by Max Barry

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Spotlight on:

National Flag

The Free Republic of Knootoss

Knootoss was Commended by Security Council Resolution # 255

“Libertate Unanimus”

Category: Left-Leaning College State
Civil Rights:
World Benchmark
Economy:
Frightening
Political Freedoms:
Very Good

Regional Influence: Superpower

Location: Western Atlantic

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6

KLUMA - Knootian Air Force (WIP)

Knootiaanse Luchtmacht
Knootian Air Force



Air Force Roundel



Motto: Hoog in de Hemelen
(English: High in the Heavens)



Founded

1936



Leadership

Prime Minister

Charlotte van Jonkervelde

Deputy Minister for Defence & Defence Innovation

Pieter van Leemtrecht, bc.

Chief of the Air Force

General Claire Delacroix



Personnel

Active Duty

404.000

Reservists

303.000



B75 Feniks flying over Chamaven province



JB97 Dondervogel on exercise



Aircraft flown

Aircraft

Role

#

J215 Stormjager

Air Superiority
UAV Control Platform

???

J212 Occident

Multirole
Strike Fighter

???

JB97 Dondervogel

Strike Fighter

???

EOJ212 Pulsar

Electronic Warfare

???

LinkJ94 Tyfoon

Multirole

???

JO80 Vuurhaag

Interceptor

???

B75 Feniks

Strategic Bomber

???

???

Reconnaissance

???

???

Early Warning & Control

???

LA420 MRRT

Aerial Refuelling

???

LT97-MT Tanker

Aerial Refuelling

???

LT97-MV Vracht

Transport

???

APS-70 Romper

Transport

???

The Knootiaanse Luchtmacht (KLUMA) is a branch of the Knootian Defence Force. It is responsible for those aspects of aerial warfare not embedded in the other branches, including air superiority, strategic transportation and reconnaissance, long-range power projection, space warfare, nuclear deterrence and missile defence.

In addition to its role in aerial warfare, the KLUMA plays the leading role in managing the Strategic Information Space (Dutch: SIR). It maintains its own global navigation satellite system (GNSS), called BONS, which is accessible to both military and civilian users, as well as a network of military communications satellites (VOTS) and a system for launching microsatelites.

Knootoss maintains a LinkCountervalue-based nuclear deterrence doctrine based around the idea of a proportional response, attempting to avoid escalation whilst maintaining credible deterrence. It has land, sea- air and space-based systems that may assist in missile defence.


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Missions


Air Power in other Branches

Air Power plays a critical role in each of the combat branches: the KLAMA, the Knootian Army, relies extensively on rotary aviation - helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - for reconnaissance. Most tactical and operational LinkClose Air Support (CAS), as well as most tactical and some operational reconnaissance are carried out by army aviation that on the Brigade- and Divisional level. Manned elements such as the ZP5-VA 'Pete' Attack Helicopter are complemented by an ever-growing variety of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Army aviation in the CAS role operates at or near the front lines. Ground strikes beyond enemy lines are the preserve of the air force.

Army Aviation also specialises in rotary aviation to provide tactical and operational transportation capability to the army. Machines such as the Zwaluw Heavy Transport Helicopter are organic to KLAMA units at the brigade level to provide tactical and operational capabilities in the combat zone. Strategic transportation of people and materiel over long distances and the use of air transport to support the logistics of the war effort are the domain of the air force.

The KNOMA - Knootian Navy also relies heavily on air power, with carrier-based aviation including a great number of multirole fighters and various reconnaissance, transport and refuelling aircraft, as well as helicopters, which are usually attached to its corvette, frigate and cruises ship classes. These aviation assets make it possible for the navy to carry out its own missions, including naval reconnaissance, Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW), transport and supply to- and from naval vessels, and support of naval landings. The air force does have a role in carrying out its mission of providing air superiority and strike power in and around the Noordbaai and the Sea of Insolence, insofar as these sea zones fall within the combat range of KLUMA aircraft.

The air force also maintains logistical land-based support for naval- and army aviation. Ever since the implementation of austerity in the 1980s and early 1990s, major repair and upgrade of all military aviation has been concentrated on KLUMA facilities. When not stationed at sea, navy helicopters will usually be parked and maintained in air force facilities on land. The long term result has been a simplification of logistics chains, and a long-running cross-branch disagreement over 'parking and maintenance fees' between the different branches of the Knootian Defence Force.

Much of the administrative, legal and financial work such as Human Resources and appropriations have, on the other hand, been outsourced to KADO or the General Knootian Military Support Organisation (Dutch: Knootiaanse Algemene Defensie Ondersteuningsorganisaties). KADO counts as its own branch of the Knootian Defence Forces and employs a mix of military and civilian employees, supporting all other branches in such tasks.

