Operations and Stratagems of Naval Warfare Methodology

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OPERATIONS AND STRATAGEMS OF NAVAL WARFARE METHODOLOGY

―The Codex of Admiral Turanion Kelordeus
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'A wise admiral is never surprised by a scenario, for he has run them all in his head during sleepless nights' --Admiral Gial Ackbar of the First Galactic Civil War. Throughout the infinite ages of galactic civilizations, wars have been waged on all fronts imaginable. Upon worlds, within the oceans, through the skies, among the stars -- even through the Force, were we to take into account the Jedi Knights and their Sith antitheses. But no front is ever more pivotal than the battles fought through the great void. Space warfare is, has been, and shall always be the most important battlefront of any war.

Before soldiers on the ground comes the dominance of the stars. Whether of starfighters or star dreadnoughts, they are the deciding factors, the first and last lines of defense. Indeed, a civilization cannot even become a galactic power of recognition or worth without a powerful navy to cement its eligibility. It is for that reason that I write this record... this codex, to chronicle all that I know and all that I have learned, to pass my knowledge down to the generations to come. For the preservation of the spirit and efforts of those fighting on after the collapse of the Federation.

In this chronicle, I will cover the basics of naval warfare, orthodox and unorthodox strategies and fleet maneuvers with supplementary, but relative, information intertwined. I will also include information from my years as a starfighter aviator in the Federation navy, prior to the Sith takeover of the Old Empire. It has been said that a captain knows every bolt and panel in his ship, and so too have I found it equally important for a fleet commander to attain knowledge of every ship in his fleet. I will cover the fleet formations, vessel classes and variants within these classes, and how it impacts potential engagements, either for good or for ill.

Now then... we shall begin, and with basic strategies of fleet warfare.

SPACE WARFARE STRATEGIES

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The nature of space makes warfare in the void unlike any other front. The sheer scale and scope of its vastness and multidimensions makes competence of fleet operations a difficult achievement, even for those academically trained in such matters. That said, aside from the more obvious challenges of logistics and the complexities of direct engagements, many strategies tried and found true are replications of those waged on planetary fronts. Asymmetrical combat and battles of attrition form much of the conventional tactics, as do some adapted elements of psychological warfare. I will now cover prime examples of asymmetric, attrition, conventional and psychological strategies. I shall begin with the first, asymmetrical; the Stateless Strategy.


STATELESS STRATEGY

The Stateless Strategy takes advantage of a notable disadvantage that most other fronts of war have - control. On most battlefields, both sides of combatants, whether aggressors or defenders, seek to control their theater of war. Control is dominance; if you can control the space of the battlefield then you control the battle. However, in the void, you cannot control the space. Simply put, it is too vast. Space is the single most gargantuan battlefront known to all life and civilization. There is no controlling all the dimensions of its space. While considered dishonorable by the learned, the Stateless Strategy has proven itself effective in the enabling of a smaller or weaker fleet defeating, or at least fighting more evenly, with a stronger or militarily-superior force.

The core principle of the Stateless Strategy is that it requires a decentralized operation. This in stark contrast to typical circumstances, where operations are always centralized in order to maximize efficiency. In such cases, numerical superiority can quickly cut off the head of an enemy -- the Stateless Strategy thus inverts this to eliminate that vulnerability. With power spread out, one could strike at a larger, centralized force, in their vulnerable gaps. However powerful, a centralized force cannot be everywhere at once, and thus when on the offensive, can be forced into fortifying only specific worlds. In turn, the decentralized fleet could thus freely operate and attack anywhere else in enemy territory.

The Stateless Strategy is a staple of pirate and guerrilla warfare, and has proven especially effective in attacking forces with strong economic and political bases. In order to protect financial stability and the protection of the peoples under their charge, stronger powers are often forced into conformation with the Stateless Strategy. Thus, the Stateless Strategy is, while looked down upon, one of the most effective and efficient strategies in wearing down a stronger galactic power. Often, however, a different and more crude approach to naval warfare is taken between two galactic powers of relatively equal strength. Attrition strategies, most commonly being the Static Strategy.

STATIC STRATEGY

The Static Strategy is the embodiment of attrition, wearing an enemy down across all theaters of war. In my opinion, such methods are the bane of any galactic military force, and is ordinarily avoided by both sides, and for good reason. War between two equal powers nonetheless often degenerate to using the Static Strategy, at least on some level and at some point. In theory, one's forces are pitted against another until the enemy's forces are whittled down, or yours are. The idea is to grind away the resources and personnel of the enemy until they collapse from sheer exhaustion. Predictable and without complexity, it is perhaps its simplicity that draws ones into using it. In using the Static Strategy, the victor is decided by the stronger force. The battle is simply both sides inflicting as much damage as possible before either retreating, or pursuing a retreating force.

The greatest disadvantage of the Static Strategy is obvious; the losses incurred can become grandiose. Essentially an endless series of frontal attack across all theaters of war, such strategies can only be practical against a significantly numerically or technologically inferior force. One of the greatest examples of such warfare being waged was the ancient Clone War. With both the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems producing their military forces artificially, battles of attrition using the Static Strategy became relatively common, and the losses quickly escalated to hundreds of thousands, and then even into the millions. Even excluding the droid losses, as many do, the loss on the organic front was massive.

Consequently, it's been my decision that only in the most hopeless or predictable circumstances should the Static Strategy even be considered. It is otherwise inefficient, crude, costly and unnecessarily leads - more often than not - to pyrrhic victories. Mind you, all wars are of attrition in technicality. But in the essence of the Static Strategy, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that it is inferior to strategies that pursue surprise, guile, maneuvering and deception. That said, the simplistic and straightforward strategies are also effective under the proper circumstances. I shall now cover the conventional avenue of the Dogma Strategy.

DOGMA STRATEGY

Organized, traditional and elementary, the Dogma Strategy is its own strength and its own weakness. The principle of the Dogma Strategy can be summarized in three essential steps; step one, identification, step two, prioritization, and step three, military action. With the Dogma Strategy, war is waged based on information. All valuable targets are identified, after which each of them are categorized in which takes priority over the other, such as military installations, intelligence outposts, industrial, economical or commercial facilities, and so on. Once that is accomplished, the final step is military action, ideally in the order of the prioritized targets. In the event that the traditional path is impossible or impracticable, targets are re-prioritized in order to attain the most valued objective in the long or indirect route.

For instance, a resource mining installation might be targeted to slow the rate at which an enemy can replenish their naval forces. In turn, this is used to slowly weaken an enemy's navy to the point that their shipyards might become vulnerable enough to attack them outright. However, the Dogma Strategy allows very little room for the unorthodox. Rigid to say the least, the Dogma Strategy is particularly ineffective against the unconventional, such as long-running ambush tactics, forces willing to target their populations, or forces that lack or purposefully avoid centralizing themselves into an organized front. The Stateless Strategy, for example, was designed with the direct intent of undermining and crippling the Dogma Strategy.

