Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

A. Most importantly, we're going to have to do something "revolutionary".

B. The primary hull gets equipped with acceleration factor nine manoeuvre drives.

C. If you have enough of a heads up and dump everything, you can outrun most spacecraft, and missiles.

D. As the drop tank is basically a balloon, you could probably patch up any subsequent holes, when and if you get the chance to go back and pick it up.

E. The hangar pod, in this instance, probably would take longer, and perhaps more specialized facilities, to do the same.

F. Probably should have some emergency facilities to accommodate the crew(s) of the subsidiary spacecraft(s), if not their rides.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

G. Four times one hundred five tonne manoeuvre drive modules is four hundred twenty tonnes, 8.39832033593281 percent of fifty hundred and one tonnes.

H. Ten percent size reduction would be 9.33146703992535 percent.

I. Factor nine would be 5'185.185 tonnes, 184.185 tonnes over.

J. Ten kilotonnes would be four and two thirds gees.

K. Fifteen kilotonnes would three and one ninth gees.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

L. Three hundred fifteen jump drive module is twelve thousand four hundred parsec tonnes.

M. Four divided by factor three would allow excess of fifteen hundred thirty three tonnes.

N. Twenty percent reduction is fifteen thousand five hundred each, so only three modules required.

O. I guess in that sense keeping at factor three would make sense.

P. (Deep) strike destroyers would still be factor five.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

Q. A recovery deck may be used to store small craft on board a ship but it cannot function as a full hangar since it is open to vacuum

R. If we assume full hangar, that would be five examples of the maximum tonnage the deck was designed to recover spacecraft for.

S. Also, if it can recover, it could just as easily launch spacecraft for it's designed weight, and under.

T. Wouldn't try that opposite for launch tubes.

U. Since it would be the equivalent of trying to fit a camel into the eye of the needle, at speed.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

1. Before the latest update to High Guard, it made sense to try and push the low end of the Confederation Navy to two kilotonne hulls.

2. You also had the example of the Tenzing class exploration ship.

3. But without that double cockpit, doesn't seem much point.

4. Also, since the five kilotonne hurdle is cleared, what you want is somewhat more mass for actual combatants.

5. Two kilotonne hulls don't really contribute much to the order of battle, and escort, as compared to fleet escort implies a kilotonne and below.

6. Basically, instead of littoral, we could term them orbital combat ships.

7. I don't think their survival chances are much better.

8. Their primary mission would be patrol, reconnaissance, presence, and escort; maybe courier and troop transport.

9. However, I think their modularization concept will actually function as intended.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

A. Starwarships in the kilotonne range could be described as either heavy patrol ships or frigates, rather than destroyer escorts.

B. Complement would be the crew plus a squad, supposedly of Confederation Marines.

C. Since we start at technological level twelve, we use a hundred five tonne jump drive module factor three, budget/increased size, which would give you a kilotonne plus sixty six tonnes at three parsex.

D. Two thirty five tonne manoeuvre drive modules would get you about acceleration factor seven; budget/energy inefficient would discourage flank speed except at need.

E. You could have Combined Rocket And Manoeuvre.

F. Combined Manoeuvre And Manoeuvre would be subject to lowest common denominator.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

G. Interestingly, you could have at technological level twelve a factor one manoeuvre drive utilizing only a quarter of required default energy input.

H. Unfortunately, you couldn't use it to accelerate any volume more than one gee.

I. That could give you Combined Manoeuvre Or Manoeuvre, if you have two different manoeuvre drive engines, and you'd need choose one to accelerate.

J. Unless, you have added volume above then that normally configured for, and total acceleration would be one gee or below.

K. I don't think the cruising acceleration of a patrol ship would be one gee, rather closer to five.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

L. Cruising speed is a compromise between minimal wear and tear, fuel efficiency, and getting somewhere within a certain time frame.

M. Our engineering profiles tend to be rather linear.

N. In other words, for a given engine, there are no economies of scale.

O. Economies of scope, basically an extra drive that's tinkered to require less energy to get the same output, though in our design customization, at the expense of maximum potential.

P. And there being an incompatibility due to lowest common denominator, at least in terms of increasing maximum potential.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

Q. Based on a standard design that has been used for centuries, the class is built throughout the Confederation and is used by planetary navies and client states as well as in Confederation Navy PatRons (Patrol Squadrons).

R. We can't retcon it with breakaways, though probably originate it to at least the Civil War.

S. Samurai class heavy patrol cruiser might be rather localized to the Sphere.

T. 2 50 ton cutters and 10 Marines provide the ability to board vessels for searches, should that be necessary.

U. The class has an engineering shop and sickbay allowing the ship to stay on-station for long periods of time.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

V. I think I may have sent in an updated design for the Journal some time back, but since I haven't heard back, I feel free in recreating it here.

W. Updated again.

X. For the early days of the Confederation, that streamlined hull was important, as it allowed the patrol ship to land dirtside, in pursuit of it's mission, and in case orbital facilities weren't present.

Y. Useful in the frontier areas, and with lots of cargo space, a predecessor to the Tenzing class.

Z. It lends itself to all sorts of subclasses, like a stealthed Ninja, or cheap Ashigaru.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

1. Most important is engineering.

2. Model thruster/twelve/default/thirty five gives us thirty five hundred thrust tonnes.

3. That's enough for three and a half gees of acceleration for a kilotonne spacecraft.

4. If you have two modules, that would reach the cap of factor seven acceleration.

5. Canon says the Samurai is acceleration factor four, though that would be in a maximum factor six universe.

6. Increased acceleration allows a greater area of space to be patrolled.

7. You could switch off one engine, and accelerate along at three and a half gees.

8. Model thruster/twelve/increased/thirty five would be a quarter cheaper, but only accelerate at two and four fifths gees.

