I'm glad to see this is drawing interest from the readership. I hope to endeavor to reward this interest with something worth the while as this project moves along...

It looks super interesting!
As the other thread on game settings is locked, I'll ask here if you plan to include some house rules. I was thinking perhaps of having the first NPR encounter be forcibly hostile, or perhaps all of them?

I don't have anything planned in terms of forced hostility, but since the NPRs are at more or less default distances from Sol (they are all customized so a couple may have home worlds not quite inside that band, I didn't check) I expect the first encounters to be with XCOM-flavored spoiler races and thus hostile. I did waffle back and forth about having a +10 hostility modifier, and I may still add that back in before we meet any NPRs.

I locked the settings/TOC thread in case I wanted to add reference material (ship designs, etc.) at a later date, but I wonder if that material would be better in a separate thread instead and I could unlock that one for general comments? I'm undecided on this matter.

Whoa, never even occurred to me to use X-COM as the inspiration for an Aurora game but you seem to have done a great job in setting the stage! Good luck and fingers crossed no Naval Conferences appear to derail this campaign 

I've wanted to do an XCOM setting almost since I picked up Aurora, it was my first real roleplay setup after my initial learning campaigns but alas only on paper then. I felt inspired by the combination of recent improvements to plasma carronades (i.e., size reduction for more effective plasma fighters) and wanting to publish something after my latest attempt at a WH40K setting didn't really excite me.

As far as Naval Conferences, we have cleverly avoided this problem by styling our space forces after the air force rather than the navy, surely this is a flawless plan, for whoever has heard of such silliness as an "Air Force Conference"? Surely an organization popularly denigrated as "Chair Force" cannot be prone to long, dreary meetings about vagaries of procurement policies, right? 

Looking forward to the inevitable bickering as nations make various demands on the X-Com organization and express their dissatisfaction in quiet months that no aliens were available to be shot.

On the one hand, I've tried to restrain myself on this account until humanity properly makes it into interstellar space, simply to avoid becoming mired down in the early game due to endless bickering. On the other hand, once we reach this point surely there will be inevitable bickering as planets make various demands on the XCOM organization and express their dissatisfaction in loud months as defensive garrisons are withdrawn to shoot aliens and the colonial governors leverage the apparent disinterest in national defense to spark populist movements and ultimately threaten to declare independence if their demands for power and prestige are not granted posthaste?

Or something. 

Looking forward to the inevitable bickering as nations make various demands on the X-Com organization and express their dissatisfaction in quiet months that no aliens were available to be shot.

1961

The spring and summer progressed peacefully as all three powers built up their infrastructure and the superpowers continued surveying the outer system. In October, NASA requested that its S-2 Prospectors be slightly modified. The S-2B Prospector traded some of its fuel storage for spare parts as twice now the geological survey sensor had broken down in the middle of survey work and in both cases the crew had been unable to repair it on the field. As the old Prospectors came back home, they would be mothballed and replaced with the new version.

1962

Rocketdyne introduces their latest engine, NR-1750/8 F-8. Unlike the micro-sized F-7, this one is regular size and encapsulates the latest in fuel economy advances. The result is an engine more powerful than the F-6 while not being massively thirstier. In fact, replacing the F-6 engine on the F-10 Wasp with the F-8 engine, increases the fighters speed from 1666 km/sec to 1944 km/sec while reducing range from 2 billion km to 1.5 billion km. Similarly, the F-11 Hornet would be sped up to 2187 km/sec with a range of 1.8b km. Pentagon does not order the new fighters yet but the designs are kept on hand and it is likely that any new builds will utilize the more powerful engine.

In May, the Soviets introduce the Sapphire Gun Sight N003 to the Krivaks and it massively increases the accuracy of their guns - from paltry 10 percent chance to slightly over 70 percent per shot! It does take over three times as much space, which makes the gunships larger and slightly slower but this is deemed acceptable. With plenty of maintenance capability available, the Kremlin issues the new production orders for two models - the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau model will be produced as MiG-1 and the AS Yakovlev Design Bureau model will be produce as Yak-2. The former will act as an interceptor, catching up American bombers and scouts and other high-value targets, whereas the latter will be the mainstay fighter that will clear out the American fighters from space.