In following the Dogma Strategy, the purpose of an organized offensive is to specifically target the enemy forces, not the populations or non-combatant, assuming such is not directly supporting enemy action. While reliable, the Dogma Strategy seldom, if ever, incorporates the more sophisticated aspects of warfare. One such aspect that is often ignored while warring in the void is the war against morale. War against the mind of the enemy. Psychological warfare will be covered next, under the Cerebral Strategy.

CEREBRAL STRATEGY

History alone has shown that shattering an enemy's fighting spirit while boosting the morale of your own soldiers is as powerful and effective as any weapon mounted on a ship. Usage of the Cerebral Strategy, sustained psychological warfare over the course of a conflict, can be a dangerous course. Sophisticated and innovative, it requires one to know their enemy before striking. Careless attempts to demoralize an enemy can very easily achieve the opposite effect, fortifying an enemy's resolve. Worse still, it can even rally others to sympathize with your enemy. The key to the success of the Cerebral Strategy is thus not simply breaking an enemy's will to fight, but doing so in a way that build support for your own cause.


The most evident course in the Cerebral Strategy is propaganda. Control what a populace believes, mold their convictions and direct them as a weapon. Appealing to the populace of an enemy can undermine their war effort more than a strangulation of supply lines. Inciting rebellion among the discontent, supplying them, creating distractions of destabilization and mayhem -- these are the weapons to wear an enemy down from the inside out.

Surgical warfare is an additional weapon of the Cerebral Strategy. In contrast with the prioritization of the Dogma Strategy, or the unpredictability of the Stateless Strategy, targets chosen during a war may not hold strategic importance. A target may have no significance of military, industrial, economic or other practical value. But a battle representing the defeat of a symbol can carry ramifications more powerful than the destruction of any naval base or shipyard. If you destroy a symbol of the enemy, you attack their image, their repute, their influence. You portray or expose them as weak to their allies, and vulnerable to their enemies. At the same time as humiliating your opposition, you attract others to yourself. A show of strength can further draw strength unto itself.

In the end, the conduct of space warfare was often dictated by factors beyond the control of any fleet commander. In shaping the circumstances that affect the optimal choice of strategy, both in warfare and in battle, astrography played a role more significant than any other. As such, this will be the content for the next subject.

ASTROGRAPHY AND ASTROGATION

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HYPERLANES AND STELLAR PHENOMENA

On the statistical approach, the galaxy is an empty place. But with faster-than-light hyperspace travel, that void quickly fills and distance becomes a matter of triviality. In much the same way that roads dictate the travel of a marching army, the movements of fleets were restricted by available hyperspace lanes and other celestial phenomena. The larger the fleet, the fewer movement options the fleet had. A substantial advantage the New Sith Imperium currently has is that most of the super hyperspace routes are controlled by them. They can thus move larger fleets more freely and quickly than any other galactic power in the galaxy.

Star systems also had their own characteristics that could influence the ideal course of hyperspace travel. Binary star systems, for example, generated a greater mass shadow gravity well than ordinary, and could hinder a ship's hyperspace traverse. For this reason and more, the knowledge of multiple hyperspace routes to reach a single target is of the utmost value and danger. The more ways to a target you have, the more options exist for you, and the more diverse strategies you can employ. However, that also means that defensively, you have to content with more potential dangers. Civilizations have been ravaged when enemies learn of hyperspace routes that lead directly into the heart of their territory.

A further factor to consider is that, while there may be hyperlanes to the target, there are only fraction that move large forces quickly. In every era of galactic history, each of these lanes were controlled by a military presence. Major hyperspace routes could have a tremendous effect on the speed at which a fleet could redeploy and intercept enemy fleets using slower routes. Ships entering into hyperspace were often untraceable once in the hyperspace dimension, but in some cases, the angle and trajectory of a fleet invading or retreating could be used to determine the hyperspace lane used. With knowledge of a fleet's movements, a fleet commander could then intercept a fleet at a hyperlane control point, or hyperlane junctions.

Most hyperlane junctions exist as clusters of celestial bodies. Planetary systems are the most common, but other stellar formations, like nebulae, can also form hyperlane junctions. Control of these hyperlane junctions can effectively enable a competent fleet commander to restrict, isolate or even divide an enemy fleet. The impact hyperlane junctions could have over the course of a war is enormous, and most military leaders focus on hyperlane junctions as an alpha-level priority. The more systems controlled, the greater you could impede on the free operations of an opposing fleet. History has shown repeatedly that control over hyperlane junctions could be decisive factors in long-standing wars; the First Great Galactic War, the Clone Wars, the First and Second Galactic Civil Wars and the Abbadaeus War are well known examples of this.


For all intents and purposes, the art of strategy serves to provide long-term goals or aspirations over the course of time and efforts. Much of it is research, analysis and statistics. But when battle comes to the fore, it is tactics that comes more immediately into play. In space warfare, there are three primary avenues of importance in fleet-to-fleet conflicts. I will elaborate in the following section.

SPACE WARFARE TACTICS

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When the fires of battles are set aflame, the usage of tactics become the divide between victory and defeat, survival and death. Multiple factors, some predictable, some impossible to predict, some dependent on the battlefield, some dependent on the ships of your fleets, and many more dictate the effectiveness and potential of the tactics that can be employed to defeat or overwhelm an enemy force. Under most circumstances, it has been my experience that ship mobility dominates the effectiveness of ship-to-ship combat in fleet warfare between two technologically-equal forces. The ships that move to align their weaponry the quickest, that are most able to take clean evasive action against enemy barrages, will always hold the advantage. Overwhelming firepower, steadfast shield strength, weapons range and targeting efficiency are all of immense, but ultimately secondary importance with the state of modern technological warfare.

Fleet warfare tactics are dependent on the ships utilized within a given fleet. Most major fleet battles are spearheaded by Destroyer-class and Battlecruiser-class capital ships, waged at distances of thousands of kilometers. Corvettes, frigates and cruisers have less range, but superior mobility than larger vessels, and can thus utilize more vigorous tactics in battle. Stargfighters are the smallest and most ambulant of all spaceworthy vessels, and can engage in the most dynamic of combative tactics. In fact, a starfighter's capabilities in space combat so far exceeds that of other class vessels, with the exception of some armed freighter-class vessels, that their tactics are often unique unto themselves.

In the event of its necessity, the most effective way to terminate an engagement is FTL hyperspace travel. When traversing the tachyonic hyperspace dimension, there are no weapons capable of targeting or attacking them, nor is there any known method of tracking ships in hyperspace, save for the direct placement of a physical tracking beacon. Because of the distinction between fleet strength and its mercurial influence on the nature of tactical superiority, most fleet battles are relatively short and indecisive, especially when compared to battles waged on other fronts, such as ground battles. Weaker fleets, or fleets losing their stability against an enemy force, often cut their losses and break combat to make a tactical retreat. At this time, I shall now evaluate known tactics of fleets, per battles between battleships, starfighters, and planetary assaults.


