On August 4th 2207, the first two Achilles II class destroyer escorts, Andromache and Aeneas, were launched from the Zephyrus Shipyard. Although the new class was one hundred tons smaller than the original Achilles, the design included several significant improvements over its predecessor. Greater range and more extensive crew quarters improved its endurance, larger and more capable sensors allowed the class to operate independently if required and its top speed of 5000 km/s gave it a significant advantage over other Jovian warship classes. One controversial aspect of the design of the Achilles II was that it relied on a single engine, which could make it vulnerable to combat damage.
Achilles II class Destroyer Escort 8,000 tons 230 Crew 1445.4 BP TCS 160 TH 800 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 4-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 5 PPV 49.68
Maint Life 2.15 Years MSP 565 AFR 102% IFR 1.4% 1YR 163 5YR 2451 Max Repair 400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months Spare Berths 1
Prometheus Stardrives PS-800 Magneto-plasma Drive (1) Power 800 Fuel Use 35% Signature 800 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres Range 22.5 billion km (52 days at full power)
Twin 10cm Laser Turret (6x2) Range 48,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
FN/SPG-7 Beam PD Fire Control (3) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (6) Total Power Output 36 Armour 0 Exp 5%
FN/SPS-18 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 10080 Range 101.2m km Resolution 120
FN/SPD-20 Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 56 Range 6.2m km MCR 671k km Resolution 1
FN/SLR-19 Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km
Two weeks later, construction of the first pair of Athena III class sensor platforms was completed. The Athena III was identical to the preceding Athena II class except for the replacement of the engines with the new Prometheus Stardrives PS-320 Magneto-plasma Drive. Despite improvements in sensor technology, the Athena series still relied on the venerable FN/SPY-4 System Surveillance Array due to the time and expense involved in researching and developing a more modern replacement.
Athena III class Sensor Platform 6,000 tons 182 Crew 1392.6 BP TCS 120 TH 640 EM 0
5333 km/s Armour 1-29 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 0
Maint Life 3.05 Years MSP 1015 AFR 41% IFR 0.6% 1YR 164 5YR 2458 Max Repair 800 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 29 months Spare Berths 0
Prometheus Stardrives PS-320 Magneto-plasma Drive (2) Power 320 Fuel Use 56% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 16.1 billion km (34 days at full power)
FN/SPY-4 System Surveillance Array (1) GPS 104000 Range 1,003.4m km Resolution 130
FN/SLR-2 Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km
The relationship between the Jovian Federation and the Zoltan Empire continued to improve. In mid-September 2207, the Empire granted access to any new geological survey information it might gather, along with an assurance that jump-capable Zoltan vessels stationed at jump points would escort Jovian ships though those jump points if required. The Federation returned the compliment, putting similar measures in place to aid the Empire. Meanwhile, clearing-up operations in Alpha Centauri continued with the capture of an Enclave civilian mining colony, located in the Alpha Centauri-A asteroid belt. Eleven civilian mining complexes were in operation on the asteroid.
For several years, Jovian researchers and engineers had been engaged in a large but secret program to develop the technology and ships required to mount carrier operations. That program finally bore fruit at the end of September with the launch of Andromeda and Artemis, the first two Jovian carriers. The 24,000 ton ships were the largest warships constructed to date by the Federation, although not the largest in service due to the capture of two 27,000 ton Enclave battleships. Those battleships would now be repaired in the Zeus Shipyard, which had constructed the carriers. The Andromeda class was capable of 5000 km/s and had a hangar capacity of 9000 tons, sufficient to accommodate twenty-seven Apollo class strikefighters. The Apollo was armed with four Ares Missile Systems AMS-5B Box Launchers, capable of launching the Javelin II anti-ship missile or the new Soliferrum anti-ship missile, which had a shorter range than the Javelin but a strength-10 warhead compared to strength-9 for the Javelin II. With a top speed of 9846 km/s, the Apollo was the fastest armed Jovian vessel in service. Thirty-three had been constructed, enough to provide a full strike group for Andromeda but only six Apollos for Artemis. Additional Apollos were being built on Ganymede.
