After some chatter with @Blackstar on Discord to confirm Ural details I've readied the new map of our HSR network. The Ural crossings aren't exactly where the map suggests them, but I do not intend to show the gritty details of how the track curves around terrain features.
After the completion of the West Russian High Passenger Rail Network under Voznesensky, rail expansion was put on the backburner for almost a decade while the ministry worked to remedy the abysmal quality of the Soviet Union's road network. With this objective largely completed by 1970, the ministry was free to return to the high speed rail project. This started with a minor expansion to the western network, extending it to north-eastern cities and south to the rapidly growing machine-building center of Sevastopol. This included an impressive bridge over the Kerch strait linking it to Krasnodar.
In 1975 a larger expansion into the Ural region began. The new minister Balakirev radically altered plans made by his predecessor Klimenko: More northern cities west of the Urals were incorporated while the southern line was moved north. This permitted a network density comparable to the West Russian network at the cost of excluding the Southern Urals region, which was slated to be incorporated into a broader Central Asian project. Balakirev initially desired that the Ural project extend to Novosibirsk, but the massive cost of grading and tunneling through the mighty Ural mountains limite the project's reach to Omsk if a reasonable resource and personnel allocation was to be kept.
Turn 87 (January 1st, 1975 - January 1st, 1976): New System, New Plan, and the Same Problems Results
External Politics:
Stabilization of American politics has somewhat come through Ashbrook's inability to commit to much outside of common sense issues and opposition to a perceived image of Soviet interests. His strong stance against any imports from communist nations and a continued discussion of human rights as a justification of anti-soviet action has been denounced as utter hypocrisy when compared to American foreign policy. Direct sales of military hardware to the French military have been consistent alongside the suppression of every form of democratic outreach by the people of South America. The domestic economic situation has also failed to significantly shift as the American economy is only managing strong growth in energy utilization while conventional growth is lagging to approximately two percent per annum when averaged.
A period of stabilization has come to South America with the various dictatorships underpinning their regimes through strong economic growth. The American pivot towards its puppet states has brought them significant opportunities, capturing sections of the domestic consumer market through cheap production. A tentative pivot by Ashbrook to open the markets to South American nations tightly tied into the American block has strongly stimulated local manufacturing and reduced energy prices and easy access to capital has enabled rapid growth comparable to the Japanese example. This is not expected to last, especially given the expected results of rapid industrial growth but if the trade environment continues South America may reach approximate parity by the end of the century.
Chinese changes in government have come through a new central committee called the replacement of old leadership with a new generation of party leadership. Hua Guofeng has taken power, adopting a milder line on the internal economy and social production, reducing the extent of cultural-party work driving towards modernization. Comprehensive economic or social reforms are not expected in any significant way but minor optimizations of the economy to improve turnover are almost expected. The man has discussed at length the Soviet approach towards communism and is expected to be friendlier towards the Union if unwilling to bend to any extent to Soviet interests. If further reforms continue then some economic interests can be fulfilled but it is uncertain to estimate the political willingness towards the process.
Indonesian and Indian progress has been significant with rapid economic growth across both states, if one that can be derived from a nonexistent technical and social base. Education programs have achieved significant improvements in literacy across the population and independent education at all levels has been achieved. Strong industrial development has been key with the mobilization of workers out of the farms and towards strong labor industries, utilizing cheap mass labor to find competitive economic segments. Imports into the Soviet Union are expected to increase with some expectations that national industries in both nations will start pressuring some high-employment enterprises across CMEA.
Fighting in Algeria has not slowed with partisan action forming a key element of Algerian defense against continuous French encroachment. The political will to continue fighting from France is being steadily reduced but it has so far not approached any form of the critical point. The next election is expected to result in a new government as the war is unpopular on the home-front but the new government has only made promises to rationalize commitments instead of starting negotiations. American moves have increased armament sales to the French and opened negotiations with Libya but little practical effects will come from either if current estimates of Gadaffi are accurate. Consolidation of the coastal cities has been protested several times in the UN but it is more for show as the French veto makes any vote perfunctory.
The Sudanese civil war has at this point spilled over into a general conflict between the East African Federation and Ethiopia with units committed across Sudan. Movements across the theater are not expected to be massive or significantly change the balance of power in the region outside the outcome of the civil war. The Federation position is focused on the inclusion of the South Sudanese or at least independence for the region. Conversely, Ethiopia is aiming to consolidate the country and quell unrest in the area through the direct movement of military force as an emergency stabilizing measure. Aid missions have been increased but little will come of the operations involved.
First hints of Middle Eastern instability have come in the form of a second failed election across the Republic of the Levant with the majority of the population withholding from the election to avoid providing any legitimacy. A tentative government was formed, but one that lasted for weeks at best as army units led by the Haganah and associated organizations in effect seized large sections of the state apparatus. Arabic resistance against the coup and consolidation from internal means was sporadic, incompetently led, and mostly pointless as consolidation continued at a rapid pace. Denouncements from the other Arab states occurred within weeks of the takeover, pointing to deportations and crimes occurring during the civil war all while raising the state of domestic military preparedness.
Tepid external responses in providing aid to the new Jewish state alongside a strong Arab response made worse by states immensely armed and equipped from the oil market came to a head. Rapidly formed armies to defend the new Jewish state fought significantly better than expected, defeating units supposedly better organized and far better equipped but resistance was conducted haphazardly. Lack of heavy equipment led to rapid breakthroughs on the Jordanian axis through the assistance of Iraqi forces alongside movements from Syria and Egypt increasing pressure. Following the seizure of Jerusalem and an intensive campaign across the desert, the fledgling state was gone within months, separated between an Egyptian puppet state on the coast and an expanded Jordanian occupation zone.
Expulsion has preceded the fall of the nation with many of those most able to move rapidly fleeing from a mixture of advancing armies and Jordanian control. A new exodus is expected to primarily go towards the Americans with some immigrating to the Union but in practice too few to matter. Once the educated professionals leave, general refugee waves are expected for a few more years even if nothing is done by conquering forces and that is not expected. Egyptian occupation zones have become something of a haven but even those are more of a formality to justify the formation of a puppet state and provide a forward military position against Iraqi and Syrian encroachment. The peace has divided the land amongst the victors, but little of the divisions are planned, defensible, or even hold-able assuming anything outside of half-hearted resistance.
Escalatory moves by both Iran and Saudi Arabia are expected with both states increasing military budgets and influencing operations in the region. The quasi-neutrality of Iraq is questionable as it is between both powers and aiming to massively militarize to prevent an attack from either side. Significant oil resources are present in Saudi Arabia but the state has been politically dominated by American interests historically and any plays to secure oil access are likely to be met with a strong response. Current MFA advice on the situation is a conservative backing of Iran with arms and opening exports and training for Iraqi forces as the Saudis remain the primary arm of American influence on the peninsula. With modernization and armaments programs started for domestic modernization and to protect the Southern flank of the Union.
Rocketry:
Of the unmanned orbital programs those that by far performed the best have been the atmospheric satellites with the full constellation of twelve launched without major issues. Already a full radar picture of the planet alongside further instrumentation has improved weather forecasts and provided a top-down picture of atmospheric formations to improve predictability. Precise prognoses outside of definite rains a few hours ahead are still a major challenge but increasing computing hardware and monitoring sophistication is expected to bridge that gap. Positioning system design has also proceeded well with a standardized high-precision atomic clock designed to be mounted in triplicate to eliminate variance in timings onboard each satellite. Redundant power systems in the form of hardened solar panels are at best going to provide an eight-year lifespan but that is considered more than adequate given likely electronic endurance.
FGB-VA missions have continued to LEO with significant gains made in duration and experimentation with heavy missions authorized and planned for if not yet flown. The capsule itself has been iterated forward with endurance-enhancing equipment mounted into the FBG bus for operations in low orbit. Continued developments have been planned for the use of the combined system as a flexible craft made to maneuver around low orbit, moving crews between theoretical sets of stations. Work on space stations themselves has partially concluded with the current series of disposable stations finished out without much ambitious results. Important experiments for the functioning of plant life in zero gravity alongside health assessments have been done but more dedicated longer duration hardware is necessary for the science to go further.
Mars launches have gone the furthest of all of the ambitious extraplanetary programs in technical development with a viable rover entering testing. Limitations in local power have practically demanded an RTG as a power source with technical development essential to produce one capable of supplying enough power for an advanced rover system. The Galileo program has in itself achieved a significant first with a flyby of Jupiter achieved alongside critical scientific information about the magnetosphere. Radiation around the planet is vast with strong belts located and somewhat mapped, answering several questions and in effect setting the requirements for more advanced electronic systems. Nuclear rocket development has achieved the required ten minutes of static test fire successfully and without technical issues, leaving only the task of preparing the mercury probe and stage to accompany the system.
Infrastructure
Western Deep-water System Updates: Bringing large elements of the Western deep-water system to the standards of the River-Reversal program is a major comprehensive dredging effort. Increasing barge depths and sizes, especially around the coal industry have led to several delays and technical problems in transporting coal cheaply and efficiently. Expanding and upgrading the system can prevent loss of water and allow for even larger vessels to traverse the Union. Stable supplies of coal are unfortunately critical and little can be done outside of logistical simplification. (150 Resources per Dice 174/300)
Dredging programs on the old system have been started alongside expansions to provide for heavier barge traffic. The old system has been logged with heavy silting across several areas with practical depths significantly reduced due to the poor maintenance of routes, but technical work now has more than compensated for. Increased dredging operations for rivers have focused on the establishment of deep water channels through river beds ensuring that heavier vessels can easily traverse them without many issues. Construction efforts have only just started and are expected to last until the end of the decade with steady gains in capacity across the system. Reductions of coal prices to reasonable ones to displace alternative means of energy are almost viable and a continuation of current programs can finally end previous energy shortages.
Moscow Renovation Program: Compared to the original reconstruction of Moscow a far more focused program can be undertaken, taking advantage of areas of accelerated development. Both enterprise districts are in desperate need of expansion, a new stadium must be constructed for the Olympics and several novel elements of the skyline can be funded. A modern city requires a modern appearance and focused programs towards continuing modernization and facade programs can provide rapid improvements to local conditions. This will be paired with a significant increase in Metro throughput and non-express HSR stations, ensuring that Moscow is a modern integrated, and accessible city. (150 Resources per Dice 135/250)
Primary concerns for the development of Moscow are those around the development of further office space for enterprises and the necessity of increasing transit density. The rapid growth of the population alongside strong commuting incentives has strained current systems and without intervention, things are only expected to worsen as development continues. To fix the problem an additional four metro lines have started construction on the primary ring with two secondary ones to improve transit throughput. Further efforts to expand the enterprise district have started with lower-density older housing areas converted to high-density office space to improve economic efficiency.
Grid Stabilization and Expansion: The electrical grid has increased in scale rapidly and to an extent never predicted in the old expansion programs. Current efforts to move around the majority of the power have succeeded but insufficiently and capacity for long-range transmission is still inadequate to say less of local grids. Work to improve the electrical grid is going to be necessary from an efficiency perspective and consolidating the wiring to more efficient unified standards is required to move to a truly modern distribution system. This will encounter several cost increases as local grids are ancient, overlapping, and a consistent fire hazard but modernizations have to proceed. (175 Resources per Dice 121/350)
Initial programs attempting to stabilize the electrical system have encountered severe technical challenges. Non-existent standards for urban power lines have been endemic with many buildings connected into a single pole without much standardization. Standardization efforts to address this have come from the steady implementation of harsher fire standards alongside strong funding for the development of underground power systems. Advances in the development of switching infrastructure have also improved the general efficiency of the power system with low-level construction efforts required to have the longest lead times. Work towards transmission infrastructure has started drafting but funding has not been made available for implementation.
Heavy Industry
Kuzbas Deposit Exploitation(Stage 5/5): Expanded technical work to increase the recovery of coals and secure further energy resources can be undertaken to finalize the utilization of easily available mines. The effort will focus on increasing underground mining of black coals to the exclusion of other local resources to increase energy access. Slower gains in coal demand across the rest of the Union are likely to prevent the need for any radical increase in coal extraction but it remains a critical sector of the energy industry. (300/250) (Completed) (-40 CI3 Electricity -10 Coal +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor)
Continued expansive semi-coke processing has been established to maintain the current supply of coal and stabilize the energy sector. Current gains have taken the form of expanded mechanization and on-site processing of coals to take advantage of plentiful local hydroelectricity. Further advancements will shift towards more conventional cooking, reducing effective yields but offering significant improvements in cost as even an ashier semi-coke can be made cost-effective through the improvements inherent to river reversal. As new navigable channels are carved into the earth, transportation of ever heavier loads of coal can be made cheaper and more viable, revolutionizing the domestic industry. It is entirely possible that by the next decade, the energy crisis will not be solved by some technological miracle but on the back of expansive coal mining to bring forward the vast resources available to the Union.
Initial propagandized 1000Mt targets are expected to be vastly pessimistic with the assumptions of easy transportation provided by the Reversal of Northern Rivers. Current estimates place coal energy as cheaper than any alternative source East of the Urals and economic surface deposits alone can practically supply a new industrial base. Vast fields of brown coals at Kansk-Acisnk can provide a nexus of energy generation that is distributed through HVDC to local cities to supply electricity cheaper than any previous technical project. Kuzbass production increases and more advanced machinery and techniques will provide for local hard coals, decisively solving the question of energy once the barge network is sufficiently established. While future development is hard to efficiently quantify, a pivot towards more efficient power systems can see coal production reach 2,500 Mt by the end of the century.
-Commission on Energy Resources
Domestic Petroleum Industries: Expanding funding allocations to petroleum industries and pushing the latest techniques in extraction and refining will be key to increasing oil production. Tertiary recovery methods need to become common for current wells rather than a specialty technique if oil output is to be maintained at an appreciable quantity. New drill heads and pumps will improve general industry efficiency and enable the recovery of oils that were previously considered nearly irrecoverable using older methods. More importantly, domestic modern equipment can be distributed to Nigeria and Romania improving yield rates. (184/150) (Completed) (-42 CI5 Electricity +3 Steel +1 Educated Labor) (+80 RpY)
Domestic production of modern drilling equipment has taken a vast technical program alongside a comprehensive expansion of the petroleum industry. As technological development continues the industry is expected to broadly retain parity in conventional extraction while lagging in more experimental and unconventional extraction methods. Increasing domestic production has so far almost entirely gone towards the modernizing domestic fields but as the enterprises involved mature and become more capable some international demand will be met. Technologies developed in the process have been focused on the exploitation of the Arctic as the massive deposits expected if not located are expected to power the Union into a new century.
Rocketry
Next Generation RLA Systems: Using all new hardware the original vision for the RLA can be designed for, entirely replacing the second stage with a new high-energy cryogenic one. This would involve a significant lengthening of the craft and the design of a new cheap hydrogen engine but that is technically possible, especially for an upper stage. Replacing the second stage with an entire hydrogen system will improve mass to orbit without radical redesigns of the first stage of the rocket. This is something of the economical solution to modernize the RLA, with only moderate gains in mass to orbit expected. (Nat 1)
Technical assessments of the basic RLA platform have determined that the capability for further improvements of the carrier system is at best expected to be marginal gains from improved guidance systems. The move to a hydrogen upper stage requires a larger diameter vessel to be made more efficient while the engines for both stages are more expensive than would otherwise be delivered. The RLA itself is a perfectly adequate system for the current decade but the industry must move past it to improve efficiency further as further optimization from a closed cycle kerosene rocket has been judged as impractical. Additional costs of handling massive quantities of cryogenic fuels and other extremely cryogenic propellants are expected to be uneconomical, limiting launch vehicles to a single fuel set outside expensive technically ambitious systems.
Long-Term Orbital Nuclear Power: Current generations of space-based reactors have focused on a short service life for the power of a military satellite but more capable longer-term systems can offer further improvements on the concept. A station powered by a reactor capable of generating up to 100kW can undertake scientific experiments previously unheard of for solar-powered systems. Further, long-duration missions to the moon will require the development of power systems more capable than solar and if a permanent base is to be established a reactor program will be instrumental in supplying it with energy. Military demands for high-energy radar satellites cannot be discounted as the capacity to maintain operations in a unified reactor unit can enable constant oceanic overflight and scanning. (-10 RpY Expected) (44)
Programs for a unified nuclear power core capable of sustaining operations for up to five years without refuels and at a high-temperature operation are a considerable technical challenge. Launch mass limitations have directly driven the demand for either a less efficient metal-cooled core or a gas-cooled larger system capable of outputting significant energy but at a high baseline weight. The main goal of new systems is the development of a 20kWe system capable of operations for at least three years with an ideal goal of five years. Technical requirements and development concerns are likely to take at least five years for a viable system, but considerable interest has been expressed, especially for several advanced and electrically powered missions.
Light Industry
Microcomputer Plants(Stage 1/4): With the integration of new fabrication machinery and the rapid increase in productive capacity for new compact microcomputers the industry has reached a question of implementation. Several smaller private and enterprise-focused chip plans exist but nothing on a state-relevant centralized scale. Through investments, six new large-scale fabrication plants will be made, with two specializing in memory and four producing microprocessors. Capacity in two years is expected to more than quadruple with further gains expected through strong funding. Initial integration efforts will be followed by programs for new electronic devices, replacing lower-end Erbrus units with more compact systems. (260/175 Stage 1 Complete) (85/125 Stage 2) (-64 CI3 Electricity +3 Non-Ferrous +2 Educated Labor) (+80 RpY)
Pushing the fabrication and lithographic production industry to its limit with practical maximum capacity orders for two years has very much established a demand base. Current 10um production standards have received a massive degree of interest across several enterprises and economic integration is expected to replace the previous process of calculations entirely. Core concerns for the production of integrated semiconductors have come in the form of three enterprises: Angstrem, Mikron, and Integral have been massively expanded to provide enough integrated circuits for all expected technical demands. These along with the production of memory modules by the same enterprises supported by two instrumentation production plants are expected to form the bedrock of the domestic computer industry during the current plan. Integration of circuits has been moved to several more general instrumentation enterprises, increasing competitiveness and mixed-supply line throughput optimization. Continued work on discrete systems has been funded with integrators branched from Mikron and Integral expected to make the first true generation of Soviet solid-state microcomputers.
Expansive Discrete Transistor Production: Retirement of vacuum tubes from all but most specialty applications has not entirely been completed due to shortfalls in final device manufacturing. Large-scale investment efforts for the production of discrete transistor units that are capable of providing enough basic electronics in conventional applications can make the domestic sector significantly more competitive. Funding will go towards a series of nine plants to greatly expand domestic production and continue growing the basic elements of the electronic industry. Production gains are expected to be massive as electronics can be built on a modern basis. (247/150) (Completed) (-59 CI4 Electricity +2 Non-Ferrous +2 Educated Labor) (+160 RpY)
Discrete transistors are technically uncomplicated devices but devices that are used in a vast number of electronic systems. Forming a plan to entirely move the last two vacuum tube-producing enterprises to entirely transistor production by merging them alongside establishing a further enterprise directly specialized in semiconductors is expected to revolutionize domestic demand-states. Production increases that are planned are vast with metal oxide transistors overcoming old junction types in most roles by 1980. Supporting production for the industry is expected to secure vast markets for components across CMEA where lower labor prices more strongly favor final assembly instead of direct production. Yields of transistors from just the current funding are expected to increase by more than an order of magnitude stabilizing block-wide electronic production and ending the use of vast numbers of obsolete systems.
Consumer Electronics Plants(Stage 1/3): Integration of the electronics industry and the rapid incrementation of its production scale will be key to increasing population prosperity and demand. The initial project will focus on the production of a massive number of new model CRT televisions with integrated cassette player functionality to provide at-home entertainment. These will be accompanied by funding for the development of new audio and music systems that are expected to be released to Soviet workers in the next few years. (423/250 Stage 1 Complete) (173/250 Stage 2) (-58 CI8 Electricity +2 Non-Ferrous +3 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (+150 RpY)
Cassette players and larger-scale integration for PCB production have surged in production as massive investment has come into the industry. Conventional mechanisms of circuit construction are unfortunately labor intensive but still significantly higher paying work for several workers in poorer areas. The mass production of simple integrated boards on assembly lines has been proven with current initiatives increasing the scale more than re-inventing anything. Magnetic cassettes are only just being introduced with several new plans made for devices capable of recording television broadcasts for viewing later. Costs are currently high but expected to rapidly decrease as production improves alongside large integrated televisions bringing modern electronics into the average home. Further efforts to target personal use sectors have already started with three major television-producing enterprises charged with expanding production.
Mixed Textile Industries(Stage 2/3): The greatest asset available to the Union has been its wealth of carbon resources but we cannot continue in that mode of production. Strengthening the further development of industrial chains towards finished products will improve domestic returns and strengthen local economies. Hundreds of smaller cities in the Union have a demand for low-skill manufacturing labor that has yet to be adequately met. Increasing the production of directly chemically derived fabrics and clothes from them will improve domestic self-reliance along with strongly increasing local turnover. (283/200 Stage 2 Complete) (83/250 Stage 3) (-38 CI5 Electricity +3 Petrochemicals +3 General Labor) (+50 RpY)
Synthetic textiles are the future of domestic industry and their rapid expansion has revolutionized clothing design. More durable polymers are better than cotton in most respects with significant gains expected through their increased adoption. At this point the vast majority of domestic production of clothing, much less fibers, is based on synthetic fibers, reducing water use, improving durability, and styles available to the average worker. Current prospects for the production of fibers and textiles have gone through the establishment of sixteen new plants and twenty local textile mills for providing work, raising local production, and providing for near independence for domestic textile goods. High-end segments are still limited in the domestic profile but high mobility fast production goods are more than available domestically.
Expanded Paper Industries: Demand for paper goods has been mostly adequately met in the last decade as incentive funds have strongly improved production. Further funding efforts are still necessary to maintain low prices and stocks of all types of paper goods both for semi-permanent and immediate consumption. Increasing the scope of production will effectively copy over several luxury products that have remained the focus of the private sector and incorporate them into state circulation. Further, increasing the number of paper mills themselves will likely reduce commodity prices and allow for further development. (157/100) (Completed) (-24 CI3 Electricity +1 Petrochemicals +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (+40 RpY)
Mills for increasing the production of paper goods have principally been required through the unconventional growth of several important indices. The demand for personal goods has rapidly increased over the last two plans with the personal paper goods principle amongst it, especially as polymers have revolutionized them. Continued work towards improving production has led to the expansion of several enterprises specialized in the field, expanding state control and increasing the rate of production across the economy. Demand for even more goods is still somewhat strong and further expansions have been proposed even if they are expected to be implemented through incentive funds.
Chemical Industry
Barents-Kara Exploration Drilling: Northern reserves in the Arctic have if anything been passed over through a mixture of technological and investment difficulty. Now that oil demand is sufficient to justify exploration and exploitation, initial efforts must start towards locating reserves and performing test drills of the region. The techniques involved are all sufficiently mature for initial deployments and the industry is ready to meet the significant technical challenge of going towards virgin oil reserves. Yields from initial drills are expected to be minor but proving the techniques and platforms themselves will form a fundamental basis for future oil production. (120/75) (Completed) (-13 CI6 Electricity -2 Petroleum Fuels)
The development of rigs to function in the harshest environments posed several immense technical challenges but the industry has more than risen to the challenge. Developments for floating rigs and the drilling of massive boreholes on an unstable ocean is going to be a high-risk endeavor but massive reserves of oil have been discovered. In the borders of the claimed Barents Sea approximately five billion tons of oil are expected but that is less than reserves in the Kara Sea. Deposits in the area represent somewhere between ten and twenty billion tons of oil, more than enough to meet all current demand and demand into the future. Both deposits are comparatively expensive to start drilling operations on at current petroleum prices, but the technical feasibility of proper field exploration is only improving. Even that is if anything a conservative estimate with higher order estimates ranging into one hundred billion tons if using natural gas equivalency.
West Siberian Petroleum Fields(Stage 6/6): Finalization of exploitation programs on the Western Siberian fields can provide a continued increased stream of gas and petroleum products to domestic industries. Improvements in extraction infrastructure are already underway through strong incentive funds and several previously utilized wells have been able to yield more oil products. Current initiatives will finalize the current plans for the located deposits from the last decade with a new stage expected to be initiated to tap newly discovered reserves. (310/200) (Completed) (-40 CI6 Electricity -5 Petroleum Fuels -5 Petroleum Gas +1 Educated Labor) (+90 RpY)
Drilling operations on old plays have been finalized as the industry continues to modernize and expand in the field. Fractions of lighter oil have reduced in scope with new finds being heavier and harder to extract deposits, but nothing severely uneconomical in a general sense, just more expensive if using the same techniques. Developments in extraction have however more than kept pace as advanced techniques and the start of large-scale tertiary recovery have made even some old wells economic and viable after being entirely written off. New equipment is only expected to help matters, raising overall production across the Union and assisting several fraternal socialist allies in their struggles with energy.
Agriculture
Domestic Meat Programs(Stage 6/10): Continued meat programs to increase the efficiency and scale of integrated processing and production infrastructure will be key to establishing domestic supplies of several meat products. Chickens remain the most efficient and viable protein for mass production with innovations to continue efficiency and thermal improvements essential for producing enough meat. Current plans call for a few hundred new partially modular agricultural units with feed processing integrated to save on costs and enable significant gains in re-use efficiency. (194+15 Omake/200 Stage 6 Completed) (9/225 Stage 7) (-28 CI1 Electricity +2 General Labor) (+50 RpY)
Conventional processing practices have enabled significant gains in domestic meat production to the point that the primary demand for chicken is almost being met. Several new warehouses for the local provisioning of chicken with local food production and slaughter have been built to supply the massive stream of production demanded by Soviet consumers. The majority of beef and approximately a third of pork are still imported but further improvements are expected to reduce the relative balance of transport. Increased water access will provide for an increased variety and quantity of fodder crops while inducing higher rates of caloric efficiency into animal stocks can provide steady balanced gains.
Development of the Middle Volga: Irrigation in the great bend of the Volga has historically been inconsistent and problematic but with the additional flow of water south significant improvements can be made. Direct control of water levels up north is expected to stabilize agricultural yields and eliminate any dry years in the basin, improving Soviet agriculture. Current efforts will focus on the increasing allocation of water and the use of more intensive irrigation allowing a final decisive separation from the climate issues that have historically plagued local agriculture. (120 Resources per Dice 94/200)
Lacking funding and a lack of experience working on further water projects has hampered local development as many of the skilled workers that would otherwise be available were shifted towards the reversal of the Northern rivers. Technical work still proceeds with irrigation channels dug out to be used in combination with reservoirs to improve local water storage and provide for significant amounts of agriculture in the region. Full diversions of the river water have just started construction with two separate agricultural bureaus lamenting the lack of investment into new programs. Several in the Supreme Soviet have criticized the initiative as a betrayal of agricultural policies that were previously promised, with several local delegates wavering in support.
[]Deny any Promises: The farming interests are at the best of times irrelevant and can be entirely ignored without any issues. Making the promise and then refusing to do anything outside of conventional development of agriculture will cause some to be frustrated with current progress but nothing that needs further intervention as it is expected that various interests will forget about the problem in a few months.
[]Commit to a Water Program: To excuse current under-performance the water program can be expanded further to increase the extent of tamed rivers and provide for minor power production and a strong increase in water access. Regulating flow is expected to produce massive gains in crop consistency and the availability of practically unlimited water is key for rapid agricultural development. (Development of the Middle and Southern Volga, the Dnieper, and Upper Ob must be completed in 1977)
Services
Computerization of Finance: Copying Western developments and enhancing bank transactions and their responsiveness will be key to the foundation of a modern banking system. Automatic machines for the retrieval of deposits can be combined with updated inventory systems for Gosbank branches to reduce the reliance on standard tellers and reduce errors in banking. The largest efficiency gains if anything will come from the partial networking of banks together and the use of standard formats and payment codes to simplify overall financial instruments and provide a CMEA reliable and somewhat impartial transaction system. (212/200) (Completed) (nat 100) (-14 CI2 Electricity +1 Educated Labor) (+80 RpY)
The technical feasibility of a high throughput clearing system capable of handling transactions both in telex and more advanced forms while enforcing standards has long been proposed but never implemented. Taking a line on the necessary modernization of the interior and the construction of such a system to maintain parity capabilities with American systems, a general block-wide development program has in effect started. Forming a supranational clearing and settlement backed by Gosbank for all euro trades outside the block incorporating the five largest national banks has been achieved with new standards expected to be implemented by 1978. This is expected to revolutionize transaction standards across national borders, making cross-bank orders simple, standardized, and far more reliable than before to encourage trade and business. Mild technical modernizations have proceeded with some gains, but the true revolution has been conducted in concert with the MFA, effectively separating finance from American institutions and practices.
Basic Programing Training Programs: Outside of some engineering specialists and graduates who are particularly invested in computers, few are capable of operating them to any degree of skill. Incorporating basic training courses into the curriculum for all electrical engineers alongside creating a new two-year specialty program can produce a steady supply of personnel that can work around computers. Practical effects of the program are unlikely to be felt in the current plan but an established training and qualification system will enable enterprises to judge candidates and select those capable of performing basic computational work. (102/100) (Complete) (-12 CI2 Electricity +1 Educated Labor) (+20 RpY)
Instruction for ALGOL variation systems has already existed on the enterprise level but further work in teaching it has started. This has been accompanied by more modern domestic derivatives that are expected to form the core of local computing with some specialty courses developed to integrate foreign developments. In practice, much of the knowledge in the field is directly borrowed from a mixture of enterprise developments, isolated academics, and borrowed techniques from Western applications. Development of the understanding of computing itself is expected to come into major focus as new departments are formed and matters move from an individual gate-level understanding to take advantage of generalized processing that is increasingly on the horizon.
Unification of Computing Standards: Voznesesnky era standardization on a bastardized version of ALGOL was adequate for a time. Still, domestic computation has more than moved to a new era with new languages and operating structures developed to expand the sector. Some concepts have been borrowed from Western developments but standard operational systems, peripherals, and programming bases can be insisted on for the new generation of solid-state systems. Costs to port things over to a new standard will be significant but the savings over the next decade are expected to be far greater even if computing does not significantly expand. (100/100) (Complete)
Primary work towards improving domestic standards for computing has involved a deep assessment of required future capabilities for programming and the need for a general-purpose standard. To that end, a variation of initial Voznesensky-era developments was advanced in the form of imperative function-centered programming that could be easily understood and applied. Variable programming has been integrated with a default weak association to enable new programs to run on rationalized and minimized hardware. Work by the Kiev Institute has been incorporated alongside several advanced developments enabling new computers to function more simply and capably than their predecessors. Standardized connectors for accessories have also been designed, with several input devices expected to be developed for them.
