The Umbrian Republic Navy

In the centuries prior to the onset of the war with the Ascomanni, the Umbrian Republic Navy struggled to define a doctrine that they believed would best prepare them for any future extraterrestrial conflict. This paralysis encompassed not only how the Navy would fight these potential adversaries, but stretched all the way into the organizational and command structure of the Navy itself.

Fortunately for the Republic, Alessia Bantia, a forward thinking Archus with over three decades in the service, was selected to join the War Council in the years just before first contact with the Ascomanni. Her promotion was spurred by her innovative performance in a series of fleet exercises where she quickly overcame opposing formations utilizing the URN's then-current doctrine.

She would introduce much needed reforms with far reaching implications, including forming distinctive and permanent fleet command structures under the command of a single archus, consolidating those fleets into large formations capable of independent operations, and refining branch interoperability with the Army.  These reforms and doctrinal advances covered in the next section, earned her the affectionate nickname "Mother of the Fleets".

Bantia's reforms also focused on the types of ships that the Navy would construct and their roles. Prior to her reforms, the majority of ships constructed were of smaller designs, poorly equipped to face a superior enemy. Vessels that fell below the measure of true warships also made up a large portion of the Navy's strength, with a specific emphasis on light, fast corvettes.

After demonstrating the ineffectual nature of the Navy's current strategy, and following an impassioned plea to the Triumvirate and her fellow members of the War Council, Archus Bantia was successful in detailing the need for large scale combatants. In the likely event that they encounter a technologically superior enemy, they needed ships that were capable of sustained survivability in the battlespace. To further protect these key resources, smaller warships were envisioned to screen the fleet elements and provide extra, layered defenses to the main combatants.

The blueprint that came from Archus Bantia's efforts would lead to a re-imagining of the Republic's fleets, and just in time to stave off immediate defeat once confronted by the Ascomanni. Production was quickly shifted to existing classes of larger warships, such as the Corsialto-class battleships, and new designs were created to build a fully integrated fleet.

While disdainful of the military utility of small vessels like corvettes and gunboats, Alessia did prove the value of massed formations of small, single-seat starfighters to harass the enemy and overwhelm their defenses. These small, nimble ships would be harder for enemy defenses to engage, while posing an ever-present threat that the enemy commander could not ignore. While a strong champion of the starfighter, she also recognized that they would need their own tactics and strategies to mass enough firepower to damage large, well-protected warships.

Although these reforms would make significant impacts to the disposition, structure, and organization of the Navy, some of the issues nagging the service, such as delegating authority and splitting fleets into associate task forces, would only be resolved as the war progressed.