Technical readout 2866 Rise of the Scavengers

However, even as the role of the BattleMech in warfare
becomes increasingly important, the number of
BattleMech regiments fielding by the Great Houses has
been steadily declining for decades. Today’s typical
BattleMech assembly line produces on average only a
scant two dozen units per year.
At one extreme lies the Corean Enterprises’ Valkyrie line
on New Avalon. Capable of producing 130 units per
year, it is one of the few remaining fully automated
factories left. During the height of the Star League such
factories were common, but with the loss of technology
this factory has become more and more of a black box.
The Federated Suns has recently begun an in-depth
studying this facility with the help of nearby faculty from
Albion Military Academy. If the advanced robotics and
automation systems can be understood and replicated,
these techniques could be applied to other assembly
lines potentially resulting in a dramatic increase in both
efficiency and output.
At the other end lay such facilities as the HildCo
Interplanetary’s facility on St. Ives. Once a major
producer of both spacecraft and BattleMechs for the Star
League, the Succession Wars has taken a tremendous
toll on their ability to continue operations. Currently,
Hildco Interplanetary only retains the ability manufacture
their trademark HildCo Model 12 jump jets as well as few
assorted repair parts. The plant on St. Ives remains
unable to manufacture even their own HildCo Type 5
chassis used in building the Victor assault ‘Mech. As a
sign of just how desperate the situation is, HildCo
Interplanetary provides generous financial support to
most any salvage mission aimed at recovering the lost
technologies of the Star League in hopes of being able to
one day rebuild their decimated industrial base. In the
meantime, the facility of St. Ives serves primarily as a
maintenance and repair facility for civilian and military
spacecraft as well as CCAF BattleMechs.
The combined military-industrial capacity of the Great
Houses is no longer able to support the number of
BattleMechs regiments fielded by their miitaries. For
example, shortly after the fall of the Star League, the
Free Worlds League Military had almost 100 BattleMech
regiments on its roster. Since that time that number is
down by almost a third, to closer to 70 operational
regiments, and is expected to decline even further. The
total combined annual BattleMech output of the Free
Worlds League is approximately 500 units. Given the
FWLM maintains roughly 8,000 BattleMechs, they can
only replace about 6% of their forces a year and even
that assumes optimal conditions.
The Free Worlds Legionnaires parade through the streets.
It becomes quickly apparent that, over the long term, any
prolonged military action involving large numbers of
BattleMechs will result in permanent losses. Assuming
2% of a BattleMech regiment is undergoing routine
refurbishment at any given time, it has a fighting strength
of 106 BattleMechs. Due to orbital bombardment,
tactical nuclear weapons, and other forms of mass
destruction, a number of units fighting in the First
Succession War experienced equipment losses of 70%
or higher. By the Second Succession War average unit
equipment losses were maxing out closer to 50% but the
systematic salvage and repair of both lost and captured
BattleMechs pushed the effective rate down further to
approximately 35%. This rate translates roughly into the
loss of entire battalion worth of BattleMechs per regiment
on the front lines of a war zone. At this rate of loss, even
given the entire industrial output of the Free Worlds
League for an entire year, only enough BattleMechs
could be produced to support 13 frontline BattleMech
regiments. The DCMS Fourth Sword of Light, the LCAF
Fourth Royal Guards, Ninth Arcturan Guards, and Tenth
Skye Rangers are but a few of the famous BattleMech
regiments disbanded or destroyed over the past few
decades due to the inability to replace lost equipment
after suffering heavy losses.
Given these numbers and barring any unforeseen
technological advancements, it seems likely the House
militaries will stabilize between 40 – 60 BattleMech
regiments depending on their production capacity. The
Federated Suns will likely remain at the high end, while
the Draconis Combine, with the most limited production
capacity, will stabilize near the low end. Even this
assumes combat doctrine will adopt an acceptable loss
percentage closer to 30% and that an emphasis on
salvage and repair will increase the successful
reclamation of damaged units closer to the 50% mark.
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This would result in a given BattleMech regiment
permanently losing only about 15 units per year during
operations. And even this number assumes only roughly
half of the BattleMech regiments of a given army will be
engaged in combat operations during any particular year.
If the analysis is correct, it virtually guarantees a
fundamental shift in the nature of how warfare will be
conducted in the future. Smaller scale engagements
with increasingly conservative commanders will degrade
the likelihood of any major offensives and consequently
of any significant changes in the currently established
borders. However, a prolonged period of relative peace
could allow the House militaries to rebuild their armies at
the rate of 3 -4 regiments a year, although ongoing
maintenance of these forces would continue to present
an almost insurmountable challenge. Nonetheless, it
could embolden the House leaders to prosecute major
offensive operations, likely targeting the few remaining
BattleMech factories, as is evidenced by the continued
attempts of the DCMS to damage, destroy, or capture
the facility on Hesperus II.
Already efforts by companies such as HildCo
Interplanetary and the Albion Military Academy
demonstrate the premium placed upon the re-acquisition
of Star League production practices, advanced material
manufacture, and other lost technologies. If such
information is recovered, likely from a lost or damaged
Star League memory core, the possessor of this
information would almost immediately acquire a huge
advantage over those without access to it, potentially
resulting in a decisive shift in existing borders, or
possibly even the destruction of one of the competing
Great Houses.
However, if the flames of war can be rekindled once
again and the Inner Sphere plunged once more into a
general conflagration, it is almost certain to result in
further permanent reductions to the size of House
BattleMech forces while causing little change to the
existing political balance. A situation which can only
serve to further the influence of our blessed organization.
The definitive incendiary ‘Mech, the FS9-H Firestarter.