By Ikumi Nagami (SP)
21 July 2014 - 4:50 PM
KARŌTO (SP) - Embedded Sutāpuresu 
Destroyers of the Hōfuku Kantai on maneuver in late 2013.correspondents aboard the battleship SN Pārurōzu are reporting that the Fifth Naval Action Group which left port from Karōto Bay almost two weeks ago is bound for a rendezvous with a Sutā Kamotsu cargo ships bound for Belfras. The Fifth Naval Action Group, often referred to as Hōfuku Kantai (Fleet of Retribution) is the largest of the ten major units in the Combined Fleet of the Sutādōtā Navy, consisting of one battleship, two aircraft carriers, five amphibious assault ships, and ten smaller warships as of late 2013. It's very existence has been dubbed "overkill" by several foreign media outlets, with an inventory fit for an all-out invasion force. If the fleet left port at full strength, which by all reports it did, the Fifth is also outfitted with the Fifth Special Naval Landing Corps - a division of light amphibious assault infantry supported by an armored cavalry battalion - and the Fifth Carrier Group, consisting of the 405th and 407th Fighter Squadrons, the 203rd and 219th Attack Squadrons, and an air assault group. The Hōfuku Kantai is expected to be out of port for the foreseeable future, with Admiral Kazumi Nakatsurī saying that the Fifth will, "accompany Sutādōtā trade vessels through hostile waters and provide logistical support where needed."
Some fringe liberal groups have cited this action as an attempt by the Admiralty Board to expand Sutādōtāzu's influence across Pardes through its shipping lanes, and in effect give the Sutādōtā Navy strike capability further west. These claims were denied by the Naval Department, however, stating that this move was only to protect Sutādōtā trade vessels from the increasingly real threats of piracy from Ashizwe and Tippercommon. In a press conference, Admiral Gouta Tatsuya stated that all military vessels would not leave international waters, and that they would loiter several hundred kilometers off the coast of the cargo's destination ports until the merchant vessels returned. He also stated that the projection of Sutādōtā air power would be limited to helicopter patrols around the convoys to provide a quick response to piracy threats. While it is believed that the Fifth Fleet is entirely outfitted with several fighter and reconnaissance squadrons, it is likely the Admiralty Board has taken this approach as to minimize international backlash. It is also likely that the Fifth Fleet will be split overtime, with multiple squadrons branching off to escort cargo ships to various destinations, with the most likely being Belfras, Rodarion, Estovnia, and Estovakiva. This announcement has also come at a time when the Sutādōtā Parliament has been in gridlock over the country's defense appropriations act for 2015, which the Patriotic Party of Sutādōtazu, the majority party, have been trying to push through committee. In its current form, it would set up provisions to integrate military vessels into the nation's merchant navy and to arm cargo ships. However, the more fiscally conservative sects of the Patriotic Party and the minority parties have been blocking its passage. This Executive Order may be a temporary fix to bypass the legislature, and will likely take the place of the militarized merchant marine clause as it will likely get dropped.
There has not been much argument from Parliament referring to the Executive Order's waste and any possible international consequences which could spawn from it, but rather how the Executive sidestepped the Legislative. But, with the way things are in Parliament at the moment, and with the Patriotic Party's numbers, any official reprimand of the Patriarch is implausible. The response from the Sutādōta public has been fairly positive to indifferent regarding the matter, with most of the Patriotic Party's constituents supporting the move as a way to end the stagnation in Parliament. Some liberal fringe groups in Karōto vocally protested this order, but thus far their actions have only amounted to a ten man picket outside of the Naval Department garrison being broken up by metropolitan police. With the Patriotic Party's slight majority in Parliament, little disapproval coming from the Prefectures, and massive support from from domestic corporate interests, this order will likely not be overturned. SP correspondents at the Patriarch's Palace have been informed that it is likely that the Second and Fourth Naval Action Groups may also be appropriated for this task as well, and that a portion of Sutādōtazu's naval and marine reserves may be called upon to provide security for cargo ships.
