Didn't see an equivalent for the VB6 thread so I thought that I'd start it up.
Recently the Solar Dominion began it's expansion into three of it's neighboring systems, allocating two Gaia class terminating stations to a single planet in each system. All of these planets are host to a number of different mineral deposits, notably Alpha Centauri A-1 which has 5 million tons of accessibility .8 Gallacite. In anticipation of the increased demand for naval garrisons shipbuilding has sped up, with 4 Minotaur Heavy Cruisers being laid down along with 12 Gemini Destroyer Escorts that will be spread among the growing colonies. Current fleet tonnage is around 180,000, most of it in the aforementioned Minotaurs, which mix an impressive missile salvo depth of 25 size 8 SERAPH anti-ship missiles and a passable point defense suite. In the event of a actual battle, however, it's armor is it's greatest asset. 12 layers of protection make the occasional missile leak essentially irrelevant, making operations independent of escorts viable. In the event of a war it is expected that these cruisers will form the bulk of Dominion force projection. A light cruiser design, designed to harass in enemy territory before the main force of the fleet arrives, has begun to be considered as well, though no shipyard is capable of beginning construction for at least a year. Given the inflexibility of current fleet doctrine, which is simply using the large salvoes of Minotaur to deal as much damage to opposing fleets before Gladius Destroyers, armed with lasers, clean up the rest, the NAV-WAR office considers it essential that new avenues be explored as quickly as possible.
