Turn 65 (January 1st, 1960 - July 1st, 1960): Our Proletarian Struggle Results
International Affairs Pt.2
The dominant issue in the American election cycle has become the struggle against Chinese incursions into Vietnam mixed with an intensive debate on the degree of racism that needs to be maintained. This has led to a number of lively debates and a technical split in the democratic party organs that has left several domestic experts surprised as the South itself has abandoned political expediency in favor of a more dedicated push towards racism. The primary race is expected to occur between Lyndon Johnson as a Democrat and Gerald Ford as a Republican, with a third entrant coming from Strom Thurmond splitting from the Democrats in the South. While he is expected to weaken the overall democratic bid of Johnson, the structural advantages of the Democratic party are expected to still secure their victory in the election.
Intensification of the Vietnamese conflict has coincided with the transfer of volunteers to help the ailing Chinese air force and as a response to a degree of American and French aerial investment in the conflict. France itself has moved up in ready state and started the transfer of divisions towards Vietnam, with aid from other capitalist nations. Kosygin has so far taken a more neutral line along with seemingly the Americans, with aid sent over in terms of material but no ground based soldiers being transferred to attempt to stay out of the conflict. A meeting has even been arranged between all major leadership in the crisis as an attempt to reach a diplomatic solution and prevent a further escalation to the conflict.
In terms of the actual fighting, Chinese forces have continued an incompetent infantry centric assault through the north, making progress at large costs and driving towards the Bach Dang River. They have managed to reach the river bank despite themselves and likely due to the partially mobilized state of Vietnamese forces and the incomplete transfer of French assets to the area. US equipment sales have massively picked up with trainers and modern equipment being transferred to the Vietnamese and the French to stabilize the conflict as Vietnam has deepened its mobilization. Our own aircraft and volunteers have performed adequately, if poorly relative to certain enemy aircraft, leading to a number of losses and a massive transfer of funding by the ministry of defense towards new crash programs to counter the American fighters and their superior radars. The expected radar tasking for the lighter fighters has proved inadequate as the Chinese radar systems on the border have been proven to be crewed by incompetents and obsolete, leaving proper interception opportunities limited.
Worker Reform Reports
New voting-induced labor policies have led to a number of changes across management structures, as worker involvement has served to cut down a few of the excesses. Majority votes are still necessary for anything to be done, but the increased formalized power of the workers and the presence of organizational structures split from the state Union has led to a steady reduction in overtime and work accidents. So far the major role of these structures has been to vote down plans that call for an intensification of production to make up short falls and attempts to position themselves as enforcing the workforce regulations that the State Union is traditionally responsible for. A few party Unionists have protested their reduced role in decision making, but that is simply an indicator that the current policies are working.
Further strikes against the State Union have come as a further stage of developing discrete worker power. Wielding them as a tool against management has furthermore served to strike against bureaucratic power structures that have long opposed development. Sure the workers themselves have acted towards securing control over vacations and pay scales rather than any larger political goals, but these acts have been incredibly politically useful. The State Union itself has started to attempt to fight the workers themselves through the legal system, drawing them into a series of long battles that has shifted their focus away from more important matters at minor costs. Actual budget negotiations have however surprisingly been only a minor role for worker organizations as their primary purpose has instead shifted towards worker representation, expanding their political role and securing a number of important political gains for the ministry by consuming the efforts of party organs.
Minimal actual cost increases are expected at every level as wage negotiations are still done on a more central level and the workers selected to these councils have primarily been from mid ranking personnel rather than common laborers. The concern over additional costs has been raised by several members of the Supreme Soviet and Ministry, but even these are expected to be minimal as the workers themselves have generally cooperated with general management rather than attempting to fight in most cases. Continued expansions of the policy might lead to a greater degree of representation and contentedness, but as long as labor costs only shift a small amount and an internal organization system that favors stable management is formed, the policy itself is a perfect political gain. It has even enabled multiple technocrats to present themselves as ardently pro-worker and committed towards the development of class consciousness without any regional costs, ideally securing a number of seats from more conservative factions.
Rocketry
Dedicated efforts towards the construction of the RLA system have finally started paying off at a large scale, as the primary engine system has reached a point of relative combustion stability. In a single bell scale using a massive pumping system, a test stand thrust of almost six thousand kN has been achieved. Further gains are still expected to be possible with more advanced designs of trust plates, and despite slow progress being made on the turbomachinery due to alloy limitations that part of the program isn't technically behind schedule. Rocket design itself has also received a considerable amount of funding and assets, with the largest size of rail transportable tanks effectively drafted and entering low scale construction for testing on transportation. All that is left now is broader scale aerodynamic simulations for the full scale polyblock along with the specific designs of the upper stage packages for the expected launch configurations.
Yangel has once again outmaneuvered the mainline program through a combination of cleverness and bureaucratic alliances with the military. Programs towards the remodeling of the R7 towards more efficient cryogenic propellants have gone slowly while Yangel has effectively stolen designs for a closed cycle engine and utilized it. His new rocket is unfortunately better then the ministry produced ones, and now the process of acquiring a sufficient number of R7U's for launch has involved groveling to the military authorities for designs and expertise. The Stalingrad plant is still more than capable of producing them, but the mere fact that an over promoted aircraft engineer has managed to upstage the main program is an embarrassment.
