Re: [FT]Fleet sizes...

Don H wondered:

>Had a question about fleet sizes.  Is there an accepted ratio of fleet
>size to population size? (ie. how many ships -- of verious sizes -- per
>million of planetary population?)

My assumptions are:
Population * 24000$ = GNP
GNP * 5% = defense budget
Defense Budget * 80% = Navy Budget
   (most countries would have a much lower Navy:Army ratio than
Alarish--USN
is about 35% of US Defense budget)
Navy Budget * 35% = Ship Construction Budget
Ships cost 120,000$ per ton (which was the right figure for 10 years
ago).
Multiply your annual shipbuilding budget by twenty years to get your
initial
fleet size.