Vetokite Armed Forces
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| His Majesty’s Dominion Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the Ministry of War | |
.svg) Flag of the Ministry of War | |
| Founded | Vetokite Army - 1421 Vetokite Dominion Navy - 1642 Vetokite Imperial Air Force - 1920 Vetokite Strategic Weapons Command - 1972 |
| Service branches | |
| Headquarters | Ministry of War, Carrishem |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Emperor Súrvan Jaansma |
| Secretary of War | Alice Greenwood, Baroness Mvellen |
| Chief of the War Staff | Air Marshal Anthony Rudakip VAF |
| Vice-Chief of the War Staff | Admiral Gawain Kipchak VDN |
| Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chiefs of Staff Committee | Senior Chief Warrant Officer Richard Learand VML |
| Lord Martial | Sir Henry Baxington |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 16–17 with parental consent, 18 without and to serve in combat |
| Conscription | No |
| Active personnel | 198,763 (ranked 25th) |
| Reserve personnel | 80,700 |
| Deployed personnel | 5,820 |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | £48.4 billion (2023) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.9% (2021/22) |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers |
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| Foreign suppliers |
|
| Annual imports | $6.20 billion (2010–2021) |
| Annual exports | $12.9 billion (2010–2021) |
The Vetokite Armed Forces, formally known as His Majesty's Dominion Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the territories of the United Dominion of Vetok. They also promote the UD's wider interests through both conventional military means as well as peaceful engagements, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid where required. The VAF is composed of four key war-fighting elements, with the Vetokite Army, the Vetokite Dominion Navy, and the Vetokite Imperial Air Force forming the bulk of the organisation throughout its listed history. The newest part of the service is the Strategic Global Deterrant Command, which bears responsibility for both the nuclear counter-force deterrent employed by the United Dominion, as well as all aspects of military-space activity ranging from surveillance to weather monitoring.
Emperor Súrvan, sovereign of the United Dominion, is the Head of the Armed Forces, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to him. Long-standing constitutional convention, however, has vested de facto executive authority in the person of the Lord Martial, appointed to represent the sovereign's command, as well as in the First Minister and the secretary of war. The First Minister (acting with the Cabinet) makes the key decisions on the use of the armed forces. The armed forces are managed by the War Advisory Board in matters where civil opinion is required and the Unified Forces Command (UNFORCOM) in purely military matters.
Throughout the last two-hundred years, Vetok has focused heavily on a sizeable standing army and navy, intended to serve as a deterrent against attack by outside forces. This resulted in a somewhat clumsy and hidebound concept of command, which came to a head following the 3rd Arakite War. In the current day, all operations are directed centrally through the Minister of War in coordination with the Vetokite Unified Forces Command, which consists of the three principal branches of Vetok's armed forces, namely the Vetokite Army, the Vetokite Dominion Navy, and the Vetokite Imperial Air Force. The head of SOPECC also has a seat in UNFORCOM, along with the heads of the Logistics Corp and the Strategic Global Deterrant Command
Branches
- Vetokite Army. At the moment, there are precisely 53,392 active personnel (October 2023) and 14,436 Territorial Reserve personnel (October 2023)
- Vetokite Navy. The Vetokite Navy currently has a designated list strength of 400,000 personnel.
- Vetokite Air Force. At the moment, there are 269,000 personnel listed as serving with the Vetokite Air Force. This number includes not just aircrew, but also ground crew/maintenance staff.
- Vetokite Special Forces. Considering their status as a relatively small and elite force, the special forces consist of what is estimated to be around 5000 personnel strong.
- Vetokite Strategic Weapons Command. The relatively small number of personnel in the SWC is believed to be around 4,000 personnel.
- Vetokite Logistics Corps. Although a military organisation by intention,
History
The first traces of the Vetokite military can be found in the history of the old feudal realms which arose following the disengagement of the ancient Aroman Empire from Burania. Each warring king, attempting to take the most plunder and captives for their respective deities, maintained levies from their subjects and the wealthiest of these lords could afford to maintain small standing retinues. Given the agricultural demands at the time, these retinues were few and far between however, and for the most part never really increased beyond perhaps as many as two-score in the case of Táin Gollivan, who was notable for being one of the first to make of himself a suzerain of many of these weaker realms. As the only truly dedicated full-time professional soldiery, access to such warriors, or 'thegns' as they were titled, provided an indisputable edge over any other warlord who was reliant on conscripted levies, especially during peak harvesting times. It is believed this pattern lasted for well over six hundred years, during which time little of note occurred with the exception of various small wars.
In the late 10th century CE, thanks to the various eccentricities and behaviours of Táin Gollivan, a rival military body was created by the rebellious thegn Asculf Vetok. Taking in survivors from his shattered fief, they instead acted as a guerilla force, harassing their former Táin's forces wherever they could be found. Subsisting on plundered supplies, they took up the arms of Vetok's subordinates and any slain foes. By the time that Asculf Vetok and his former liege had ended their conflict, over a decade had passed with Vetok's forces incorporating an estimated two-thousand souls over the entire conflict, with a peak of seven-hundred reached during the final months of the siege of Tannahiś. Following on from this, a protracted conflict began, with the former militia acting as a proto-standing army for Vetok, who began to unite various settlements under his banner. It was during this time that the warlord acquired the title of 'Déithe-bane', or Godsbane as commonly translated in modern Anglish for his trait of laying waste to the churches and fanes of Gollivan's realm.
It was not until the early 15th century CE that a standing army was formalised at the behest of King Vetok IV, the first to assume the throne by elective decision, and also the founder of the Congregation Of Broken Chains, founded with the express intent of purging theistic beliefs of any kind throughout the land. This "King's Levy" first saw action in the conquest of the Mvellen Uplands (1367-1394), which at the time was functioning as an independent principality.
