2062 ANNUAL REPORT
A new challenge presented itself in 2062 on the minerals front, where a new crisis must be averted. The mines shipped to Triton over the past several years have created a situation where duranium is now rising steadily, despite a surprising lull in civilian investment on Sedna. However, neutronium is declining just about as fast, down to just over 5.3kt now. When the deposits on Comas Sola were exhausted in February, space diverted all new mines away from Triton and to Reinmuth, which has the largest deposit in the system at over 160kt(excepting Venus where it can only be extracted in trace amounts). Going forward, that plan will be diversified to include several other comets that also have significant deposits of the vital mineral used in almost all aspects of military-related construction. As of now the stockpile's decline has been slowed but not eliminated, and this will be the primary economic focus for now with demand expected to only continue to increase.
SPACE also completed a number of important research projects. The WP NP-200 engine, used for freighters and other large vessels, was finished in mid-January. Unfortunately a clerical error that was not discovered until August delayed retooling the Tod & Macgregor yard for refitting the freighters, but the new Fletcher IV will be a significant improvement:
The big question was how many engines to give it. The ship could be made somewhat smaller and somewhat faster, but given the need to reach very distant locations, three of the new Wawa-Pincus designed engines were given, a total size equivalent to the six smaller engines that the current freighters possess. The result was a notable speed boost, even after the new defensive weapons systems were added.
Size: 36,900 tons(half a kiloton bigger than the Fletcher III)
Crew: 162(56 more, a major investment)
Speed: 813 km/s(+298!)
Range: 51.2b km(+18.6b)
Fuel: 650k(-50k -- the larger engines are more efficient in multiple ways, allowing for a near doubling of fuel efficiency, 6.2% compared to the previous 10.6%).
Of course, it will also take a few more months to build, a total of over a year. This is expected to be the last freighter refit for some time. Only one actually made it to the Fletcher III class, the rest are still one of the Mark II variants. The modernization is much needed, well worth the cost, and can't happen soon enough. The journey to Triton, which presently takes three to three and a half months, will now take two months or a bit less. The deposits on Oort cloud objects are now within reasonable travel range. Other than the most super-distant comets, the entirety of Sol can feasibly be developed.
All of the first-gen space combat systems except for the sensor suites have been finished. Those will not all be finished until 2066, so there will be a bit of a lull. The R&D Summary details the specifics on the numerous prototyping phases that were completed, and by the end of the year investment began again in new general research avenues.
A third development was the completion of a number of industrial tasks. The initial run of Defender missiles, Deep Space Tracking Stations, Ground Force Training Facilities, and the first Spaceport for Earth were all completed. These allowed remaining projects such as the shipyards and maintenance facilities to see increased funding. In naval concerns, four Forrestal IIs are now operational, and the harvester refits will be finished within the next month. It was a good year.
By year's end, SPACE decided the situation was stable enough to seriously(though still secretly) entertain priorities for an eventual return to interstellar exploration. It has now been more than three full years since the return of the surviving ships from Epsilon Eridani, and will be many more before a human spacecraft fires a jump drive in any direction, but it is inevitable that the effort will be made again as soon as practicable. A study group returned with the a series of policy directives completely revamping the exploratory approach.
The Pioneer-class jump scout will not be the vehicle for future explorations. Instead, a carrier vessel will be designed which will monitor operations from the point of the initial jump in-system under the direction of a navy admiral and serve as HQ for the efforts in a system. This carrier will contain a flag bridge for effective command management, enough supplies for a 5-year tour, and docking bays for smaller vessels which will carry out the exploration activities. Geosurvey, Gravsurvey, and salvage vessels will be needed.
This approach will allow for minimal risk, as only a relatively small vessel will be exposed in the event of an enemy attack. Standing orders will be for the carrier to retreat back through the jump if alien presence is detected, stranding support vessels in system if necessary. Those who volunteer for these missions will be required to willingly accept that risk. Using smaller vessels also minimizes the chances of detection, since their detectable emissions will be much smaller than that of the Pioneer.
With what we now know of the aliens, several technologies that we do not possess yet are considered to be minimum essentials, without which SPACE will not proceed.
** Geological sensors can be developed(at a very great cost, twice that of our most expensive research tasks to date) which are capable of not only scanning for resources but also alien ruins. Any evidence of how they live, culture, technology, etc. is valued by the navy to the point where it would be impossible to put a price on them.
** Salvage modules for the purpose of similarly investigating any alien wrecks such as those found in Lalande 21185 are also needed for the same reason, and are not expected to require quite as high an investment.
Due to the amount of resources required and the other vital priorities, SPACE does not expect a mission to be ready anytime this decade. A tentative, and quite likely flawed, goal of being ready to resume exploration by 2075 at SPACE's 50-year anniversary has been set.
Finally, in order to conserve resources and improve efficiency, SPACE is delaying new naval tours for another year until the end of 2063. In this way, the elections and redeployment of military personnel will not happen at the same year and stumble over each other, so to speak.
Earth
January 10 -- The Tod & Macgregor completes a second slipway.
Mid-January -- Another round of Perry refits are completed.
Late April -- The first round of 200 Defender missiles has been completed.
June 11 -- Another first for SPACE as a spaceport is constructed on Earth. As of now, none of the colonies are deemed to be in need of one, so the 20 factories that were working on it are divided between other projects.
July -- Total shipyard workers cross the 10m threshold.
