SLN Logistics

So I have been re-reading the series and have been thinking about some of the plans the SLN and the mandarins have been making with regards to the war against the GA plus some discussions I have participated in or viewed about League Break up.

I realize that the SLN has limited ability to engage the GA with any hopes of winning and that is the reason why they are planning on raiding commerce and industry of the GA members. To some extent it is logical because the GA cannot be strong everywhere and they must have some weakness, it is logical from the perspective of the SLN but not so from the perspective of the GA since even the weakest system likely has tremendous firepower and can take a bite out of any SLN squadrons that come calling. No doubt the SLN can take out the defences of some of the GA's systems but the cost would likely be tremendous compared to the gain(industry and infrastructure destroyed).

So my thinking goes that after the series of defeats that the SLN has suffered in the Spindle and Manticore Battles and the loss of the fleet train from both TF 496 and 11th Fleet coupled with the withdrawal of the Manticore Merchant Marine from the League the SLN would not have the fleet train necessary to support those offensive forces. No matter what they would need a fleet train, but more importantly any logistical resources they send to support the raids on GA territory would effectively be out of reach for months or years if ever.


So with the limited available fleet train to begin with they would be taking most if not all of it to raid GA territory and would be leaving limited if any logistical assets to support any operations to keep systems from leaving. If the GA were to destroy or capture most major bases the SLN would be strapped for logistics assets to support ships in systems that secede.


So would the SLN be able to provide logistical support for missions to put down seceding systems if they send their fleet train to support raiding in the GA and thereby take those ships out of the equation for months or years?


My own thinking is that they would not be able to grab enough logistic ships to be able to field a large force for long, they can send a large fleet but once it's munitions are gone it has to withdraw even if it suffers no damage.

And if the SLN sends it's limited logistical resources on a raid of GA territory that would leave little to support it's missions to prevent systems from seceding. So if the GA manages to get large groups of systems to change sides the SLN would be hard pressed to stop them or prevent them from doing so.

Sigs wrote:So would the SLN be able to provide logistical support for missions to put down seceding systems if they send their fleet train to support raiding in the GA and thereby take those ships out of the equation for months or years?


My own thinking is that they would not be able to grab enough logistic ships to be able to field a large force for long, they can send a large fleet but once it's munitions are gone it has to withdraw even if it suffers no damage.

A lot depends on the distribution of SLN bases and supply depots.

If they have a fairly dense distribution of bases/depots, they don't need a supply train to support suppression missions. Task Forces can go out, suppress the secessionists, and return to base to resupply and rearm. They can even leave a small occupation force and rotate ships in and out as required. Very much like the RMN handled Basilisk Station in 1900; repair and supply was done by a a trip to Manticore and return to station.

For the most part, I don't expect the SLN to need much of a logistics train to support operations within the league boundaries. They can concentrate their available fleet train on the commerce raiders furthest from any base or depot support.

Weird Harold wrote:If they have a fairly dense distribution of bases/depots, they don't need a supply train to support suppression missions. Task Forces can go out, suppress the secessionists, and return to base to resupply and rearm. They can even leave a small occupation force and rotate ships in and out as required. Very much like the RMN handled Basilisk Station in 1900; repair and supply was done by a a trip to Manticore and return to station.

There's a vast difference between having your logistics base on the other side of a wormhole, and having it several hundred lightyears away, even in hyperspace.

The thing is while the logistics are likely to be dependent on terminii, I bet they are inefficient and corrupt. The league is terrified about missiles and FTL Comms, their raiders should be afraid of the stealthy LACs.

Fox2! wrote:There's a vast difference between having your logistics base on the other side of a wormhole, and having it several hundred lightyears away, even in hyperspace.

That's why I said it depends on how dense the SLN bases/depot are. If it is hundreds of light years between bases there is more of a logistics problem than if they're only 50 LY apart.

The RMN's Eighth Fleet didn't take a fleet train with them to Lovat, they returned to Trevor's Star to re-supply and re-arm. There is no particular reason the SLN can't do something similar for punitive expeditions within League boundaries. They can tap any loyal league member for supplies (other than armaments) and rape and pillage secessionist systems once they're subdued.

Moving things between bases/depots or from manufacturers to bases/depots might be a problem, and corruption, embezzlement, and graft might hamper efficiency, but the "Fleet Train" won't be involved in those operations. "Fleet Train" -- as in SLN-owned freighters with military shielding and drives -- aren't needed if they aren't accompanying a task force; normal merchant-grade freighters can handle normal logistics moves between bases/depots.

If the SLN is going to have logistics problems, it won't be within League boundaries or the lack of a "fleet train." The shortage of a fleet train will be felt in the commerce raiding operation, and that is going to be a fairly severe shortage. Frontier Fleet is going to have to rely on the same out-and-back raiding that the RMN used against Haven.

MA plant inside the SLN:" We don't gotta send our SDs against manty SDs, We got TONS of battlecruisers that can outrun Manty SDs. we send 'em in squadron sized detachments for guerre des courses.(commerce raids)

Mandarin #1: great idea.

UH does anyone remember that Haven is the master of commerce raiding? Why bother with a fleet train for logistics, those system LACs willrip them to shreds before they need re-supply.

There is also the issue of the differences between a peace time logistics setup and a war time logistics setup.

Weird Harold wrote:The RMN's Eighth Fleet didn't take a fleet train with them to Lovat, they returned to Trevor's Star to re-supply and re-arm. There is no particular reason the SLN can't do something similar for punitive expeditions within League boundaries. They can tap any loyal league member for supplies (other than armaments) and rape and pillage secessionist systems once they're subdued.

Are you sure about that? IIRC, RFC wrote something somewhere that said fleet trains usually followed various formations around, but he never saw a need to write about such mundane activities.

Granted, Eighth Fleet might not need that much supplies on quick raiding runs. But the fleet train includes repair ships, which could make the difference between scuttling a damaged vessel and bringing it back home.

The problem with using civilian ships to carry logs. for the SLN is that those same ships will be needed to keep things from falling apart internally.
Remember that the Mantie Merchant ships have all pulled out of the SL. And that the Manties have kicked the sollies out of every junction they could reach.

The SLN might want to take those ships but they can't afford to.

jdtinIA wrote:The problem with using civilian ships to carry logs. for the SLN is that those same ships will be needed to keep things from falling apart internally.

The SLN can always use warships for critical supplies; not exactly the most efficient way to transport logistics, but the SLN does have a lot of ships that aren't good for much else.

The Solarian League is short of interstellar transport in general and that's going to affect everyone. The SLN is probably going to have to resort to special runs for critical parts/supplies using whatever is available. That isn't the same as allocating fleet train assets to internal logistics.