Enterprise Support Services(Stage 1/3): The multitude of consulting offices, bureaucratic structures, and general communications infrastructure necessary to develop a modern economy is massive. Developing several enterprises focused on the direct improvement of consulting services alongside business-focused outreach and communications will equalize the environment and provide further opportunities for growth. Even basic financial management services are in demand for smaller enterprises and current efforts will be something of an expansion and standardization of financial and general consulting programs to provide economic access for all enterprises. (442/150 Stage 1 Complete) (292/175 Stage 2 Complete) (127/200 Stage 3) (-40 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor +3 Educated Labor) (+60 RpY)
Small enterprises and businesses in lower tax codes have typically faced significant shortfalls in integration due to a lack of access to expertise. Taking advantage of the copious number of students and their typically cheaper prices for performing services, several specialized enterprises have been founded to provide services to other enterprises. Most of these are consulting on technologies, building maintenance, cleaning, and some aspects of financial management. Utilization is already significant with a curious impact of large enterprises preferentially hiring services over organizing them internally as a means of reducing costs. Continued programs are expected to focus on the general service sector, creating new capabilities that allow enterprises to focus on their specialties over general-purpose employment.
Expanding Roadside Logistics(Stage 1/2): Current infrastructure aimed to deal with the increasing utilization of cars and roads in general has been under-invested. Now that the road network is being used, limited points for the distribution of fuel and regular goods to drivers have been lacking and so far primarily conducted through the private sector. Funding programs in the area can provide a more stable supply of fuel to drivers and provide a degree of stability for internal commerce alongside direct improvements to the quality of life in small towns. Developments in the area will be cheap, with most costs coming from the increased use of labor. (210/125 Stage 1 Complete) (85/150 Stage 2) (-12 CI2 Electricity +2 Petroleum Fuels +3 General Labor) (+40 RpY)
Small stores with storable goods alongside general automotive goods focused on the sale of fuel have already been established but widening their extent has greatly improved accessibility. Stations at major sites and in remote areas have been established to make the network more usable with some minor services for serving truckers that are moving cargo. These are more conventional rest stops with integral areas to sleep and habitation alongside showers and more general-purpose goods. In practice, both initiatives are expected to lower the cost of transportation and improve the general throughput of the economy by minimizing bottlenecks.
Population Distribution Programs(Stage 1/5): Direct-to-consumer supply programs were attempted in the last plan but fell short of funding and bureaucratic allocations. Continuing the program and merging it into a more comprehensive overhaul of the services sector, significant gains can be achieved through the rapid development of primary distribution infrastructure. Basic grocers remain the primary priority to provide the average soviet worker with a considerable variety and supply of agricultural products. Specialty distribution stores for everything from tools to furniture can be constructed afterward, ensuring a balanced supply of goods to most citizens. (316/200 Stage 1 Completed) (116/225 Stage 2) (-15 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor) (+30 RpY)
The rural-focused part of the program has been easier to complete than the rest of it with the initial program partially merged into a greater system of popular distribution. Four new enterprises focusing on long-storage goods and basic general-purpose food items have been established and distributed deep into rural areas to focus on providing general-purpose goods within walking distance. Increasing car use has somewhat compensated for good urban design but it is neither universal nor universally usable to depend on for matters as important as population supply. Further programs to build on the initiative are focused on the expansion of already established enterprises to expand jobs and provide an increasing quantity of goods to local consumers.
Bureaucracy
Select a Deputy: Now that the political situation has stabilized, the time has come to work closely with Ryzhkov to select a deputy and pass the change in administration. This will involve the prolonged interview of several of the candidates, with each coming from an economic-administrative background over a scientific one. Still, the candidates are competent and educated in mathematical economics leaving few questions on their qualifications. (22)
Working with Ryzhkov to find an acceptable deputy has immediately run into several issues, the man himself is convinced that the ministry is best served by practical technocrats and scientists rather than politicians. This works well for stability and a continuation of performance, especially as any new deputy can directly be transferred towards the performance of critical work across the Union, but this represents severe political shortfalls. A practically unconnected idiot from somewhere in the countryside is not going to be politically useful to the ministry no matter how tightly connected he is and may as well be dead weight. Saying as much to Ryzhkov has been a challenge of phrasing, but four candidates that are acceptable to both have been identified.
[]Lyudmila Andreevna Zemlyannikova: An unconventional decision but Zemlyannikova has a comprehensive education in economics and a doctorate in social sciences and has taken charge of several major developmental projects across Moscow. Coming from the basis of the development of population infrastructure and the necessities of industrial infrastructure with several papers published she is adequately capable with a significant political base in Moscow. Her party background appeals somewhat to some of the old Semyonovites but only partially so as she is both decisive and conservative in personal politics. Outside of her Moscow connections she has little experience in high-level politics and would likely be weak even after a decade in the post. (+2 Infrastructure Dice)
[]Stepan Alekseevich Shalayev: A conventional engineer from the light industrial sector who has been responsible for elements of the food program and several high throughput consumer applications in the Ural region. His administration has proven competent in coordinating two large enterprises before a more politically focused career with excellent reports of performance and the ability to improve efficiency. Currently fairly young and with experience nearly exclusively in industry he is politically incapable but perfectly suited to administrative and technical tasks. Moving him to work in the light industry sector can expand production opportunities and continue to increase general productive investment. (+2 Light Industry Dice)
[]Vitaly Petrovich Provotorov: A graduate of electrical engineering who has so far administered significant areas of the passenger rail program before transferring to conventional electrification on the Union level. Provotorov has the largest degree of experience with railway developments and a distributed base that has left his name known, if not well across the entirety of the Union. Capable of administration and a proven capable manager after taking up the locomotive and machine building industries in Leningrad, he has achieved a name for himself in efficient management. Politically he has said little with votes in line with a conventional party member, tentatively aligning to Ryzhkov but avoiding any large committal actions. (+2 Infrastructure Dice)
[]Ivan Ivanovich Gladky: Graduate with a doctorate in chemical engineering with a specialty in process design Gladky is experienced and capable of fulfilling the essential role of supplying more energy for the Union. He is somewhat young but with a record of two tours of military service along with significant work in chemical production industries and a good record of management of process production, he at least understands basic process design. Personable if unconnected to the extent of high-level politics outside of Saratov he would very much be a junior deputy but one capable of learning the most important aspects of the position. Further, expanding trustworthy capabilities to expand the petroleum industry will be crucial for meeting current energy needs. (+2 Chemical Industry Dice)
Modify Patent Laws: Opening domestic regulations for foreign patents and providing increased benefits for patents that are in active complete utilization are both expected to increase domestic technical innovation. Forming a plan for doing so will take some time as there are several criticisms of the action from the left, who advocate for reducing the rewards for innovation. Instead of such a course comprehensive reform can modernize the domestic technologies industry and provide enterprises with a profit-motive to develop new technologies and techniques. (57)
Broad loosening of patent laws and their interpretations has been in practice implemented even if legislation is more confused. Domestic ones have been somewhat extended across several categories to reduce the outflow of developed technologies and local techniques. Improvements in derived work have also followed with local alternatives to intellectual property only considered infringement if directly replicating with principle type patents considered unprotected in effect if not law. Replication of foreign efforts is expected to be done on an enterprise level with techniques learned through any source providing an avenue of cleaning through local development if necessary. Completed processes themselves are protected, but little now stops steps or principles from being extracted.
Japanese Technologies Access: Negotiations with major Japanese enterprises on the establishment of manufacturing and formal agreements for combined efforts in the Far East are critical for development. The Soviet market remains a massive driver of technical demand and progress, letting in a few enterprises can provide significant gains. Developing high-technology industries near Vladivostok is expected to improve local trade balances and form a critical area for technical development. (66)
Technological cooperation and more formal transfer agreements have been somewhat limited by American operations, but the limited movement of capital stocks to improve local economic access was comparatively easy. The establishment of Japanese factories with local workers has been implemented without too many issues in the Far East, bringing tens of thousands of jobs and a significant industrial base without the demand for further capital investment. Vorotnikov made some cursory comments with continuous criticism from Ashimov until the man was escorted out for breaches of decorum. Practical transfers are expected to be minimal with even Zimyanin coming out in support of the localization calling it representative of a second wave of capitalists providing not just rope but an entire rope factory.
Discuss Terms with Zimyanin: The Stalinist is competent enough and willing to talk, unlike Ashimov who had several conniptions over natural political change and absolute exclusion from any reasonable governance. Terms discussed are primarily going to be in the form of bilateral aid alongside a close working relationship to further improve productive standards in the USSR. Zimyanin has managed to successfully attack Vorotnikov's left flank and that is only likely to continue as the latter pivots closer to unionism. (41)
Zimyanin is an ardent supporter of several inherently Stalinist principles of government, advocating for single decisive decision-makers alongside comprehensive campaigns to sweep corruption. Thankfully for all involved, the man has made his political niche and has little ability to move outside of it due to the current positions of the majority of conservatives much less other factions. More practically for the economy, collaboration in effect involves concessions and support in several critical areas of economic development through the elimination of social parasitism and a return to stimulatory labor. Both are not against the interests of the ministry as an increase in workforce participation no matter how voluntary can pose a strong stimulation effect towards economic activity. Socially, Zimyanin is not against the relative hands-off stance currently taken, only advocating for harsher penalties for hostile propagandists.
[]Spurn Outreach: Zimyanin is going to sabotage relations with the right wing of the coalition and more importantly alienate any old backers of Semyonov in the party and state. Ignoring him now and making a few noises of tepid support will cause something of a loss and fail to return the favor provided but it's not outside of expectations. He has a portion of voters, but none that are going to tear down the ministry over saying no to further support outside backing irrelevant votes.
[]Reform Labor Standards: The man did provide support during a critical moment and gave him and several important enterprises in the construction sector something that can be mutually beneficial. Increasing the commitments for prisoners unwilling to be reformed or even making sentences contingent on years of labor can be key to raising enthusiasm. Vorotnikov is unlikely to oppose reducing crime through increasing penalties and the rate of voluntarism is only likely to increase.
[]Agitate for a New Social Law: Coming down harsher on capitalist and Western propagandists through the introduction of clauses involving increased punishments along with mandatory sentencing for smaller offenses can discourage the practice. If someone spends a year laboring for a decade sitting in prison doing nothing then their propaganda can become outdated or they can become minimally useful to society. Because of the current composition of the Supreme Soviet, giving Zimyanin control of drafting and then not passing it can be just as good, as it is almost certain anything he makes will not pass the body.
Open Oil Imports: The fundamental and easily comprehensible truth that local reserves cannot meet energy demands is clear to anyone with a functional brain. Supreme Soviet delegates are not burdened by such a condition, considering the energy demand a matter of increased extraction rather than one of comprehensible physical limitations. Arguing for a line for the preservation of domestic energy resources and taking advantage of low international prices while developing parallel drilling capacity can guide several to correct votes, authorizing the large-scale purchase of energy from Iran, Iraq, and the Arab Emirates. (94)
The acceptance of the Economy passing the stage of development where local petrochemical resources were sufficient was to an extent expected by everyone on the presidium. The decision to open imports from select Middle Eastern nations was met with some controversies, but the support of the MFA and MoD in the matter practically eliminated any criticism. Oil exporting nations have significant economic challenges in structure that are papered over through strong exports that are only growing stronger in a relative sense with initiatives made to match their demand profiles. Direct trade with oil-producing nations in Euros has already been somewhat established with current deals focusing on the construction of pipeline infrastructure through Iran and to Iran. Further work with Iraq is expected even if the primary area of interest in the various Gulf States remains politically unreliable.
CMEA Energy Coordination: Providing formal aid to CMEA to increase local energy production now can be considered a key project for increasing energy independence. Rapid incrementation in coal production along with policies aimed at purchasing small quantities of heavy oil products for domestic refining can provide a basis for interconversion and European energy independence. Massive reserves of brown coal are available for energy and ensuring that Europe can develop its vast energy reserves will secure the current growth from fluctuations in petrochemical prices. (58)
European coal is the bedrock of a stable and sustainable energy policy and increasing its implementation as rapidly as possible is expected to significantly improve energy stability. Coordinating bodies to raise energy production and provide for the increased development of local brown coals have been authorized with technologies and industrial goods provided to expand energy capabilities. Drives for European energy demand to be met locally instead of through imported oil have already been a major concern for much of CMEA and current programs represent the best hope for it. Coordinated transnational programs for increasing coal production and transportation are expected to be in effect by the end of the decade, with the doubling of brown coal extraction expected by 1985. German initiatives have even gone further, with six 7 kt/d liquefaction plants ordered to harden Europe against energy supply shocks.
Start CNG Programs: The Union has vast reserves of gas that are only now being significantly utilized as previous efforts have lacked in technology and sophistication to take advantage of it. Programs to start the conversion of several primary transportation methods to CNG fuel along with some limited LNG testing can be undertaken and subsidized, encouraging commercial transportation fleets to convert. Fuel costs domestically only mildly favor CNG but that is unlikely to continue and if oil imports begin at scale then the political justifications for energy independence can be somewhat utilized. (42) (Some CNG Projects Opened)
Tentative respect for long enough to get a legislative CNG program through the door was given with the proposal heard and not explicitly rejected. Limitations in the extent and implementation of a currently underutilized fuel were dramatically over-estimated by the Energy Committee of the Supreme Soviet, as they were convinced that the infrastructure build-up would throw the entire plan out of order. Tentative programs for a small parallel system have passed without issues with partial consensus that the largest gains of fuel conversions rested with transportation and commercial networks over personal ones. Busses with predictable routes could be moved to a hybrid fuel system over diesel, saving fuel in standard operation through gas injection. Experimental cases for natural gas-powered aircraft and the mass issuance of car conversion kits were in effect delayed until more information became available, information that the committee would if anything ignore and make the same requests about.
Assess the Supreme Soviet: With the rapid reorganizations and the practical collapse of Semyonov, some picture of politics is going to be critical to obtain. Closed-door negotiations before the start of the plan have given some perspective but little relevance with the rapid re-alignments that have hit across the entire system. Factional blocks themselves are known to an extent but precise positions and the lines taken by each of the members are a practical and effective unknown. A minister going around may arouse some suspicions but a reputation for tireless service to the Union has its advantages. (67)
A comprehensive overview of the Supreme Soviet through direct work with a mixture of local delegates and the men responsible for bringing factional voters into line has brought something of an accurate picture of politics. The remnants of Semyonov have been of prime interest with Vorotnikov significantly moving to secure them all while losing some of his flank to the Stalinists. On the right Ryzhkov has enacted something of a cordon against further right-wing moves and started proposals for continued economic modernization, not significantly moving his position or delegates around. If anything, Ryzhkov is still more influential on the regional soviets even if Vorotnikov has rapidly gained power in the Supreme Soviet.
12 Hour Moratorium
AN: My Lovely Fiancé @FantasticMsFox is running for council, going to toss in my recommendation to vote for her
Hello, everyone! After some (extended and rather unfortunate) delays, we have our list of candidates for election to the Community Council for this coming year. They have been listed in the poll above in a randomized order. Owing to the number of dropouts this year and to avoid delaying the...
Comrades! After a paltry 16 hour accounting shift and pretty much missing the vote I have at last completed
THE BIG LIST OF EVERYTHING THE MINISTRY HAS BUILT AND/OR DONE (as of 1978)
Now you too will be free to have thoughts such as "Hey, I remember that project!" and "Blackstar, is Ordzhokinidzemash haunted by the blood of innocent dead in 1975?" and "Oh god, why the fuck did we take 25 years to plug the phone lines in?"
Infrastructure
Rail
Rail Connections to Planned/Closed City States (1929)
Refurbishment of the Trans-Siberian Main Line (1932)
Siberian Rail Line Expansions (1949)
Ural Rail Lines (1935)
Expand Western Rail Networks (1940)
Central Asian Rail Lines (Stage 1) (1951)
Central Asian Rail Lines (Stage 2) (1952)
Caucus Rail Lines (Stage 1) (1951)
Caucus Rail Lines (Stage 2) (1952)
Branch Lines (1953)
Passenger Rail Network (Western SU) (1962)
Western Passenger Rail Expansion (1973)
Passenger Rail Network (Ural Region) (1980)
Modernization of Rail Stock (Coal) (1930)
Buildup of Rail Stock (Diesel, Far Eastern Sector) (1933)
Buildup of Rail Stock (Diesel, North Siberia) (1934)
Buildup of Rail Stock (Diesel, Western Regions) (1938)
Over-Build Rail Stock (1941)
Experimental Line Electrification (1957)
Ninth Plan Rail Electrification (1975)
Tenth Plan Rail Electrification (1980)
Create Trolley Lines (1940)
Bridge Reinforcement Efforts (1942)
Create Metro Lines (1943)
Further Metro Lines (1947)
Primary City Metro Lines (1952)
Secondary City Metro Lines (Stage 1) (1955)
Secondary City Metro Lines (Stage 2) (1955)
Secondary City Metro Lines (Stage 3) (1958)
Secondary City Metro Lines (Stage 4) (1959)
Secondary City Metro Lines (Stage 5) (1962)
Integration of Communter Rail (1970)
Begin Rail Gauge Conversions (Poland) (1944)
Secondary Rail Gauge Conversions (Poland) (1945)
Primary Rail Gauge Conversions (Germany) (1945)
Secondary Rail Gauge Conversions (Germany) (1947)
Secondary Rail Gauge Conversions (Balkan) (1949)
Modernization of Old Track (1953)
Western Soviet Union Double Tracking (1954)
Cargo Rail Modernization Program (1974)
Road
Bitumen Road Programs (Stage 1) (1936)
Bitumen Road Programs (Stage 2) (1936)
Bitumen Road Programs (Stage 3) (1937)
Road Programs (Stage 4) (1941)
Construction of the Paved Road Network (Stage 1) (1948)
Construction of the Paved Road Network (Stage 2) (1951)
Construction of the Paved Road Network (Stage 3) (1954)
Construction of the Paved Road Network (Stage 4) (1956)
Construction of the Paved Road Network (Stage 5) (1960)
Trans-Siberian Road (1964)
Western USSR High-Capacity Roads (1964)
Western USSR Regional Roads (1968) Western Local Roads (Stage 1) (1978)
Ural Region High Capacity Roads (1966)
Ural Regional Roads (1969)
Caucuses High Capacity Roads (1967)
Caucuses Regional Roads (1968)
Central Asian Regional Roads (1969)
Central Asian High Capacity Roads (1971)
Far Eastern High Capacity Corridor (1973)
Create Bus Lines (1938)
Expand Bus Networks (1942)
Worker Transportation Initiatives (1941)
Homefront Road Clearing (1942)
Expand Road Repair Cadres (1946) Automotive Infrastructure (Stage 1) (1978)
River
Buildup of the Riverine Fleet (1930)
Port Buildup in Nikolaev (1931)
White Sea-Baltic Canal (1939)
Unified Deep Water System of European Russia (1946) (Megaproject)
Unified Canal System (Step 1) (1961)
Unified Canal System (Step 2) (1966) Western Deepwater System Updates (1976)
Modified River Reversal (1983)
Hydroelectric
Dnieper River Systems (1928)
New River Systems (1931)
Stalingrad Hydroelectric Station (1933)
Angara River Systems (1938)
Russian Run of the River Systems (1951)
Ukrainian Run of the River Systems (1952)
Kazakhstan Dam Systems (Ablaketka+Serebryansk+Shulbinsk) (1956)
Cheboksary Dam (1957)
Sayanogorsk Dam (1965)
Krasnoyarsk Dam (1965)
Bratsk Dam (1965)
Ust-Ilimsk Dam (1965)
Boguchany Dam (1965)
Zhiguli Dam (1965)
Bureya Dam (1965)
Zeya/Nizhnekamsk/Votinsk/Chirkey/Kolyma Dams (1965)
Amur Cascade (1975)
Amu Darya and Syr Danya Hydroelectric Cascades (1975)
Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk Hydroelectric Zone (1980)
Water
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 1) (1945)
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 2) (1950)
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 3) (1952)
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 4) (1954)
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 5) (1959)
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 6) (1964)
Water Distribution Systems (Stage 7) (1972)
Far-Eastern Water Reservoirs (1970)
Normal Hydrological Stabilization Measures (1970)
Advanced Hydrological Stabilization Measures (1970)
Electricity
Power Line Construction (Stage 1) (1931)
Regional Interlinked Grids (Ural) (1934)
Regional Interlinked Grids (Black Sea)(1934)
Regional Interlinked Grids (Western Region) (1936)
Regional Interlinked Grids (Siberia) (1939)
Regional Interlinked Modernization (1940)
Linkage of the Unified Grid (Stage 5) (1956)
Rural Electrification Campaign (Stage 1) (1948)
Rural Electrification Campaign (Stage 2) (1948)
Rural Electrification Campaign (Stage 3) (1953)
Rural Electrification Campaign (Stage 4) (1955)
Rural Electrification Campaign (Stage 5) (1957)
Expansion of the Unified DC Grid (Stage 1) (1948)
Expansion of the Unified Grid (Stage 2) (1950)
Expansion of the Unified Grid (Stage 3) (1952)
Expansion of the Unified Grid (Stage 4) (1954)
Expansion of the Unified Grid (Stage 5) (1959)
Renovation of the Unified DC Grid (1949)
Power Grid Expansions (1969) Grid Stabilization and Expansion (1976) HVDC Grid Islands (1977)
Housing
New Housing Developments (Stage 5) (1944) (Megaproject)
New Housing Developments (Stage 6) (1947) (Megaproject)
New Housing Developments (Stage 7) (1952) (Megaproject)
New Housing Developments (Stage 8) (1954)
Rebuild the Old Units (1948)
Updated Second Generation Housing (Stage 1) (1956)
Updated Second Generation Housing (Stage 2) (1957)
Updated Second Generation Housing (Stage 3) (1957)
Seventh Plan Housing Construction (1965)
Eighth Plan Housing Construction (1970)
Ninth Plan Housing Construction (1975)
Tenth Plan Housing Construction (1980)
Oil
Oil Power Production Campaigns (Stage 1) (1942)
Oil Power Production Campaigns (Stage 2) (1943)
Power Production Campaigns (Oil) (1944)
Power Production Campaigns (Natural Gas) (1944)
Power Production Campaigns (Oil and Gas) (1952)
Domestic Petroleum Industries (1975)
Surveying
Hydro Project Surveys (1946)
Nuclear
Experimental Reactor Programs (1953)
Test Reactor Complex Construction (1959)
Eighth Plan Nuclear VVER-500 (1970)
Ninth Plan Nuclear VVER-500 (1975)
Tenth Plan Nuclear VVER-500 (1980)
Ninth Plan Nuclear Systems (1975)
Tenth Plan Nuclear Systems (1980)
Atomash (Stage 1) (1972)
Atomash (Stage 2) (1973)
Atomash (Stage 3) (1974) Atomash (Stage 4) (1978)
Photolithography
Semiconductor Fabrication (1970)
Second Generation Lithography (1973)
Expanded Semiconductor Production (1974)
Green Energy
Tenth Plan GEP (1980)
Rocketry
Bureaucratic
Sort Out the OKB Structure (1950)
Establish Military Connections (1950)
Recover from Korolev's Sabotage (1950)
Unify the overall Program (1959)
Start International Programs (1965)
Outreach Programs (1965)
Patent Transfer Systems (1965)
Publicly Provide Atmospheric Information (1966)
Allow Enterprise Bidding (1967)
Replace Glushko (1969)
Increased Commercialization (1969)
Intercosmos (1969)
Expand Intercosmos (1973) Consolidate the Program (1970)
Formalize Peaceful Competition (1973)
Platforms
Rocket Plane Development Programs (1950)
Second Generation Space-Planes (1955)
Third Generation Primary Engines (1954)
Dedicated Upper-Stage Engines (1954)
R7M Program (1954)
R7M-0PKA Program (1958)
R7M Interplanetary Boost Stage (1958)
Modernization to the R7U Carrier (1959)
RLA Expansion (1959)
Expand RLA Program (1961)
Rationalization of the RLA (1963)
Vostok-Replacement (1963)
FGB Spacecraft (1963)
RLA-Interplanetary Stage (1964)
RLA Block Modernization (1972)
Next Generation RLA Systems (1974) Superheavy Launcher (1977) Lunar Upper Stack Programs (1978)
Infrastructure
Kapustin Yar Expansion (1950)
Yeraliyev Cosmodrome (Stage 1) (1951)
Yeraliyev Cosmodrome (Stage 2) (1954)
Line to Yeraliyev (1952)
Moscow Rocket Construction Plants (Stage 2) (1951)
Dnepropetrovsk Rocket Construction Plants (Stage 2) (1955)
Development of the Stalingrad Plant (Stage 1) (1958)
Development of the Stalingrad Plant (Stage 2) (1959)
Development of the Stalingrad Plant (Stage 3) (1960)
Stalingrad Plant Expansions (1966)
Hyper-sonic Wind Tunnel (1962)
Cosmodrome Expansion (1963) Launch Pad Expansions (1978)
Missions
Authorize HIgh Altitude Probes (1951)
Sputnik-Mission Program (1954)
Start Cosmonaut Training (1957)
Start Luna-Probes (1958)
Venera Program (1959)
Mars Program (1959)
Luna Propulsive Landing (1960)
Communication Satellites (1962)
Formalized Moon Program (1964)
Atmospheric Data Satellite Program (1964)
Expanded Luna Program (1964)
New Crewed Programs (1967)
Jovian Programs (1968)
Outer System Probes (1968)
Revise the Outer Planets Program (1970)
Mars Sample Return (1971)
Mercury Exploration Program (1971)
CMEA Payloads (1971)
Expand Interplanetary Missions (1974)
Research
Launch Exotic Propellant Programs (1951)
Large Combustion Chamber Test Project (1954)
Novel Materials Testing (1954)
Long Duration Storable Fuel (1954)
Staged Combustion Experiments (1956)
Determine the Next Launcher (1958)
Vacuum Testing of Survival Options (1958)
Communications Satellite Testing (1960)
Manned Capsule Program (1958)
Ballistic Capsule Program (1960)
Hydrogen Engine Programs (1960)
Vacuum Electronic Development (1960)
Abort Program Enhancement (1961)
EVA Suit Programs (1962)
Orbital Docking Systems (1962)
Light Launcher Programs (1969)
Nuclear Drives (1970)
Inflatable Section Experiments (1972)
Station Program (1972) Expanded Station Programs (1976)
Orbital Telescope Program (1974)
Positioning System Programs (1974)
Long-Term Orbital Nuclear Power (1975) Reusable Launchers (1976) Orbital Operations Concepts (1978)
Light Industry
Forestry
Village Logging Services (1929)
Lumber Mill Expansions (1943)
Engineered Wood Production (1972)
General Goods
Electric Heating Plants (1936)
Glass Production Plants (1942)
Fluorescent Bulb Production (1947) Durable Goods Program (1976)
Pharmacology
Pharmaceutical Plants (1934)
Pharmaceutical Plants (Sulfa) (1936)
Sulfa Drug Expansion (1940)
Further Pharmaceutical Expansions (1947)
Medical Sector Modernization (1959)
Pharmaceutical Industry Modernization (1972)
Electronics
Radio Plants (Military) (1935)
Expanded Radio Plants (1937)
Expanded Radio Plants Further (1939)
Infantry Radio Production Plants (1944)
Meter Production Campaigns (1952)
Computers
Expansion of Vacuum Tube Production (1947)
Small Batch Computing Plants (1950)
Next-Generation Computing Plant (1954)
Computing Plants Modernization (1958)
Hybrid Packaging Development (1961)
Expanding Computer Production (1963)
Monolithic Integrated Circuit Development (1964)
Self-Aligned Gate Prototypes (1967)
Expansive Discreet Transistor Production (1975)
Calculator Commercialization (1964)
Second Generation Calculators (1973)
Microcomputer Plants (Stage 1) (1975) Microcomputer Plants (Stage 2) (1976) Microcomputer Plants (Stage 3) (1977) Microcomputer Plants (Stage 4) (1978)
Food Industry
Vladivostok Small Shipyards (1930)
Canning Plants (1931)
Vitamin D Production (1944)
Salt Iodization (1944)
Chest Freezer Production Plants (1948)