BATTLESHIP TACTICS


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Strategy and tactics are intricately related to one another. The first influences the second, and in turn the second must be a compliment of the first. The tactics utilized by a fleet in an engagement can often be dependent on the military strategy adopted to begin with. Ultimately, fleet tactics concerning battleships can be divided into two segments; comprehensive tactics and special tactics. To begin, I will elaborate on the first.

COMPREHENSIVE TACTICS

Comprehensive tactics is the wide spectrum of conventional tactical methods under the principle of maximizing damage to an enemy fleet while at the same time minimizing damage to your own. Because of its singular objective and broad definition, the potential diversity of the applications of comprehensive tactics are almost boundless. In conventional fleet skirmishes, battleships combat other ships of similar class, usually with a captain combating the strongest enemy ship he can successfully engage. In doing so, weaker ships are protected from being forced into direct engagements with more powerful vessels.


Because fleet seldom mirrored one another, however, imbalanced engagements were an inevitability. For instance, starfights may at times be pressed into combat against a Frigate-class or Destroyer-class ship, and vice versa. Starfighters were ordinarily at a disadvantage of their firepower against the enemy ship's defenses. In contrast, larger ships were eclipsed by smaller ships due to speed and maneuverability. The comprehensive compensation to this is fairly standard, such as arming starfighters, usually bombers, with heavier payloads, like proton torpedoes. On the opposite end, battleships can be retrofitted for anti-starfighter armaments. Both are typical tactical avenues of the comprehensive tactics, but I will elaborate on the starfighter aspects at a later time.

SHIPS OF THE LINE

One of the most standardized tactics was to maneuver the fleet to concentrate as much firepower as possible against the enemy fleet, but at the same time, limiting the targeting profile for the enemy. The more narrow a profile a fleet could form in, the fewer ships were susceptible to retaliatory fire. For this reason, the most powerful warships are customarily dispatched to the front, in what is known as the "ships of the line". Both shields and weapons, the ships of the line were the strongest ships available in the fleet, and usually the largest.

ALPHA STRIKE

Bearing their firepower down on the enemy while also providing a protective screen to the rest of the fleet, ships of the line were usually Destroyer-class battleships, although powerful enough Frigate-class battleships could also potentially fill this role. A traditional tactic following the ships of the line entering formation is the "Alpha Strike", the firepower of the entire line concentrated onto a single target, in order to eliminate an enemy ship or structure through overwhelming offensive force. As mentioned previously, battlehips ordinarily engaged one another at ranges of thousands of kilometers.


THE EXCHANGE AND BROADSIDE BATTLES

One traditional tactic used is known as "the Exchange", where the ships of the line of both sides sweep past each other's flanks, exchanging broadside fire at their highest intensities. The ships with the superior shield modulation and strength and firepower normally emerged as victorious in such skirmishes.

Another potential tactic of the orthodoxy is the engagement of battleships at "knife fighting" range. Colloquially called "broadside battles", two battleships engage in a close flyby to one another, firing all turbolaser batteries at one another's flanks to inflict as much damage to the enemy ship as quickly as possible. Much like with the Exchange tactic, firepower, shield strength and efficiency and firing speed determine the victors of broadside battles. Such engagements are rare, and usually mutually destructive, but can nonetheless be viable options in extreme circumstances, particularly if a fleet is forced into Brawl. At this time, I will temporarily deviate to elaborate.


BRAWLS

Any experienced fleet commander can attest to the fact that tactical engagements at close quarters can degenerate into a chaotic melee. We call such an engagement a Brawl, although they are not what I would consider a "tactic" in any form. Ordinarily employed through desperation, disorganization or incompetence, a Brawl occurred when one or both sides charged their ships of the line into the enemy's, forcing both lines apart. In doing so, both lines were broken, and the battles change from fleet against fleet, to random engagements of ship against ship. In the event of one side outnumbering the other, one ship may be forced into combat with two or more enemy ships. Collisions were extremely common, and some even entered into Brawls with the intentions of commencing suicide runs. There is no skill or innovation that declares a victor in a Brawl - only luck, and as such should be avoided at all costs.


SPECIAL TACTICS

Now returning to my primary entry. In the wake of the comprehensive tactics, circumstances and criteria were sometimes met that enabled the usage of special tactics. Continuing on the previous theme of the Exchange and broadside battles, two unique maneuvers are used to maximize tactical offensive ability or positioning. The first is the "Interception" tactic, commonly known as Capping the 'T'.


CAPPING THE 'T'

For fleets optimized for long or close-range broadside battling, especially for the ships of the line, the tactic required either superior speed and maneuverability or strategic foresight. Against the enemy line, a fleet commander would direct and position his own line to intercept, with his line having their flack directed to the enemy's frontal position. Once in position, the ships of the line could commence an Alpha Strike on the lead ship of the enemy's line, inflicting massive damage. Most advantageously, Capping the 'T' protected most of your own line, as the lead ship of the enemy's line was in their allies' crossfire, preventing their support. Only the lead cruiser could attack, which could break the enemy's line outright, spelling a tactical catastrophe.


ACKBAR'S SLASH

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the "Defender's Slash", otherwise known as "Ackbar's Slash". Ideally suited for battleships with high modulation shield generators, the Defender's Slash directs the ships of the line to strike directly into the enemy's formation, dividing and driving them apart. Ships of Mon Calamari design are unmatched in their effectiveness of this tactic, and as the ships of the line infiltrated the opposing line, broadside attacks were delivered to both sides. Only the closest enemy ships on the opposite sides of the infiltrating line could attack the ships performing the Defender's Slash, as the rest of the ships in the enemy's formation lack a line of fire, especially if the line had become broken and scattered from the maneuver.


Nonetheless, there is a danger. The lead ship of the line must be the line's most powerful ship, as it resides in the most immediate danger at the start of the maneuver. If the lead ship is destroyed or severely damaged, the entire tactic can fall apart, forcing the ships in your own line to break formation or risk cascading collisions. An additional risk is if the enemy fleet failed to divide their own formation in time, or had simply refused to, which could stop the Defender's Slash before it began and ravage the participant ships.

TACTICAL RAIDING

An alternative choice in fleet engagements is abstinence of the direct path. Ordinarily, no matter the innovation of the method, most fleet tactics involve direct assaults. An option in this venue is the tactical raid, commonly known as the "hit-and-fade". A harassment tactics, usually against a more powerful force, tactical raiding follows the methodology of "killing with bug-bites"; smaller scaled attacks over a length of time to overwhelm or undermine a more powerful enemy that could not be defeated conventionally.