Aerial Warfare

The KLUMA has a narrow responsibility for those aspects of aerial warfare not embedded in the other branches, including air superiority, strategic transportation and reconnaissance, extremely long-range power projection, space warfare, missile defence, and their arm of the nuclear deterrence triad. With nearly a quarter of Knootian Defence Force active duty personnel employed in the air force, and an even larger percentage of the defence budget reserved for its operations.

The Air Superiority mission of the KLUMA has a defensive focus, though it is equally important on foreign battlefields as it is at home. The failed intervention in the Iesus christi Civil War (2010-2011) taught Knootian military planners that victory cannot be guaranteed absent air superiority. It also showed that air superiority could not yet be guaranteed when fighting against a peer-level opponent. The state of the Knootian air force was reviewed, and new aircraft were developed to meet the challenge. On-and-off cooperation with Excalbia has seen an exchange of technologies that have further strengthened the countries' technological edge, even if it can still not compete against the raw size of some more militaristic peer competitors’ air forces.

The Knootian air force seeks to maintain a multirole or dedicated aircraft that can run missions such as DCA (Defensive Counter Air), CAP (Combat Air Patrol), sweeps, and intercepts. This mission is to be carried out primarily by the J215 Stormjager and its UAV companions. The JO80 Vuurhaag remains specialised in an intercept role, particularly against bombers over the Noordbaai and the Sea of Insolence. Older multirole aircraft, such as the more conventional LinkJ94 Tyfoon are gradually being replaced. The J94 Tyfoon still serves in air superiority, support and training roles, as well as in airspace where its shorter range and lack of stealth capabilities are less of an issue.

Operational and strategic ground strikes on behalf of ground and naval forces beyond the immediate lines of combat play an important secondary role. Aircraft such as the versatile JB97 Dondervogel and the multirole machines mentioned above are complemented by the B75 Feniks long range strategic bomber.

Strategic transportation provides additional air transportation to the Knootian Defence Force, beyond the helicopters assigned to army units at the brigade level, and naval helicopters. The strategic transportation and logistical support missions are managed by a number of different aircraft types, including variants of the LT97 transport aircraft and the APS-70 Romper, a converted civilian cargo plane. The LA420 MRRT is another civilian conversion, which serves in the aerial refuelling, cargo and troops transportation roles.

A smaller number of specialised aircraft complement the KLUMA’s main mission, including Early Warning & Control, and electronic warfare, such as the EOJ212 Pulsar, an Electronic Warfare variant of the X-12 project.

Strategic Information Space Awareness

In addition to its role in aerial warfare, the KLUMA plays the leading role in managing the Strategic Information Space (SIR, Dutch: Strategische Informatieruimte). The KLUMA collects and analyses intelligence about the enemy, the battlefield, and the environment. This information is used to provide command and control of military forces in the air, space, and cyber domains and to support battle management. This includes knowing the location of friendly and enemy forces, the capabilities of those forces, as well as the weather conditions and other factors that could affect the outcome of the battle. This role includes coordinating the efforts of different assets, as well as making decisions about how to use this information to support combined arms operations, as well as non-combat functions such as monitoring the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

For this purpose the KLUMA uses various airborne platforms, such as aircraft, helicopters, and UAVs. While some of these are dedicated Itelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, all machines are geared towards networked information sharing, data fusion, battlespace management and decision support systems through the CAESAR system as well as a variety of sensors, including radar, electro-optical sensors, and infrared sensors. These are complemented by ground-based stations in friendly territory that collect their own data and help facilitate networked communications.

Knootoss maintains its own global navigation satellite system (GNSS), called BONS (Dutch: Betrouwbaar Orbitaal Navigatie Systeem. English: Reliable Orbital Navigation System), which orbits at around 20.000 km and is accessible to both military and civilian users. It first became operational in 1997.

Military satellites are used to communicate between different military units, as well as between military units and command centres. This allows for real-time communication and coordination. The proprietary network of the Knootian Defence Force is VOTS (Dutch: Versleuteld Orbitaal Transmissie Satellietnetwerk (VOTS). English: Encrypted Orbital Transmission Satellite Network) which operates in geosynchronous orbit and is complemented and made redundant by ground stations and a network of cables, including undersea cables.