Refrigerator Plants (1955)
Kitchenware Plants (1958)
Modern Foods Production (Stage 1) (1966)
Modern Foods Production (Stage 2) (1966)
Modern Foods Production (Stage 3) (1970) Third Generation Food Programs (Stage 1) (1977) Third Generation Food Programs (Stage 2) (1978)
Domestic Goods
Standardized Furniture Plants (1944)
Basic Electrified Home Appliance Plants (1946)
Second Generation Furnishings (1971)
Expanded Furniture Industries (1974)
Electrified Appliance Production (1962)
Light Home Appliance Plants (1969)
Light Home Appliance Plants (1973) (Yes, again)
Prefabricated Housing Plants (1952)
Air-conditioning Plants (1953)
Heat Pump Plants (Stage 1) (1962) (Failed)
Air Conditioner Plants (Stage 1) (1962)
Air Conditioner Plants (Stage 2) (1963)
Air Conditioner Plants (Stage 3) (1963)
Air Conditioner Plants (Stage 4) (1966)
Air Conditioner Plants (Stage 5) (1970)
Air Conditioner Plants (Stage 6) (1974)
Television Production Plants (Stage 1) (1956)
Television Production Plants (Stage 2) (1957)
Television Production Plants (Stage 3) (1961)
Color Television Modernization (1973)
Home Supplies Production (1971) Modernization of Home Electronics (1977)
Chemical Goods
Large Nitrogen-Fixing Plants (1934)
Fertilizer Plants (Stage 1) (1947)
Fertilizer Plants (Stage 2) (1952)
Fertilizer Plants (Stage 3) (1957)
Fertilizer Plants (Stage 4) (1961)
Sulfuric Acid Plants (1937)
Pesticide Production Plants (Stage 1) (1949)
Pesticide Production Plants (Stage 2) (1955)
Pesticide Production Plants (Stage 3) (1956)
Pesticide Production Plants (Stage 4) (1960)
Stabilization of Agrochemicals (1973)
Lanthanide Refining Programs (Stage 1) (1970)
Expanded Ammonia Plants (1971)
Natural Gas
West Siberian Gas Basin Exploitation (Stage 1) (1954)
Central Asian Gas Basin Exploitation (Stage 1) (1954) Central Asian Gas Fields (Stage 1) (1976)
Central Asian Gas Fields (Stage 2) (1976)
Central Asian Gas Fields (Stage 3) (1976) West Siberian Gas Wells (Stage 1) (1977) West Siberian Gas Wells (Stage 2) (1977)
Centralized Gas Pipeline Construction (Stage 1) (1955)
Centralized Gas Pipeline Construction (Stage 2) (1956)
Centralized Gas Pipeline Construction (Stage 3) (1957)
Petrochemical Pipelines (Stage 4) (1961)
Power Production Campaigns (Oil and Gas) (1955)
District Gas Heating (Stage 1) (1958)
District Gas Heating (Stage 2) (1961)
District Gas Heating (Stage 3) (1961)
Seventh Plan CCTG Plants x4 (1965)
Ninth Plan CCTG Plants (1975)
Tenth Plan CCTG Plants (1980)
Ukrainian Oilfield Developments (1965)
Eighth Plan CCTG Plants x3 (1970)
Gas Infrastructure (1972)
Power Plants (CCTG) (1973) Power Plants (CCTG) (1974) Power Plants (CCTG) (1974) (Yes, again)
Agriculture
Agronomy
Creation of State Agricultural Academies (1929)
Creation of new Bureaus of Agriculture (Apolitical) (1929)
Agricultural Institutes (1959)
Agronomy Institutes (1967)
Education for the Farmers (Farming) (1929)
Statistical Land Management (1935)
Set up a Weather Bureau (1935)
National Agricultural Survey Initiative (1954)
Tractor Certification Programs (1955)
Start Preparations for Virgin Land Settlement (1956)
Foundation of SOEs in the Virgin Land Belt (1958)
GOST Standardization (1960)
Agricultural Insurance Enterprises (1966)
Combined Agricultural Methodologies (1967)
Agricultural Grants (1968)
Topsoil Preservation Programs (1969)
Equipment & Supply Set up Fertilizer Distribution Systems (1935)
Farming Supply Programs (1941)
Agricultural Prefabrication (1943)
Expand Grain Storage Systems (1947)
Crop Duster Production (1947)
Secondary Agricultural Production Plants (1948) Enterprise Supply Management (1960) Farming Supply Provisioning (1963)
Second Generation Herbicides (1964) State Storage Enterprises (1965)
Third-Generation Pesticides (1967) Increasing Mechanization (1969)
Water Supply
Irrigation Technique Evaluation (1970)
Water Management Programs (1972) Development of the Southern Volga (1976) Development of the Upper Ob (1976) Development of the Middle Volga (1977) Development of the Dnieper (1977)
Peasantry Issues
Education for the Farmers (Political) (1930)
Harsh Land Reform (1930)
Voluntary Cooperative Construction (Stage 1) (1930)
Voluntary Cooperative Construction (Stage 2) (1930)
Voluntary Cooperative Construction (Stage 3) (1934)
Voluntary Cooperative Construction (Stage 4) (1936)
Voluntary Cooperative Construction (Stage 5) (1937)
New Socialist Towns (Stage 1) (1931)
New Socialist Towns (Stage 2) (1931)
New Socialist Towns (Stage 3) (1933)
New Socialist Towns (Stage 4) (1936)
New Socialist Towns (Stage 5) (1938)
Modernization of old Villages (1931)
Grain Price-Shifts (1933)
Reverse Reporting Policy (1940)
Siberian Farming Cooperatives (1942)
Plants
Start of Seed Irradiation (1932)
Peoples Dietary Initiatives (1961)
Expanding Rural Production (1961)
Agricultural Diversification (1962)
Agricultural Intensification (1964)
Second Generation Seed Program (1966) Universalization of the Food Program (1968)
Seed Programs (1970) Vegetable Production Modernization (1974)
Livestock
Modernization of Animal Farming (1934)
Expand Factory Farms (1938)
Expansions of Factory Farming (Stage 3) (1953)
Expansions of Factory Farming (Stage 4) (1954)
Expansions of Factory Farming (Stage 5) (1955)
Expansions of Factory Farming (Stage 6) (1956)
Expansions of Factory Farming (Stage 7) (1957)
Expansions of Factory Farming (Stage 8) (1958)
Domestic Meat Programs (Stage 1) (1965)
Domestic Meat Programs (Stage 2) (1966)
Domestic Meat Programs (Stage 3) (1966)
Domestic Meat Programs (Stage 4) (1973)
Domestic Meat Programs (Stage 5) (1974)
Domestic Meat Programs (Stage 6) (1975) New Preserved Meats Program (1978)
Expansion of Dairy Production (1951)
High Energy Animal Feed Initiatives (1956)
Secondary Agricultural Production (1961)
Farmers Markets (1971) (Ominous Doom Critfail)
Local Meat Production Grants (1974) Funding for Local Beef (1978)
Expand Pacific Fishing (1937)
Pisciculture Experiments (1937)
Fish Farming Ponds (Stage 1) (1944)
Fish Farming Ponds (Stage 2) (1949)
Fish Farming (Stage 3) (1952)
Fish Farming (Stage 4) (1955)
Rural Program
Rural Restoration of Belarus (Step 1) (1943)
Rural Restoration of Belarus (Step 2) (1946)
Rural Restoration of Belarus (Step 3) (1946)
Rural Restoration of Ukraine (Step 1) (1943)
Rural Restoration of Ukraine (Step 2) (1944)
Rural Restoration of Ukraine (Step 3) (1946)
Town Insulation and Heating Standardization (1944)
Gas Stove Campaign (1944)
Anti-Malaria Campaigns (1947)
Land Grant Programs (1951)
Rural Modernization Programs (Stage 1) (1956)
Continued Infrastructural Development (1958)
Agricultural Infrastructural Development (1959)
Housing Expansions (1960)
Light Transportation Systems (1963)
Seventh Plan Rural Modernization Program (1965)
Rural Zone Assessment (1964)
Water and Waste Grants (1969)
Luxury Foods
Ice Cream Plants (1937)
Banana Farming Cooperatives (1939)
Fruit Tree Cultivation (1945)
Development of Additional Fruits (1960)
Luxury Crop Programs (1954)
Wilderness
National Park Systems (1954)
Expansion of the Park Systems (1959)
Zoo Program (1963)
Services
Education
Start of the Closed City Program (1929)
Closed City Expansions (1940)
Construction of Specialized Siberian Closed Cities (1944)
Expansion of Siberian Closed Research Cities (1945)
Creation of new Polytechnic Universities (Stage 1) (1930)
Creation of new Polytechnic Universities (Stage 2) (1932)
Creation of new Polytechnic Universities (Stage 3) (1932)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 4) (1942)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 5) (1946)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 6) (1949)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 7) (1965)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 8) (1970)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 9) (1975)
Polytechnic Universities (Stage 10) (1980)
Expansion of the Schooling Programs (Stage 1) (1931)
Expansion of the Schooling Programs (Stage 2) (1932)
Expansion of the Schooling Programs (Stage 3) (1936)
Schooling Programs (Stage 4) (1944)
Schooling Programs (Stage 5) (1945)
Schooling Programs (Stage 6) (1948)
Schooling Programs (Stage 7) (1953)
Expand Resources to Ailing Schools (1941)
Expansion of Formalized Agricultural Institutions (1945)
Creation of Scientific Journal Translation Services (1945)
Standardized Exams (1949)
Experimental Schools (1975)
Expanding University Stipends (1975)
Student Living Improvements (1975)
Equalization of Tier 3 Schooling (1980)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 1) (1949)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 2) (1950)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 3) (1957)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 4) (1970)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 5) (1970)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 6) (1970)
Sociological Research Institutes (Stage 7) (1970)
Academies for the Arts (Stage 1) (1955)
Academies for the Arts (Stage 2) (1956)
Academies for the Arts (Stage 3) (1957)
Economics Institutes (Stage 1) (1955)
Economics Institutes (Stage 2) (1956)
Economics Institutes (Stage 3) (1965)
Economics Institutes (Stage 4) (1965)
Economics Institutes (Stage 5) (1970)
Secondary Schooling Expansion (1965)
Secondary Schooling Finish (1970)
Universal Secondary Schooling (1980)
Remedial Education (Stage 1) (1980) Remedial Education (Stage 2) (1980) Remedial Education (Stage 3) (1980) Remedial Education (Stage 4) (1980) Remedial Education (Stage 5) (1980)
Healthcare
Creation of the State Hospital System (Stage 1) (1931)
Creation of the State Hospital System (Stage 2) (1934)
Creation of the State Hospital System (Stage 3) (1936)
Hospital Networks (Stage 4) (1944)
Hospital Networks (Stage 5) (1965)
Hospital Networks (Stage 6) (1965)
Hospital Networks (Stage 7) (1970)
Hospital Networks (Stage 8) (1970)
Hospital Networks (Stage 9) (1970)
Nursing Academies (1939)
Creation of new Medical Universities (1934)
Expand Medical Schooling (1943)
Expand Medical University Systems (1954)
Medical Laboratory System (1975)
Skilled Doctor Programs (1975)
Expanded Diagnostic Services (1980)
National Screening Programs (1980)
Pharmacy Systems (1943)
Review of the Pharmaceutical Industry (1961)
Mass Vaccination Programs (1946)
Vaccination Expansion (1963)
Hospital Modernizations (1951)
Urban Hospital Modernization (1975)
Rural Clinic Renovations (1951)
Rural Clinic Programs (1963)
Rural Hospital Modernization (1976)
Rural Testing Systems (1980)
Rural Care Primary Expansion (1980)
GOST Medical Standards (1961)
Medial System Standardization (1962)
Seventh Plan Hospital Modernizations (1965) Expansion of Assistive Services (1977)
Labor
Formation of an Official Work-Training Program (1929) Start of Mass technical literacy programs (1932)
Adult Education Centers (1934)
Technical Colleges (1938)
Formalize Certification Systems (1947)
Technical School Expansions (1949)
Technical Training Programs (1969)
Basic Programing Training Programs (1975)
The Party
Creation of new Party Universities (1929)
Expand the Party University System (1946)
Start Glorification of Overachieving Workers (1930)
Expansion of Pioneer Programs (1930)
Create Installations for Counter-Religious Education (1933)
Construct Additional Anti-Religious Education Facilities (1935)
Population Services
Creation of State Libraries (1937)
Library Programs (1954)
Expanded Library System (1963)
Transportation Enterprises (Stage 1) (1966)
Transportation Enterprises (Stage 2) (1968)
Transportation Enterprises (Stage 3) (1972)
Transportation Enterprises (Stage 4) (1973)
Expanding Roadside Logistics (Stage 1) (1975) CNG Distribution Programs (1977)
Universalization of Telephone Networking (1968) Telephone Use Programs (1976)
Uniformity of Computing Standards (1975)
Expansion of the Postage System (1977)
Legal & Financial Services
Banking Expansions (1946)
Establish Legal Schools (1947)
Professional Service Development (1960)
Legal Consulting Programs (1967)
State Insurance Enterprises (1969) Computerization of Finance (1975)
Enterprise Support Services (Stage 1) (1975)
Enterprise Support Services (Stage 2) (1975) Enterprise Support Services (Stage 3) (1976)
Distribution of Professional Services (1977)
Childcare
State Childcare Services (1937)
Child-Care Systems (1952)
Child-Care Systems (Stage 1) (1953)
Child-Care Systems (Stage 2) (1955)
Expanded Childcare (Stage 1) (1964)
Expanded Childcare (Stage 2) (1965)
Expanded Childcare (Stage 3) (1966)
Expanded Childcare (Stage 4) (1969)
Expanded Childcare (Stage 5) (1969)
Expanded Childcare (Stage 6) (1971)
Rural Services
Localized Transport Services (1972)
Town-Market Construction (1973)
Development of Population Services (Stage 1) (1974)
Population Distribution Programs (Stage 1) (1975) Population Distribution Programs (Stage 2) (1976) Population Distribution Programs (Stage 3) (1977) Population Distribution Programs (Stage 4) (1978) Population Distribution Programs (Stage 5) (1978)
Goods Distribution
Distribution of Banking Branches (1967)
Expand the Department Store Network (1946)
State Retail Renovation (Stage 1) (1956)
State Retail Renovation (Stage 2) (1957)
State Retail Renovation (Stage 3) (1957)
Streetside Retail Integration (1959)
Goods Distribution Points (1964)
Expanding State Catalogues (1968)
Universal Distribution Systems (1968)
Expansion of the Store System (1970) Storage-Distribution Networks (Stage 1) (1976) Storage-Distribution Networks (Stage 2) (1977)
Waste Disposal
Expand Garbage Disposal Systems (1948)
Waste Disposal Improvement (1961)
Expanded Combustion Processing (1964)
Solving the Garbage Problem (1968)
Food Services
Pilot Rapid Food Systems (1959)
Canteen Enterprises (1963)
State Consumer Food Champions (Stage 1) (1965)
State Consumer Food Champions (Stage 2) (1965)
State Consumer Food Champions (Stage 3) (1965) Restaurant Assistive Funding (1978)
Media
Expand Cultural Investment Programs (1944)
Expansion of Publication Enterprises (1948)
Printing Capacity Expansions (1952)
Print Industry Expansion (1957)
Artistic Grant Agencies (1951)
Foreign Audience Broadcasting (1951)
Expanding the Movie Theater System (1955) (Doubled)
Film Studio Formation (Stage 1) (1956)
Film Studio Formation (Stage 2) (1956)
Film Studio Formation (Stage 3) (1960)
Television Station Development (Stage 1) (1957)
Television Station Development (Stage 2) (1957)
Television Station Development (Stage 3) (1961)
Communal Museum Programs (1964) Expansion of Domestic Media Production (Stage 1) (1978) Expansion of Domestic Media Production (Stage 2) (1978)
Bureaucracy
Ministerial
Appoint a New Industrial Council (Scientific) (1929)
Expand the Department Staff (1929)
Additional State Funding (1930)
Integrate the ULAG under NKPS (1930)
Expand the VSNKh Apparatus (1930)
Adjust the Food of ULAG (1931)
Expansion of the Management (1933)
Hire Additional Engineers (1934)
Expand Hiring (1936) (Failed)
Expand Hiring Massively (1937) (Bare Failed) Expand Ministry Personnel (1978)
Recruit Young Officers (1937)
Introduce Statistical Planning (1938) (Failed)
Introduce Statistical Planning (1939)
Trial the Worst of the Misreporters (1940)
Transfer Personnel (1940)
Implement Scientific Shift Management (1941)
Comprehensive Financial Assessment (1943)
Create a War Damage Assessment Department (1943)
Transfer Personnel (1944)
Expansion of the Financial Sector (1945)
Organize Internal Truck Auctions (1945)
Transfer Military Engineers (1946)
Draft a Plan for Changes in Pricing in the Broader Economy (1947)
Draft a Plan for Profitability Reforms (1948)
Draft a Plan for Ending Piece-Rate Wages (1948)
Shift to Harsh Price Controls for First Need Productions (1948)
Shift to Price Controls of Secondary Need Products (1949)
Simplification of Planning Indexes (1949)
Open up Luxury Goods Stores to Rubles (1950)
Foundation of Incentive Funds (1951)
Develop Prison Laborer Systems (1952)
Form Industry-Level Safety Guidelines (1953)
Create an Auxiliary School Track (1953)
Raise Compulsory Standards (1953)
Sort out Residency Policies (1953)
Provide Trade Schooling for Miners (1954)
Teacher Licensing Programs (1954)
Scrap the Bonus System (1954)
Sovhoz Initiative Reforms (1954)
Standardize Worker Compensation (1954)
Publish Limited Health-Information (1954)
Loosen Primary Price Controls (1955)
Standardize Worker Compensation (1955)
Start Alcohol Sector Reductions (1955)
Service Cost Optimizations (1955)
State Crop and Livestock Insurance (1955)
Minimize Plant Inventory Requirements (1956)
Sort out Enterprise Branching (1956)
Remove Worker-Compensation Limits (1958)
Bread Distribution Trials (1958)
Workforce Efficiency Trials (1958) Form a Commission on Labor (1978)
Elevate Political Allies (1959)
Streamline Financial Organs (1959)
Ministry Reorganizations (1959)
Uphold the Red Book (1960)
Accelerate Rural Development Programs (1960)
Expand Rural Housing Programs (1961)
Direct the University Program (1961)
Currency Agitation (1962)
Stabilize the Ministry System (1962)
Assess the Countryside (1962)
Utilize Party Cadres (1962)
Call a General Meeting (1965)
Start a Commission on Agriculture (1966)
Request a Loan (1966)
Coal-Industry Economization (1967)
Reorganization of Agricultural Subsidies (1967)
Price Loss Coverage (1967)
Farmer Flexibility Legislation (1967)
Locate a Deputy (1968)
Electrification Drives (1968)
Break Private Land Limits (1968)
Fuel Oil Reduction Plans (1972)
Minimal Ecological Standards (1972)
Educational Attainment Reforms (1972)
Shift Refrigerants (1974)
Agricultural Land Reassessment (1974)
Expand Town Classification Codes (1974)
Clarify the River Reversal (1974) (Doom Critfail)
Open Oil Imports (1975)
Start CNG Programs (1975) Microcomputer Adoption (1976) (Critfail) Retaliations against the Lazy (1978)
Ministerial Structural Reforms (1976) External Outreach Enterprises (1977) Gas Implementation Commission (1977)
Power Struggle
Removal of the New Sciences (1929)
Find a Scapegoat for Baku (1929)
Find a Scapegoat for Poor Riverboats (1930)
Sign Kill Lists (1936)
Back Beria (1938)
Trial the Bureaucrats (1940)
Cooperate with Kosygin (1957)
Centralize Factional Authority (1957)
Ministry Reorganization (1957)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1958)
Supreme Soviet Political Maneuvering (1958)
Elevate Political Allies (1959)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1959)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1960)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1961)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1962)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1963)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1964)
Determine Coalitional Alignments (1964) (Yes, again)
Negotiate with Kosygin and Podgorny (1960)
Agitate For Local Challengers (1963)
Find Disgrunted Workers (1963)
Bring in Moderates (1963)
Asses Strong Opposition (1963)
Co-Opt Promotion Structures (1963)
Campaign in the Supreme Soviet (1963)
Protect Allies (1963)
Optimize Targets (1963)
Generate Erroneous Goals (1963)
Intervene on LCI Development Reorganization (1965)
Call a Second General Meeting (1966)
Directly Campaign (1969)
Assess the Supreme Soviet (1973)
Assess the Supreme Soviet (1975)
Reach out to Podgorny (1973)
Reconnect with Technocrats (1973)
Campaign (1974)
Discuss Terms with Zimyanin (1975) Talks with Vorotnikov (1976) Brief Lyudmila (1977) Work Around Ryzhkov (1978) Consolidate Zimyanin (1978)
Publicize Space Targets (1978)
Reforms
Encourage the Formation of Female Cadres (1931)
Expansion of Women in the Workforce (1933)
Propagandize Towards Female Workers (1940)
Further Encourage Women (1941)
Full-Scale Recruitment of Women (1942)
Stop Recruitment of Women (1944)
Reopen Mass Female Hiring (1950)
Further Increase Pro-Natal Policies (1950)
Targeted Propaganda to Women (1952)
Rewrite Partmaximum (1932)
Partmaximum Reforms (1949)
Obtain Additional Foreign Labor (1932)
Creation of Stage Exchange Enterprises (1933)
Draft a Plan for Broader Enterprise Initiative Reforms (1947)
Worker Profit Sharing (1949)
Opening of Enterprise Investment Funds (1951)
Implement Educational Minimums for Workers (1934)
Free Up Resources (1935)
Implement Exchange and Standardization Measures (1946)
Create Location-Specific Packaging (1947)
Create Factory Location Branding (1947)
Open up Branding Limits (1952)
CMEA Regional Production Identification (1956)
New Labor-Reserve Systems (1948)
Formalize Support Structures for Job-Seekers (1948)
Rework Tax Codes (1949)
Basic Services Fee Optimizations (1950)
Organize Bonus Payments (1950)
Reformat Capital Limits (1951)
Encourage Domestic Purchases (1951)
Healthcare Triage (1951)
Formalize Worker-Work Searching (1951)
Consumer Review Boards (1952)
Increase Agricultural Independence (1952)
Propose a Drug Standards Administration (1953)
Create a Civilian Air Traffic Agency (1953)
Restart Population Statistics (1953)
Open Education to Republic-Languages (1954)
Expand Non-Russian Paperwork Filing (1954)
Strengthen Laws around Alcoholism (1955)
Personally Invested Pensions (1955)
Form the Fair Employment Practice Bureau (1955)
Restructure Tax Codes (1956)
Break open the Army OKBs (1958)
Start Army-Funding Transfers (1958)
Enable Worker Initiative (1958)
Restructure Enterprise Tax-Structures (1959)
Decisively Strike at Wages (1960)
Weigh in on CMEA Trade Negotiations (1960)
Defend Space Prioritization (1960)
Advocate Cross CMEA Standardization (1960)
Open Containerization Programs (1961)
Encourage CMEA HSR (1961)
Institute Break Reforms (1962)
Modernize the Information Bureaus (1962)
Low Work Hour Test Cases (1964)
Education Commission Reassessment (1964)
Justify Lacking Agricultural Performance (1964)
Equivocate on the Coal Trade (1964)
Bread Program Cancellation (1965)
Cooperatives Reform (1965)
Undo the Wage Freezes (1965)
Resumption of Punishments (1966)
An Expanded Food Program (1966)
Labor Reserve Reforms (1967)
Inflation Control Measures (1967)
New MNKh Deputy (1967) (Interrupted)
Emergency Commission on CMEA (1968)
Centralization of Worker-Authority (1968)
Legal Enforcement (1969)
Formalization of Hiring Practices (1969)
Authorize Farmer-Programs (1969)
Back Comprehensive Tax Reform (1969)
Crackdown on Misallocation (1970)
Commission on the Criminal Code (1970)
State Union Reform (1970)
Enforcement of Enterprise Balances (1970)
Prison Reform Program (1971) Continue Labor Reforms (1976)
Increasing Domestic Innovation (1971)
Domestic Production Programs (1971)
Pension Modernization (1972)
Restructuring of the Passport System (1972)
CMEA Energy Coordination (1975) Expand CMEA Collaboration (1977)
Cancel Green Energy Programs (1976) Stop Ecological Complaints (1977) Organize a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (1978)
Foreign Policy
Selective Technology Licenses (1933)
Secure Technological Licensing (1946)
Scientific Exchange Programs (1971)
Modify Patent Laws (1975) Japanese Technologies Access (1975)
Attempt Trade Agreements (France) (1935)
Attempt Trade Agreements (USA) (1936) (Failed)
Encourage Sales (1936)
Encourage Further Sales (1937)
Normalize Eastern European Trade (1938)
Extort the Germans (1941)
Open to US Purchases (1941)
Push for a Formal European Trade Framework (1946)
Push Towards Trade Agreements (1961)
Fund Refugee Transportation from China (1942)
Obtain Immigrants (1942)
Guest Worker Programs (1952)
Loosen Immigration Requirements (1956)
Lend Lease Repayment (1944)
Unified Passport Zone (1966)
Codify Convertibility (1966)
Force a Euro Vote (1971)
Drive Through Euro Adoption (1973)
Emergency Measures
Economic Mobilization (1940)
Formalize Stockpiling (1941)
Initiate Rationing (1941)
Increase Refugee Encouragement (1941)
Organize Ports for Lend-Lease Aid (1941)
Refugee Settlement Boards (1942)
Rationing Reprioritization (1942)
Resource Reallocation (1944)
Workforce Demobilization Preparations (1944)
End Wartime Consumer Goods Measures (1944)
Reorganize Rationing (1944)
Declare the Epidemic a Crisis (1947)
Military
Trials
Overview of Current Equipment (1933)
Start of the Design Departments (1933)
Experimental Technology Licenses (1933)
New Uniform and Infantry Equipment Trials (1934)
Start of new Mortar Trials (1934)
Trial New Anti-Tank Guns (1935)
Trial New Light Howitzer (1935)
Trial New Machine Guns (1936)
Trial New Divisional Guns (1936)
Trial New Aircraft Weapons (1936)
Trial New Close Air Support (1937)
Trial New Tank Upgrades (1937)
Trial New Close Air Support (1937)
Trial New Heavy AA Guns (1938)
Trial New Divisional Guns (1938) (Yes, again)
Trial New Interceptor (Polikarpov) (1938)
Trial New Scout Tank (1938)
Trial New 45 Ton Tank (1938)
Trial New Level Bombers (1938)
Trial New Sub-Machine Guns (1938)
Trial New Long-Range Guns (1938)
Trial New Light AA Guns (1938)
Trial New AT Guns (1938)
Trial New Armored Cars (1939)
Trial New Medium Tanks (1939)
Trial New Fighters (1939)
Trial New Fighter (Polycarpov) (1940)
Trial New Close Air Support (1940)
Trial Divisional Guns (1940)
Trial New Twin-Engine Bomber (1940)
Trial Medium Tank Modernization (1940)
Novel Anti-Armor Shell Trials (1941)
Medium Bomber Trials (1941)
Heavy Tank Modernization Trials (1941)
New Uniform Trials (1942)
New Submachine Gun Trials (1942)
New Personal Anti-Tank Weapons Trials (1942)
Armored Personnel Transport Trials (1942)
Assault Gun Trials (1942)
New Uniform Trials (1942) (Yes, again)
Heavy Assault Gun Trials (1942)
Armored Car Trials (1943)
Polikarpov Next Generation Fighter Trial (1943)
Fighter Modernization Trials (1943)
Experimental Aerial Propulsion Trials (1943)
Heavy Close Air Support Trials (1943)
Heavy Anti-Tank Gun Trials (1943)
Medium Tank Trials (1943)
Strategic Bomber Trials (1943)
Heavy Tank Trials (1943)
Very Heavy Howitzer Trials (1943)
Trial Infantry Anti-Tank (1944)
Consolidate Mikoyan and Polikarpov (1944)
Trial Jet Fighters (1945)
Trial New Infantry Weapons (1947)
The fifties started on some of the highest hopes for Soviet politics with broad scale political and economic modernization promised and somewhat achieved.
The economic plan selected was one that heavily focused on heavy industrial development which was something of a mistake in terms of net economic growth, but one that enabled breaking the sector away from Stalinism and avoiding broad collapses that came from profitability reforms.
In 1950 Mikoyan technically consolidated the government, compromising with socially liberal factions to quasi take the trifecta, making himself have the power of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet(Klim was still in the post but he could basically do nothing), General Secretary, and Chairman of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers.
The above were some of the reasons for the reforms and the right wing drive in the aftermath of Stalin came somewhat from the masses of lower cadres/the formal start of the late 2nd/3rd generation of party leadership(born 1910+) coming up from below and compromising with Mikoyan for power.
Largest cause for this was a wider acceptability of removing Stalinism in several forms especially on the lower cadres with destalinization wielded as a weapon for radically reforming the Soviet state more than a social or moralistic cause.
The Republic of the Levant somewhat stabilized here if only for strong US aid and the US government seeing it as an externalizing measure that avoided stepping on anyone's toes and was relatively far seeing in Soviet containment across the middle east.
It was judged as a compromise option to prevent easy soviet compromises of the monarchies, finding a local organization that was willing to go for a one state solution and backing it somewhat.
The Gorky nat 100 was what broke you through to somewhat competitive machinery on an immediate basis and somewhat supported your entire modern industrial production base
The focus on infrastructure started tilting very heavily towards rail with you sprinting down every rail program you can see
Power cost reforms were basically pushed through due to your people freaking out over a non existent mirage of small businesses
This fear was mostly magnified by larger enterprise owners and had zero basis in reality but was a functional ish compromise
CMEA had some of the largest changes in timeline with Mikoyan preferring governments in his image, authoritarian but compromises and not attempting to rapidly shift the economy
Internally this was justified as a part of European economic integration, focusing on making CMEA what Europe was for the 1920 USA in some of the same terms with mixed results
Moderate ish governments relative to OTL enabled far greater growth and a relative lack of bright ideas that were caused through more sane leadership not as obsessed with implementing perfect Stalinism in the immediate moment
Later in 1950 the full speed sprint for rail continued with massive construction across the Union, arguably bringing the network to a state that it would not exist at OTL, and with far more routes than were ever historically proposed
The US bomber shootdown only became notable in that it was the first one you managed to shoot down rather then the first attempted
The housing situation was in general far worse than described with the scramble for new homes justified by demographics but in actuality responding to the utter gulf in housing from the Stalin era.
The enterprise reforms in 1951 practically formed a radically different environment in the economy, overhauling vast sectors of economic activity. The incentive funds and everything around them were such a massive concessions to enterprises that the private sector was allowed to exist
In nearly any other combination of actions outside of presenting it as a combined effort, you would not have much of a private sector as they would have been crushed by enterprise managers
This will come back many many many times as the managers consistently prove themselves harsher on private enterprise then anyone on the far left
A continued prioritization of rail happened over any reasonable investment in a housing sector not funded by Stalin and devastated by the war, but more railways were built
As the plan continued there was a fairly consistent drive to stifle the automotive industry for some reason, cutting out economic growth for reasons unknown to anyone
Arguably, this somewhat contributed to Malenkov's downfall and the massive anti-corruption investigations into infrastructure and caused a somewhat common belief that he was being paid off
The Grant Program started by Malenkov was hijacked in short order by Voznesensky and the LCI minister, using it as a way to legally greatly increase their influence.
Shifting to the so to say national level of lawmaking while maintaining local enforcement didn't help much for businesses until you opened the court system, but somewhat achieved the same effect with less party pressure, if significantly later.
Cheap and easy hydroelectric sorta formed the basis for a lot of power in the Western USSR this plan as massive, programs were undertaken to compensate for deficiencies in everything else
Mikoyan took the opportunity and the crisis/chaos in the party to force through a politburo vote for a central control commission that was in effect loyal to him with the expectation that it would be his sword to prune the party and state bodies against what he saw as relics of an old inept system
This radically changed the balance of power around the state and to an extent gave mikoyan his own proverbial Yezhov, if with a softer touch and no exciting vacations to the Lubyanka basement
Also, now comes the passenger rail network, otherwise known as the project you should have canceled or refused to do. You did not have to follow orders and could have theoretically tanked the political cost
Now come the big reforms that you are currently dealing with, the guest worker program was to a large extent passed on the backs of the enterprises, the enterprises, and the allies of the enterprises. Every aspect of the law has been built to effectively exploit guest workers and enable the practice, Malenkov to a large extent just did not know better.
Dudorov's major reform to the prison system has also happened here, where the prison took on more of a reformist character than ever before. It was still effectively a forced labor system, if one that enabled prisoners to set up with savings and a career after that arguably had more similarities to conscription.
