(Another excerpt from my conventional campaign with some good ship and strategy ideas. As always I love feedback)
As part of an initiative to develop Sol's defenses against theoretical and sometimes even novel attack from aliens, a new line of extreme-long-range missiles has been developed for large bases on Earth and Mars and a series of small 2,500 ton PDCs are being deployed on smaller colonies throughout the system. Fleet Command has designed a set of heavy fighter interceptors with fast (20,000km/s) speeds to track and engage high-speed intruders in the Sol system, and destroy them with long range Avalanche missiles. The Gauntlet class Interceptor and Visor Class Heavy Scout Fighter are not especially practical craft, but they are very suited to their limited interception role.
Fleet Command considers designing secondary ships with anti-missile sensors and a high-speed delivery platform for the Meteor-II short-range anti-missile, but these designs are ultimately scrapped due to having such a limited role. In the rare case that the Gauntlet would be needed to intercept an intruder to the Sol system, it would have to rely on its great speed to dodge incoming missiles, it's small size to avoid fire control lock or detection, or else simply out-range its attackers - all of which are plausible possibilities.
But the lack of a dedicated anti-missile intercept ship, gives the Federated Army a chance to come up with their own design to fill this role, along with other key applications.
The Federated Army has not submitted a ship design for consideration since their remarkable Fire Giant Divisional Troop Transport. The Navy is still chagrined at that transgression, but civilian leaders and strategists appreciate the Fire Giant's formidable capabilities and the departure in doctrine and design that it represents.
The Kodiak and the Kodiak-L are the primary designs presented by the Federated Army as anti-missile interceptors.
The Kodiak has 7 light Gauss cannons - only 40% more than the much smaller Y-Wing Protector Fighter Escort. But substantially larger fire controls and the innate tracking speed that comes with a 20,000 km/s speed gives it a much better chance to hit fast-moving targets like missiles. It's heavily armored for a fighter. With the right pilots and moving in large enough packs, this design could swat down a substantial number of incoming missiles while dodging ASMs that slip through and absorbing AMM hits.
It has a short range and deployment time and is prone to maintenance problems, but could be a revolutionary design in engaging missile salvos, closing to short range and destroying enemy fleets with Gauss cannons.
The Navy initially dismisses the approach as needlessly dangerous - putting ships and crews into harm's way with an untested approach. The tactics are interesting, but are ultimately the tools of a guerrilla fighting force, engaging in asymmetrical warfare - and that's simply not the present reality.
Federated Army generals counter by saying that this exercise is entirely about defending against a theoretical and powerful foe - and that Earth may well have to wage such a guerrilla war in the future.
It's also noted that the Navy has 22 fighter aces rated at 900% or higher skill. If this design were employed, it would be hard to argue against putting those aces in command of these heavy fighters.
Kodiak class Heavy Gunfighter/Interceptor 500 tons 10 Crew 180.5 BP TCS 10 TH 200 EM 0
20000 km/s Armour 3-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3.5
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 17 5YR 258 Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months Spare Berths 2
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 387.38% Signature 100 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 0.9 billion km (12 hours at full power)
Gauss Cannon R3-8 (7x4) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Accuracy Modifier 8% RM 3 ROF 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 40-5000 (FTR) (1) Max Range: 80,000 km TS: 20000 km/s 88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
The Kodiak-L is an interceptor-leader design with far scaled back armament and fire control, but the addition of a missile sensor and an extra layer of armor, plus some extra fuel. Multiple "L" variants are expected to accompany a pack of Kodiaks.
Kodiak-L class Heavy Gunfighter/Interceptor Leader 500 tons 9 Crew 202.5 BP TCS 10 TH 200 EM 0
20000 km/s Armour 4-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 2
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 19 5YR 290 Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months Spare Berths 3
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 387.38% Signature 100 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres Range 1.9 billion km (25 hours at full power)
Gauss Cannon R3-8 (4x4) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Accuracy Modifier 8% RM 3 ROF 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S00.5 20-5000 (FTR) (1) Max Range: 40,000 km TS: 20000 km/s 75 50 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Active Search Sensor MR5-R1 (1) GPS 40 Range 5.5m km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
The Kodiak is revolutionary in its own right, but the Marsican class Breaching Pod design shows the Army's real intent. On the ancient ruined world of Yablari, the Army has managed to fight robotic ground units and capture tremendous amounts of alien technology and treasure and their leaders think they can do the same in space. The Marsican has incredibly thick armor to allow it to get close to enemy ships. Along with high speeds and anti-missile support from the Kodiak, it's thought that it can deliver crack teams of marines onto alien ships and take control of them.
