Aurora 4x

VB6 Aurora => Bureau of Ship Design => Topic started by: Cavgunner on August 19, 2018, 01:05:51 PM

Title: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on August 19, 2018, 01:05:51 PM
By the late 21st century the flames of World War III had devastated Earth and had reduced the population to about one billion people suffering a subsistence-level existence.  Despite this, the technological gains brought about by the Last War birthed the single greatest advancement since the discovery of agriculture:  the unlocking of Trans-Newtonian technology.  With the discovery of this technology, humans no longer needed to fight over Earth's limited resources, for the entire galaxy could now be reached using starships possessing capabilities that seemed nearly magical.  With little opposition, in 2100 the remaining governments reformed the United Nations into a true one-world authority: The Terran Federation.

In the year 2158 the Terran Federation is the dominant power in known space, boasting a population of over 2 billion souls.  The Federation currently claims over 50 star systems,  although many of these have not been visited for years, and only 14 of them are actually inhabited by humans. 

The most important system, of course, is Sol itself. 

Sol System

As Earth's Trans-Newtonian resources were totally depleted about 10 years ago, nearly every rock in the Sol system with a significant deposit has been directed to feed the voracious appetite of Earth's massive industrial complex.  The most important civilian or government-owned automated sites include Venus, Mercury, Halley's Comet, and Io.  Io also functions as a fuel drop-off point for the large fleet of Sorium harvesters plying the skies above Jupiter.

Aside from the Solar System, the Federation's major colony systems include:

Alpha Centauri 

Gliese 667

HIP 86961

Delta Trianguli

GJ 1286

Wolf 1061

EP Eridani
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on August 19, 2018, 02:26:37 PM
The Ships of the Terran Federation: Fleet Support


The legendary Pathfinder-class exploration ship was the very first non-civilian vessel constructed for the Navy.  The simple strength and practicality of the design has allowed it to remain in service for decades.  The current version, the Block III, improves upon the earlier marks by utilizing a more powerful, fuel-sipping ICFD engine.  It also replaces the old-style liquid fuel tanks with compressed fuel storage units based on designs acquired (others would say stolen) from the Amravati Ascendancy.  These improvements have increased the Pathfinder Block III's range by 50% over the Block II.

The Pathfinder is designed expressly for long-range, deep space exploration.  As such, it accommodates sufficient crew facilities and self-maintenance capability to allow for fully independent operations of up to 5 years or even longer if needed. 

The Pathfinder's primary drive is designed for efficiency, not power, and thus it has never been a swift vessel.  The Pathfinder's main defense is the General Dynamics Infiltrator MK I cloaking device.  The Cloaking Device reduces the Pathfinder's sensor signature to approximately that of a Kiowa shuttle.  Meanwhile, the Pathfinder uses a compact but sensitive thermal sensor to quietly sniff out potentially hostile contacts.  In this way, on numerous occasions Pathfinders have been able to avoid combat by locating hostile contacts well outside the envelope that the ship itself could theoretically be detected.  Despite the success of the cloaking device the Pathfinder is currently the only human vessel to make use of this technology.  The Pathfinder also features a small hangar capable of accommodating a single Kiowa shuttle.  This capability has proven extremely useful, for the Kiowa can swiftly and easily be dispatched to explore new jump points, or as was the case with the loss of the Farsight, act as a rescue ship if the Pathfinder itself should somehow be destroyed.

Assignment to a Pathfinder is considered demanding yet prestigious.  Ten vessels of this class are currently in service.  Two vessels of the earlier Block I variety have been destroyed, one by Precursor missiles and the other by Swarm bio-drones.  In both cases the enemy units were running "dark." 

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Pathfinder Block III class Exploration Ship    5 000 tons     134 Crew     1159.75 BP      TCS 15  TH 78  EM 0
3250 km/s     Armour 1-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 110/1/2/2     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 0
Maint Life 5.88 Years     MSP 870    AFR 33%    IFR 0.5%    1YR 43    5YR 643    Max Repair 211.25 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Flight Crew Berths 1   
Hangar Deck Capacity 125 tons     

Freeman Megacorp Exploration 325 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 325    Fuel Use 10.22%    Signature 78    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 870 000 Litres    Range 306.5 billion km   (1091 days at full power)

General Dynamics Thermal Sensor TH10-110 (1)     Sensitivity 110     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  110m km
Improved Gravitational Sensors (1)   2 Survey Points Per Hour
Improved Geological Sensors (1)   2 Survey Points Per Hour
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 15% of normal

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


Along with the Pathfinder, the tiny Argonne-class buoy tender is one of the Federation's earliest designs.  In its earliest years the Federation had limited shipbuilding capability, and the first Luna-class destroyers were still just ideas on a drafting board and decades away from being fielded.  Despite this, military planners realized that it was vitally important that the Federation have some idea if non-human starships were using Jump Points known to the Federation.  The tiny Argonne-class buoy tender was designed expressly to deposit its Size 5 active sensor buoys on both sides of a jump point.  In this way, even if the buoys were attacked any ship using the Jump Point would be subject to a detailed close-range scan.  Like nearly all Federation Navy ships that came after it, the Argonne is equipped with a small shuttle bay that can support VIP transport and SAR operations.  In order to simplify logistics during a time when the Federation could ill afford a lack of standardization, the Argonne was designed to use the same thruster as the original Block I Pathfinder.