In July, Rolls-Royce catches up with the Americans and the Soviets as the British company unveils their engines, which will power the Commonwealth shuttles to explore the Solar system. Smart enough not to reinvent the wheel, Rolls-Royce also went with three options - the economy engine, the turbo engine and the middle of the road engine. Few weeks later, Commonwealth scientists announce the creation of High-Density Duranium Armour which finally allows Whitehall to announce the launch of their space operations forces, initially to consist of three designs:

Francis Bacon class Geological Survey Shuttle      500 tons       12 Crew       120.7 BP       TCS 10    TH 5    EM 0
450 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 3      Sensors 0/0/0/1      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 5.28 Years     MSP 115    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 7    5YR 103    Max Repair 100 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Morale Check Required   

Rolls-Royce NRE-4.50 (1)    Power 4.5    Fuel Use 57.60%    Signature 4.50    Explosion 6%
Fuel Capacity 93,200 Litres    Range 58.3 billion km (1498 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposesThe Francis Bacon has learned from American and Soviet mistakes and is fully equipped to venture alone into the depths of the Solar system. Ten will be built to swiftly catch up with the superpowers.

Thames class Shuttlecraft      500 tons       4 Crew       15.8 BP       TCS 10    TH 5    EM 0
450 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 1      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 7.51 Years     MSP 6    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 0    5YR 3    Max Repair 5 MSP
Cargo 350   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 15 days    Morale Check Required   

Rolls-Royce NRE-4.50 (1)    Power 4.5    Fuel Use 57.60%    Signature 4.50    Explosion 6%
Fuel Capacity 12,700 Litres    Range 7.9 billion km (204 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Freighter for auto-assignment purposesThe Thames class cargo shuttles will ferry infrastructure and mines to Luna and minerals back to Earth.

Queen class Shuttle      500 tons       1 Crew       43.1 BP       TCS 10    TH 5    EM 0
450 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 4      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0
Maint Life 1.93 Years     MSP 5    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 2    5YR 26    Max Repair 20 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 1,400   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Rolls-Royce NRE-4.50 (1)    Power 4.5    Fuel Use 57.60%    Signature 4.50    Explosion 6%
Fuel Capacity 21,200 Litres    Range 13.3 billion km (340 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Colony Ship for auto-assignment purposesSimilarly, the Queen class shuttles will move colonists to Luna to work aforementioned facilities. Commonwealth shuttle designers correctly surmised that a moderate range, suitable for inner system purposes, is more than enough for these shuttles and instead squeezed a little bit more cargo or colonist space in them, making them more efficient for the Earth-Luna circuit than their American and Soviet counterparts.

In September, Washington announces the completion of a new piece of space infrastructure - the Salvage Station Breaker. It would immediately get to work, dismantling the obsolete American shuttles in Earth orbit. Not only will the dismantling free up officers, crews and maintenance space, it will recycle minerals and fuel. Enraged that his minions did not think of it before, Stalin orders a Soviet version to be built as quickly as possible. Thus, the year ended with the first three Commonwealth survey shuttles busy in the inner system, the Americans building more Wasps and Hornets, B-models of each, and the Soviet Union building up their own fighter strength and slowly surveying the outer system.

XCOM: EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMMAND

Restored and translated for the public record by the researchers of the Interplanetary Radioactive Frozen Beverage Academy




Hello, Commander.

In light of the recent extraterrestrial incursion, this Council of Nations has convened to approve the activation of the XCOM Project.

You have been chosen to lead this initiative. To oversee our first … and last line of defense.

Your efforts will have considerable influence on this planet’s future. We urge you to keep that in mind as you proceed.

Good luck, Commander.

----

On 1 March 2015, aliens came to Earth. Acting covertly, squads of alien soldiers began abducting civilians and infiltrating the halls of power, aiming to overthrow the governments of Earth and establish their own planetary regime. These actions went unnoticed, save for a small council of international observers who quietly gave the order to activate the long-dormant XCOM (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit) Project. Elite ex-special forces operatives from around the world, aided by top-secret technology unknown to any national military at the time, soon found themselves engaged in squad-level urban and rural combat against the alien menace in and around cities across the globe.