Further redundancy has been provided since the mid 2010s by a 'system of systems' for rapid-launching low-orbiting operational microsatellites that can be used for communication, reconnaissance and targeting. Launched as-needed and expected to serve only for a limited time, these typically weigh less than 100 kilograms and orbit at 200 to 2,000 kilometres. They are expected to complement existing systems and replace them in the event that space warfare leads to the destruction of BONS or VOTS assets in higher orbits.

Nuclear Defence and Deterrence

Nuclear Deterrence

Knootoss maintains a nuclear deterrence doctrine based around the idea of a proportional response, attempting to avoid escalation whilst maintaining credible deterrence. A nuclear first strike is permissible in response to an existential threat to the territorial integrity of the Knootian Federation, or as a proportional response to a (conventional, biological or chemical) mass-casualty event with mortality rates approaching those of a nuclear strike.

The total destructive power of the nuclear weapons arsenal must be sufficient to deter a much stronger opponent or group of opponents. (LinkCountervalue.) The maximum expected size of such an opponent would span multiple continents, accounting for an expected percentage of launched ordnance that might be intercepted by defensive systems. The perceived necessity of maintaining a large countervalue arsenal has decreased over the years, as the conventional strength of the Knootian Defence Force has grown, prompting a reduction in the size of the total arsenal from 2016 onwards, as older weapons are taken out of service.

The air force plays a major role in nuclear deterrence, managing two arms of the nuclear deterrence triad: land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear weapons that may be delivered by strategic bombers. The KNOMA (navy) programme, based on 'Five for Freedom', calls for five Germanium-class submarines to be at sea on a deterrence patrol at all times. This guarantees second strike capability in the event of a successful decapitation strike against KLUMA assets.

Missile Defence

The KLUMA plays the lead role in missile defence. It is responsible for detecting and tracking missiles with radar, satellites, and ground-based systems, as well as Command and Control and communications, coordinating the efforts of different sensors and weapons systems, as well as making decisions about when and how to engage missiles. This system is in constant communication with the missile defence network of The Resurgent Dream, and is capable of exchanging threat data promtly in the event of a nuclear threat against either country.

The KLUMA has a variety of ground, air- and space-based systems that can be used to detect, target, engage and destroy incoming missiles directly. The other branches of the Knootian Defence Force complement this role of the KLUMA with significant defensive systems. Each KNOMA home fleet has an Air Defence Task Group assigned to it, with anti-ballistic armaments intended to provide a hardened guard against Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).

The KLAMA (army) has the 111th Air Defense Brigade. Raised after the GDODAD invasion of Knootoss, the unit is composed of 6 Air Defense Artillery Regiments that ring the capital city and critical areas to defend against a decapitation strike. Other army units' air defence missiles might play a last-ditch role in attempting to intercept incoming missiles.

Ranks


Officer Ranks

Class

English

Dutch

Command / Notes

OF-9

General

Generaal

Four Star General. The Chief of the Air Force holds this rank.

OF-8

Lieutenant-General

Luitenant-Generaal

Three Star General.

OF-7

Major-General

Generaal-majoor

Two Star General. Highest permanent rank.

OF-6

Brigadier-General

Brigadegeneraal

One Star General.

OF-5

Colonel

Kolonel

OF-4

Lieutenant-Colonel

Luitenant-Colonel

Wing Commander

OF-3

Major

Majoor

Squadron commander

OF-2

Captain

Kapitein

OF-1

Lieutenant 1st class
Lieutenant

Luitenant 1e klasse
Luitenant

Student Officer

Cornet

Vaandrig

An officer in training.

Enlisted Ranks
The rank structure for the Air Force follows that of the army (KLAMA) in all respects.

Class

English

Dutch

Command / Notes

OR-9

Adjutant

Adjudant

The most senior of the non-commissioned officers

OR-8

Overseer

Opzichter

OR-7

Senior Watch Master

Opperwachtmeester

A non-commissioned officer

OR-6

Watch Master 1st class

Wachtmeester der 1e klasse

OR-5

Watch Master

Wachtmeester

OR-4

Corporal 1st class

Korporaal der 1e klasse

OR-3

Corporal

Korporaal

OR-2

Private

Soldaat

The most junior trained enlisted rank. First and second class variants exist for each, with slightly different pay grades.

OR-1

Soldier

Soldaat der 3e klasse / Rekruut

A recruit, an air force soldier in training.

Uniform



KLUMA Service Uniform.
Baseline courtesy of tsd715.

The KLUMA service uniform has the purple-greyish Jumbo as its primary colour, trending more towards blue than green. While the cap, pants and markings of rank are similar or identical to those on the KLAMA uniform, the air force has a different jacket. A single-breasted, open collar tunic is worn instead of a double-breasted pea coat.

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