A tactical method strongly influenced by the operation of the Space Denial strategy, tactical raids required precise timing and planning, as both an entry and escape route was necessary to engage the enemy, inflict damage, then immediately retreat. Such tactics were only effective through accurate logistical reports in order to prevent the attacking fleet from misjudging an enemy fleet's location, or worse, its strength. Tactical raids were applicable to both battleships and starfighters, which I will elaborate at a later time.


KENOBI'S OFFENSIVE

A simple, but particularly effective, baiting tactic made famous by the legendary Jedi Master of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Kenobi's Offensive was an unorthodox attack on the ships of the enemy's line. Utilizing "sniping" attacks on the enemy line, Kenobi's Offensive required battleships armed with sensors and weaponry that granted them a range beyond the conventional specifications of large-class warships.

The purpose of the sniping attacks was not necessarily the destruction of the enemy ship, however, but to harass the enemy ship out of formation in their line, creating an exploitable gap in their formations. Once the enemy ship is either destroyed or enticed to break formation, the sniping ships project an FLT subspace 'ping', like a beacon, signaling a nearby fleet in waiting to commence a micro-jump to the designated coordinated. The signaled fleet can then flood and infiltrate the gap created, attacking the enemy line and fleet from the inside.

In closing, fleet tactics involving battleships, however innovative or unorthodox, could almost always be categorized in one of three classifications; surprise, either at the onset or through mid-battle maneuvers, pursuit, or overwhelming through sheer numbers or firepower. And yet, not to be overlooked is that fact that fleets are made of more than large warships. At times, it is - not the largest - but the smallest ships that can sometimes control or turn the tide of a battle. Starfighters, and the tactics most effective for them, will be the matter of my continued codex.

STARFIGHTER TACTICS


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Dogfighting, the colloquial term for starfigher combat, is one of the most common aspects of interstellar warfare, although its role and importance has waxed and waned throughout generations. At some points in history, starfighters were considered to have been of equal overall importance as larger warships. As shield modulation technology progressed, starfights eventually became increasingly obsolete, although technological weaponry breakthroughs with regards to torpedo payloads and laserfire again brought starfighters relevance.

For instance, several of the Old Sith Wars were almost exclusively fought by warships, but the Jedi Civil War and Great Galactic War saw extremely widespread usage of starfighters. The Clone Wars and First Galactic Civil War also had extensive starfighter usage, particularly the latter of the two. And when designed properly, starfighters were supremely adaptable, capable of engaging other starfighters, warships, space fortresses and so forth. In this section, I will elaborate on some of the more widespread and successful tactics utilized in, as well as the nature of, starfighter combat.


DOGFIGHTING

Starfighter combat, or dogfighting, is fought at "knife-fighting" range, a range I had stated in a previous entry. This can vary from a few kilometers to a dozen or so meters. With the potential of dozens of squadrons with various starfighter type swarmed together in a single, massive melee, and crafts capable of greater acceleration, sharper maneuvering and dynamics surpassing any warships, dogfighting is more often than not an intensely vicious blootbath. On the part of the aviator, reflexes, training and aptitude determine the superior pilot.

Even when at the gravest disadvantage, many of the most skilled pilots can overcome a better technically equipped hostile. For the craft, this is determined by the vessel with the best weaponry, speed, mobility and shield modulation. Unlike with warships, speed alone does not play as much a part in starfighter combat, as very few -- none, in my experience -- starfighters possess a great enough speed advantage to truly overwhelm another fighter. Balance is ordinarily the key to victory, as well as skill and situational awareness.

Although dogfighting the most common form of starfighter combat, they do also frequently work alongside the larger warships of a fleet, which I will elaborate later. For the time being, however, I will cover the universal aspects of starfighter combat; the Five Stages.


THE FIVE STAGES

However diverse starfighter combat can be, virtually all engagements could be categorized in five distinct stages of combat; detection / identification, closing, attacking, maneuvering and disengaging. As with fleet combat, the length spend in any one of these stages is variable, ultimately irrelevant, and may even be omitted in real combat situations. For instance, a retreat would involve stage one and stage five, omitting stages two through four. Under normal circumstances, however, starfighter engagements followed the basic formula of the five stages.

STAGE ONE: DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION

Detect while avoiding detection; this summarizes the essence of stage one. When starfighters engage a hostile force, it is imperative to their tactical advantage that they detect and identify their enemies before being identified themselves. The tide of dogfighting and flow of battle could especially be dictated by the side that struck first. For the maximum effect, detection and identification were dependent on electronic sensors and visual scanners over visual contact. Indeed, until combat engagement, visual contact should normally be avoided as unreliable.

Electronic sensors were the most effective, but if an enemy force were preemptively jamming electronic equipment, visual scanners were the ideal alternative, as they were telescopic and immune to jamming. It was also at this stage where the decision of whether to actually engage the enemy was decided. After detection and identification, the pilot progressed to stage two.

STAGE TWO: CLOSING


Closing was the beginning aspect of engaging in combat. Fighter pilots not only chose their specific targets, but also lined their trajectory and approach vectors to attain the most advantageous positioning for their attack run. Stage two was a conjoining of two to three potential factors. The first two were a constant -- speed and stealth. The speed at which a starfighter approached their target together with concealment of their accelerated run further reduced the enemy's ability to respond to an attack and organize a counteroffensive. That said, the stealth approach was significantly more difficult and limited due to modern sensory technological advantages against stealth technology.

In the event that the speed and stealth approach failed, the third step was deception, which was much more manageable. Deceptive measures disguised destinations, objectives and even the size of the attacking force. Feints, tight formations, wave strikes and dividing a force into several segments were also effective deceptive tactics for closing in on an enemy. Multitasking through the latter method was also particularly effective, such as one part of a starfighter squadron engaging in electronic warfare, jamming local and subspace communications or advanced sensors, while another attacks outright. Stage two led directly to stage three.

STAGE THREE: ATTACK

Attacking was the most violent stage of starfigher combat, and was where skill and fighter superiority truly became evident. On average, four out of five starfighters were damaged or destroyed on the initial attack run. Rookie pilots have the highest death rate of them all. Catastrophic results could, and did result when attacks were commenced haphazardly, without taking into account secondary approach vectors, positioning or even timing. After an attack run came the fourth stage.

STAGE FOUR: MANEUVER


Maneuvering was the result of a failed attack run due to one of three factors; a missed attack, an endured attack, or being outnumbered by hostiles. Once the fourth stage of maneuvering started, dogfighting truly began, as the combat engagement was more than a single attack run. The purpose of maneuvering was to deny the initiative of the enemy attack craft, preventing them from gaining neutral or advantageous ground, as the vernacular goes. Maneuvering kept the pressure on the hostile force, keeping them on the defensive, preventing them from organizing proper counterattacks, or simply keeping them from getting a lock on your own craft. The idea carried during the fourth stage was the principle that you take on the mindset that you are under attack and actively being targeted by the enemy. Survival was the primary objective of maneuvering -- survival to quickly turn the tables and position yourself as quickly as possible to engage in another attack run. Stage three and stage four often repeated themselves under most circumstances, but could also, eventually, lead into the fifth stage.

