Caldwell Orbital Defence Grid

The Caldwell Orbital Defence Grid is the largest military installation currently in operation in the Commonwealth of New South Wales. Jointly administered and operated by the Commonwealth's army and navy, the Caldwell ODG maintains control over several dozen separate military installations, both in space and on the surface of the planet. Named after Australian World War Two fighter ace , the CODG is one of the largest and most heavily-armed planetary defence systems outside of the UNSC.
The main systems are a series of interlinked implanted onto several large platforms situated on the surface of New South Wales, with several linked communications and observation satellites in orbit around the planet for ranging and target acquisition. The entire grid is made up of five surface-based MAC grids, over two dozen orbital weapons platforms, and four dozen communication, relay and targeting satellites linking the entire grid together. It is all commanded from the Commonwealth Defence Force's Woomera Complex, a large amount of inter-connected bunker complexes near the capital city of Monash. it has only ever been tested in combat once, however remains a lynchpin of the defence of New South Wales, and is widely regarded to be a formidable collection of weaponry.
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==History & Design==
===Scratching the Surface ===
Upon the formation of the Commonwealth in 2554, it was widely accepted that the home planet of New South Wales required orbital defences, to protect itself from rebel and splinter factions. As such, a design committee was formed to construct the most capable series of defensive platforms possible, to defend the world. Over the course of a month, several different proposals were put forward, but all were denied. The proposals that suggested replicating the were considered too expensive and too large in scale - as such, a small collection of ground-based MAC stations were considered a good start, due to the good reliability and ease of maintenance the concept provided. 
Much of where New South Wales got the influence of their design from is the Theban Commonwealth, which operated several surface-based MACs on several moons surrounding the planet of Thebes. However, the Theban's practice of encasing the MAC in the ground hindered its firing arc, and as such the committee believed that mounting the MACs on a flexible aiming chassis would give them a better firing arc, albeit with decreased protection against counter-strikes. With funding set side, and a large cadre of workers ready to accomplish the goal, ground was broken at the first MAC platform sight, approximately 75 kilometres away from the city of Banksia. 
This first platform, named after Australian naval captain , would begin construction in June 2554, and be declared fully operational in November 2558. The design was ingenious in its simplicity: Eight MAC guns mounted on swiveling turrets, arrayed in a circular ring around a central command facility. As time would go on, more amenities such as an airfield, better barracks and rec rooms would be refitted into the base, as well as facilitating other recreational activities - Dechaineux MAC Station currently holds the New South Wales sector record for largest indoor swimming pool. By the time of Dechaineux's completion, four more surface MAC platforms were under construction; named , , and , these sites would all be completed by 2560. With a combined total of 40 MAC guns, the major slip-lanes into the system and all commercial traffic routes were covered by these platforms. 
===Expanding to Space===
With the completion of the Dechaineux MAC Station came a new galactic situation. The had recently broken out, as Cortana utilised her Guardians and the Domain to subjugate the UNSC, and most of human-controlled space. Fortunately for New South Wales, they had forewarning of a potential attack, and as such recalled all available naval assets, whilst simultaneously placing the MAC platforms on high alert. As the jumped into the Antipodes System, the ships of the Commonwealth Naval Forces launched a large salvo of MAC guns and Archer missiles, before scattering, to find cover behind the planet. As the naval salvo was launched, it came time for the surface platforms to fire. However, of the five stations, only three had viable angles of attack, and as such only twenty-four of the system's MACs would open fire upon the Guardian.
The naval salvo would reach the Guardian and deal heavy damage to the Forerunner construct. With the Guardian's shields still powering up after they were disabled in the transition from slipspace, the CNF fleet's broadside would do immense damage to its reactor and weapons systems. The surface MACs caused yet more damage to the Guardian, forcing it to attempt to disengage from the battle and flee the system. Before entering slipspace it would deposit several lances of dropships containing Promethean soldiers, however these would be quickly taken care of by the CNF force in-system.
