First Order military

The First Order military was the military force of the First Order born to oppose the New Republic and the Resistance. It was led by General Hux. First Order forces had Starkiller Base as their headquarters, until it was destroyed by Resistance starfighters thirty years after the Battle of Endor.

History
First Order military rapidly expanded in clear violation of the Galactic Concordance and Republic laws, and the massive militarization effort of the Order continued throughout its tenure in the Unknown Regions. There, military bases and shipyards were constructed to churn out some of the technologically superior weapons and starfighters utilized by the military. To avoid treaty restrictions banning the sale of weaponry to the First Order, galactic arms manufacturers BlasTech Industries and Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc spun off a subsidiary known as the Sonn-Blas Corporation, which manufactured much of the First Order's weaponry within First Order space. Also Sinear-Jaemus Army Sistems and Aratech-Loratus Corporation provided vehicles to the Order.

In violation of New Republic laws regarding capital ships, the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer would be developed by Kuat-Entralla Engineering and feature more than three-thousand turbolasers and ion cannons, and was specifically designed to evoke the fearful image of the Old Empire's Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

Thirty years after the Battle of Endor one of its primary bases of operations was known as Starkiller Base, an iceplanet converted into a stronghold. Seeking to rule the galaxy through fear, the base housed a superweapon capable of destroying entire star systems by firing a planet-destroying beam through hyperspace, and was led by an unofficial triumvirate of General Hux, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma until it was destroyed in the Battle of Starkiller Base.

Ground forces
Like its predecessor, the First Order employed the use of stormtroopers, including variants such as snowtroopers. It also utilized specialists including megablaster heavy assault troopers, flametroopers and riot control stormtroopers and selectively had one of the three variants placed in every ten-member stormtrooper squad. Unlike the inconsistent academy standards of the previous Galactic Empire, training of the new generation of stormtroopers emphasized improvisation and counter-insurgency operations, including guerrilla tactics. With the First Order lacking the numerical superiority of the Galactic Empire, better equip and trained soldiers resulted in higher trooper proficiency than the previous Galactic Empire. Soldiers were often trained on capital ships and underwent vivid simulations to create the most loyal soldiers, which was an extension of the ideas of Commandant Brendol Hux and his Commandant's Cadets.

To help infantry in snowy environments the Order deployed Light Infantry Utility Vehicles, a fast snowspeeder. More armored were the four-legged walkers used, for example, on Starkiller Base.

Naval forces
First Order navy was mainly based on Star Destroyer like its predecessors. Resurgent-class Star Destroyers were the threatening capital ships deployed against Order's targets, but the Resistance believed that vessels even larger than them were in existence. The First Order also used Nebulon-K frigates.

For ground assaults the Order made a great use of Atmospheric Assault Landers; a hundred of them could be carried by Resurgent-class Star Destroyers. They also used Upsilon-class command shuttles. To achieve space superiority the Order deployed TIEs in two variants: TIE/fo space superiority fighters and its two-seated version, the TIE/sf space superiority fighter, this one used by First Order Special Forces.

Appearances

 * Before the Awakening
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens