The Office of Special Projects (OSP-DSOC) is the research and development arm of Darkfire Special Operations Command (DSOC), tasked with the development and real-world evaluation of advanced warfighting weapons systems, equipment and vehicles. Founded as part of the Combat Technologies Advancement Program (CTAP) in late 2009, the group's aim is to make the results of DSOC’s research more accessible to other four regular military branches of the Armed Forces.
History
Under the 2007 Terran-Mars Strategic Alliance Treaty, several joint Human-Martian research groups were formed worldwide, each of which was assigned one of five areas of focus - conventional and energy weapons, armor and shielding systems, electronics and computational systems, spaceflight and biological sciences. The research groups' purpose was to allow both species to share their technological advancements, and to subsequently cooperate on the refinement of these sciences.
Due to a general lack of enthusiasm by both Terran and Martian governments to fund these groups, as well as competition from commercial ventures that already involved interspecies exchanges, most were disbanded by mid-2008. The remaining few were bought out by the Lego States government, whom saw the underlying potential of these research groups, and provisionally placed them under the custody and the payroll of the then-classified Darkfire Special Operations Command (DSOC), which was publicly named the 17th Logistical Studies Group. Their covert status enabled them to legally acquire large amounts of government funds and sanctions, almost giving the groups free rein on what to research, what equipment to acquire, even how much to pay themselves in salaries.
Under this cover unit, the research group made large advancements in the refining of Fusion-based weaponry, cumulating in Thermopulse Directed Energy Weapons technology. In addition, they also began to make progress in developing rudimentary artificial intelligence computer systems, studied the concept of military spaceflight, and modified a commercial process for making silicon semiconductors to cheaply refine the Martian mineral vital to Faster-Than-Light (FTL) travel, Teryllium Silicate. When the equipment and prototyping facilities were not in use for any particular project, the researchers often helped DSOC technicians and armorers out - usually emergency replacement parts for firearms, vehicles or machinery, although special requests for custom equipment were not uncommon.
The downside to being a non-officially sanctioned group was that their insights into various problems were often ignored. The most serious case, involving the Boeing CGX-33 gliders used to transport LS Army Infantry into Groznyy, Chechnya in the 2009 coup, developed when DSOC took the self-initiative to independently assess the glider design prior to mass production and deployment. Despite pointing out serious design flaws like inadequately-designed airframe supports, lack of sufficient harnesses for infantry dismounts and large radar signature, as well as the Boeing subdivision's laziness in merely reusing an old cargo-only glider design, the DoD erroneously overruled DSOC's argument, pushing to get the gliders readied for deployment. As a result, the grossly defective gliders were either shot down by the Chechen's FRC-donated anti-aircraft weaponry, or crash-landed, resulting in the deaths of several hundred infantrymen.
After an extensive inquiry, Congress and the DoD amended the policy on project consulting so that every single project had to come under the supervision of DSOC, as well as being subject to further independent consultation by DSOC's sister research group located at Groom Lake AFB, Nevada (formerly Area 51).
Shortly after the Chechen conflict, DSOC recruited several student interns initially as part of a two-week trial program, but due to positive response, they were retained as permanent full-time staff. A newcomer's suggestion for a lightly armored but highly manoeuvrable replacement for the M998 Humvee cumulated in the development of the M3 Panther Fast Assault Jeep, designed from consultations with regular soldiers - a major frst in military research and development. When the DoD expressed an interest in the introduction of unmanned vehicles and robots to complement its regular forces, DSOC responded with an impressive range of drones, ranging from the squad-level U9 Badger Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) to the Divisional-level U42 Dragon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) / U99 Rancor Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV).
With the loss of Task Force Green's UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in May 2009, while the team defended a Vectra Armaments plant from an FRC raid, a casual study of military spaceflight quickly gained traction - the proposed hypersonic tactical transport with VTOL and Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) capabilties was a highly revoluntionary concept that had the potential reshape the Lego States' military foreign policy and force projection doctrine.
