Itayana Navy

Itayana Navy
Active	1988-present
Country	Itayana
Allegiance	Itayana Armies and Fleets
Branch	Navy
Size	50,400 active

The Itayana Navy is the maritime service branch of the Itayana Armies and Fleets, responsible for all coastal and oceanic activities undertaken by the Itayana military.

History

Solar Autocracy

The necessity of the Navy for the future Temple State was a hot topic during the Unifying Revival debates between the Temple missions in Elatia and Oxidentali states. By the time of the March on Yanbango in 1979, it was a consensus that.the Temple State would require a naval force at least to ensure protection of the trade lanes within the Oorupaqi, but the doctrinal debates continued after the March as well. At the same time, Elatian economy virtually collapsed during the Great Freeze of 1984-1987. The Temple State seized the opportunity to attract Elatian naval specialists, which, along with the personnel trained within the Missions, formed the Captains Council of the Itayana Navy, its first official command structure. The Council authorized procurement of the first 30 ocean-going ships of the Navy from the Elatian Navy, including five Arakiel-class destroyers. At the same time, the first doctrinal document was published, named Considerations Regarding the Blue Water Operations of the Unifying Navy of the Temple State, which formed the basis for the first domestic naval research and development. 1995 was marked by the agreement between the Orun-Redisan Mission of the Solar Temple and the government of Orun Redisus to procure nine ships of the Amayana priesthood design: eight frigates and the guided-missile destroyer, named Aribango. All ships were built by the Gallentica Naval Works, and were delivered by 2004.

At the same time, the Captains Council was transformed into the Itayana Admiralty Staff in 1996, and was entasked with overseeing expansion of the shipyards in the Two Basins, dubbed Star-1 Naval Development Program. Due to the support from the topmost members of the Solar Temple, the Admiralty received ample funding on that purpose. The key bottleneck was the procurement of heavy machinery needed for shipbuilding. The fledging machine building industry of the Solar Autocracy was yet unable to provide the required machinery, while procurement from Oxidentali nations met with the deficit of foreign currency, urgently needed for other areas in general industrial development of the era. Nevertheless, by 2004 three shipbuilding plants were equipped: No.75 and No.87 were outfitted to build smaller ships, while the No.113 was equipped to build further destroyers. This gave start to the Star-2 Naval Development Program, that was to last until 2016. Details are unknown, but reports indicate that at least 60 frigates and 12 destroyers were to be built in twelve years, while 5 destroyers and 12 frigates purchased from Elatia were to be upgraded, and the aircraft carrier conversion was to be completed.

The Star-2 Program met with considerable delays due to the lack of materiel and strained industrial base. The refit part was completed by 2007, but the new construction fell far behind the plan. 16 frigates were completed by 2010, while the first three destroyers were fitting out. The strain from this ambitious program was one of the contributing factors to the 2009 Autocracy Financial Crisis, culminating in the Central Karana War of 2010. The Navy was deployed shortly before the war on defensive positions slightly outside of the Autocracy territorial waters, but no naval action followed. Several years later it was revealed that the Admiralty Staff believed that the naval attack from an undefined third party was to come alongside with the Makgato invasion, a belief that never materialized.

After the war, the Admiralty Staff had to face stronger resistance with the Templehold Conclave of the Solar Temple. The Star-2 Program was cancelled outright, the funding for the second batch of destroyers was cut, and a four-year moratorium on further laying down of surface ships was instated. It is known that in 2014 a new program was started, dubbed Star-3. As of 2024, there is no information on the extent of the program. However, the new type of frigate was observed in 2018, ocean-going submarine construction was intensified in mid-2010s, and several new types of auxiliary vessels were observed in late 2010s. The destroyer construction was halted after the second batch was launched in 2017.

Organization

The top level of organization of the Navy is the Itayana Admiralty Staff, headed by the Grand Admiral of the Autocracy, and it is assumed that the holder of office reports to the Sun Manifested of Itayana directly. The Admiralty is divided on sub-sections and departments. Directly subordinated to the Grand Admiral are Naval Warfare Command, the Naval Operations Command and the Naval Inspection Command. The functions of the first office are uncertain, but reports indicate that it serves as an operational and strategic planning office; at the same time, it is believed that the second command oversees actual operational deployments of naval squadrons. The Naval Inspection Command is further subdivided into Type Inspections, corresponding to major vessel categories in the Itayana Navy; its role is uncertain but assumed to be administrative for each vessel category.

Several additional departments have been identified, including General Affairs Command, assumed to constitute the administrative section, in addition to the Naval Inspection Command; the Conclave for Naval Technology Development, determined to be responsible for cooperation with the Templar design bureaus; and the Quartermaster Command, determined to be responsible for general economic cooperation in the interests of the Navy.

Design designation system

All ship designs in service of the Itayana Navy are assigned a unique index of several digits. The first digit denotes the broad classification of the design, as explained in the table below. The second three digits form a random project code, usually employed in the internal design work, while the final digit stands for the "major design revision". The latter is officially stated to denote a running line of identical vessels, making it equivalent of a "flight" in various navies, and it does not appear to include mid-life upgrades.

Type code	Meaning	Includes
0	Submarines	Reportedly including special-purpose submarines
1-3	Oceangoing combat ships	Aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers, frigates and ocean-going corvettes
4	Littoral combat ships	Littoral corvettes (under 2000 tons) and large missile boats
5-6	Auxiliary combat ships	Minesweepers, training ships, landing ships and coast guard ships
7-8	Auxiliary non-combat ships	Fleet oilers, replenishment and repair ships
9	Special-purpose vessels	Intelligence ships, oceanographic vessels, unique experimental ships et al.