STAGE FIVE: DISENGAGEMENT


Stage three might be where more pilots are attacked or killed, but the fifth stage is the most dangerous of them all. Of course, this is assuming your own forces are outnumbered, but that has very often been the case against the New Sith Imperium. The best way to execute the fifth stage of disengagement was to totally eliminate the enemy force, but that was not always possible nor practical at times. High-speed attack runs, where the attacking ships sacrificed maneuverability for raw speed and acceleration, were also ways to quickly disengage combat, and were often done in hit-and-run tactics. This has been, in my own experience, the most effective way to disengage combat, although dogfighting completely negates this tactic. Breaking off from attacking and maneuvering to disengage combat, usually in the form of retreating, leaves one open to virtually any attack or counterattack. In the absence of superior speed, shield strength and modulation together with ablative armor plating were often one's only hope in such situations.

Beyond natural aptitude and skill, there were almost countless tactics to be used in starfighter combat. They all varied, from squadron formations prior to engagements, to attacks on battleships to screening tactics. For the purpose of summarizing the information, I will itemize and document only a handful of starfighter tactics I have personally found to be practical and beneficial, even lifesaving

UNIVERSAL & SPECIAL TACTICS


INTERCEPTOR'S SLASH

The Interceptor's Slash was a simple, straightforward maneuver, possible only by military-grade Interceptor-class starfighters. Using their sublight engines for maximum acceleration and thrust, one or more interceptors would attack in a fly-by, pummeling an enemy and then flying out of range, thereby denying hostiles a counterattack.

TALLON ROLL

A difficult tactic and not one I would suggest to a rookie pilot, the Tallon Roll is an attack on a hostile's blind spot. After carefully aligning your starfighter behind an enemy's, the purpose was to strafe and imitate an enemy craft's movements so that when the enemy pilot takes evasive action, their vector can be predicted. The Tallon Roll can provide a clean kill, but is potentially vulnerable to the Break.

BREAK

The Break was a classic, but still effective, defensive starfighter maneuver. In the event of a tailing enemy, the object was to sharply turn in the approach vector of the enemy craft. This would ordinarily cause the enemy fighter to overshoot and realign after taking evasive action themselves. This did not mean you would necessarily avoid all fire, especially if the enemy fighter attacks in haste upon suspecting your maneuver. It does, however, deny the potential for a sustained attack, something that can mark the difference not only with victory and defeat, but survival and death.

STRIKER'S SPIN

The Striker's Spin, or X-Wing Spin, is a tactic best utilized by a starfighter with s-foils, or otherwise has three or more main weapons. The Striker's Spin called upon the pilot to perform a fast flying barrel-roll, firing all weapons over a radius. It was best utilized when outnumbered, especially against a starfighter screen. Against lone opponents, however, it was an overly-wasteful tactic, burning through ordinance much more quickly than normal.

CORKSCREW WEAVE

The Corkscrew Weave, also known as Wotan's Dodge, was an evasive maneuver. With sublight engines at full speed and toward a particular heading, the idea was to continuously barrel-roll the craft while engaging in sharp circular motions toward one's destination. This made it especially difficult for automated weapons to lock on and could potentially be merged with the Striker's Spin.

CORELLIAN SLIP

Unlike most of the starfighter tactics I will cover, the Corellian Slip requires two pilots working in tandem. When one pilot is being tailed by a locked-on enemy, perhaps using the Tallon Roll, the wingmate and pilot-in-danger fly directly toward each other. Once at "knife-fighting" range, the pilot-in-danger breaks off, and the wingmate fires on the tailing hostile craft. During the First Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance made constant use of this tactic against the First Galactic Empire's own tactics.

GRAVITY DIVE

A personal favorite and lifesaving tactic of mine, the Gravity Dive is a method of disengagement, but its usage is limited. The Gravity Dive can only be used in combat within a gravity well, such as a planet, habitable asteroid or a moon. It is impossible in deep-space warfare. For the purposes of retreating or setting up for a more advantageous attack vector, a skilled pilot could use a planet's gravity to their own advantage. By flying into the exosphere and stratosphere, the pilot had to allow the planet's gravity pull them down. Using the force of the gravitational pull, the pilot could manipulate the speed and momentum of their craft to immediately achieve escape velocity by pulling out, ricocheting themselves back into space. This provided the starfighter pilot with an immense boost in speed without stressing the engines or burning excess fuel.

GANDDER'S SPIN

Not the most effective tactics, but still applicable in some circumstances, Gandder's Spin is a tactic that involves a pilot cutting power to their main sublight engines while in flight. At the same time, the opposite vents on the craft were engaged, allowing the "breaking power" of the craft to bring the starfigher to a near-full stop almost immediately. Right after, the pilot engages side thrusters before their initial momentum is lost, and after coming about a full 180°, the main sublight engines were re-engaged. The maneuver enables a sharp turn that was otherwise impossible.

NOVA FLARE


The Nova Flare was an anti-battleship tactic, most effective against Destroyer-class, Battlecruiser-class, and Dreadnought-class capital ships. One or more starfighters fired upon a shielded warship with particle-based payloads, such as proton torpedoes or concussive missiles, to devastate a ship's hull.

REVERSE THROTTLE HOP

A counter to the Break tactic, the Reverse Throttle Hop had the pilot pull up above the enemy craft performing the Break, decelerating until the enemy pilot completed their sharp turn. At that point, the pilot required insight or intuition, as they had to bring their vessel back down to the vector of the enemy starfighter. The timing was imperative for this to work; if you timed the tactic too early, the enemy craft could continue to loop around and attack you. Use the tactic too late, you'll simply overshoot again.

STARFIGHTER SCREEN

The Starfighter Screen was a formation that set up a squadron for either offensive or defensive tactics. Either for intercepting bombers, enemy fighters, protecting larger vessels or allied bombers, or simply swarming an outnumbered enemy, the Starfighter Screen was often the opening formation for one or more starfighter squadrons operating together.


PLANETARY ASSAULT TACTICS

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Planetary assault is the only aspect of space warfare that directly impacts the affairs of ground warfare, and thereby is most closely tied with the army branches of a military force. In modern warfare tactics, virtually every planetary assault requires a naval force in some capacity, which was encompassed in four stages. This applied to either worlds or systems, and as such was known as the Planetary / System Conquest model.

