Hutorian Military Finish First Phase of Military Reformation and Modernization
Hutorian Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Frank O'ConnorAfter almost thirty years of reform and modernization efforts Admiral Frank O'Connor, Hutori's top military officer has announced that the first phase of the rebuilding and reconstruction of the Hutorian military has been complete. When the Monarchist Party originally came to power in the early 5370s, one of their initial efforts were pushing the Military Modernization Act, in hopes of rebuilding the Hutorian military to what it once was. This effort has been extremely long, painstaking and arduous, as a full generation of military officers has come and gone since the program began; Admiral O'Connor himself was only a newly graduated Ensign 30 year ago when Bill M-7, the National Defence Preparation Act was originally passed.
Admiral O'Connor laid out the original state of each branch of the military, the effort gone into revitalizing and modernization, and the plans for the continuing program.
State of the Hutorian Royal ArmyIn 5370 on paper, the Hutorian Royal Army had eight field Divisions and five reserve Brigades, these were divided between Armoured, Infantry and a pair of Airborne Divisions. In practice, the military was extremely depleted, to the point most regiments within those divisions battalion sized at most, with significant waste going into empty programs, and the procurement process still being broken from years of government mismanagement. Following the passage of both Bills M-5 and M-7, the procurement process was taken back into the Department of National Defence directly, so the military would not need to go through a seperate government department to obtain their requisition and began a full reorganization of the military from the ground up. The division concept was abolished almost entirely, with enlarged and empowered Combat Brigade Groups, becoming the new largest military unit that would see deployment. The only two Divisions that remained on paper were the 6th Airborne Division, which was merged with Hutorian Special Operations Command to serve as an overall command unit, and the 8th Division, which now served as the headquarters unit of the training units of the Hutorian Royal Army at Fort Carter in Falristan, the chief training camp and headquarters of the Army. Instead of focusing on Divisions, each Combat Brigade Group had three Regiments of combat units, including at least one each of Mechanized Infantry and Armour, and in some cases a special Regiment such as an Airborne, Ranger or Mountaineer Regiment. The support Battalion attached to each Combat Brigade Group included a supporting logistics, intelligence, engineer and headquarters Company. This massive reformation also downsized the overall size of the Regular Active force of the Army, reducing it from eight divisions to six Combat Brigade Groups. The reserves and the Provincial Militias are also widely organized on the same line of the Combat Brigade Groups, though the Provinicial Militia's constitute Regiments are based on individual cities and ultimately up to the provinces to equip, making a disparity between some units between the more wealthier or more military inclined provinces. Most of the equipment has been replaced, thanks to the billions invested through the National Defence Preparation Tax, with General Peter Johnston, the Chief of Staff of the Hutorian Army, stating that the entire regular force has updated military equipment, with the reserves now being focused on. Long term plan for the Army eventually would see the amount of Combat Brigade Groups increased to 12 at most, though sources at DND have stated the new plan for the Hutorian Army is to keep it smaller and more streamlined then before, and relying on the reserves and Militia should conflict come home to Hutori, something not seen as likely with the current close relationship between Hutori and Davostag, and the sleepy nature of the relationship between Telamon and Hutori.
State of the Royal Hutorian Air ForceOf all three major service branches of the Hutorian Military the Air Force has widely been acknowledged to be in the best shape. While the 6th and 13th Bomber Wings, and their HB-0s and HB-22 had long been retired or mothballed, following the decommissioning of the Hutorian nuclear weapon stockpile, most Hutorian fighter aircraft remained at the forefront of their long held technological edge, with the HF-35D Super Blizzard still considered one of the most modern aircraft in the air today. Most of the effort over the past thirty years involved a reshuffle and reorganization of various Wings into multiple bases, with the Air Force focusing on consolidating into the six major Air Forces bases throughout Hutori. Hutori has kept it core of six Fighter Wings, now entirely made up of HF-35Ds Super Blizzards, HF-13AS Snow Hawks and HF-19ECR. A single squadron of the vaunted HF-44A Maelstorm remains in service with the 1st FIghter Wing and serves as the personal escort of both the Monarch and the Prime Minister on their international travels as necessary. The HF-35D, a modernized version of the original HF-35A Blizzard, one of the most exported fighter aircraft in the northern hemisphere, is now the complete workhorse of the Royal Hutorian Air Force. Most of their Air Transportation Wing and Search and Rescue Wings, are going through some level of modernization, though again, the floor wasn't as low as the effort that needed to be placed into the Army and Navy. All training has been sinced consolidated into the 8th Mixed Composite Wing out of General Samantha Carter Air Force in Lagard, which also serves as the headquarters for the Air Force's Officer Corps. Five wings of Fighters are been otherwise identified, three Wings of Search and Rescue Aircraft and 2 Wings of Air Transportation remain. The only question mark remaining on the Air Force remains on whether the Air Force intends on reacquiring their bomber fleets, something sources as the DND have refused to offer any comment on regardless.
State of the Royal Hutorian Navy In the most painful portion of his speech, Admiral O'Connor's assessment on the Royal Hutorian Navy offered little to celebrate. The Royal Hutorian Navy was previously considered the largest and most powerful naval force in the world, consisting over 150 vessels, divided into eight distinct fleets, with six Aircraft Carriers at it's best and a full fleet of nuclear powered submarines that held onto powerful Satanil-IX ICBMs. The Royal Hutorian Navy. Even today, after thirty years of effort and rebuilding, the Royal Hutorian Navy is still a shell of it's former self. When the Monarchists came to power, the Royal Hutorian Navy was held to a dozen and a half Sutton class Coastal Defence Vessels, a dozen Bekenial-II class Frigates, half a dozen Liberty class Destroyers, a trio of Newport class Cruisers. All of the old MacDougall class Aircraft Carrier, Merrick class Amphibious Assault Ships and Bunker class Auxillary vessels were long mothballed and the Mashacara class attack Submarines also forgotten. What had once been eight numbered fleets, on four seperate continents had been reduced to a barely functioning blue water Navy, at best equipped to defend its coastline. Extreme investment and effort has gone into beginning to reverse the damage though everyone in the Navy acknowledges they have an enormous amount of time and effort to go. The Sutton class CDV has all gone through significant modernization programs, and the dockyards in Port Prosperity and Axminister have pumped out a number of Bekenial-II class Frigates, Liberty class Destroyers and Newport class Cruisers, with the original numbers of the Navy doubled in terms of the Frigates, Destroyers and Cruiser, with there now being 24 Bekenial II class Frigates, 12 Liberty class Destroyers and 6 Newport class Cruisers. Admiral O'Connor has stated while the Royal Hutorian Navy will keep their original organization based on the numbered fleet system, only the First, Second and Eighth Fleets would remain in active service, with other numbers fleets to be slowly reactivated as needed and when the Hutorian Navy was capable of serving as more then just within it's local area. Naval insiders have stated that Hutori's next phase for the Navy includes rebuilding at least two Bunker class Logistic Vessels so the Hutorian Navy would be able to deploy beyond it's shores on it's own power, and seeing to the reconstruction of the Mashacara class of Attack Submarines. While the plan is to eventually construct an AAS so that the Navy can begin utilizing Marine Corps again in it's role as an expeditionary force, even the optimistic Naval planner don't see this coming anytime soon without outside help.
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