Atlantis Project in the UK: background planning

[Matt W]

The Atlantis Project does not have the same objectives as the Morrow project. According to that infamous implication in the "Prime Base" module, it is going to wait 150 years - giving America time to rebuild - and then emerge to see what the rest of the world has managed to reconstruct.

Let's look at what might be involved in the background planning for the AP in the United Kingdom

The major cause for pessimism with regard to the UK is that the country is so densely populated. (real-world illustrations: In the UK it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a location where one cannot hear a man-made noise. There are no "isolated small towns" where one cannot WALK to the next town in a single day).

Above all, there isn't enough space to grow food for the current population (over 60 million) and Atlantis planners estimate that, without modern farming techniques and technology, the non-contaminated areas of arable land could only support about 20 per cent of the population .

The planners assume a likely number of survivors in the "5-year after period" would be somewhere around 5 million. Most people will be too busy with subsistence agriculture to pass on skills such as literacy. Further population drop (due to conflict and disease) is likely.

So what is needed by AP personnel? Let's look at contrasts between AP and MP equipment and gear

Branches: Instead of Mars, Recon, and Science, the AP has "Shield". "Network" and "Infrastructure" Teams http://morrow-industries.com/morrow-project-blog/?p=554


Vehicles: Rugged, off-road vehicles will be useful but roads - of some sort - should still be in existence (the Roman roads have lasted 16 centuries, it would be disappointing if Motorways couldn't last for a couple). Therefore, AP planners are not entirely convinced that complete off-road/amphibious capability is necessary for all vehicles.

The most common vehicle is the Mercedes Unimog (which is modified to add armour). Additional capability is added by the use of custom trailers, which might mount anything from a scientific/medical lab to a machine shop, or even just carry a few ATVs

For extra-heavy work, there are a number of "Atlantis-One" vehicles that follow the Science-One concept - but use different rear sections depending on their Branch

Each Team is usually assigned a medium truck Unimog (or two). They also have at least one light vehicle such as a motorbike or ATV - for scouting/communication

Shield Teams are air-mobile; they are assigned STOL aircraft such as the Britten-Norman Trislander and helicopters such as the MD500


Weaponry: something I'll get to later