Originally posted by Bhoins:
The term Colonial Navy, implies local resources, unless that changes definition as well.
The reserve fleet is defined as overage, semi-obsolete ships. Colonial Navies raised from local resources may or may not be up to the standards of Naval cast offs.
This is interesting...
You are assuming that the Imperium behaves consistently, with "Colonial Navies" doing this, and "reserve fleets" doing that...
That's not the way I've always interpreted the Imperium, although I can't actually remember what canonical references I got the idea from, apart from the worldgen system...
In my understanding of the OTU, such blanket statements always contain implicit "except when this isn't true" clauses.
That is, the "local resources" a colonial navy relies on consists not only of what can be produced in its own subsector, but what can be produced nearby, borrowed, begged or inherited from the Imperium, hired from the Aslan, or stolen from the Vargr. It may also include that lovely new squadron of Escort Cruisers generously donated by Tukera Lines, and so on.
The presence of Imperial castoffs is just part of the normal situation of local exceptionalism that makes the Imperium tick.
That is, equipment is not, in my view, a factor forcing a differentiation between colonial and reserve forces.
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On terminology: in Australia, the Army Reserve is composed of part-time reservists.
The concept of part-time naval personnel does not appear in the OTU (aside from the Solomani Home Guard). It's an artifact of this debate, and an over-literal interpretation of canon.
The colonial navies can be considered to be reservists from the Imperial viewpoint, since they do not hold a fulltime place in the Imperial chain of command. The "Reserve Fleets" could be interpreted as primarily administrative and cadre bodies, to which sundry colonial squadrons are assigned in wartime.
This interpretation has the advantage of not adding new layers of complexity, while being a sustainable, although loose, interpretation of canon.
YMMV, as it should.