REACTION POOOOST!
Current Economic Issues:
Housing: Major Surplus (+16) (23 population in low quality housing) (1 points of refugees)
Energy: At Capacity (+1) (+3 in reserve)
Logistics: Limited Surpluses (+7)
Food: Major Surpluses (+21) (+8 in reserve)
Health: Steadily Improved (+11) (3 consumed by emergency refugee healthcare)
Capital Goods: Marginal Surpluses (+3)
Consumer Goods: Significant Surpluses (+28) (+5 from private industry)
Labor: Significant Surpluses (+30) (+4 per turn)
Tiberium Processing Capacity (1645/1720)
Yellow Zone
Water: Notable Surpluses (+6)
Okay, so the good news is, the refugee wave is settling down and some of the refugees seem to be flowing into the job market (our Labor trickle is +4/turn, up from +2/turn recently). Energy is low as expected. Logistics is at +7, which is stable-ish for now, especially since we're not planning a LOT more glacier mining. Food and Health are solid. Capital Goods is slim but workable as long as we get something constructive done on it soon.
Politics
Once more in the leadup to the Parliamentary Election, GDI's politics roils and waves turbulently. While less of a concern than the rise of the FMP during the run up of the last election, there remains concerns. In particular, the Starbound Party is worried at the neglect of their given mandates. While it was clear that Seo is following in the roots of his predecessor's priorities in an unrelenting drive towards resource extraction, they are worried about the fulfilment of space station stages being unfulfilled for when election rolls by. More than that, with the Battle of Natuna Isles and the Northern Campaign, the socially-inclined supporters of the institutions worry whether this may lead to a shifting of priorities towards military production and less towards the social and public programs the parties have promised to their constituents.
Hopefully, throwing seven dice at the
Philadelphia this turn will start to reassure the Starbound Party. Though frankly that's probably the station they value
least.
A Grey Population
GDI has typically had a significantly older population than the historical average, and has had to encourage fertility through a wide range of measures, few with any success, especially as Tiberium has ravaged the world. With the situation stabilized once more even as Tiberium mutates, it is clear that GDI must offer its population hope for the future and for their children to live without the threat of Tiberium. Though the Inhibitor Array did its part to make people all across the world– not just GDI's– safer, it's not going to be enough. At this time, the only possible means to truly signal such safety is to build orbital habitat rings or offworld cities.
Now see- THIS is part of the reason we need to start in on the habitat stations ASAP. If we have any space dice to spare after our promises to the Starbound Party, this would be a reason to start using them.
Ground Forces
In the wake of the Northern Campaign and the success of the GDI in what amounts to contest of steel and with the sacrifice of the Arkhangelsk's Fourth and Fifth, there has been something of a minor propagandist coup, as the refugees who continued to stream into GDI territories made the choice to fight in the edge of GDI's holdings and filling new Home Guard formations that were kept at understrength sizes. More than that, the politely overlooked reality is that a significant part of the Home Guard cadre had been those who fought on the other side and brought with them significant skills and capability that can't be overlooked. With the surfeit of applicants, the InOps were able to simultaneously tighten and expand vetting process, not only picking semi-trained recruits but also fast-tracking officer candidates. While this could lead to a propensity of sacrifice and heroics among the Home Guard, revisions of the officer curriculum would hopefully temper them against this inclination. (-2 Labour for Q4 2058 and Q1 2059)
So, they're recruiting more people, which offsets the labor trickle, but more soldiers is good.
The Ground Forces have been forced to push out significant numbers of the next generation sensor suites as they run out of older model systems. Rather than being able to save them for a counterstroke, the Ground Forces are trickling out the systems available as they are needed on the front line. With the operational constraints of the Initiative, the ability to use them for a single concerted strike have almost certainly passed, and the expansion of supply is tantamount to further expansion to NOD regions.
Ah well. I suppose that was more or less inevitable; we just didn't have the funds to do that rollout in the timeframe available. It still does us a lot of good to have the systems, but further expansions of supply are all to the good in the present moment.