THE PLANETARY / SYSTEM CONQUEST MODEL

Stage one is "Approach", and was the planned trajectory to both the planetary system and the planet itself. The most crucial aspect of stage one is twofold, deciding not only where to drop out of hyperspace, but when to pull the ships out as well. Ideally, the best trajectory is one that didn't alert the enemy to your presence until you could jam their communications.

Stage two is "Orbit". This involved the methodical placement of warships and transports over the planet's most strategic zones. Warships were in the close orbit of the planet's exosphere, and laid the groundwork for alternative methods. For instance, some employ planetary assault tactics up to this point to blockade a planet from trade and resources. Another alternative is the orbital bombardment of a planet, the systematic destruction of a planet's infrastructure, industrial or commercial foundations. I will later elaborate on both tactics.

Stage three is "Invasion", and covered the military incursion of the planet's vital points, such as military bases, army zones, defensive structures, or other strategically important targets.

Stage four is "Control", the final of the four stages. Although the least volatile, control of a planet was the most important concerning the aftermath of the planetary assault. Various tactics have been used throughout history to maintain control of the populace and government, with the Sith Imperium usually capitalizing on fear-mongering. Culturally-tailored propaganda is, in my own opinion, the most effective weapon. This is especially important if a war effort is centered on the Cerebral Strategy, psychological warfare promoted by frequent propaganda together with relief and support of the populace after the battle.

At this time, I will now cover the two alternative methods of subduing a planet or planetary system through fleet action; blockades and orbital bombardments.


BLOCKADING

Blockading was a method of choking and strangling a planet or a system into submission. Through military force, orbital warships prevent the arrival of supply ships, allowing worlds to "whither on the vine", as it were. Blockading usually involved several other methods, such as jamming off-world communications, restricting planetary travel, and preventing other ships from leaving the planet. Over time, desperation and degenerating conditions would force even the most resistant planets into compliance, enabling a bloodless conquest.

ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT

Orbital bombardments were the most extreme of measures to conquer a planet, and throughout galactic history were controversial, to say the least. After the strategic placement of a fleet, the planet would be assaulted from the exosphere, destroying valuable targets, structures or even settlements from orbit. Normally, bombard fleets handing orbital attacks, although assault fleets and superiority fleets also carried out orbital bombardments from time to time. The most grandiose of planetary bombardments was the "BDZ" or "Base Delta Zero".

Naval code from the days of the ancient Galactic Republic, Base Delta Zero ordered the methodical destruction of all life, industry, natural resources and was academically defined as "the systematic complete destruction of all 'assets' of production, including factories, arable land, mines, fisheries, and all sentient beings and droids". Beyond the questionable morality of it all, the effects of a Base Delta Zero cascade far beyond the planet targeted for destruction, and history has shown it carries a demonizing effect with the rest of the galaxy. To date, I've neither ever endorsed nor felt it necessary to carry out the order of a Base Delta Zero.


FLEET ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

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A fleet, any fleet, is only a part of a larger navy. However efficient and well maintained, it depends on the rest of the naval forces for self-sufficiency and logistical maintenance. The proper organizing and directing of a fleet can have a tremendous impact on its effectiveness and sustainability. To optimize the power, maneuverability and adaptability of a fleet, an able fleet commander must have adequate knowledge of ship classifications, the specific ships in his fleet, and the various lines of battle, what they're used for and which lines are most effective in a given situation. To begin, I will now elaborate on the starship types.


STARSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

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On the fundamental level, a proper fleet is built up of five starship categories; the flagship, battleships, support ships, transports, and starfighters.

FLAGSHIPS

Every fleet has a flagship. Whether functioning as the tip of a spear or a mobile command center, the flagship of a fleet is the effective head of a naval task force. A fleet commander serves aboard his flagship, and often times, it is modified and enhanced to be more powerful than the stock ships of its class. In other words, the flagship was usually the most powerful ship in the fleet. This was not always the case, as some fleet commanders have atypical preferences. In times past, some opted to have recon-class stealth ships as their flagships, controlling the flow of their forces from the unseen vantage point. Others modify their flagships for speed, either for maneuvering or retreating purposes. On occasion, some fleet commanders choose to direct battles from the cockpit of a starfighter, although I personally question the practical wisdom of such a choice. Either way, the flagship represented the seat of power of a given fleet, and was often, although not always, a prime target of the enemy navy.

BATTLESHIPS

Battleships were the muscle and backbone of any militarized fleet. Both the weapon and the wall against an enemy fleet, battleships were a relatively loose classification of the strongest and largest ships in a naval task force. Indeed, battleships were, at one time, once considered synonymous with the "ships of the line", the vanguard of a fleet's most powerful warships. Flagships were also, under most circumstances, top-of-the-line and state-of-the-art battleships. Ordinarily, battleships were capital ships, usually of the Destroyer-class and Battlecruiser-class, although larger Frigate-class ships can also meet the criteria. The rarely-constructed Dreadnought-class warships also more than suffice the classification for battleships. Alternatively, "warship" was also a utilized term for battleships, although because it was considered a highly generalized term, it is done so only informally.

SUPPORT SHIPS

By far, the most diverse of any categorization, support ships varied from Frigate-class and Star Cruiser-class vessels to Patrol-class and Scout-class ships, with every kind of Star Cruiser classification, Corvette-class ship and gunship in-between. Although usually designated more menial tasks in fleet operations, if a flagship was the head and battleships the backbone and muscle, then the support ships were the lifeblood of a naval task force. Support ships can fulfill their roles in almost countless ways. Some frigates are hospital ships and rescue/retrieval vessels, whereas some frigates were built to be interceptors or for assault with the ships of the line. Heavy cruisers often had just as much, if not more, diversity as frigates.

A noticeable difference in function did come with patrol ships and scout ships, both of which were specialized in their duties. Patrol crafts were defense-oriented vessels, usually dispatched to the edges of a fleet's sensor range to scan for approaching ships or other concerns, which was then reported back to the main fleet's capital ship. If the danger is small enough, patrol ships were often dispatched to quickly eliminate the potential threat on their own. Generally speaking, patrol crafts lacked hyperdrives to maximize the strength and size of their sublight engines, making them among the fastest ships of their respect size in a given fleet.

On the other hand, scout ships were spy crafts, used for reconnaissance and the reporting of intelligence on enemy movements. Sensor jamming and scan ghosting were the specialized tactics for scout ships; the longer they went undetected, the more intelligence they could gather. Scout ships had hyperdrives, but engaged them only outside of an enemy's sensor range. While armed, they're not meant for combat, and it should be avoided whenever and wherever possible. In many respects, patrol crafts and scout ships were the antitheses of one another.