In response, the aliens made their presence known to the world at large, launching a series of devastating terror strikes that left cities burning and citizens of every nation lying dead in the streets. The war between man and alien, known to those who fought it as “The Long War”, continually escalated, with XCOM operatives daily fighting and dying in battle against a technologically-superior foe and their human collaborators, the shadowy criminal organization known as EXALT. In those days, the tireless efforts of XCOM scientists and engineers proved the salvation of humanity, reverse-engineering alien technologies and developing new weapons to counter the alien technological advantage. Robotic infantry vehicles, giant mechanized exosuits, adaptive genetic modifications, and the unlocked psionic powers of mankind all made their mark on the battlefield.

Ultimately, the tide turned. The critical point came in November of 2015, when  ten XCOM operatives infiltrated and captured the primary alien military base on Earth, striking the first real offensive blow for humanity. The alien offensive culminated less than two weeks later, when XCOM forces made a heroic stand to defend their own hidden base of operations in a titanic clash now popularly known as Operation Ashes and Temples. After these two battles, the aliens were clearly on the back foot, and though the incursion continued unabated and at times with an even higher tempo than before, XCOM only continued to solidify its position while steadily driving the aliens back.

Final victory came in September 2016, when a reinforced squad of XCOM’s twelve finest soldiers boarded and destroyed the alien mothership. Without any command and control, the alien forces collapsed rapidly, although cleanup operations persisted for several months afterwards. With the threat ended, the defenders of humanity were thrust into public awareness and hailed as heroes. For a great and terrible price, Earth was safe once more.


XCOM in the Post-War Period

While the immediate alien threat had been defeated, a pervasive fear that the aliens might return remained. Therefore, rather than disbanding XCOM the Council issued a new directive: The XCOM Project would now be responsible for building up and maintaining the defenses of humanity against a future alien invasion. Unusually for a military organization, this directive meant that XCOM expanded significantly after the war, not only in numbers of soldiers and equipment but also in areas of science, engineering, and even civil administration through liaison offices with many of the world’s leading governments.

Over the course of the invasion, XCOM scientists had ample opportunities to study alien technologies and had developed their working prototypes in many cases. During the war, most of these prototypes were weapons and other military equipment: laser, Gauss, railgun, and plasma weapons; advanced armor materials based on alien alloys; advanced power sources and gravity-drive propulsion systems; grav-wave and hyperwave sensor systems; and so on. After the war, while development of these systems remained a core component of the XCOM scientific portfolio, greater attention and international funding was given to civilian applications of the alien technology.

An historic breakthrough was made on 23 December 2022, as XCOM scientists demonstrated the theoretical underpinnings of the mysterious new elements used by the alien devices.These theories, dubbed Trans-Newtonian Physics, represented an entirely new scientific paradigm, a revolution even greater than the discovery of quantum mechanics. XCOM engineers soon set about the task of developing plans and infrastructure to leverage these new physics to improve civilian industrial facilities worldwide, which would greatly improve economic output and enable mass production of weapons and munitions based on Trans-Newtonian principles.

In light of this development, the Council convened to once again expand the mission of the XCOM organization. XCOM would become the Extraterrestrial Command, a supranational organization which would lead not only Earth’s military defenses but also guide the Trans-Newtonian industrialization process and even direct new spaceflight ventures to the solar system and beyond. The advent of Trans-Newtonian spaceflight was envisioned as a means to emplace forward defenses throughout Sol and even in other star systems, and perhaps even to take the fight to the aliens if their own homeworld could one day be discovered. As XCOM engineers finalized plans to convert industrial facilities to the new standards, the Council set 1 January 2025 as the date on which XCOM would lead the world into the bold new Trans-Newtonian era.