Development of the universal interplanetary probe has primarily become a question of electronics design as a pressurized environment is unlikely to be maintained on such a long mission. Multiple suggestions have been made to address this, ranging from new technologies to a number of highly specific cooling adaptations that risk being less reliable than even a pressurized box. Integrated circuit designs have instead been favored, with a tentative unit ready to be produced for the nearby launch window, if one that has received a limited degree of testing and one that may not be sufficiently reliable for the full journey. Even if it is far less efficient in cost then a normal transistor logic circuit, it can at least manage to make the trip at a lower thermal and mass budget.
The overall Vostok program has received a number of delays as the first full scale test of the capsule was incinerated on re-entry from a suborbital trajectory. The fault has already been found and corrected with a second test launch scheduled in a month, but the strict time table and media presence towards the overall program is only expected to tighten the safety requirements. As good as a martyr would be for overall space exploration and more funding towards certain programs, the massive political disappointment cannot be overstated. Testing requirements have subsequently been significantly tightened to ensure that we do not lose a cosmonaut to a simple mechanical mistake. Even a launch escape system has been integrated into the design, tightening the delta v budget but ensuring that the lethal range of failure is minimized.
Through the transfer of additional personnel and tight cooperation with a number of aeronautics enterprises, the finalized form of the orbital capable PKA has been drafted and prototyped. The craft itself is expected to be a seven ton unit capable of independent re-entry and a degree of orbital maneuvering. While not the most capable unit, the small on board cargo bay and ability to theoretically capture an orbital payload represents an important step in the maintenance of orbital assets and possible espionage work. Onboard propellant reserves have been consolidated towards mostly maneuvering thrust rather than as a main drive, with the overall craft expected to be delivered to a parking orbit by a modified cryogenic upper stage R7U. From there the two crew are expected to do a number of scientific experiments and tests before coming back down for a re-entry.
While starting and progressing the MKAS program has immediately hit delay after delay as the cryogenic engines initially expected for use have been proven to be too heavy while the tank design leaves a number of aerodynamic limitations. Wind tunnel simulations have not been optimistic for the craft or its planned carrier aircraft. On the army end, the issues with the construction of a six engined mass transporter have practically immediately become apparent, as the plane is larger then anything that has been built before. So far the funding from this program, the expected use in moving heavier future armor, and a degree of optimism towards passenger transport capability has served to keep their program alive despite technical challenges. On our end, the engine issue is expected to be overcome as expertise towards designing higher power expander cycle engines builds up and is utilized.
Infrastructure
Secondary City Metro Lines(Stage 5): The further and practically final development of the metro project for a time involves constructing a further system in some core industrial sites. The Kazan and Chelyabinsk metros will be built in a direct repetition of the old pattern, ensuring all industrial areas can receive a steady supply of workers. The more complex Odessa metro will involve only a single integrated linking line due to the cost of working near the water table, but this should still be more than sufficient for the efficient transportation of labor. (75 Resources per dice 79/150)
Continued construction of the metro system has again occurred in the old pattern even as some of the older projects have been completed. Progress on the development of novel technologies has been made, but ultimately a simple inter-linked system with a few extra stations has proven to be both popular and cheap. Low depth systems have been constructed in bulk with plans towards later decoration by a bevy of educational failures in the labor reserve. In terms of new construction the Odessa metro itself has proven itself far more complex due to the presence of water, necessitating a dedicated effort towards the construction of tunnels in adverse circumstances.
Passenger Rail Network(Western SU): Electrification is a fundamental improvement in the transportation of personnel at high speeds, as diesel locomotives are not properly optimized to run at such a pace. Utilizing several innovations in rectification and localized drives for passenger units, it is possible to provide similar or better speeds across the HSR network. These new units will require a large-scale modernization and be limited to serving passengers. Still, as there is already a network specializing in the task, this optimization is more of a question of specialized production. Electrification of the track itself will be done according to a 25kV AC catenary scheme, allowing a reduction in power loss across the vastness of the Union. (75 Resources per Dice 1551/2250)
Electrification of the Kiev-Moscow route has been undertaken in order to further modernize the general network and improve throughput. Current use patterns have fallen towards more local trips rather than long distance routes, but there are several periods of high demand for long distance transportation. The improved speed of airfare has been partially competitive with the network, but the massive prices of tickets have made it limited to upper ranking party members and senior workers in a number of positions. Continued efforts on the network will focus on the electrification and modernization of railways around Moscow and Leningrad, improving high load commuter traffic and improving the accessibility of the city centers, enabling a continuation of economic development without excess expenditure.
Construction of the Paved Road Network(Stage 5): Roads are a critical component of practically all local travel and most broader regional initiatives. To help ongoing development and assist the broader infrastructural network of the Union, the drive towards the construction of paved two-lane regional roads can continue. These routes are expected to be of relatively low speed or quality. Still, their presence will open millions to new products and enable an entire base of small industries and consumers. Their construction will also assist in the further integration of the countryside by improving the rate of inter-relations between it and urban centers. (811/800 Stage 5 Complete) (Projects for: Trans-Siberian Road, Moscow High Capacity Road Ring, and Western USSR High Capacity Roads Opened)
The planned road construction effort has finally been completed in its entirety, leaving the project to shift towards the next proposal. While the regional interlinks have all been funded and will be completed soon, already at several points there have been proposals to further expand the road system to improve throughput and further enable the bypass of any concentration of population, minimizing traffic and applying the lessons learned in the rail project to road construction. Separating the overall construction initiative towards focusing on the development of the Moscow region, ensuring that the areas of high road-utilization in the Western Union are further expanded, and a more propagandistic project to link the entire Union with a single two lane on each side network running along the Trans-Siberian route, linking a number of politically important cities.
