadrant 3 (provisionally