Good luck, Commander…

----

State of XCOM: 1 Jan 2025

The Council Nations which fund and advise the XCOM organization number sixteen: The United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Brazil, France, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, India, and Mexico. These countries contain a total population of around 4.5 billion, many of whom will work in the new Trans-Newtonian installations that XCOM is responsible to construct and maintain.

XCOM now has responsibility over some 7,200 conventional industrial facilities, all of which are slated for upgrades to Trans-Newtonian standards. XCOM also controls 25 large national laboratories spread throughout the sixteen Council Nations, with plans to establish international scientific collaborations in the continuing search for new applications of Trans-Newtonian materials. XCOM Headquarters itself has been significantly expanded since the Long War, and now is capable of functioning as a spaceport servicing near-Earth defensive spacecraft and satellites. XCOM Headquarters also retains training facilities for XCOM troopers and officers and the infamous Hyperwave Relay which now serves as a deep-space monitoring station. While XCOM is currently capable of building and launching small craft, such as the Firestorm-class interceptors which played a key role during the war, organizational leaders are currently negotiating with Council Nation governments to launch large orbital facilities which could be used to construct much larger spaceships, including large transport vessels and defensive warships.


XCOM Ground Forces in 2025

XCOM ground forces have been significantly expanded since the war, as the nations of Earth constantly demand protective garrisons with the best anti-alien training and Trans-Newtonian weapons that money can buy. These garrisons have been organized into large battalion and brigade formations, which in principle are not ideal for fighting the sort of clandestine, squad-based battles that defeated the alien invasion, but provide a convenient organizational structure for troops who would otherwise be scattered chaotically across the globe. Such large-scale combat formations would also be useful for invading alien worlds, should any be encountered in the future.



Order of battle for a typical XCOM Trooper battalion, composed of four heavy infantry companies and an armored assault company. While the XCOM battalion is a powerful fighting force when concentrated, in practice its subordinate units are geographically dispersed to serve as garrisons for key facilities and institutions in its host nation. In this deployment configuration, the MEC elements form a rapid-response reserve in the event that a particular squad or platoon were overwhelmed by a heavy alien attack.



Order of battle for an XCOM brigade. The key feature of the brigade organization is the pair of rocket artillery battalions. Each Tunguska Rocket Tank is armed with twin turret-mounted Blaster Launchers, which fire projectiles capable of autonomous self-maneuver in closed environments. These therefore provide a significant weight of supporting fire even in dense urban combat environments which usually preclude significant artillery support, although the destructive power of a Blaster Launcher projectile means that caution must still be exercised in abundance.

XCOM deploys several troop types in the field, many of which date from the Long War and remain largely unchanged due to their great success therein. The standard XCOM Trooper is a heavy infantry soldier armed with a powerful plasma weapon and protected by a Titan Suit of heavy powered armor. The Troopers are supported by Super-Heavy Infantry Vehicles, or SHIVs, robotic armored platforms armed with rapid-fire anti-personnel weapons to provide covering fire for advancing Troopers. Heavy armored support is provided by soldiers operating Mechanized Exoskeleton Combat Suits, or MEC Suits, which come in three varieties. The MEC-1 Warden dates from the earliest months of the war, is armed with a heavy minigun and a flamethrower for anti-personnel work, and possesses the thinnest armor of the three. The MEC-2 Sentinel fills an intermediate role, armed with an armor-penetrating railgun and a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher, and possessing a moderate thickness of armor. Finally, the MEC-3 Paladin serves as the heavy armor of XCOM, armed with a burst-firing particle cannon and a portable EMP module capable of disabling alien mechanized units. In the post-war period, XCOM has developed additional weapons and vehicles to support the Trooper battalions, most prominently the Tunguska Rocket Tank which serves as a short-to-medium range mechanized artillery element using its twin Blaster Launchers. Trans-Newtonian antigravity technology has also led to the introduction of high-mobility hover carriers as capable transports for logistical, fire control, and command elements.

