Courageous Class light carrier APNS Furious
Mathilda Ochibwe, defence correspondent
20/12/2013, 09:00
Loweport, Arthurista
The Arthuristan People's Navy's Central Ocean Task Force (COTF) completed its scheduled reshuffling today as the Courageous Class light carrier APNS Furious arrived at Alabaster, replacing the Vengeance Class ship APNS Vindictive. The 25 years old vessel is the flagship of a battle group which consists of a Daedalus Class Universal Combat Ship, three Type-44 class destroyers and a pair of Osiris Class attack submarines.
With the completion of this move, for the first time since the Ulthrannia War the People's Navy does not have a heavy fleet carrier in the Central Ocean. This, naturally, begs the question: will the current trend of withdrawing Arthuristan units from Itailia continue?
The land component of Arthuristan Forces Command - Itailia (AFCI) currently consists of the VIII Commonwealth Guards Corps, a formation with roughly four and a half divisions' worth of maneouvre forces plus other support elements. By contrast, an entire Army of 17 divisions fought on Itailian soil during the Ulthrannia War. APAF presence in Itailia has also been reduced over the preceding months to a single air group, with four combat squadrons of fighter-bombers, one of UAVs and a support squadron of transports, AWACs and C4I aircrafts.
While some may question the costs of maintaining Arthurista's continued military presence in Itailia, public opinion seems to remain significantly behind the Whittaker cabinet's position - this permanent overseas commitment of Arthuristan forces to a key strategic ally remains absolutely necessary, albeit options for further reductions may certainly be explored if certain are deemed to be redundant by the Ministry of Defence.
It remains to be seen, however, whether the trend will continue, given recent events. With Arthurista's application to join the CDI currently pending, the Prime Minister is certainly under pressure to be perceived as "pulling her own weight" in western Pardes. The rising tension between Rodarion and Itailia is also another factor to be taking into account. Considering the government's refusal to recognise the post-coup regime, the continued presence of Arthuristan forces in the area could be seen as a sign of disapproval against the new management at Romula, as well as a commitment to the security of its allies.
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