As the area of space known to humanity expands, the Argonne remains in frequent use.  The Navy tends to assign crew short rotations to this class, with the idea that it allows as many crewman and officers as possible a chance to "get their feet wet" prior to assignment to a larger vessel.  Due to the ship's very small size and non-combat nature it is unlikely that an upgraded mark will ever be fielded.  Two vessels are in service, the Argonne and the Alcor.

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Argonne class Buoy Tender    3 000 tons     40 Crew     335.4 BP      TCS 60  TH 120  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 4-18     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 1.25
Maint Life 3.36 Years     MSP 140    AFR 36%    IFR 0.5%    1YR 19    5YR 283    Max Repair 108 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 15   
Hangar Deck Capacity 125 tons     Magazine 165   

Freeman Megacorp 240 EP Magneto-plasma Exploration Drive (1)    Power 240    Fuel Use 10.46%    Signature 120    Exp 6%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres    Range 86.0 billion km   (248 days at full power)

Raytheon Size 5 Buoy Dispenser (1)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 15000
Beagle Mk 1 (33)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 5    TH: 0/0/0

Strike Group
1x Kiowa Shuttle   Speed: 6451 km/s    Size: 2.48

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


The ubiquitous Kiowa-class shuttle has earned its place as one of the most important assets in the fleet.  This humble, simple craft features good speed, excellent range, low sensor visibility, and the ability to provide reasonable accommodation for up to 30 humans, including the pilot.  The Kiowa's most important roles include scouting low-risk areas, performing search and rescue operations, and quickly and efficiently transporting important passengers from one site to another.  Nearly every ship in the Navy that possesses a hangar bay includes at least one Kiowa.  Some of the fleet's best captains earned their stars flying a Kiowa.

Dozens of Kiowa shuttles are currently in service.  Any future replacement would likely be an entirely new vessel rather than an upgrade.

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Kiowa class Shuttle    124 tons     1 Crew     28.2 BP      TCS 2.48  TH 5.6  EM 0
6451 km/s     Armour 1-2     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 24%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 0    5YR 7    Max Repair 14 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 29   

Freeman Megacorp 16 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (1)    Power 16    Fuel Use 49.5%    Signature 5.6    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 10 000 Litres    Range 29.3 billion km   (52 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on August 19, 2018, 03:25:21 PM
The Ships of the Terran Federation: Luna-class Destroyer and Moray-class Frigate


The mighty Luna-class Destroyer is the backbone of the Federation Navy.  These large, multi-function ships were designed to be more than a match for any ship that any conceivable opponent might bring to battle, with the exception of the Swarm motherships.  As such the Luna features half a dozen Size 5 missile tubes, a generous ammunition bay, and powerful long-range sensors, along with a backup short-range sensor.  The Luna primarily uses its speed and long-range missiles to destroy most opponents at a distance.  However, when necessary it can also engage targets at point blank range with its quick-firing 15cm laser cannon and its dual gauss cannons.  The gauss array also functions as the ship's primary anti-missile defense; the more Luna vessels that comprise a fleet, the more impenetrable the fleet's point defense becomes.  The Luna's flight bay can accommodate two Kiowa shuttlecraft.

The Luna-class has historically faced three main drawbacks.  Firstly, the vessel's armor protection and energy shielding is merely adequate, designed to protect the ship from "leakers" rather than a sustained battering.  Secondly, the facilities needed to sustain such a large ship in port currently exist only on Earth.  Finally, the vessel consumes exorbitant amounts of fuel.  However, the latter problem has largely been partially mitigated by the introduction of the Block III version.  The Luna Block III replaces the old, inefficient MagCon drive with an improved, cool-burning ICFD unit that yields the same amount of thrust for much less fuel consumption.  The liquid fuel tanks have also been replaced with Compressed Fuel storage units.  With these improvements the Block III's range has been more than tripled over the previous Block II version.

14 Luna-class vessels are currently in service.  About half the class have been refitted to the Block III version, with the remainder either currently in refit or scheduled to do so soon.  Over many years of service every single ship in the class has achieved multiple kills in combat at one time or another.  None have been destroyed, though on occasion some have received heavy damage.  It must be noted that the plan to field so many large warships so early in the Federation's existence caused many logistical problems initially, but ultimately provided the impetus to secure the many resource-rich mining sites that the Federation controls today.

Ships in class:  Luna, Frigoris, Foecundititus, Endymion, Crisium, Hipparchus, Iridium, Nectaris, Pallas, Pico, Serenitatis, Smniorum, Tranquilitatis, Vaporum

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Luna Block III class Destroyer    20 000 tons     450 Crew     5398 BP      TCS 400  TH 576  EM 240
6000 km/s     Armour 7-65     Shields 8-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 20     PPV 57.06
Maint Life 1.63 Years     MSP 2771    AFR 304%    IFR 4.2%    1YR 1224    5YR 18354    Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 4 months    Flight Crew Berths 0   
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons     Magazine 354   

Freeman Megacorp 1200 EP Internal Fusion Drive (2)    Power 1200    Fuel Use 31.55%    Signature 288    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 7 125 000 Litres    Range 203.2 billion km   (392 days at full power)
Tesla Corporation Gamma R300/240 Shields (4)   Total Fuel Cost  40 Litres per hour  (960 per day)

Single Raytheon 15cm C6 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x1)    Range 240 000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Twin General Dynamics Gauss Cannon R3-100 Turret (1x6)    Range 30 000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Raytheon  Laser Fire Control S08 128-12000 (1)    Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Raytheon Gauss Fire Control S06 72-12000 (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
General Dynamics Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Raytheon RL 5 Size 5 Missile Launcher (6)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 30
Raytheon Missile Fire Control FC277-R100 (1)     Range 277.2m km    Resolution 100
Javelin Mark III (71)  Speed: 36 800 km/s   End: 84.1m    Range: 185.7m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 135/81/40

Raytheon Active Search Sensor MR11-R1 (1)     GPS 105     Range 11.6m km    MCR 1.3m km    Resolution 1
Raytheon Active Search Sensor MR231-R100 (1)     GPS 21000     Range 231.0m km    Resolution 100

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 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


The Moray-class frigate is the most important of a new, smaller generation of warship designs utilizing advanced technologies acquired from destroyed Precursor drones.  While the Luna-class has proven capable of defending its own fleet from moderately-sized missile barrages, many Navy planners have voiced the rightful concern that relying totally on Gauss cannons for point defense means that a task force has one, and only one, chance to shoot down each incoming missile barrage.  Therefore if the hailstorm of Gauss projectiles should prove insufficient, the fleet would simply have to absorb any missile strikes that get through.  The Moray, therefore, is not necessarily envisioned as the means to destroy every incoming missile in a major fleet battle, but rather to provide a deeper anti-missile shield extending for many millions of kilometers.  This allows a fleet more time to attrit large missile swarms, so that if any remaining missiles do reach the fleet the usual Gauss point-defense can more reasonably be expected to handle it. 

Anti-missile work is not necessarily the Moray's only function, however.  The Moray itself features an oversized sensor array, and the new "Dart" anti-missile missile has surprising range for such a small warhead.  Therefore it is expected that the Moray will be able to safely and efficiently detect and engage fighters and small attack craft at range.  As a last resort the Moray can engage targets with its 15cm laser turret, the same type used on the Luna.  While the inclusion of the laser has received some criticism, the weapon does allow the ship some tactical flexibility it might not have otherwise.  It also means that the ship always has "teeth."  The prevailing attitude in the Navy is that all major warships above a certain tonnage should have at least one gun, regardless of anything else. The Moray also features the usual boat bay that can accommodate one shuttlecraft. 

The Moray does have a few weaknesses.  In order to achieve operational range equivalent to the Luna destroyers it is intended to support, the ship features only one large drive instead of a few smaller ones.  During the research phase it was determined that having even two smaller drives instead of larger, single drive would drastically harm the ship's fuel efficiency.  Of course, the downside to having only one drive is that the ship would be crippled if the drive were to be knocked out.  In the end, operational range was considered to be more imporant.  In addition, the ship's armor protection is quite light, and it is questionable as to whether the armor would be able to prevent shock damage from a heavy anti-ship missile.  The Moray would likely only be able to absorb a few direct hits before sustaining serious damage.

One Moray is currently in service:  the class leader herself, Moray.  Two more vessels of this class are currently under construction.  It remains to be seen how this class actually functions in combat.

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Moray class Frigate    10 000 tons     253 Crew     3433.5 BP      TCS 200  TH 288  EM 240
6000 km/s     Armour 6-41     Shields 8-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 14.65
Maint Life 1.55 Years     MSP 1288    AFR 133%    IFR 1.9%    1YR 614    5YR 9209    Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 4 months    Flight Crew Berths 2   
Hangar Deck Capacity 125 tons     Magazine 170   

Freeman Megacorp 1200 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 1200    Fuel Use 31.55%    Signature 288    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 2 725 000 Litres    Range 155.5 billion km   (299 days at full power)
Tesla Corporation Gamma R300/240 Shields (4)   Total Fuel Cost  40 Litres per hour  (960 per day)

Single Raytheon 15cm C6 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x1)    Range 240 000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Raytheon  Laser Fire Control S08 128-12000 (1)    Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
General Dynamics Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Raytheon Size 1 Anti-Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Raytheon AMM Missile Fire Control FC95-R1 (1)     Range 95.0m km    Resolution 1
Dart Size 1 Anti-missile Missile (170)  Speed: 52 000 km/s   End: 11.2m    Range: 34.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 260/156/78

Raytheon AMM Active Search Sensor MR79-R1 (1)     GPS 720     Range 79.2m km    MCR 8.6m km    Resolution 1

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 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


Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on August 19, 2018, 05:47:46 PM
The Ships of the Terran Federation: Akizuki-class Missile Boat and Lancer-class Gunboat


The Akizuki-class Missile Boat was the second warship class to be fielded after the Luna.  During the Battle of 41 Arae a task force of Luna-class destroyers struggled to put down a Swarm mothership because the monstrous bio-ship was shooting down or simply absorbing most of their missiles.  Although the Navy was victorious, a plan was put into motion to create a new class of missile-armed ship that could help its fleet overwhelm a target's point defense in the initial strike.  The resulting ship, the Akizuki, is designed solely for maximizing that "first strike" missile wave: all other considerations are secondary.  To this end the Akizuki features 40 size-5 external missile racks rather than the conventional missile tubes of the Luna.  It also utilizes the same fire control system as the Luna.  However the Akizuki does not have shields, it does not have shipboard sensors, and it is basically unarmored.  Despite this a single Akizuki is theoretically capable of destroying any Precursor drone-ship with its single, devastating missile volley.  Because the Akizuki cannot reload on its own, Navy doctrine states that an "empty" Akizuki should immediately withdraw to the nearest ammunition collier or friendly planet to rearm.

Six Akizuki-class Missile Boats are currently in service.  The current Block III upgrade tripled the Akizuki's range with a ICFD engine and Compressed Fuel storage.  It also added a shuttle bay, a feature that was sorely missing before.

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Akizuki Block III class Missile Boat    5 000 tons     71 Crew     1190.5 BP      TCS 100  TH 144  EM 0
6000 km/s     Armour 1-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 30
Maint Life 4.12 Years     MSP 707    AFR 42%    IFR 0.6%    1YR 67    5YR 1001    Max Repair 600 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Flight Crew Berths 1   
Hangar Deck Capacity 125 tons     Magazine 200   

Freeman Megacorp 600 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 600    Fuel Use 47.32%    Signature 144    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 2 055 000 Litres    Range 156.3 billion km   (301 days at full power)

Raytheon Size 5 Box Launcher (40)    Missile Size 5    Hangar Reload 37.5 minutes    MF Reload 6.2 hours
Raytheon Missile Fire Control FC277-R100 (1)     Range 277.2m km    Resolution 100
Javelin Mk II (40)  Speed: 30 700 km/s   End: 73.9m    Range: 136.2m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 112/67/33

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


The Lancer-class Gunboat is a brand-new type of warship designed to provide devastating short-range firepower for its fleet.  The Lancer is outwardly similar to the Akizuki, and in fact uses the exact same type of internal confinement fusion drive.  However, the Lancer is actually an entirely new design purpose-built around its main weapon, a single General Dynamics 30cm Spinal Laser.  This laser represents the highest damage output over time and certainly the highest damage per shot of any energy weapon yet fielded by the Federation.  A direct hit at short range from this laser yields 24 megajoules of energy striking an area approximately the size of a dinner plate.  While a larger, well-protected vessel might be able to sustain such a hit, it is anticipated that such a hit would completely deplete the energy shielding of nearly any vessel yet encountered, achieve a complete "burn-through" on most contemporary vessels of 5,000 tons or less, and likely incapacitate or destroy most targets in one shot.  The laser's main advantage is the burst damage it is capable of delivering, however, the 15cm recharge time also represents the most advanced capacitor recharge technology that the Federation can field.  While much larger lasers were considered (including a ridiculously large 45cm spinal laser capable of firing once every 35 seconds), the 30cm Spinal Laser was ultimately selected as a reasonable compromise between hitting power, compactness, and rate of fire.  Because it is designed for close combat, every ton of the ship that is not devoted to weaponry, crew systems, or fuel storage is dedicated to armor and shielding.  As such, the Lancer is quite tough for its size.  However, in contrast to most other Federation military ships the Lancer does not have a shuttle bay.  Like the Akizuki, the Lancer relies on other ships to provide active sensor coverage.

Two Lancers have recently been completed, and two more are currently under construction. 

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Lancer class Gunboat    5 000 tons     96 Crew     1637.5 BP      TCS 100  TH 144  EM 300
6000 km/s     Armour 10-26     Shields 10-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 9
Maint Life 2.4 Years     MSP 614    AFR 66%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 146    5YR 2195    Max Repair 600 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 4 months    Spare Berths 1   

Freeman Megacorp 600 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 600    Fuel Use 47.32%    Signature 144    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 770 000 Litres    Range 134.7 billion km   (259 days at full power)
Tesla Corporation Gamma R300/240 Shields (5)   Total Fuel Cost  50 Litres per hour  (1 200 per day)

General Dynamics 30cm C8 Spinal Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 384 000km     TS: 6000 km/s     Power 24-8     RM 4    ROF 15        24 24 24 24 19 16 13 12 10 9
General Dynamics Spinal Fire Control S03 192-6000 (1)    Max Range: 384 000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
General Dynamics Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 8    Armour 0    Exp 5%

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on August 19, 2018, 09:14:56 PM
The Ships of the Terran Federation: Red Oak Victory-class ammunition transport and Capella-class missile base


The Red Oak Victory-class ammunition transport is the Federation Navy's main vessel for providing ammo replenishment for long-range Fleet operations.  A single ship of this class has sufficient capacity to fully reload 5 Luna-class destroyers, and still have some missiles left over.  Although it is not a carrier, the Red Oak Victory also features a 5,250-ton-capacity hangar bay capable of docking and reloading an Akizuki-class missile boat in less than 40 minutes.  In fact, the Red Oak Victory was designed largely with that specific purpose in mind, thus allowing the missile boats to conduct sustained operations in deep space.  It can also function as a maintenance supply ship or even as a refueling tanker, but with slightly shorter range than a Luna Block II it is not really ideal for the latter purpose.  Typically, the Red Oak Victory saves its fuel reserves to assist critically damaged Federation ships during post-battle cleanup.

The Red Oak Victory does not possess offensive weaponry since it is not intended to engage in combat.  However, it does possess a pair of Phalanx autoguns to shoot down missiles in the event that any enemy ships should slip past the main fleet.  Lightly shielded and lightly armored, this class uses speed for defense. 

The ship summary shown below represents the current, obsolete version of the class.  An upgrade with ICFD engines, compressed fuel storage, and triple the operational range is planned.  However, due to a shortage of 1200-rated ICFD drives no work on this upgrade will begin until the Luna-class destroyers have all received their replacement drives first.  Unfortunately, the highly advanced Freeman Megacorp 1200 ICFD's are proving slow and difficult to construct, even with fully half the might of Earth's industrial capacity behind the project.

Vessels in service:  Red Oak Victory, China Victory, Greece Victory, USSR Victory

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Red Oak Victory class Ammunition Transport    30 000 tons     565 Crew     5547 BP      TCS 600  TH 1260  EM 180
6000 km/s     Armour 3-86     Shields 6-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 29     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.53 Years     MSP 3351    AFR 248%    IFR 3.4%    1YR 730    5YR 10955    Max Repair 1050 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Flight Crew Berths 3   
Hangar Deck Capacity 5250 tons     Magazine 2040    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Freeman Megacorp 1200 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 1200    Fuel Use 68.89%    Signature 420    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 6 010 000 Litres    Range 52.3 billion km   (100 days at full power)
Tesla Corporation Beta R300/180 Shields (4)   Total Fuel Cost  30 Litres per hour  (720 per day)

Phalanx CIWS-120 (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Javelin Mk II (408)  Speed: 30 700 km/s   End: 73.9m    Range: 136.2m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 112/67/33

ECM 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


The Capella-class planetary missile base is the first armed planetary defense installation to achieve widespread deployment in the Federation.  Military designers procrastinated for years debating what characteristics a main planetary defense base should possess until it was finally realized that unless a powerful, reasonably sized installation was fielded now then over half a dozen of the Federation's most important colonies would be totally undefended in the event of a surprise attack.  As such, most Federation worlds in the 60-80 million population range can construct a Capella installation from scratch in less than a year, while even the smallest colonies would be able to assemble a prefabricated unit in a matter of a few months at most.

Intially the Capella was conceived as a platform for deploying massive, very long ranged MIRV-capable missiles.  While promising, in order to avoid designing a whole host of new technologies to support such a missile it was decided that for now the Capella should be able to utlize existing stocks of Federation warheads.  Of course, this also greatly simplifies logistics.  Despite this the anti-ship barrage that a Capella can throw into space is still rather fearsome, comparatively speaking.  The base also provides the surrounding space with a reasonable measure of anti-warhead and anti-small-craft defense.  As a PDC the armor protection of the Capella is exceptionally thick; in theory, it could sustain dozens of direct fusion strikes and remain operational.  Furthermore the massive ammunition bay, equivalent to an entire Red Oak Victory collier, allows for extended barrages to overcome the point defense of any target.  Although it is not a fighter base the Capella can provide auxiliary support for small spacecraft operating within its theater.  Finally, since the Capella is designed as a planet's main (and perhaps only) planetary base, it features a Flag Bridge to effectively coordinate all local operations.  In time, the Federation plans to not only field at least one Capella on each major world, but also to seed asteroids and other planetary bodies near jump points with these units as well.

Two bases of this type are currently in service, with six more in various stages of construction.  As a planetary defense base the Capella does not follow a formal naming system, instead being designated through whatever factors and traditions the local military authorities deem appropriate.

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Capella class Missile Base    27 600 tons     635 Crew     5418 BP      TCS 552  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 28-81     Sensors 1/720     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 140
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Flight Crew Berths 0   
Flag Bridge    Hangar Deck Capacity 1000 tons     Magazine 2228   

Phalanx CIWS-200 (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 20000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Raytheon Size 1 Anti-Missile Launcher (15)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Raytheon PDC Size 5 Missile Launcher (25)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 15
Raytheon Missile Fire Control FC277-R100 (1)     Range 277.2m km    Resolution 100
Raytheon AMM Missile Fire Control FC95-R1 (1)     Range 95.0m km    Resolution 1
Javelin Mark III (406)  Speed: 36 800 km/s   End: 84.1m    Range: 185.7m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 135/81/40
Dart Size 1 Anti-missile Missile (200)  Speed: 52 000 km/s   End: 11.2m    Range: 34.9m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 260/156/78

Raytheon AMM Active Search Sensor MR79-R1 (1)     GPS 720     Range 79.2m km    MCR 8.6m km    Resolution 1
Raytheon Active Search Sensor MR231-R100 (1)     GPS 21000     Range 231.0m km    Resolution 100

ECCM-2 (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 Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 12 sections
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on August 21, 2018, 07:05:41 PM
More to come!  Comments welcome...
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: 5742k on September 09, 2018, 01:50:20 PM
I love the work you put in describing each one of your ships.  Keep it like this!
And when are cruisers coming?  ;)
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on September 22, 2018, 04:27:12 PM
Thanks!  Cruisers are in the works, just need some of my techs to advance a bit, and also a shipyard to finally free up.
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Iranon on September 23, 2018, 05:59:22 AM
I'd rethink the propulsion setups... 40% of engine weight is performance-optimal for a given engine size. That's 1m litres per size-50 engine, 1.5m with compressed fuel storage afaik.

For your Luna-class destroyer, you could use 3 engines at 0.8 power output and 35HS of fuel for the same speed and range, leaving 10HS for more mission tonnage while reducing fuel consumption by more than half. Maybe use the space saved for beam weaponry, 1 or 2 barrels per full-size fire control seems wasteful.

Also, it seems your ship is too fast for its beam weaponry.
4 railguns would outperform the Gauss turret even against fast targets like missiles (16 shots@6k vs. 6shots@12k) on comparable weight, lower cost, lower fire control overhead, and much better firepower against slow targets.
Your long-range BFC is twice as large as the single laser it controls, 2 hull-mounted lasers with a 6k fire control would seem preferable. The turret setup may be worth retaining if you add a few barrels, but not for a single weapon.
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Jorgen_CAB on September 23, 2018, 03:36:00 PM
I think that you might need to investigate what the roles of the ships actually should be... I mean there are huge discrepency between deployment times, range and maintenance for the ships as one example.

I usually classify my ships based on what they are supposed to do and how my logistical arm looks like. Most of my main combat ships have a deployment rate of about 6 months down to about 3 month for certain smaller recon and scout ships which usually can dock with parent ships of some kind. Most strike craft only get very low amount of deployment time. My largest battle carrier type ships usually have deployment rates of 12 month. Maintenance are usually at least twice the deployment rate.

When it comes to range my fleets NEVER operate without a logistical train of support ships... having fuel on your ships more than you need for basic combat manoeuvring and operation is a huge waste of space on your warships. You never need hundreds of billions of kilometres of range to do that... around 20-30 billion kilometre is enough in most circumstances and allot less on many ships, especially escorts which may get fuel from parent ships or tankers if necessary. I only give a decent amount of fuel to dedicated carriers but even there not too much since they never operate without some tankers close by anyway.

From experience deployment rate and range rarely have to be that great. Only some ships really need it such as survey ships or long range patrol ships. The faster the speed of your ships then they usually need even shorter deployment time for combat manoeuvring. But you might also need deployment for stealth operations, recon and patrol missions. Most large scale missions should have a considerable logistical train following it anyway.

I also know that most people like to build dedicated specialised ships bit I find a few more versatile ships makes more sense. My destroyer would all carry some main laser batteries and both offensive and defensive missile launchers. Their offensive launchers are mainly for self defence and most of the time they carry medium ranged missiles, if these ships get that close to an enemy my overall tactics have usually not worked out properly or my strength are considerably overwhelming against the opponent. The main offensive strength are fighters or FAC crafts. In any way these destroyers normally carry about 3/4 or 4/5 of defensive missiles but I can easily re-purpose them with more medium or even long range attack missiles if necessary and change the load out to be more like 2/3 offensive missiles. This make my offensive or defensive capability very versatile depending on the situation and with a large enough logistical train they can act like swing role ships.

I obviously build my fair share of specialised ships but my main destroyers are usually multi-role ships who can act as scouts, escorts and attack craft depending on load-out and what crafts I attach to their small hangar bays. These destroyers usually grow to about 15-20k ton in order to accommodate all the necessary equipment.

My logistical train usually get older model destroyers or dedicated frigate escorts which generally are slower than my main combat ships, this give ships a much longer lifetime even when they are a bit old.
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on September 23, 2018, 06:22:32 PM
I'd rethink the propulsion setups... 40% of engine weight is performance-optimal for a given engine size. That's 1m litres per size-50 engine, 1.5m with compressed fuel storage afaik. For your Luna-class destroyer, you could use 3 engines at 0.8 power output and 35HS of fuel for the same speed and range, leaving 10HS for more mission tonnage while reducing fuel consumption by more than half.

That's a very good point, and something I might have to look at.  My intent was to research and produce one, and only one, large engine that can be deployed in every combat ship of 10,000 tons or larger, in increments of 10,000 tons exactly.  From a mission efficiency standpoint it is probably not the strongest setup but it does streamline research and production while also satisfying my OCD.

Quote
Also, it seems your ship is too fast for its beam weaponry.
4 railguns would outperform the Gauss turret even against fast targets like missiles (16 shots@6k vs. 6shots@12k) on comparable weight, lower cost, lower fire control overhead, and much better firepower against slow targets.
Your long-range BFC is twice as large as the single laser it controls, 2 hull-mounted lasers with a 6k fire control would seem preferable. The turret setup may be worth retaining if you add a few barrels, but not for a single weapon.

Please elaborate how the fire controls are slow for the ship's speed.  I'm not sure how that is the case, unless I'm missing something. 

My empire has virtually no advancement in Gauss tech.  Both this and my fire control tech are limited by what I have available.  The lasers are for knife fighting only, anyway.

Thanks for the reply.
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on September 23, 2018, 06:36:06 PM
I think that you might need to investigate what the roles of the ships actually should be...

I appreciate the response, but I think I've pretty clearly defined here what each of these ships are intended to do.  Was that not the case?

Quote
I mean there are huge discrepency between deployment times, range and maintenance for the ships as one example.

I can see how you'd think that, but actually the maintenance deployment times are irrelevant.  Every ship has enough maintenance capacity to repair its largest component once, or in the case of the Luna, twice.  No other factor was considered.  That being said, in general, the ships are designed with enough crew accommodations to be away from port for about 4 months. There is some discrepancy in range, yes, but not so much that these ships are unable to operate together. 

As for the rest of your comments, yes it would be nice to have a massive support system of auxiliary ships and specialist ship types, along with a nice, deep reserve of older ships performing lower-risk duties.  Unfortunately I simply don't have the shipyards, available research, or production capacity to support that - at least not yet.  For the longest time the Lunas were the only combat ships I had at all, and only now are other combat ships hitting the field.

Thanks for your replies!


Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Jorgen_CAB on September 24, 2018, 11:20:54 AM
I think that you might need to investigate what the roles of the ships actually should be...

I appreciate the response, but I think I've pretty clearly defined here what each of these ships are intended to do.  Was that not the case?

Quote
I mean there are huge discrepency between deployment times, range and maintenance for the ships as one example.

I can see how you'd think that, but actually the maintenance deployment times are irrelevant.  Every ship has enough maintenance capacity to repair its largest component once, or in the case of the Luna, twice.  No other factor was considered.  That being said, in general, the ships are designed with enough crew accommodations to be away from port for about 4 months. There is some discrepancy in range, yes, but not so much that these ships are unable to operate together. 

As for the rest of your comments, yes it would be nice to have a massive support system of auxiliary ships and specialist ship types, along with a nice, deep reserve of older ships performing lower-risk duties.  Unfortunately I simply don't have the shipyards, available research, or production capacity to support that - at least not yet.  For the longest time the Lunas were the only combat ships I had at all, and only now are other combat ships hitting the field.

Thanks for your replies!

But most of the ships have more fuel than their deployment times. It would be far more cheaper to bring some commercial tankers with your fleet. All that fuel on your ships are taking up allot of space you could put to better use.

4 month of deployment are probably fine for the most part, that I agree with. And I also agree that having at least two times the maintenance to the largest component is the most important thing.

In my opinion the logistical ships are relatively cheap to build in comparison with your military ships, you could probably do almost all the research and yard space for just a single of the military ships you have. Just a short investment into the logistical side will give you more military resources in the end.

The extreme range of these ships make me wonder what their purpose is from an operational point of view. Take the Gunboat as an example... what type of mission is it suppose to perform with a 3 month deployment and 259 days of fuel at maximum speed? With its huge thermal output for such a small ship it will be detected easily if running at full speed. This ship only have one spinal weapon and is 5000t... you use a huge amount of space for engine and fuel which also make the ships quite expensive and I also think very expensive in a certain types of minerals which make the mining industry sort of difficult to sort out, or so would be my guess.

The role-play description of the use of the ships is great and I do enjoy that explanation... but when ships are designed they should meet some mission parameters and what they are expecting to do and perform for the investment made into them which I'm not so sure they all do.

My usual development of military ships would be some type of beam ships for patrol duties before I run into the first hostile species, perhaps some missile design if research into engine power levels are good enough. From there I would usually expand into some form of strike FAC and/or Fighters type ship and build some sort of logistical system to support them since at low tech levels it is very research expensive with both large sensors, engines and especially jump drives. From there I would grow at least one multipurpose ship type, they would grow as science move forward and the logistical side grow with it.

When I grow ships to be 20k ton or larger I would have a super strong economy and can produce them with relative ease as my support of them have grown naturally over time.
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Iranon on September 24, 2018, 03:23:33 PM
Also, it seems your ship is too fast for its beam weaponry.
4 railguns would outperform the Gauss turret even against fast targets like missiles (16 shots@6k vs. 6shots@12k) on comparable weight, lower cost, lower fire control overhead, and much better firepower against slow targets.
Your long-range BFC is twice as large as the single laser it controls, 2 hull-mounted lasers with a 6k fire control would seem preferable. The turret setup may be worth retaining if you add a few barrels, but not for a single weapon.

Please elaborate how the fire controls are slow for the ship's speed.  I'm not sure how that is the case, unless I'm missing something. 

My empire has virtually no advancement in Gauss tech.  Both this and my fire control tech are limited by what I have available.  The lasers are for knife fighting only, anyway.

Thanks for the reply.

Again looking at the Luna III:

2 10cm railguns + associated power take up similar space to one Gauss cannon + 4x tracking gear.
Gauss cannons would be ahead against fast targets (missiles?) on slow ships that would be stuck with an 1x speed BFC for railguns. At your tech, railguns catch up at around 1.5x for the one thing Gauss cannons are good at. Your ship is fast enough for 2x (one size-8 fire control suggests 4x tracking speed).
As tech progresses, Gauss improves relatively to railguns, so they competitve on faster (relative to the base BFC speed) ships. That is a long way off though, your propulsion tech is well ahead of your Gauss and BFC speed tech.

That single laser (4HS+tracking gear) needs a huge and expensive fire control (8HS).
2 hull-mounted lasers (8HS, no tracking gear but needs more power and manpower) slaved to a 4HS BFC (same range, 6k tracking speed) would be cheaper, lighter, just as good against targets faster than 12k, with up to twice the firepower against slower targets.

In short, your weapon setup prioritised tracking speed over everything else when you don't have the tech (Gauss) or the scale (Laser), to the extent where it'll achieve less hits than slower-tracking alternatives even against fast targets. A bit comparable to the engine situation were you could be faster with lower-powered engines (instead of my suggestion of a more compact propulsion plant, you could have 3x 0.9 power and 45HS fuel for almost the original range).

*

Incidentally, I also agree with the concerns raised about mismatched endurance metrics. Longer maintenance life than deployment time is fine - repairability, and you may have colonies suitable for R&R but not for overhaul. The normal preference is for deployment time to be longer than continuous fuel use... I can understand going against that if your navy has some operational quirks, but not having fuel for several times the deployment time. Especially since deployment time scales less than linearly, giving your ships full independence would be cheap.
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Cavgunner on March 11, 2019, 06:18:33 PM
On the offhand chance anyone has been following this, unfortunately it appears that my gamefile was corrupted at some point.  On to the next campaign!
Title: Re: The Ships and Worlds of the Terran Federation, 2158 edition.
Post by: Garfunkel on March 12, 2019, 11:20:48 PM
Damn shame, that was an interesting looking setup!