Kolechian Armed Forces Council Negotiations, Round 2:The guards are still at their posts, stone-faced, as the design team troops back into the meeting rooms. Night falls, and now their watch begins. In this case, watching as the KPAF irons out the proposal for a mutual development fund with the navy.
Instead of a generic fund, with generic parameters with no goal or end date, we propose developing towards a specified target to be achieved by next year (8 turns). We suggest one of the following:
- A Seaplane Bomber and cargoship-tender conversion. The Russian navy has already proven their effectiveness.
- A light, carrier-launched bomber and cargo ship carrier conversion. Deck-launched planes have been a thing since 1910, and are likely to be a significant boon to naval recon and power exertion.
Two options are presented: either a seaplane bomber with a converted tender, or a light carrier-launched bomber with a converted carrier. Between these, the navy is more interested in the aircraft carrier option. Its likely to be a long and difficult project(s), but the payoff of getting planes into the naval theatre could be huge.
Negotiations press on well past midnight, but the tentative final proposal takes shape. The mutual development fund for naval aeronautics will be paid into at a rate of 3 PP per turn from both the Kolechian Navy and the KPAF. The KPAF will commit to spending this fund and at least 8 dice over the coming year on naval projects. These projects will consist of, separately, a light carrier-launched bomber with a minimum of 90kg bombload, and some type of merchant ship to be converted into an aircraft-carrying ship. The Navy will assist in the development process for the carrier with two dice, but the naval bomber will be entirely developed by the KPAF.
While a majority of the Navy representatives are in favour of this proposal, some admirals are still sceptical of the effect that light bombers will have on the seas. There is the possibility that the KPAF might make an alternative proposal involving air-dropped torpedoes, but for now the agreement regarding the development of a carrier remains on the table.
A lone Army general who has stayed up to observe the proceedings clarifies that the army would expect the KPAF to have at least one squadron of planes deployed to protect the Hykib balloons, in every theatre that they are sent to. These planes need not be specifically assigned to balloon defense, he says, but they must be shooting down enemy planes, one way or another. Based on his opinion, if the balloon deal goes through, perhaps half the generals would be willing to promote the KPAF meaning that the design team still must find some other way to persuade the remaining half if they want the promotion.
The petition for helmets and lifejackets is shelved for the next morning, when the officials from the Ministry of War are awake. The design team returns to bed exhausted, but this conference finally seems to be bearing fruit.
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Topic: Knights of the Skies: Kolechia Thread - Early Summer 1916, Production Phase (Read 54468 times)