A new formation, designated the Carrier Strike Group, was created, comprising both carriers, the two Achilles II class destroyer escorts and an Athena III class sensor platform, allowing it to operate at 5000 km/s. It would be some time before the Carrier Strike Group saw action due to the time required to complete the required number of strikefighters and sufficient anti-ship missiles. In the meantime, the ships would undergo fleet training exercises to improve their readiness. Once operational, the CSG would be attached to a Battle Squadron and was expected to take part in an offensive against Titan, home world of the Star Vikings. The relative orbits of Saturn and Jupiter placed a constraint on the timeframe for that operation as they would eventually lead to a situation where Saturn (and Titan) lay between the Jovian home worlds and the Alpha Centauri jump point. Action would be needed before that situation occurred.
Andromeda class Carrier 24,000 tons 405 Crew 3151.08 BP TCS 480 TH 2400 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 2-74 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 16 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.86 Years MSP 1313 AFR 288% IFR 4% 1YR 483 5YR 7245 Max Repair 400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 101
Hangar Deck Capacity 9000 tons Magazine 870
Prometheus Stardrives PS-800 Magneto-plasma Drive (3) Power 800 Fuel Use 35% Signature 800 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,060,000 Litres Range 22.7 billion km (52 days at full power)
Soliferrum Anti-Ship Missile (174) Speed: 33,300 km/s End: 30.9m Range: 61.7m km WH: 10 Size: 5 TH: 111/66/33
FN/SPS-18 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 10080 Range 101.2m km Resolution 120
Strike Group
27x Apollo Strikefighter Speed: 9846 km/s Size: 6.5
Apollo class Strikefighter 325 tons 5 Crew 77 BP TCS 6.5 TH 64 EM 0
9846 km/s Armour 1-4 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 65% IFR 0.9% 1YR 4 5YR 64 Max Repair 22 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 20
Prometheus Stardrives PS-32F Fighter Engine (2) Power 32 Fuel Use 392.02% Signature 32 Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres Range 2.8 billion km (3 days at full power)
Ares Missile Systems AMS-5B Box Launcher (4) Missile Size 5 Hangar Reload 37.5 minutes MF Reload 6.2 hours
FN/SPG-23 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 50.4m km Resolution 50
Soliferrum Anti-Ship Missile (4) Speed: 33,300 km/s End: 30.9m Range: 61.7m km WH: 10 Size: 5 TH: 111/66/33
On October 20th 2207, a second Enclave civilian mining colony, this time with nine civilian mining complexes, was secured in the asteroid belt of Alpha Centauri-A. On Sparta, recovery of a Research Facility brought the additional benefit of an improvement in terraforming technology, based on information found in the facility. Sparta itself was undergoing terraforming from both ground-based installations and orbiting terraforming ships. All the ammonia had been removed from the atmosphere but more than 0.2 atm of methane remained and the planet could not be transformed into an ideal habitable world until it was eliminated.
Jovian survey forces located an ideal habitable world in the system of TW Piscis Austrini, located three jumps and thirteen billion kilometres from Sol via Proxima and Epsilon Indi. Although Epsilon Indi was home to an Indian colony, the habitable world in TW Piscis Austrini was uninhabited. A geological survey discovered an ancient alien installation, which appeared to be some type of gigantic construct to aid in energy weapons research. Jovian scientists estimated it might add as much as forty percent to the output of research labs located on the planet. Other Solarian powers had constructed jump gates as far as Epsilon Indi and a gate was in place on the Epsilon Indi - TW Piscis Austrini jump point but there was no gate on the TW Piscis Austrini side. Two colony ships were dispatched to TW Piscis Austrini to establish a Jovian settlement and claim the planet while the sole Janus class construction ship was ordered to build a gate in the system.
Another new Jovian colony was established on Plataea, formerly known as Alpha Centauri-B IV. The planet had already been terraformed by the Jovian Federation into an ideal habitable world, as that had been a much easier task than the terraforming of Sparta. Although a Skye Enclave population of four million was already on Plataea, that population had been conquered in January 2203 and was firmly under Jovian control. Vice Admiral Benitez ordered the Skye colonists to be sent back to their home world by the captured Argus class colony ships, leaving the planet in the sole possession of the Jovian colonists. The infrastructure delivered to Plataea by Enclave freighters would be moved to Sparta.