Tangentially, the reconstruction of the St. Petersburg Fortress City has begun at the tail end of this quarter. Unwilling to let opportunity go to waste, Brigadier General Rostam Tir expended his influence over the region, as he lobbied for improved internal defensive lines, and the organization of the buildings to allow for armored columns to more deeply penetrate the city's core. While these were already concerns during the initial construction, his measures would turn the city even more towards defense, to the near exclusion of all other interests. (-2 Labour for Q4 2058, Temporary -1 Logistics for Q4 2058)
Okay, so that's not so bad.
@Ithillid , do we get the workforce lost working on this project in 2058Q4
back, is it temporary like Soviet Quest labor usage for megaprojects like roads and dams? Or is that a permanent Labor cost?
Military Priorities- Ground Forces
For the Ground Forces, the highest priority must be the prompt delivery of Zone Armor as soon as possible. With the development of new artillery pieces, they are expecting delivery on a somewhat accelerated schedule, with the aim of drastically reducing the overall shell problem. Third is consumables. While current consumables supplies are enough for smaller scale operations, general operations exhaust supplies quickly.
Currently, the provision of vehicles is generally sufficient. However, many of the existing designs lack the space or other requirements for enhancing capabilities. Though these will require replacements during the coming years, the completion of the refit has mollified these concerns.
High prioritization of the tube artillery. We'd better not ignore that. Notably,
they are listing the new guns before the idea of rolling out new shell plants. That's what we'd hoped for, I think.
Steel Talons
The Steel Talons desperately want to see their current design docket completed in line with the goals committed to in exchange for Tali Jackson. While they see the development of the Havoc as the most potentially revolutionary system currently available, they are also very interested in new weapons and armor technologies, especially the potential of the Ion Cannon system in novel configurations. In terms of truly blue-skies research, they are curious about the logistics of a plasma cannon battery as used by Bintang and where it could be used properly.
"Desperately" is a word that makes me anxious. The Havoc rollout would be easy to commit to, it's just so damn much to do.
With the missile problem well on its way to being resolved– although none would gainsay more supplies being available– the Air Force has reassesed its priorities. The most important of them is the A-16 Orcas, but the Wingman drones are not far behind. Beyond that, Cherdenko's intelligence has led to the Aurora bomber being increased in priority. However, the key systems at this point are not more new airframes but rather new tools for airframes, especially things like the Wingman Drones and other means to increase pilot efficiency.
I just don't think we can really commit to the Aurora this turn without sacrificing too much elsewhere... will look at things.
GDI's naval forces have returned to a point where convoys can expect routine escort, and even attempted blockades can be forced, although not without sacrificing other routes. Though they see the escort carriers with the naval variants of the Orcas as the next major important area to invest in. With the completion of the Busan-Ulsan yard, Point Defense refits are the highest priority– though some among the Naval Command felt as if they've accidentally bit into a lemon, as promises of contemporary laser weapons loomed over the horizon.
Heh. Well, them's the breaks; we couldn't foresee the gacha when we got the project, and it'd take too long to wait for the
next next generation of point defense lasers. The good news is, refitting ships with
better laser turrets probably won't be as hard as refitting them to mount laser turrets in the first place. Kind of thing that can hopefully be done in the background a bit at a time, much like normal warship maintenance.
The Space Force strongly desires the OSRCT concept to move as soon as possible from the drawing board to reality. Additionally, the development of new technologies is an increasingly high priority, as systems to defeat the Ion Cannon network are only likely to proliferate.
I still agree with them, but... fuckit, can't do everything in one turn.