XCOM ground forces at the start of 2025 include 44,000 soldiers operating over 420,000 tons of Trans-Newtonian weapons and equipment:

    XCOM Order of Battle: 1 Jan 2025
    XCOM North America (NACOM): Major General Wimpie Delport
    United States Brigade, Canadian Brigade, Mexican Brigade

    XCOM South America (SACOM): Major General Pavel Semenov
    Brazilian Brigade, Argentinian Brigade

    XCOM Europe (EUROCOM): Major General Anatoliy Romanov
    Russian Brigade, German Brigade, United Kingdom Brigade, French Brigade

    XCOM Africa (AFRICOM): Major General Rayhan Sulaiman
    Nigerian Brigade, South African Brigade, Egyptian Brigade

    XCOM Asia-Pacific (ASPACOM): Major General Ye Lan An
    Chinese Brigade, Japanese Brigade, Australian Brigade, Indian Brigade

XCOM currently suffers from a shortage of high-level commanders with adequate training in extraterrestrial combat operations, and has no plans to expand the ground forces beyond their current organization at present. These plans may be subject to change in the future, pending availability of qualified officers or new and improved munitions.


XCOM Orbital Defense Forces in 2025

The XCOM Orbital Defense Forces have their origin in the pre-war Raven interceptor squadrons which formed the first line of defense against alien UFOs in the first year of the invasion. The Raven boasts twin pulse-detonation turbojet engines and a pair of Avalanche missile launchers, and is specially outfitted for high-altitude combat operations of short duration beyond the Karman Line demarcating Earth’s atmosphere from outer space. Despite heavy losses during the first months of the war, Raven interceptors were produced at the highest volume XCOM could afford throughout the war, and two dozen interceptors in four squadrons were in service when the Temple Ship was destroyed. These squadrons remained in service as of 1 January 2025, despite their rather outdated nature as pre-Trans Newtonian combat aircraft.

   Raven class Interceptor     250 tons      1 Crew      20.1 BP      TCS 5   TH 2   EM 0
   400 km/s     Armour 1-3      Shields 0-0      HTK 2     Sensors 0/0/0/0     DCR 0-0     PPV 1.2
   Maint Life 6.15 Years    MSP 20   AFR 50%   IFR 0.7%   1YR 1   5YR 14   Max Repair 5 MSP
   Magazine 8 / 0   
   Major   Control Rating 1   
   Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   Morale Check Required   

   Type 1 Pulse-Detonation Engine (2)   Power 2   Fuel Use 316.23%   Signature 1   Explosion 10%
   Fuel Capacity 2,000 Litres   Range 0.5 billion km (13 days at full power)

   Missile Launch Rail (10t) (2)    Missile Size: 4   Hangar Reload 100 minutes   MF Reload 16 hours
   AN/APG-31 Missile Guidance Radar (1)    Range 1.9m km   Resolution 5
   Avalanche Missile (2)   Speed: 1,200 km/s   End: 242.1m    Range: 17.4m km   WH: 3   Size: 4   TH: 4/2/1

   AN/APS-70 Air Search Radar (1)    GPS 4    Range 1.9m km   Resolution 5

The modern Trans-Newtonian alternative to the Raven is the Firestorm class. Armed with a heavy plasma cannon and propelled by an X-10 gravity wave drive based on alien UFO propulsion technology, the Firestorm is the first combat vehicle capable of true spaceborne operations in human history. A full squadron of six Firestorms were in service by the end of the Long War, all of which remained in service as of 1 January 2025.

   Firestorm class Interceptor     500 tons      4 Crew      31.2 BP      TCS 10   TH 20   EM 0
   2000 km/s     Armour 1-5      Shields 0-0      HTK 3     Sensors 1/1/0/0     DCR 0-0     PPV 2.5
   Maint Life 1.41 Years    MSP 5   AFR 100%   IFR 1.4%   1YR 3   5YR 41   Max Repair 5 MSP
   Lieutenant Colonel   Control Rating 1   
   Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   Morale Check Required   

   X-10 Gravity Wave Drive (2)   Power 20   Fuel Use 223.61%   Signature 10   Explosion 10%
   Fuel Capacity 2,300 Litres   Range 0.37 billion km (51 hours at full power)