In December, a Star Viking Troll class destroyer was detected close to the Sol – Proxima jump point. Two Minotaur class destroyers, one from the Fourth Battle Squadron at the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point and one from the First Battle Squadron at Europa, were both dispatched to intercept. After a brief pursuit the Troll was destroyed by Chimera.
A month later, the two ex-Enclave battleships both completed repairs, which meant all the captured Enclave warships were now fully operational, albeit still with their original technology and with empty magazines. In total, the fleet of Enclave prizes comprised an Avalon class jump-capable battleship with 15cm lasers, a Penetrator class battleship with 15cm lasers, seven Sai class anti-missile escorts, three Sentry escorts armed with 10cm laser turrets, a jump-capable Hollander class escort with 10cm laser turrets, a Whitworth class missile destroyer and an jump-capable Claymore class missile destroyer. A substantial number of Enclave AMMs had been captured at the Enclave home world, along with enough anti-ship missiles to arm one of the missile destroyers. Therefore Vice Admiral Benitez ordered all the Enclave prizes to return to the site of their original construction, partly due to the available ordnance but also because the maintenance facilities at the planet were sufficient to maintain the battleships. Europa lacked the maintenance facilities to support even the new carriers while Sparta had a maximum maintenance capacity of 18,000 tons. Eventually, the shipyards at the Enclave home world could be used to upgrade the captured Enclave ships to more modern technology and in the meantime they could aid the Second Battle Squadron in guarding against any Intruder incursion. The Sparrowhawk class defence base, suffering from an alarming number of maintenance failures, had been towed to Sparta during the months before the Enclave surrender and was undergoing a long period of overhaul.
In April 2208 a thermal signature was detected from a Star Viking Asgard class destroyer close to the Sol - Barnard’s Star jump point. A small freighter from the Denoon Transport Corporation was heading for the jump point, en route to the Athens colony in Altair, one jump beyond Barnard’s Star. The Asgard intercepted the freighter and launched a barrage of anti-missile missiles. The freighter resisted longer than expected due to the resistance of its huge commercial engines to the tiny warheads of the AMMs but its destruction was inevitable. The First Battle Squadron, stationed at the Alpha Centauri jump point while the Fourth Battle Squadron was in overhaul, moved in-system to intercept.
Destruction of the freighter hastened planning for an assault on Titan. With little threat from the Star Vikings, the Jovian Federation had spent the nine months since the surrender of the Enclave home world recovering from the recent conflict and reorganising both its industry and military forces. In addition to repairing and overhauling the captured Enclave warships, additional Auxilia cohorts had been trained, allowing four assault legions to be transported back to Ganymede. Missile stockpiles had increased to the point where offensive operations could be contemplated once again and the new carrier strike group was building up its strength. Two shipyards had been towed from the Enclave home world to Europa and a number of recovered installations had been transported from Sparta to the Jovian home worlds. Because of the population required to man the industry on the home worlds, there was very little capacity left for expansion. As Sparta had some spare population capacity, fuel refineries were transported to the colony from Europa. The loss of the civilian freighter concentrated minds on the fact the Jovian Federation was still officially at war and that the Star Vikings would not remain quiescent while the Federation redistributed its industry and built up its military.
The First Battle Squadron intercepted the Asgard on April 21st as it moved across the inner system. Incorruptus and Indomitus launched a salvo of twenty Javelin Is. Defensive missiles only destroyed two of the inbounds and the Asgard was blown apart by multiple warhead detonations, accompanied by two secondary explosions. The Minotaur class destroyer Medusa was detached to pick up survivors and then move back to the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point to act as a picket. The rest of the First Battle Squadron was ordered to take up a position three hundred million kilometres from Saturn in order to detect the launch of any new Star Viking ships and intercept them if required.