Brotherhood of Nod
Gideon has become more active this quarter, putting pressure on Initiative operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Unlike his larger pushes, however, these sets of pressures harken to his performances in the Battle of Shenandoah Valley– in which more tactically superior forces disrupt and pin smaller GDI elements before reinforcements could arrive. Additionally, he has also introduced new models of the Centurion Walkers and a new and lighter weapons platform. The new Centurion variant includes a new model Biprop cannon, one that seems significantly more stable than anything Stahl or even Krukov had fielded in the recent offensive. Losing none of the firepower of the previous models, Gideon's local commanders used these to close in and destroy GDI's emplacements before withdrawing. In several instances, destruction of the cannon and the Biprop canister led only to a localized conflagration on the Centurion's cannon arm and allowing the mechs to retreat relatively safely.. Meanwhile, the second asset is found out to Gideon's penchant for dramatics, as he has revealed a small (approximately four meters tall) mecha– reminiscent to that of GDI's Wolverine– in propaganda videos found as far away as captured Nod bases in Russia. Not much can be gleaned for now, with the exception of the fact that it carries a pair of modular weapons hardpoints, likely including some allocation for melee armaments, flamethrowers, and the rest of the paraphernalia of close quarters battle for the Brotherhood of Nod.
Huh. The Nod!Wolverine is gonna be a problem if it has jump jets; less of a problem without them because it's a big target for antitank weapons and things like rapid-fire railguns to riddle it with. That stabilized bipropellant cannon is worrying, of course.
Anyway, sounds like Giddyboy isn't out of the war yet, which is as I expected.
And if that does not suffice, Al-Isfahani has a hammer in his disposal. According to latest intelligence, he had gained the moniker of 'Shah of Atom' after it became known that he had been the last in the long line of Warlords to gain the schematics from Persepolis, a joint nuclear research organization between Russia and Iran before the chaos of the first Tiberium War. Unconcerned with fighting dirty, it became known that his bombs were the one who lit up GDI's FOB in the Sinai Valley with nuclear fire. Caravanserai-sourced information corroborated with InOps reasoning that after the destruction of Temple Prime and the dissolution of the Middle Eastern Warlords, he pushed forth in bringing smaller warlords under his control. However, GDI's interests in extraction operations have led to him being put in the inadvertent frontline. Though GDI has no problems beating his forces back, such defeats have been located in the far periphery of his territories.
Also, we know he's willing to go nuclear whenever he starts losing too hard. Gonna be rough.
After years of construction, the current phase of the arcology program has finally been completed. In most circumstances, the openings of the first new arcologies since the Third Tiberium War, would have been a cause for much celebration within the entirety of GDI. Much like the temple pyramids of Ancient Mesopotamia or Central America, arcologies aren't just massive imposing structures, they are a symbol. One of power, of wealth, and of Initiative's commitments to aid its citizens in any way it knows how. However, the current situation is somewhat less than that ideal. The result of the opening has been a slackening of frustrations more than anything else. Additionally, the Initiative First Party and many of its sympathizers have begun making hay about how "Hardworking Citizens" are being excluded. While it has done little more than heighten already existing tensions between the Green Zone populations– none too eager to be ablative armour for what some consider to be the 'Initiative proper' and the Initiative First, it has not seemingly won all that many hearts or minds.
Okay, so this has eased tension, but we need to keep building more housing. I think a phase or two of Apartments should be next because we can walk slowly towards that relatively easily while getting the ICS done, but
ceasing to build housing may well be taken as a sign of bad faith.
[ ] Tidal Power Plants (Phase 3)
With revisions to reduce to simply the most viable sites, focused on completing a handful of plants still in progress, and expansions on existing plants to provide added redundancies. With fusion energy increasingly viable, many of the more minor sites lack enough output to be worth the maintenance.
(progress 154/300: 10 resources per die) (+4 Energy) (Project Eliminated)
The Tidal Power Plants have faced utter disaster. Early in the quarter, as work crews returned to the program, the already placed tidal plants were discovered to have been systematically infested with Tiberium. Rather than abandoning and attempting to salvage the platforms, Seo ordered that they be converted into littoral Tiberium harvesting platforms. This proved to be less than advisable, as the harvesting rigs were attacked all along their length, despite the standard sonic protections that are normally installed on land bound tiberium spikes. Over the course of the three weeks following eighteen of the new rigs were completely overtaken with Tiberium, with a further twenty seven breaking apart in the process. This has left significant Tiberium chunks washing ashore on Blue Zones around the world, and the Treasury with a significant mess on its hands.