Telecommunications Infrastructure(Stage 4): Continued work on the telecommunications system of the Union has been partially taken up by private and enterprise-level efforts. Instead of the centralized drive, many enterprises have started adapting telephones on the floor level independently for the benefits of coordination and informational throughput. Civilian adoption has been slower as the new networks have been stressed over the last few years, but progress has been made to ensure that sufficient switchboard capacity is there. Further funding will go more towards expanding switchboards and ensuring that lines maintain clarity rather than a broader buildout. Still, even that will increase the overall cyberneticization of the economy and extend the current period of rapid growth. (60 Resources per Dice 167/250)
Construction of further telecommunications integration has only accelerated as even the private sector has pushed heavily for obtaining discrete phone numbers. Even the average worker can now in theory afford a phone and pay the minimal fees to the state for its use, proletarianizing the overall network. We are still expected to be behind the Americians in total popular adoption of the telephone, but with further initiatives towards expanding the network and a continued emphasis on popular uptake, it should be possible to at least ensure that most households have access to a telephone. To accomplish this, switchboards have been further expanded along with a massive quantity of cabling, steadily improving throughput and avoiding most areas of discrete over-stress.
Heavy Industry
Novocherkassk Locomotive Plant: A new dedicated plant for producing electric locomotives is needed as the limited runs in the Leningrad Plant are inefficient, if adequate, for now. With the planned necessity to further increase loading on the passenger network and to enhance the degree of cargo throughput throughout the nation, electrification is a logical and efficient answer. Current grid power is only approximately at the price of fuel oil, but the reduced maintenance overhead of electrical traction alone is expected to recoup most investments. Once the plant is completed, it is expected that the overall cost of the HSR project will go down by a small degree while enabling a sufficient degree of experience to develop to enable large-scale conversions to freight electric traction in the next plan. (80 Resources per Dice 82/250)
The construction of a new dedicated plant has necessitated the transfer of the majority of the electric locomotives teams from the Leningrad plant and a number of other facilities. The factory itself is so far expected to design a freight and passenger model for mass issuance, with a degree of parts commonality and integration onto the standards of the overall electrified railway system. The plant itself has just been started with supplies moved to the sight and foundation construction initiated slightly behind the overall time table. Assuming a sufficient degree of funding is allocated, first production is expected to occur before the middle of the decade, with proper spool up taking place in the years after as rail networks are further modernized and expanded.
Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Combine Expansion: The old steel mill has seen several better days as current practices have failed to properly utilize the vast deposits of iron ore under it. Through the expansion of its old processing halls and the total integration of modern technology, a far cheaper opportunity for industrial development has presented itself. Steel production can be increased using the same workforce, and a constant surplus of tooling can be sent towards further increasing final metallurgical processing. This will ensure a massive increase in local steel output while saving state resources for other sectors, utilizing just a bare quantity more coal due to process improvements. (100 Resources per Dice 146/200) (Complete??) (nat 1) (24 CI5 Steel -12 CI1 Coal -4 CI1 Electricity -3 CI2 Workforce)
The overall project towards modernizing a simple Steel mill has become politically contentious due to a number of saboteurs in the political party structure. The management in its haste to maintain production has continued production to the last moment, leaving a number of obsolete structures forcibly integrated into the overall plan. Through the insistence of local directors pushing harder labor measures and overcoming technical deficiencies, they have managed to convince the brilliant and capable luminaries in the local Soviet to allow this, rendering much of the modernization effort incomplete and partially done, yielding little improvement. While rebuilding and forcing the issue is still in theory possible, it is far better to simply cut back investments in such areas of political sabotage.
New Automotive Plants(Zaporozhye): More automotive production has practically been a direct translation towards growth in the export balance and domestic economic growth. Automobiles form a consumer product that the unique advantages of the Union further enhance the production of, enabling the planned massive steel surplus to go towards productive ends and workers across CMEA. By developing each of these plants, a genuinely wide selection of automobiles can be presented to every worker in the Union, allowing them to have a degree of choice and hopefully eventually lowering prices and profitability ratios to a reasonable level. (75 Resources per Dice 153/225)
Construction of the new plant has proceeded according to plan with equipment constructed and trained personnel transferred from a number of other installations. The plans for the factory are set for it to specialize in heavier vehicles made to a number of multi-purpose designations rather than the direct production of smaller passenger cars. A pickup with a 4x4 transmission is expected to be produced with a cargo capacity of up to 400kg, with a small van and microbus model built alongside it using a number of shared components. The design staff have in practice already moved in and started on work in prototyping while the floor of the factory has consolidated, with just some further budget necessary to complete the construction. According to the overall production time frame it will take a few years to reach full scale utilization, but the sheer demand for cars will ensure that the plant can independently rapidly expand.