On May 23rd, The Third Battle Squadron, the Carrier Strike Group and all seven ex-Enclave Sai class destroyer escorts joined the First Battle Squadron three hundred million kilometres from Titan. Despite the Fourth Battle Squadron still being in overhaul and four fighters missing from the strike group of Artemis, Vice Admiral Armand Benitez had decided the attack on the Star Viking home world could not wait any longer. He had assembled a significant force with the following order of battle:
2x Andromeda class CV: Andromeda, Artemis
4x Invictus class CG: Immortalis, Imperator, Incorruptus, Indomitus
3x Minotaur class DD: Centaur, Hydra. Phoenix
2x Achilles II class DE: Aeneas, Andromache
1x Achilles class DE: Achilles
5x Aquila class ES: Delphinus, Draco, Leonis, Orca, Volantis
7x Sai class DE
1x Mithras class AMT: Rashnu
1x Athena III class SCP
1x Athena II class SCP
50x Apollo class FTR
The seven Sai class destroyer escorts had been included in the Jovian fleet because of their ability to launch a significant number of AMMs between them. Titan appeared to be protected by similar bases to those that once guarded the Enclave home world. Experience in that war had shown the Federation Navy that overwhelming the defences with small fast missiles was probably the best option. Even if the defences were not breached, a large number of attacking missiles would drain the magazines of any AMM-armed defensive bases. The Sais had been loaded with old Enclave AMMs captured during the fall of the Enclave home world. One hundred multi-warhead Trident missiles were also available, along with fifty newer Trident IIs. Four Gungnir and two Hodur class bases were in orbit of Titan. Which type was armed with anti-missiles was unknown, as was the range of the Star Viking anti-missiles. There were no other Star Viking ships in orbit of Titan, although three 31,500 ton Heimdalls were within twenty million kilometres.
The first strike was carried out by twenty-five Apollo class strikefighters from Andromeda, each armed with four Trident missiles. They launched from fifty million kilometres, the limit of their fire control systems, creating a single wave of one hundred multi-warhead missiles aimed at one of the Hodur class bases. The Tridents, moving at only 4200 km/s, released their sub-munitions four million kilometres from the target, resulting in a new, fast-moving wave of four hundred missiles with the now empty bus vehicles trailing in their wake. The first defensive missiles exploded just two hundred and sixty-five thousand kilometres from Titan, destroying eleven Jovian missiles. Thirteen more were destroyed a few seconds later and then the rest of the colossal missile wave reached its target. Fifty-five were destroyed by point blank point defence, one hundred and thirty-one struck the Hodur, resulting in a total of nine secondary magazine explosions. There was very little wreckage. One hundred and ninety sub-munitions self-destructed due to the lack of a target.
The magazine explosion revealed that the Hodur class was missile-armed, which meant that, assuming the Gungnir was armed with some form of short-range energy-based point defence, only a single AMM base remained. Thirteen fighters launched from Artemis armed with a total of fifty Trident II multi-warhead missiles. The second, smaller strike was equally successful, destroying the remaining Hodur class base with seventy-two missiles to spare. Vice Admiral Benitez had expected the Trident attacks to wear down the Star Viking defences, not destroy both missile bases outright. However, given the high speed of the sub-munitions - 33,600 km/s for the Trident and 44,800 km/s for the Trident II – and the generally low speed of Star Viking warships, it was entirely possible that those sub-munitions were faster than the intercepting anti-missiles.
Benitez detached his three Minotaur class destroyers and ordered them to destroy the four Gungnirs, which were assumed to be energy-armed bases. The Minotaurs approached the planet without incident and halted at 100,000 kilometres, detecting a ground forces signature of strength-150, less than a quarter of the strength of the ground forces on the Enclave home world. Once all the Legions were available for offensive operations, it was likely a ground operation could succeed without the need for orbital bombardment. There was no opposing fire and the Minotaurs eliminated all four of the defensive bases, leaving Titan open to attack. Almost half a million tons of shipyards were in orbit. Rather than destroy them, Vice Admiral Benitez decided to leave them intact for the moment until he could assemble sufficient ground forces to secure the planet. The Carrier Strike Group headed for the Jovian home worlds, the First Battle Squadron returned to its position at the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point, the Sai class destroyers set course for the Enclave home world and the Third Battle Squadron took up position fifty million kilometres from Titan.