This engagement highlighted the usefulness of the MAC platforms, but also presented several issues. A commission created by Field Marshal Luke Kilgore would reveal two main faults with the defences. The first fault was that the time between a naval salvo and the planetary defences was deemed too long to be relied upon to decimate an enemy fleet, due to the larger distance to the target from the surface platforms. Secondly, of the 24 MAC rounds fired from the ground defences, only 11 hit the Guardian. In this case it was fortunate that it was enough to drive off a Guardian, but the accuracy of the stations was lackluster at best. The commission provided several potential solutions to the issue, that would be accepted by the CDF High Command and the NSW Ministry of Defence: to build several orbital defence platforms to act as a first response, whilst waiting for the surface defences to kick in, and the addition of several satellites to collect targeting and reconnaissance data for the surface and space defences, to improve general accuracy and the overall response time of the defences.
The construction of the Caldwell Orbital Defence Grid's space component began several months after the Naval Battle of Barton. The first space station to be created was the Anchor-Class battle station CNS Monash, in geosynchronous orbit over the capital city of Monash. With the standard weapons layout of Archer missile pods, naval coilguns and point defence guns, the Monash also had the addition of two MACs, stripped from two frigates due for scrapping. Completed in February 2560, it would soon be joined by six other Anchor-Class stations, three Moncton-Class ODPs, eleven Carrack-Class light defence platforms, and four Chauvel-Class fleet defence stations. Combined, the space component of the Caldwell ODG had seven MACs, over ninety Archer missile pods, two hundred point defence guns and naval coilguns, and several squadrons of Longsword and Broadsword single-ship bombers.
=== The Future for Caldwell===
As of 2562, the Caldwell ODG is entirely operational, and has provided the basis for other such orbital defence systems across New South Wales. The construction of the large array led to the much smaller yet still dangerous Gelderland Orbital Defence Grid around the planet of Darwin, and the still under-construction Palmerston Defence Array around the colony world of Terrigal. Plans to construct additional orbital platforms to the other planets of Nobetov, Grisham and New Corinth are in the works, however a lack of funds due to the CNF's recent fleet expansion program has stunted development on all of these barring Grisham. 
The Caldwell is a symbol of New South Wales' independence. With 78% of the components to all of the array's stations having been constructed or designed within New South Wales, it is well-known across the nation that is famous for its independent streak and nationalistic culture. it employs over 25,000 defence personnel and 100,000 civilian contractors in its upkeep and maintenance, and the surface MAC platforms have become an icon of many cities' skylines, always visible in the background as monoliths of power and steel.
==Order of Battle==
===Gallipoli Surface Grid=== 
*Dechaineux MAC Station
**Albury MAC
** Bathurst MAC
**Cooma MAC
**Devonport MAC
**Esperance MAC
** Fremantle MAC
*Cosgrove MAC Station
**Albany MAC
**Broken Hill MAC
**Cooper MAC
**Derby MAC
**Earlwood MAC
**Fairfield MAC
*Upham MAC Station
**Auckland MAC
**Balmain MAC
**Christchurch MAC
**Dunedin MAC
** Eastbourne MAC
**Fitzroy MAC
*Payne MAC Station
**Adelaide MAC
**Ballarat MAC
**Canberra MAC
**Dubbo MAC
**Eden MAC
**Falmouth MAC
*Savige MAC Station
**Auburn MAC
**Bendigo MAC
**Campbelltown MAC
**Daintree MAC
**Euston MAC
**Frankston MAC
===Matapan Space Grid===
*Anchor Class battle-station
**CNS Monash battle-station
**CNS Blamey battle-station
**CNS Morsehead battle-station
**CNS Cole battle-station
** CNS Farncomb battle-station
**CNS Collins battle-station
** CNS Birdwood battle-station
*Moncton Class ODP
**Banksia ODP
**Newcastle ODP
**Sutherland ODP
*Carrack Class LDP
**Freeman LDP
**Holt LDP
**Warnambool LDP
**Yarra LDP
**Barton LDP
**Marcus LDP
**Errol LDP
**Mabo LDP
**Garrett LDP
**Kelly LDP
**Reese LDP
*Chauvel Class FDS
**Crutchley FDS
**Cairns FDS
**Lyons FDS
**Fraser FDS
==Trivia== 
*The ground-based MAC stations are all named after famous Australian and New Zealander veterans from the 20th and 21st Century, as are the Anchor stations and several of the Carrack and Chauvel stations.
*The name of the grid, the Caldwell ODG, is taken from Australia's top-scoring ace of the Second World War, Clive 'Killer' Caldwell. Caldwell scored 27.5 victories flying in the North African and Pacific theatres, in P-40 Tomahawks & Kittyhawks, Supermarine Spitfires, and P-51 Mustangs.
Category:Location