Royal Pelinese Navy (Pacifica)

Royal Pelinese Navy
Naval jack of the Royal Pelinese Navy
Active	January 2, 1984 – present (1984-01-02 – present)
Country	Kingdom of Pelinai
Branch	Navy
Size	300,000 active personnel (2023) approx. 677 active ships (2023) approx. 900 fixed-wing aircraft (2023)
Headquarters	Naval Staff Headquarters, Dainēsa
Patron	Saint Pelinai
Colors	White, blue
Fleet	12 aircraft carriers 2 amphibious command ships 4 landing helicopter docks 8 amphibious transport docks 8 dock landing ships 24 landing ship tanks 24 landing ship mediums 17 cruisers 52 destroyers 47 frigates 54 corvettes 42 missile cutters 32 mine countermeasures vessels 96 submarines 251 auxiliaries
Engagements	None (Pelinese Civil War as PWA Naval Forces)
Website	rpn.mil.pln

The Royal Pelinese Navy, also referred to as the Pelinese Navy, the White Fleet, or the White Navy, is the maritime service arm of the Pelinese Armed Forces and is responsible for maintaining its naval warfare, coastal defense, and amphibious warfare capabilities. It is the second largest branch of the Pelinese Armed Forces, with approximately 300,000 active duty personnel in 2022.

The naval arm of the Pelinese Armed Forces has existed as an independent entity since January 2, 1984, when the primarily riverine naval forces of the Civil War-era Pelinese White Army were divided into a separate branch of the armed forces. Ship and infrastructure construction programs proceeding since the 1990s, in addition to the procurement of vessels such as underway replenishment ships, has since advanced the RPN from being primarily a littoral navy to a capable blue-water force with extensive combat capabilities.

The Royal Pelinese Navy is one of the largest navies in Pacifica, with a fleet size of over 670 ships and an estimated combined battlefleet tonnage of over 3,500,000 tonnes as of 2023, and forms a sizable portion of Pelinai’s overseas power projection capabilities. It contains five branches of service: the RPN Surface Forces, the RPN Submarine Forces, the Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service, the RPN Coastal Defense Forces, the Royal Pelinese Marine Corps, the RPN Sealift Forces, and the RPN Special Forces. In addition to naval warfare assets such as naval vessels and navalized aircraft, different branches of the Royal Pelinese Navy also operate coastal defense missile batteries, land-based maritime patrol aircraft, amphibious ground forces such as marines, and other non-naval military assets.

Pelinese naval officials have identified the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Ocean as core theaters of operations for the Royal Pelinese Navy since 1985, and the RPN performs regular patrols across the eastern Mediterranean in particular. Regular naval patrols and exercises have both increased in frequency and crept westward as the Royal Pelinese Navy and the Pelinese Armed Forces in general have continued to make progress in force modernization and expansion.

Organization

Branches

The Royal Pelinese Navy is divided into seven administrative branches: the RPN Surface Forces, the RPN Submarine Forces, the Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service, the RPN Coastal Defense Forces, the Royal Pelinese Marine Corps, the RPN Sealift Forces, and the RPN Special Forces. While the branches are largely separated in the realms of training specialization and administrative functions, they share a common operational chain of command and execute military operations as a cohesive force.

RPN Surface Forces

The Royal Pelinese Navy Surface Forces is the Royal Pelinese Navy branch that is responsible for operating its surface combatant and fixed-win naval aviation assets, such as its aircraft carriers, guided missile cruisers, guided missile destroyers, guided missile frigates, corvettes, missile cutters.
Larger vessels such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and frigates combine their naval aviation, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-aircraft warfare capabilities with auxiliary vessel and nuclear attack submarine support from other RPN branches to form powerful carrier battlegroup forces suitable for blue-water power projection and naval combat, whereas the smaller corvettes and missile cutters defend Pelinese littoral regions from incursions and repel hostile fleets near Pelinese home waters through anti-access/area denial operations.

The purview of the RPN Surface Forces encompasses 224 warships of the combined RPN fleet, and additional vessels are in construction facilities or sea trials. This primarily includes aircraft carriers of the Pelograd-class and Sakura-class, cruisers of the Admiral Seisuko-class, destroyers of the Umihana-class, frigates of the Ayame-class, corvettes of the Typhoon-class, and missile cutters of the Tori and Tori-S classes, as well as older vessels in reserve such as the Partisan-class. While the Surface Forces operates Pelinese aircraft carriers, the carrier air wings that operate from them are part of the Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service.

The primary role of the RPN Surface Fleet at its inception in 1984 was the defense of Pelinai’s territorial waters against potential incursions by nations such as Livana and Stoinia or by Belogoran loyalist insurgents attempting to infiltrate Pelinai, a function which it shared with the RPN Coastal Defense Forces; early ships that it operated in this role included converted missile boats and riverine craft used during the Pelinese Civil War, as well as some larger vessels such as Partisan-class destroyers. The gradual development and introduction of larger, more technologically advanced warships such as the Umihana-class destroyer and Ayame-class frigate from the 1990s to the present, the addition of new capabilities such as naval aviation, nuclear submarines, and underway replenishment support, and a reevaluation of strategic doctrine during the early 2000s after the end of the Cold War resulted in the slow transition of the RPN Surface Forces from a short-range coastal defense flotilla to a green-water navy by the 2010s and then a blue-water-capable surface combatant force by 2021. The branch now currently operates the largest fleet of surface combatants and other warships in the Mediterranean, while its historical role of operating riverine craft and patrol boats has been entirely transferred to the RPN Coastal Defense Forces and the Royal Pelinese Coast Guard.

RPN Submarine Forces

The Royal Pelinese Navy Submarine Forces is the branch of the Royal Pelinese Navy that consists of its submarine assets, including its diesel-electric attack submarines, nuclear attack submarines, guided missile submarines, and ballistic missile submarines.
Submarines of the Royal Pelinese Navy serve multiple roles. Conventional attack submarines are assigned to operate near the coasts of the Eastern Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea as area denial and littoral defense assets, where shallow waters cause seabed clutter and other effects that contribute to their stealth. Nuclear-powered submarines of the RPN provide long-endurance commerce raiding, anti-ship and anti-land cruise missile, and nuclear second strike capabilities; nuclear attack submarines in particular may also be deployed as escorts for carrier battlegroups or ballistic missile submarines in order to defend them from submarine attack.

A total of 96 submarines are operated by the Royal Pelinese Navy Submarine Forces, not counting non-commissioned hulls such as those under construction or undergoing sea trials. Principal hull classes include the Evanescent-class nuclear attack submarine, the Biheru-class conventional attack submarine, the Snowfall-class ballistic missile submarine, and the Hurricane-class cruise missile submarine.

The Royal Pelinese Navy Submarine Forces began service in 1983 as a collection of various conventionally powered attack submarines that had seen service during the Pelinese Civil War. From the 1980s to the 1990s, its primary role during armed conflict was planned to be coastal defense and the interdiction of landing forces attempting to execute amphibious landings on Pelinese shores facing the Mediterranean Sea. The conventional submarine fleet was downsized by 18 hulls after the end of the Cold War and the eventual abandonment of Livanan territorial claims on the island of Zholtiya, in the early 2000s.
The success of the Pelinese nuclear power and weapons program in 1999 introduced new ship types and responsibilities to the Submarine Forces; the Royal Pelinese Navy commissioned its first nuclear-powered attack submarine, the KPV Evanescent in 2001, and its first nuclear ballistic missile submarine in 2003, beginning the nuclearization of the submarine force. Despite the addition of these long-endurance vessels, conventional submarines have remained in service and are expected to continue to be a critical component of Royal Pelinese Navy operations in littoral and other shallow waters.

Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service

The Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service is the naval aviation corps of the Royal Pelinese Navy, responsible for providing naval helicopter support and carrier air wings to Pelinese warships as well as for operating land-based maritime patrol aircraft, aerial refueling and AEW&C aircraft support, High-Altitude Long-Endurance maritime surveillance drones, and other military aircraft relevant to the conduct of naval warfare operations.
The role of the RPNAS is varied by the aircraft that it operates. Carrier-based aircraft perform combat air patrols against hostile aircraft, attack hostile surface combatants, other naval assets, and land-based targets, and provide AEW&C and electronic warfare support to friendly military forces. Land-based maritime patrol aircraft protect Pelinese waters from hostile conventional and nuclear attack submarines performing naval interdiction or commerce raiding misions, as well as ballistic or cruise missile submarines attempting to perform strikes against targets in Pelinai. AEW&C aircraft and aerial refueling tankers support air operations by Pelinese carrier air wings and other friendly forces, while HALE surveillance drones serve in the roles of area patrol and target detection & tracking.

Approximately 900 fixed-wing aircraft and 600 rotary-wing aircraft are operated by the Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service. Principal examples include the Ae-16 Fuyuhana, the Be-19 Cornflower naval utility helicopter, the KaR-15 Kurōmi maritime patrol aircraft, and the Se-14 Kaiyōtori maritime surveillance drone. No aircraft carriers or other naval aviation vessels are operated by the RPNAS; aircraft instead operate from land bases or on ships commanded by other branches of the Royal Pelinese Navy.
The RPNAS traces the beginning of its history to the Pelinese White Army Naval Air Service (PWANAS), which was founded in 1979 to operate captured BPAAF maritime patrol aircraft and naval helicopters. After the end of the Pelinese Civil War in 1982 and the reorganization of the armed forces, The newly created Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service continued to function primarily as a support branch of the Surface Forces and Coastal Defense Forces until 2009 brought the commissioning of the Royal Pelinese Navy’s first aircraft carrier. The subsequent rebalancing of Pelinese naval doctrine towards carrier-based naval warfare and the addition of further fixed-wing naval aviation assets have since expanded the Naval Air Service’s responsibilities to include fleet defense and power projection strikes, and RPNAS is now considered to be a critical component of the Royal Pelinese Navy’s combat capability.

RPN Coastal Defense Forces

The Royal Pelinese Navy Coastal Defense Forces are the coastal defense arm of the Royal Pelinese Navy and are responsible for repelling sea-based attacks on Pelinese territory, such as amphibious landings and combat diver operations. It operates primarily shore-based and near-shore assets, such as the RPN’s anti-ship missile batteries, base protection troops, and anti-frogman patrol vessels.

Contemporary topics

Strategic doctrine and priorities

The Royal Pelinese Navy has historically concentrated the vast majority of its strategic planning on the theaters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Ocean, which constitute the maritime regions immediately bordering Pelinai; continuing Livanan claims on the Marahu Delta and Zholtiya regions, as well as a lack of acute naval threats from elsewhere, led most contemporary naval officers to prioritize the areas of coastal defense and other defensive operations until the early 2000s. The withdrawal of these claims, along with other factors such as the continued presence of Emeraldian warships in the Mediterranean, the formation of the Concordia Entente, and the increasing industrial and technological capacity of the Pelinese state, have since resulted in a long-term doctrinal shift in the navy; expanded levels of responsibility in furthering Pelinese security and interests against newer, more varied threats has resulted in a wide-reaching campaign of naval rearmament and reorganization. These campaigns have made substantial progress in developing the modern Royal Pelinese Navy into a powerful naval warfare force capable of successfully waging all levels of military conflict against sophisticated, highly advanced adversaries.
Force restructuring efforts of the RPN have focused on the sectors of expanded ship capability and range, expansion of ship type variety, addition of new aerial systems, and increases to both the size and quantity of operational task forces. Newer surface combatant designs such as the Umihana destroyers have prioritized increased operational range and endurance, and have implemented great improvements in the performance and reliability of Pelinese naval powerplants, ship electronics and sensors, weaponry, and other systems. The addition of aircraft carriers to the Pelinese combined fleet introduces critical capabilities in overseas power projection and fleet defense, and carriers have become the new central ship of the RPN’s reorganized surface task forces. Nuclear attack and guided missile submarines have massively increased the reach and flexibility of Pelinese operational groups, and nuclear ballistic missile submarines now underpin the second-strike credibility of Pelinai’s nuclear forces. Maritime surveillance drones and loitering munitions, of both land-based and ship-based varieties as well as fixed and rotary-wing models, add powerful and flexible reconnaissance and strike assets to the Pelinese inventory. Both the Mediterranean and Eastern Fleets have added substantial tonnage of ships in recent decades, with the current number of operational carrier battlegroups standing at 12 and the number of operational amphibious strike groups standing at 4. Expanded flotillas of missile cutters, corvettes, and diesel-electric submarines provide the RPN with a credible littoral combat element that complements its larger blue-water naval assets.
The primary Theater of Military Operations (TVD) that the RPN is concerned with remains the Mediterranean Sea, to which the accompanying Mediterranean Fleet is assigned. Substantial combat and infrastructure elements introduced throughout the 2000-2015 period, including surface warships, conventional and nuclear submarines, maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft, and shore-based sensors have all added critical offensive and defensive naval capabilities to Pelinese forces in this region; the Mediterranean Fleet now possesses the full range of modern naval-based power projection elements, and benefits from extensive strike and C4ISTAR support by land-based aircraft of both the Navy and the Royal Pelinese Air Force.