Development of the ZIL Automotive Plant: The recently renamed Likhachov plant has long served to produce vehicles for the party, and it is time to expand it further. The pressing market for higher-end automobiles for domestic consumption and export has so far been underutilized, and it is time for it to be properly established. By producing a sports car along with several sportier modernizations of conventional products, a high markup good can be made for domestic and foreign utilization. Several models will also go towards a recreational workers' racing league, with a severe limitation on budgets and personnel, eliminating the bourgeois character of the sport. (266/200) (Completed) (-12 CI2 Steel -6 CI2 Electricity -4 CI1 Workforce) (+10RpT, +50RpT Exports)
Continued funding towards sports vehicles production has finally been realized in the form of a viable mass production low cost sports vehicle. The novel frame has served to minimize its weight while the new engine design has allowed for even lower weight design, allowing power to be saved for acceleration. The standard coupe model is expected to make up the majority of the units produced and exported, though a redesigned more standard five seat car has also been made available for certain consumers and to enhance foreign market penetration. The plant itself is only expected to accelerate production as more focus is shifted towards expansion rather than design, as there are a number of unprepared markets abroad that a significant degree of income can be generated from. Even domestically, thanks to the currently acceptable interest rates, a number of youths will be interested in a faster automobile. Effectively securing a constant source of state revenue and minimizing any temptation to import Italian or American models.
Bus Plants(Riga): Demand for buses across urban transportation is as dire as ever, as every size is needed to ensure that workers can be transported to their jobs and towards commercial zones. The proposed plant is expected to fill the demand for light buses and several models of lighter service vehicles. Still, as it and its previously constructed sister plant accelerate production, it should be more than possible to catch up with the current shortfalls. (219+10 Omake/225) (Completed) (-25 CI2 Steel -10 CI2 Electricity -6 CI1 Workforce)
The completion of the last planned bus plant has arrived late compared to every expectation of a sufficient degree of mass transit. Current backlogs on replacing the obsolescent ZiS-5 and 6 conversions are likely to take years if not the most part of a decade as the entire transportation fleet needs a large scale overhaul. Production is expected to start up in full in 1961, providing a large quantity of mid capacity transportation, especially to more remote areas that do not justify larger projects. Additionally the light bus itself is fairly adaptable in terms of frame, and a large number are expected to be converted for a multitude of other duties. Ambulances, cargo vans, and even some off road transports to help with construction. With the backlog as it is, prioritization and triage will be used in replacing breaking down vehicles, but even that can be overcome in time.
Rocketry
Luna Propulsive Landing: Crashing a probe into the moon and flying by it is comparatively simple, but if we are to compound on our victories in the space race, a lander and orbiter need to be designed. Using the increased lift mass of the R7U, it should be possible to launch several missions toward the moon to start surveying it and bring back important information. Design constraints for a theoretical manned mission can start once the body is properly surveyed and photographed. With the goal of a propulsive landing, any sample return mission is currently beyond us. Still, an analysis of local materials must be supported from a prestige perspective. (55) (Luna 2 Project Cost 10RpT)
Propulsive landing proposes a massive challenge for a number of factors, the largest of which is the uneven surface of the moon and the necessity for fine control over the lander itself. Computational systems are needed to an extent in order to ensure a safe landing, as the signal delay of several seconds presents a massive challenge to flying the craft from earth, discounting the massive issues in a sufficient data transmission band and lack of transmissible image hardware. Work has effectively begun on constructing a mostly automatic landing and guidance package for the probe, as with the lift mass allotted by the R7U, the lander itself should have an acceptable tolerance for luxurious design elements. Korolev has also again taken over this project under the auspices of his team as Glushko has been more directed towards engineering work and work on the RLA, pushing design of new payloads with minimal work crews.
Communications Satellite Testing: Proving the economic usefulness of space is a challenge, as just getting a small metal ball into orbit is a monumental achievement. Still, developing dedicated signal transmission infrastructure and launching a few small transmitters into orbit can start the long road to pioneer full-scale commercialization. Current plans call for the launch of over a dozen research payloads focused on signals testing along with the evaluation of a multi-satellite bus loaded with cargo from several participating enterprises and institutes. (5) (Project Cost 15RpT)
Testing the quality of orbital transmissions is set to occur on an accelerated time table, as the Americians have already attempted a similar project and we cannot be too behind. Much of the testing involves the simple relaying of signals at different points to and from a satellite in order to test transmission capability. Not much actual capacity is expected and the overall program isn't at all expected to do much. Future efforts will have to be undertaken to develop the technology more, as for now, most of the engineering bureaus do not believe the capability is remotely mature enough.
Ballistic Capsule Program: Now that our lift mass is expected to improve significantly using the R7U, far larger capsules can be considered. Breaking away from the tiny Vostok capsule plans and constructing a proper vehicle with greater staying capacity and space for four cosmonauts will provide a decisive edge. Using the full bulk of the R7U's lift capacity, it should be possible to provide even a limited degree of cargo transport to any of the proposed station designs, along with enabling far larger re-entry windows in a theoretical Lunar return trajectory. Long-duration testing can even occur with a theoretical extended module while simultaneously enabling a far greater number of experiments. (80) (Project Cost 5RpT)
A single body re-entry capable ballistic capsule is practically a logical development on previous designs and fairly simply to implement at full scale. While the actual technical aspects are fairly involved, a large portion of the funding has effectively already been committed in the testing of smaller capsules and re-entry testing of a number of previous programs. The actual capsule itself likely won't be ready for the first manned flight organized, but by 1963 it should entirely replace the current upscaled proposals likely to be used. Korolev in his vision has furthermore started the design effort towards a full diameter capsule for the RLA, with a small amount of funds allocated to slowly push the project forward.