Mid-August -- A clerical error is discovered which mistakenly had the Tod & Macgregor Shipyard continuing to expand its per-slipway capacity(good idea) instead of retooling for the freighter refits(much more needed). The situation has been corrected, but the refitting process will not be able to start now until next year.
Mid-October -- Earth has expanded to five Deep Space Tracking Stations, sufficient of our current needs and providing a much stronger and more thorough ability to detect anything hostile that might be out there. This announcement has a considerable calming effect on the population, though that's really all it does for now as there's no sign the aliens have come into Sol or intend to.
November 2 -- The fourth of the new Forrestals is completed and heads out to complete the pair at the Epsilon Eridani jump point.
Late November -- A second Ground Force Training Facility is completed on Earth.
Research & Development
** January 12 -- The WP NP-200 engine, for use in freighters and other large vessels, is complete. Team leader Everette Snuggs will tackle another vital project, the missile fire control suite needed for an effective missile system. A new contractor, RSJ(Ramsey, Sheetz, and Johnston) has been awarded the deal given their expertise in similar lines of work. The RSJ MFC 81-60 is smaller than the other electronics, 'only' 350 tons.
** May 9 -- Karabishi Juishao finishes HMI 30, missile magazine. Joe Tycho takes over the reduced-size lasers project abandoned when Bavaro retired last year.
** June 23 -- Thermal Signature Reduction(Dr. Edward Groat) has been finished. All new engine designs will include this, which causes less heat to be produced in space by ship engines, and therefore drops the range at which they can be detected. These initial advances constitute a reduction of one-fourth in the normal emissions.
This is a very high-priority branch for the navy, but getting a working prototype of laser-based weaponry going is even more important at the moment. Uihlein-Bechtel Optics Solutions was really the only worthy player in the field. The UBOS 10-1 IR Laser gets the long-sidelined Wayne Sabagh back into the game ... at least for a week or so. Everything in the laser system is very barebones and elemental tech, and it isn't expected to take long.
** July 2 -- The laser is ready, now it needs a support system. Power to begin with, as it's based on energy not ballistics. Here we turn to General Electric, one of the few major corporations to survive(in a greatly lessened state) from pre-war days. Based on the same pebble-bed reactor technology that drives our engines, the GE PBR 1500 is a 25-ton power plant that actually produces energy 50% faster than our laser can use it to recharge, at a price of 4k credits and requiring just a single crewperson to operate. It's a quick project for Rosemary Urenda, expected to take just over a month.
** August 10 -- GE PBR 1500 power plant research is complete(Rosemary Urenda). The RSJ Bullseye 5k, an initial beam weapons fire control, is next on the docket. 5k is the tracking speed, normal size with a minimal 10k range. No available SF specialists, so Curtis Gloster will take a few months and iron out the kinks there.
** August 23 -- Grav Sensor Strength 12(Delmar Ytuarte) has now been completed. Next year EM sensors are expected to hit their next generation and that's when a sensor redesign will be contemplated, no point in doing it halfway. The next item on the agenda is the final piece of the laser weapons system puzzle: a turreted deployment. Sinclair Development Corp. has successfully pitched the SpearPoint series, the first of which is the DL-50, which allows for matching our maximum fire control speed of 5k km/s and two lasers per turret. 17 crew, 7k credits. Newcomer Glenda Alioto gets the call to head up that project.
It's worth taking a moment here to explain the turret situation. Any energy-based weapons system needs to match tracking speed: it's no point in having a weapon capable of higher tracking speed than the software(fire control) can handle for example. Similarly, the weapons system is limited by the speed of the ship. If a ship can't move and turn fast enough, it can't keep a target in the firing arc of a weapon mounted on a hardpoint directly to the ship's hull. This is where turrets come in handy, particularly in a situation like the present one where the enemy has a major speed advantadge. By putting a sufficient amount of gearing mechanisms into the turret design, it is capable of being more agile than the ship itself and therefore matching our current technological fire control limit of 5k km/s. Building a combat ship with anything close to that speed right now would be very difficult if not impossible, but there is a cost(increased materials, size, etc. taken up by the turret component).
This covers all the immediately needed prototypes with one research lab yet free, allowing for a new general research project to begin. Edward Groat gets to work after a brief pause on the next stage in reduction of thermal emissions.
** November 5 -- New research lab is finished and added to Groat's team on reducing engine emissions.
** November 8 -- SpearPoint DL5(Glenda Alioto), the turret project, is now finished.
** November 10 -- RSJ Bullseye 5k(Curtis Gloster) completed. Delmar Ytuarte takes the recently vacated laboratories for work on improving the range of our beam fire control systems.
Commissioned Officers
Late April -- On distant Triton, Herbert Duling ups to 40% politial reliability. It seems nothing can stop him from preserving his political capital, not even health problems and a distant posting.
Early May -- It was destined to happen eventually. Mitchell Feeser becomes the navy's sixth active captain. Just 27 years old, he's over a decade younger than any of the others. He'll take the vacant post at Operations. A few days later, Kendall Muratore becomes the navy's second Rear Admiral. The 51-year-old Muratore is very accomplished, but no threat to Ellie Camble(55) as the navy's chief.
July 10 -- An accident has claimed the life of young, incompetent, and completely useless Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Watters.
August 23 -- Mr. Derick Pinegar(34, some health concerns, experience in most major ship classes though he has never served on a freighter) is the navy's most recent Captain. Fleet HQ now has a full set of staff officers, as he takes over at Intelligence.