   XCOM Plasma Cannon (1)   Range 30,000km    TS: 2,000 km/s    Power 6-1    RM 10,000 km   ROF 30     
   XN/APY-1 XCOM Targeting Computer (1)    Max Range: 30,000 km   TS: 2,000 km/s
   XCOM Small Elerium Reactor (1)    Total Power Output 1   Exp 5%

   XN/APS-2 XCOM Grav Pulse Sensor (1)    GPS 20    Range 3.8m km   Resolution 10
   EM Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 1    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km
   Thermal Scanner (1)    Sensitivity 1    Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km

Given its pre-war air force origins, the rank structure for XCOM orbital defense commanders follows air force terminology (Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, general staff, etc.). XCOM currently lacks any sort of orbital installations capable of large spaceship construction, and talks are underway with the national governments to start up an initiative to develop such capabilities.

----

OOC Notes: It begins! As mentioned in the informational sticky setup post, each update will have its own thread - in part to make commenting easier for readers joining late or catching up, presuming that this AAR actually lasts long enough for such considerations to matter. That goes to say - feel free to comment here, since there is not a dedicated comments thread.

As this is a "conventional plus" start with a fairly low TN tech level, and since in XCOM canon the existence of interstellar aliens is already well-established, I hope to forego the usual oohing and ahhing about the marvels of every new tech advance and instead focus more on the operational aspects of building up a newly Trans-Newtonian humanity. We shall see how this goes.

Now I'm curious what these tank "companies" look like

Just 250-ton things for transport and I'm merging ten of them together to form a tank unit. Probably will add another ten later.

R.I.P. good ol' P-for-pursuit designation

I was seriously thinking of going with the older designations, including Pursuit but decided against it as it would have been anachronistic at that point.

I'm curious about why? Usually I find it's easier to keep a fixed ratio between cargo and colony ships

Ah but these are fighters. So the amount they can carry is quite small in any case and I'm not really using convoys, there's no need for math. Any large movement will take weeks or months anyway so I'm mostly winging it.

R.I.P. lucky number 13.

Space Age America is still superstitious!

---

1960

Soviet surveyors had now found gaseous Sorium in the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Neptune had not been surveyed. If this gaseous Sorium could somehow be harvested and refined, the USSR would never run out of fuel for starships. In January, they built another research lab, for a total of 18. Commonwealth had 10 and the United States had 18. In February, the US improved the efficiency of their maintenance facilities to such an extent that their capability reached 62,500 tons without adding any new facilities - though this would not be enough to cover all the new shuttles that the Pentagon wanted to build.

On 15th July, the Joint Space Command officially marks its first spaceborne combat squadrons operationally ready:




Kremlin has monitored the growing American space power with concern - there are, after all, only 30 Krivaks in space and the Americans now have 48 combat shuttles. However, as there currently are no crises between the two superpowers, the Soviets are content to wait until advances in armour, sensors and powerplants allow them to commit to a technological leap ahead. Meanwhile, Washington is struggling with the maintenance issue. There are barely enough facilities to keep everything running smoothly but there is no room for expansion. The situation could be improved if the obsolete shuttles could be dismantled and Pentagon issues requests to industry partners to that effect. Perhaps some sort of salvage craft could be built to safely dismantle the shuttles in orbit?

In August, the Commonwealth first Spaceport is opened. In the same month, Soviet scientists demonstrate High-Density Duranium Armour and the competing design bureaus get to work. Their work results in four competing models based on the older Krivak designs:

Krivak-M2-10B1 class Gunship      240 tons       3 Crew       17.9 BP       TCS 5    TH 18    EM 0
3647 km/s      Armour 1-3       Shields 0-0       HTK 1      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 0.98
Maint Life 28.06 Years     MSP 34    AFR 5%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 1    Max Repair 8.8 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-107 (1)    Power 17.5    Fuel Use 724.72%    Signature 17.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 23,500 Litres    Range 2.4 billion km (7 days at full power)

Yurga MBP 100mm T-10 Gun 1A10 (1)    Range 10,000km     TS: 3,647 km/s     Power 0.75-0.5     RM 10,000 km    ROF 10       
Sapphire Gun Sight N001 (1)     Max Range: 30,000 km   TS: 625 km/s    ECCM-0     10 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NPO Energomash  PWR-Generator/052 (1)     Total Power Output 0.5    Exp 10%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes
Extremely fast but with a weak gun and limited range, the 10B1 version would be suitable for interceptor duty.