Mikoyan blackmailed, investigated and blatantly leaned on the judges involved in later cases, using the legal system as a part of a tool to quell discontent with central authority in the republics and utterly gut the ability of local or republic level ministries to have any economic control with the strong backing of the new party cadres and enterprises
If there is absolutely any moment that the tide decisively and entirely turned for the center it was in early 1953 when you gave Mikoyan the tools to finalize what he saw as an improved and regulated form of the Soviet state.
Mikoyans first purges in 1953 to 1955 were nearly a second wave of terror, if a far gentler one then Stalin ever attempted and cemented both the new system and practically entirely broke from Stalin era appointments. Those that were loyal advanced alongside state bodies going into the spotlight while enemies were continuously found guilty of corruption and suppressed in effect
The first elections placed a nearly unprepared party that was somewhat terrified of being replaced in the face of an aggressive Mikoyan without much protection for the ballot into a vote, doing something approaching a sham election but giving the man justification to enact further reforms and continue exercising what he saw as Stalinist corruption
And thus ends the plan with the bonus system scrapped due to pressure by several in the supreme Soviet and a general distaste for administering it from managers, ending Malenkov's first tenure with near absolute power seized by Mikoyan in the state
Malenkov-Mikoyan Era 6th 5yp (1955-1957)
Going into the new plan the political environment was radically different to any that came before as the massive centralizations occurring under Mikoyan radically transformed the Soviet Government
The selection of an infrastructure-services plan was not in itself a mistake, however you massively over promised and in effect left no surge capacity to do anything
This would massively come back to bite you as critical projects piled up and you were unable to respond in a capable manner
Focusing on railways was to an extent a forced selection only because of your minister heavily pushing, arguing to Malenkov that there was severe under-investment in the sector
Education investments at the time though were massive and comprehensive, something that you are just now starting to reap the rewards of as a new generation with a capable education is graduating in massive numbers
Malenkov tilting against the private sector was to a large extent a product of him getting all of his information from enterprises and that being his entire social circle
As can be guessed, every pork project was in effect large scale corruption with political allies provided favorable contracts alongside expanding work for enterprises
This is also where anti-corruption really picked up and was about as quickly as possible sabotaged through your massive over use of it, with Malenkov unable and somewhat unwilling to properly target it for political gains
Even worse, you kept using it consistently and rapidly, leading to most non political corrupt targets finding it far cheaper to pay off the organization instead of actually dealing with it
To a large extent this provided all the excuses Voznesensky needed as anti corruption itself was politicized and rendered a rubber stamp for close allies of those with control
This of course led to a perception of the agency as the direct action of Malenkov rather than anything politically neutral or even arguably capable of neutrality in any sense, this would come to bite you in the ass later
The pension and insurance system developed for a large extent was a major part of early reforms, codifying most of the welfare that was made available with a lot of the changes to public utilities justified as a form of assistance to the elderly
The tax brackets established through the ministry of finance as a means of increasing revenue was broadly socially irrelevant, the high bracket got set so high that it was basically meaningless outside a few very rich people in the private sector
To a large extent this was deliberate as at the time the richest people were in the enterprises and in charge of them rather than anywhere near the private sector
For reasons unknown to me, you then decided to wield this power intensely and directly on the enterprises and to a broader sense several politicians
Some immediately tilted and decided that this was a case of racism over central asia but most elements of the party and state thought this was Malenkov cleaning house in the same way as Mikoyan
Once the tide started breaking and the enterprises turned on you to a large extent, the downfall was fairly rapid with you to a large extent used as a tool to get at Mikoyan for doing the same thing infinitely more competently
The excuses you used to tilt against what were perceived to be internal enemies for good and bad were paralleled to Mikoyan with the question of Stalinism brought up in the context of Mikoyans power grabs
Then came the decisive moment where Malenkov realized he over reached significantly and the entire situation was coming down around him
Voznesensky took this as the chance to move and strongly as he sought to salvage the ministry as much as possible instead of dealing with or supporting what he saw as an incompetent and inept minister
The political turmoil in the immediate aftermath was something of a crisis as Mikoyan to an extent was a second Stalin in power and while he did built a system that could succeed him, he wasn't expecting it to be relevant and doing so until the mid sixties
At this point also the plan was not in any sense salvageable or usable as the massive promises placed alongside lagging economic indicators were a major drag on performance
Over optimization on rail and education instead of highly productive industries reduced the capabilities on offer and only served to weaken the ministry as Mal arbitrarily wielded an already corrupt anti corruption arm
There was to an extent no hope of actually succeeding on the plan at this point and this comprised the reason for why it was entirely tossed as no one expected it to be possible
Economic downturn was somewhat guaranteed with Voznesensky inheriting the ministry in something of its weakest hour on the time with the economic situation on fire
The later adopted seven year plan was given the excuse of developing the consumer industry but in a large part it was extended and built around making up for the mistakes of the Malenkov era
Excessive investment into heavy industry and useless infrastructure was a major drag on the economy with you entering the late fifties with a competent industrial sector but little else as so much of the focus fell to building the base for future productivity
When I in casual conversation mention Brezhnev-ing yourselves this is what I mean, as you doubled and tripled down on infrastructure and heavy industry in a race, committing to many promises that you could not fundamentally fulfill
Some of these investments would pay off later as Voznesensky shifted to wield them for consumer production but that would take time and not show effects until the mid sixties
The private sector and enterprise incentive funds were to a large extent the only reason this era will be remembered positively as you proved mostly unable and unwilling to raise primary consumer indicators focusing as hard as possible on establishing the basis for future production
Every single modern right wing and centrist politician you have in quest uses this as justification with the ministries role somewhat clarified through the era as key for raising productive forces but somewhat inept for meeting population needs(you spent less on LCI during the Malenkov era then you did under fucking Stalin)
This is also why no one wants to go back to fully planning, because they have seen what you invest in when fully planning and to an extent this is also where the strong drive for cybernetics comes from as logically with an external and effective control mechanism the same mistakes would not be repeated.
As a quick midpoint comparison of Housing and Rail (Credit @Hianny):
Total Dice Under Mal:
housing 36
rail 83 (15 dice being external)
road 18
Total Dice Under Voz:
housing 109
rail 18
roads 20 (300 progress integrated in Moscow)
Author's Note: Generally written with a far more OOC rather than IC perspective on what has happened, to ease catching up.
Turn 88 (January 1st, 1976 - January 1st, 1977): Stability, Prosperity, and Development
Turn 88 (January 1st, 1976 - January 1st, 1977): Stability, Prosperity, and Development
Resources per Turn(RpY): Base 11690 -125 Rocketry -4900 Plan Commitments -20 Commitments Cost Modifier = 6645 with 10 in storage
Internal Politics:
Due to a cutback in funding, the year started economically poorly as news of a poor Q2 1975 undermined confidence in the economy leading to poor general performance across Q3 even if there was a rapid general recovery. Cutbacks to enterprise funding resulted in a slowdown of new hiring and development that somewhat led to a general economic slowdown. Direct funding programs have somewhat compensated for the loss in funding, creating new jobs and working with enterprises that would be key for the future technological and economic state of the Union. Growth has resumed rapidly with little disruption mostly having a degrading effect on YoY growth still preserving mild gains. Continued economic investment is expected to produce rapid gains as long as energy and commodity prices remain stable with industrial production climbing rapidly even if employment growth has lagged behind expected indices.
With the stabilization of the political sector, movements have slowed down significantly as both Vorotnikov and Ryzhkov have advocated for stability and reasonable politics in concern. Many of the radical proposals made by both are still being discussed in closed rooms but for the majority of the representatives, the center has somewhat consolidated itself. Perceptions of betrayal by the center of the left and right-wing have led to some misguided opposition over the necessary extent of stability in the system. Several of Ryzhkov's supporters have become discontented with the political line taken, especially the conciliatory nature towards further regulation, in practice shifting to Gulyam if not formally. On the left, many of the more dogmatic of Semyanov's supporters have failed to be attracted by Vorotnikov and instead shifted towards Ashimov. In practice, little value was lost as the extreme wings have been bled off the center without much further political disruption to enable a deep consolidation.
New constitutional changes were opposed due to their newness strongly by the radicals, deciding that the formalization of power in state bodies was a step too far over a delusional desire to return to Stalin. The right-wing has, if anything, been more normal, arguing over the formal powers involved in ministries but fundamentally falling into line with the modern political line instead of taking several idiotic conceptual stands. Political agendas have shifted towards a new series of societal laws as work to start dealing with domestic social issues and the question of new media sources. Increasing confrontation has led to a somewhat increased degree of censorship but little practical impact outside of the minimization of loopholes.
More broadly for the Union, several instances of a new viral disease have been noted in hospitals with symptoms characteristic of hemorrhagic fever with a low rate of current spread. The state health service is monitoring the situation with an outbreak of the new disease believed to be spread by rodents but most of the factors relating to the disease are unknown. Treatment is currently focused on supportive measures with infectivity a concerning factor but not significant enough to mandate a harsher response. Quarantines have been required alongside improved containment equipment for the doctors treating the disease but the impact has been mostly confined to Rostov and Odessa. Lethality rates are estimated at approximately two percent with unpleasant symptomatology but no further immediately concerning indicators.
[]Downplay Effects: Any disruption is going to be major and people panicking are if anything going to do more damage than the actual virus. Maintaining quarantine efforts but discouraging the mention of any significant infections outside the symptoms would be obvious but a systematic campaign of refocusing coverage would not. Priority can go towards describing its effects in already vulnerable populations, leaving it a virus of concern only for the elderly instead of the general public. (-1 Bureaucracy Dice)
[]Continue Current Measures: Avoiding disrupting the economy is going to be key to taking advantage of current cheap energy prices. The measures in place have mostly confined the spread of the disease, symptoms are somewhat distinctive allowing for easy identification, and not enough is known to enact effective containment measures. The loss of the two ports can be worked around and little total impact would be felt on the economy. (-200R)
[]Expanded Quarantine Efforts: Moving to reduce trade in the region overland and enforcing some standards to limit travel will have a direct economic impact and possibly slow disease spread. Advocating for the most minimal of measures will likely see them pass without much criticism but it will fundamentally place the ministry in a position of weakness if the disease fails to spread and they only damage the economy further. Growth during the summer will be critical to make up for the recession and measures will have to somewhat be legislatively forced. (-2 Bureaucracy Dice) (-600R)
Military Equipment Part 1(Army):
Trials in competitive fire from stable and unstable positions in competition with derivative AKM platforms against new 5.45 platforms have confirmed previous assumptions even with some disappointment. The new AK-74 has in practice been a direct variation on the AKM platform with few modifications outside of a change in caliber and a slight reduction to system weight. Universal mounting of side rails has come as standard with the new rifle capable of being produced for the same price without major further issues. Moving the military to a new cartridge is expected to take time but the superior ballistics of the 5.45 rounds are expected to greatly increase precision for the average soldier. A longer barrel variant has been developed alongside as a mixture of Automatic Rifle and high precision weapon but the product has been deeply unexceptional if reliable enough for military use, unlike many promising but fundamentally experimental prototypes.
Improvements to the RPG-18 have mostly consisted of minor improvements to the warhead to eliminate new Western tanks in most profiles alongside a new lightened fiberglass tube. Reductions in system weight have been minor from the expanded warhead and accompanying enlarged motor stage but the total RPG-22 unit comes in at under 3 kilograms making it a viable replacement to the old generation of disposable systems. To expand dedicated anti-tank capabilities a new universal light warhead for the RPG-7 system has been designed and pushed into production. Penetration capabilities of 550mm RHA and a theoretical range of five hundred meters will provide standoff capabilities against the most modern Western armor even for common infantrymen.
To improve hit rates on helicopters and eliminate weaknesses in performance against countermeasures a new generation of solid-state man-portable anti-aircraft systems has been developed. Dual seekers with a comparator enable the system to have a strong contrast of different thermal frequencies all while the primary seeker enables engagements against closing targets. Practical limitations make the capability irrelevant against supersonic aircraft but slower ground attack planes can be engaged successfully on the front aspect if they linger and the shooter is prepared. The odds of a flare defeat of the system are massively reduced through a secondary verification seeker, if only partially especially on front-aspect engagement profiles. Kinematic improvements have been somewhat weight limited with the new Igla coming in as a 20kg system but one that can engage barely subsonic closing and receding targets.
Dedicated light anti-tank complexes have received some modernization but the 9K115 system has so far failed to justify itself compared to improved variations of the 9K111. Weight reductions have been useful but not significant when the range band is so narrow that it is brought almost into line with light anti-tank systems. Continued deployments of the modernized 9K111 are expected to be more than sufficient for dedicated anti-tank capabilities with an expanded platoon expected to be used for non mechanized formations. Limitations in guidance technologies and the inherent costs of creating a viable 9K115 system have rendered the concept itself deeply questionable with the focus falling onto the 9K111M as a new standard with a paired dual-purpose launcher. Miniaturization of night optics has also proven disappointing with few results produced by the program within a reasonable weight allocation.
Improved developments for both the 9K113 and 9K114 systems have both proven disappointing with improvements to either guidance or capability not expected. Warhead geometry improvements across both systems have achieved some increases in range but the overall capability of current-generation anti-tank systems is expected to be challenging to improve. Expanding the search for methodologies to defeat the first second-generation Western armor has produced some results but little that will be relevant in the current decade of armored threats. Reliance on the 9K111, 9K113, and 9K114 will be key for maintaining anti-armor strength forming a triplex of light, medium, and heavy ATGMs developed off similar technical families. The 9K114 has now reached operational status with a 40kg VHF-commanded containerized missile system capable of engaging armor at up to five kilometers.
Comprehensive modernization programs to make the T52 export competitive in the most direct sense and to improve the tank stock available have been underway. Most of the initiative has come from UVZs avoidance of producing the T64, considering the design unreliable and in parts tainted from not being designed internally. This is the most dramatic for older T52A hulls, which have received an entirely new wider BDD add-on kit covering the gun and mounting a laser rangefinder. T52B and U hulls have received a similar turret configuration, if with an electronic interlink to the optical system instead of an entirely new targeting block. Combined operation with a transistorized targeting system enables automatic ranging and elevation, improving engagement profiles. Night optics have been further improved with new phosphors and brighter active systems issued, but nothing like the generational leap on more modern armor. Optional further kits for active interceptions of enemy missiles or standardized cupolas have been demonstrated but are unlikely to be ordered in any notable quantity. A mixed tungsten-steel round with a lengthened internal core has been allowed for export, providing anti-tank firepower at least theoretically sufficient to destroy MBT-70s.
Successful production at scale has been achieved at Kharkov and Chelyabinsk for the T64B even if it is a practically new tank. The turret armor modifications have reduced the cost of production significantly while improving protection. An extended engine section fitting an automatic transmission and domestic 900hp V12 has been successful with massive gains of reliability at the cost of two tons additional weight. New ammunition in the form of extended-body monolithic Depleted Uranium penetrators is still being developed but is expected to solve both the cost and penetration issues of tungsten projectiles. Night optics on the new armor have received the largest improvements with sensitive phosphors able to identify targets in ambient lighting out to a kilometer. Commander station overhauls have somewhat been borrowed from the T76 program, reducing reaction times significantly. This has been only improved by a new solid state aiming complex with independent optics which can lase and automatically lay the gun without further intervention with automated lead calculation for tracker moving targets.
Mounting a 100mm gun lightened and borrowed from the T52 into a fifteen-ton chassis has produced the next generation of amphibian tanks. The PT-100 has brought firepower on a light platform up to the standard of mainline armor, incorporating the same sighting and tracking complex as the T64B. The vehicle in practice only has armor immune to heavy machine guns on the front and armor pricing small arms on the side. A mounted 450hp engine and semi-automatic transmission give it exceptional mobility but a lack of armor protection has been the cost of amphibious capabilities. To avoid gaps in capacity, a 100mm DU round has accompanied the program, aiming to entirely replace steel penetrators with a monolithic new round for both the PT-100 and eventually T52. Enhanced targeting and awareness systems are expected to somewhat compensate for the lack of protection, with the new tank coming in as a comprehensive improvement to the PT-76 to every conceivable extent.
Poor combat performance in Algeria and the short-lived Levantine conflict has to an extent redefined the role of the BMP. The older missile system has been at best obsolete, the commander has little visibility, protection is negligible, and the gunner has a near unmanageable degree of overwork. The first issue has been easy to solve, moving to the 9K113 as a new standard missile but the others have been more limited. Addon armor packages have been designed weighing a ton and a half, defending against frontal autocannon fire at a cost of amphibious capabilities. Options to upgrade the BMP-1M have been limited as an improved periscope and optics set cannot compensate for the commander's position. Domestic service examples are expected to eventually receive new night optics but the priority is far lower compared to other vehicles. Stabilization has been mounted as an add-on system for the autocannon and attached optic but a laser rangefinder has been judged impractical given the inaccuracy of the autocannon.
With the performance of the BMP in both Algeria and the short-running Levantine war, the radical redesign of the vehicle was approved over an iterative concept. The largest debates have in effect come down to the question of amphibious capabilities, protection, and sufficient armament to fight enemy armored infantry carriers. This separation in capabilities has led towards divergent development paths with a dedicated light airborne-amphibious vehicle proposed as a complement to a heavier conventional vehicle capable of fighting on a European battlefield. Taking some inspiration from the Marders in German service the BMP-2 is expected to weigh approximately thirty-five tons with steel armor capable of resisting modern 20 mm APDS munitions. To provide the capability to defeat most enemy armored vehicles and expand infantry support capabilities, a 30mm autocannon alongside the 9K113 system will be mounted. Prototypes have already been made with adoption expected by the end of the decade.
The design of a new generation of MBT capable of solving the reliability issues of the T64 while somewhat reducing production costs has been a partial success. Close work with German allies has somewhat redefined the tank in a combined program that while producing several exceptional prototypes failed to significantly lower costs. A simpler lower variability system of hydropneumatic suspension has been developed with increased reliability and has been paired with a unitary propulsion system. A 1200hp German V12 is mounted transversely to a hydrostatic transmission capable of producing five forward and two reverse gears automatically. The rotation of the tank is now controlled through an electronic signal, eliminating more complex driving systems in favor of a small solid-state controller that can ensure efficient operation. The electronic operating system further enables direct control from the gunner or commander optic, ensuring that the limited natural three degrees of depression can be supported through a six-degree suspension lift without driver coordination if in combat situations.
Optical integration alongside improved crew operability features has somewhat revolutionized the tank on German insistence. Parallel gun controls are available for the gunner and commander even if the gunner has a far more precise long-range optic. This is achieved by entirely separating the gun and slaving control signals to a solid state system alongside a laser rangefinder, capable of calculating lead and aim without the need for any manual targeting post-lasing. Both positions have received high throughput light amplification equipment enabling identification to a kilometer without the use of searchlights and engagements to 2km with IR searchlights. The weapon system itself is a radical departure due to the use of the 2A66M gun brought into service through the work of a combined technical team, losing ammunition compatibility with a special variant of the BM-22 designed for use while a new long-rod depleted uranium round is developed. The use of a muzzle brake lowers total recoil impulse enabling a significant increase in pressure while enabling the diversion of firing gasses to minimize re-engagement times.
Armor protection itself has received a significantly increased focus in the design with improved all-around protection and the reduction of critical areas from a frontal profile. Turret weak spots and engagements out to 30 degrees off centerline have been accounted for through the use of a welded narrowing turret with reflective plating on either side of the gun barrel. Machine gun repositioning above the gun has imposed some limitations, but it has eliminated approximately 6% of high-hit probability vulnerable areas. Consolidation of the hull and the move towards a large forward monolithic block has eliminated vulnerabilities in the lower hull with a heavily sloped fore section used to extend fuel reserves and to achieve the ammunition requirements. Composite screens for side-on protection have been implemented, but they are in practice a layered means of resisting mobility kills more than practical armoring against anything but shrapnel. Twenty-five charges and rounds are to be stored in the AZ while a further five are stored in each forward fuel tank and six round-charge combinations behind the AZ in a secondary fuel reserve.
The cost of all of this has been a new base weight of fifty-three tons alongside costs that are not significantly lower than the T64B. The reliability of the prototypes is comparable to new model 64B's and is only expected to improve over time but the tank itself is considered somewhat divisive for its radical departure from previous approaches. Two major German plants are expected to start production soon with LKZ immediately starting mass production with ChTZ and UVZ expected to convert by the end of the decade. Issuance of the new tank is expected to be entirely universal with planned peacetime production figures of two thousand per annum expected to be reached by 1982 alongside options to raise production to four thousand per annum in case of wartime. Replacement of the T52 in frontline roles is already underway and the program is expected to finally provide a retirement for the tank that will have formed the basis of the Red Army for three decades.
Technical work on the next generation of strategic missile systems has succeeded to a significant extent with major gains made in precision, throw weight, and multiple warhead capability. As missile maintenance has been judged far more expensive than the production of additional warheads an expanded high-capability variation on the R-36 has been developed to take advantage of new solid-state electronics. Current payloads have been built around a stacked array of fifteen 250 kt warheads alongside forty-five decoys in the base stages to improve penetration. Independent maneuverability in the upper stages alongside boosted decoys to maintain defensive saturation are expected to achieve near-optimal penetration rates and significantly reduce per-warhead costs through the consolidation of systems onto a unified missile bus. Precision improvements from solid-state electronics have also come into their own, with 250m operational precision being more than sufficient for the neutralization of unhardened infrastructure.
To maintain a high rate of technical readiness as the older generation of UR-100 systems reaches the end of storable life a new silo-compatible variation has been designed. It incorporates five 250kt warheads as a part of general modernization with some common elements for terminal guidance during independent re-entry. Decoy strength is limited on the platform with only five decoys carried in standard operations, but the sheer weight of fire from lighter systems is expected to be sufficient. Modernizations across the missile fleet will involve the replacement of systems with sealed container missiles capable of remaining in a near ready-to-fire state for up to twenty years using improvements in alloys and general technical capabilities. Precision is worse on the lighter system, approximately achieving a reliable hit rate only within a 400m radius due to lesser throw weight and more limited warhead guidance integration. Unification of next-generation warheads is in itself expected to provide significant savings as the nuclear arm is brought onto a unified standard.
Demands for a light tactical helicopter to augment the Mi-2 in reconnaissance roles, replacing the Mi-4 in tactical roles, and offer a light component to the Mi-8. The new Mi-3 is in effect a hybrid system, integrating two 800hp turbines onto a light chassis capable of carrying a ten-man squad or two tons of payload. This has been achieved on the prototype with new production models expected to function as heavy scouts, light attack aircraft, and general-purpose transports for a wide variety of tasks. Armament is going to be rail-mounted autocannons in combination with rocket pods providing some strike capability on the light helicopter. Expanded range capabilities and significant improvements over the Mi-4 have rendered the latter entirely obsolete with some even proposing replacing the Mi-2 with a more capable armed scout. Advancements in the Mi-24 program have been slower as the more advanced targeting system has presented several issues in miniaturization, leading to an intermediate variant being deployed.
The advantages of solid fuel systems alongside solid-state electronics have somewhat rendered all previous heavy and light systems obsolescent. S-25 batteries are immensely expensive and limited to the defense of the capital with limited multi-target capability on an obsolete basis. Both S-75 and S-125 batteries are limited to a single channel and have negligible resistance to SEAD efforts that are rapidly increasing in sophistication. Moving to a solid engine 1500kg universal system promises to radically reduce operational costs through the retirement of the S-25 and S-75 while greatly increasing capabilities. The new complex incorporates a modern phased array radar for general guidance, gaining the capability to track and engage five simultaneous targets. SEAD resistance is to be accomplished through the use of more variable guidance signals, the capability to engage HARMs, and a far more mobile general system.
New setups are mounted across a unified battery with rapid deployable truck-mounted guidance and missile carriers for a fully organized system. The largest capability gains if anything have come from the ability to engage low altitude targets, especially with elevated radar systems, providing the capability to detect terrain following fighter-bombers and cruise missiles to a limited range. Missile guidance systems have practically been entirely overhauled through the dual use of solid-state systems with general tracking localized onto the missile alongside a far more limited terminal active seeker. With the prevalence of American fighter bombers, high agility capability has been somewhat prioritized, giving the missile the ability to achieve up to 18 g's in most terminal profiles, if at a massive cost in kinetic energy. Demands for more solid-state electronics are only expected to grow especially as critical defensive systems are modernized and the army starts programs to develop a new generation of highly capable ABM.
On the lighter end the development of a system to replace the Kub as a general-purpose tactical system is underway. Generational improvements from the aircraft weapons program have proven somewhat applicable to lighter weapon systems, incorporating a semi-active seeker as a massive improvement over older command guidance. A new 600kg system is inherently more limited and lacks several of the supporting radars that would otherwise be present but can be targeted and operated from a unified tracked platform. Datalinks from front-line radars can be directly sent over via radio or cable, providing significantly improved tracking. The use of solid propellent has somewhat reduced the effective range compared to older Kub systems, but it has also greatly reduced costs and made the weapon a far improved front-line system.
Free dice to allocate 6 Dice.
