Dalmatian Military Funding
The question of how Dalmatia funds constant research and development and constant expansion and improvement of her armed forces has come up occasionally, mostly outside of Dalmatia. Indeed, this may seem a difficult question to answer for those not intimately familiar with the way the country and her society and government function. This brief essay will attempt to answer, in general terms, this question in such a way as to make it clear to non-Dalmatians how this works.
Firstly, it is important to understand the position of the military in Dalmatian society before an outsider can understand why the citizens of Dalmatia consider military funding to be as important (if not more so) as funding for education and healthcare, both of which are provided free of charge to citizens of the Dalmatian Republic. Funding for such social and military programs comes from numerous sources. One important source is an indirect source, namely the money saved by the use of the Tesla-type powerplant for power generation throughout the country, instead of costly coal or oil-fired plants. The use of these powerplants dates back to the 1960s.
Dalmatia continues, to a certain degree, to adhere to the Brozist "paranoiac policy" with regards to national defence; this paranoia runs deeply throughout the country at all levels and in all segments of society. Therefore, the populace considers it of grave import that the Dalmatian Armed Forces be equipped with the best and latest technologies available, and the average Dalmatian will happily have a somewhat lower quality of life than might be possible with reduced defence expenditures, because he views this as a guarantee of his freedom and of his existant quality of life, which, though isn't as high as in most Western European countries, it is still by far the highest in the Balkans.
Dalmatia engages itself in foreign conflicts for one or both of two primary reasons. The first is naturally ideological or practical - if the conflict directly impacts on Dalmatian interests, then naturally Dalmatia will intervene. The second reason, and this explains why Dalmatia involves itself in conflicts which may not appear to impact Dalmatian interests, is to show off Dalmatian military technology and to test new technologies in real-world situations. Cases involving Dalmatian involvement in conflicts in Africa, especially Dalmatophone Africa, clearly belong to the former reason; other situations, such as Dalmatian involvement in Louisianne's operations against the Deseret Freedom Fighters or the Canton-Hunan War, reflect both reasons: in both cases one of the combatants are close allies - and potential customers for Dalmatian military technology. Were the Cruzan situation to develop into armed conflict, Dalmatian participation, while whole-hearted and fully committed to victory, would lean more to the second reason than the first, despite what the rhetoric and propaganda from Raguza might say.
Sources of direct funding for research and development and overseas deployments come from several sources besides arms sales. The first of the two primary direct sources is foreign investment, primarily from the Federated Kingdoms, Scandinavia and Canton, though smaller investments have been made by other countries too. But the biggest single source of direct funding comes from the Dalmatian military itself. For several years now, the services of the Dalmatian Armed Forces have been on the market. In other words, foreign governments needing help in armed conflicts can hire the Dalmatian Armed Forces in much the same way as they would hire a band of mercenaries, with the key difference that the DAF is a fully professional organisation, battle-proven to be effective fighters - the Dalmatian military is considered by many to be among the most efficient armed forces in the world today. There are a few conditions set out, among these being that the DAF will not engage in any venture contrary to Dalmatian interests.
These operations are generally undertaken by small units, perhaps a squadron or two of fighters and fighter bombers, and elements of one of the Dalmatian Army's Shock Divisions and Special Operations Regiments. The (in)famous 91st Special Operations Regiment has seen the most overseas service of any unit of the Dalmatian Armed Forces. Category;Military