In response, the Treasury has ordered evacuations along thousands of kilometers of the coast, and surged containment teams, a standard part of Blue Zone work, to the shores. While this has lead to slowed response to a number of Tiberium outbreaks in other parts of the Blue Zones, these have been, for the most part, fairly minor and far from human habitation. The teams have already contained the worst of the outbreaks, and so far all that remains are smaller pieces coming up and starting small scale outbreaks that can be handled by local forces.
However, the political blame game is still underway. While the entire mess can be laid at the Treasury's feet, it is also something where the Treasury did manage to cover its rear in most aspects. The end result has been that Seo has taken a beating in the court of public opinion, but the Treasury as a whole came out effectively unscathed.
Hm. I wonder what our PS loss was?
The allocation to more shipyards, especially high output automated designs, is projected to hit a number of hard limits in the coming months and years. The closest one is actually port facilities. There is only so much that GDI can handle, even coming through its largest ports. Beyond that, there is only so much cargo that needs to be transported the long distances that cargo ships excel at. With the Initiative having fought multiple global wars that cut the vital sea lanes to nearly a dead stop, there has been massive effort expended to ensure that there is little cargo that actually needs to be carried long distances, much less than the increasingly globalized world of the late 20th century that the Initiative was founded to protect in any case.
Cue to work on the ICS system, but also an observation that we
CAN overestimate the importance of the sea lanes.
The Eritrean mining operation has been a substantial investment for the Initiative. Surging resources to the region have pushed deep into the Red Zone. However, opposition has been stiff. Mehretu's forces have made counterattack after counterattack against the Red Zone mining operations. Thus, over the ground where the first iterations of the MARVs were tested, their successors have fought once again. With more success due to the lack of heavy weapons for the Brotherhood of Nod, the ZOCOM surges forward. However, that is not likely to be the end of local opposition. As befits the Warlord's external stances, the region is rife with infiltrators– and while there are no local civilians, that could only mitigate the problem so much. Already, local operations have countered a dozen attempts to infiltrate GDI lines and positions, and two managed to get deep enough to attack the citadel around one of the forward MCVs.
Good argument for setting up a MARV hub in the area, though it's probably not at the top of our priority list.
[ ] Tiberium Glacier Mining (Stage 11) (Updated)
Attacking the other side of the Sinai peninsula and the former territories of Israel, this glacier mine will be the third of four in the area. With a fairly long overland route, it will be marginally more expensive to manage, but not as bad as some of the proposals for other locations.
(Progress 180/180: 30 resources per die) (-3 Logistics) (additional income trickle [40-60 Resources]) (1 point of Red Zone Mitigation) (1 Stage available)
The operations against the relatively young glaciers in the middle eastern Red Zone have been a resounding success. With little in the way of opposition aside from Al-Isfahani's nuclear strike in the last quarter, GDI has secured the region and pushed forward glacier mining operations. These glacier mines are recent eruptions, typically smaller and more broken up than older growth glaciers found in places like Italy or America. Thus, they are perfect for harvesting as they can be effectively surrounded and mined on all sides rather than relying on a single angle of attack. The only problem that comes from mining new growth are the unstable glacier clusters, where Tiberium could intermittently cause mini-quakes that launches spikes of the mineral upward, making it very risky to send people or machines into the middle of the clusters, leaving large perimeters where there is very little that can be done to abate the growth.
...Unstable glacier clusters... oooh, those sound
rough. That's probably our cue for why Red Zones can't be entirely eliminated with conventional mining equipment, because a big enough mass of tiberium is
really dangerous to get too close to, even if you're armored up and so on.
(Progress 210/180: 30 resources per die) (-3 Logistics) (additional income trickle [40-60 Resources]) (1 point of Red Zone Mitigation) (1 Stage available)
Furthermore, the Eritrean operation has been a bold stroke. Operating often less than a kilometer behind the front lines, mining operations have gone up in parallel with more general harvesting operations. It is very fortunate that there were no catalyst missile launches, else the entire complex being constructed could have gone up in an explosion. However it has proven to be more valuable than many of the existing glacier mines already. With this rounding out the Mecca Complex, it has reached a point of saturation, as has the entire Initiative's refining operation. A single strike could cripple years of developmental work, and leave the Initiative far poorer than it could have been. At the same time, it has become increasingly clear that the Initiative needs to diversify their Tiberium refining locations, not only to try and replace the previous Mobius and Mobius Granger process facilities, but to simply harden the system against attack. Additionally, the simple strain of transporting to and from large centralized facilities is likely to become increasingly problematic if the Treasury continues its focus on single massive complexes.