Infrastructure: (14) 5 Dice
[]Expanded Metro Systems: Metro areas built out by Malenkov and Voznesensky have served hundreds of Millions of workers but further expansions are warranted in cities experiencing rapid growth. Additional routes need to be added in rapidly growing cities in Central Asia and Ukraine, expanding capacity and destinations significantly. More moderate work in several new cities that are expected to connect to the HSR system will be done to provide direct linkages, improving the transfer of passengers. Transportation efficiency improvements will be minor but notable as an increasing number of workers can avoid driving to work. (-1 Petroleum Fuels) (175 Resources per Dice 0/200)
[]Western Local Roads(Stage 1/2): Even the worst organized commission can determine that the roads in smaller towns and towards enterprises are inadequate for any form of large-scale industrial development. Personal assessments are not much better with the commissions' report if anything deeply optimistic. Mud has been a consistent issue when attempting to travel by car significant distances and the quality of roads away from anything of political importance rapidly degrades. Plans to fix the issue will start with the unification of the road system on a two-lane inter-town standard with primary routes built around factories to link local production resources into the general grid. Such a plan will delay primary population-focused roads, but it is expected to improve overall industrial conditions. (150 Resources per Dice 0/275)
[]Western Deepwater System Updates: Bringing large elements of the Western deepwater system to the standards of the River-Reversal program is a major comprehensive dredging effort. Increasing barge depths and sizes, especially around the coal industry have led to several delays and technical problems in transporting coal cheaply and efficiently. Expanding and upgrading the system can prevent loss of water and allow for even larger vessels to traverse the Union. Stable supplies of coal are unfortunately critical and little can be done outside of logistical simplification. (150 Resources per Dice 174/300)
[]Urban Sewage Systems: Sewage transportation by truck is the predominant form of sewage management for much of the Union's land mass. Urban systems exist but capacity limitations have posed significant development concerns outside of Moscow with severe limits placed on what can be done. Current programs focus on the urban issue as trucks, while inefficient, are not a direct health hazard that current management practices are. An expanded and modified program can be undertaken for large-scale urban renewal, integrating processing systems and greatly expanding capacities. This will take time and balloon the program above old standards but it will provide room for the economic centers of the Union to grow. (200 Resources per Dice 16/450) (-34 CI4 Electricity)
[]Water Processing Plants: Water quality in areas of industrial breakthrough has moderately degraded with standards for heavy metals only partially implemented on the industrial end. To ensure that drinking water remains potable an increased number of facilities can be established for the purification of drinking water and improvement of quality of life in industrial zones. This is most notable on the Volga, but secondary water purification facilities for home use water will be required in several key areas. Funding will keep levels to those compatible with long-term health, in effect offering some savings on net medical expenses. (200 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-26 CI3 Electricity)
[]Moscow Renovation Program: Compared to the original reconstruction of Moscow a far more focused program can be undertaken, taking advantage of areas of accelerated development. Both enterprise districts are in desperate need of expansion, a new stadium must be constructed for the Olympics and several novel elements of the skyline can be funded. A modern city requires a modern appearance and focused programs towards continuing modernization and facade programs can provide rapid improvements to local conditions. This will be paired with a significant increase in Metro throughput and non-express HSR stations, ensuring that Moscow is a modern integrated, and accessible city. (150 Resources per Dice 135/250)
[]Modernization of Heating Infrastructure: Working to improve the thermal efficiency of structures and re-coating heat pipes is a major infrastructural effort but one that needs to be undertaken to reduce waste. Current practices for grid heating are efficient but still lose a significant amount of heat in transportation and from the localization of thermal plants away from urban areas. Part of this will continue the localization of heating units to building natural gas systems in lower-density areas but most of the upgrades will be in the form of improved piping and insulation. (150 Resources per Dice 0/200) (-2 Petroleum Fuels, +1 Petroleum Gas)
[]HVDC Grid Islands: High-power thyristors have made direct current electrical transmission somewhat viable if limited in implementation. To improve the economic factors of large-scale hydroelectric facilities along with concentrated peat and lignite-burning thermal stations significant investments can be placed into the field. The long-distance transmission of power for between five hundred and a thousand kilometers can reduce losses and provide a significant improvement in area grids if not local ones. (175 Resources per Dice 0/200) (+45 Electricity)
[]Grid Stabilization and Expansion: The electrical grid has increased in scale rapidly and to an extent never predicted in the old expansion programs. Current efforts to move around the majority of the power have succeeded but insufficiently and capacity for long-range transmission is still inadequate to say less of local grids. Work to improve the electrical grid is going to be necessary from an efficiency perspective and consolidating the wiring to more efficient unified standards is required to move to a truly modern distribution system. This will encounter several cost increases as local grids are ancient, overlapping, and a consistent fire hazard but modernizations have to proceed. (175 Resources per Dice 121/350) (+30 Electricity)
Heavy Industry (10) 5 Dice
[]Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk Metallurgical Complexes(Stage 1/3): Lower-grade local ores in combination with the exploitation of new deposits and improved railway access are expected to significantly improve domestic steel production. The area has practical free electricity from the massive available hydro potential making it uniquely suited to large-scale steel processing and recycling. The proximity of natural gas sources of reduction has favored the area as one of the largest test cases for the primary DRI-EAF method with expectations for significant gains to local work and productivity. Much of the steel produced would go West, lowering local prices and further improving domestic productivity. (220 Resources per Dice 0/225) (-10 Steel -1 Non-Ferrous +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (Hydroelectric Powered)
[]Secondary Metallurgical Complexes: Secondary steel can be salvaged to a large extent from the current steel economy. Despite strong export pressures, the domestic sector for steel utilization is strong and produces an excess of scrap steel. To meet domestic steel demand and minimize the need for reducing agents in production an expanded program for recycling steel can be started. Effective waste filtering has already been established and combustion processing inherently involves the separation of metal products. This will also yield some limited aluminum and copper, but those are secondary and far harder to filter from garbage streams. (240 Resources per Dice 0/125) (-61 CI8 Electricity -6 Steel -1 Non-Ferrous +1 General Labor)
[]Amur Electrolysis Plants: Mass production of aluminum from imported Indonesian Bauxite can start in the Far East to form a key industry and a basis for further development. Plentiful coal and easy logistics on the Amur leave the site optimal for the construction of a major electrolytic complex and the environment is well suited to the import of materials. Intensive development can directly supply the local industry and form a viable component of a complete domestic aluminum-production system as funding and technological sophistication improve. (240 Resources per Dice 0/100) (-76 CI8 Electricity -8 Non-Ferrous +1 General Labor)
[]Coal Power Plants(CPSC): Coal is still a necessary part of the energy mix and one that cannot be ignored as it forms an essential basis for increasing energy production. Programs towards radically increasing the throughput of coal power are shortsighted before mining programs can achieve improved yields and an adequate barge route is developed. Still, coal is currently viable and prices of coal are expected to crash once heavier barges can be used, radically changing the entire economic principles of power in the Union. (300 Resources per Dice 0/100) (+150 Electricity +3 Coal) (Repeatable)
[]Kansk-Achinsk Basin Exploitation(Stage 5/5): The future of coal power in the Union rests squarely on the shoulders of brown surface-level coals. Current deposits in Kansk-Achinsk represent almost thirty years of extraction capacity to power the whole Union, much less the current rate of extraction. Surface mining of lower-grade coals is dirtier than other coal industries, but energy demands are unlikely to slow, and if the oil crisis is to be navigated then coal must be decisively increased. (180 Resources per Dice 1/175) (-46 CI4 Electricity -10 Coal +1 General Labor)
[]Virgin Coalfield Exploitation: Test digging at the massive Tunguska, Minusinsk, and Irkutsk deposits and some of the limited far eastern reserves can be started to access previously ignored coal-bearing areas. These programs will focus primarily on the location of hard coals in underground formats to provide high-quality metallurgical coals to specialty industries in the Far East. Avoidance of significant semi-coking processes will be key to reducing the energy demand of the coal industry and maintaining the viability of production until river reversal can be completed. (150 Resources per Dice 0/100) (-21 CI4 Electricity -5 Coal +1 General Labor)
[]Kansk-Achinsk Coal Liquefaction(Stage 1/2): Collaborating closely with German efforts and transferring the technology or domestic applications offers something of a solution to the oil crisis. A series of integrated plants capable of processing 50Mt of coal per annum can be established alongside the expansion of pit mining to increase transportability. This coal will be converted to fuel at a high rate, securing significant gains in energy security even if current petroleum prices would necessitate operating slightly at cost to maintain prospective capacity. Only so much liquefaction can be developed but it at least offers a way to use domestic resources to meet the needs of the energy crisis. Energy demands will be met with local coal resources while reduction supplies can be obtained through the use of natural gas without economic issues. (220 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-16 CI4 Electricity -3 Petroleum Fuels +2 Petroleum Gas -2 Petrochemicals +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (Non-Profitable)
[]Atomash(Stage 4/4): Continued expansions of the Atmomash production complex have been deemed important to achieve energy independence. Additional metallurgical facilities alongside a second full oven capable of sintering wholesale cores will be essential alongside the infrastructure required for the turbines to be constructed. At the current rate of development, it is expected that a stable energy system can be achieved by 1990 with new reactor designs accompanied by a rapid increase in production throughput. Replacement of non-grid resources will take longer alongside general modernization but current prospects for atomic energy offer a way out of the current energy crisis. (300 Resources per Dice 125/250) (-80 CI8 Electricity +2 Steel +1 Non-Ferrous +1 Educated Labor)
[]CNC Machine Building Plants: Domestic direct microcomputer-controlled machinery has been somewhat in shortage due to the limitations on production but now that common lithographic machinery is available that trend can be reversed. Standard model NC machinery can be modified and modernized to bring it to true computational control to improve precision and production speed on common parts. Every industry is expected to be revolutionized but only so many chips can be made so quickly as the fabrication machinery is in high demand across every sector. (300 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-45 CI3 Electricity +1 Steel +2 Non-Ferrous +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Vladivostok Shipyards: The naval yards in the Far East have some of the cheapest labor and a significant market for merchant shipping between all CMEA members. Expanding the construction of large hulled container and tanker ships domestically will be essential to keep up with current American standards. If the Soviet merchant fleet is to be modernized it needs to be funded now and expanded now to compensate for deficiencies in block-wide production. An entirely new generation of ships will have to be built to break with old standards and the dogged obsolescence that has remained a major part of naval construction. (240 Resources per Dice 0/200) (-54 CI4 Electricity +5 Steel +2 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
Rocketry (4) 2 Dice (Cannot Use Free Dice)
[]Cancel Project (10<Projects<15, -2 Dice) (125/160 R/y Funding Cap)
-Communication Satellites (-10 RpY) Constant Program
-Atmospheric Data Satellite Program (-10 RpY) Constant Program
-Positioning System Programs (-10 RpY)
-Orbital Telescope Program (-10 RpY)
-FGB-VA Crewed Exploration (-10 RpY) Constant Program
-2nd Gen Luna Program (-20 RpY) Constant Program
-Mars Program (-10 RpY) Constant Program, Rover Focused
-Mercury Program (-5 RpY)
-Outer Planets Program (-15 RpY) Active Phase finished 1979
-Long Term Orbital Nuclear Power (-10 RpY)
-Nuclear Drive Program (-15 RpY)
[]Reusable Launchers: The initial MAKS program following the PKA was dismissed by Glushko as an impossible engineering nightmare but it can still be resumed for the sake of providing a lighter launch vehicle. Using long-burning hydrogen engines along with a reusable launcher attached to a drop tank will improve launch capacity and especially if paired with a carrier aircraft reduce costs. The technologies for the project itself are available today with the only issue being the degree of complicated engineering work. It is believed to be possible that some form of the MAKS concept could be launched in the decade allowing space to be opened to low-cost space launch. (-10 RpY Expected) (1 Dice)
[]Open a New Moon Program: A theoretical program to upstage American achievements in orbit of the moon can be undertaken for comparatively little cost. Launching an FGB-VA is a matter of attaching a stage to it and performing an orbit as the duration of travel is expected to be unexceptional the same as the mass involved. This would encourage expensive domestic spending programs on the American end, especially as a landing is still believed to be technically infeasible in any configuration of proposed launchers available. (-5 RpY Expected) (1 Dice)
[]Superheavy Launcher: With the limited capabilities of the RLA new systems have to be developed if a new moon program is even to be considered. A high-power hydrogen lift stage can still be paired with legacy RLA cores produced as cheaper boosters but new engines will have to be developed to enable a degree of reusability. Recovery of comparatively short-duration boosters will be key for lowering costs and on a heavy core hydrogen state the flight profile can be well suited for further launches. Mixed cryogenics will be a major issue but the limitations of hydrogen and transport diameters somewhat prevent any other approach. (-30 RpY Expected) (1 Dice) (Subvote)
[]New Heavy Launcher: An all-hydrogen lift vehicle promises to significantly reduce the requirements for a rocket and enable a lower general mass of dry components to be used. The design is planned around a six-hundred-ton liftoff vehicle built on a two-stage basis using a hydrogen lower and upper stage with the options for mounting the already developed high-energy third stage for geostationary launches. A six-meter core diameter would enable fairing diameters up to nine meters, enabling far larger payloads to be launched in a single flight and starting the way toward retiring the RLA-3. (-25 RpY Expected) (1 Dice) (Subvote)
[]Light Bulk Launcher: The RLA-1 is frankly excessive for most missions it has been considered for as a simple crew rotation does not require fifteen tons of lift mass. Improved electronics on most satellite buses have also eliminated the need for the heaviest launches due to the shrinking size of vehicles. Working off existing hardware by consolidating the lower stage to a half-power engine alongside a more efficient fuselage can provide approximately eight tons to orbit on a reliable platform. This would involve some configurational changes but could create a highly capable launch vehicle for lighter payloads to avoid the full cost of an RLA launch. (-15 RpY Expected) (1 Dice) (Subvote)
[]Expanded Station Programs: Continuing the disposable station program based on the previous program can push it towards the use of one-year duration stations with rotating crews alongside some developed infrastructure. Evaluations of inflatable habitats can start at scale with the first longitudinal testing of living in space performed for people alongside more advanced life support schemes. New hardware would be developed but most of the systems can be directly taken from the previous station program without the need for radical new developments. (-15 RpY Expected) (1 Dice)
[]Permanent Orbital Station: Constructing a larger permanent space station meant for use over a decade will require new modules to be developed and a constant pace of funding to keep it in use. Starting the construction of a combined station system can open it as a combined CMEA project and form a basis for further crewed missions as a central support base. The primary purpose of the program will be to assess the long-term prospects of space alongside experiments in novel manufacturing, plant growth, and international cooperation on new technologies. (-25 RpY Expected) (1 Dice)
[]Bulk Launch Methods: The rocket has historically been the only way that payloads and humans have gotten into space, but several other concepts deserve exploration. Everything from structural and design elevations on orbital cable elevators to rocket sleds must be considered. This program itself is only expected to be theoretical and focused on making designs for the possibility along with several small-scale models for scientific viability. Some plans have already been dismissed but investing in the future potential of orbit and easy delivery to space has always been a cornerstone of the program. (-5 RpY Expected) (1 Dice)
Light Industry (12) 12 Dice
[]Air Conditioner Plants(Stage 7/7): Continued developments in the air conditioning sector are required to maintain the development of comfortable domestic housing. Smaller homes and older apartments are being modernized but at an inadequate pace with the acceleration of conventional construction. Further programs to increase the throughput of cooling systems can ensure that the oldest housing stock is modernized and brought into a comfortable state of living over the next decade. Once sufficient production capacity is established efficiency improvements are expected to provide a sufficient demand impetus to maintain profitability, solving the standard of living crisis compared to the Americans. (140 Resources per Dice 133/250) (-74 CI6 Electricity +2 Steel +2 Non-Ferrous +1 General Labor)
[]Microcomputer Plants(Stage 2/4): Committing to an integration program for building versatile microcomputers capable of most office tasks at a low price will be key for the electronics transition. Current processors are significant improvements compared to old large mainframes and the technologies involved are only improving. Enterprises have expressed interest in control systems with many factories considering them a priority for technical development to improve control. Production of the first units is not expected to start for at least a year as solid-state production reaches sufficient numbers but the industry is rapidly growing outside of all previous expectations. (275 Resources per Dice 85/125) (-37 CI3 Electricity +2 Non-Ferrous +2 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (Extremely High Profitability)
[]Consumer Electronics Plants(Stage 2/3): Television development can easily be followed by the production of new forms of home entertainment. Music systems have been radically improved over the last decade and new supportive systems for television can significantly improve viewer experiences. Expansions of the industry will consume a massive amount of labor but continue to generate high-paying work and provide for a significantly improved consumer standard. Most production will be built on the use of the current industry with some temporary minor shortfalls expected due to the strength of demand stimulation provided. (200 Resources per Dice 173/250) (-49 CI8 Electricity +2 Non-Ferrous +2 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Modernization of Home Electronics Gorky era industrial standardization programs have been key and heavily influential in nearly every element of the electronics industry but they need to be brought to modern standards. Power supply minimum efficiencies, indicators for efficiency, and several component standards need to be updated and improved. More advanced techniques have revolutionized the industry and it is time to move most consumer items to them. Changeovers are planned for the next five years with the majority of funding going to bureaucratic enforcement and incentive funds to ensure that enterprises can change over with few disruptions. (240 Resources per Dice 0/100) (+10 CI2 Electricity +1 Non-Ferrous +1 Petrochemicals) (High Profitability)
[]Housing Renovation Components: Production of new side paneling and several more modern interior products can continue to improve standards for most homes. After purchase modification is common and increasing the production of specialty goods for maintenance and modernization can somewhat divest the state of primary expenses for modernization. New furniture, flooring, and renovation products will be coupled with the development of light personal use tools that can be used by both private sector workers and individuals. (150 Resources per Dice 0/125) (-24 CI2 Electricity +1 Steel +2 Petrochemicals +1 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Third Generation Food Programs(Stage 1/3): The chemical industry has delivered the Union several major victories in the production of shelf-stable enhanced foods that have practically broken from old traditions. These are capable of long-term storage on shelves and can in effect reduce food wastage and contamination significantly through a mixture of new chemical compositions and plastic packaging. Production expectations will be major as several new types of drinks, meals, and even fast-consumption products will be brought to every soviet grocer. Current efforts are expected to modernize the soft drink industry along with sectors of the confectionary industry, contributing capital to bring manufacturing to new standards. (160 Resources per Dice 0/200) (-41 CI3 Electricity +4 Petrochemicals +3 General Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Durable Goods Program: Durable goods have traditionally been manufactured at low costs for as high of yields as possible but higher grade more durable products can also be made. Upper-end sectors have been comparatively under-invested in due to the requirements for increasing production being more essential than the sector-specific targeting. A comprehensive program to produce several specialty high-grade brands with capable engineers and a highly independently assessed technical standard can secure the segment and provide for domestic independence. Consumer utilization is expected to start slowly but higher standards are expected to slowly spread to other enterprises bringing up the general standards of production. (180 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-32 CI4 Electricity +2 Steel +2 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Secondary Plastics Industries: Plastics are objectively superior to any contemporary product produced in the Soviet Union and current shortages of non-ferrous metals can be somewhat compensated for through the rapid adoption of plastics. Increased production of containers and several other thermoplastic products for use in general use of durable goods will be key to lowering the demand for metals and conserving them for more important sectors. In practice, the reduction in metal use will be minimal if only due to the likely rapidly rising demand for new goods overtaking any savings. (180 Resources per Dice 0/200) (-36 CI3 Electricity -2 Non-Ferrous +6 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Textile Industry Overhauls: Current labor standards are reducing efficiency for the general textile industry as the massive profusion of labor is increasingly more scarce. Enterprises have asked for funding for further modernization as cheap labor is not available for use in the textile industry and machinery must be used to compensate for the deficiency. Limitations in immigration and a strong domestic growth pattern have consumed easy-to-mobilize labor leaving little that can be done. Increasing mechanization for common goods will compensate but the general sustainability of the industry must be considered. (200 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-48 CI9 Electricity -2 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Electronic Entertainment Programs: Developments in the West have been made on a series of arcade and home arcade machines creating something of a novel entertainment gap. Developing several program inventions that have so far existed as curiosities made in a university environment into viable entertainment systems can provide some demand and they have already proven capable of operating on existing hardware. Production of solid-state circuitry is limited but productive capability is practically growing exponentially when it comes to transistor numbers produced and their rapidly falling cost of production. (200 Resources per Dice 0/100) (-28 CI5 Electricity +1 Petrochemicals +1 General Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Mixed Textile Industries(Stage 3/3): Rapid chemicalization of the clothing sector promises to direct water towards more useful industries while improving general domestic growth. Synthetic fibers are superior to natural ones in most ways and adapting industrial methods to primarily produce them will practically eliminate any dependence on imports of materials. Programs to achieve increased industrialization have run into minor issues in sourcing labor but a few workers can still be offered sufficient wages to increase textile production and processing. (150 Resources per Dice 83/250) (-41 CI5 Electricity +4 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor) (High Profitability)
Chemical Industry (6) 4 Dice
[]Exploitation of the East Siberian Basin(Stage 1/2): Several previously untapped petroleum reserves exist in the Far East with exploratory drilling already started on several identified fields. Most reservoirs that have been found are a combination of small and remote reserves without massive capacity for new production, but they are existent and worth extraction in a primary and secondary recovery sense. Continued operations are unlikely to produce any radical increases in petroleum production but even mild gains can assist in stabilizing economic activity. (150 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-28 CI4 Electricity -4 Petroleum Fuels -1 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Development of the Southern Turgay Basin(Stage 1/2): Expansive extraction operations in the Kazakh SSR are expected to stimulate the local economy and provide a mixture of gas and petroleum resources for rapid development. Local reserves are comparatively small and somewhat challenging to access but intensive production can provide rapid and significant gains for the local economy. Construction of several new oil towns alongside the intensive expansion of local refining infrastructure is expected to produce thousands of new high-paying jobs and tens of thousands of jobs supporting them. Operations are going to be limited by the conditions of the reserves in place but some gains are still expected. (150 Resources per Dice 0/125) (-25 CI4 Electricity -4 Petroleum Fuels -3 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Intensive Development of the Caspian(Stage 1-6): The amount of oil located under the Caspian Sea represents a massive nearly untapped reserves with high estimates ranging up to ten billion tons. Using previous experiences in the development of rigs and the extraction of oils from underwater reserves, local production can be increased significantly while still maintaining low general prices. Work on these rigs would inherently be more expensive than other conventional oil reserves but if the Union is to maintain some energy independence their rapid expansion will be crucial. Local ecological conditions are also excellent, as the availability of water for refining can reduce costs and enable the barge transport of petroleum to larger refinery complexes on the Volga. (180 Resources per Dice 0/175) (-15 CI6 Electricity -5 Petroleum Fuels -3 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor +2 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Modernization of Oil Fields(Stage 1/4): Moving towards the newest techniques and implementing tertiary recovery measures at scale for the West Siberian deposits will generate rapid returns on investment. Bringing older depleted wellheads into functionality and expanding the utilization of active fracking techniques is expected to radically reshape the petroleum industry. Well, recovery rates can be nearly expected to double, especially for some heavier oils with techniques raising profits across the board for essential state enterprises. Current approaches will focus on increasing recovery from already tapped wells but continued programs can be expanded towards general improvements in petroleum recovery. (160 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-39 CI4 Electricity -5 Petroleum Fuels -4 Petroleum Gas) (High Profitability)
[]Continued Synthetic Rubber Programs: Continued deep modernizations and expansions of the domestic rubber industry offer a way to significantly improve domestic incomes while increasing independence. Direct expansions of the industry are technologically possible through improved techniques, providing flexible and higher-performance polymers to several other critical industrial areas. Work on the overall rubber industry is only expected to increase as the automotive and general industrial sectors reach maturity with the demand for improved sealants and synthetic products rapidly increasing. (240 Resources per Dice 0/125) (-41 CI6 Electricity +2 Petroleum Fuels +2 Petroleum Gas -5 Petrochemicals +1 Educated Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Next Generation Plastics Programs: Expanding the production of specialty and engineering plastics is somewhat of a distraction with the strong growth of the industry but one that still needs to be addressed. New and improved feedstocks and a rapidly developing chemical industry driven by cheap energy is a viable export industry and one that can significantly contribute towards domestic growth. Increasing funding for the more experimental applications of new plastics including the wholesale replacement of stainless steel in some applications will be key to improving domestic competitiveness and technological sophistication. (240 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-41 CI6 Electricity +4 Petroleum Gas -4 Petrochemicals +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Continued Exploitation of Volga-Ural: The tapping of massive reserves at an accelerated pace can provide for a cheap and fast increase in petroleum production to compensate for depletion in other areas. The massive formations are steadily decreasing in productivity as exploitation continues to deplete reserves despite improved recovery methods and the continuous development of new methodologies. These initiatives would in practice accelerate the depletion of deposits in the region, yielding plentiful cheap oil from the massive formations but causing a faster loss of total production as oil becomes uneconomical. (120 Resources per Dice 0/100) (-23 CI5 Electricity -8 Petroleum Fuels -2 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]West Siberian Gas Wells(Stage 1/10): Vast gas reserves exist in the West Siberian petroleum formations and outside of efforts for capture from primary wells the development of dedicated local gas infrastructure has not yet begun at scale. Technical programs to tap new gas wells and significantly increase production capacity represent the best means for reducing oil use across the Union. Initial programs will focus on tapping newly discovered reserves and proving the techniques involved more than direct extraction but far larger and more productive efforts are sure to follow. (180 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-32 CI8 Electricity -6 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor+1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Central Asian Gas Fields(Stage 1/3): Dedicated extraction programs to tap into local gas reserves can stabilize the local economy and provide a cheap energy source outside of the coal transportation system. Any gas that is utilized can be used to displace hard coals that are more valuable in other areas of the Union along with offering thousands of high-paying jobs to local workers. Reserves in the area are if anything more optimal for extraction than the West Siberian ones, ensuring a rapid increase in production. (160 Resources per Dice 0/125) (-27 CI8 Electricity -6 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Heavy Oil Experiments: There are approximately six million tons of recoverable heavy oil and bitumen that are somewhat economically and technically recoverable. Current upgrading facilities have proven that it can be refined into usable oil products but not at significant rates and not without costs. Accepting that the technologies developed for refinement will not be mature for this plan, some funding can be transferred over to improve the production of new oil products and open the processing of energy reserves previously considered unusable. (200 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-43 CI5 Electricity -2 Petroleum Fuels -4 Petrochemicals +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Intensive Cracking Infrastructure(Stage 2/2): Direct upgrading infrastructure can be constructed to take advantage of the current surpluses of heavier oils. Instead of direct combustion or the production of more valuable synthetic lubricants, production can go somewhat to direct upgrading. New compounds will inherently be produced from cracking to maintain a high-value production chain but some of it can easily be allocated towards fuels instead of a true multi-stage processing approach. Improved refinery infrastructure past this point can provide some minor technical gains but that is miniscule compared to improved extraction. (240 Resources per Dice 3/175) (-56 CI3 Electricity -4 Petroleum Fuels -4 Petrochemicals +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
Agriculture (6) 4 Dice
[]Domestic Meat Programs(Stage 7/10): Meat independence outside of beef requires a concentrated effort to increase and optimize the production of pork. Pig stocks have rapidly increased for the production of specialty goods but general-purpose pork has only moderately expanded during the previous plan. A concentrated effort to radically increase the number of pigs raised and slaughtered in the Union will be essential to overcoming any shortcomings of the domestic meat industry. Initial concepts will continue the caloric optimization of the pig with breeding programs initiated to produce pigs that can more efficiently take on calories, grow faster, and efficiently use lower-grade feeds without excessive loss of productivity. (120 Resources per Dice 6/225) (-34 CI1 Electricity +1 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Development of the Middle Volga: Irrigation in the great bend of the Volga has historically been inconsistent and problematic but with the additional flow of water south significant improvements can be made. Direct control of water levels up north is expected to stabilize agricultural yields and eliminate any dry years in the basin, improving Soviet agriculture. Current efforts will focus on the increasing allocation of water and the use of more intensive irrigation allowing a final decisive separation from the climate issues that have historically plagued local agriculture. (120 Resources per Dice 94/200) (High Profitability)
[]Development of the Southern Volga: The parched steppe to the South of Stalingrad has historically been marginally developed despite the favorable climate leaving useless wetlands in the far south along with a narrow green band. Diverting local water resources to local terrain would open new prime agricultural land, taking advantage of more consistent river flows to improve the production of several specialty goods. Regional development of water resources is expected to start the transformation of the region, allowing a strong increase in local production along with a general increase in fruit production. (120 Resources per Dice 0/150) (High Profitability)
[]Development of the Dnieper: Every drop of fresh water that enters the Black Sea is a drop that is stolen from the Soviet worker. Seizing back the water and constructing a reservoir system with diversions off the river combined with the management of solar evaporation can preserve local water resources and significantly improve growth capacity. Solving any risk of drought through hydrological means has long been a goal and a target for development and with one series of cascades and expansions to the current water infrastructure a major river can be tamed and brought to useful production. (120 Resources per Dice 0/200) (High Profitability)
[]Development of the Upper Ob: The Altai needs more water resources to increase the area under cultivation and strengthen local agricultural developments. Regional outflow is going to be used somewhat inefficiently and containing the water promises to significantly improve resources available for agriculture. The area is expected to achieve significant increases in yields with the stabilization of water reserves. Most of the work will be done through the development of local reservoirs, using minor diversions to supply them and ensure that the river itself is not excessively disrupted. (120 Resources per Dice 0/125) (High Profitability)
Services (16) 11 Dice
[]Transportation Enterprises(Stage 5/5): Further increases to local truck stocks will increase the demand in the rapidly growing automotive industry but for once it can mostly need the demand. Production of cabover vehicles has increased nearly twenty-fold in the last decade with further gains expected as large and small transportation enterprises are expanded. Work towards improving throughput and efficiency can still be done in collaboration with further road construction to bring the Union into the modern era of internal transportation. (180 Resources per Dice 79/250) (+5 Petroleum Fuels +4 General Labor) (Locked Until Western Local Roads is Completed) (Very High Profitability)
[]Telephone Use Programs: The telephone and facsimile machines are key for larger enterprises to coordinate and send information to each other. Continued work towards improving networks and providing them for mid and small-sized enterprises will be essential for increasing economic activity. The provisions for good networking are comparatively minimal as the old networks are still adequate for current demand, leading to the need to produce and purchase hundreds of thousands of machines. Organizing something of a subsidy program can then improve the efficiency and integration of the economy through the adoption of new technologies. (160 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-16 CI2 Electricity +1 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Expansion of Domestic Media Production(Stage 1/2): Current film and animation enterprises have significantly expanded into the vast demand for cultural production but more funding can be transferred over to further increase them. A series of films from the state sector can be commissioned on several important topics alongside the adaptation of several literary works into the film format. This will be accompanied by improving the facilities for art schools and providing a series of scholarships for young authors willing to study the craft further and continue developing high throughput cultural production. (150 Resources per Dice 0/100) (-18 CI2 Electricity +1 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) ( High Profitability)
[]CNG Distribution Programs: Shortages of petroleum fuel are nearly expected given the current limitations in production and the physical reality of requiring a six times price increase to make the arctic fields viable. Efforts to start tentative conversions of transport in cities to natural gas focusing on dual fuel systems for cabovers and buses. Easy conversion targets are expected as local transit can be converted using current infrastructure with a relatively minimal commitment of funds and technical efforts. None of the systems are in themselves novel and a pilot program now can demonstrate the concept for future use. (150 Resources per Dice 0/100) (-1 Petroleum Fuels, +1 Petroleum Gas)
[]Expansion of Assistive Services: Some mild deficits exist in the care for pensioners that is available as the health system has so far almost entirely prioritized work for working populations. Shifting some resources away from sectoral growth towards skilled nursing and assisted retirement services is a waste but one that can be justified with shifting population demographics. Longer general lifespans are expected to stress current pension schemes much less future healthcare resources and heading off the upcoming political firestorm with a token effort can sidestep much of the criticism. (150 Resources per Dice 0/175) (-16 CI2 Electricity +2 Educated Labor)
[]Restaurant Assistive Funding: Expansions of public eateries can significantly improve profitability and support a key high-return sector. The public demand for pre-cooked food has strongly increased with accompanying increases in incomes and it is essential to meet that demand. Funding programs for the largest organized enterprises and supportive partial funding for several key expanding private chains can be coordinated to increase sectoral throughput. Massive and radical expansions of these enterprises can consume labor at a prodigious rate, mobilizing the population to sell minor conveniences to more relevant workers. (140 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-21 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Enterprise Support Services(Stage 3/3): Demand for skilled services focused on cleaning and general maintenance tasks is still not entirely met. Most enterprises prefer to maintain highly skilled labor with other workers in practice hired across as temporary contractors. Establishing several enterprises entirely specialized in general services for both businesses and enterprises can further enable economic specialization and expand competition in the economy. Low costs of employing immigrants will allow for rapid integration into the economy for many, bringing productive work without significantly impacting jobs Soviet Workers are willing to do. (120 Resources per Dice 127/200) (-18 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor) (Very High Profitability)
[]Second Wave Hotel Programs(Stage 1/3): Current business supporting infrastructure is deeply lacking compared to the West as there are in practice two centralized hotel-focused enterprises of mediocre quality. Developing a further three hotel enterprises with one targeting the high-end sector and two aiming to be as inexpensive as possible will improve support for travelers and significantly aid local incomes. Business infrastructure will readily apply to general tourism such that improving both will provide local areas with more access alongside gains in general economic efficiency. (150 Resources per Dice 0/125) (-16 CI2 Electricity +1 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Expanding Roadside Logistics(Stage 2/2): Fuel provisions for the most common vehicles are still lacking in effect limiting the mobility of passenger vehicles. Extended-range operations and staying in the inhabited belt have somewhat ameliorated current problems but further expansions are still needed to fully support the rapid increase in consumer car ownership. Reinforcement of urban gas stations alongside those in smaller cities will be essential for the program to ensure that queues are minimized and transportation access is improved. (120 Resources per Dice 85/150) (-15 CI2 Electricity +3 Petroleum Fuels +2 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Expansion of the Postage System: Higher speed postage has imposed several requirements on the postage system and ones that can only be partially met. Increased commercial activity has accompanied a significantly increased demand for the postage system, especially for accelerated delivery. Working to address the matter requires a multi-faceted approach with some conversions of HSR trains to mail transporters during the low utilization periods proposed. This will accompany a major expansion of postal services, increasing population access to the service and ensuring that high-speed mail can be sent both faster and cheaper. (140 Resources per Dice 0/225) (-26 CI2 Electricity +1 Petroleum Fuels +2 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Storage-Distribution Networks(Stage 1/2): Initial catalog programs have proven popular, especially for more remote areas but they can be further expanded to provide standardized goods of moderate quality as a delivery system. Initial developments will see the rapid expansion of the storage and inventory infrastructure of four participating enterprises with programs put into place to enable a mail-in and phone-in catalog service. Gains in distribution are mostly expected to occur around apartment buildings with the expanded retail opportunities likely to generate some additional demand. (100 Resources per Dice 0/175) (-18 CI2 Electricity +2 General Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Distribution of Professional Services: Expansions of the professional service sector need to be conducted to the point that standardized legal and general consultations are available to the average worker. The development of the program will be key in stabilizing the environment for smaller enterprises to be competitive and receive adequate guidance on the navigation of the system. Comprehensive developments would in effect prioritize providing more junior graduates as something of a training program, ensuring that professions outside of direct state control are adequately trained. (120 Resources per Dice 0/150) (-16 CI2 Electricity +2 Educated Labor) (High Profitability)
[]Population Distribution Programs(Stage 2/5): Strong expansions to the development of distribution programs are necessary to widen the breadth of state services. Several specialty stores can be developed and constructed to provide the average worker with a vast variety of specialized goods from several brands. Not only do common grocers need more variety but specialized subtypes of stores are necessary for expanding general goods availability and incentivizing an increase in production. The establishment of a fundamental demand base will strengthen the overall economy and ensure that the industry continues to expand at a high rate. (120 Resources per Dice 116/225) (-16 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor) (High Profitability)
Bureaucracy 8 Dice
[]Dedicate Focus Towards a Project(): (1 Bureau Dice for +5 per dice on a project, +15 in Chemical Industry) (Unrolled)
[]Contine Labor Reforms: Current labor standards have only somewhat been reduced with non-reforming prisoners receiving five times the sentencing due to the compromises involved with Vorotnikov. Continuing the reform further and optimizing for labor offers a unique opportunity to secure long-term capabilities, especially through offering child and young adult offenders the ability to continue their education as a part of labor for more minor crimes. There is no reason to avoid educating criminal youths even if optimistically only a third can be salvaged. Grade requirements will keep the conservative wing content, ensuring that if they are not top students their inability can be made up for through labor. (1 Dice)
[]External Outreach Enterprises: New types of enterprises will be needed to ensure an adequate influence over oil production in foreign nations. In-practice control by Soviet officials is one line, but steps must be taken to increase power and influence through the limited provision of more advanced drilling equipment. Closing the supply chain in foreign nations can produce additional petroleum and provide a high-capability diplomatic arm that will guarantee a steady supply of oil. The MFA disagrees somewhat on the policy, but their remit is not the economy and nothing they can do will solve the energy crisis short of bumbling into a nuclear war. (1 Dice)
[]Talks with Vorotnikov: Vorotnikov is at least publicly an ardent fighter against enterprise overreach even if his actual policies are decidedly more mixed. Entering talks with the man in advance of any ill-advised economic regulation can play well for Ryzhkov and provide a basis for further close collaboration. Even if he does not exactly like the current state of the economy he is still willing to tolerate it, especially if a few of the worst examples can be offered up. Practical consolidation of the ministry and the elimination of internal power centers will be key to resuming normal functionality and finishing the recovery from Klimenko and Voznesensky's mistakes. (1 Dice)
[]Expand the Energy Security Commission: The struggle to secure enough energy and petroleum for the Soviet workers must go international if communism is to be constructed. Increasing the production of foreign oil and securing further purchases is essential especially in high oil reserve areas as energy is fundamentally critical to economic growth like nothing else is. Using that argument to expand power on essential advising bodies can still be done under the new constitution as there is a somewhat accepted crisis in the field. Talks with the MFA and MoD can underpin a new generation of security and energy commitments, stabilizing the economy for another decade and providing the time for a more permanent solution. (1 Dice)
[]Restart a Labor Commission: Verifying the developments of Voznesensky and expanding the assessments of labor can help to continue to provide a scientific basis for improved productivity. Current work hours are optimized for a mixed productive-demand state but can likely be shifted to optimize other aspects essential to economic activity especially now that labor demand has rapidly increased. Maintaining a balanced demand state will be key for stable economic growth especially now that the baby boom is slackening and newly graduating students are available in lesser quantities. (1 Dice)
[]Finalize and Implement the Euro: Accelerating past the opinions of several politicians, the implementation of the Euro can be started now while everything is stable. Current proposals are mostly ready with the unification of international currency already done for the most part. Shifting the external currency and forcing the weak Ministry of Finance to act may ruffle some feathers but completing the whole project will provide far more political support than a measured implementation. Control of the implementation can also ensure that domestic politics have a greater degree of influence, stabilizing matters and expanding ministry control. (1 Dice)
[]Economic Academnet: Continuing the Vorotnikov line of improving economic planning through expanded data access, the start of an economic network can be authorized and funded. The comparative complexity of the system is expected to be significant as even current implementations are only solving technical challenges as quickly as discovering new ones. Current goals will consist of networked communications between regions of intensive economic activity, providing basic price and commodity indicators across several major cities with the ability to cross-reference information. (1 Dice)
[]Housing Sector Reform: Current housing programs are working to maintain housing stocks but the massive risk of the Mikoyan era housing decaying has remained a national concern. The homes themselves have held up better than expected but they need to be replaced at an accelerated time frame. Improved apartment models have already been sufficiently developed to reduce costs per unit with current plans simply needing modification. This will commit the Union to the largest housing program in history but in a decade the communal housing form and wartime emergency housing can be left in the past. (1 Dice)
[]Microcomputer Adoption: New generations of microcomputers are more capable than the old mainframes and can easily work on any number of small computing tasks. Moving the ministries' coordinating bodies towards the use of microcomputers will encourage enterprises to accelerate adoption and increase the general throughput of information processing. Current systems are little more than advanced calculators with some memory and repository but even that is enough to perform rudimentary calculations and replace several areas of skilled secretary work. (1 Dice)
[]Ministerial Structural Reforms: With the shift of politics away from looking at the ministry in favor of the Middle East now is the perfect time for re-organizations. The departments of the ministry are typically underneath the minister and replacing some of the old rot now can significantly expand the capabilities available to the ministry. Work will concentrate on replacing the heads of the Department of Infrastructure first with consolidation to follow in the chemical industry and services sectors. (1-3 Dice) (Subvote)
[]Expand Ministry Personnel: Expanding the extent of the ministry further and increasing the extent of the office alongside outreach state capacity can be expanded. The economy has only steadily grown more complex and the ministry needs an expanded investment arm to ensure that the Soviet economy stays modern. Delegation to the enterprises has minimized bureaucratic overheads but the complexity of the economy is still a major burden on the ministry that more personnel can solve, at least for a time. (1 Dice) (Subvote) (Options to Gain more Dice)
[]Brief Lyudmila: Current politics is a pit of vipers that is not well suited to someone prone to emotional outbursts. Working with her to ensure that she knows what reliable figures there are in politics will ensure that the ministry is well run and having a deputy with a softer touch can be a key asset. If nothing else, she is capable of managing significant areas of infrastructure development and can be confined to the area until a more competent deputy can be found. (1 Dice)
[]Cancel Green Energy Programs: The green energy program has done its job of discrediting the concept for any reasonable planners with it mostly having served its purpose. The funding initially allocated can be augmented and directly transferred to effective gas power programs increasing yields and stabilizing the electrical grid if electronics programs continue to be accelerated. Cutting funding away from a few windows in the desert alongside steel fans will cause some of the ecologists to criticize the move but it's more important to stabilize the economy than discredit the concepts involved to subvert the "ecology" movement. (1 Dice) (+80 Electricity +3 Petroleum Gas -140 RpY)
[]Discredit Ecological Programs: Those who talk of greening and slowing the engineering of nature until it bends to the workers' whim only want to go backward towards primitive capitalist accumulation. Current green energy efforts are being continuously propagandized as an utter failure in the development of a technique utterly incompatible with maintaining industrial efforts but the program can be taken a step further. Ecological programs can be directly undermined at every step with studies pushed to counter any narrative of devastation and undermine the delusional approach towards nature honoring the untouched wild for no other reason than boredom with urban life. (1 Dice)
Current Economic Prices(Domestic/CMEA/International): (How this will work is that every action above except for electricity modifies the internal price of the commodities below. They also vary on their own and are sorted into abstracted 1-100 ranges. Modifiers from the rest of your economy are displayed below with each category of goods. When you shift between 20-sized ranges, there can be significant modifiers to the general economy that come from changing prices of core commodities. CMEA prices determine the price in CMEA, though transportation of goods will be a problem with international prices representative of the West.)
