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
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.
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