Development of the Stalingrad Plant(Stage 3): A further expansion in ministry-exclusive production capacity can enable the further consolidation of productive infrastructure under central control. Sure it may be logistically inconvenient, but at this point, all but the guidance packages are effectively made in-house, rendering large parts of the R7 far cheaper than they otherwise would have been. To continue on these developments, the latest in equipment can be utilized to further improve standards and continue the push towards developing viable orbital production. The cutbacks in the army's research arm can secure a wealth of talent used to working with complex guidance packages, accelerating development further. (100 Resources per Dice 88/200)
Further increases in rocket production and a preparation of the plant for the mass production of the R7U has gone slowly, if acceptably. The main assembly floor has further been built out and expanded for a number of projects while a greater number of technical personnel have steadily moved into the city. A number of universities and institutes have been founded in Stalingrad as a cooperative effort between the academy system and industry expanding development and contributing to a massive number of programs. More funding is still needed to expand local institutions to a sufficient extent and develop further manufacturing but progress is being made.
Light and Chemical Industry 8 Dice
Petrochemical Pipelines(Stage 4): Further expansions of the overall pipeline network into the Far East have proven necessary as the massive petrochemical demand of the nation has only increased. The necessity of gas and power production in remote locations and the steady industrial intensification in the East have led to a proposed project for an oil and gas pipeline to be constructed to Vladivostok. The project will be costly, but it will ensure an easy and consistent flow of energy resources across the Union. Furthermore, constructing this pipeline will enable far cheaper petrochemical exports to China, supplying a massive market. (50 Resources per Dice 92/350)
The Far East has always been comparatively under-developed relative to the Western parts of the Union, but to address this infrastructure needs to be laid first. The construction of a massive gas and oil pipeline system is just a first step towards addressing these deficiencies. The overall project isn't expected to be the largest or most significant of developments to enable rapid development, but still a critical one to ensure low cost power and further access to energy resources. Refinery complexes have effectively already been built into the overall system, providing for a continuation of development. Actual power construction targets have necessitated that this project is completed at a slightly faster pace then currently funded, but as all other parts necessary to the expansion of the combined cycle plant system are already constructed all that is left is to fund the pipeline.
Volga-Ural Petroleum Basin Exploitation(Stage 2): Continued development of the major basin will ensure a steady supply of gas and oil products is delivered. Much of this wave of expansion is expected to occur in the gas program rather than the oil one, as current petroleum prices are too low. Still, further gas production will be rapidly shifted toward the West as that is the area with the most viable economic development. Conversely, a prospective pipeline is already entering planning for a direct high-efficiency link to the Far East, ensuring that reasonably priced petroleum products can reach our socialist allies. (208/150 Stage 2 Completed) (58/200 Stage 3) (-5 CI1 Electricity -6 CI1 Workforce)
Striking at more oil in one of the largest and heavy biased basins has come as a result of challenging technical work. The difficulty in extracting the oil with older methods has seen a number of innovations obtained through a mixture of domestic expertise and licensing, raising production steadily. Increases in extraction have so far been slow, but the project is moving along schedule and the technology transfer of more modern drilling equipment from a number of sources is tragically necessary for the development of the domestic intellectual potential for expanding the industry at the lowest possible cost. As always, so long as the letter of the deal is followed, it is fairly easy to benefit from the shortsightedness of American Capitalism.
Pre-Caspian Petroleum Basin Exploitation(Stage 2): The further utilization of the Pre-Caspian fields for both gas and oil production has come as a logical extension of the previous program. As much of the infrastructure is already constructed from prior efforts, all the current stage will require is a dedicated push to develop further infrastructure and a few more small drilling towns. Exploitation is expected to get a degree more difficult as the easy deposits are tapped and extraction starts, but for now, it is easy and cheap to pull nearly limitless energy reserves from the earth. (142+10 Omake/150 Stage 2 Completed) (2/200 Stage 3) (-6 CI1 Electricity -3 CI1 Workforce)
Caspian gas deposits have served to be comparatively cheap relative to a number of other more technical petroleum extraction programs. The deposits are well placed and fairly easy to extract in large quantities, improving yields and allowing for a steady expansion and modernization of the domestic power sector. Digging has been undertaken with almost entirely domestic enterprises and some collaboration across CMEA for some of the equipment, ensuring an improvement of training and a degree of technical exchange. The wells themselves will likely need to be re-dug when the currently identified deposits are more depleted, but that is an issue for decades in the future.
Samara Refinery Complex(Stage 2): As the expansion of the complex towards further high-capacity refining of petrochemical products is almost complete, all that remains is to accelerate the expansion to support any degree of petrochemical development. The massive fields must be built up and linked into the system, providing an endless supply of cheap petrochemical products to all CMEA. Export plans towards China have even been proposed, ensuring that the entire trade pact has all of the fuel oil it can require. (201/100 Stage 2 Completed) (101/150 Stage 3) (-16 CI1 Electricity -3 CI1 Workforce) (2 Gas Projects) (+40 RpT)
Construction and further expansion of the refinery complex has come as a typical extension to the necessary oil production capacity needed to enable the mass export of petrochemical fuels. The current demand for domestic fuel use has only grown rapidly and is not expected to abate in the near term as more workers purchase automobiles. The complex itself has been constructed to the latest standards, boosting efficiency of production and ensuring that it can serve millions of workers with clean fuel extracted from the massive oil fields. Even gas processing has further picked up, with a stabilization of demand expected across the Union for the fulfillment of the industrial plan towards the construction of a more efficient power grid.
Gasoline Standardization: Now that sufficient cracking capacity exists to improve the octane of base fuels without too many additives, it is time to standardize and codify fuel standards for the nation and establish supporting production. Standard gasoline can effectively be rendered deleaded with the addition of pentacarbonyl, maintaining a RON of 90 to ensure compatibility with all standardized vehicles while keeping costs low. An enhanced premium partially leaded specialty fuel will be implemented at a RON of 95, ensuring that engineers can improve engine function even further. The vast majority of cars are expected to use the AI-90 fuel standard. Over the next decade, it is expected that technological gains in refining methodologies will enable to deleading of higher octanes. (185/150) (Completed) (-6 CI1 Electricity -4 CI1 Workforce)
The standardization of octanes across the Union and incidentally the broader CMEA has come partially at the behest of automotive enterprises. Pushing for higher octanes as standard to take advantage of newer refining standards but with a lack of infrastructure, implementation has been limited behind funding for renovation. Lowest grade fuels are expected to moderately raise in price for the average worker by a small extent, but the change should be minor relative to the social gains from deleading the vast majority of urban and domestic traffic. Pentacarbonyl production is likely to take some time to spool up to sufficient levels, but the construction and standardization of all gas stations in the Union is expected to take longer to fully complete than a few moderately sized chemical plants.
Plastic Production(Stage 4): Plastics represent a critical component of the necessary feedstock production system for the broader consumer goods industry. The further increase in the output of novel polymers and modernization of the older plants towards new and cheaper plastic compositions will ensure that far more can be produced and provided to other plants, yielding a consistent degree of growth. While the more recently built plants are more than capable of modernizing themselves, the oldest ones that need restructuring according to the profitability cutoffs will be modernized as a part of this project, ensuring a continuation of high economic yields. (348/310 Stage 4 Completed) (38/380 Stage 5) (-31 CI3 Electricity -7 CI1 Workforce) (+40 RpT Export)
Plastics have steadily become a fact of life across the military and civilian sector and with the domestic supplies of products, their intensification is only logical. Despite delays that have occurred in raising production and a number of issues in actually acquiring funding for their production, the plants have already started steadily paying themselves off. Prices across a number of core industrial plastic indexes for bulk goods have fallen while private and state sector utilization for consumer production has steadily gone up. Even the current investment funds and bonds options have gone massively in favor of the plastics project, with dozens of small scale plants expected to be built in regions of low cost electricity to accelerate the development of the consumer economy.
Pesticide Production Plants(Stage 4/5): Now that more reliable and safer to utilize organophosphate and sulfonylurea pesticides are available and technologically proven, it is time to modernize the industry and start the move away from DDT. The next generation of chemical compounds is expected to serve a massively expanded number of roles, minimize the biological accumulation of chemicals in food, and further improve yields through a greater degree of control over the growing environment. The current stage has effectively been expanded into an industry-wide modernization campaign, ensuring a plentiful supply of next-generation agents for all current and near-future agricultural works. (574/475) (Completed) (-33 CI2 Electricity -6 CI1 Workforce) (Increased Agricultural Profitability) (+10RpT Exports)
Fighting issues in the agricultural system and enabling the further settling of the mosquito infused wetlands of Siberia has come as a massive triumph of Soviet power. Novel pesticides have struck against insect populations across the nations as for once in the last few years it is expected that overall prices of pesticides will steadily drop and that they will become an export item in time. Newer organophosphates are already expected to overtake conventional means of fighting insects on crops, reducing end user toxicity impacts while lowering costs for farmers. While updates will need to be done as new ones are discovered, at least for the current and expected use the current investments should be sufficient.
Agriculture
Peoples Dietary Initiatives: Vitaminization and enrichment of standard foods has brought millions out of nutritional deficiencies, but far more can be done. Further victimization of foods and the enrichment of a number of standard components can make even the worst diets acceptably healthy. The demand for meat or any other product isn't expected to be significantly affected, but the enrichment of food will ensure that even the poorest workers can maintain their health. Fortification of breads with vitamin D in sufficient doses and a number of other moderate fixes can ensure that the health of the people improves at a minimal cost. An increase in protein concentration can also be accomplished for a number of specialty items, allowing workers to have more variety without negative health impacts. (40 Resources per Dice 71/200)
Further fortification initiatives have coincided with the overall implementation of GOST standards, with even bread expected to have a minimal content of certain vitamins and minerals from all manufacturers. Select testing of fluoridated water has already begun in a number of districts where local soviets have pushed for it, and further broader initiatives have also picked up across the Union. Iodization of most salt products has effectively already occurred from previous efforts to improve health under Malenkov, but not every possible fortification campaign has been implemented. Calcium shortages can be compensated for in wheat flour directly along with iron and most elements, as consumption of bread remains a major source of calories for most workers.