Coal Price (49/36/60) Massive Import (41-60 No Effect)
+4 CPSC Power Plants
+2 Fuel Oil Conversions (Finished 1979)
+3 Western Deposit Depletion
-2 Nuclear Power (1975-1979)
-0 Net Civilian Spending
Steel Price: (28/38/62) Moderate Export (21-40 -20 RpD Infrastructure, Increased HI Growth)
+1 Construction Industry Expansions
+2 Net Civilian Spending
-8 Decoupling of American Trade(Decreases by two a turn)
Non-Ferrous Price: (56/56/44) (41-60 No Effect)
-3 Hydroelectric Cascades(Until 1979)
+2 Net Civilian Spending
Petroleum Fuels Price: (37/37/36) (Middle Eastern Imports(Net 1)) (21-40 Strong Increase in Economic Growth, Fuel Use, and Chemical Development)
+11 Net Civilian Spending
+4 Fields Depletion
-5 Field Modernization
Petroleum Gas Price: (37/NaN/NaN) (Significant Movement Impossible) (21-40 Prefered Domestic Heating Fuel, Expansion of Use)
+5 Net Civilian Spending
+5 CCGT Power Plants
-6 Field Modernization
Petrochemicals Price: (36/36/39) Massive Export (21-40 Massive Demand Increase, LI Growth Increase, Mild CI Growth Increase, and Strong Plastic Use Increase)
-4 Net Civilian Spending
General Labor Price: (43/30/75) (41-50 Slight Increase to Domestic Demand +10 RpD Universal)
+3 Net Civilian Spending
-15 New Graduates
-2 Immigration
Educated Labor: (65/42/85) Moderate Imports (61-70 Moderate Increase to Domestic Demand, Moderate Reduction to Domestic Competitiveness, Project Cost Increases)
+0 Net Civilian Spending
-9 New Graduates
-1 Immigration
Electricity: 36 CI 18
+634 Plan Programs
-254 CI16 Net Civilian Spending
Housing Construction Efforts: Admitting that the housing issue is developing into a problem would involve several degrees of political discomfort. Instead, work can be done to augment the housing stock with new buildings constructed to the latest styles along with renovations and lifespan extensions for any viable older structure. The share of the population living in cooperative housing can be reduced in half by the end of the plan as the construction program increases in scale along with mechanization. Lacking prison labor will suit more advanced designs better, with the latest in composite housing focused in areas of increased density and high economic activity. (-5 Infrastructure Dice) (-850 RpY Modified by Steel Prices) (Reduction in Communal and Barracks Housing Forms to 5% of the adult non-student population by 1980)
Passenger Rail Network(Ural Region): To move the network further East developing a Northern and Southern high-speed corridor with interlinks down into the Caucuses and a unified line for further development into the Far East. This would link Siberia tightly to the Western economic regions and provide a wealth of movement in the region. Long transitory routes are never expected to be popular but an increase in local commuting will provide something of an economically stimulating effect. Reductions in prices for transport will also reduce aviation demand, saving some funding through fewer terminal expansions. (-2 Infrastructure Dice) (-350 RpY Modified by Steel Prices) (Slightly Slows Petroleum Fuels Demand Increases 1980-1990)
Rail Electrification: Continuing low-scale electrification with a direct focus on the most profitable lines for conversion will limit implementation but continue the effort at the previous pace. New equipment will not be needed and the accelerated retirement of older traction will not be necessary. Current plans for modernization will focus on primary freight corridors, enabling the majority of travel to be conducted on electric traction before final processing by switcher engines. (-1 Infra Dice) (-140 RpY Modified by Steel Prices) (Estimated 50 RpY Return)
Krasnoyarsk-Irkutsk Hydroelectric Zone: With lagging iron mining and the lack of development across the Union, building a new high-potential electrical and industrial zone to augment the general plan can be a major asset. The Bakchar deposit represents some of the largest reserves of iron ore available to the Union and its development will enable a further increase in conventional industry and steel production. The zone itself is mostly swampy and poorly inhabited, limiting the costs of relocating people and ensuring that development can proceed without issue. Some local aluminum plants in both Omsk and Irkutsk are expected to be founded, ensuring that power supplies are available and ensuring that the Union can keep up with the West in the production of Aluminum. (+60 Electricity -3 Non-Ferrous per Year 1974-1979) (Three -10 Steel Steel mills available)
Modified River Reversal: The expanded program faces several risks in the form of environmental pollutants from the majority of the Ural industrial belt, funding the program in its entirety is less of an issue than the useability of the water. Implementing stricter standards across the Ob can be done in the first two years through the allocation of funding to clean up the water as it is washed out to the ocean. These measures would be treated as starting preparatory ones and come at a significant cost but one that can be met by current industries. As the plan is being implemented the infrastructure can be built up to adequate amounts with the damming of the Ob used to stabilize local access to freshwater sources. The redirection of pollutants to the downstream Ob will involve some additional funding but it would offer an effective compromise between the ecologically misguided and the radical expansion of the project. (-3 Infrastructure dice across the 10th and 11th Plan) (-500 RpY Modified by Steel Prices) (+240 Electricity -6 Non-Ferrous in 1980) (+2 Petroleum fuels per Year 1979-1983)
Power Plant Construction(Nuclear Systems): Expanding the throughput of conventional cores to a massive point with supporting infrastructure prepared in advance for next-generation reactors will take a massive amount of funding. The primary program will focus on the development of twenty VVER-500 crores to replace old-style combined cycle heating and generate further power in remote areas to minimize coal haulage. Two new liquid metal-cooled fast reactors will be constructed along with a set of four experimental VVER-1000 cores. Further centralized facilities for processing nuclear fuel and storing waste will be developed to minimize the burden on current temporary storage systems. (64 Electricity -2 Coal per Year 1975-1979)
Power Plant Construction(Nuclear VVER-1000): A maximum technical pace of reactor construction can be undertaken to entirely use the constructed capacity. Some delays and overruns are expected as the plant continues full-scale construction with the planned criticality of sixty nuclear cores in the 11th five-year plan. Unconventional designs will inherently be deprioritized due to the acute energy demands as current LEU prices do not necessitate any efforts for conservation outside efficient core design. (-3 Heavy Industry Dice) (-920 RpY) (270 Electricity -1 Coal per Year) (Completion across 1980-1984) (Estimated 90 Rpy Return)
Power Plant Construction(CPSC): Maintaining the development of coal energy at a slightly reduced pace will avoid significant industrial shocks, take away demand from more technologically intensive gas deposits, and synergize well with improvements in logistics. The avoidance of significant disruption in reducing the extent will still reduce the demand for new coal fields and provide a model for a stable transition into the next decade. (-2 Heavy Industry Dice) (-620 RpY) (240 Electricity +4 Coal per Year)
Power Plant Construction(CCGT): A committed program to use all the turbine building capacity available for industrial production is prudent and sensible. Current efforts have matured the industry and some surge capacity has been built up that can be taken advantage of. The plan would be to continue the development of new facilities at a moderate pace, ensuring that demand stays stable and providing the cause for a moderate expansion of domestic gas extraction. (-2 Chemical Industry Dice) (-660 RpY) (240 Electricity +5 Petroleum Gas per Year)
Power Plant Construction(GEP): A few experimental programs for the construction of wind and solar condenser power can be undertaken to take advantage of the uneconomic resources available in remote locations. This is likely to produce nothing of value but the technology to viably produce large quantities of energy from the environment without significant further costs is too attractive of a proposition to ignore in case it works. A poor result will at least develop the technology and provide an excuse for the ecologists on why the entire effort can be disposed of. (-1 Heavy Industry Dice) (-200 RpY) (30 Electricity per Year)
Healthcare Expansion: Imported testing and diagnostic techniques are likely to form the basis of improving the treatment and detection of chronic diseases. Moving funding away from the creation of small clinics and towards the development of expanded biochemical laboratories will be essential to improve care. It is currently theorized that an increase in diagnostic capabilities will save overall money across the entire health system. Clinic capacity is unlikely to be expanded but at the current state, the health system has some spare capacity relative to population demand. (-2 Services Dice) (-360 RpY) (Completes Expanded Diagnostic Services, Rural Testing Systems, Rural Primary Care Expansion, and National Screening Programs)
Education Expansion: Instead of radical programs to strengthen the education system the easiest unrealized gains are likely to be achieved through the salvaging of underachieving students. Almost a tenth of students are unable to make it in standardized educational tracks, even the simplest ones. By moving them towards intensive programs more focused on mastery of basic materials sufficient to complete a secondary education something economically useful can be salvaged. Some mild expansions of the mainline education system will be conducted but only as a secondary initiative to maintain throughput capacity. (-3 Services Dice) (-300 RpY) (Completes Stage 10 Polytechnic, Stage 1-5 Remedial Education, Equalization of Tier 3 Schooling, and Universal Secondary Schooling) (Cuts Workforce Expansion by ~1/6)
12 Hour Moratorium(AN: Am taking an infectious disease class and going HIV seems boring for an alt hist, so I picked another WHO virus~, this was an event roll from a bit ago, your just now noticing it for several reasons, and technically the second country to notice)
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Cannon Omake: The Harvest Crusader: In memorium of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894-1971)
Here is my first obituary omake, it's called "The Harvest Crusader: In memorium of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894-1971)". I hope you will like it.
This September 11, at the age of 77, the prominent agronomist and member emeritus of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev died.
He will be remembered as an example of proletarian success thanks to the Party's wise policies to create a truly socialist state: this son of rural laborers in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic worked in the fields in the Donbass before proudly serving in the Red Army as a political clerk from the summer of 1918 until the proclamation of the Soviet Union. He was subsequently elected to the Routchenkovo Workers' Council in January 1924, becoming its Chairman in May 1925. Alongside his position as Chairman of the Workers' Council, he studied agronomy at the National Agricultural University in Voronezh from 1926 until obtaining his doctorate in 1933.
Endowed with uncommon strength of character and remarkable managerial qualities, Nikita Sergeyevich was involved in all the battles of Soviet agriculture: after participating in the establishment of Siberian agricultural zones during the war, he returned to Ukraine in 1944 to take part in the agricultural revival of the Soviet republic, and finally had the opportunity to test his latest agronomic discoveries by advising farmers during the Virgin Lands campaign until 1958.
Having acquired this wealth of field experience, he decided to devote the rest of his career to teaching, teaching at the Kursk Agricultural Institute from 1960 until his retirement in 1968.
The Institute would like to pay tribute to this scientist, whose discoveries on the effects of radiation on growth and the genetic modification of seeds were of immense service to Soviet agriculture.
All his pupils would also like to pay tribute to a teacher whose energy motivated many students in difficulty to continue their studies and obtain their diplomas. This earned him the affectionate nickname of "Mr. K", while his colleagues praised his sense of responsibility and integrity, political wisdom, multifaceted erudition and personal charm.
These personal qualities earned him great public confidence, recognition from his academic and Party peers, and authority among university students.
The bright memory of Nikita Sergueïevitch Khrouchtchev will remain in the hearts of his associates and comrades, and will become a notable page in the history of the soviet agriculture.
Obituary published in the monthly journal of the Kursk Institute of Agronomy
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Cannon Omake: Ice creams and handshakes: Mikoyan's visit to the United States in 1953
Here's a new omake from me, full of diplomacy and ice cream. it's called "Ice creams and handshakes: Mikoyan's visit to the United States in 1953", I hope you will like it.
The first visit of a Soviet leader to the United States : a review
Washington, September 28. Anastas Mikoyan, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, climbs the steps to his Tupolev-114 on his way back to Moscow, under a guard of honor of American soldiers and a clear blue sky dotted with cottony clouds. This marks the end of a thirteen-day journey, during which he was able to get a good look at American institutions and landscapes.
During his twenty-one-stop stay, Anastas Mikoyan and the Americans discovered each other. Indeed, even if in the early days Americans were reserved or even hostile to the First Secretary's travels, these feelings gradually turned into a genuine infatuation, aided by the curiosity of American citizens, for Stalin's successor, seeing in this old man with a grocer's physique and a flawless moustache a composed, sympathetic man, always ready to talk to anyone, and not just the leader of a totalitarian state.
However, this positive vision is not only due to Mikoyan's personality, since a veritable media plan was put in place by Soviet propaganda specialists to improve the image of the Soviet Union.
To this end, according to our research, the Soviets published a large number of books and brochures in English: ten titles were published, including three collections of texts by Anastas Mikoyan, one on the personal life of the First Secretary and six on the domestic situation in the Soviet Union. In addition, a list of thirty-nine dossiers and photographic illustrations was published for American journalists, written by Soviet specialists with the aim, according to sources who wished to remain anonymous, of feeding the content of articles in the American press.
The aim was to provide photographic illustrations that could be used by the country's newspapers. It should also be noted that the Soviet propaganda effort also relied on the distribution of propaganda tools by Communist sympathizers and the official support of the Communist Party USA, as can be seen from the photos accompanying this report.
Moreover, our readers would be wrong to believe that Mikoyan's visit was solely motivated by a desire for hotdogs and a visit to Disneyland, but rather by a combination of internal consolidation, having pushed aside his rivals, and a desire for more peaceful relations with the West, in order to pursue the liberalization of the Soviet system inherited from Stalin, and its economic development.
Indeed, after consolidating his grip on Russian structures over the previous years, Mikoyan was able to set Soviet diplomacy on a new course by seeking and achieving - compared to the Stalinist years - more open and less confrontational relations between American and Soviet leaders.
To implement this policy of good US-Soviet relations, Mikoyan embarked on a veritable tour of the United States. Welcomed on September 15 at Andrews military base by US President Kefauver, he went on to Washington, New York, where on September 18 he gave a speech to the American political class in the presence of the mayor and his administration, reassuring them of Soviet intentions. He then went on to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Des Moines and Pittsburgh, where he was able to hold talks with local American leaders.
What's more, during his visits to these cities, the American public was surprised to discover the First Secretary's passion for ice cream: on several occasions during his travels through these cities, he would greet the ice cream merchants he met and taste their creations, which he compared to those produced in the Soviet Union in discussions of unsuspected technicality: events that were soon humorously dubbed the "Ice Cream Debates" by the local population.
During these political visits, his interlocutors were surprised to discover his mastery of several foreign languages, including Armenian as well as Russian, English and German.
However, Mikoyan's visits did not consist solely of diplomatic talks and tours: he visited an agricultural experiment station in Maryland, an IBM factory in San Francisco, an ice cream plant in Seattle, a farm in Iowa and a steel plant in Pittsburgh. These economic visits gave him the opportunity to marvel at the achievements of American industry, and to ask many technical and layman's questions on the subject: a testament to his great intelligence and curiosity, but also to a certain restraint in his remarks.
His stay ended with two days of talks with President Kefauver at Camp David. This meeting provided an opportunity for the two men to discuss the major international issues of the day, as well as relations between the two countries.
So, even if this last meeting with Kefauver failed to produce anything concrete apart from a reiteration of the messages of appeasement exchanged between American and Soviet leaders, this trip will at least have contributed to a further easing of the international climate.
In terms of public relations, the visit was also a success, with the American public and business circles - such as entrepreneur Armand Screw and DuPont de Nemours Chairman Georges Thiers - giving it a generally warm welcome.
By way of conclusion, we can tell our readers that, in the light of this trip, US-Soviet relations are heading for a lasting embellishment that will perhaps dispel the mutual mistrust of the two adversaries in the years to come.
Excerpts from a Washington Post article of September 29, 1953, by the journalist and reporter Francis Korner
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Cannon Omake: Two sides of the same sea: Turkish-Soviet relations from the 20s to the 70s
Here's a new diplomatic omake named "Two sides of the same sea: Turkish-Soviet relations from the 20s to the 70s", I hope you will like it.
With the implosion of the Ottoman Empire - as a result of the actions of the nationalities making up the empire and the wishes of the victors of the First World War - and the emergence of the Soviet Union from the ashes of the Tsarist Empire, it could be said that relations between today's two historical formations, Turkey and the Soviet Union, were able to start on a new footing, freed - at least in diplomatic relations - from the weight of past conflicts.
While the scale and volume of economic activities are unprecedented today, thanks to Turkey's role as a hub for Eurasian trade and its leading role in circumventing the customs duties and other sanctions implemented by the Ashbrook administration against the Soviet Union, their existence is not entirely new.
Indeed, the two countries maintained important economic relations throughout the last century, even when Turkey went from being an occasional ally of the Soviet Union to an interested neutral country. In fact, the history of Turkey's economic development could not be written without reference to the Soviet loans, the transfer of know-how, the barter agreements and then the exchanges in national currencies that preceded the very important 1964 agreement that the two parties signed in Ankara on September 18 of that year.
It could be said that these new economic relations began as early as the gestation of the new state and nation of Turkey. Indeed, during the Turkish War of Independence, which pitted the Turkish nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal against the victorious allied powers of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War and the army of the Ottoman Sultan, in the midst of a civil war and a succession of inter-state conflicts, Ataturk's movement and government received considerable support from the Bolsheviks, who were waging their own existential war against the White forces.
Thus, in the terrible conditions of the civil war, the Bolshevik government provided financial support to the struggling Ankara government, which represented an alternative power center in Anatolia more in line with Bolshevik ideology to the Ottoman administration present until then. During the War of Independence, the Bolsheviks also sent gold and weapons to the Ankara government.
Later, following the Moscow Agreement of March 16, 1921, the Soviets pledged 10 million rubles a year to the Turkish government. In May 1922, the first trade agreement between the parties was signed. In 1925, Vnestorgbank opened a branch in Istanbul. With the signing of the Trade and Navigation Agreement in March 1927, the volume of trade doubled, but as the Soviet Union moved towards collectivization policies, the agreement became problematic and some of its articles were amended in 1931. Prime Minister İsmet İnönü's long visit to Russia in 1932 resulted in the first substantial cooperation and financing agreement between the two sides. The Soviets granted an interest-free loan of $10 million, to be repaid in twenty years from Turkish exports. This loan was then used to build two textile factories in Nazilli and Kayseri, whose engineers were trained in the Soviet Union. Soviet technicians were involved in building the factories and training the staff on site.
The Turkish delegation, impressed by what they had seen of Soviet industrialization and having launched a policy of statism in their country to meet the challenges of the Great Depression, decided to prepare an industrialization plan. The first five-year plan was drafted with the help of Soviet experts and published in 1934. During the Second World War and its aftermath, there was little activity or improvement in Turkish-Soviet economic relations, with the exception of the Çayırova glass factory, which was set up with Soviet credit.
This situation began to change in the 1950s, when Turkey shifted to a planning-based development model that favored heavy industry, but also as a result of the meteoric rise of its Soviet neighbor and Comecon. In urgent need of financing and technology, Süleyman Demirel's center-right developmentist government turned first to the Soviet Union. In a second phase, this need for financing was partly covered by his geostrategic move to establish Turkey as an intermediary in intra-Comecon trade. Indeed, since India's inclusion in Comecon following the Indian revolution of 1947, the latter has specialized as a supplier of raw materials such as cotton, followed by industrial products from the second half of the 1970s. However, due to the difficulties of overland transport between socialist India and the Soviet Union, trade had to be conducted exclusively by sea, with Indian goods passing through Turkish ports and roads once they had crossed the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal, before being unloaded in Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, to be transformed into finished products (cotton garments, for example) inland. This would gradually generate substantial revenues from its transshipment operations: revenues which would then be reinvested in Turkey's development, complementing bilateral trade with the Soviet Union - but also with other regional players such as Egypt and Iraq.
It was against this backdrop that Oleg Bogomolov, Head of Foreign Trade for the Middle East, visited Turkey in 1966. During this visit, the Soviets undertook to finance and provide technical assistance for Turkish investments in heavy industry and energy. Turkey received a $300 million loan "for the construction of steel plants in İskenderun as well as the Seydişehir aluminum plant, the Aliağa oil refining plant and the Bandırma sulfuric acid plant". Five years later, two further agreements were signed to improve economic relations and advance scientific and technical cooperation.
The soviet Russians will help build the Arpaçay dam, expand the İskenderun steel plant and the Seydişehir aluminum plant. A thermal power plant will be built in Orhaneli. A Black Sea oil refinery project was also discussed. In all these important agreements for Turkey's industrialization, Turkey repaid its loans by exporting goods to the Soviet Union, mainly traditional agricultural products.
In 1972, the parties signed a further agreement to modify the terms of payment, with the result that at least part of the payments were to be made in freely convertible currencies, and deliveries of goods were to be made at the current prices of the main world markets for the corresponding goods, which were to be expressed in freely convertible currencies.
These existing economic links, payment models and modes of cooperation laid the foundations for the decisive agreement signed in September 1973. The Soviet Union was to sell natural gas to Turkey from 1976, via Romania and Bulgaria. The term of the agreement, which provided for automatic renewal every five years, was 25 years. The price of the initial quantity of 5.5 million cubic meters was to be determined by BOTAŞ and SOYUSGAZ. Payments, as in previous agreements, were to be made through exports of goods and commodities.
The gas agreement paved the way for the construction of gas pipelines, which and prompted the Turkish elite to try to make their country a transit route for gas from the Caucasus and Central Asia, or even an energy hub, even if the latter ambition is not yet realistic. More importantly, the fact that on the Turkish side, private enterprises, under the coordination of the Council for Foreign Economic Relations (DEİK), have spearheaded the improvement of economic relations, many leading companies, particularly in the construction sector, have established themselves as leading enterprises, first in the Soviet Union have contributed to the expansion of bilateral trade relations.
Nevertheless, these mutually beneficial economic relations will have more than just economic, or even geo-economic, consequences, since Turkey's gradual emergence as the Soviet Union's main trading partner in the Middle East will have one major consequence for the region: the moderation of the USSR's multifaceted influence. Indeed, in order not to displease the Anatolian nation, Moscow will always take care to consult its trading partner before undertaking any initiative that could harm Turkish interests and thus, in the worst-case scenario, lead to Turkey's departure from its benevolent neutrality towards the Soviet Union.
This state of affairs is particularly evident in the restraint of the Soviet reaction to the US-organized coup d'état against the Iraqi government and the Kurdish question. In the first case, Moscow confined itself to a formal diplomatic protest and to stepping up aid to its Syrian ally, while in the second case, the Soviet Union refrained from providing any assistance whatsoever to Kurdish fighters - in this case those present in and around Turkey - working on a national liberation struggle with a view to establishing a Kurdish state.
Thus, in view of this brief overview of the evolution of Soviet-Turkish relations, we can say that the extent of economic exchanges between these two nations was inversely proportional to their political convergence, as we move from strong political convergence and limited exchanges in the early 20s to much greater economic exchanges in the 1970s, with Turkey taking an equidistant position between the two blocs.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether this position will remain tenable for Turkey in the future, given that the american government is likely to impose secondary sanctions on neutral states, enabling the Soviet Union to circumvent protectionist measures against it, or at least use diplomatic pressure to do so.
Excerpts from "Soviet-Turkish relations from the First World War to the present day" (1978) by international relations historian Irvan Macher
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Turn 88 (January 1st, 1976 - January 1st, 1977): Stability, Prosperity, and Development Results
Turn 88 (January 1st, 1976 - January 1st, 1977): Stability, Prosperity, and Development Results
External Politics:
In one of the closest elections in the recent era, a Democratic wave has been achieved with new president-elect Jerry Brown and VP Birch Bayh taking power. The American Congress is more split with a senatorial supermajority and a strong majority in the lower house through close work with Southern Democrats. This has left the Ashbrook administration as a short-term flash in the pan of a model for future GOP administrations. Expected policies from the newly elected president are likely to be focused on continuing social gains while comprehensively retreating from economic ones. A balanced budget amendment to fix the perceived overspending of Ashbrook and Humphry is unlikely to pass but has been proposed. The extent of confrontation between the blocks may somewhat reduce, but not significantly as aggressive anti-communists have already been selected for critical executive and ministerial positions.
