Though not necessarily a big one.
The Belgian Navy is, always has been, pretty small and at some points in the country's history totally non-existent. While the Belgian army and air force during the Cold War were quite respectable in terms of quantity and quality of equipment the navy never had more than a decent sized squadron of mine warfare vessels and a handful of frigates. The current Belgian armada consists of two second hand Dutch frigates, a half dozen mine hunters and nine assorted patrol, support and auxiliary vessels.
Of course this makes a certain amount of sense. Defence budgets can only stretch so far and Belgium is surrounded by three of Europe's premier sea powers. Combine this with a lack of sea-mindedness in the country and you can see why Belgium is not known as a scourge of the seven seas.
So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rectify this state of affairs and make the Marine Royale, if not a force to rival the USN, at least on a par with the likes of Denmark or Portugal.
Points will be given for style and plausibility with bonus points for hitting any of the following.
* A 2015 Belgian Navy that can field at least four destroyers or large frigates equivalent in capabilities to those of the other NATO navies. (Double points if it can manage both)
* A force of at least six modern corvettes to back the above up. (You can mix and match this with the frigates, bringing the number of larger ships down in exchange for increasing the number of smaller ships)
* A squadron of at least four submarines.
* A fleet air arm operating helicopters from the ships, fixed wing anti-submarine planes from land and at least one squadron of jet fighters in the anti-shipping role. (You do not have to provide all of these if you think it's too much for the country to afford)
* A Belgian marine corps. (This can be similar to the British or Dutch marines rather than the USMC)
* An amphibious warfare vessel for the above.
* An underway replenishment vessel to support this fleet.
* A compliment of mine warfare and patrol ships to bulk out the fleet.
Extra points for having as many of the ships designed and built in Belgium as possible, (this of course does not mean the Belgians have to build every single weapon system themselves, all the stuff other NATO countries buy off the shelf from abroad the Belgians can buy), and double extra points for gutting the army and the air force to build this navy.
I think that's about it so away you go.
The Belgian Navy is, always has been, pretty small and at some points in the country's history totally non-existent. While the Belgian army and air force during the Cold War were quite respectable in terms of quantity and quality of equipment the navy never had more than a decent sized squadron of mine warfare vessels and a handful of frigates. The current Belgian armada consists of two second hand Dutch frigates, a half dozen mine hunters and nine assorted patrol, support and auxiliary vessels.
Of course this makes a certain amount of sense. Defence budgets can only stretch so far and Belgium is surrounded by three of Europe's premier sea powers. Combine this with a lack of sea-mindedness in the country and you can see why Belgium is not known as a scourge of the seven seas.
So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rectify this state of affairs and make the Marine Royale, if not a force to rival the USN, at least on a par with the likes of Denmark or Portugal.
Points will be given for style and plausibility with bonus points for hitting any of the following.
* A 2015 Belgian Navy that can field at least four destroyers or large frigates equivalent in capabilities to those of the other NATO navies. (Double points if it can manage both)
* A force of at least six modern corvettes to back the above up. (You can mix and match this with the frigates, bringing the number of larger ships down in exchange for increasing the number of smaller ships)
* A squadron of at least four submarines.
* A fleet air arm operating helicopters from the ships, fixed wing anti-submarine planes from land and at least one squadron of jet fighters in the anti-shipping role. (You do not have to provide all of these if you think it's too much for the country to afford)
* A Belgian marine corps. (This can be similar to the British or Dutch marines rather than the USMC)
* An amphibious warfare vessel for the above.
* An underway replenishment vessel to support this fleet.
* A compliment of mine warfare and patrol ships to bulk out the fleet.
Extra points for having as many of the ships designed and built in Belgium as possible, (this of course does not mean the Belgians have to build every single weapon system themselves, all the stuff other NATO countries buy off the shelf from abroad the Belgians can buy), and double extra points for gutting the army and the air force to build this navy.
I think that's about it so away you go.