Imperial Armed Forces (Shenewa)
Imperial Armed Forces | |
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Te Ope Teue Enepē | |
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Founded | 1813 |
Current form | 1951 |
Manpower | |
Military age | 17 |
Conscription | None |
Active personnel | 512,000 |
Expenditures | |
Budget | $16,703.888m |
Percent of GDP | 1.9% |
Industry | |
Foreign suppliers |
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The Imperial Armed Forces are the military forces of the Empire of Shenewa. It consists of three branches, the Imperial Army, Imperial Navy and Imperial Force. Officially, the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy can date their history back to the unification of Shenewa in 1813. However, in their modern form they trace their history back to the War of Imperial Restoration, ending in 1951. The Imperial Air Force was created in 1959.
History
Military History of Shenewa & History of the Armed Forces
Kingdoms era (pre 400 BCE)
The Anarchy & City States era (400 BCE-800 CE)
The Two realms era (800-1500 CE)
Pike & Shotte era (1500-1700 CE)
Linear warfare until unification (1700-1813 CE)
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Shenewan armies typically organised into three types of unit: levied, permanent and artemian. The bulk of any army would be levied troops, peasants called up to fight for the state. Permanent troops were not necessarily recruited from within the state in question, being effectively mercenaries. Artemian regiments were recruited from artemian adventurers and mercenaries.
First Imperial period (1813-1908 CE)
Warlords era (1908-1943 CE)
War of Imperial Restoration (1943-51 CE)
The modern Imperial Armed Forces' origins lie in the War of Imperial Restoration. During this conflict, the Imperial Armed Forces were comprised mostly of newly raised units, with a backbone of Imperial Guard and Naval officers and NCOs (although by that stage, the Imperial Navy was lacking in seaworthy ships so most sailors fought in ground combat units).
The conscripted Armed Forces (1951-1968)
Following the conclusion of the War of Imperial Restoration, the Imperial Armed Forces retained conscription. This was done not only to ensure a steady supply of manpower but also in an effort to rebuild a sense of unity in Shenewa following 40 years of fragmentation and civil war. On average during this period, the Imperial Armed Forces took in 180,000 conscripts each year, with each conscript serving for two years. Efforts were made to ensure that men served in genuinely pan-national units, normally in a different region of the country where they originated.
Organisationally, the Imperial Army was the main recipient of draftee manpower. In peacetime, it comprised an armoured brigade, three divisions and 21 independent brigades. The armoured brigade and divisions were a reserve, for use in any conventional war to buy time for a wider mobilisation or for use in large-scale sweeps of insurgent areas. By contrast, the independent brigades were permanently stationed in one of three operational zones, Western, Northern or Southern, covering the western highlands, the Tueawa basin and the more jungled territories along the southern Yvyrayvate respectively. The forces under these operational commands bore the brunt of the counter-insurgency campaign.
By the time that conscription was abolished in 1967, 2,700,000 Shenewans had served as conscripts in the Imperial Armed Forces.
The volunteer Armed Forces (1967-present day)
One of the key demands of the 1967 constitution riots was that conscription, and impressed labour of all varieties, be abolished. Consequently, after the constitution was signed, the Imperial Armed Forces were required to dismiss all conscripts, regardless of whether their term of service had been completed or not, and transition to an all-volunteer force. Due to the dismissal of conscripts and a refusal by the newly appointed civilian government to increase budgets to account for the cost of volunteer troops, the Imperial Army was required to downsize to 96,000 active personnel.
However, following the Sorland War, it became apparent that there remained the risk of a conventional war in Shenewa's own near-abroad. Later, in 1979, the Osorra-Tilenno war broke out. These combined reminders of the risk of conventional war and the twin threats of the Confederate States of Northern Avalonia and Osorra led to a surge in Shenewan defence spending. The Armed Forces grew rapidly, from under 120,000 in 1970 to almost 600,000 in the 1990s.