Future work will be increasingly distant and more remote, with the next keystone operation being an attack up the Congo river, which will be unfortunately logistically intensive and somewhat risky.
Hmrm. Yeah, so that's about it for glacier mining for now. On the other hand, our budget is up to 700+ R/turn, which is pretty good. Next stop is the refinery expansion.
The Albany factory has been completed. With it comes many of the more serious harvesting operations, such as those south of Chicago, or in the Meccan Planned City Complex, supplying a significantly more capable weapons platform and more heavily armored system is likely to be significant. However, the program is already facing cuts, as the development of novel hover systems and harvesting methods is casting doubts on the viability of the overall program. However, even with these new methods, a more heavily armed and better protected harvester now, is worth almost as much as a superior option later. However, it is something that the Treasury has to strongly consider, not only in terms of immediate investment, but long term allocations.
It's probably gonna be a LONG time before the hover harvesters roll out (well, float out) on a large scale, so it's probably still worth pursuing this... but the Labor cost is kind of a bear. Dunno. Using about 5-7 Tib dice to trade -5 Labor and -10 Energy for +25 RpT doesn't seem so great anymore.
[ ] GDSS Philadelphia II (Phase 4)
The project that was never completed by the prewar administration, the fourth phase of Philadelphia will bring yet more critical government systems into orbit and serve as a secure location for parliamentary commissions and panels. (Station)
(Progress 362/715: 20 resources per die) (+3 to all dice, +1 Free Die) (10 Political Support)
The Philadelphia II project has been substantially restarted, but at a slower pace than some would have liked. While there is not a strict schedule for the Treasury's operations, the goals laid out in the four year plan are ambitious, and with the current situation potentially impossible if allowed to lay for too long. Beyond that, there are substantial political pushes. The Starbound party is looking at the oncoming election with significant worry, and while they recognize the advantages of building up administrative and industrial capacity first, they are not ready to give up on putting a permanent population into space before the end of the plan, even if it does not happen before the next election.
Not so subtly hinting that they
really want us to work on
Columbia.
More practically, work has continued on the expansion of the offices for Parliament. Once completed, the first in person meeting of the full parliament is planned, a momentous occasion, as such an event has not occurred since before the Second Tiberium War.
Oof. Brace for impact.
GDI's research so far has discovered that the gas is a distillate of an engineered fungus, one that is apparently quite difficult to grow, and does not produce all that much of the processed gas. Beyond that, the gas degrades relatively quickly, within a few weeks to months, meaning that building up supplies is effectively impossible.
Ahh, that explains it. But hmm, maybe knowing this, we can work on an antidote?
Brotherhood Laser technologies have changed significantly in the last fifty years. Far from the crystal beam lasers of the late 1990s and early 2000s, modern Brotherhood lasers are cheap, effective, and extremely efficient. They have only one key flaw. Hang Fire. On nearly all Brotherhood laser systems in the modern day, there is typically between a quarter second and a full second, depending heavily on the size of the weapon, of hang fire before the system fully engages and spits its photon beam forth. For example, the Spitfire lasers found on buggies, and Venoms, is much faster charging than the Obelisk of Light.
Oooooh, they DO have a weakness.
Hang-fires are very awkward and frankly quite undesirable in most kinds of weapons; they make it very awkward to track a moving target or score very accurate hits. If the amount of hang-fire can be compensated for then at least there's a chance, but this may cool the Navy's enthusiasm for further laser upgrades.
Nod's reliance on tiberium cells to power its laser rifles may make it impractical for us to build laser rifles of our own that compensate; similar issues arise with any of their other energy weapons tech.
