Squadron Organization
and Regulations Manual (SORM) Page 1 |
| Introduction
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Congratulations on your assignment
to a fighter squadron of the Star Fleet. This assignment
is an indication of Fleet's confidence in your skills
and potential. By joining a fighter squadron, you
become part of a proud tradition which extends back,
not merely to the formation of your squadron, nor
to the beginning of the Mako Project, nor yet even
to the founding of the Star Fleet, but to the day
when one member of your species first took up arms
in the defense of another.
Today, fighter pilots put themselves in the way
of danger, protecting the citizens of the United
Federation of Planets just as their predecessors
have done for generations. It should by no means
be imagined, however, that only the pilots are vital
to the success of a squadron's mission.
Without a staff full of mechanics, technicians,
logistics specialists, intelligence analysts, stellar
cartographers, mission planners, yeomen and mess
specialists, the fighters could not fly, the pilots
could not perform at peak efficiency.
There are no insignificant jobs in a fighter squadron.
Whoever you are, whatever your job, you have demonstrated
your excellence. Now, we of the squadron are counting
on you to continue that excellence, so that together
we can fulfil the awesome responsibility we have
-- to go in harm's way.
CDR S'task
FSCO, VF-11
Star Fleet Training Command, Fighter Division
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| History
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The history of starfleet's
fighter project, and ultimately of all fightercraft
the Federation may yet use in the Star Fleet, can
be traced to the Khitomer Accords of November 2291.
With the Klingon Empire dealing with internal problems,
and the Romulan Star Empire soon to withdraw all
contact, the Federation and the Star Fleet were
left without a perceptible major threat to peace.
During the seventy-three years between the Khitomer
Accords and the reemergence of the Romulan Star
Empire, the Star Fleet underwent a major drawdown
of its combat forces. Instead of defense, Starships
were optimized for exploration. Then, within a year
after the initial contact between USS Berlin and
seven Romulan warships, USS Enterprise encountered
the Borg. Suddenly, the Federation faced a need
for combat vessels.
Several projects were considered, to fill the need.
Before any of them could be implemented, the Borg
invaded, and the cataclysmic battle of Wolf 359
ensued.
This was to be a harbinger of things to come. In
short order, the United Federation of Planets faced
wars with the Borg, the Dominion, and the Cardassians
(twice). The century of peace was over.
In 2376, Star Fleet commissioned the first Mako
fighter. Designed to serve as defense for stationary
installations such as planets and starbases, the
Mako Mk. 1 fulfilled its mission admirably, contributing
to the defense of Earth during the second Borg invasion.
During the Dominion War, Mk. II Makos of the First
Fighter Squadron formed a rearguard. Though many
pilots were lost in the battle, their sacrifice
enabled several transports full of civilians to
escape safely.
Despite its excellent service record, there were
deficiencies in the Mako that Star Fleet Command
felt needed to be addressed. Key amongst these was
the fighter's low survivability ratio. Only sixty-five
percent of the Makos sent on combat missions were
returning.
The original Mako designers, along with several
members of the Defiant and Sovereign class starship
design boards, began work in 2398 to redesign the
fighter. The first Mk.III Makos entered service
with the newly formed Ninth Fighter Squadron (9FS),
in 2401.
Before the year was out, the Ninth Fighter Squadron
was assigned to USS Gaius Marius, and renamed Carrier
Fighter Squadron Nine (VF-9). The assignment was
an experiment, intended to test the new fighter's
usefulness in new roles -- close air support for
Marines, CAP for fleet units, and other missions.
The Second Cardassian War saw the baptism by fire
of VF-9 and the proof of the carrier-borne fighter
concept as a vital part of the Star Fleet. The Assault
at B'khai started as a minor confrontation between
Star Fleet Marines and a garrison of occupying Cardassian
troops.
In short time, both sides called for reinforcements.
By the end of the battle, an entire Marine Regiment
had faced and defeated nearly double their number
of Cardassian Army regulars, and a large contingent
of Jem'hadar left in Cardassian control after the
Dominion war.