Mission and Doctrine
The mission of the Imperial Armed Forces was outlined in the 2010 National Defence Strategy and is as follows:
- To defend the sovereignty of Shenewa's borders and subjects against attack
- By protecting against stand-off attack
- By maintaining the ability to retaliate with stand-off capabilities
- By maintaining the ability to carry out a pre-emptive disarming strike against local unstable or threatening powers
- To defend the Shenewan state against forceful coercion by foreign powers
- By preventing the starvation of Shenewa of energy
- By preventing the restriction of Shenewa's ability to conduct trade
- By maintaining the ability to act autonomously when necessary in key areas
- To ensure the stability and security of Shenewa's trade routes
- By maintaining stability in the Ingonian
- By maintaining the ability to defend trade passing through the Ingonian
- By maintaining Shenewan access to the Ingonian
- By maintaining the ability to commit a scalable ground force to ensure the security and stability of Shenewa's near-abroad
- To defend imperial subjects against non-conventional threats
- By protecting imperial subjects against manmade non-conventional threats
- By protecting and provide disaster relief for imperial subjects affected by natural non-conventional threats
Personnel
Since 1967, the Imperial Armed Forces have been an entirely volunteer force. As of 2023, the Imperial Armed Forces has 517,000 active personnel, 375,000 in the army, 90,000 in the air force and 52,000 in the navy (of whom 18,000 are marines).
The average age of new recruits to the Shenewan Armed Forces is 22. Upon joining, each recruit is given a sign-up bonus of ¥673,200 (equivalent to $1,800) and signs a contract for 25 years, with the option to leave after 7 years of active and 5 years of reserve service in the army or after 10 years of active service in the Air Force or Navy. After they have left the Armed Forces, veterans are given an annual stipend of ¥112,200 (equivalent to $300). As of 2022, 2,028,000 people in Shenewa were eligible to claim the veteran's stipend.
Officer Ranks | Warrant Officer Ranks | Technical Officer Ranks | Other ranks |
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2nd Lieutenant | Undersergeant | Field Sergeant | Private |
1st Lieutenant | Staff Sergeant | Technical Sergeant | Corporal |
Captain | Sergeant | Technical Officer | Master Corporal |
Major | Underofficer | - | - |
Colonel | Senior Underofficer | - | - |
Lieutenant General | - | - | - |
Major General | - | - | - |
Field Marshal | - | - | - |
Marshal | - | - | - |
General | - | - | - |
Army
Imperial Army | |||||||||||||||||||
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Te Enepē Teupia | |||||||||||||||||||
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The Imperial Army (Keumoine: Te Enepē Teupia, "the Imperial Warband") is the ground warfare branch of the Imperial Armed Forces.
History
Mission
Organisation
The Imperial Army's principal level of command is the Theatre Army. Directly subordinate to Army High Command, these organisations control multiple corps and division level units and are responsible for operational command in times of war, developing strategy and tactics and overseeing administration and training in their assigned area. In the modern day, there are two Theatre Armies, the Northern Army and Southern Army.
In addition to the full fledged theatre armies, there is also Western Army. Structured for a second intervention in case of an escalation on the Arlin-Malinatlani border, the Western Army is primarily a support formation, with only three combat brigades subordinate to it.
Branches of service
For administrative purposes, the Imperial Army is divided into a number of branches, which are in turn sub-divided into corps. A soldier's branch is denoted by the colour of their beret whilst the corps will be denoted by the cap badge.
Corps | Branch | Motto |
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General Staff (Keumoine: Te Keashekengero Petu Petu Wehenge) | "Find a way or make one" | |
Special Forces(Keumoine:) | ||
Infantry Branch (Keumoine: Te Hoae Hēre Wehenge) | Combat | "With courage and blood" |
Tank Destroyer Branch (Keumoine: Te Keashekengero Petu Petu Wehenge) | Combat | "Iron fist, iron heart" |
Armour Branch (Keumoine:) | Combat | |
Scout Branch (Keumoine: Te Keakopere Wehenge) | Reconnaissance | "Strike first" |
Intelligencen(Keumoine: Nge Korero Wehenge) | Reconnaissance | "Sweat saves blood, Intelligence saves both" |
Field Artillery (Keumoine: Te Ngē Pū Wehenge) | Artillery | "Where others are not enough" |
Missile Artillery (Keumoine:) | Artillery | |
Air Defence (Keumoine:) | Artillery | |
Electronic Warfare (Keumoine: ) | Artillery | |
Engineers Branch (Keumoine: Te Naahana Wehenge) | Engineering | "Clear the Way" |
Maintenance Branch (Keumoine: Te Taeka Wehenge) | Engineering | "Always on duty" |
Signals Branch (Keumoine: Te Shekeshatashata Wehenge) | Engineering | "Where there is unity, there is victory" |
Transportation Branch (Keumoine: Te Kewe Weke Wehenge) | Logistics | "No distance too great" |
Ordnance Branch (Keumoine: Te Rokaroka Wehenge) | Logistics | "Iron over flesh" |
Military Police (Keumoine: Te Parahamene Hoae Wehenge) | Support | "By example we lead" |
Medical (Keumoine: Te Rongoe Wehenge) | Support | "No wound too severe" |
Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard | |||||||||||||||||||
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Keataeka o te Enepē | |||||||||||||||||||
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The Imperial Guard are a branch of the Imperial Armed Forces whose principal role is to provide airborne or marine rapid-reaction and expeditionary forces. Because of this, all troops of the Imperial Guard receive training both as paratroopers and marines. Within the Imperial Armed Forces, they are widely considered to the elite troops of Shenewa.