GOST Standardization: As everything is being standardized for easy exchange and shipping, it is time to formalize the most common types of products so that workers can purchase with confidence and consistency. If a bag of milk is advertised as having a certain percentage of milk fat, it should conform to that standard and be an unadulterated product. By implementing these standards a simple conformity tag can be applied to any good in compliance, with small teams of testers hired and sent out to verify that the end products are in compliance and that usability dates are not too ambitious. In effect, this is an extension of the old system of industrial standards to the food sector, but one that is necessary to keep quality high and enhance popular health at a minimized cost. (20 Resources per Dice 132/150)
Standardization of goods to set production standards has been primarily a bureaucratic activity, but with the Mikoyan reforms and the push towards enterprise initiative this has predictably had a number of effects. Standards for goods have been allowed to drift as long as consumption has been maintained. This now needs to be updated at every level as adulteration has become an issue in the bread industry, good by dates have become optimistic, and several points of the apparatus have short-charged workers for goods. To amend this, minimal standards for composition and general ranges for commonly accepted goods have been drafted and already partially implemented at a number of factories producing for the moderate and high end market segment. The low end where the behavior has been the most endemic have already started retrofits after being discovered by dedicated inspectors. Continued skirting of regulations is expected to an extent, but that too will be addressed through randomized inspections by the Bureau of Standards.
Housing Expansions: The previous proposal for developing new cities has some merit, but its approach is suboptimal in the extreme. Instead of completely rebuilding areas to bring them into modernity, the core services can be constructed in town centers along with a series of medium-density residences. These will subsequently ensure that the population will slowly be pulled towards them due to the greater efficiency of services, enabling all forms of enterprise to further utilize these workers, ensuring a steady degree of economic growth. (303/285) (Completed) (Increased Rural Migration)
Mass expansions of semi-urban housing have improved the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of workers as limited scheme 2-3 story townhouse designs have been copied and utilized as a nucleus of town-centers. These select locations have seen a steady push towards them as more rural based workers with urban professionals have shifted towards closer and more efficient habitation, especially amongst families that no longer have a massive demand for farm labor. Prices have furthermore been kept as low as possible in order to ensure the continued migration of the people and continued development of the countryside, as more efficient habitation formats are a considerable tool of labor preservation.
Development of Additional Fruits: The distortion of the cybernetic mechanism inherent to the internal grain system has caused the agricultural sector to operate at a consistent loss despite increasing exports. By focusing on utilizing fruits and high-demand vegetables instead of basic grains and starting several healthier diet-based recommendations in the overall system, the overall mechanism can be corrected. This utilization of the population as a cybernetic organ has already been perfected in the West, and there is no reason for it not to be utilized. (60 Resources per Dice 158/200)
Fruit production domestically has always operated under mild shortage conditions as transportation opportunities have been limited and consigned to select more durable goods. Now that lands are opening where a number of fruits can grow without too much modification of terrain and without excess water use, a massive number of agricultural enterprises have been founded and expanded towards that goal. Actual production is expected to be slowly increased as insufficient mechanization becomes a solved problem and further chemicalization increases yields. End prices for the workers aren't expected to shift massively, but any reduction in prices will improve vitamin availability and population contentedness.
Services
Professional Service Development: It has been noted that there is a significant lack of professional services under state control, and this must be fixed. As there is a massive supply of new accountants, lawyers, architects, and various other occupations, it only makes sense for some of them to work for a state arm as contractors rather than forming their private interests. The organization will function similarly to the state union system, with a set fee paid by each professional to remain employed with the state for the distribution of work towards them and a minimal salary to fix any inconsistencies in demand. Much of the construction cost for such structures will focus on the bureaucratic foundation for them rather than new construction, as there practically doesn't exist a structure for them to utilize. (159/100) (Completed) (-8 CI2 Workforce)
Stateside professional structures have been constructed through the incorporation of a number of larger cooperatives towards more conventional state sector operation and operated in a similar scheme. With dues coming in from the independent professionals employed under the overall structure, providing them with a number of benefits in organization and a unified administrative system for providing clients. This has been furthered on a number of professions outside the legal world on a more experimental basis, with a number of artists even partnering directly with new state enterprises in order to provide for an easier path towards publication and dissemination. The initiatives themselves will likely take a few more years to organize to a satisfactory point of quality as many of those willing to join are fresh graduates. These graduates however are far more willing to pay higher dues, trading a lower income for consistency and security in employment.
Bureaucracy
Decisively Strike at Wages: Wage structures have undergone more intensive scrutiny now that the currently high wages have led to steady and massive reductions in the pool of unemployed workers. As the demographics of the overall workforce have indicated concerning things, thanks to Bureau reports, the luminaries of the Supreme Soviet have advocated for a policy centered around a continued temporary fixation of the lowest wage brackets for the reserve to reduce systemic parasitism. This would effectively halve the wages for reservists not working and continue the anti-inflationary freeze on the labor payments to reservists. As it has been judged in the ministry that it is far better to have more reservists than actual social parasites, such legislation needs to be rephrased and eliminated before too many bright ideas can spread. (92) (Supreme Soviet Reform)
In a rare flight of reason and a desire to improve economic turnover, the Supreme Soviet has decisively struck down most attempts at changing the overall wage structure for those participating in active labor. Reservist requirements were tightened as a compromise with the more conservative elements of the party, but in practice these are more bureaucratic changes then anything substantive for the end workers. Actual non-working reserve wages have been temporarily frozen on the timescale of the plan in exchange with access to a number of free food initiatives as a limited scale test of novel system implementation and a mechanism for the removal of excess grain. Minimum wages themselves have also finally been unfrozen and bound to combined cost of living increases, technically lagging behind gains in productivity by design but ensuring a considerable improvement to the long term capability of the average worker to cybernetically enhance economic turnover.