On June 1st, an Asgard class destroyer was launched by the Star Viking shipyards. Within two hours it was a wreck, destroyed by a single salvo of Javelins from the Third Battle Squadron. Five weeks later, the same shipyards launched three Valhalla class fast attack craft. These were more difficult targets and launched before any Jovian ship could retaliate. All the inbound missiles were shot down before skilful manoeuvring by the Third Battle Squadron brought the FACs within four million kilometres as they attempted to return to Titan. Although at that range the Invictus class missile cruisers could still not achieve a lock, the Aquila class escorts Orca and Volantis were able to attack with their Gladius anti-missile missiles. All three FACs were obliterated by a hail of AMMs.
Meanwhile, life continued elsewhere in the Federation. Hyperion and Helios were carrying out a gravitational survey of TW Piscis Austrini, a system in which a Jovian colony had recently been established. They discovered a single jump point leading to Medea, a system with an orange K7-V primary and six planets, one of which was very close to habitable. Adding just 0.01 atm of oxygen would turn Medea IV into an ideal habitable world. There were also the wrecks of four unknown ships in the system so Hyperion approached the planet cautiously, checking for any sign of an alien civilization. She arrived as Medea IV without incident and the planet was earmarked for future colonization. The Janus class construction ship began work on the TW Piscis Austrini – Medea jump point.
On August 2nd the first four Jovian Legions, all comprised of assault troops, landed on Titan and established a beachhead. For the moment they held their ground and awaited reinforcements. A week later two Legions of mobile infantry arrived and on the 12th, the newly formed Legio X Hades joined the build-up. Two Legions, both composed of infantry, were still on the Enclave home world and would not be available for some time while Legio III ‘Ares’ was dispersed among several different locations. Vice Admiral Benitez decided to authorise the attack with the available forces. All seven Legions on Titan launched an all-out assault and met with early success, pushing back the defenders and inflicting disproportionate casualties. Meanwhile the Third Battle Squadron moved into a 150,000 kilometre orbit, ready to engage and destroy any newly launched Star Viking warships.
The disparate element of Legio III Ares were assembled over the next few weeks and the Legion was combat dropped on Titan on September 10th 2208 by four Nike class dropships. By this point the Jovian forces were in the ascendancy, driving into the population centres of the Star Vikings and steadily eliminating the defending forces. The leader of the genetically modified Star Vikings, ‘Erik the Red’, was not entirely sane and despite the worsening situation refused to surrender, urging his forces to throw the invaders off Titan. Three more weeks of hard fighting followed, with increasing numbers of Viking units overrun and destroyed, until Jovian legionnaires finally overcame the last resistance and took the leadership bunker in the capital city. Erik the Red and his bodyguards were killed during their defence of the redoubt. The civilian population was not prepared to continue the fight and surrendered to the victorious Jovian forces on October 1st.
Titan had a much smaller population so the number of captured installations was far less than after the conquest of the Enclave home world, even though the latter had suffered a considerable orbital bombardment. Only four shipyards were in orbit. Even so, the Jovian Federation already had far too much industry for its available population. Callisto, Europa, Ganymede and Io had full employment and there was no way to expand their industrial output except through the natural growth of their populations. In order to make use of its full industrial capacity, the Federation would have to use the population of the occupied worlds and it would likely be many years before the inhabitants of the Enclave home world and Titan would be as productive as their counterparts on the Jovian home worlds. It would be some time before the Federation could truly benefit from its recent victories.