TRANSPORTS

Most often Freighter-class vessels designated for ferrying troops or resources through a fleet - or even into an enemy fleet, transports were by far the most vulnerable ships of a naval force. Rarely armed, and very light in the event that they are, transports rely almost exclusively on escorts and shield modulation strength. Heavily plated with armor and given the best shields manageable for vessels of their respective sizes, transports capitalize endurance of dangers over their elimination. Within a fleet, transports ferry needed personnel and raw resources to a ship requiring them. This could be supplies to make needed repairs during battle, men and women to helm vacant stations, or security teams to secure ships prone to invasion. On the opposite side, transports designated for assault function as troop transports, ferrying military personnel to enemy ships, particularly ones already damaged. Only the most trained pilots are assigned to fly transport ships into enemy territory, and for good reason.

STARFIGHTERS

Starfighters were the smallest military crafts used in space warfare, but ironically the most influential, at times. Small, fast and maneuverable, starfighters were designed to attack the sensitive or weak portions of an enemy fleet by attacking hard and fast. When enemy fighters are present, their functions change to the elimination of the opposing fleet's fighters. Although designs and strict specifications can vary, all starfighters generally fall within one of three categories; Striker-class, Interceptor-class and Bomber-class.

Strikers are the balanced crafts and my own personal craft during my years as a lieutenant-commander. Well armored, maneuverable and balanced in firepower, they were capable of fulfilling any of the three basic roles of starfighters. Interceptors were fast-attack crafts, built for little more than dogfighting. While superb in their roles, it limited the overall variance of their roles; interceptors battled other starfighters, and that was all they did or could do. It was what they were designed for, but they were restricted from being able to do anything else. Bombers were the slowest and most heavily armored of the three, and were specifically designed for crippling larger warships with their payloads. Because of their lack of speed and overall maneuverability, bombers almost always required an escort, usually of the Striker-class starfighters.

Against larger vessels, such as battleships, starfighters would harass and use precision strikes once their shields would fall, targeting the engines, communications array or other vital points. Because of their limited firepower, unlike fleets, starfighters fought in large waves, known as wings. Within these wings were groups, and within groups were the more commonly known squadrons, several of which were assigned to a given fleet.


With the composition of a fleet in mind, the next step comes with determining it's line; the subject of my continued report.

LINE OF BATTLE


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The line of battle was a formation, one that was composed of the strongest ships under a single fleet commander's authority. In rare instances, a line may encompass the entire fleet's strongest ships, although such is seldom the case. Even with fluid tactics and competent strategies in use, battles between fleets are a large mass of localized groups combating with one another. A group of Destroyer-class battleships skirmishing with their equals, while several Frigate-class ships do the same, as well as all present starfighters. Nonetheless, lines remain important for those taking the lead, especially in the heat of battle. There are several lines that military forces use due to their practicality and relative simplicity, but only an able commander can use them to their full effectiveness and efficiency. Ordinarily, lines of battle didn't exceed twenty ships or so, and each were commanded by the highest ranking officer of the group, who was, regardless of his or her rank, referred to as the captain of the line.


ATTACK LINE

A basic and uncomplicated formation, the attack line was formed from frigates together with light and heavy cruisers, numbering between six and nine ships. Ideally, the purpose of an attack line was the combination of smaller warships to engage identical attack lines, or to combat a single, more powerful warship, such as a Destroyer-class battleship.

HEAVY ATTACK LINE

The heavy attack line is an augmentation of its predecessor. A gathering of four to eight warships, the vessels of the heavy attack line were often heavy cruisers and larger frigates - strong, sturdy warships, but with designations that place them beneath the specifications of traditional-class battleship. As far as purposes go, the heavy attack line is completely identical to the standard attack line; targeting either identical lines or a more powerful warship, with the exception that the ships of the heavy attack line can engage more powerful capital ships, such as Battlecruiser-class ships, in addition to Destroyer-class.

PURSUIT LINE

Light cruisers and corvettes compose the pursuit line, although light and mobile frigates may find a place there, if advantageous. With anywhere between four and ten ships, pursuit lines charged at retreating warships to engage them before flight from battle was possible, or followed them to drive enemy ships into a particular area of space to ambush them.

RECON LINE

Recon lines were smaller than most, with anywhere from two to four ships, but were often equipped with the most efficient and powerful sublight engines together with enhanced hyperwave signal interceptor sensors. Sometimes, ships of the recon line even sported augmented hyperdrives to maximize the speed at which they could return to their respective command. Conventionally, ships of the recon line operated in pairs - either in one pair or two - and were dispatched for the purposes of finding enemy movements and reporting back on them. Hostile engagements were not simply a non-priority, they were an active avoidance. Scout ships made up the bulk, if not entirety, of a recon line.

SKIRMISH LINES

One of the larger lines commonly formed, skirmish lines could be as little as four ships, but I've seen some as large as twenty warships, or even thirty. Lighter ships, mostly as corvettes, but also light cruisers, starfighters and frigates made up the skirmish lines. Depending on the specifications of the star cruisers or frigates in the line, the skirmish line can ordinarily have one of two purposes; engagement of a larger capital ship, or the engagement of starfighter squadrons. Due to the size these lines can often assume, skirmish lines both provided cover fire for other lines and could press the attack on an enemy fleet.

SNIPING / TORPEDO LINE

With a dual function, the sniping line is the collection of large range missile boats that discharge sprays of missiles and torpedoes toward the enemy's position. Sniping lines fire from extreme ranges, even for stellar warfare, and often require the protection of other lines. When repurposed for planetary assault tactics, this formation is known as the torpedo line, and is utilized for planetary bombardments of strategic targets.

BATTLESHIP LINE

The battleship line, also called the destroyer line, consists of, true to its namesake, only battleships. Warships of the Destroyer-class and Battlecruiser-class make up battleship lines, as do the rare Dreadnought-class, when and if available. Battleship lines either attack other battleship lines, or are dispatched to completely annihilate smaller lines of a hostile fleet. Unlike most lines, there is no set number for a battleship lines. In my own experience, some battleships lines have been a single ship, or a pair. During the war with the Imperium, I've seen upwards of six to ten ships in a battleship line.

A fleet meant for war is made up of many lines of battle, each meant to best utilize the vessel in its formation. The lines a fleet can utilize, however, is strongly contingent on the vessels within it. These are often dictated by the order of battle, which I will elaborate upon at this time.

ORDER OF BATTLE

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The naval order of battle was the formalized organization and command structure of a fleet -- particularly one designed for military purposes. The order of battle did not capitalize a fleet's operational strengths, as was dictated by the various lines of battle. The order of battle categorized combat formations for the fleets as a whole, taking every unit into account. The very structure of a fleet to begin with is dictated by the order of battle. These formations were dependent on two factors; ship classes and fleet size. Together, this made the specific order of battle for a given fleet an amalgamation of two factors; the fleet size and fleet purpose. I shall begin with the first, formally classified as 'command structure'.