In the 1950's, elements of the VAF were involved in systemic confrontations with the forces of the Arakite People's Republic prior to First Minister Brysdale's declaration of war, resulting in a three-year long campaign with the aim of annexing the small nation.
Modern day
Command structure
Operational control of the VAF as a whole is exercised through the War Advisory Board, chaired by the Secretary of War on behalf of the First Minister, the Chief and Vice-Chief of the Imperial Joint Staff, and the Lord Martial as representative of the Emperor. Senior command staff of the various arms of the VAF also join meetings of the Board as required. Day to day control of the various arms is left in the hands of their respective administrations, such as the Admiralty Board for the VDN.
Personnel
Defence expenditure
Nuclear weapons
Expeditionary forces
The Armed Forces
Vetokite Army
The Vetokite Army is the main land-fighting force of the United Dominion, consisting of the Regular Army and part-time reservists in the form of the Territorial Reserve and the Shire Yeomanry. As the oldest of the nation's armed forces, the Army is colloquially known as the 'Senior Service'. Operationally the Army is divided into three sections; Central Command, Northern Command, and Southern Command. Each command area is responsible for a number of the Army's brigades with a mix of regular service and territorial forces under their command.
In the wake of the FORCE 2016 review, the Regular Army's previous divisions were divided into a number of smaller combined arms brigades, as well as a separate corps of four brigades of the Paraborne elite troops. A number of reservist brigades were also created to take advantage of old materièl stocks.
The Dominion Navy is a technologically sophisticated naval force, and as of January 2024 consists of 68 commissioned ships with an additional 13 support vessels of various types operated by the Fleet Auxiliary. Command of deployable assets is exercised by the Fleet Admirals, under the operational direction of the Lord Admiral of the Naval Service. Other responsibilties in operating the Naval Service are distributed through the members of the Admiralty Board.
The Surface Fleet consists of aircraft carriers, amphibious warfare ships, destroyers, frigates, patrol vessels, mine-countermeasure vessels, and other miscellaneous vessels. The Surface Fleet has been structured around a dual fleet concept since the 1890's. The recently built Type 15 destroyers are technologically advanced multi-purpose vessels, albeit with a tendency towards effective work as surface combatants. The Dominion Navy has commissioned six Furious-class aircraft carriers, embarking air-groups composed of the well-tested F-10 Brightstar and the newer F-25 Astrapi multi-role fighters.
Vetokite Marine Legion
The Marine Legion are the Dominion Navy's amphibious troops, and are in fact the most recently-founded branch of the VAF. Consisting of four manoeuvre (three mechanised, one airmobile) brigades and various independent units, the Marine Legion specialise in amphibious, arctic, and mountain warfare.
Vetokite Imperial Air Force
The Imperial Air Force has a large operational fleet that fulfils various roles, consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Frontline aircraft are controlled by Air Command, which is organised into six groups defined by function: 1 Group (Air Combat), 2 Group (Air Combat), 3 Group (Air Support), 4 Group (Air and Space operations in conjunction with SGDC), 5 Group (training aircraft and ground facilities) and 6 Group (Imperial Air Force's Engineering, Logistics, Communications and Medical Operations units).
Strategic Global Deterrant Command
Special Operational Planning and Exploratory Concepts Command
The Special Operational Planning and Exploratory Concepts Command (or commonly referred to as SOPECC) is responsible for all forms of unconventional and covert operations, ranging from providing assistance with training foreign military or paramilitary forces, to informational warfare, to covert direct action. It also houses several think-tanks behind the development of future military technological advances and the continuous attempt to streamline and perfect many every-day concepts, and it is from these that SOPECC originally earned its name. It was not until the late 1980's in the common calender that the various service-specific special forces, intelligence units and PSYOPS detachments were rolled into it to cover their activities.
The most well-known of SOPECC's direct-action forces is the Special Operational Missions Detachment. SOMD (pronounced so-mad) was formed as a counter-insurgency unit following the annexation of the Arakite Valley, however the unit has since branched out into everything from advanced reconnaissance to hostage retrieval.
Vetokite Logistics and Engineering Corps
Military Bases
The Vetokite military has a variety of military bases built to suit the needs of the various branches. Each branch has a 'flagship' base regarded as the traditional home of that branch in particular, and often serves as the headquarters for all elements of that branch.
While most bases for the military are very visible to the public, there exists three exceptions. Foremost of these is the headquarters facility for the Strategic Weapons Command, buried high in the Central Highlands of Vetok. For obvious reasons, the government has never publicly identified even the proximate location of this base. The second of these is what's known as the 'Last Chance' Deep Cover Government Safehouse. 'Safehouse' is somewhat of a misnomer, as the 'Last Chance' facility is large enough to house the entire government, along with associated support staff and a security force. Speculation is rampant about the location of the base, with rumours suggesting that it lies in the mainland occupied by Vetok to being an underwater facility lying deep below the Kosscow Sea, to claims about an orbital facility.
The last facility is VNB Matiah, named for Admiral Janson Matiah, head of Naval Operations in the late nineteenth century and honoured as the father of the modern Navy. VNB Matiah is one of the most complex sites in operation in modern Vetokite military usage, especially given that the base is a full naval shipyard and defensive facility able to host a complete carrier force in addition to acting as a backup command and control facility for the VAF as an emergency contingency. The base is supplied by both airlifts and regular convoys of cargo ships supplying the fuel, ammunition, food, and parts needed to maintain this labour of effort. The base is also armed, with multiple SAM batteries and AShM launchers mounted to provide an effective defence.