A practical and consolidated authoritarian militarist axis of US-aligned states has been made through the cooperation of Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. This new anti-communist formation has been largely underpinned by strong economic performance coming from more permissive American policies toward market access. Continued exports alongside a push to increase high volume low-value manufacturing have somewhat succeeded with the American economy absorbing the exports with a degree of offshoring for domestic industries. These investments, for all their increases in overall productivity, have also caused some disruptive effects with local inflation breaking ten percent YoY. As long as economic growth is sustained this is unlikely to pose a significant issue, but the dependency on foreign energy and a lack of infrastructural development is a poor sign for sustained economic development.
Rapid, sustained, and comprehensive economic growth has continued in Japan with no practical limit. The growth has been practically entirely dependent on foreign capital alongside external import of energy and material but it nonetheless has been significant with modernization rates exceeding those of the old planning system. Close cooperation is expected to continue improving the economy as US policy somewhat shifts to a more protectionist approach in East Asia but even then it's unlikely that a LDP lead Japan would tilt much less align to CMEA. Korean economic growth at the same time has been more impressive initially but with some shortfalls. The effective mobilization of the countryside has reached a point of diminishing returns despite rapid technical gains in military and heavy industrial production. Continued investment is expected to predominate towards conventional heavy industries, offering a significant opportunity for exports and underwriting significant developments of consumer industries in the Far East.
Chinese reconciliations have come with the stabilization of the government and re-integration of the Central Military Commission with the post of general secretary. The ascension of Li Xiannian who has bridged hardliners and reformists advocating for a Soviet model of economic development. In practice, he is a far harsher leader and entirely committed to upholding the authority of the party in most economic bodies while enabling soft reforms in agriculture to improve yields and replicate the gains of the early 30s. Relations are not expected to radically change as the man is convinced that the Soviet system is somewhat fundamentally revisionist as a means of organization. A stabilization of relations is still expected as trade is only likely to expand no matter some internal mutual criticism.
Indian economic growth finally started to become significant with the old Licence Raj period as it was called ending in favor of a mixture of centralization and reform. State industrial commands have been brought under super-regional administrations to improve management and cut into over-bureaucratization while more decentralized capitalist industries have been permitted to operate nearly unabated. The current INC government's interpretation of developing the state somewhat overlaps with a right-wing version of domestic policies, if with some leftover regionalism. Priority focus has been placed on increasing core state production and expanding domestic and foreign consumer-centric production more than conventional industries. Politically little is expected to change with the centralization outside of a continued emphasis on reducing the scope of provinces and integrating both financial and taxation bodies into the center.
It has been confirmed that Gadaffi has entered talks with the Americans over some form of perceived betrayal stemming from the Algerian Crisis. In his view, there was a failure to commit to an anti-colonial struggle alongside several other excuses provided for a re-alignment. He has not yet formally moved but it can be assumed that examples of all equipment sent to Algeria have been compromised with the current dealings with the Americans. Practical extraction of the older equipment is unlikely, leaving conventional smuggling through the Gold Coast the only real route to continue support for Algerian resistance. French willingness to fight the partisan war has started to lag, especially with increasing casualties and a countryside that has proven nearly uncontrollable. Significant starvation has been reported, but little can be practically done outside of furthering the supply of arms.
Warfare between the EAF and Ethiopia has increased in scope beyond original expectations for escalation as the Sudanese civil war has spilled across the entire region. Across a front of 1550 km, the density of forces is practically non-existent as helicopter and mobile forces have formed principal offensive elements on both sides of the conflict. The Sudanese front is in itself entirely discrete as fighting has no clear divisions rendering it closer to the Congo conflict than conventional warfare. To respond to the strong increase of American military aid to Ethiopia analogous programs started with arms shipments to the EAF increased significantly as the Army and Airforce modernized. The deployment of carriers has led to several practical meetings between Soviet and American task groups, but both have overwhelmingly kept their distance and avoided intervening movements.
Revolutionary victories across the Gold Coast have only accelerated with the downfall of French influence and a focus of forces on Algeria. Victories in Cameroon alongside the Chadian civil war have continued with explicit backing given to the Economic Community of West African States, explicitly rejecting the Franc, if not to the extent of the embargo. French attempts to save their influence in the area have so far been contained with de-francification movements starting to expel sympathetic military actors alongside achieving a degree of coup-proofing. Influence in the organization from low-interest loans mixed in with development funding and military aid has started to slowly harden the region even if the Americans are also competing for influence with similar approaches. The rejection of French influence has shattered local dependencies with Soviet basing in Nigeria and Togo key to maintaining local sovereignty. American movements to secure the northern states will lead to a tense overall situation but not a non-navigable one.
The only common factor for the Middle Eastern states in the aftermath of the Jewish revolt has been a steady increase in both arms and tensions. Vast quantities of oil are providing nearly unlimited foreign exchange for the states with significant purchases across all categories of equipment expected. Domestic developments in all but Syria have entirely focused on increasing the accessibility and extraction of oil, foreseeing a strong demand increase coming from the rapidly modernizing Chinese, Indian, and South American economies. Iranian and Iraqi interests have somewhat been prioritized alongside divergent Syrian ones as they represent the most capable and sympathetic powers in the region. None remotely agree with each other but the dislike for Egyptian occupation of the Levant alongside the destabilizing influence of the Saudis is a common approach. Current regional policies are expected to focus on further regime hardening of the more vulnerable Syrian state alongside increasing investments in Iraq to stabilize fuel supplies.
Current economic instability has rapidly radiated out to Eastern Europe as falling Soviet steel demand in the face of expanded production has contributed to market destabilization. The lack of domestic soviet demand for in effect increasing steel demand has poured over older and smaller European mills significantly shifting local economies. Increased manufacturing output is expected to somewhat compensate for the rapid changes in prices but only over decades and not in the moment. Industrial unemployment has for the first time increased somewhat as several conventional productive sectors consolidated. Poland and Germany have somewhat come out ahead while poorer members of CMEA have struggled more to adapt to changing economic conditions. Governmentally things have stayed stable with increased cooperation with the Germans serving to stabilize general block economics through finalizing the Euro.
LASV Crisis:
Viral outbreaks have continued to spread without much abatement despite the quarantine policies implemented with criticism from the Supreme Soviet over an inadequate response. They have focused almost entirely on the health ministry, accusing it of misallocating funding and failing to prevent a new endemic disease that has just been practically identified. None of this has gone above the stage of simple political argumentation as few are willing to replace the current minister, much less volunteer to become said minister. Further funding has been allocated towards increasing hospital bed numbers and providing for expanded care for the sick. Deaths have been limited in areas with adequate care capacity and the deployment of army and mobile healthcare assets has ensured that no regional hospital system has been overwhelmed.
The newly identified Lassa Mammarenavirus has been the pathogen responsible for the outbreak with its zoonotic spread to the common household mouse alongside several other common species of rodent forming the primary infective vector. Increased mobility of rodents has caused increased spread in the more Southern republics and warmer areas of the RSFSR with the summer expected to receive another increase in cases and medical system load. Vaccination programs have so far failed due to a lack of a practical vaccine against the disease, with significant technical efforts placed into its development to little practical progress. Compared to African incidences of the disease local mortality is somewhat lower if only due to improved access to medical care. The dangers of a hemorrhagic fever are still significant with containment measures around healthcare workers prioritized through the mobilization of available stocks of NBC equipment otherwise meant for nuclear confrontation.
International reactions to the disease have been more mixed with the French experiencing the worst rate of case incidence, likely due to expanded conflicts in the Gold Coast alongside the warm environment in France. Spread to the US has been confirmed over the later summer with it jumping into the local ecosystem of rodents for one reason or another. In a fit of nationalism, the French have so far accused the Union of spreading the disease and cut all cooperation with the Union with the Americans joining them by reducing the scope of cooperation. Practical research on the virus has been split between the blocks and rendered it another area of Cold War competition even as outbreaks are likely to continue for the following years. The suspected spread is likely to have come from the increased conflicts on the Gold Coast, with the shipments of arms and personnel spreading the disease.
Current containment of spread is focused on the elimination of rodents and the extermination of household disease reservoirs. Apartment-based living has been found somewhat resistant to infestations but this has only gone so far for older facilities. The extent of response further depends on the decisions of the Presidium as arguments over the necessary degree of continued response have been sparked through the latest reports. While the virus is only lethal in approximately 1/200 cases it is virulent and threatened to overwhelm healthcare capacity during the summer. Further, endemic hearing loss caused by the virus represents a major concern if the situation is allowed to progress as the economic damage incurred could be immense. Preparations for the next year have already started, using the reprieve and lower case numbers of winter to expand local medical capacity and produce more advanced equipment to deal with mass cases of hemorrhagic fever. (-400 RpY for the duration of the crisis)
Rocketry:
High bandwidth communication satellites have been augmented with enterprise-sponsored launches of color television satellites on a new basis. The provision of eighteen color television channels on a unified satellite system across the Union, China, and European CMEA is expected to provide significant commercial returns. Launches have been conducted in triplets on standard RLA boosters, saturating orbits, and pioneering several involved technical concepts. Continued programs to improve transmission systems are expected with higher power telephone networking the next to be constructed. Commercial systems are only likely to increase in scope as domestic infrastructure is further developed, maintaining some demand on space launch infrastructure as the program shifts to further afield exploration.
Weather satellites have in effect confirmed several assumptions on the global situation with two new ozone monitoring satellites providing a continuously tracked overview of the developing ozone hole. These have been paired with the launch of a new constellation of radiometric cloud monitoring satellites with an expected duration of action of approximately five years given the power demands placed on the systems. Effective launches have been somewhat limited as the massive payload of the RLA is generally under-utilized due to a lack of need. Even pairing six one-ton satellites is generally insufficient to saturate the vehicle with there being little purpose in increasing individual satellite weight.
The orbital telescope program has been something of an abject failure as a sufficiently sized lens has been challenging to manufacture. Military espionage applications already demand more capable lensing systems but with politics as it is, they have received a total priority for their production limiting any space program access to improved hardware. Contracting out to enterprises to produce a large lens capable of sustained performance in a vacuum has been all but impossible, producing several expensive failures more so than practical products. Further funding can somewhat save the program but little practical result is expected from it leaving the best way forward cancellation until the current period of tensions and internal political maneuvering has passed.
A full launch to Mars is planned for the 1979 window with a developed rover launched alongside a significant re-entry shell. The limitations of a parachute and bouncing re-entry are significant but are expected to be overcome at a significant cost in mass with a light rover capable of independent operation set to land on the surface of the planet in 1981. New systems onboard will be powered by an RTG, ensuring sustained operations across the surface with few electrical issues for the planned five-year mission duration. Crater surveys alongside work on detecting the presence of water is the core focus of the program especially as a high capability rover has not even been considered by the Americans so far. Sample return operations are not expected to be conducted shortly with several in the program strongly advocating for a new booster to enable sending these heavy missions.
Flying the first nuclear thermal stage to Mercury has been a technical achievement beyond any before it, especially as the American atomic rocket program has produced nothing of relevance. Initial burns to launch the upper stage of the probe into an intercept trajectory were successful through the use of both the nuclear and capture stages. A modified mission profile focusing on a flyby over a capture orbit has been pushed for due to the failure of the nuclear stage approximately 1300s into the TMI burn. A fast response by the team managing the probe and a quick abandonment of the stage led to the capture stage being mostly expended to attain a flyby window. Further attempts at Mercury missions will depend on the development of a reliable nuclear engine as there is no practical chemical means to launch a rocket of sufficient weight to Mercury so that it can attain orbit around the planet.
The first set of outer planet probes have launched successfully with Jupiter intercept expected within a year for both of the probes. So far no technical issues have been reported and the mission is well underway. Gravity assist planning has been comprehensive and unlikely to significantly deviate from the plan enabling a comprehensive tour of the Galilean moons alongside later further exploration. Second-wave probes are expected to be somewhat more durable and capable as improved power generation hardware is being made available for their 1979 launch dates, improving theoretical reliability and on-probe capabilities. Comparative American programs have been promised in speeches by Brown alongside an attempt to land on the moon but his likely policies are unlikely to enable a second space race.
Infrastructure
Western Local Roads(Stage 1/2): Even the worst organized commission can determine that the roads in smaller towns and towards enterprises are inadequate for any form of large-scale industrial development. Personal assessments are not much better with the commissions' report if anything deeply optimistic. Mud has been a consistent issue when attempting to travel by car significant distances and the quality of roads away from anything of political importance rapidly degrades. Plans to fix the issue will start with the unification of the road system on a two-lane inter-town standard with primary routes built around factories to link local production resources into the general grid. Such a plan will delay primary population-focused roads, but it is expected to improve overall industrial conditions. (150 Resources per Dice 187/275)
Restarting the development of the road system has already significantly brought up living standards and access to the countryside. Previous programs have, if anything, been a preparation for the largest programs involving the development of small bitumen roads into the countryside and around smaller cities. Network developments have been a somewhat lower priority to the modernization of high-demand areas but both are going to be needed if the Union is even to pretend to be a modern nation. Further programs have been planned as the work done in the West is just a start, focusing on a region that already has by far the best road system.
Western Deepwater System Updates: Bringing large elements of the Western deepwater system to the standards of the River-Reversal program is a major comprehensive dredging effort. Increasing barge depths and sizes, especially around the coal industry have led to several delays and technical problems in transporting coal cheaply and efficiently. Expanding and upgrading the system can prevent loss of water and allow for even larger vessels to traverse the Union. Stable supplies of coal are unfortunately critical and little can be done outside of logistical simplification. (286+15 Omake/300) (Complete)
Finishing out funding for one of the largest dredging and maintenance programs has produced rapid and somewhat measurable results. Increased silting across the majority of the deep water system has been noted with a greater focus placed on further maintenance dredging. Increased erosion has been somewhat expected through the stabilization of nature but even that has somewhat been under-estimated. Construction programs and increasing water levels will bring the entire system to an effective depth of four and a half meters with a few exceptions. This will later link directly into the canals produced through river reversal, effectively integrating the industrial economy of high-volume goods across much of the USSR. Completion is expected by the end of the plan with immediate provisions for linkages into the steadily developing network.
Moscow Renovation Program: Compared to the original reconstruction of Moscow a far more focused program can be undertaken, taking advantage of areas of accelerated development. Both enterprise districts are in desperate need of expansion, a new stadium must be constructed for the Olympics and several novel elements of the skyline can be funded. A modern city requires a modern appearance and focused programs towards continuing modernization and facade programs can provide rapid improvements to local conditions. This will be paired with a significant increase in Metro throughput and non-express HSR stations, ensuring that Moscow is a modern integrated, and accessible city. (266/250) (Complete)
The construction of the new stadium has been the priority of the program as it developed local to important and central districts. Areas for enterprise districts have been more than doubled with aggressive bidding in place for the highest demand areas of the city to increase local commercial and economic activity with more highly developed areas. Proper integration of the HSR network with the metro system alongside general expansions through the addition of four new routes have improved transport throughput with prioritizations made for increasing urban density further. The goal of the overall initiative is a Moscow that can serve as a modern financial, social, and economic capital with most renovations completed by the end of the decade outside of some metro expansions.
Relocation orders have been given for those in affected streets by the renovation program with free apartments alongside inconvenience fees provided to all those involved. If you are in an affected area, visit the local government office to receive a key to a new apartment, movement assistance is available for those without the means to do so. Inquire about prioritization of lower floor apartments for pensioners, minimizing walking, and improving general living space quality. -Moscow News, 1977
Grid Stabilization and Expansion: The electrical grid has increased in scale rapidly and to an extent never predicted in the old expansion programs. Current efforts to move around the majority of the power have succeeded but insufficiently and capacity for long-range transmission is still inadequate to say less of local grids. Work to improve the electrical grid is going to be necessary from an efficiency perspective and consolidating the wiring to more efficient unified standards is required to move to a truly modern distribution system. This will encounter several cost increases as local grids are ancient, overlapping, and a consistent fire hazard but modernizations have to proceed. (385/350) (Complete) (+30 Electricity)
The previous electrical grid could be at the most charitably said to be poorly designed, but that would imply it was designed to have a coherent vision. Power delivery has been accomplished through a continuous layered process of adding more and more capability through local infrastructure until it could not be dealt with. Working to renew the infrastructure and bring it to general standards is going to be the work of the next decade as new codes for construction are implemented and funded. Expansions and renovations in the worst areas with the oldest grids have started now to reduce the risk of fire and electrical incidents but the program will not be done in any reasonable timeframe.
Heavy Industry
Kansk-Achinsk Basin Exploitation(Stage 5/5): The future of coal power in the Union rests squarely on the shoulders of brown surface-level coals. Current deposits in Kansk-Achinsk represent almost thirty years of extraction capacity to power the whole Union, much less the current rate of extraction. Surface mining of lower-grade coals is dirtier than other coal industries, but energy demands are unlikely to slow, and if the oil crisis is to be navigated then coal must be decisively increased. (187/175) (Stage 5 Complete) (-46 CI4 Electricity -10 Coal +1 General Labor)
Rapid increases in extraction have been accomplished through the deployment of new technologies, heavier excavators, and a new series of ultra-heavy trucks to move unprocessed fuel. Post-processing yields have steadily improved as the techniques involved have been refined with good progress towards making effectively bituminous-adjacent quality semi-coke for further utilization. The wealth of products from associated volatiles and tar has started being processed putting significant pressure on the ammonium industry and supplying several more secondary feedstocks. Increased rates of production and more efficient recovery programs will increase this fraction and provide significant gains in local energy supplies. The Union must only endure for another decade before the energy problem can be unquestionably solved.
Increased extraction of coals and the development of energy resources can be considered a means to achieve the conquest of nature, if as a secondary tool. The settlement of new virgin lands in Siberia offers immense industrial, technical, and extraction potential with an unrivaled amount of resources made available to the Union. A warming world will bring them into utilization and further accelerate the development of the economy towards a brighter future. Rapid increases in domestic production and economic surpluses are the means through which communism will be constructed even if it will take time, investment, and new technologies. -Minister Balakirev, to the Energy Security Commission
Rocketry
Reusable Launchers: The initial MAKS program following the PKA was dismissed by Glushko as an impossible engineering nightmare but it can still be resumed for the sake of providing a lighter launch vehicle. Using long-burning hydrogen engines along with a reusable launcher attached to a drop tank will improve launch capacity and especially if paired with a carrier aircraft reduce costs. The technologies for the project itself are available today with the only issue being the degree of complicated engineering work. It is believed to be possible that some form of the MAKS concept could be launched in the decade allowing space to be opened to low-cost space launch. (-10 RpY) (38)
Reviving the MAKS has come with several technical challenges primarily in the development of a light high-energy hydrogen engine that can sustain re-use. The challenges of working with liquid hydrogen are immense especially due to its low density and issues with pumping a sufficient quantity to achieve thrust. Initial designs for the vehicle have consolidated around a light orbiter that can be launched in either a crewed or uncrewed configuration, taking advantage of automatic landing systems either way. A zero to four-man crew is expected, maintaining longer duration programs. Army bids for an accompanying launch aircraft are currently being debated with the military commission responsible for outlining technical requirements hard at work.
Expanded Station Programs: Continuing the disposable station program based on the previous program can push it towards the use of one-year duration stations with rotating crews alongside some developed infrastructure. Evaluations of inflatable habitats can start at scale with the first longitudinal testing of living in space performed for people alongside more advanced life support schemes. New hardware would be developed but most of the systems can be directly taken from the previous station program without the need for radical new developments. (-15 RpY) (7)
A simplified direct continuation of the previous station program has been authorized to minimize the demands for the development of new hardware. The same cores are still adequate to run modern experiments and can be disposed of as a series of single-mission modules. Challenges with fast turnaround RLA-3 launches can be ignored through the use of discrete modules with a six-month staying time. Plans currently call for two crew and experiment rotations per launched module, ensuring a steady expansion of orbital sciences. Several terrestrially however have called the program a waste that achieves nothing, especially as to several scientific commissions it is little more than a repeat of the past station program with mild modernizations.
Light Industry
Microcomputer Plants(Stage 2/4): Committing to an integration program for building versatile microcomputers capable of most office tasks at a low price will be key for the electronics transition. Current processors are significant improvements compared to old large mainframes and the technologies involved are only improving. Enterprises have expressed interest in control systems with many factories considering them a priority for technical development to improve control. Production of the first units is not expected to start for at least a year as solid-state production reaches sufficient numbers but the industry is rapidly growing outside of all previous expectations. (200/125 Stage 2 Complete) (75/150 Stage 3) (-37 CI3 Electricity +2 Non-Ferrous +2 General Labor +1 Educated Labor) (+100 RpY)
Integration efforts to increase the production of standardized devices on basic PCBs have not met many issues in the final integration stage but supplies of new solid-state electronics are still questionable. Harsh programs to increase the fabrication industry have been implemented and funded but there are strong limits placed on the number of devices and photolithography machines that can be made. Enterprises have continued to increase production of machinery but even that is insufficient for demand as the domestic sector grows. Primary integration use cases rest in NC and CNC machinery as the demand for microcomputers in the industry is immense and only likely to increase with time. Programs for K6806VS-based computing have already produced a contemporary to a closed box system with a kb of operative memory that is shipping at the end of the year with a more advanced terminal system in the works by Integral.
Consumer Electronics Plants(Stage 2/3): Television development can easily be followed by the production of new forms of home entertainment. Music systems have been radically improved over the last decade and new supportive systems for television can significantly improve viewer experiences. Expansions of the industry will consume a massive amount of labor but continue to generate high-paying work and provide for a significantly improved consumer standard. Most production will be built on the use of the current industry with some temporary minor shortfalls expected due to the strength of demand stimulation provided. (343/250 Stage 2 Complete) (93/300 Stage 3) (-49 CI8 Electricity +2 Non-Ferrous +2 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor) (+80 RpY)
Transistorized electronics are less technologically complicated than their solid-state parallels but the sheer quantities of PCBs and electronics required have placed a significant load on the soviet worker. Programs towards increasing production have somewhat been ones of expanded education as a vast number of lower-wage workers have been trained in the industrial manufacturing of already made designs. Lacking automation in the industry compared to conventional manufacturing has been limited by current labor issues as some officials have voiced concerns over the depletion of low-cost workers. Vast quantities of moderately paying jobs have still been provided in areas of intensive electronic production as demand for televisions, television utilities, and smart domestic machinery is unlikely to weaken. Exports to the rest of CMEA have only further increased demand driving the industry to expand and grow rapidly beyond domestic expectations.
Modernization of Home Electronics Gorky era industrial standardization programs have been key and heavily influential in nearly every element of the electronics industry but they need to be brought to modern standards. Power supply minimum efficiencies, indicators for efficiency, and several component standards need to be updated and improved. More advanced techniques have revolutionized the industry and it is time to move most consumer items to them. Changeovers are planned for the next five years with the majority of funding going to bureaucratic enforcement and incentive funds to ensure that enterprises can change over with few disruptions. (240 Resources per Dice 64/100)
Comprehensive overhauls of domestic electronics are necessary given the sheer inefficiency allowed to exist through the Malenkov era. Standardized systems were more so made for producibility in every small shop by poorly trained workers instead of any comprehensive efficiency standard. Working with several internal bureaus alongside the incrementation of efficiency label standards is likely to improve the adoption of new machinery especially as the minimum standards are raised. Manufacturers at the low end have so far received the majority of the money, promising significant production improvements alongside the localization of power unit production. A full conversion to a set of efficiency standards above the west will not be completed in this plan, but the baseline will rise to a competitive level.
Housing Renovation Components: The production of new side paneling and several more modern interior products can continue to improve standards for most homes. After purchase modification is common and increasing the production of specialty goods for maintenance and modernization can somewhat divest the state of primary expenses for modernization. New furniture, flooring, and renovation products will be coupled with the development of light personal use tools that can be used by both private sector workers and individuals. (41/125) (nat 1) (Completed)
Intensive debates between the Housing Commission and several enterprises have started over the start of investment into expanded housing renovation. The housing commission has argued continuously that it is essential to continue current minimal build policies to expand domestic housing stock and prepare for the mass retirement of Mikoyan-era construction. Comparatively, the enterprises have argued that renovation improves the housing stock far more so than a few additional rooms induced through gains in efficiency from simplification. If this was just a technical spat then things would be amenable but several of Vorotnikov's delegates have started to discuss the housing issue as some form of dramatic crisis. A ministry response is going to be necessary to head off the discussion and decisively respond to an increasingly politicized spat.
[]Expand Housing Funding: Accepting both demands by dramatically increasing the rate of housing construction to improve quality of life and employment is going to be an inherently popular measure. Improving the housing stock should not be a higher priority than direct economic investment but some social advantages are likely to come from it. Programs to accelerate construction efforts in the latest styles alongside an increase in apartment buildings to overcome the current excess of communal housing will provide a good basis for the eventual replacement of Mikoyan-era infrastructure. (-2 Infrastructure Dice, Additional 450 RpY of Expenses)
[]Implement Enterprise Recommendations: The housing program is already working on expanding the development of housing stocks and eliminating the communal housing form, there is no reason it cannot be slowed. Prioritizing the current funds towards improving the quality of current construction will somewhat reduce the pace of new construction but not significantly so. The workers have lived in communal housing for decades at this point and they can manage a few more years. New housing needs to be modern to bring in the best technical workers and provide for modern living standards.
[]Listen to the Housing Commission: Ignoring the enterprises in favor of simplification and industrialization of current housing stocks can become something of a compromise option. Malenkov successfully provided the workers with blank canvases that were cheap to construct and did not require significant efforts for further construction. Re-implementing the previous policy and ceasing to furnish new apartments or decorate them is going to reduce costs and more importantly reduce labor burdens significantly. The enterprises will have to compete for demand instead of regional state contracts but other kickbacks can ensure that things remain functional.
Durable Goods Program: Durable goods have traditionally been manufactured at low costs for as high of yields as possible but higher grade more durable products can also be made. Upper-end sectors have been comparatively under-invested in due to the requirements for increasing production being more essential than the sector-specific targeting. A comprehensive program to produce several specialty high-grade brands with capable engineers and a highly independently assessed technical standard can secure the segment and provide for domestic independence. Consumer utilization is expected to start slowly but higher standards are expected to slowly spread to other enterprises bringing up the general standards of production. (136+15 Omake/150) (Complete) (-32 CI4 Electricity +2 Steel +2 Petrochemicals +2 General Labor) (+60 RpY)
The construction of so to say premium enterprises has centered around the targeted acquisition of private sector assets that have achieved sufficient success in similar production. Explicit directives have been issued to maintain current leadership and technical staff to maintain the quality of production alongside a continuation of internal standards. Practical investment has only involved the majority purchase with state power, ensuring voting control but not going further to maintain a degree of flexibility and initiative. Parallel state enterprises have also been branched to provide further employment and production to secure the mid-end consumer sector. Actual results from the initiative are unlikely to come quickly but improving the quality of domestic goods is going to be essential for further export success.
Electronic Entertainment Programs: Developments in the West have been made on a series of arcade and home arcade machines creating something of a novel entertainment gap. Developing several program inventions that have so far existed as curiosities made in a university environment into viable entertainment systems can provide some demand and they have already proven capable of operating on existing hardware. Production of solid-state circuitry is limited but productive capability is practically growing exponentially when it comes to transistor numbers produced and their rapidly falling cost of production. (85+15 Omake/100) (Complete) (-28 CI5 Electricity +1 Petrochemicals +1 General Labor) (+10 RpY)
Deep shortages of solid-state electronics have severely limited what can be done with new electronic systems. First-generation 10um chipsets have formed the principle approach for many of these systems, practically receiving the down-bin dregs of other programs. Comparatively, the high degree of innovation in the few student cooperatives can be commended as they have to a large extent made obsolete and useless hardware somewhat function. Profits are not remotely expected from the program but something of a technical industry has been started in a novel entertainment sector. Expanded 6um production will provide a vast supply of older chipsets, increasing the scale of secondary industries with recreational programs likely to receive some interest.
Chemical Industry
Intensive Development of the Caspian(Stage 1-6): The amount of oil located under the Caspian Sea represents a massive nearly untapped reserves with high estimates ranging up to ten billion tons. Using previous experiences in the development of rigs and the extraction of oils from underwater reserves, local production can be increased significantly while still maintaining low general prices. Work on these rigs would inherently be more expensive than other conventional oil reserves but if the Union is to maintain some energy independence their rapid expansion will be crucial. Local ecological conditions are also excellent, as the availability of water for refining can reduce costs and enable the barge transport of petroleum to larger refinery complexes on the Volga. (254/175 Stage 1 Complete) (79/125 Stage 2) (nat 100) (-15 CI6 Electricity -7 Petroleum Fuels -4 Petroleum Gas +1 General Labor +2 Educated Labor) (+120 RpY)
Domestic capabilities for the production of new oil platforms have significantly improved over the last decade as technologies have matured and gotten more sophisticated. What was previously considered unachievable has been achieved on an accelerated timescale as domestic production has matured. Offshore petroleum developments are instrumental to the prosperity of the Soviet worker and accelerated technical programs have provided the means with which to secure it. Stationary rigs in the Caspian have proven easier to construct than semi-submersible ones but those challenges can also be overcome. The conquest of the Caspian is expected to accelerate with increasing gains in production while technical programs commit to working on the vast northern reserves.
[]Start the Arctic Oils Program: More fuel is going to be critical for domestic growth and gains in the East have started slowing even with steady improvements to recovery. The techniques involved in drilling under the Caspian can easily apply to the vast arctic oilfields, if at an increased technical cost. Previous assumptions of domestic deficiencies can be reversed through improved technological sophistication. Profits are unlikely to come at current oil prices but a modicum of energy stability can significantly improve the rest of the economy.
[]Prioritize Knowledge Transfer: Improved drilling techniques are going to be universally applicable and ensuring that the rest of the industry adopts them in an accelerated manner is important for immediate gains in oil production. Tertiary recovery alone promises to revolutionize what were previously thought to be depleted wells with enterprises greatly increasing recovery fractions. A program to start taming arctic oils is somewhat premature and optimizing for current developments can produce more immediate gains.
[]Maintain Domestic Reserves: Keeping a high rate of profitability in the domestic oil industry will encourage modernization just as well as directly intervening and providing funding. Uneconomical oils can be avoided in favor of steady funding and increasing imports to preserve domestic reserves. A rapid increase in production can always be achieved over a few years in case of terminal instability in oil-producing nations. If known deposits are kept in the ground until needed foreign oil can be expended to grow the economy instead of wasting domestic strategic reserves.