Weigh in on CMEA Trade Negotiations: Kosygin is currently attempting to further tie CMEA together in a fashion akin to an open borders zone despite the protests from a number of more conservative figures. The inter-compatibility of documentation is already partially there, but he will likely need a degree of support to force through the critical legislation necessary to further open up more opportunities in European CMEA. Every educated worker that ends up moving to the USSR is a massive gain, as their investments can voluntarily move into the Union, providing their labor at little cost. He has even mentioned a desire to expand Mikoyan's convertibility regime into a true unified currency zone, but such a dramatic proposal is unlikely to pass any time soon. (12) (Supreme Soviet Reform)
As could be predicted by anyone with any political acumen, the proposal to break with the current financial system and move towards a universal currency has enabled vigorous debate. From the trade advocates who believe that further cross CMEA integration would be a first step towards the construction of wider scale socialism to the managers and defense obsessed viewing every import as a failure of domestic capability. Nothing has effectively been accomplished or done outside of creating yet another issue that Delegates argue about during whatever time they have away from doing their ever important duties of being paid to sit in a heated chamber. Kosygin has even pretended to act visibly disappointed in the people around him as the reform was effectively sent to four bureaus for revision and editing, leaving it impossible to pass until agreement is reached or forced at massive political cost.
Defend Space Prioritization: A number of voices in the Supreme Soviet have started to raise questions and concerns over the space program as it now has a reduced military role and has yet to place a man into space. A number of them have even proposed the unscientific use of the same capsule used in Sputnik-3 to launch two dogs into orbit, as if two dogs can be crammed in, why can't a cosmonaut. Ignoring the idiocy of the statement, the respectable politicians need a series of graphs and presentations to maintain their commitments to the space program and ensure that it can avoid any politically induced delays in procurement or limitations in funding. (77) (Supreme Soviet Reform)
With the distribution of a number of smaller components, an insistence on an accelerated manned launch schedule, and several optimistic scientists getting invitations to the Supreme Soviet, enough division has been raised to ensure that no solid block can engage in coordinated politics. Victories in the battle for firsts are still desperately needed, but for now as long as the perception exists that we are behind and need to catch up, politics should be less of an issue. A few of the more bright eyed politicians have even started to come up with ideas to co-opt the program for a number of propagandistic purposes, with a televised broadcast of the first manned launch from the ground. The quantity of data expected to be released to foreign enemies has already been determined to be minimal as the Americians can just overfly, and the political impact of the launch is expected to be massive.
Uphold the Red Book: Kitov's plans for the cybernetization of the economy are a critical step in the construction of proper communism and must be implemented. He has published a work on recommendations for the automatization of several parts of the economy, and while not entirely technically feasible and very-anti military in policy it still provides an important basis. By providing him ministry backing and forming a discrete system with some extra-budgetary allocations, the army can be contained to their missile defense complexes and left grumbling but content. Transistorization is already here to an extent and with the current gains in compactness, power efficiency, and cost the ambitious networking plans may at least be trialed. (23) (Internal Reform)
As with every reactionary element of the bureaucratic apparatus, a drive towards the minimization and automatization of several personnel has led to common outrage at several levels. Those soon to be rendered obsolete have continuously prattled on their own necessity mixed in with the untested nature of cybernetic systems while reformists have railed against central control. The overall administration of the ministry itself has been tragically divided, showing soon to be pensioners crawling out of every crevice pushing alternative courses. The army itself for once has been partially quiet on the work, instead doing its best to stay out of the political fight at every level and letting the ministry fight itself. Instead of allowing further closed door disagreements to split the direction, a more intensive internal policy must be adapted along with measures to retain expertise under solid control.
[]Provide Patronage: The Ukrainian institute for science is pioneering computers under a mixture of authorities, but by shifting it towards a more economics focused goal, significant gains can be made. This will increase some costs in telecommunication, but being able to ensure that correct personnel lead the university and that critical programs towards economic development can happen outside military control is an invaluable instrument. These teams will effectively directly go towards combined computational programs towards the construction of the new system and a heavy prioritization will have to be made.
[]Transfer Personnel: Moving workers towards ministry projects would effectively break down the main teams, but leave them to be far more flexibly directed towards more important programs. This would also enable a far greater blow to be struck against the army, as with their lack of funding it should be more then possible to argue that a greater value can be secured from the personnel under alternative guidance. This would likely break down the teams that have already been organized, but would provide an injection of expertise into a number of proposed projects to further accelerate the construction of communism.
[]Let them Argue: If the personnel want to attack each other for a number of idiocies, why not let them take out their energy on each other. Each additional rivalry in the ministry enables a far easier replacement and a degree of further maneuvering. The teams under Kitov and Glushkov can stay in their places doing the necessary work while direct efforts are placed on fighting internal political battles rather than technical adventurism. This will continue to strike reactionaries from the ranks of the ministry and ensure that a more cohesive leadership cadre can approach the issue as technology matures.
Determine Coalitional Alignments: The current supreme Soviet may have just been re-seated, but already the closed-door debates have intensified. By taking time to personally discuss with several influential bureaus and members, it should be possible to obtain a general idea of the exact state of the various blocks present. The current poorly organized diaspora will only ensure that the ministry cannot operate with a proper idea for political margin, limiting capabilities at all levels. (82)
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12 Hour Moratorium