History
The Imperial Guard can trace its history back to the First Emperor in 1813. However, the modern Imperial Guard came into being in the aftermath of the War of Imperial Restoration. During this war, the Imperial Army had been comprised of a mix of local militia units and hurriedly raised regular units built around a backbone of Imperial Guard personnel. With the Emperor restored and Shenewa stabilising, many officers of the Imperial Guard wanted to reassert their status as a separate, elite formation, beyond merely being old and storied regiments of the Army.
They saw an opportunity to do so in the fighting against Shenewa's communist insurgency. Whilst Imperial Army patrols were often able to find communist cells, they were rarely able to surround and destroy them, limiting the impact of sweeps. Therefore, what was needed was a force able to rapidly respond in force to reports of contact by patrols. This force would be inserted by helicopter assault or parachute, in a manner similar to the fireforce tactics increasingly being used in New Valentina. Arguing that what was needed for such operations were fit, motivated, highly-discipline and aggressive troops, the Imperial Guard managed to secure this role for themselves. In 1958, they were established officially as a separate branch of service.
Due to this focus on aggressive counter-insurgency, throughout much of the 50s and 60s, the Imperial Guard maintained closer ties with the Valentinsk military than other branches of the Imperial Armed Forces, even going so far as to supply interpreters for some Valentinsk units.
Organisation
Today, the Imperial Guard are structured principally to force generate company size airborne or marine formations. Consequently, it has 15 regiments of five companies each split across five operational groups.
Imperial Navy | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Te Enepē Taua Noene | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The Imperial Navy (Keumoine: Te Enepē Taua Noene, "the Imperial Sea Warriors") is the naval warfare branch of the Imperial Armed Forces. Whilst the navy officially traces its lineage to 1813 and the first unification of Shenewa, in reality the navy in its modern form was created in the years after 1951, with the Imperial victory in the War of Imperial Restoration. During the warlord period (1908-1943), the navy had all but disappeared as an independent service and so needed building up again. To do so, the Shenewans hired many former officers of the Chezzetcook Marine Nationale to train its officers and men. Because of this, the traditions and organisation of the Imperial Navy and Marine Nationale have many similarities, although some traditions from before 1951 are retained.
The Shenewan Navy operates 8 submarines, 15 frigates, 36 corvettes, 10 minesweepers, 76 amphibious landing craft, 6 auxiliary ships and 1 signals intelligence ship. It also has a Fleet Air Arm that operates 100 aircraft and 60 helicopters.
History
Mission
Organisation
Air Force
Imperial Air Force | |||||||||||||||||||
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Te Enepē Teuērenga | |||||||||||||||||||
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The Imperial Air Force (Keumoine: Te Enepē Teuērenga, "the Imperial Sky Warriors") is the aerial service branch of the Imperial Armed Forces. Whilst aircraft had been used by warlord armies, it was on a small scale and rarely more than a dozen. Consequently, when Shenewa was reunified in 1951, it had little in the way of an air force and less in terms of pilots used to flying as part of larger units. So, as it sought to build up its air force (initially the Army Air Corps), it hired former officers of the Imperial Zahavan Air Corps to help train its personnel and advise on doctrine. Because of this, the traditions and organisation of the Imperial Air Force and Imperial Zahavan Air Corps have many similarities.
