Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

As Lodamun’s relationship with Luthori continues to deteriorate, owing to the geopolitical quagmire surrounding the temporary basing of Lodamese Navy vessels in Malivia, the Lodamese Navy has announced its intentions to suspend all military operations on Luthorian soil, in a move which many believe is the opening moves to a much wider split between the two nations. At a press conference held at the Department of Defence building in Kensington, Assistant Secretary of Defence John Holland confirmed that following a much wider assessment of Lodamun’s geostrategic priorities on the Artanian continent that the decision had been made to end the more than 5 decades long practice of basing various sorts of aircraft and shipping from Luthori. “Although our priority remains the protection of the Harrington Company’s principle supply routes throughout western seleya, it is our belief that given the current circumstances, these operations are best conducted from base on the Seleyan continent,” Secretary Holland revealed. Since Lodamun’s initial foray into the Commonwealth system, the nation has, by virtue of a treaty with Lodamun used Luthorian bases to conduct maritime patrol operations into the Artanian Sea in support of various keystone operations namely Operation Barracuda. Additionally, owing to the nature of the agreement wherein basing ultimately extends to maritime shipping, the Lodamese Coast Guard has occasionally utilised Luthorian facilities for re-arm and refitting. According to Secretary Holland, as the terms of the agreement were largely mutual, it meant that whereas the Lodamese Armed Forces would allow for Luthorian ships to temporary base at Lodamese military installations either in Lodamun or in other parts of the world, so too would Lodamese aircraft and shipping be allowed to base temporarily out of IAF bases and ILN bases throughout Luthori proper. “It ought to be noted that our agreement with Luthori, which is largely predicated against the “Luthorian-Lodamese Alliance & Security Pact”, did not extend to permanent basing of any forces in either nation. In the case of the P-8 Seawizard (Poseidon) jets which primarily utilised the basing article under the treaty, these aircraft were based on a 6-month rotation (i.e. 6 months in Luthori and 6 months in Lodamun),” He explained. Pointing to the supposed misconception surrounding the basing of Lodamese assets in Luthori, Holland noted that it was important to clarify the nature of the Lodamese Armed Forces’ operations on the Artania continent via Luthori.

The secession of operations from Luthori would ultimately mean numerous changes to the structure/nature of the Lodamese Coast Guard’s Barracuda patrols in Western Seleya alongside the Lodamese Navy’s drone operations in the Migrant’s Pass. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Declan Barker and Commandant of the Lodamese Coast Guard Admiral William Brown confirmed that although the transition to other bases is likely to take time, Lodamun’s “operational tempo” in the long term is likely to be unaffected. Admiral Brown noted that the Lodamese Coast Guard, instead of conducting re-arming/refitting work in Luthori is likely to conduct such operations from either Naval Station Amsted in Aldegar or from Lodamun itself. “When we [the LCG] originally set out with Barracuda we were cognizant of the fact that we would need range to operation and endurance to operate in the Artanian Sea. It is for that reason, the vast majority of Coast Guard vessels in the Artanian Sea, and the South Ocean have been the Domestic Security Cutter, which has offered us greater range,” Admiral Brown explained. He noted that whereas previously the LCG’s Search and Rescue Operations would have been based out of Luthori, owing to this shift in location, such operations are likely to be based entirely from LCG Air Station McPherson in Berkwaki. According to Admiral Barker, the decision would ultimately mean a change in basing for the Lodamese Navy drones currently operating in the Migrant’s Pass. He noted that the two drones will likely to be transferred from their temporary IAF posting to Naval Station Crockett, thus basing the drones directly from Malivia, which would in turn, cut down on the time needed to get to Luthori and into the Migrant’s Pass and thus extend the amount of hours said drones can operate in the area without refuelling. “The Azuron drone is by far one of our more useful assets in this space as its range grants it the ability to fly from as far as western Berkwaki without refuelling. Basing these directly from Malivia will ultimately have the effect of extending the amount of time they remain in the base conducting sensor sweeps throughout the area and gathering other forms of intelligence,” Admiral Barker concluded.

Secretary Holland has noted that there were tentative talks within the DoD Lodamun’s withdrawal from the Luthorian-Lodamese Alliance & Security Pact but noted that such a move is likely the decision of the President and the Secretary of Defence. “A review of Lodamun’s relationship with the Luthorian security community is currently underway but any final decision is ultimately at the behest of the President and the Secretary of Defence,” he noted. Lodamun’s withdrawal from the treaty could open the door for the sharing of acoustic signatures of Luthorian Navy assets with various partners including Kalistan. Some within the intelligence community have noted that movements have already been made to suspend the sharing of sensitive information with the Luthorian military/government, with the Office of the DNA reportedly considering treating Luthorian intelligence as that of a third party, denoting that although the nation is not a signatory of the Common Intelligence Sharing Agreement, it ultimately benefited from an exemption by the Director of National Assessments.