OOC Source: WikipediaCahtice: The Ministry of War, under the leadership of newly appointed War Minister Valentýn Vašíček, has revealed their development and modernization plan for the Ground Forces of Deltaria. This will mark the first time in over one and a half decade that the Ground Forces will receive special attention in what is known as a "Ministerial Focus". This plan, codenamed the "National Military Ground Initiative" or NMGI will invest over 150 billion into the ground forces over the course of the next decade. This money will however only partially spend on expansions of existing equipment with most funds being exclusively reserved for development of new equipment or upgrades for existing equipment.
The plan is detailed and includes most new projects currently in the works. Several notable projects include for example the development of the "Zeca Phase II" or simply known as the Zeca II. This is a new and modernized variant of the Deltarian Zeca tanks, which is the main main battle tank of the Ground Forces. The phase II will, according to the report, include a modernization of its major weapons systems, a armour upgrade package and the new version of the commander sights. The Phase II package is likely to be implemented on existing Zeca tanks once completed and it is expected that it will take around 5 years to upgrade all tanks in service to the new Phase II package. Another so called "upgrade package" is currently under development for the T-90A's in Deltarian service, with similar upgrades to the Zeca package. These upgrades will likely be implemented in a similar timeframe to those of the Zeca with the notable exception that while the Zeca numbers will be maintained the MoW has ordered 50 additional T-90A tanks with the upgraded package.
The largest part of the "Ministerial Focus" plan is however revolved around the development of new equipment for the ground forces that is partially set to replace older equipment or, in some cases, fills a gap currently inside the ground forces. One such development is the development of "Project 459" which is classified as a "modular amphibious wheeled infantry fighting vehicle and armored personnel carrier" in the plan. This project, under development by PRIME Limited, is seen as a replacement for the BTR series and could perform a variety of missions such as infantry escort, infantry transport, amphibious assault and ground support. In contrast to the BTR series currently in Deltarian service the "Project 459" vehicle will have its engine in the front and a large exit door in the back, something BTR vehicles did not have which was a significant setback for them. Project 459 is still in its early stages and its expected that it wont leave design phase for at least the next 2 years. PRIME Limited has already contracted with the DDS to construct 50 initial Project 459 vehicles with the MoW stating its "dedicated to replacing the current Armoured Personel Carriers with a new alternative if proved to be a improvement over the older models in service."
Besides PRIME Limited another company was named in the plan. The Majatran Defense Corporation, which develops and produces equipment for most of Majatra, has contracted with the DDS to jointly develop a new high-mobility multi purpose military armoured vehicle codenamed "Project 460". This new vehicle would replace the old, poorly armoured and outdated UAZ-469 in Deltarian service and would, according to the plan, be produced in large numbers. Project 460 is already nearing production phase and it is expected that the MoW will order possibly thousands of them once ready, partially replacing and further supplementing the older UAZ vehicles in Deltarian service. This new vehicle would also be highly used for the special forces the ZNZS besides use as a regular infantry transport vehicle.
Besides heavy investments into equipment the Ground Forces will also undergo a costly reorganization which will cost around 4 billion in total. The reorganization was announced following Colonel-General Žigmund Slavik's announced retirement. He will be replaced by Ferdinand Urbánek. This change in the top leadership of the ground forces also prompted a general reorganization with a likely change in doctrine, focussing more on tactics and less on the "superior number" tactics of before and a total overhaul of the training program for new recruits, which will be granted around 200 additional hours in their initial training program and receive basic training in the fields of engineering, parachuting and further training in communication, which would allow the soldiers to better anticipate the actions of the enemy and communicate better with locals in conflict zones. The Marine Corps, under the official wing of the Naval Forces, will also receive a new training program and will launch a recruitment campaign to recruit a additional 2000 marines for their ranks. All this combined will be realized in a decade if everything goes to plan.
Minister of War Vašíček acknowledged the ambition of the plan but stated that "Recent decades have seen immense technological and tactical developments in the Naval Forces and Airforces of our Unified Armed Forces. Today marks the day the Ground Forces will go through that same development and im confident that in the end it will come out as a better force."
OOC Reference materialProject 459: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPK-7829_BumerangProject 460: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPK-3927_Volk