...the Black Hand have pioneered a system of power assisted armor. While full, or true, power armor uses the body's movements as little more than guidance, power assisted armor simply uses a semi powered system to hold the weight off of the body, with a form fitting exoskeleton serving as the mounting point for all of the impedimentia of war. Captured copies provide insight into a system that, while not as advanced or effective as Zone Armor, can be used to seriously slim down the armor as a whole, while actually increasing effectiveness, and will likely serve as a second and third line platform for GDI infantry overall.
Well, that helps a bit.
In most battles this has become a constant thorn in the Initiative's side, and with a number of captured missiles, improved home on jam munitions and other countermeasures are not only possible but relatively simple, and can be instituted with little delay.
Better ECCM for our own missiles sounds like something we should work on soon, preferably as soon as it actually becomes available. Could be quite impactful, especially during a major war, but will have diminishing effect as Nod continues to improve.
The first is a somewhat prosaic device, but a critically important one, the Scrin's mining devices. Both GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod operate physical harvesters. The Scrin do not. Their approach is reliant on the nature of Tiberium as a proton lattice. Each tentacle is a combination of electron and neutron projectors, alongside micro force fields. The combination weakens the bonds between Tiberium crystals and allows the harvester to utilize a series of magnetic induction ports to pull pieces of the weakened crystal into the containment vessel. While GDI's version is likely to be significantly more crude than the Scrin's methodology, it should still be a significant upgrade in harvesting technologies, offering between a five and ten percent increase in GDI income once fully deployed.
Another element of the Scrin harvester that GDI has made to work is the repulsor system. The Scrin seem to have broadly two separate approaches to producing flight or effective flight without a form of impulse. The first is their gravitic drives that GDI has already begun developing into something that can be used to unlock the Solar System. The second is a repulsorplate. Repulsorplates are arc field systems that push against a material at some distance. A very similar principle to what the Brotherhood's Banshee and Barghest designs utilize, the current iteration is significantly less refined, requiring both a fairly large plate, and a relatively dense material. However, it is likely to revolutionize field logistics and over the beach operations, alongside a significant number of port operations, as when they are deployed GDI will no longer need nearly so much infrastructure to handle loading and unloading ships.
Noting that
the current iteration implies that repulsorplate technology can be improved on if we develop it. The combination of repulsorplate tech for logistics vehicles (including port operations) and the better harvesters are, yes, very promising.
Further redevelopment and rationalization of the production system has begun supplying more Zone Armor to the front lines. While not enough to do more than ease some of the supply worries of the Zone Operations Command, it does mean that GDI can potentially support one to two more mines before beginning to run into the limits of production and training.
True, though since we're already starting to mine the Eritrean glaciers and that was the last of the lot, we should probably stop with glacier mines for now anyway, especially since there's no easy way to rack up a ton of Logistics beyond what we have now. This does seem to have reduced the pressure on ZOCOM, given us more ability to field Apollos along with Firehawks, and increased overall depth of supply. Good progress, even if it may be a bit before we can afford to do more.
The Pacifier MAV uses four of these cannons, each 125mm in diameter. With the barrels themselves being only slightly longer than the travel of the piston, and only really being there to support the weight of the shell during the first part of the transit, they are notably lightweight, if only having around five kilometers of range, at least on a ballistic course. While a significant upgrade when compared to the Dynamite guns of the late 19th century, it is far from enough for a general purpose artillery piece of the mid 21st century. The solution however, has already been found in the form of glide munitions. Instead of loading a full caliber sonic munition, a subcaliber round can be loaded, and freeing up the rest of the space for other purposes which in this case is a set of folded wings. This turns the projectile into a high speed glider, and one able to deliver relatively precise munitions as far as twenty or thirty kilometers away. While still extremely short ranged by artillery standards– and though the reality of signal interference of Tiberium fields meant that conventional artillery would not be effective at those ranges regardless, it offers substantial advantages in other areas, most notably when operating in heavily Tiberium infested environments in providing heavy fire support without setting off Liquid Tiberium deposit within the earth's crust, and has a blast radius between fifty and seventy five percent greater than a conventional shell of the same caliber.
