Illium Shipyards

Illium Shipyards are the largest producer of WarShips in the Free Worlds League.

Overview
Illium Shipyards occupies a unique place in the Free Worlds League. Though it is officially and legally an independent corporation, in actual fact it's a joint FWLM-SAFE operation. The vast majority of the company's shares are owned by the FWL government. This private ownership allows the League Navy to embark on multi-million C-Bill projects like WarShip construction without some of the Parliamentary oversight that would be necessary in a FWLM project. Another benefit is that Illium Shipyards can source materials and resources from any number of provinces without MPs attempting to funnel choice contracts to their own districts.

Beginning with the Vincent-class corvette SLS Richmond (later renamed the FWLS Liberty) in 3054 the Illium Shipyards at Ionus were used to renovate and repair abandoned WarShips located by the League or their allies, the Word of Blake. One of the ships worked on was the pride of the Free Worlds League's secret fleet in the late 3050s and early 3060s: the Black Lion-class battlecruiser SLS Nelson, a noted WarShip that won the Martial Olympiad in 2732 and which went on to enter service with the League after her repairs as the FWLS Xanthos.

Leadership
The CEO in 3067 was Admiral Brant Optin, who reported directly to the LCCC.

Manufacturing
Illium Shipyards has manufacturing centers on the following planets:

Ionus
Outside of Gibson, Ionus has the largest population of Word of Blake personnel. After the Jihad, the Ionus facility was the only one capable of producing Compact K-F drives and engines needed by WarShips in the Successor States. They used to ship these parts to other shipyards around the League, but now the Marik Commonwealth has exclusive access to them. The shipyards have also turned their attention to overhauling JumpShips that need maintenance. After the Jihad ended, Illium Shipyards became the only shipyards capable of producing WarShips outside the Clan or Republic of the Sphere. Despite taking no losses, the parts shortage reduced the Ionus shipyards to a tenth of their maximum output. in 3079 they started the process of shutting down WarShip production to begin production of Star Lord and Invader class JumpShips.