Territorial Defence Forces

The Territorial Defence Forces are a component of the Kiravian Armed Forces and organised militia of the Kiravian Federacy. Units of the TDF are organised on a provincial basis and function as provincial militia under command of regional governors during peacetime, but are trained and equipped according to Federal standards and financed largely out of the Federal defence budget, and can be brought under federal command during wartime or by decree of the Prime Executive exercising in support of federal military operations. The Territorial Defence Forces form the primary in support of the Kiravian Army and Kiravian Airforce, each of which also maintains a  of separated officers and NCOs on a transitional basis.

Although local and provincial militia have been summoned to Imperial or National service in Kiravia since time immemorial, the Territorial Defence Forces took their current form under the Territorial Defence Act of 2026, superseding the Provincial Forces Coördination System as part of the comprehensive post-Deluge military reforms undertaken by the Ilkaśvar administration.

Background
[Predecessors] [Reform] Provincial navies, which supplement or regionally substitute the capabilities of the Maritime Cutter Service, were outside of the scope of the reform. [Constitutional basis]

Mission Profile
The paramount mission of the Territorial Defence Forces as a federalised collective is the defence of Great Kirav and the other major landmasses of the Kiravian Federacy from foreign invasion or domestic insurrection. In the case of the Kiravian metropole, foreign invasion is acknowledged to be only a remote possibility in the contemporary threat environment, given the Federacy's nuclear arsenal and the isolated geography of Great Kirav. However, metropolitan Territorial Defence Forces nonetheless train for this contingency, and their readiness in the face of such a threat is deemed an important element of strategic deterrence. In certain overseas colonies, on the other hand, particularly Sydona, more credible threats of foreign invasion exist, and the regional Territorial Defence Force is crucial to Kiravian defence planning.

Ground combat units of the Territorial Defence Forces are generally (majority) or  (minority). According to the environmental conditions of their home provinces, some TDF units specialise in environment-specific warfare capabilities, most commonly or high-latitude warfare.

[Environmental and technical expertise] [Home front support to federal operations] [Civil Defence] [Lawn Order]