Though VF-9 lost nearly a quarter of its fighters,
they were cited with keeping the death toll among
Star Fleet Marines from being higher than it was.
Through close air support, artillery suppression,
dropship escort, and enemy troop transport interdiction
missions, VF-9 ensured the future of carrier-borne
fighters in the Star Fleet.
Despite these impressive accomplishments, many fighter
pilots still felt that the design of the Mako could
be improved upon. ASDB indicated a lack of interest
in persuing further design changes, so a private
firm, Broken Drive's Suzuki Konbinaato, began looking
at the question.
Recruiting a panel of expert pilots, including most
of the Fighter Squadron Commanding Officers in the
Fleet, Suzuki quickly focused on the area they felt
could be improved most effectively: the fighter's
propulsion suite. With its maximum speed of Warp
4.5, the Mako was ineffective in fleet point defense
roles, as well as in customs and border patrol roles,
where larger ships could easily out run the small
fighters. Suzuki quickly developed a new Matter-Antimatter
Reactor Assembly and warp engines capable of propelling
the small craft to greater velocities, though range
was strictly limited.
Now being issued to fighter squadrons, the Gueken promises to play an important role in fleet
and station defense for many years to come.
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| Mission
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The basic mission concept for the
Gueken was defined in the Design Specification
Package as "a vessel capable of:
1. Operating in defense of fixed or mobile installations
with minimal resource expenditure;
2.Providing support and defense to ground units,
as well as serving as a mobile communications
relay, and providing tactical coordination;
3.Operating as a point-defense fighter during
Fleet operations, including traffic interdiction.
4.Coordinating with major Fleet units in any
conceivable offensive or defensive scenario."
The Gueken is a major upgrade from the Mark
III Mako. While retaining the Mako's atmospheric
capability, which allows the fighter to act in roles
such as close air support, artillery coordination
and suppression, and drop ship escort for Marine
units, the new fighter has significantly improved
manuverability, increasing its capablity to assume
roles such as traffic interdiction for Fleet point
defense, as well as customs / border patrol activities.
As a communications relay station and battle coordinator,
the Gueken is capable of handling and relaying message
traffic on a geometrically scaling level; the more
fighters are present, the more message traffic they
can handle. The expert systems link to handle the
message traffic in a cooperative fashion, rather
than each fighter handling every frequency. This
relay can be performed without noticeable degradation
of the system's normal functionality.
Gueken fighters can be carried aboard any ship which
has standard shuttlebays; as part of the design
specification, no special equipment is required
to launch, recover, or maintain the fighters, other
than that which can be moved from ship to ship using
a standard cargo transporter.
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| Fighter
Squadrons |
A total of ten fighter squadrons
currently serve the Star Fleet actively, with an
eleventh assigned to Training Command. They are
numbered sequentially in order of founding.
VF-11, assigned to Star Fleet Training Command,
serves a dual purpose. Only 16 pilots are assigned
on a permanant basis. Half of these serve as a cadre
of flight instructors, training new pilots to handle
the Gueken fighter. The other half are trained in
enemy tactics, and fly against the other squadrons
during "Agressor" training sessions.
Stations and Carriers
Squadron / Station
Carrier Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) / USS Quanah Parker
2nd Fighter Squadron (2-FS) Starbase 867, Broken
Drive
Carrier Fighter Squadron 3 (VF-3) / USS Goddard
4th Fighter Squadron (4-FS) / Starbase 1, Earth
5th Fighter Squadron (5-FS) / Deep Space Gamma 1,
Kelsius IV
6th Fighter Squadron (6-FS) / Starbase 4, Vulcan
7th Fighter Squadron (7-FS) / Starbase 968, Bajor
8th Fighter Squadron (8-FS) / Starbase 23
Carrier Fighter Squadron 9 (VF-9) / USS Vanguard
10th Fighter Squadron (10-FS) / Starbase 3, Andor
Carrier Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) / USS VonBraun,
Star Fleet Training Command
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