Titan Industry
Population: 752m
Maintenance Facilities: 70
Construction Factories: 617
Ordnance Factories: 199
Fuel Refineries: 240
Mines: 745
Automated Mines: 96
Research Labs: 24
Ground Force Training Facilities: 4
Deep Space Tracking Stations: 11
Fuel: 53m Litres
Naval Shipyards
15,000 tons – 3 slipways
11,500 tons – 3 slipways
10,500 tons – 2 slipways
Commercial Shipyards
32,000 tons – 5 slipways
Surrendered Ships
3x Woden class Freighter
9x Grendel class Colony Ship
2x Asgard class Geosurvey
2x Tyr class Gravsurvey
Enclave Home World Survey
Duranium 55,858 Acc: 0.89
Neutronium 39,739 Acc: 0.67
Corbomite 64,298 Acc: 0.6
Tritanium 1,343 Acc: 0.15
Boronide 3,444 Acc: 0.21
Mercassium 56,365 Acc: 0.4
Vendarite 2,908 Acc: 0.2
Sorium 115,593 Acc: 1
Uridium 85,165 Acc: 0.4
Corundium 98,714 Acc: 0.7
Gallicite 19,260 Acc: 0.38
Mineral Stockpiles:
Duranium 34,700
Neutronium 51,000
Corbomite 46,000
Tritanium 22,800
Boronide 48,000
Mercassium 25,800
Vendarite 52,200
Sorium 55,000
Uridium 22,600
Corundium 37,300
Gallicite 18,000
New Tech
12cm Railgun
Railgun Launch Velocity 2
Cloak Sensor Reduction 80%
Minimum Cloak Size 20
Woden class Freighter 31,500 tons 83 Crew 392.8 BP TCS 630 TH 600 EM 0
952 km/s Armour 1-88 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 8 Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (4) Power 150 Fuel Use 10.61% Signature 150 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 16.2 billion km (196 days at full power)
Grendel class Colony Ship 18,850 tons 128 Crew 830 BP TCS 377 TH 600 EM 0
1591 km/s Armour 1-63 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 28 Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
Cryogenic Berths 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
150 EP Commercial Ion Drive (4) Power 150 Fuel Use 10.61% Signature 150 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 27.0 billion km (196 days at full power)
Asgard class Geosurvey Ship 2,000 tons 59 Crew 265.44 BP TCS 40 TH 58 EM 0
1450 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-14 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/1 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 0
Maint Life 6.63 Years MSP 166 AFR 16% IFR 0.2% 1YR 7 5YR 98 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
J4500(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 4500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
57.6 EP Ion Drive (1) Power 57.6 Fuel Use 43.04% Signature 57.6 Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 52.3 billion km (417 days at full power)
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
Tyr class Survey Ship 3,450 tons 67 Crew 362.52 BP TCS 69 TH 173 EM 0
2507 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-20 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/1/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 0
Maint Life 3.66 Years MSP 131 AFR 47% IFR 0.7% 1YR 15 5YR 227 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 2
J4500(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 4500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
57.6 EP Ion Drive (3) Power 57.6 Fuel Use 43.04% Signature 57.6 Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 121.2 billion km (559 days at full power)
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
In the meantime though Vice Admiral Benitez believed the Federation would benefit from a period of relative peace, allowing it to expand and update its military. The only remaining active threat was the Intruders and they had not sent a ship into Alpha Centauri for almost three years. The Second Battle Squadron and most of the captured Enclave warships were based at the Enclave home world and stood ready to defend it against any new incursion. For the moment though, there were no plans to launch any offensive operations through the Alpha Centauri – Lalande jump point. The other Battle Squadrons and the new carriers were all in orbit of Europa. While the bulk of the Jovian naval strength was concentrated at the home worlds and the Federation was not facing any immediate threats, Benitez intended to refit many of the existing warships to increase their maximum speed to 5000 km/s, matching the latest designs. Other upgrades would also be considered, although on a limited basis to avoid refits becoming more costly than building new ships.
While the wars against the Skye Enclave and the Star Vikings were now over, there were still five other human powers in the Sol system, plus the Zoltan Empire. Relations with the Zoltan were excellent and it was unlikely they would present a threat in the near future. Relations with the Martian Union, the Republic of India, the Russian Federation, the Union of South American Nations and the United Mercurian Emirates could best be described as neutral. Jovian Naval Intelligence did not believe any of the five Solarian nations were a short term threat, although that assessment became less certain over the long term. Resource shortages and competition for promising colony sites would eventually cause friction and JNI believed that within five to ten years there was a significant chance of conflict between rival powers in Sol. Reinforcing that view of a growing human diaspora was the discovery of an Indian colony on Aiakos III, three jumps from Sol via Luhman and EZ Aquarii, in late October 2208.