Central Asian Gas Fields(Stage 1/3): Dedicated extraction programs to tap into local gas reserves can stabilize the local economy and provide a cheap energy source outside of the coal transportation system. Any gas that is utilized can be used to displace hard coals that are more valuable in other areas of the Union along with offering thousands of high-paying jobs to local workers. Reserves in the area are if anything more optimal for extraction than the West Siberian ones, ensuring a rapid increase in production. (315/125 Stage 1 Complete) (190/100 Stage 2 Complete) (90+15 Omake/100 Stage 3 Complete) (-64 CI8 Electricity -19 Petroleum Gas +3 General Labor +2 Educated Labor) (+175 RpY)
A new gas boom has come to the vast central Asian gas fields, taking advantage of cheap local labor and electricity to revolutionize the industry. Practically day by day new wells are being drilled into the vast gas formations with primary recovery alone starting to make major gains in general production. The transfer of capital has involved the creation of a vast number of local jobs and a heavy loading on the pipelines involved as the boom continues. Practical gains in growth are not expected to fully materialize until the end of the plan but the comprehensive tapping of local wells has provided significant credence to the transition to gas and away from conventional oil. If similar gains in the production of cheap gas can be achieved on the Siberian deposits alongside more technically challenging areas then the Union will have practically limitless energy for the next century. Export agreements for the gas have only just been signed but CMEA itself is willing to pay at the current cheap market rates to offset oil demand with fully internal Euro trades.
Agriculture
Development of the Middle Volga: Irrigation in the great bend of the Volga has historically been inconsistent and problematic but with the additional flow of water south significant improvements can be made. Direct control of water levels up north is expected to stabilize agricultural yields and eliminate any dry years in the basin, improving Soviet agriculture. Current efforts will focus on the increasing allocation of water and the use of more intensive irrigation allowing a final decisive separation from the climate issues that have historically plagued local agriculture. (120 Resources per Dice 147/200)
Massive construction projects have returned to the middle bend of the Volga to increase the fraction of water harvested and preserved. Reservoir development around Samara and Kazan has been the primary focus of the program with significant retention infrastructure built around the smaller rivers to provide a ready reserve of agricultural water. The defeat of drought and increase of local agricultural production will take time but steady work and good engineering have more than proved that rivers can be tamed. Continued programs will improve water retention and general agricultural access finally banishing periodic droughts to history.
Development of the Southern Volga: The parched steppe to the South of Stalingrad has historically been marginally developed despite the favorable climate leaving useless wetlands in the far south along with a narrow green band. Diverting local water resources to local terrain would open new prime agricultural land, taking advantage of more consistent river flows to improve the production of several specialty goods. Regional development of water resources is expected to start the transformation of the region, allowing a strong increase in local production along with a general increase in fruit production. (213/150) (Complete) (+20 RpY)
Work around the Volga Delta and Stalingrad has been somewhat complicated by the terrain and general elevation levels of the water. The vast size of the depression to the south of Stalingrad has left proper retention works somewhat impractical, but smaller accompanying areas are still being developed. Pumped storage of water has been implemented for several areas in the steppe to provide consistent pressure and a means of local grid stabilization while assisting farmers with water access. Continued improvements in the region have come as a combination of micro-dams alongside an expanded reservoir system that will supply local agriculture and industries in dry periods. Proposals for expanded agricultural developments in the region have already been authorized with the greening of the steppe expected over the next decade.
Development of the Dnieper: Every drop of fresh water that enters the Black Sea is a drop that is stolen from the Soviet worker. Seizing back the water and constructing a reservoir system with diversions off the river combined with the management of solar evaporation can preserve local water resources and significantly improve growth capacity. Solving any risk of drought through hydrological means has long been a goal and a target for development and with one series of cascades and expansions to the current water infrastructure a major river can be tamed and brought to useful production. (120 Resources per Dice 150/200)
Favorable conditions near Nikolaev, Pavlohrad, and Cherkasy have led to the damming of feeding tributaries to improve local water retention. The periodic shortfalls in rain will take radical efforts to overcome but through an engineered hydrosphere that can be overcome. Current goals for retention programs are a near complete utilization of the Dnieper as any water that escapes to the black sea is of negligible economic use. Programs focusing on increasing the production of local resources alongside a significant development of agriculture still need to be undertaken to attack water use from both directions but increases in availability are a good first step. Further proposals for modifying the retention of the Dnieper basin have been made, but these are likely to be deprioritized until water use further increases.
Development of the Upper Ob: The Altai needs more water resources to increase the area under cultivation and strengthen local agricultural developments. Regional outflow is going to be used somewhat inefficiently and containing the water promises to significantly improve resources available for agriculture. The area is expected to achieve significant increases in yields with the stabilization of water reserves. Most of the work will be done through the development of local reservoirs, using minor diversions to supply them and ensure that the river itself is not excessively disrupted. (127/125) (Complete)
One of the largest true ecological issues facing the Altai and Novosibirsk has been lacking access to clean and usable water brought forth by the poor geological development of the region. Continuous work to improve the situation on the ground has started with the diversion of some of the waters that would otherwise be wasted on the Ob River to useful applications. Local retention dams are expected to solve issues with water access in the region and significantly intensify agricultural production. The breadbasket of Siberia can still be developed and with future projections for climate change, it can become a new Ukraine through sufficient technological efforts. Construction is expected to finish in a few years, providing for a new agricultural revolution as water ceases to be a limiting factor.
A Fable for Tomorrow is a science fantasy novel describing a colonized Mars where all life is carefully regimented. Nature is under the control of state authorities with constant chemical correction for any deficiency in production. Advanced pesticides capable of killing any living creature are used in a targeted manner to prune nature into a controlled and settled world. The story centers entirely on the protagonist and a fellow researcher discovering how poisoned Mars has become and the amount of land that has been abandoned for toxicity and overuse, culminating in the wholesale abandonment of the planet after the profit-obsessed government suppresses the report.
-Published 1976 by Evgeniya Morozova
Services
Telephone Use Programs: The telephone and facsimile machines are key for larger enterprises to coordinate and send information to each other. Continued work towards improving networks and providing them for mid and small-sized enterprises will be essential for increasing economic activity. The provisions for good networking are comparatively minimal as the old networks are still adequate for current demand, leading to the need to produce and purchase hundreds of thousands of machines. Organizing something of a subsidy program can then improve the efficiency and integration of the economy through the adoption of new technologies. (191/150) (Complete) (-16 CI2 Electricity +1 Educated Labor) (+30 RpY)
Expansions in the telephone network have in practice reached most consumers with only a few local holdouts left for service provisions. Where it has failed to expand however has been in associated services as telefax is still infrequently used by enterprises despite its significant advantages. Continued work towards improving the infrastructure involved has started with significant benefits offered to those shifting from mail to newer machines. The commercial advantages alone are immense and improving economic performance is expected to revolutionize professional services. Reductions in mail volume are somewhat expected as the technology spreads with gains in efficiency enabling better management of several larger enterprises more than compensating for any impacts.
Enterprise Support Services(Stage 3/3): Demand for skilled services focused on cleaning and general maintenance tasks is still not entirely met. Most enterprises prefer to maintain highly skilled labor with other workers in practice hired across as temporary contractors. Establishing several enterprises entirely specialized in general services for both businesses and enterprises can further enable economic specialization and expand competition in the economy. Low costs of employing immigrants will allow for rapid integration into the economy for many, bringing productive work without significantly impacting jobs Soviet Workers are willing to do. (251/200 Stage 3 Complete) (-18 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor) (+60 RpY)
Organizing large enterprises capable of providing general laborers in an organized, pre-contracted, and inexpensive manner has significantly gained in popularity. There is no reason for an enterprise to employ janitors if they can be contracted out to another enterprise that specializes in the task. The largest clients have come in the form of smaller enterprises and businesses as cleaning and general labor services have been high in demand through a more efficient means of bureaucratic organization and improved outreach compared to previous approaches. Increased employment alongside focusing the economy further has achieved gains in labor efficiency though profitability below expectations due to the falling cost of larger scale services.
Expansion of the Postage System: Higher speed postage has imposed several requirements on the postage system and ones that can only be partially met. Increased commercial activity has accompanied a significantly increased demand for the postage system, especially for accelerated delivery. Working to address the matter requires a multi-faceted approach with some conversions of HSR trains to mail transporters during the low utilization periods proposed. This will accompany a major expansion of postal services, increasing population access to the service and ensuring that high-speed mail can be sent both faster and cheaper. (140 Resources per Dice 206/225)
Preparing the postage system to handle high volume fast transit of goods has been a major endeavor involving the creation of two new cargo airlines with the allocation of older aircraft to them. Further, a new dedicated train set for the HSR system has been developed to enable the rapid transportation of high-value packages and letters without the use of dedicated air mail. Expansions to the system are still necessary with much of the funding involved committed more so to developing the bureaucratic infrastructure than any high throughput approach. Prohibitive pricing on the fastest mail standards is going to cause limited use but several enterprises have expressed interest in the shipment of large packages at accelerated timeframes.
Storage-Distribution Networks(Stage 1/2): Initial catalog programs have proven popular, especially for more remote areas but they can be further expanded to provide standardized goods of moderate quality as a delivery system. Initial developments will see the rapid expansion of the storage and inventory infrastructure of four participating enterprises with programs put into place to enable a mail-in and phone-in catalog service. Gains in distribution are mostly expected to occur around apartment buildings with the expanded retail opportunities likely to generate some additional demand. (246/175 Stage 1 Complete) (71/200 Stage 2) (-18 CI2 Electricity +2 General Labor) (+40 RpY)
The creation of a new unified soviet catalog of goods encompassing most areas of essential consumption has been a major concern with a dedicated committee formulated on what goods to offer. Effective products are expected to be of average quality on the catalog with no physical storefronts, only a call-in order system using bank transfers to take advantage of systemic developments. Increased throughput of the system is expected to mostly be utilized in smaller towns where specialty stores just are not available, preferentially buying goods of average quality that are available. Contracts with enterprises have further enabled some diversification as those considered of adequate or better quality have received priority listing in each respective category.
Distribution of Professional Services: Expansions of the professional service sector need to be conducted to the point that standardized legal and general consultations are available to the average worker. The development of the program will be key in stabilizing the environment for smaller enterprises to be competitive and receive adequate guidance on the navigation of the system. Comprehensive developments would in effect prioritize providing more junior graduates as something of a training program, ensuring that professions outside of direct state control are adequately trained. (129/150)
Funding towards increasing the scope of already established enterprises and businesses has come slowly due to the variety of fields and demands placed on skilled professional work. Many of the organizations involved have practically only existed since the mid-Mikoyan era with little practical development done toward structural integration.. Associated training programs have established strict exam standards for several professions, in effect codifying a minimum level of skills required to practice. These are expected to improve the strength of new students and provide a direct means of assessment impartial to university educational tracks.
Population Distribution Programs(Stage 2/5): Strong expansions to the development of distribution programs are necessary to widen the breadth of state services. Several specialty stores can be developed and constructed to provide the average worker with a vast variety of specialized goods from several brands. Not only do common grocers need more variety but specialized subtypes of stores are necessary for expanding general goods availability and incentivizing an increase in production. The establishment of a fundamental demand base will strengthen the overall economy and ensure that the industry continues to expand at a high rate. (379/225 Stage 2 Complete) (154/200 Stage 3) (-16 CI2 Electricity +3 General Labor) (+30 RpY)
Simple stores are the primary means of interaction that the average worker has with the state distribution system and continuing to expand them is expected to improve overall economic efficiency. A complex of eleven enterprises makes up the majority of general-purpose retail organizations across the nation with dozens of more specialized enterprises broadly distributed. To attain the goals of the plan and improve economic activity a strong stimulatory effect has been introduced to encourage the establishment of stores in more remote areas and increase overall demand-turnover. The greater amount of soviet workers exposed to goods the greater the demand base and thus the greater the inherent economic stimulus effect attained through domestic consumption.
Bureaucracy
Continue Labor Reforms: Current labor standards have only somewhat been reduced with non-reforming prisoners receiving five times the sentencing due to the compromises involved with Vorotnikov. Continuing the reform further and optimizing for labor offers a unique opportunity to secure long-term capabilities, especially through offering child and young adult offenders the ability to continue their education as a part of labor for more minor crimes. There is no reason to avoid educating criminal youths even if optimistically only a third can be salvaged. Grade requirements will keep the conservative wing content, ensuring that if they are not top students their inability can be made up for through labor. (34)
Strict standards for youths pursuing an education while being punished for criminal matters have been implemented as a compromise. Formal equivalence with work has been established, but only for those performing to their utmost instead of slacking. Intensive boarding programs exist to solve the issues of motivation even if the practical rate of turning hooligans into productive members of society is worse than a coin flip. Funding for the programs has been justified as a means with which to reduce long-term criminality as the expectation is that a combined educational-physical approach will yield results. In a decade more information will exist on the program's outcomes and rates of recidivism enabling the policy to be further optimized to improve population outcomes.
Talks with Vorotnikov: Vorotnikov is at least publicly an ardent fighter against enterprise overreach even if his actual policies are decidedly more mixed. Entering talks with the man in advance of any ill-advised economic regulation can play well for Ryzhkov and provide a basis for further close collaboration. Even if he does not exactly like the current state of the economy he is still willing to tolerate it, especially if a few of the worst examples can be offered up. Practical consolidation of the ministry and the elimination of internal power centers will be key to resuming normal functionality and finishing the recovery from Klimenko and Voznesensky's mistakes. (59)
Formal dinners alongside political meetings on the topics of modern politics have been productive if not conclusive. Vorotnikov does not fundamentally see the ministry as a problem and between the lines wants to make a few examples of the worst actors to get the rest in line. Enterprise encroachment into politics is far more of his concern than enterprise behavior and as long as it can be kept down on one side of the line he is unlikely to do anything. As long as something blatant does not come out of the ministry he is more than willing to continue discussions especially as the current plan looks to be completed in all important sectors. His backing will somewhat wane if the ministry vacillates or fails but that is not expected outside radical economic and political change.
Expand the Energy Security Commission: The struggle to secure enough energy and petroleum for the Soviet workers must go international if communism is to be constructed. Increasing the production of foreign oil and securing further purchases is essential especially in high oil reserve areas as energy is fundamentally critical to economic growth like nothing else is. Using that argument to expand power on essential advising bodies can still be done under the new constitution as there is a somewhat accepted crisis in the field. Talks with the MFA and MoD can underpin a new generation of security and energy commitments, stabilizing the economy for another decade and providing the time for a more permanent solution. (12)
The creation of an entirely new administrative body to manage the coming oil crisis was stillborn if only because there was no practical perception of an incoming oil crisis. All but the MFA have practically taken a line that as long as one Middle Eastern monarchy remains standing and domestic oil does not decay there is little practical need for a response. Current programs to improve the domestic energy balance have gotten perfunctory approval but the government is far more focused on novel social policies and the management of LASV outbreaks. At the current rate the ministry is somewhat on its own for addressing the crisis as other elements of the government have either refused to act or uncritically taken a line of domestic petrochemical infallibility to an irrational extreme.
Microcomputer Adoption: New generations of microcomputers are more capable than the old mainframes and can easily work on any number of small computing tasks. Moving the ministries' coordinating bodies towards the use of microcomputers will encourage enterprises to accelerate adoption and increase the general throughput of information processing. Current systems are little more than advanced calculators with some memory and repository but even that is enough to perform rudimentary calculations and replace several areas of skilled secretary work. (10) (Critical Fail)
Due to elements in the bureaucracy that have at length argued that their jobs are more important than efficiency or even effective planning the adoption of microcomputers to liquidate excessive management has been resisted at most levels. Most of the discontent has come in practice from the middle management more so than new hires as their expectations are both higher and they tend to be worse educated. Justifications have been of course thrown around about how computerization undermines the inherent humanism of labor organizations as a means of self-protection from unemployment. It remains possible to start clearing work in the ministry by retaliating against anyone who voiced the motion but it would in effect clear out a vast mass of experienced if misguided workers. More concerningly is the inherent politicization of improving workplace efficiency as increasing sophistication is likely to have similar effects across other industries.
Ministerial Structural Reforms: With the shift of politics away from looking at the ministry in favor of the Middle East now is the perfect time for re-organizations. The departments of the ministry are typically underneath the minister and replacing some of the old rot now can significantly expand the capabilities available to the ministry. Work will concentrate on replacing the heads of the Department of Infrastructure first with consolidation to follow in the chemical industry and services sectors. (50) (Subvote)
Replacing the idiots in the Department of Infrastructure is the highest priority as their misguided aims have neglected the development of economic forces. Gerasimov has not yet had an original thought for the last decade and is unlikely to embrace the projects needed to improve development while Pauzin is too indecisive to trust in completing anything quickly. Capable cadres have been raised through the river reversal project alongside the previous housing construction effort with the preference coming more from the likely future focus of the ministry than anything else. If mass hydrogeological engineering is to continue then someone from that camp would be preferred while urban redevelopment can enable the promotion of some of the more politically capable Leningrad or Moscow cadres.
Ranked in Seniority, the top selection will be the minister, and the bottom the deputy (Select Two)
[]Yuri Nikolaevich Khristorodnov: A Graduate of mathematical economics that started his career as a core consultant for the development of the Gorky combination alongside associated industrial programs. He rapidly rose to the director of logistics for the plant, organizing significant economic programs and ensuring a steady supply of machinery for the union. This provided a basis for a competent career in the Supreme Soviet, providing capable technical advice on matters and serving as a practical consultant on several critical areas of industrial-urban infrastructure. Politically a backer of Ryzhkov more than anything else and a close ally leaving the man too important to dismiss from the running.
[]Lev Nikolaevich Zaikov: Senior director of vehicle production in Leningrad and second secretary of the transportation commission of the Supreme Soviet. More significant on the production end as an important regional technical director and the man responsible for the production of new passenger locomotives alongside the vast technical improvements made in the automotive sector. His background is a dual education in electrical engineering and mathematical economics making him well-suited to act as a senior minister. Politically somewhat outspoken as a backer of Ryzkov's reforms and further changes in consumer prioritization he is one of the most senior personnel available, and more importantly one who is used to working with the ministry.
[]Stepan Ivanovich Chistoplysov: The recently appointed first secretary of the Komi oblast is an unconventional candidate but one whose efforts have worked to improve the situation around newly developed lands. As resource extraction moves north and to unconventional biomes, a wealth of experience in Northern operations will be necessary to further modernize union-wide infrastructure. A mechanical engineer with secondary education in mathematical economics leaves Chistoplysov an optimal candidate for the task in the background. His performance in administrative roles has been exceptional, taking charge of the development of essential waterways during the Pechora-Kama project. Politically somewhat unconnected he nonetheless represents a capable modernizer for an infrastructural sector looking to seize more water from inefficient natural control.
[]Anatoly Mikhailovich Zubov: A conventional urbanizer that rose through a mixture of the Voznesensky and Klimenko campaigns to increase urbanized portions of Perm. The director of the council for urban renewal and partially in charge of localized funding for the development of a major city has provided the man with something of a political base. Otherwise, Zubov is a conventional mechanical engineer by education without notable exception, serving for four years in the directing role and another ten in lower roles centered around the design of structures. Politically his alignments trend more towards Vorotnikov, but he has also been willing to criticize the man leaving his exact position on the spectrum nearly impossible to localize.
[]Raisa Fedorovna Dementieva: Graduate of the Moscow Economics Institute after an education in mechanical engineering, Dementieva has worked to significantly expand the development of Moscow in the aftermath of the Voznesensky renovations. Comprehensive work in the current project has led to her recommendation for promotion with few issues in her record. Performance throughout the project itself was somewhat exceptional with a competent degree of direction provided to disparate enterprises. Politically she is on the conservative end, avoiding Vorotnikov somewhat if only due to a stronger focus on the development of economic forces.
[]Veniamin Sergeevich Sokolov: First secretary of the Novosibirsk city committee and responsible for the development of several novel techniques, Sokolov would be a good associate for a more qualified deputy. A graduate scientist in physics with several publications, he is well suited to improving the technical development of the department. Due to the critical location of the city, local hydro projects have brought him to prominence especially as the development of the upper Ob has accelerated. He is likely to be capable with experience adapting local infrastructure to novel hydrological conditions and expanding available technical-resource developments in previously underutilized areas.
[]Yuri Ivanovich Litvintsev: First Secretary of the Tomsk city committee and responsible for local economic and political development in the city itself. He almost entirely lacks connections and is more so proposed due to his divergent political base and excellent performance in the role. Directly graduating from a local polytechnical university and receiving a party role in the process he is an otherwise unexceptional graduate mechanical engineer. Moving someone so junior into the position is going to cause issues, but as a deputy, he is politically ideal with neither a patron nor relevant political base for most higher-level politics.
Cancel Green Energy Programs: The green energy program has done its job of discrediting the concept for any reasonable planners with it mostly having served its purpose. The funding initially allocated can be augmented and directly transferred to effective gas power programs increasing yields and stabilizing the electrical grid if electronics programs continue to be accelerated. Cutting funding away from a few windows in the desert alongside steel fans will cause some of the ecologists to criticize the move but it's more important to stabilize the economy than discredit the concepts involved to subvert the "ecology" movement. (89) (+80 Electricity +3 Petroleum Gas -140 RpY)
Having entirely and decisively proven the attempts of the ecological movement incorrect with an example made for general education a pivot towards more efficient power sources has been undertaken. A few solar thermal projects alongside simplistic windmills have already been described as a modern folly by associated papers with many of the loudest voices rendered far easier to argue against. Population dissent in the form of misguided environmentalism is not going to be defeated in a single year but further efforts can be undertaken to reduce the influence of the capitalistic parasites that wish to undermine the development of Socialism. Increased access to petroleum and oil is going to power the next decade and determine the system that will be the economic victor of the current struggle. Any attempt to slow that is an inherent sabotage of Socialism, and Soviet Power, and an example of working directly against the very workers that the supposed ecologists claim to represent.
12 Hour Moratorium
Cannon Omake: Stalin's sledgehammer: the 280mm super-heavy self-propelled howitzer
To celebrate the recent update and chase away my problems, here is a new omake named "Stalin's sledgehammer: the 280mm super-heavy self-propelled howitzer". I hope you will like it.
Among the plethora of calibers used by the Red Army against its enemies during the Second World War, one became famous for the damage it inflicted on Axis positions during the war, to such an extent that this new piece earned the nickname "Stalin's sledgehammer" for the destructive power of its 205 kg shell.
The piece's origins lie in the positional fighting that marked the early years of the German-Soviet conflict. Indeed, the need for a very large-calibre howitzer was made apparent by the dense network of fortifications and trenches built by the Germans from the end of 1941 onwards, following their initial territorial conquests at the beginning of that year, particularly in the Baltics front.
Indeed, this combat zone represents a radicalized version of the type of fighting seen in the first two years of the Great Patriotic War: from the outset of Operation Barbarossa, the offensive towards Leningrad quickly came up against several Soviet armies, which were solidly supported on the ground by numerous urban or field fortifications - for example, the buildings in the city of Riga were converted into solid fortified points.
Faced with the lack of a breakthrough in the Soviet lines, and with Soviet counter-attacks on the whole front, particularly on the Baltic front, due to the violence of the assaults observed, German troops followed the Soviet example and dug in until they had amassed sufficient forces to break through the Soviet lines and exploit the breakthroughs thus achieved.
This unprecedented situation for a Soviet army originally designed for offensive operations based on rapid-fire field artillery, and whose only heavy guns capable of providing the firepower needed to demolish German works and fortified lines were the naval guns on their few battleships operating in the Baltic Sea, led Soviet engineers to think about adapting these large-calibre guns for use on land.
To this end, in November 1942, an Artillery Committee (known in short as the Artkom) was appointed. It was headed by military engineer R.A. Durlyakhov. This committee decided to set up an artillery design bureau in February 1943, with Frantz Lender as its leader. This design bureau was entrusted with work on "a 280mm self-propelled howitzer with long range" in September 1943, with the Artkom issuing a resolution of June 11, 1943 to "entrust the Artkom design bureau with designing a 203mm howitzer of long range within 8 months".
Given the importance of such a gun for an arsenal lacking in heavy artillery, this project was immediately marked for prioritization by the military high command. Given the need to motorize this heavy artillery piece and the development of a new high-weight heavy tank chassis, a new proposal was made to design a slightly lighter, far more mobile self-propelled gun system that should still fulfill the range requirement.
The development team for the gun has requested specifications for the new heavy tank's chassis and has designed a new gun platform around that. Based on a limited stock of 280mm shells already fitted to its tsarist predecessor and taken from Soviet arsenal stocks, this shell has been updated and adapted to a longer barreled howitzer system, featuring some loading assistance and considerable weight saving elements for easier transportation and mounting to a heavy tank IS hull. This tank chassis and associated engine will enable the self-propelled piece to cover 6km off-road and 8km on-road. To maneuver it and maintain its firing rate of one shot every five minutes, the gun crew will consist of five men, with a further five men in support to supply the 280mm gun with shells from the rear of the battlefield.
Moreover, some rudimentary protection for the crew and hull has also been designed out, featuring around 25mm of armor around the crew to protect from fragments and light weapon fire while loading the gun. The entire platform is still open-topped, slower than the tank prototype it is based on, and less reliable, but it can move fairly quickly on its own power and be used as a heavy support platform near the front, with some limited direct fire capability.
With the heavy tank being rushed into production, the gun has also been set to be moved into production, with the first examples to be produced by April 1944. From this date until Japan's surrender, 103 pieces were produced by the Leningrad arsenals and made available to the Stavka's strategic reserve.
Although the B-4 howitzer would be of no use in breaking through German lines, contrary to the intentions of its designers, given the unblocking of the military situation, the howitzer would nonetheless have its baptism of fire on the Western stage, since in preparation for the offensive on Berlin, all parts produced up to that point would be mobilized for artillery preparation. Subsequently, once urban fighting had begun in Berlin, the self-propelled howitzer was used to fire directly at German fortified points, demolishing a building after each shot due to its powerful blast. Another of the piece's feats of arms was to be used to destroy the huge anti-aircraft flak tower in Berlin, whose ten or so 128 mm anti-aircraft guns were a thorn in the side of the Soviet forces in Berlin, as their firepower slowed down their movements. Equally, on German territory, the gun was instrumental in reducing the various festungs (the transformation ordered by Hitler of several towns and ports in both the West and the East into so many fortress islands designed to resist to the last man with no spirit of retreat or surrender) such as Breslau and Frankfurt, set up to halt the Soviet advance.
Nevertheless, the the Soviet artillery piece would nevertheless have the opportunity to fulfill its initial mission of destroying fortified lines, by subsequently taking part in the "August Storm" operation in Manchuria, which mobilized a large proportion of the 280mm guns then endowed in the Soviet army in a high-profile offensive. The result was a Soviet victory between August 9, 1944 and September 9, 1945, with the destruction of the Japanese army in Guandong and the liberation of Manchukuo, Mengjiang and Korea, as well as the consequent expansion of territorial control by the Chinese Communist Party and its armed forces over a decaying Nationalist army.
Indeed, from the battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 (a border incident in Mongolia which degenerated into two battles between the Soviet Union and the Japanese Empire from May 11 to September 16, 1939, both of which were defeats for the Japanese Empire) to the breaking of the Japanese-Soviet non-aggression treaty, Japanese forces on the eastern border of the Soviet Union had ample time to fortify their positions with numerous shelters and concrete defensive positions, culminating in 4,500 permanent works in seventeen fortified regions. This mission was entrusted to the B-4 howitzer, which brilliantly disemboweled the Japanese lines by mobilizing all the 280mm guns available. In this theater of operations, as in Germany, the super-heavy howitzer played a role in urban combat, supporting assault groups with its devastating fire, demolishing resistance points set up in Chinese and Korean cities by retreating Japanese forces.
Unfortunately for him, the end of the Second World War led to the gradual end of production and use of this weapon by the Soviet army in the years that followed, due to changes in the post-war strategic and technological context.
Indeed, although the presence of the Soviet army opposite the Maginot Line until the end of the military occupation of defeated Germany might at first sight suggest that the 280mm howitzer would have found a second lease of life as a demolisher of works on the French defensive line. However, the reinforcement and modernization of this line following its reoccupation by the French army (until the atomic weapon was obtained, guaranteeing the definitive sanctuarization of the national territory) rendered such a weapon obsolete in view of the much larger calibres required to hope for the destruction of fortified works. What's more, in view of Germany's performance in Belgium in seizing Belgian forts by airborne assault, the Soviet army doctrinally favored this type of assault in the early post-war years for the capture of French fortified works, as it guaranteed efficiency and rapidity of action.
Speed of action was also a factor in the decision to abandon such guns, as Soviet war plans during this period were based on the speed of execution of the maneuver, in order to seize French ports as quickly as possible, to prevent any American or British reinforcements from reaching them, and also to interdict any Anglo-Saxon maritime movements by bringing Soviet forces closer to the coasts overlooking the English Channel or the Atlantic. However, this would be incompatible with a logistical burden slowed down by the presence of such high-calibre weapons in the Soviet arsenal. To this we can also add vulnerability to aircraft in the event of unassured air superiority.
This geopolitical argument can also be applied to the Asian theater. With China, Korea, Indonesia and India now on the Communist side, the theaters of operation for a hypothetical third world conflict between the Communist and capitalist blocs are shifting to the high seas, with the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean as likely areas of conflict: areas of conflict that will undoubtedly give pride of place to the air-sea components of both blocs, rather than land-based ones. What's more, a battleship could easily fill the B-4's role as a breaker of fortified positions, with the many large-calibre guns normally found on a battleship worthy of the name. The B-4 howitzer thus loses its usefulness in such a conflict.
The technological breakthrough represented by the misille is also a factor in the abandonment of this artillery, since the misille offers a cheaper, more accurate alternative to the artillery shells of this piece, with similar or even superior tactical effects as the misille branch develops.
Another technological factor in the gun's retreat can be found in the conceptualization of the recently-developed atomic weapon as a multi-tasking super-artillery tasked with destroying troop concentrations at the front or rear of the front, enemy hardpoints (fortified positions or trench lines) or logistical networks, with the aim of dislocating its apparatus and nullifying its ability to respond to the actions of the Soviet military.
In conclusion, the B-4 super-heavy howitzer did the Soviet army proud during the hard fighting of the Second World War on the European and Asian fronts, helping to reduce the braking zones set up by the enemy, before being relegated to the museum following the geostrategic evolution of the Soviet Union and post-war technological developments.
Excerpts from "The arsenal of socialism: the Soviet military-industrial complex during the Second World War" by historian Jack Mauer (1964)