Boarding a ship reduced to a speed of 1000 km/s is considered "safe," with risks increasing dramatically thereafter.
Marsican class Breaching Pod 500 tons 6 Crew 175.5 BP TCS 10 TH 200 EM 0
20000 km/s Armour 10-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 26 5YR 383 Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months Spare Berths 0
Drop Capacity: 1 Company
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 387.38% Signature 100 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 0.9 billion km (12 hours at full power)
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
The Polaris gives interceptor squadrons another powerful option against close-range enemy capital ships. The Blunderbuss Mk 2 missile seems almost to have more in common with an orbital bomb than and anti-ship missile. With a damage rating of 49, it can blow a hole in as many as 7 layers or armor. It's also incredibly short ranged and easier to shoot down than most other anti-ship missiles. But most missiles and anti-missile systems assume long-range engagements. It's thought that the Polaris could get within 150,000 km of a target, fire, and score a hit before anti-missile systems had time to target and react to the missile. The short range also means that the fire control systems can be quite small.
The Polaris carries only two Blunderbuss Mk 2 missiles, and has amongst the strongest armor ratings of any heavy fighter.
Polaris class Bomber/Interceptor 500 tons 5 Crew 159 BP TCS 10 TH 200 EM 0
20000 km/s Armour 7-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 19 5YR 287 Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 20
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 387.38% Signature 100 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 0.9 billion km (12 hours at full power)
Size 10 Box Launcher (2) Missile Size 10 Hangar Reload 75 minutes MF Reload 12.5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC10-R80 (1) Range 10.5m km Resolution 80
Blunderbuss Mk 2 (2) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 0.9m Range: 1.6m km WH: 49 Size: 10 TH: 180/108/54
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
Reflecting on the need to keep enough fighters with missile sensors up and running, ship designers reexamine the Kodiak-L class Heavy Gunfighter/Interceptor Leader design. It has a much smaller firepower than the standard Kodiak and it would be a substantial drain on the combat abilities of a squadron to have very many of them.
To replace the Kodiak-L, on assault missions, they design the Sun Bear class Bomber/ Interceptor Leader. With 3/4 more armor than the Kodiak-L, it's a more survivable ship. It mounts the same missile sensor, but the Gauss weapon systems are replaced with a single Blunderbuss Mk II missile system.
Sun Bear class Bomber/ Interceptor Leader 500 tons 7 Crew 193 BP TCS 10 TH 200 EM 0
20000 km/s Armour 7-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 1.5
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 25 5YR 370 Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months Spare Berths 5
Magazine 10
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 387.38% Signature 100 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 0.9 billion km (12 hours at full power)
Size 10 Box Launcher (1) Missile Size 10 Hangar Reload 75 minutes MF Reload 12.5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC10-R80 (1) Range 10.5m km Resolution 80
Blunderbuss Mk 2 (1) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 0.9m Range: 1.6m km WH: 49 Size: 10 TH: 180/108/54
Active Search Sensor MR5-R1 (1) GPS 40 Range 5.5m km Resolution 1
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
The Den Keeper class Carrier is the ship designed to take these interceptors to the front lines. It has thick armor, a fleet standard speed of 5,500 km/s, a shielding system 3/4 as strong as a heavy naval cruiser, and can carry 3 companies of marines, along with an assault team of 16 heavy interceptors. At 24,000 tons, it can also accompany a Blackrock class Heavy Jumpship through jump points. It's proposed to have an alien ECM-4 system as part of its electronic defenses.
In some circumstances, the Den Keeper can close on an enemy fleet position, either with ot without protection from a battle fleet, and launch its assault squadron at close range.
A single Kodiak Extension tanker rounds out the pack of interceptors, which extends the range of a squadron to 2,356,250,000 KM, well over twice the 900 million KM range they would have otherwise.
Den Keeper class Assault Carrier 24,000 tons 425 Crew 3710 BP TCS 480 TH 2640 EM 1350
5500 km/s Armour 7-74 Shields 45-300 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 25 PPV 0
Maint Life 4.1 Years MSP 2415 AFR 184% IFR 2.6% 1YR 230 5YR 3456 Max Repair 440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 32 months Flight Crew Berths 126
Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons Troop Capacity: 3 Companies Magazine 112 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
880 EP Internal Fusion Drive (3) Power 880 Fuel Use 30.46% Signature 880 Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 2,020,000 Litres Range 49.7 billion km (104 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/288 Shields (15) Total Fuel Cost 180 Litres per hour (4,320 per day)
Blunderbuss Mk 2 (11) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 0.9m Range: 1.6m km WH: 49 Size: 10 TH: 180/108/54
ECM 40
Strike Group
8x Kodiak Heavy Gunfighter/Interceptor Speed: 20000 km/s Size: 10
3x Sun Bear Bomber/ Interceptor Leader Speed: 20000 km/s Size: 10
1x Kodiak Extension Tanker Speed: 20000 km/s Size: 10
3x Marsican Breaching Pod Speed: 20000 km/s Size: 10
1x Polaris Bomber/Interceptor Speed: 20000 km/s Size: 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Kodiak Extension class Tanker 500 tons 5 Crew 144.5 BP TCS 10 TH 200 EM 0
20000 km/s Armour 2-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 41 5YR 614 Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.5 months Spare Berths 1
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 387.38% Signature 100 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 260,000 Litres Range 24.2 billion km (13 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
The total package is expensive, at 7,063 BP (including 108 for marines and 283 for ordinance), but a single fully loaded Manticore Heavy Cruiser with missile armament would cost almost as much (5,792 BP) and the Aurora Strike Carrier with associated fighters is far pricier (13,435 BP). The latter two systems rely much more heavily on expensive replacement ordinance and support ships like colliers than the Kodiaks do.
The Den Keeper would also be by far the largest carrier capable of following a Blackrock Heavy Jump Cruiser through a jump point and might see alternate service carrying naval fighters into action (though the ship does not have large magazines and could not re-arm many missile ships).
It's likely that the Den Keeper's assault force would most often be used to close on and capture a ship already seriously damaged by one of the Navy's four large battle fleets, though clearly it's designed with much more challenging missions in mind.
Two Den Keeper class Assault Carriers operating in concert could be even more effective.
Dedicated anti-missile ships operating at full strength would be deeply challenging for a pack of Kodiaks to overcome. Fleet Command's own Moblin class Flack Cruiser or Rune class Area Defense Heavy Cruiser could each fight a carrier group of Kodiaks on fairly equal terms, for example. A larger dedicated anti-missile force could cut a Kodiak pack to shreds, as could ships with long range, fast-tracking laser or meson turrets. So choosing targets carefully is a key consideration.
Ultimately, the High Military Council approves creation of two Den Keeper class Assault Carriers and full compliment of interceptors plus an additional 4 Kodiaks, 2 Kodiak-Ls, and 2 Kodiak Extensions to be stationed on Earth. The carriers will be under control of the Army, along with fleet corvette escort ships to be decided. The Navy will also provide suitable ship commanders expert fighter pilots for the 16 carrier-bound Kodiaks. The 8 new interceptors permanently assigned to Earth will be under the control of the Navy.
Even at that, most senior naval commanders are furious that the Federated Army will have a fleet of ships designed to not only survive an enemy attack, but to actively seek out and engage enemy ships. The Navy will still generally have strategic command over an overall engagement theater, but this is still a huge boon for the Army in further expanding its domain.
*Hat tip to GenJeFT for the idea of the large warhead, short-range missile to be fired so close that point defense can't react to it.