On February 2nd 2209, the Jovian excavation teams on Sparta discovered an intact alien research facility. The facility was in remarkably good condition and the computers still retained detailed information on the last system developed by the alien scientists – an Advanced Railgun. Using technology never contemplated by any Solarian power, the Advanced Railgun could fire twenty-five percent faster than the standard railgun, allowing one shot per second, instead of every 1.25 seconds. Using this technology as a base, Jovian scientists could produce a series of railgun design superior to any of its rivals. While lasers were still the weapon of choice for energy-armed Jovian vessels, Vice Admiral Benitez ordered his ship designers to prepare prototype designs for a railgun-armed warship.
At the end of March the destroyers Minotaur and Chimera were refitted to the new Minotaur II design. The Minotaur II was intended purely as an upgrade for the existing Minotaur class destroyer, rather than for new construction, and consequently was a mixture of the latest technology and the technology incorporated in the original design. In terms of capability, there were four major improvements; a trio of Prometheus Stardrives PS-320 Magneto-plasma Drives replaced the existing engines and increased speed from 4000 km/s to 5000 km/s, the 19cm spinal laser was replaced by the Apollo-Artemis 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Spinal Laser, one of the three fire controls was upgraded to the latest FN/SPG-26 Beam Fire Control, which had both higher tracking speed and longer range, and the endurance of the design was doubled by improvements in maintenance life and crew accommodations. Other more minor improvements included doubling the cryogenic berth capacity from two hundred to four hundred berths to improve the search and rescue capability of the Minotaur II and a twenty percent increase in fuel capacity. To allow for the extensive improvements, the hull size was increased by 600 tons to 9600 tons.
The nine existing 15cm lasers, the two other fire controls, the primary sensor and the seven gas-cooled reactors were retained to make the upgrade economically viable. Even so, the upgrade cost was almost fifty-six percent of the cost of a new Minotaur II. The improvements were carefully selected to provide the greatest increase in capability for the cost of the refit. All nine existing lasers could use the new fire control in ship to ship combat and benefit from its higher tracking speed while the combination of the upgraded fire control plus the powerful 25cm spinal laser increased maximum engagement range by 33%. The new laser would also punch through tougher armour than the older 19cm, as well as increasing shock damage. The extended endurance of the Minotaur II would also allow it to operate independently as a picket ship or in close-range defence of a jump point. Refits would be carried out on all existing Minotaurs as deployment requirements permitted.
Minotaur II class Destroyer 9,600 tons 281 Crew 1723.6 BP TCS 192 TH 960 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 6-40 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 44
Maint Life 3.27 Years MSP 673 AFR 122% IFR 1.7% 1YR 95 5YR 1422 Max Repair 160 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
Cryogenic Berths 400
Prometheus Stardrives PS-320 Magneto-plasma Drive (3) Power 320 Fuel Use 56% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 20.1 billion km (46 days at full power)
Apollo-Artemis 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Spinal Laser (1) Range 256,000km TS: 5000 km/s Power 16-4 RM 4 ROF 20
Apollo-Artemis 15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (9) Range 180,000km TS: 5000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 3 ROF 10
FN/SPG-6 Beam Fire Control (2) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 4000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
FN/SPG-26 Beam Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 5000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (7) Total Power Output 31.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
FN/SPS-3 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 9600 Range 105.6m km Resolution 100
FN/SLR-2 Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km
Two weeks after the Minotaur IIs emerged from Europa’s orbital shipyards, the first two units of a brand new design were completed in the same location. The Hippocrates class Hospital Ship was intended solely as a search and rescue vessel that would operate in close cooperation with Federation Navy battle fleets. In concept it was similar to a small colony ship but with significantly more hull space devoted to engines than in comparable commercial designs. Those additional engines allowed it to keep pace with the most modern warships, recovering Jovian survivors