9. Two modules would be five and three fifths gees.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

A. A hundred five tonne jump drive module would be forty hundred parsec tonnes, so more for the next technological level.

B. Three thirty five tonne modules would be twelve hundred parsec tonnes each, so thirty six hundred, which would allow a two hundred tonne pod or external smallcraft.

C. Thirty five tonne modules would allow redundancy, and compatibility with four hundred tonne escorts.

D. Model jump/twelve/increased/thirty five would be nine hundred twenty parsec tonnes at a twenty five percent discount.

E. Primary reason I don't think there's much point in utilizing that disadvantage for jump drives beyond the model/nine/increased/ten.

F. Budget variant would be jump/twelve/inefficient/thirty five, with thirty percent more energy requirement.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

G. Taking a step backwards to technological level eleven, we get parsec two range and thrust five.

H. Now, I disagree with the direction the current edition has taken with Confederation Navy ship design, but let's assume that obsession with parsec two and three range starts here.

I. Or there.

J. Model jump/eleven/default/thirty five is twelve hundred parsec tonnes, divided by two, six hundred tonnes.

K. Model jump/eleven/inefficient/thirty five is the same, plus thirty percent power points, at twenty five percent discount.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

L. Definitely noticing a pattern here.

M. For every extra parsec range increase, I just add an additional thirty five tonne jump drive module.

N. You get two hundred tonnes left over.

O. But you know what, that could be used as additional mission pod.

P. If it wasn't for the fact that suddenly I'd have to pay to wire up twelve hundred tonnes for the bridge, instead of just a kilotonne.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ships

Q. Technological level eleven predecessor could be called Saburai class.

R. While you could explore lower teched variants, the modern concept of the patrol ship would probably have developed maybe pre Third Imperium, amongst the more developed of the Solomani system alliances.

S. You could assume it's about this time that expansion of their respective spheres of influence started colliding, with each other, and more independently minded systems.

T. Since we'll assume that with limited resources, you're going to have less than ideal numbers of (para)militarized spacecraft.

U. That means, you're more likely to try incorporate multiple purposes and missions in a larger hull.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

V. Looking over the naval tender Carnot class, made me reconsider the Fighter Carrier concept.

W. Instead of a logistics barge or a battle rider, the naval tender carries a hangar pod, supposedly hundred kilotonnes.

X. That centralizes carrier operations, especially since there only seems to be four Fighter Carriers per sector.

Y. They could be accompanied by an assault pod, and/or a troop transport pod.

Z. That gives the Confederation Navy incredible flexibility in kitting out a Carrier Squadron.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

1. Since there are supposedly two Carrier and two Assault Squadrons, we'll total it up to four Carrier Squadrons per Sector.

2. The four Carrier Squadrons will have the same status as the twelve Fleet Squadrons, commanded by a Rear Admiral, even if involved in a totally logistical function, such as strategic sustainment.

3. Each Carrier Squadron will have one to three Carrier Divisions, commanded by a Contra Admiral.

4. Each Carrier Division will have one Naval Tender, four escorts, two fleet couriers, and maybe a basestar.

5. Battle riding would be incorporated in the Carrier Squadron, which is why they are expanded to upto three Carrier Divisions.

6. Carrier Divisions would normally be escorted by a Fleet or Strike Division.

7. Model jump/fourteen/double reduction/thirty one hundred fifty is one fifty seven thousand three hundred parsec tonnes.

8. Nine modules would be fourteen hundred fifteen and seven tenths parsec kilotonnes.

9. Divided by three, four hundred seventy one and nine tenths kilotonnes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

A. Jump fuel 141'570 tonnes.

B. Jump drive nine thirty one and a half hundred tonne modules, total 28'350 tonnes.

C. The option would be between heavily arming and armouring the Naval Tender, and nine percent of volume dedicated to thrusters.

D. Essentially, not being around when trouble comes looking.

E. While breakaways start looking attractive, besides the two percent overhead, an issue arises as to how generic breakaway hulls would be.

F. In other words, how specific to a primary hull that a breakaway hull would be, or to each other.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

G. If I were to attach drop tanks, I'd have to add two fifths of a percent for the drop tank volume for the fittings in the spacecraft's hull, at a semimegastarbux per tonne.

H. Default spacecraft tonnage cost is the same for both ungravitated breakaway and drop tank.

I. However, breakaway fittings take up two percent both in the primary and secondary hulls, at two megastarbux per tonne.

J. However, I could then turn the breakaway into a fuel shuttle.

K. These could then independently go and fill up.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Carriers

L. A number of design choices, or more accurately, directions, have appeared.

M. More accurately, it occurred to me from maybe the beginning of this year and have started crystalizing.

N. If Tee Twenty was basically the Confederation Navy using Star Wars Empire aesthetic, then Mongoosed Too could be Battlestar Galactica.

O. The key points are the inclusion of secondary hulls, envisioned in Tee Five, presented for the Ghalalk class as podularization, and me playing Deadlock.

P. While Grand/Sector Fleet numbers don't make sense, they are a basis for the setting, and I thought it was time to figure out a reconciliation between Carrier, Assault, logistics, and battle rider Squadrons for the Confederation Navy, especially when I was looking at the Carnot class.