Hm. I'm surprised that multiple 125mm gun barrels are regarded as a better solution than a single heavier gun barrel, especially given the need for a volume-intensive glider component to the sonic shells.
The Shimmer Shield is a noticeable improvement in survivability. As developed it is a system that requires two key elements. First, a shield generator, and second a series of projectors to shape the bubble. While it will always be a bubble, it can be elongated and shaped to fit the shape of the unit in question. The shield is actually fairly light, and not hugely energy intensive. The expanding requirements of next generation systems, in order to mount the lasers, railguns, and particle beams that have been developing as the future of the Initiative arsenal, do not need to be expanded all that much to include the shield devices.
Okay. The low energy requirements are definitely good news.
In terms of effect, with shield systems, specialization seems to be the answer to strength. There is a clear trade off between cost, specialization, and strength of the shield system. The engineers working on this have run head first into this problem. Tuning for greater diffraction directly reduces the impact on other weapons systems, reducing the effectiveness of lasers by ten to fifteen percent, while letting missiles and particle beams pass through unaffected. Comparatively, tuning the system for particles reduces the impact by around ten percent, but lets through other systems. Finally, a shield tuned to kinetic impact can detonate standard impact fuses as much as two meters short of their target, but does little against standoff munitions, and has problems with heavier, or delayed, fusings.
Problematic. We may be able to do better, but it's kind of marginal as-is. And it doesn't seem to
stop lasers, so much as act as damage mitigation. It'll be interesting to see what the military thinks they can accomplish with this, and where it's worth trying to use it.
While only a few boats have so far hit the waters, the sea of Japan has begun to see a more constant GDI presence. With the boats mostly operating in Blue Zone waters, GDI can detach ever more of its cruisers and other heavy warships for more aggressive patrolling, and forward operations. The hydrofoils are likely to serve, effectively unchanged for quite some time, as while they are vulnerable to many things, they are intended to only be a relative stop gap, with many of their more aggressive roles filled by frigates and monitors, or by increasing numbers of cruisers. But at least for now, GDI is more able to control its immediate surroundings and contest Brotherhood invasions than ever before. Operations like the raid that captured Dr. Giraud during the Third Tiberium War are now effectively unthinkable, and likely to incur severe losses on any warlord bold enough to attempt them.
A good rundown of what the hydrofoils accomplish. Namely, that they are mainly
defensive platforms designed to protect our littoral waters. Meanwhile, other ships, larger and more survivable ones, go out and take the fight to the enemy or escort convoys across the high seas.
However, there is far more left to do. GDI does have a significantly larger existing fleet of heavy ships, and the refits for all of them will be a serious expense over the next six months to a year as they come in for refit and repair. However, it is in the Treasury and the Navy's interest to have sufficient supplies allocated for the refits to begin as soon as a ship enters port, rather than waiting to produce during the refit cycle.
So we need to keep pushing this.
So the biggest priorities that we are being
explicitly hinted in the narration that need to be done for military
right now are tube artillery rollout (Ground Force demand) and naval point defense. Super Orcas are, in my opinion, a close third priority.
Sonic cannons are desirable but maybe not so urgent; ZOCOM can cover more glacier mines than they do, and we're not going to
build more glacier mines right now. That doesn't mean we don't
do sonic cannons right away, but maybe we can settle for slow-walking the project a bit, depending on whether we see one big factory or two small ones.
This, in turn, frees us up to toss a coin to our Steel Talons by doing the Havoc development project... which leads to
something else that will benefit ZOCOM. Also, the Havoc is a close counterpart to Gideon's new light mech, which is good to have on general principles even if realistically our main counter to Gideon's mech is just to drown it in antitank fire from every platform in range whether it's a mech or not.
The Light and Chemical Industry department has been a relatively uneventful security review. However, the department, with its long stint of relative inactivity, has developed something of a party culture. With more hands and fewer assignments, the department has seen little pressure to perform these last nine months, long enough that they have slackened off on many of their procedures. While it is unlikely that this will affect work habits in the long term, it is something that can happen to long dormant operations.
So, basically a null result. Good enough.