Hippocrates class Hospital Ship 24,000 tons 222 Crew 1130.4 BP TCS 480 TH 2400 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 1-74 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 29 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 3
Cryogenic Berths 30000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 15
Prometheus Stardrives PS-400C Commercial Drive (6) Power 400 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 400 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 30.3 billion km (70 days at full power)
FN/SLR-2 Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km
In late April 2209, a refit of the Avalon class Jump Battlecruiser, captured by a boarding action during the war with the Skye Enclave, was completed. While the upgrade was less extensive than the wide-ranging improvements to the Minotaur class destroyer, the objective was very different. The Minotaur IIs were intended to serve as general purpose energy combatants, capable of acting independently or as part of a battle fleet, and therefore needed as much modern technology as could be sensibly incorporated into the refit. The Avalon II had one primary purpose – to serve as a jump-capable escort for the Andromeda class carriers, four of which were now in service. The largest Jovian-designed military jump drive was only capable of allowing a 9,000 ton ship to transit and the time and cost involved in developing a jump drive with a 24,000 ton capacity were significant, which made the Enclave-designed jump drive on the Avalon very useful indeed. Therefore the changes were restricted to those that would contribute most to allowing the Avalon II to fulfil its primary function.
Prometheus Stardrives had developed the new PS-900B Magneto-plasma Drive specifically for refitted Enclave warships. It was six percent smaller than the PS-800 used in the Andromeda class carriers yet had almost thirteen percent more power due to engine boosting technology. That increased power came at the expense of reduced efficiency and the PS-900B used about sixty-five percent more fuel than the PS-800. Even so, the new engine was designed to provide a speed of approximately 5000 km/s when using one engine for every 9000 tons of displacement. As the captured Enclave warships were all either 9000 tons or 27,000 tons, the PS-900B would allow them to easily operate alongside the latest Jovian designs. Besides, Enclave designs generally included large fuel capacities so increased fuel use was not a serious handicap, apart from the concerns relating to overall production. In fact, due to the generally higher fuel efficiency technology of Jovian engines, the Avalon II actually reduced fuel capacity by twenty-four percent compared to the original design with only a six percent drop in range.
The second major modification was the replacement of three Enclave beam fire control systems with a pair of the very latest FN/SPG-26 Beam Fire Controls. The older Enclave systems had a maximum tracking speed of just 3200 km/s compared to 5000 km/s for the FN/SPG-26. As the Avalon was equipped with twenty-four 15cm lasers, albeit based on old technology, it made no sense to handicap them by leaving the existing fire controls in place. No serious consideration was given to replacing the weapons due to the high cost involved. Even so, the Avalon II still had a formidable energy armament that could be used in close defence of the carriers. Finally, the general endurance of the Avalon was substantially improved by tripling its expected maintenance life (from 0.72 to 2.04 years) and doubling the intended deployment time to twelve months.
Avalon II class Jump Battlecruiser 27,000 tons 845 Crew 4928.6 BP TCS 540 TH 2707 EM 0
5012 km/s JR 4-250 Armour 7-80 Shields 0-0 Sensors 33/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 22 PPV 96
Maint Life 2.04 Years MSP 2510 AFR 265% IFR 3.7% 1YR 803 5YR 12048 Max Repair 696 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
J27200(4-250) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 27200 tons Distance 250k km Squadron Size 4
Prometheus Stardrives PS-900B Magneto-plasma Drive (3) Power 902.4 Fuel Use 58.52% Signature 902.4 Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 2,050,000 Litres Range 23.3 billion km (53 days at full power)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (24) Range 180,000km TS: 5012 km/s Power 6-3 RM 3 ROF 10
CIWS-120 (3x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
FN/SPG-26 Beam Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 5000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (17) Total Power Output 76.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR416-R77 (1) GPS 33264 Range 417.0m km Resolution 77
Thermal Sensor TH3-33 (1) Sensitivity 33 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-11 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km
to be continued...
