Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

The Lodamese Navy and Marine Corps have long staked their claim to an enduring capacity for expeditionary warfare, as evidenced in the procurement of landing platform docks, amphibious assault ships, and aircraft carriers, yet both services believe that is nonetheless room for improvement. With work currently being done in designing and developing a new series of ships from lower-intensity conflict in otherwise difficult to reach parts of the world, the Lodamese Navy believes that the deployment of amphibious assault ships and LHDs, are in some instances risky owing to the considerable risk these ships are exposed to in said unnavigable parts of the world. In sending out a request for proposals, the Defence Procurement Administration (DPA) on behalf of the Lodamese Navy and Marine Corps highlighted the importance of the need for an adaptable, persistent, and less vulnerable platform for operations in challenging environments where the deployment of larger ships may be at undue risk or considered ‘overkill’ for the mission at hand. Cowgill-Masterson Maritime Engineering (CMME), the nation’s largest shipbuilding firm, won the DPA bid, with its ‘Expeditionary Support Ship (ESS)’ concept, which boasts of a ‘scalable’ option for expeditionary operations. According to a press release from the company, the ESS establishes a new sub-class of vessel which provides the Navy and Marine Corps in particular, with the capacity to bring firepower similar to an amphibious assault ship on station alongside the flexibility to be a forward base for other, independent operations.
 
The Lodamese Navy and Marine Corps have ordered a total of four (4) vessels, which they note will form the backbone of the nation’s expeditionary operations in the often difficult to navigate parts of Dovani, the White Ocean and the Migrant’s Pass. Interestingly, CMME confirmed that the vessel had garnered interest from Kalistan. As was demonstrated during the recent Afterburner Exercise, wherein Kalistani pilots conducted a series of at-sea scenarios wherein they demonstrated the lethality of attack helicopters in low intensity surface warfare action, the ESS provided the nation with a unique opportunity to leverage this advantage against would-be adversaries in the Anantonese Ocean. “Similar to an AAS, the ESS would provide the Kalistanis with a platform capable of hosting helicopters for at-sea action. Beyond that, the ESS is capable of acting as a quasi-command and control node for other ships in the area, particularly smaller vessels, recognising the historic tactics of the nation’s irregular navy,” CMME notes. For the Lodamese Navy, the ESS is primarily being advanced as a platform capable of being a major command and control node for unmanned drones. Being the first nation to leverage the potential of drones at scale, the Lodamese Navy is gradually moving towards being developing and deploying increased numbers of unmanned drones in otherwise contentious areas of the world. Rumours surrounding the development of an autonomous underwater vehicle ultimately align with the Navy’s intentions for the ESS as it believes that it can be the platform responsible for the launch and recovery of such AUVs.