Fleet Modernization Program

      The Nicholas Lapord Administration Fleet Modernization Program (also known as FMP -Lapord) was the initiative under President Lapord of the Federation to modernize, refit, and replace almost the entirety of the Federation Fleet. 

     The Project was the largest ever of it's kind, at twice the size of President Wall's FMP.

Backstory

     After the Zink Administration's wartime policy (5 wars, several standoffs), the Federation Fleet was in "a sorry state", according to Representative Gainey of Meowtopia. The Federation had lost over 40 planes in the previous wars, and many of the planes in the 200-plane fleet were older designs, such as the Lexington-class, Essex-class, and Spirit-class. 

      With a fleet of 237 Combat Ready Aircraft when he took office, president Lapord immediately set about a task of replacing, refitting, and modernizing that as a whole came to be known as the Fleet modernization program. 

Frigate Program

      The most suffering arm of the Fleet was the frigate division. Despite having 154 aircraft, a large majority were the Lexington or Essex-class Frigates, designed under Ainsley Wall's Presidency. A Gateway Co. investigation found that a majority of the Lexington-class Aircraft were overworked, and all of the Essex-class ships were at a loss of further funding, and were barely operable. Many of the Essexes were at this point nearing two years of continual service. While he was still V.P., Nicholas Lapord and John B.G. worked closely on a project, FF-59, as a potential replacement for the Lexingtons and Essexes. 

      This project eventually became the E.H. Matthews-class, and by the end of the program, 10 were built. 

Cruiser Program

      As another replacement option, newly-elected President Lapord authorized the creation of a class of larger cruisers, similar to the lone USS Saratoga. This spawned the Adelaide-class Cruisers, a very successful ship which featured vessels named for Australian and New Zealander Cities. The Adeliades are still being constructed, and many have been built for other nations.

Destroyer Program

     The most controversial of the programs, the Destroyer Replacement program developed three new classes of destroyer, replacing the three roles previously performed by the Spirit-class. Many saw it unnecessary to replace the Spirits, as they were graceful and famous aircraft. Heeding these points, President Lapord authorized Gateway to further refit 8 Spirit-class Planes, at a cost of 1.2 Million Federation Dollars each. 

     The remaining 38 aircraft of the class were replaced by the Ohio-class, Tennessee-class, and Ontario-class Destroyers. The 20 Ohios are the Fleet Flag-cruisers of the Federation. A flag cruiser being a warship of significant size, which is used for "show the flag" missions. The Tennessee-class, currently at 5 vessels, but with a planned 15, are hunter-killer ships, designed to attack any enemy vessel. The 3, soon to be 5, Ontarios are Power Projection ships. In addition, the Minnesota-class is under development as a class of 15.

Reception

       The program was mostly well received, by not just Federation citizens. Because of the surplus of old ships, many nations have purchased older Lexington-class or Essex-class planes. Several nations have also expressed interest in the new classes of planes.