cthia wrote:
The reason behind my initial shock when I read that Haven had purchased entire ships. I was under the impression that only plans were purchased and that the actual ship building was accomplished by Haven. They always had their own yards. Right?
Probably not always, but for a very long time. I forget, what time range are we talking about here?
If it can be trusted, the Honorverse Wiki has it that there were sales of three obsolete, stripped-down, mothballed Liberty CL's to Haven in 1872, for the chance to get Solarian tech out of what remained. That doesn't serve to get them out of building with their own yards; it's an attempted tech transfer that's at least superficially above-board. And probably disappointing at that: by 1872, old SLN designs would be pre-laserhead in the laserhead era.
Also, another reason that I thought only plans were bought, was because of the underlying differences that would occur from two different tech bases and the inherent problems of marrying two different techs. Something mentioned throughout the series.
It came as a shock to me to learn that Haven didn't always build all of their own ships.
Anybody with ambitions and cash beyond local technical expertise will. Haven's certainly been long on ambition and so-so on technical expertise for a couple centuries. Cash per capita has been low, but absolute cash, as a large star nation (by any standard but comparison to the League) is still plentiful.
It raises other questions. Such as, is the point that Haven began to shorten the tech gap in the Haven sector when they begat their own designs - even if it was a work in progress from all they've ever learned from the SLN?
Early in the First Havenite War, I believe. The
general Solarian tech base is, was, and has been well ahead of the Republic's - or Manticore's, overall. The warfighting tech level has been woefully obsolete, because the SLN hasn't had to fight a peer ever, the tech required has gone from a centuries-long plateau up an accelerating curve in the last 50 years, and Haven and Manticore have had relentless practical experience in what needs to be deployed how quite apart from theoretical standards. By 1905ish, Haven could do more with "worse" technology than the SLN could; by 1922, it's got better technology period for warships than the SLN does. (Although the Solarian bathroom facilities may be more advanced. Far more advanced even! This is unlikely to win a war, however.)
And the fact that Haven was so far outclassed using SLN ships should have been a wakeup to the League.
If the US sold fighters to other countries and they were getting schooled, then wouldn't that cause the US to at least go hmmm?
Two factors at work. One, Solarians figure Havenites with Solarian tech can expect results a lot like Attila the Hun given 2015 U.S. military hardware. Getting spanked by some other Iron Age culture doesn't mean much about the hardware. Two, that assumes they're even paying attention. They're not, any more than the typical reasonably informed citizen of the U.S. is following any current civil war in some part of Africa very few high school students could find on a map.
That's what impact the Haven Sector has on the Solarian consciousness.