Krivak-M2-10B2 class Gunship      260 tons       3 Crew       19 BP       TCS 5    TH 18    EM 0
3366 km/s      Armour 1-3       Shields 0-0       HTK 1      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 1.65
Maint Life 14.77 Years     MSP 14    AFR 5%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 2    Max Repair 8.8 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-107 (1)    Power 17.5    Fuel Use 724.72%    Signature 17.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 1,700 Litres    Range 0.16 billion km (13 hours at full power)

Yurga MBP 100mm T-10 Gun 2A10 (1x2)    Range 10,000km     TS: 3,366 km/s     Power 1.5-1     RM 10,000 km    ROF 10       
Sapphire Gun Sight N001 (1)     Max Range: 30,000 km   TS: 625 km/s    ECCM-0     10 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NPO Energomash  PWR-Generator/100 (1)     Total Power Output 1    Exp 10%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposesAlmost as fast but with an extremely limited range, the 10B2 version would only be suitable for combat inside the Cis-Lunar space.

Krivak-M2-10B3 class Gunship      350 tons       4 Crew       25.2 BP       TCS 7    TH 18    EM 0
2500 km/s      Armour 1-4       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 2.33
Maint Life 17.62 Years     MSP 34    AFR 10%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 0    5YR 3    Max Repair 8.8 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-107 (1)    Power 17.5    Fuel Use 724.72%    Signature 17.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 37,800 Litres    Range 2.7 billion km (12 days at full power)

Yurga MBP 100mm T-10 Gun 3A10 (1x3)    Range 10,000km     TS: 2,500 km/s     Power 2.25-1.5     RM 10,000 km    ROF 10       
Sapphire Gun Sight N001 (1)     Max Range: 30,000 km   TS: 625 km/s    ECCM-0     10 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NPO Energomash  PWR-Generator/150 (1)     Total Power Output 1.5    Exp 10%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposesClearly slower but still impressively fast in comparison to old shuttles, the 10B3 version could at least strike at American craft in the inner system and they would be hard pressed to escape its three guns.

Krivak-M2-10B4 class Gunship      400 tons       5 Crew       28.9 BP       TCS 8    TH 18    EM 0
2187 km/s      Armour 1-4       Shields 0-0       HTK 2      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0-0      PPV 3
Maint Life 24.04 Years     MSP 104    AFR 13%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 0    5YR 5    Max Repair 8.8 MSP
Kapitan tret'yego ranga    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Glushko RD-107 (1)    Power 17.5    Fuel Use 724.72%    Signature 17.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 36,700 Litres    Range 2.3 billion km (12 days at full power)

Yurga MBP 100mm T-10 Gun 4A10 (1x4)    Range 10,000km     TS: 2,187 km/s     Power 3-2     RM 10,000 km    ROF 10       
Sapphire Gun Sight N001 (1)     Max Range: 30,000 km   TS: 625 km/s    ECCM-0     10 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NPO Energomash  PWR-Generator/203 (1)     Total Power Output 2    Exp 10%

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposesFinally, the 10B4 version has the most firepower with its quad cannon and while its range is just as limited and it is somewhat slower, it can maintain a steady rate of fire long enough to outlast even the most grueling combat scenarios. Kremlin decides to take no action yet and urges the design bureaus to refine their designs a bit more.

In November, Earth runs out of Tritanium. USA has been moving mines to Luna but the Soviet colony is far too small to support mines, a fact that Kremlin wants to change as soon as possible. The year ends with the third American wave of Lunar colonization - the first wave hit 5 million inhabitants, second wave reached 10 million and the goal of the third wave is to reach 15 million - half of whom will work in the mining industry and the other half keeping them alive, healthy and happy as only Capitalism can achieve!