Ministry of Defense announces new force expansion plan
October 11, 2023
Yuri Shaposhnikov, senior military analyst
The Pelinese State Parliament passed a military spending additions bill authorizing roughly ◎58.1 billion in additional military expenditures on Wednesday, providing funding for expansions to both the Royal Pelinese Navy and the Royal Pelinese Air Force. The decision comes at a critical moment in the security situation of the Mediterranean region as military tensions continue to rise, with the ongoing crisis between the Imperial Frost Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Rekhiva creeping further towards warfare and the recently announced expansion of the Stoinian Royal Navy threatening to see the Mediterranean Sea saturated with ever more Concordian warships. MPs from the ruling United Pelinai party celebrated the success of the bill shortly after its passing, with leading party member Chihiro Tsuguniko (UP-MD) calling it “a victory for Pelinai’s defense and a critical step in ensuring its continued ability to maintain the Pelinese nation’s right to self-determination,” while the opposition maintains that further Pelinese rearmament runs a high risk of provoking an arms race in the Mediterranean.
The Pelinese government’s latest allocation towards military spending occurs in midst of a fraught balance of power between the nations of the Mediterranean region. While the flashpoint between Frost and Rekhiva remains the most pressing matter at hand, other circumstances such as the newly announced Stoinian naval buildup and the Sallodesian military facilities in Varana are also believed to be primary reasons for the Pelinese Navy’s continued expansion; the Varana base in particular prompted a redeployment of air defense assets towards Pelinai’s Mediterranean coast with its first announcement, and remains a significant source of agitation for Pelinese leadership. The governing UP-CD-PN-RU coalition maintains that further increases to the Pelinese military’s capability are necessary to offset the risks that these developments pose, while the opposition claims that such actions will only cause further tensions in the region and increase the risk of catastrophic military conflict.
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The new spending bill authorizes approximately ◎58.1 billion Hana in new funding for the navy and air force, including roughly 400 new aircraft and 35 new ships as well as equipment for four new coastal defense battalions and additional sustainment funding for currently building ships. The RPAF is expected to add 300 airframes of the Ae-15 Ayame fighter aircraft, 40 Na-17 Marahu heavy bombers, and 30 dedicated trainer aircraft, as well as 6 new AEW&C platforms, while the navy will receive 45 maritime patrol aircraft, 2 AEW&C aircraft, 35 Tori-S class missile cutters to expand its missile boat fleet and replace aging Tori class boats, and four complete Caltrop missile systems. The purchased equipment will be used to form four new aircraft wings, 10 new aircraft squadrons, 4 coastal defense battalions, and two new missile cutter flotillas, most of which are expected ro be stationed along Pelinai’s western coast.
Forces procured under the additions bill will join an already immense and well-established Pelinese military presence in the Mediterranean, one which encompasses carrier battlegroups, flotillas of submarines and fast attack craft, and shore-based cover and support from fighters, bombers, airborne command aircraft, and maritime patrol aircraft, as well as anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile batteries, conventional and over-the-horizon radar arrays, and an extensive network of anti-submarine hydrophones. This vast array of naval warfare capability has formed the cornerstone of Pelinese long-term security strategy since the late 1990s, receiving continual upgrades and fleet additions as various wars, formations of foreign alliances, and other geopolitical events have arisen, and it remains likely that the Ministry of Defense will continue to add further hardware to the region as a wide selection of security concerns loom ever closer from Pelinai’s west.