History
Mission
Organisation
Like the Imperial Zahavan Air Corps, the Imperial Air Force identifies the branch personnel serve in with the colour of their collar tabs. In the field, the Imperial Air Force is divided into Air Corps, Groups, Wings and Squadrons. There are only two Air Corps in the Imperial Air Force, the Eastern and Western Air Corps. These Air Corps mirror the Imperial Army's Theatre Armies, with each being responsible for strategy, doctrine and planning, as well as administration and training, in a given theatre.
Special Missions Command
Special Missions Command | |||||||||||||||||
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Shekeheu Nāhene Notuheke | |||||||||||||||||
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The Special Missions Command (Keumoine: Shekeheu Nāhene Notuheke) is the joint headquarters for all Shenewan special forces across all three services. It was created in 2015. Among its subordinate units is the First Special Missions Unit (Keumoine: Wēnge Nāhene Notuheke Tueteha), often simply being called "the Tueteha" or Ta Tueteha in Keumoine (translating to the "the First"). The Tueteha are Shenewa's premier special forces unit, selected from among personnel who have served a minimum of 3 years within another Special Missions Command unit.
Units of the Special Missions Command
- First Special Missions Unit
- Special Patrols Regiment
- 1st Raider Brigade (2nd & 3rd Special Missions Units)
- 2nd Raider Brigade (4th & 5th Special Missions Units)
- 3rd Raider Brigade (6th & 7th Special Missions Units)
- 4th Raider Brigade (8th & 9th Special Missions Units)
The First Special Missions Unit
The First Special Missions Unit is structured much like a raider brigade, with the addition of a training and selection unit. However, their missions is very different, primarily requiring them to carry out direct action within the enemy's own borders from the first days of any conflict, often in conjunction with the foreign intelligence service of Shenewa. These missions include the destruction of key enemy equipment and long range strike capabilities, assassination of key political or military figures and ununiformed operations.
Special Patrols Regiment
The Special Patrols Regiment consists of five companies and a training and selection unit. Four of these companies are to operate as corps level deep reconnaissance, reconnoitring up to 200km in the enemy's rear area. The fifth company provides "strategic reconnaissance", reconnoitring up to 800km in the enemy's rear area.
Raiders
The bulk of Special Missions Command personnel are found in the raider brigades. Each of these brigades comprises an HQ and Intelligence cell, signals platoon, medical platoon, logistics company and two raider battalions. The raiders' primary wartime role is to perform deep raids beyond enemy lines in order to disrupt their logistics, strike at their long range fires and headquarters. A related role which they can be assigned is that of stay-behind troops, liaising with local resistance (if there is any) in-order to sow maximal destruction in the enemy rear area. During peacetime, each brigade's two raider battalions rotate between the direct action and foreign internal defence roles.
Equipment
Budget
Whilst the Shenewan procurement budget is substantial, at 40% of the total budget, it has been estimated that between 10% and 15% of this amount (between $880m and $1.32bn each year) is lost through corruption. In addition, procurement is (with a few exceptions) decided individually by the services, leading to a number of examples of inefficiencies. A prominent example of this is the variety of aircraft flown by the Navy and Air Force and the total lack of commonality in spare parts.
In order to afford spending so much of its budget on procurement, the Imperial Armed Forces are forced to find savings in other areas of the defence budget. One notable area of saving is in operations and maintenance. Whilst the budget is still sufficient to keep the majority of their equipment basically serviceable, nowhere all of it is in what has been dubbed "fight tonight" condition. This is deemed an acceptable situation, as persistent overseas deployments will be foreseen well in advance and smaller, immediate deployments overseas can be equipped by pooling the ready equipment from several units if necessary. Meanwhile, a major regional conflict that would require the deployment of most of the Imperial Armed Forces would be telegraphed by rising regional tensions, giving time for more equipment to be brought up to readiness.
An additional area of savings is in personnel. Whilst the salaries made possible by the relatively small amount spent on them have been sufficient to recruit and retain a large and relatively technologically backward Army, it has been noted that they make recruitment and retention of educated personnel for the Navy and Air Force more difficult. Consequently, it is foreseen that by 2030 the proportion spent on personnel will need to have increased substantially.
As with the other "Imperial" branches of the Shenewan government, the defence budget is decided on a 5 year basis, although this can be revised in exceptional circumstances. Despite having grown enormously, increasing from the $5bn each year budgeted in 1985 to almost $22bn in 2022, the defence budget has also consistently fallen as a percentage of GDP, the overall increase in spending being accounted for mostly by economic growth.