While it didn't outright say it wasn't considering new ships, it did signal to the major players that this may have been a PR move, rather than a true bid.
Rather than a call for a new ship, the military put out an all-call for ways to improve boarding. The request that ended up coming out of the military though was shocking to those involved. After a botched military excursion in April of 2918 where the United Empire of Earth Navy failed to board a Pirate Drake Caterpillar resulting in the loss of a full platoon of marines and the armored shuttles carrying them, every major spacecraft manufacturer, in anticipation of a bid for an improved boarding ship, began racing to be the recipient of that bid.