Bases

Mediterranean Sea

Daishiroi

The largest military harbor in Pelinai is the port of Daishiroi on the western Mediterranean coast, which docks the majority of large surface combatant forces assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. Two squadrons of MPA aircraft and a squadron of maritime surveillance drones are additionally stationed at the adjoining Yukihana Naval Air Station, which perform coastal patrol duties.

Equipment

Main article: List of equipment of the Royal Pelinese Navy (Pacifica)

As of the end of 2022, the Royal Pelinese Navy operates 677 commissioned warships and auxiliary vessels, approximately 900 aircraft including navalized multirole and strike fighters, AEW&C aircraft, transport aircraft, and naval utility helicopters, as well as land-based aircraft such as maritime patrol aircraft, aerial refueling tankers, HALE maritime surveillance drones. Pelinese military vessels operate modern radars and fire control systems, missile systems, and other equipment.

Ships and submarines

Main article: List of active RPN ships (Pacifica)

The Royal Pelinese operates approximately 350 combat warships, including 12 aircraft carriers and 96 submarines. Vessels of the RPN are overwhelmingly designed and constructed within Pelinai using domestically sourced components, although some interest has been expressed in purchasing coastal patrol craft from Weisserstein.

Pelinai has operated the full range of naval warships since 2009, including aircraft carriers, amphibious warfare ships, conventional and nuclear-propelled attack submarines, nuclear-propelled guided and ballistic missile submarines, and underway replenishment craft, as well as surface combatants ranging from missile cutter to cruiser size.

Future of the Royal Pelinese Navy

Long-term military priorities of the Royal Pelinese Navy center around establishing naval supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea and expanding Pelinese sea-based power projection capabilities. Significant expansion, reformation, and modernization programs have been implemented and continue to be implemented in all branches of the RPN in the interest of attaining these objectives: Massive increases in the quantity and quality of all types of RPN combat assets, which are projected to be supported by a further several dozen vessels within the next decade. Improvements in branch interoperability with the RPAF now allow for more effective land-based strike support, and new surveillance assets such as the AURORA OTH radar array, EMDA and EMOSA hydrophone installations, and the Atēru satellite imaging surveillance network add substantial improvements to situational awareness in critical maritime theaters. Progress in the Pelinese space program is expected to bring additional space-based sensor and targeting support assets into operation.

Pelinai is expected to decommission the last of its mothballed Partisan class destroyers in the near future; these are expected to be replaced in their past role as primarily near-shore patrol ships by the Tori-S class of missile cutter, along with the Umihana class destroyer for the more traditional destroyer role. Refits of early-model frigates in the Ayame class are also occurring, primarily to replace outdated radar systems and other electronics.