Navy
The Hegemony's navy is large for its size, which is necessitated by having two larger, aggressive neighbors. However, the Kzintis' own aggressiveness would probably lead to a large navy in any case. Professional in outlook, the technical development of the navy still lagged behind that of other states from ca. Y120-Y160 since most fighting was internal rather than directed at external threats.
This came to an end with the Four Powers War. The Hegemony took a beating in the early stages of the war, and the Patriarch was able to station the nobles on the general strike cruiser class, taking control of the rarer and more capable command cruisers. This finally showed the nobles that the CS itself was inferior, not just the crews and captains on board them. During the decade of the Y160s, a set of "Comprehensive" refits were undertaken to solve the deficiencies of various classes, just in time for the General War.
At this time also came the development of warp-powered fighters and dedicated carriers for them. Starting with the less than spectacular AS (Assault Shuttle), they developed several very good fighter types and are considered the foremost carrier-using race in the SFU.
Read more about this topic: Kzinti Hegemony
Famous quotes containing the word navy:
“People run away from the name subsidy. It is a subsidy. I am not afraid to call it so. It is paid for the purpose of giving a merchant marine to the whole country so that the trade of the whole country will be benefitted thereby, and the men running the ships will of course make a reasonable profit.... Unless we have a merchant marine, our navy if called upon for offensive or defensive work is going to be most defective.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“There were gentlemen and there were seamen in the navy of Charles the Second. But the seamen were not gentlemen; and the gentlemen were not seamen.”
—Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859)
“I wish to reiterate all the reasons which [my predecessor] has presented in favor of the policy of maintaining a strong navy as the best conservator of our peace with other nations and the best means of securing respect for the assertion of our rights of the defense of our interests, and the exercise of our influence in international matters.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)