Incursion Vector

Brief: INS Fleets

[▲] Interstellar Navy Fleets

[-] The Active Fleet comprises all ships within the Interstellar Navy which are classified as warships and are fully crewed and outfitted. Active fleet composition is subject to size limitations and patrol restrictions set forth within the Unification Treaties. Addition of any new ships of destroyer classification and above must be approved by the Colonial-Terran Congress and the presence of Active Fleet vessels in Colonial space must be sanctioned by the Colonial Interests Board. If a state of war is declared by Congress, aside from the immediate election of an Admiral of the Navy, Field Marshal and Vanguard Marshal, fleet strength and CIB patrol area limitations are suspended and the Navy is allowed to dictate its own interstellar patrol routes as determined by the Joint Military Council.

[-] The Auxiliary Fleet comprises all ships within the Interstellar Navy which are not classified as warships or which are warships operating only with a skeleton crew. Generally these are high-value unarmed vessels of strategic import but has at several points in Terran Alliance history included privateer ships and merchant marines which fell outside the military chain of command. In the modern day the designation includes repair ships, communications and medical frigates, and quasi-stationary outposts such as ordinance magazines, mobile refueling depots, assembly yards and hospital stations. Also included in the Auxiliary Fleet are the ships which comprise the Interstellar Navy's University Frigate System. Although UF vessels are technically warships, equipped with sufficient ordinance and personnel numbers, they fall beneath the stipulated "active" requirements due to the fact that most of said personnel fall below the age of majority. With 80-90% of any given ship's crew compliment legally classified as noncombatants according to Colonial law, UF vessels are not subject to patrol limitations within the Treaties. All efforts to change their designation have thus far failed to obtain the 80/20 majority vote required to amend the Unification Treaties and classify UF Cadets as legal adults, thereby including University Frigates as part of the Active Fleet.

[-] The Reserve Fleet, normally called the Mothball Fleet, are warships maintained by the Navy in working condition but are not in service. Following the Unification Treaties the size of the Mothball Fleet has grown to three times that of the Active Fleet. Since mothballed military vessels are high-value targets for pirates, all locations of Reserve Fleet shipyards are highly classified, but they are generally assumed to be located within relatively fortified Terran Alliance space and within one or two jumps from a Naval refueling depot or ordinance magazine.

[▲] Ship Classifications

[-] Strike Carriers / Designation: INS

Strike carriers form the backbone of the Navy and are the largest ships in service by volume, not personnel count. The main purposes of a strike carrier are to act as a centralized information control unit within a theater and to move corvettes, troop transports and fighter wings to engagement areas via EinRosen jumps. Advancements in energy management technology have also lead to the evolution of the strike carrier as a long-range ship-to-ship weapons platform which rivals modern battleships in terms of firepower. Older classes such as the Alkonst can carry up to eight corvettes or transports, whereas the Thunderbird-class can transport fourteen and the newest Phoenix-class are designed to carry eighteen. All strike carriers are engineered to be self-sustaining in deep space, meaning there are hydroponics bays for organic foodstuffs, fully equipped and staffed medical facilities, ship and fighter repair equipment and supplies, and recreational areas for personnel on the ship itself.

[-] Flagships / Designation: INS

Flagships are the PR department of the Navy, though by no means are they any less armed and armored than a war-ready ship of the fleet. They are captained by persons of Rear Admiral rank or above and are generally stationed in sectors of strategic import or interest as the primary asset of a heavily armed battle group. In addition to being able to carry four corvettes through jump gates, a standard flagship will have at the ready twenty or more marauder flights, each flight consisting of at least eight individual fighters, giving them the largest fighter compliment of any single ship in the fleet. Contrary to strike carriers, flagships do not carry Marine personnel for ship-to-ship boarding operations, as deploying a flagship within boarding range of an enemy fleet is generally accepted to be tactically unsound due to the ship's lack of effective maneuverability. Instead they serve as a joint hub of operations for the Navy and Exoplanetary Infantry command structure. Currently there are only four flagships in service within the Interstellar Navy's active fleet, with two serving in the auxiliary fleet as University Frigates and another fifteen in mothball.