Drawing on the expertise of specialists involved in DARPA's cancelled Project Hot Eagle, DSOC was able to acquire two working prototypes from a defunct Boeing subdivision (unrelated to the glider group), studying the existing designs in detail. The basic airframe proved airworthy, indepedent research and development "cells" of six to ten people each proceeded to develop additional technologies to complete the overall vision of Project Liberator - integration of Thermopulse weapons technology, development of the first Terran-built FTL Jump Drive, powered armor enhancements for combat spacesuits, quantum encryption and interstellar communications. The final proof-of-concept, the D1 Liberator Heavy Dropship, made its first (and successful) maiden flight on July 4, 2009, offering great encouragement to the DSOC staff. In the following week, DSOC continued to refine the design, ultimately impressing members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCoS) in a classified demonstration.
Despite the DoD's enthusiasm for this new craft, disaster befell Project Liberator when the Lego States government's foreign policy came into review. Congress was bitterly divided over the project, and was unable to find justification that a space-capable rapid-response force was needed in the LS Armed Forces' existing force projection doctrine. By a slim margin, a vote resulted in the recommendation to scrap the project.
On August 20, 2009, when The Congress was due to convene to officially terminate Project Liberator, anarchists detonated incinediary devices planted in the Congress building, destroying most of the structure and trapping the politicians in the main hall. Helicopters being unsuitable due to the small opening in the roof and insufficent winch capacity, the two prototype D1 Liberators were rushed to the scene, rescuing all the civilians within fifteen minutes before the main hall finally collapsed. In graditude for the miraculous rescue, Congress later overturned its previous decision, finally realising the true fruits of Project Liberator.
With the declassification of DSOC and reorganisation as an independent branch of the LS Armed Forces in September 2009, the DoD saw the need for a permanent organisation within the Armed Forces to oversee the Combat Technologies Advancement Program (CTAP), a long-term effort to "develop and field-evaluate advanced warfighting weapons systems, equipment and vehicles for the Lego States Armed Forces and its principal allies." Subsequently, DSOC's research group was finally constituted as the Office of Special Projects (OSP-DSOC), with Col. Robin Chang, team leader of the newly-constituted SOF Team Liberator, as the group head. MSgt. Evan Guanerre was assigned as the deputy in charge of dealing with technologies of Terran origin, while Lt. Col. Antares Vigo, the former Martian Starfighter Corps ace and a SOF Team Liberator member, was placed in charge of Martian and all other non-Terran technologies.
In the run-up to Excercise Easy Rider of March 2010, OSP-DSOC has undertaken the development of many new vehicles systems like the M6 Crusader General Purpose Transport, as well as the upgrading of older vehicles like the M112 Coyote Infantry Fighting Vehicle / Infantry Command Vehicle (IFV/ICV) and the M110 Jackal Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). The research group's latest achievement, as demonstrated in the joint military exercise, was the Global Command (GlobalCom) Military Intelligence and Force Coordination Network.
Structure
OSP-DSOC is mainly composed of a small group of full-time technicians and specialists sited at the main Darkfire facility, as well as members of SOF Team Liberator, who are both contributing specialists and volunteers for field testing of prototypes. In addition, liasions and interns are posted at sister research groups and key contractors, to help coordinate development projects between different groups.
Projects are typically run on an ad-hoc basis, with all members have equal precedance with regards to proposing and initiating projects - if one believes their project has potential, they simply gather funding, resources and colleagues without the need for prior approval. At any stage in the project's development cycle, senior management would observe to see which projects to keep, and which to integrate with others - no projects are ever terminated, at least not completely. It is not uncommon for staff to bounce back and forth between several projects being run simulaneously.
Sister Research Groups and Contractors
- Experimental Warfighting Systems Research Group, Groom Lake AFB (Area 51), Nevada, USA.
- Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, USA.
- White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA.
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Virginia, USA.
- Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centre, NASA, Texas, USA
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), United Kingdom
- Cisco
- Endwave
- QinetiQ
- iRobot
- Raytheon
- Boeing
- Lockheed Martin
- Eurofighter GmbH
- Scaled Composites
- Vectra Armaments
- Vectra Land Systems
- General Motors
- Oshkosh
- Defense Contracting Intergalactical (DefCon)