COMMAND STRUCTURE

ELEMENT

A technical term, although rarely referred to, an element refers to a single vessel of a fleet, no matter the size, the role or the status. The only official restriction was that an element had to be commanded by a captain, which would have by default excluded any vessels directed by a lieutenant or a commander. This ruling was implemented centuries ago, at the very least, and for all practical purposes, is ignored -- any lone ship is referred to as an element.


SECTION

Sections were the first organized groupings of ships in a fleet. The size was normally dependent on the strength of the ships within; battleships make form a section of three or perhaps four ships, whereas support ships, like corvettes, frigates and star cruisers might make up a section of twelve. The senior-most captain commanded a section.

SQUADRON

Squadrons were the combination of three sections, or four with exceptions. Since all gathered sections were meant to compliment the other, some squadrons required more sections than others to create a balanced force. Anywhere from twelve to thirty-six ships could make up a squadron, although sometimes, even more could be included. Because of the experience and expertise involved in commanding a squadron, commodores and rear admirals were ordinarily given command of squadrons.

BATTLE GROUP

When two to four squadrons were brought together, they form a battle group. Commanded by admirals, with the specific rank of the admiral depending on the size of the fleet, its specialization and its overall strength, battle groups were anywhere between fifty or so ships to around seventy-five. Although they could become rather large, battle groups didn't exceed a hundred ships, and normally didn't approach that amount, either.

FLEET

The complimentary conglomeration of three to six battle groups, fleets were the conventional symbol of naval strength and power. With anywhere between one hundred to three hundred warships, fleets often operated with many more support ships designated to supplementary or relief roles. Senior admirals, or fleet admirals as some call them, commanded fully-fledged fleets.

ARMADA

There have been very few times where armadas have been allocated, even during the past war with the Sith Imperium, Mandalorians, and the other galactic powers. A conjoining of multiple fleets in a single theater of war, armadas numbered in the thousands, with the largest I've heard of being some five thousand warships in total. Supreme commanders, grand admirals or a commander-in-chief can control armadas.

The listed entries of the structure and command of fleets often depended on its size. The larger the fleet, the higher ranked the commanding officer. Before proceeding further, I will also include the starfighter divisions, which are complimentary units to a fleet's strength and tactical prowess.


STARFIGHTER DIVISION

SECTION

Sections were the first official unit of a starfighter division, and unlike warship distinctions, lone fighters were not considered an element of a naval force. At least two fighters were required to form a section, although four was the ideal number. Lieutenants typically commanded sections.

FLIGHT

Flights are an official formation of two sections, making them four to eight starfighters in number. Although sections were the first unit of a starfighter division, flights were considered to be the standard of credibility for practical usage of them. Flights were led by captain-ranked naval officers.

SQUADRON

Squadrons were the most common, and in my opinion, practical numerical formation of starfighters in a single unit. Composed of three or four flights together, squadrons anywhere between twelve to around thirty or so starfighters. In the former-Federation, only units reached the size of a squadron were they eligible for their own support crew. Majors, or extremely qualified captains, commanded starfighter squadrons.

WING

Wings were an amalgamation of either as few as three, or as many as ten, starfighter squadrons. Smaller wings can number around forty starfighters or so, while fully-fledged wings can reach numbers well exceeding three hundred fighter crafts. Wings were to starfighters what fleets were to warships, although in the old Alliance, starfighter wings were rare except in the most serious of fleet deployments. Wing commanders led starfighter wings, as their names suggest.

CORPS


Corps were the largest concentration most naval forces constructed, rare as they were. Like armadas built from fleets, corps were the combination of two or more wings. Some corps were relatively small, with fighter crafts exceeding no more than seventy. Some starfighter corps were large enough to approach seven hundred. Only marshals commanded starfighter corps.

With both the categorization of warships and starfighters, a new avenue of fleet organization follows. Just as many warships or starfightes fulfill different purposes during or preceding combat, so do fleets fulfill different functions.

FLEET FORCES

SUPERIORITY FLEET

The first fleet I will cover is a superiority fleet. With warships together along with many more support ships, superiority fleets could number close to four hundred vessels, so roughly four battle groups made a superiority fleet. Superiority fleets were specifically formed to have the inclusion of either multiple Destroyer-class or Battlecruiser-class capital ships, emphasizing the ideology of overwhelming force over a weaker foe. In recent history, it has become painfully obvious that this has been the Sith Imperium's most favored fleet type.


ASSAULT FLEET

Another distinct fleet type was an assault fleet. Assault fleets were similarly sized to superiority fleets, but were more balanced in terms of practicality in their functionality. This old standard for assault fleets capitalized on multitasking in fleet operations, and is known as the "1/4/16/64" standard. The meaning behind it is that optimal result of an assault fleet is that it execute one corp-level operation, four battle group-level operations, sixteen regimental-level operations, and sixty-four battalion-level operations. Suffice to say, only highly experienced fleet admirals were given command to assault fleets.

BOMBARD FLEET

Bombard fleets were another fleet formation, and as its name would suggest, were fleets organized for planetary bombardments. Bombard fleets often utilized many torpedo line of battle formations, and could also be adapted for the sniping line of battle, if the bombard fleet were properly armed for such methods. Due to the nature of the standard bombard fleet, they usually numbered to over four hundred vessels.

DEEPDOCK FLEET

Expeditionary fleets for deep-space operations, deepdock fleets were fleets that were formed and dispatched for long-term missions in space, particularly for the construction of military outposts and shipyards or for expeditions into foreign territories, including incursions into the Unknown Regions. The Alliance had seldom formed deepdock fleets for the latter's purpose, as it shied away from conquest. Several of the Imperium's more famous fleet were deepdock in nature, however. Because of the resource strain incurred by deep-space operations, deepdock fleets were usually small than three hundred ships.

SUPPORT FLEET

Suppliers of ordnance and resources, logistical necessities and stand-by personnel, support fleets had almost countless functions, provided they were prepared in some magnitude for the given function, and usually were often attached to larger fleets, especially assault fleets, to provide assistance. Support fleets had small ships, usually no larger than corvettes in size, and numbered as many as five hundred, depending on the potential need of the fleet or fleets it was assisting.

EPILOGUE

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"Military goals are reached through a combination of originality and brutality." Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the First Galactic Empire. While not a man I'd consider to be admirable in character, his incredible mind for war was nonetheless respectable. Romanticized as it is misunderstood, warfare in space is complex, tedious... and the most terrifying experience imaginable for any man. It requires tenacity and courage, innovation and learnedness, and an aptitude that no one can teach. But what many all too often forget is that space is the most inhospitable and hostile environment known to sapient life of any civilization. It is cold, barren, deathly silent and unprejudiced. It gives back nothing it claims -- not all are able to live with its dangers. Space consumes the ignorant, destroys the stupid and breaks the weak-willed. But in the battles of its infinite void, there are those that live and thrive. So the question for any who think themselves ready to wage war among its burning stars is this; 'will you be consumed? Destroyed, broken? Or will you thrive?'”
 
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