Federal Navy

The Terran **Federal Navy**, officially **Federal Naval Command**, is the one of the three main commands of the Terran Armed Forces. The Ultramarines are an independent branch of the navy. The headquarters of the Navy are located in Rio, on Earth.

The Federal Navy operates approximately 10 000 capital ships as of 2723, with an additional 15 000 corvettes. Since the end of the Great Galactic war, the navy has tripled the number of ships it operates. For comparison, the Surben Defence Force, the second largest fleet in the galaxy, operates 3 000 capital ships and 8 000 corvettes.

The Navy is led by FLEETCOM, the gathering of all admirals (rear admirals excluded). The Ultramarines function independently, the entire Corps being led by a single admiral, often referred to as High Admiral.

## Doctrine

The Navy concentrates itself on an rapid deployment doctrine. The Navy is much better equipped and more numerous than any potential opponent, but would also struggle against hit and run tactics. However, thanks to the Navy's strategic positioning throughout the Federation, it is capable of dispatching a fleet at any point in the Federation in less than five days. Whilst this may seem like a long period, it is actually a relatively short amount of time considering the size of the Federation and the speed of FTL engines. During war time, the Navy reorganizes for an overwhelming firepower doctrine.

The Navy is in line with the Terran emphasis on discipline and obedience. Central control is a core part of Terran military doctrine, and is more present in the Navy than in the Army which gives wider autonomy to individual commanders.

## Organization

The Terran Navy operates in space, but also serves as a sort of air force, often assisting in ground operations of the Army or the Ultramarines. It is also the main anti-piracy organization of the Terran Armed Forces.

### Terran Navy

The Terran Navy is the largest naval branch of Terran armed forces. It only has around a tenth of the personnel fielded by the Army. Its standard divisions are armadas, fleets and system defence forces. During war time, these can be reorganised merged into battlegroups and expeditionary corps.

Armadas are the largest military formations within the Navy. They are usually made up of over two hundred ships. This is only twice as many as a fleet, but armadas have a much wider array of larger and more powerful ships such as cruisers. Armadas are led by grand admirals and are made up of up to eight task forces. These are commanded by rear admirals. The flagship of an armada is either a *Saturn*-class or a *Jupiter*-class. Armadas are designed to be used for prolonged missions away from Terran territory, in offensive wars. There are 13 armadas.

Fleets constitute the bulk of the Terran fleet. They are made up of a hundred vessels. The overall composition of the Terran fleets is two thirds corvettes, a quarter of frigates and the rest being large ships. Fleets are led by admirals, and their flagships are *Neptune*-class. Fleets are divided into up to eight task forces. These count only about a dozen vessels, half of armada task forces. These are commanded by rear admirals. Fleets are mostly used alongside armadas during wars, and serve as a smaller more mobile unit, which can be deployed where having the whole Armada would be overkill. There are 122 fleets.

System Defense Forces (SDF) are formations of the Terran Navy which serve primarily as defensive units. Each SDF is assigned to one system, most of the time inhabited. SDFs have a wide array of missions: search and rescue, anti-piracy, propaganda and surveillance among others. Their numbers vary widely. For example, the Solar SDF is comparable to three armadas combined, whilst the Neiwei SDF (Neiwei is the third newest Commonwealth) only has two dozen vessels at its disposal. The majority of SDFs have around two to three dozen ships. They also concentrate the majority of the Navy's corvettes. Just as with their size, their leading officers and flagships vary. The lowest rank to be able to lead an SDF is commodore, but most SDFs are led by a rear admiral. There are 136 SDFs, those which are not assigned to Commonwealth-systems are assigned to pre-Commonwealth status worlds or military installations.

An expeditionary corps is the name given to all Terran military formations which play an offensive role in a conflict. This includes Army and Navy groups.

Battlegroups are groupings larger than armadas. Traditionally they are made up of several armadas and fleets during wartime. During the Great Galactic war, battlegroups were the principal organisational unirs of the navy. Battlegroups CHIMAERA, SAURON and BELLICOSE were formed on the Tesrat, Dermkha and Ur-Han fronts respectively. Battlegroups are not considered regular military formations.

## Notes

1. ↑ Note that the Mirdesh Confederacy's combined naval forces are larger (around 8 000 capital ships with 26 000 corvettes), but Mirdesh constituencies legally have independent navies