Knootian Defence Force

Introduction

The Knootian Defence Force (KDF) is the military of the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss, referring to all the branches of the military. The Knootian Defence Force had a reputation of being incompetent in the past. The navy was referred to by foreigners as "the rubber boat", and its army as "that guy on the bike". Indeed, bycicle infantry forms an integral part of the mobile forces of the Landmacht. However, military spending has increased in the wake of the Shadow War, especially with the new conservative coaltion of Galadriël Táralóm nos Círdan which has placed great emphasis on reforming the KDF. Another boost to the KDF was military aid from EOTED and New York and Jersey

The military HQ is in a bunker in The Hague. All Knootian units and vessels use improved versions of the Combat Application Engineered System for Advanced Response (CAESAR) which is used for virtually all logistics.

Branches in the military

• Landmacht (Army)
• Marine (Navy)
• Luchtmacht (Airforce)
• KMC - Knootiaans Mariniers Corps (Knootian Marine Corps)
• KDF Ruimtevloot (KDF Spacefleet) (future tech only)

Military strength

Knootian military strength has improved since the shadow war, and it currently ranks in the top 10% of military spending per capita. This still puts in well behind most major powers and most potential adversaries when matched up directly, both due to the smaller size of the nation (The DDR is rather large, but when compared to the superpowers its population is smaller then and as a consequence its raw economic and military strength lag behind.)

The Knootian Defence Force is entirely a professional volunteer army, encompassing about 0,39% of the population. These numbers are not permanently under arms, however, but they have all received military training and function as active reserves. The number of actively mobilised Knootians in the Landmacht, Luchtmacht and Marine varies wildly.

Military potential

• The government has the power to edict emergency acts whereby able citizens are drafted into the military. This requires the most extreme of situations, however, and it has only been done in anticipation of a world war when Drum Gods threatened to invade and during the Shadow War where they actually fought in the battle for The Hague. These poorly-trained forces made an especially poor showing, however, and were quickly overrun. Professional Knootian and allied SATO forces eventually recaptured the city.
• Knootian culture generally abhors violence and has pacifist inclinations do not help to improve the stature of a military career. Knootians (both KDF and reserves) do not expect to ‘fight to the death’ and are expected to do so only in extreme circumstances.
• The Dutch Democratic Republic has a sizable high-tech Arms industry, which is currently exporting most of its products abroad. In the event of an all-out war, this would translate in a sizable capability of producing arms.

Military doctrine

Modern Knootian military doctrine usually assumes defensive situations insofar as massive troop deployments are concerned. On the offensive, the military prefers more specialist tools such as airdrops and air support over massive troop movements.

Operation Tempo Doeloe is one of the largest KDF operations in recent history, featuring 50.000 troops deployed into Tanah Burung.

Typical Knootian units

• Bicycle infantry: in order to increase mobility of the common soldier, standard infantry units have been equipped with fast and silent bikes that can be used to speed up an otherwise slow advance. While more and more brigades are transformed into Mechanised Infantry, the Bicycle Brigades provide a cheap alternative for higher mobility.
• Towed guns, of all sizes, used as artillery.
• Peace Corps forces: the Knootian answer to its limited stand-alone military capabilities and new types of missions presenting itself was the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps consists of troops that are especially well-trained, specialising in dealing with a wide range of situations beyond pure military engagement. Special emphasis is placed on multinational cooperation. When there is a mission abroad, the Peace Corps soldier is usually the first to go along with the Luchtmacht.
• Eurofighter – many variants of the Eurofighter serve in the Knootian airforce.
• "Star Trek"-type Starships imported from Sunset, emphasis placed on smaller and older types.