United Front (FT)

""It is only firmly maintaining the United Front of our peaceful Union that the difficulties can be overcome, the enemy defeated and a new Human Sphere built.""

- Marshal of the Interstellar Union Zhang Liandong, Supreme Commander of the United Front

The United Front is the intergovernmental military alliance component of the Interstellar Union of Revolutionary States, and comprises the combined armed forces of all member states of the Union. Participating in the United Front is a prerequisite of Interstellar Union membership, and the United Front is overseen and controlled by the Union-level United Military Affairs Council. Historically, the United Front was the first of the Interstellar Union's organs to be created, and in fact predates the formation of the Union.

According to the Interstellar Union Charter, the United Front officially constitutes a system of collective security and aims to provide a streamlined and unified military response towards all external threats to the Union's member states and their collective interests, without infringing on the sovereignty and self-determination of the member states. Over time, the United Front has nonetheless become increasingly centralised, with a combined command structure that can supersede the authority of member states' governments in military affairs.

Like many other aspects of the Union, the United Front has become politically dominated by the four founding members of the Union; Antillia, Cordillera, the Democratic Federation, and the UPR. The national militaries of these four members often play leading roles in the United Front, with the majority of the top leadership of the United Front originating from officers from these states' militaries. In addition, some founding members like Antillia and the Democratic Federation have also deployed troops into some of the lesser members' territories under the auspices of collective security, with these forces occasionally becoming involved in the internal affairs of Union member states.

Besides constituting a unified command structure between the various national militaries, the United Front also maintains a high degree of equipment standardisation and interoperability between the various national forces, with all member states generally receiving their equipment from the same suppliers. The United Front has a large and generally modernised military, though the quality of equipment varies between member states. As of 250, the United Front has a total of 259.8 million troops, collectively making it the second-largest military force in the Human Sphere, behind the Imperial Military.

History
In early 80 AT, the United Free States and the People's Collective of Prospect both began a general planetwide uprising on Prospect. As the revolution grew, more and more guerilla forces, state militia and later several military units of the Federation Army also joined the revolution, rapidly expanding the military forces available to the nascent Union. On 1 Juigatsu 80, the United Front was formed as a military alliance between all of the involved parties, to share resources and improve strategic planning.

Through the efforts of the United Front, the revolution was able to defeat the Federation troops and ignite uprisings across the entire frontier.

Structure
The United Front is overseen by the United Military Affairs Council, which is composed of the member states' various Chiefs of Defence and is headed by the Chairman of the United Military Affairs Council, who is officially appointed by the Chairman of the International Central Revolutionary Committee. In reality, due to the influence that the General Secretary of the International Economic Affairs Council typically holds over the Chairman of the Central Committee, the Chairman of the Military Affairs Council is essentially chosen by the General Secretary.

The United Military Affairs Council consists of two organs: the United Front Advisory Committee, which oversees the relationship between the United Front and the member states' governments, and the United Front Combined Command, which controls the assigned multinational forces. The Combined Command is led by the Supreme Commander of the United Front, who is appointed by the Chairman of the Military Affairs Council.

De jure, the United Front is a collective security alliance, with all members pledging the mutual defence of any other member. The United Front officially pursues a policy of mutual non-intervention in the inernal affairs of the member countries, with respect for national sovereignty and political independence. However, this has been violated numerous times and the United Front is often seen outside of the Union as a direct reflection of the four founding members' domination over the Union. All Chairmen of the Military Affairs Council and all Supreme Commanders in the history of the United Front have come from the four founding states.