Besides the threat of piracy, the positioning of naval assets in the Central Ocean may be a play by the Admiralty Board to get strike forces in a strategic location to allow for operations in the Seukutan and the rest of the Mid-East; a hotspot in Pardes. It is speculated by the political commentary magazine, the Metropolitan, that this will be the culmination of decades of military buildup. Fairly isolationist in terms of military commitments, this would be the first time that Sutādōtazu would commence military operations outside of the Far East. It would certainly justify the massive defense budget which Parliament has routinely allocated to the Sutādōta Strike Corps, which has up to this point served as a glorified self defense force. With the most recent naval acquisitions from the states of Yohannes and Belfras just arriving in Karōto Bay earlier this year, this may be a signal for future aggression from Sutādōtazu.
By SP's Ikumi Nagami as Lead Reporter and Investigative Reporter Daichi Nakamura
Destroyers of the Hōfuku Kantai on maneuver in late 2013.
Some fringe liberal groups have cited this action as an attempt by the Admiralty Board to expand Sutādōtāzu's influence across Pardes through its shipping lanes, and in effect give the Sutādōtā Navy strike capability further west. These claims were denied by the Naval Department, however, stating that this move was only to protect Sutādōtā trade vessels from the increasingly real threats of piracy from Ashizwe and Tippercommon. In a press conference, Admiral Gouta Tatsuya stated that all military vessels would not leave international waters, and that they would loiter several hundred kilometers off the coast of the cargo's destination ports until the merchant vessels returned. He also stated that the projection of Sutādōtā air power would be limited to helicopter patrols around the convoys to provide a quick response to piracy threats. While it is believed that the Fifth Fleet is entirely outfitted with several fighter and reconnaissance squadrons, it is likely the Admiralty Board has taken this approach as to minimize international backlash. It is also likely that the Fifth Fleet will be split overtime, with multiple squadrons branching off to escort cargo ships to various destinations, with the most likely being Belfras, Rodarion, Estovnia, and Estovakiva. This announcement has also come at a time when the Sutādōtā Parliament has been in gridlock over the country's defense appropriations act for 2015, which the Patriotic Party of Sutādōtazu, the majority party, have been trying to push through committee. In its current form, it would set up provisions to integrate military vessels into the nation's merchant navy and to arm cargo ships. However, the more fiscally conservative sects of the Patriotic Party and the minority parties have been blocking its passage. This Executive Order may be a temporary fix to bypass the legislature, and will likely take the place of the militarized merchant marine clause as it will likely get dropped.
There has not been much argument from Parliament referring to the Executive Order's waste and any possible international consequences which could spawn from it, but rather how the Executive sidestepped the Legislative. But, with the way things are in Parliament at the moment, and with the Patriotic Party's numbers, any official reprimand of the Patriarch is implausible. The response from the Sutādōta public has been fairly positive to indifferent regarding the matter, with most of the Patriotic Party's constituents supporting the move as a way to end the stagnation in Parliament. Some liberal fringe groups in Karōto vocally protested this order, but thus far their actions have only amounted to a ten man picket outside of the Naval Department garrison being broken up by metropolitan police. With the Patriotic Party's slight majority in Parliament, little disapproval coming from the Prefectures, and massive support from from domestic corporate interests, this order will likely not be overturned. SP correspondents at the Patriarch's Palace have been informed that it is likely that the Second and Fourth Naval Action Groups may also be appropriated for this task as well, and that a portion of Sutādōtazu's naval and marine reserves may be called upon to provide security for cargo ships.
Besides the threat of piracy, the positioning of naval assets in the Central Ocean may be a play by the Admiralty Board to get strike forces in a strategic location to allow for operations in the Seukutan and the rest of the Mid-East; a hotspot in Pardes. It is speculated by the political commentary magazine, the Metropolitan, that this will be the culmination of decades of military buildup. Fairly isolationist in terms of military commitments, this would be the first time that Sutādōtazu would commence military operations outside of the Far East. It would certainly justify the massive defense budget which Parliament has routinely allocated to the Sutādōta Strike Corps, which has up to this point served as a glorified self defense force. With the most recent naval acquisitions from the states of Yohannes and Belfras just arriving in Karōto Bay earlier this year, this may be a signal for future aggression from Sutādōtazu.
By SP's Ikumi Nagami as Lead Reporter and Investigative Reporter Daichi Nakamura
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