It appears to be a common practice within the Navy to drop the type and revision designators and use the project number as an ordinal; for example, Project 04261 SSK would be referred to as "426th". Itayana Navy vessels are also assigned Common Reporting Names by foreign observers, a long-standing practice done with regards to Elatian Navy ships. With a few exceptions, those follow the standard Common Reporting Names conventions.

Aircraft designs in service of the Itayana Navy follow the standardized designation system of the Itayana Solar Air Fleet.

Shipyards of the Navy

The following facilities have been identified to be responsible for supplying Itayana Navy with naval ships and additional equipment. Note that the list does not include contractors involved in the production chains of said facilities. The list is not extensive.

Facility	Location	Notes
Aircraft Plant No.71	Asima	Supplies navalized fighters
Aircraft Plant No.98	Burukhana	Supplies large aircraft, including K6M naval bombers
Shipbuilding Plant No.87	XXX	Primary small ships construction plant
Shipbuilding Plant No.75	XXX	Secondary small ships and flying boats construction plant
Shipbuilding Plant No.113	XXX	Includes two 80-thousand ton drydocks and 3500-ton crane
Shipbuilding Plant No.143	XXX	Dedicated submarine construction plant

Doctrine

The modern Unifying Navy was conceived in 1970s and 1980s as a deterrent force against overseas foreign aggression, a leitmotif driving all naval development programs. On its re-establishment, the economy could not yet sustain any capacity for an ocean-going fleet, or even construction of any kind. Its primary ships in the 1990s were acquired from Elatia and Sante Reze, and were of older designs, dating back to 1970s. Its engineering school had to acquire practical expertise through ships built on foreign shipyards, most notably in Orun Redisus. In the 2000s, the fleet began a process of rapid expansion, following and correlating with the development of domestic shipbuilding industry. Its blue-water capability has since been demonstrated by its squadrons participating in manoeuvres with navies of the Oorupaqi ocean and conducting independent operations in Salacian, Vespanian and Makrian oceans.

All ships of the navy currently in service are of modern designs, dating no earlier than 1990s. Designs favour heavy armament-to-weight ratio, which is commonly attributed to Elatian influence; at the same time, attempts to achieve high maximal and sustained speed are evident in hull designs and power plant choices. The navy appears to utilize the most out of the Temple's accumulated technological experience, making heavy use of ship-borne automation, modern naval system architectures and deep combat systems integration and sensor fusion. Its ships also employ several types of equipment not commonly seen in other navies, like 660mm submarine torpedoes and, according to several reports, active anti-torpedo countermeasures employed by large ocean-going diesel submarines.

Key deficiencies of the Itayana Navy were evaluated and established by a team of naval analysts from Arthurista and Lion's Rock in their 2021 report, leaked to the general public in 2023. They include the lack of strong naval air arm, represented by a single carrier, a few flying boats of Zacapine origin, and converted first-generation K6M strategic bombers; deficient land projection capabilities; anaemic littoral force, lacking hunter-killer submarines and support from the land-based systems; and high demand for fuel, restricting naval operations in several years. The number and quality of repair and maintenance facilities have also been put into question.

Service Vessels

Surface combatants (2024)

Class	Origin	Type	Displacement	Number in service	Note
Project 11431	Elatia / Itayana	Fleet Carrier (CVF)	52,000 tonnes	1
Project 14460	Elatia	Guided-missile destroyer (DDG)	7,500 tonnes	5 (in reserve)	Modernized Arakiel-class destroyer. All deactivated in 2014.
Project 17100	Itayana	Guided-missile destroyer (DDG)	16,800 tonnes	7	Primary capital ship of the Navy
Project 10705	Elatia	Frigate (FFG)	3,600 tonnes	12 (in reserve)	Modernized Haniel-class frigate. Deactivated in 2008-2012.
Project 15470	Itayana	Frigate (FFG)	4,900 tonnes	32	Primary surface combatant of the Navy
Project 15490	Itayana	Frigate (FFG)	5,200 tonnes	8	Advanced derivative of the Project 15470
Project 16580	Itayana	Frigate (FFG)	8,400 tonnes	4	Expeditionary frigate / command ship design
Project 51290	Itayana / Orun Redisus	Ocean-going Minesweeper	6,850 tonnes	6
Project 92475	Itayana	Torpedo boat / Destroyer (DD)	12,300 tonnes	1	"Torpedo testing vessel"

Auxiliary ships (2024)

Class	Origin	Type	Displacement	Number in service	Note
Project 57750	Elatia	Landing ship	4,080 tonnes	16
Project 78870	Elatia	Training Ship	7,270 tonnes	3
Project 75700	Itayana / Sante Reze	Submarine Tender	22,260 tonnes	4
Project 74630	Itayana / Sante Reze	Fleet oiler	33,900 tonnes (full)	5
Project 88330	Itayana / Sante Reze	Replenishment ship	48,400 tonnes (full)	4
Project 87170	Itayana / Zacapican	Repair ship	24,600 tonnes (full)	1
Project 98640	Itayana	Intelligence ship	12,340 tonnes	2

Submarines (2024)

Class	Origin	Type	Displacement	Number in service	Note
Project 04261 (Claire-I)	Itayana / Zacapican	Diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK)	7,900 tonnes	8	Oceanic attack submarine
Project 04262 (Claire-II)	Itayana / Zacapican	Diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK)	7,900 tonnes	8	Improved oceanic attack submarine

Naval aviation (2024)

Name	Origin	Type	Number in service	Description
A16S	Elatia / Itayana	Navalized fighter-bomber	60	Heavy ship-borne fighter
K6M	Velikoslavia / Itayana	Maritime strike craft	18	Land-based anti-ship bomber
H4T	Zacapican / Itayana	Maritime patrol/strike craft	26	Primary maritime patrol craft, derived from the licensed Zacapine design