Kalistani Major History

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Kalistan Conducts Naval Drills along Southern Limit
Focus of exercise is interdiction and impoundment
Yoshimi Station, Suldanor
October 19, 5336


The KRS 345 Frigate fires its 127 mm Main gun at dummy targets who "fail to heed" commands to halt

The Kalistani Regular Navy conducted drills along the Southern Limit in the Ananto Strait this week. According to Regular Navy spokesman Lt Leonard Davis, "The Third Regular Fleet conducted interdiction and impoundment drills as part of a scheduled training exercise along the Southern Limit. These drills will allow naval personnel to practice traffic control maneuver in the Strait, boarding procedures to look for contraband transiting Kalistani National Waters, and disabling tactics designed to slow or stop ships who do not comply with legitimate commands issued by Kalistani patrols. These tactics continue to play a vital part of Kalistani National Defense and are necessary to secure the transit and commerce routes between Ananto and the Mainland."

The entire 3rd Regular Fleet based at Yoshimi Station took part in the exercises along with elements of the 2nd Regular Fleet from Port Swedes. Kalistan has recently refit its navy and drills like this restore tactics that Kalistan's Navy has long left unpracticed. "We view the Ananto Strait as key to Kalistani Security," said Lt. Davis. "Historically, hostile navies have regularly transited the Straits with little ability of the Republic to respond. Following the permanent Closure of the Strait to foreign military traffic and the re-routing of military traffic to the Lourrenne Passage on the east side of Ananto, we have been able to ensure peaceful use of Kalistani National Waters for purely commercial and transportation purposes by foreign nations. The Ananto Strait has been an internationally recognized demilitarized zone for the last 650 years and this security has allowed Kalistan to cooperate with our neighbors in securing peace and tranquility to the seas in our part of the world. We maintain that peace with drills like the ones the 3rd Fleet conducted this week."

The drills included a two day cat-and-mouse wargame between the 1st Destroyer Squadron, flagged by the Kaliburg Class KRS-756 , against a wolfpack of 5 Sativa Class subs from the 2nd Fleet. The goal of the wolfpack: "Sink the Destroyer". The Goal of the Destroyer group was to avoid successful targeting solutions while hunting and sinkingthe subs. Each of the Sativas was equipped with dummy torpedo's that would would acquire their target and signal simulated hits, and meanwhile, the subhunters were equipped with depth charges that exploded near the surface to signal a hit. In the two day game of hide and seek in the open ocean, the Subs eventually came up with a victory less than an hour before the expiration of the time of the game, but not before the 756 had "destroyed" four of the five submarines from the second fleet. "The challenge offered the sailors a bit of friendly competition during the exercise," said Lt. Davis. "The 3rd Fleet thought they had it in the bag before the final Sativa radioed the final solution, "sinking" the Destroyer with a direct hit to the engine room in the aft of the Kaliburg."

As Kalistan's navy, now fully complimented continues to deploy at sea, the Navy has asked the National Government to consider aggrandizing the fleet to include more submarines. "It is something that the Regular Navy is considering, given our national strategic doctrine and tactical emphasis on mobility. The capital ships do bring fire power to the field, and do cut an imposing silhouette on the horizon, but the possibility of encountering a submarine patrol can act as a serious deterrent to other nations who think that Kalistan's surface navy can be easily dispatched. Subs are also less expensive to build than a Destroyer, and this may be a better use of Kalistan's resources going forward."

As for now, the 3rd Fleet has returned from its exercises, and regular patrols along the Southern Limit have resumed.