Kalistani Major History

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KALMILINCO begins refitting Kalistani Regular Forces
Priority is on Regular Army, Naval and Air refitting scheduled to begin within 2 years
Sulari, Suldanor
February 18, 5251


The All-terrain Troop Carrier M-2105A2, produced by KMI and MoCo

Kalistan's private automobile manufacturer, The Kalistani Motor Company (KMC) has begun fulfilling a K2.6 bn contract to begin producing new Light-Armored, All terrain troop transports (LAATs) designated M2100 for the Kalistani Regular Army. This work, outsourced to the private sector to allow KALMILINCO to focus on production of more technically advanced weapons systems such as the new M12 Reynolds 105mm Light Tank, which are designed to support the combat Infantry Battalion, and replace outdated Main Battle tanks which have served the Kalistani military for centuries but have long since outlived the Empire's ability to source new parts for, and which have all been retired and scrapped. The M12 Reynolds, designed over the last six years at the National Proving Grounds near Sulari by KALMILINCO, has received final approval for deployment, and the first battalions will be fielded by December of this year, one in Odufaray and one in Ananto. Besides the new tanks, KMI has been producing new artillery pieces and has brought both the Regular Army and the Militia, who purchased the systems from KMI at cost, up to full strength as of last year.

While the tanks are being constructed, KMI turned to KMC and asked them to begin producing the lightly armored vehicles, focusing primarily on three variants of the M-2100 LAATs: the 2101 is a hard back version, designed to serve as a mobile command vehicle, the 2103 is designed to serve as a small transport of either troops and/or supplies, and can seat a squad of soldiers comfortably with arms, ammo and packs, and the 2105 which is designed to be a mobile operations center for intel and artillery, and which features a hard back allowing for nighttime operations under full light discipline. Two other variants are currently being designed and will go into production early next year: One with a combat drone control center and one which serves as a mobile fire base to serve shoulder fired SAM crews. These vehicles will contain advanced electronics targeting systems and therefore require larger power plants. Each vehicle can tow a cargo trailer upon which a pallecon can be loaded, or a generator. KMC is also rolling out larger transport and cargo vehicles including 5 ton trucks and larger capacity troop carriers.

KMI was adamant that the vehicles produced by MOCO have hydrogen fuel cells or electric batteries with photovoltaic recharging ability and storage capacity. the entire roof of the 01 and 05 are therefore lined with photovoltaics to allow for recharge. Developing a renewable powerplant for the more heavily armored vehicles has been challenging: At the moment, KMI has gone with a hybrid engine with efficiencies built in designed to return heat energy to the vehicle for use in operation.

The focus on the Ground forces has forced KMI to put naval refitting on the back burner. Carbon fiber production has increased over the last year as has steel production, but the materials are still in the process of being collected to begin the refitting, which is now scheduled to begin within five years. "We need to completely refit some of the hulls of these vehicles," said Naval undersecretary Vera Matthews. "Refitting some of these vessels will take us months: in a lot of cases the ships have had to stay at anchor, because our dry dock facilities have not been able to keep up with maintenance, and Kalistan hasn't invested in new infrastructure in centuries. So we will save what we can and scrap and rebuild what we have to." Matthews said the full refitting of the Regular navy will not be completed before 5165.

Meanwhile, KMI has begun working once more with AeroKal in Gendaris to begin producing the old F/A-10 fighters that Kalistan produced with Indrala during the Republican period. "The fighters are old," said KMI spokeswoman Jenny Wilson, "but they are still top of their class, and we expect to continue to deploy them for a long time to come." There has been some rumors of the development of a new interceptor class in the works, which could dramatically increase Kalistani presence over the Ananto Straits and the Anantonese Ocean, but if these rumors are to be believed, planning is in its early phase, and there have been no official announcements about any new aircraft. Wilson noted that production on a new batch of F/A-10 fighters was able to go ahead, but will be slow due to Kalistani engineers working on an update of the avionics, targeting and flight control systems. "These systems were Indralan, and we just sort of worked with them. We have been designing new flight control systems especially, as well as targeting that communicates with our new generation radar and ground defense weapons to create a more integrated theater. A lot of the the old Indralan tech has to therefore be sidelined while we develop and test new systems. Meanwhile, we will still supply the Regular Airforce with new weaponry that they are used to flying and have plenty of training on."

The full restoration of the Kalistani regular forces is expected to last through 5170. The greenlight for the refitting was given by his Imperial Majesty William I and the Government has finally allocated serious money to the project. Unions and military members are reportedly "thrilled" for the new investment.