BM 86

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Воена модернизација 1986, (Voena modernizacija), literally Military Modernization 1986, and shortened as BM 86, was a military modernization and development plan for the Armed Forces of the Syaran Republic authored by Minister of Defense Dako Yordanov Valerieva in 1980. The plan was in effect the culmination of various military research and development projects by the Republic of Syara that was supposed to accomplish by 1986 the "...complete establishment of the conventional asymmetric invulnerability of the Republic from any potential threats to national security".

BM 86 emerged in the aftermath of the Hayren War, marking the end of nearly two decades of intermittent conflict with neighboring Ruvelka and various ethnic separatists along the Syaran border. The potential for conflict with Ruvelka had required the continued expansion of the Army of the Syaran Republic which by 1980 was one of the most heavily armed in Tyran. In 1981 the Order of battle for the Army was 500,000 men organized into eight mechanized divisions, five armored divisions, four infantry divisions, and an airborne division. Equipment included 3,700 main battle tanks, 4,500 artillery pieces, and over 7,000 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles. The increasingly independent Syaran Army Air Corps could field 850 combat jets and an additional 350 helicopters.

But Syaran strategic planners at Armed Forces Supreme Headquarters remained concerned about threats beyond Ruvelka; foreign powers who's force projection capabilities could threaten the Republic, which was considered likely given Syara's strategic location along the Sundering Sea and the Nuadan Ocean. Throughout the 1960s and 70s the Syaran military had developed counter-measures designed to protect Syaran maritime interests, but many of these platforms were aging or in need of overhaul; Syara's strategic bomber, the Coronis, had entered into service just a decade prior but its mechanically complex nature and maintenance heavy design had rendered it inefficient for Syaran needs. Syara's Parilla-class aircraft carriers were still effective platforms for force projection, but their limited design had become more apparent with the acquisition of the Nephele fighter.

Tensions with Ruvelka had remained high even after the dissolution of the Hayren Republic. Many Syaran military planners believed that war with the Principality would break out in the 1980s due to a number of unresolved issues, especially with Syara's continued occupation of Armavir and residual backlash over Zemplen and the Seven Day War. Most Syaran officials believed that this conflict would be fought on a larger scale and last much longer than previous skirmishes. Syaran commanders were alarmed by Ruvelka's rapid proliferation of helicopter gunships and increased emphasis on heliborne operations, which they feared would be employed to exploit Syara's larger mechanized formations in rapid strikes and infiltration attacks behind the front line. The longer and larger the conflict became, the greater the threat of foreign intervention or interference grew. Valerieva, writing in 1980, expressed concern that a major conflict with Ruvelka would invite foreign powers to attempt to directly intervene in pursuit of their own strategic goals.

Valerieva's vision combined various proposals and programs together to create a unique force structure and composition that would on paper be capable of responding to any potential external adversary. Communications and reconnaissance would be conducted by a new class of satellites to be launched by the Ristar program, enabling enhanced intelligence operations. These would help guide Syara's various new combat platforms and vehicles. A new strategic bomber, which would eventually become the Aegolius, would succeed the Coronis and help provide deep strike and long range ability. The new multi-role Celaeno would replace the older Erinys fighters to support the primary Nephele squadrons. To ensure Syaran force projection ability, a new class of aircraft carrier, the Chryse-class, would be built that could carry a larger compliment of fighters.

The most radical of Valerieva's proposal was the wide spread adoption of Morskiedrillica being designed by the Nereid Program. Morskiedrillica were ground-effect vehicles; part plane and part boat, the Morskiedrillica exploited the ground-effect, a pocket of air between the surface of the ground or a body of water and an airborne vehicle that produced lift. Flying within the ground effect allowed for speeds measured in hundreds of kilometers per hour, while being more fuel efficient than an high-flying aircraft. Valerieve envisioned an entire fleet of Morskiedrillica, or Nereids as they were sometimes called, to support the Navy of the Syaran Republic. This included radical designs such as Morskiedrillica that could carry aircraft much like a carrier (albeit fewer of them), as well as Nereids carrying anti-ship missiles or naval infantry.

With naval and air power dealt with, the Syaran army could focus is efforts on achieving conventional over match with its large arsenal of armored vehicles and artillery. These would be further enhanced by increased proliferation of explosive reactive armor, anti-tank guided missiles, self-propelled artillery, and new generation air defense systems. Syaran reserve would be transformed into light mechanized divisions with surplus tanks, personnel carriers, and howitzers and heavy mortars, providing a strategic depth of ground forces in case of mobilization or invasion. All of this was to be accomplished by 1986.

BM 86 was never achieved. Syara collapsed into civil war less than three years after Valerieva outlined his proposal, and by the end of the conflict the Republic had been dissolved and replaced with the Commonality. After the war the Syaran Commonality Armed Forces abandoned most of Valerieva's vision. The Aegolius bomber and Parilla-class carriers were cancelled after being deemed unnecessary. While the Syaran Space Agency did put several satellites into orbit in the 1990s, most of these were for commercial or civilian use. While the Syaran National Army did receive new equipment and weaponry, and the the Celaeno was eventually produced, the Nereid Program was abandoned entirely. The Morskiedrillica ground-effect vehicles had too many limitations and flaws outside niche scenarios to justify their development costs. BM 86 ultimately proved the last planned strategic program of the Armed Forces of the Syaran Republic before its dissolution.