259.8 million
 * Flag Of The Interstellar SB.png Antillia – 81,625,000 (SDF)
 * National Defence Force (Fuerzas Nacionales de Defensa)
 * Antillian Ground Defence Force (Fuerzas de Defensa de Tierra)
 * Antillian Space Defence Force (Fuerzas de Defensa del Espacio Exterior)
 * Antillian Air Defence Force (Fuerzas de Defensa Aereas)
 * Antillian Sea Defence Force (Fuerza de Defensa Navales)
 * Chunmin_Flag.png DFLS – 50,955,000
 * People's Army of the Liberated States (MCRN + Infinity)
 * People's Army Ground Force
 * People's Army Space Force
 * People's Army Strategic Intelligence Corps
 * People's Revolutionary Guards
 * United Front Flag AKI.png UPR – 47,135,000
 * Armed Forces of the United People's Republics (CSAT)
 * UPR Army
 * UPR Space Force
 * UPR Air Force
 * UPR Marine Corps
 * UPR Navy
 * UPR Border Troops (internal forces)
 * Cordillera – 28,556,700 (hand me downs)
 * Cordilleran People's Army
 * CPA Ground Force
 * CPA Space Force
 * CPA Air and Anti-Air Force
 * CPA Special Operations Force
 * Illuminacion Combined – 40,812,600
 * Various
 * Everyone Else – 10,757,490
 * Various

Ground Forces
""Stand and fight, comrades! To move forward is glorious victory for the revolution, to retreat is to betray the glorious revolution! Not one step back!""

- Major Xiu Dongmei, Revolutionary People's Army Ground Force 20th Heavy Infantry Battalion

The bulk of the United Front's forces are ground troops.

The United Front Ground Forces is the terrestrial warfare branch of the United Front, responsible for fighting on the land, air and sea of planets, as well as on space stations and the like. The UFGF is sometimes known as the Red Army. Descended from the guerilla forces and state militia that rebelled against the Federation to form the Union, the UFGF is the second-largest terrestrial army in the Human Sphere, behind the Imperial Army.

Armoured and combined-arms warfare dominates the UFGF's tactical doctrine, with the UFGF possessing the largest amount of tanks in the entire Human Sphere. However, the UFGF's equipment is in may cases outdated or less technologically advanced compared to their foreign contemporaries, though much of the UFGF's arsenal remains highly potent in the large numbers that they are fielded in. In recent years, increasingly advanced and innovative weapons and equipment have been deployed into the UFGF, mostly developed in the Yudi Socialist State, signalling a new era of modernisation on the horizon.

Space Forces
""The enemy outclasses us in many ways. They have more ships, they have stronger weapons. But we have the strength and heart of revolutionaries, we have the will to do what must be done to achieve the final victory.""

- Commander Konstantin Ruskov, UFSF Vyerni, ''addressing the UFSF 4th Fleet prior to engaging the Imperial Navy over Amanecer

The United Front Space Forces is the aerospace warfare branch of the United Front. It is sometimes referred to as the Red Navy. The Space Forces were initially solely an orbital force during the early years of the Union's existence, but has since grown into a competent and large fleet capable of power projection and defending against the other hyperpowers of the Human Sphere.

The Space Forces have undergone several rounds of modernisation and are considered to be on par with the other powers of the Human Sphere. The Space Forces rely heavily on carrier battlegroups and fighter craft, with carriers and well-armed strike craft forming the core of their space warfare strategy, using fighters and bombers to outrange hard-hitting enemy capital warships as used by the Union's main rivals, the Empire and the Federation. In a defensive war, the Union has access to large amounts of land-based surface-to-space weaponry, including some of the most potent mobile surface-to-space weapons in the entire Human Sphere.

Weapons and equipment
Like the other hyperpowers, the Union operates an entirely indigenous arms manufacturing industry, though in recent years evidence has emerged of purchases from foreign entities for research and development purposes. The technology used by the United Front is not as elegant or technologically advanced as that used by other nations, but is well tested and remains highly effective in the large numbers the United Front invariably operates in.

A clear preference exists in the Union for rugged and easy to operate equipment that is also cheap and quick to manufacture. For example, the main assault rifle of the Ground Forces, the AD-44M, still uses the familiar arrangement and layout of a famous Ordic assault rifle created in the mid-20th century. In addition to traditional projectile firearms, the Union has also increased the fielding of small arms-classed infantry energy weapons, with the advantage of saving on the cost of ammunition and transportation of the ammunition.

The Union's ground forces utilise a large amount of armoured vehicles supported by infantry forces, including large numbers of traditional tanks and combat walkers. Some of the walkers used by the Union include the BAP-47 and BCP-68.