Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

G. Postwar, it turned out that that prewar roster was actually quite good, just lacked in numbers to make a sufficient difference in the war.

H. However, construction of the Beijings and the Normandys were slowed down, in order to reallocate the moneys budgetted into the Solomani Security and Confederation Navy slush funds.

I. Sleight of hand has older (surviving) batches of Beijings and Normandys refurbished to keep up the appearance of new construction.

J. Refurbishment of the (surviving) Victory class battlecruisers, reignited an interest into battlecruiser class that can take over the heavy and strike cruiser role, and if necessary, support the line of battle.

K. Currently, there are no technological level fifteen cruisers, strike, heavy nor battle, to complement the Mercury class fast dreadnoughts, though the Shanghai class jump factor six strike cruiser production line is being set up.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

L. The policy of recycling components into new builds, if refurbishment is not financially feasible. removes a tool of statecraft where older starwarships are either gifted or sold to client states, or passed down to member navies.

M. It does leave a remainder of ship components that are too degraded to be considered to be used in new builds, but get stuffed into planetoid hulls, rather than be discarded.

N. Because of the cost of replacement, especially for major ship components, it's easier just to amputate old hulls and remove them, than pay that fifty percent premium for surgical slicing.

O. One assumes you could recycle the hull armour plating, if only for repairs.

P. Sticking to a single design for each category does help with transplantation.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

Q. We could shift some missions to commercial standard hulls.

R. Works great in peace time, though structural integrity and requisite damage control might suffer, somewhat.

S. It's an interesting question whether you want to invest in the normal set of (expensive) starwarship components, since the hull isn't quite as resilient as one built to military standards.

T. You probably could justify arming it with bays, but a spinal mount, probably not.

U. Likely a candidate for an arsenal (starwar)ship.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

V. Which would qualify that for a light cruiser.

W. The cheapest spinal mount is the railgun at half a billion starbux, the particle accelerator costing double.

X. However, engagement range would be medium compared to very long, which a commercial standard hull starwarship captain would be inclined to avoid.

Y. Assuming twenty five kilotonnes default standard hull, that's twelve hundred fifty megastarbux; eighteen and three quarter hundred for reinforced, nine hundred thirty seven and a half megastarbux for light.

Z. Four hundred sixty eight and three quarters megastarbux if ungravitated.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

1. Battlecruiser hulls tend to be more lightly constructed than battleships, in order to shave off weight and leverage that to speed.

2. Armour and protection need to be more strategically placed, in order to be able to protect the most vital areas onboard, rather than the all or nothing late period battleship scheme.

3. Hundred kilotonnes would be the minimum, in order to benefit from the structural integrity bonus.

4. Though not necessarily from the crew reduction, since I tend to usually overcrew anyway.

5. The crew reduction allows the vessel to be efficiently run at a lower minimum crewing level.

6. Also, something to consider if the ship itself is considered expendable, you want to minimize personnel loss.

7. Personally, I'd have discarded the battlecruiser, but Mongoose canon insists that the Confederation Navy has them.

8. So what I see happening is that at technological level fifteen, the Mercury class fast dreadnought needs a companion to balance out the line up, and they decide to design a new Victory for that first class cruiser role, and discard the heavy cruiser, though they would still have a heavyish cruiser, probably at fifty kilotonnes.

9. We could call it the Minerva class battlecruiser.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Which Mongoose Traveller source mentions this "cruiser gap of yours"?

I can't find it in any of the books I have.

 

[Condottiere]

All of this capability comes at a price. Maintaining a large battle line and assault force has forced the Navy to cut back on medium-sized ships. The Solomani are short of cruisers, large fleet escorts and destroyers, which in peacetime often leads to larger or smaller ships doing these jobs, and in wartime limits their options for independent raids and strikes. They do have many plentiful patrol ships, close escorts and couriers, as well as the Xboats and tenders for their communications mission. Rather than use full-size escorts or cruisers, the Solomani rely on heavy patrol ships in the 800 to 2,000 ton range carrying a small Marine or Army jump troop contingent when patrolling the Aslan and Hiver frontiers, for exploration missions, for general anti-piracy operations.

Another reason the Confederation Navy has fewer cruisers, still unknown to Imperial Naval Intelligence, is the construction of two classes of planetoid-hulled vessels for specialised infiltration operations. Built in part with ‘black budget’ SolSec External Directorate funds, the concept is similar to the Imperial reconnaissance cruiser but intended to perform covert missions deep within Imperial or Vegan space. These vessels prefer to stay far away from populated worlds, instead jumping into the sparsely defended outer reaches of a solar system or even its Oort cloud and refuelling from icy asteroids or comets. Upon arriving at their objective they will pretend to be an asteroid, with nearly all systems powered down and crews in frozen watch to eliminate heat signatures.


- Alien Module 5: Solomani

 

[Condottiere]

I could live with a gap between two and a hundred kilotonnes; of course, I'd circumvent that by using older starwarships, and maybe bumping the Shanghai class strike cruisers to hundred kilotonnes (plus).

Other construction would use commercial standard hulls, to at least give an appearance of having a full range of starwarships.

In view of the current rule set, the one place I'd break would be for super destroyers at five kilotonnes plus, since I'd want a capable platform to do practically everything else except hold the line.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

A. It could also depend on what the definition of battlecruiser would be, in the Fifth Millenia.

B. Because, I'd hesitate to procure a capital starwarship that sacrificed protection for speed, unless I'd get something more than just a faster, unarmoured battleship.

C. In theory, the fast dreadnought concept should have blended battleship and battlecruiser in one hull, that had almost the same speed with battleship guns and protection, but in a larger hull.

D. In our case, speed could translate into strategic range.

E. So what you have, is the heavy cruiser, the strike cruiser, and the battleship blended together.

F. Which would be a hundred kilotonne plus capital ship with capital ship armament, and five parsec range.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Have you read Solomani Front yet?

 

[Condottiere]

1. Yes.

2. It's what pushed me towards the Battlestar Galactica aesthetic.

3. It confirmed that the Confederation Navy had passed the technological level fifteen barrier.

4. The naval tender made me rethink the carrier concept, though considering the fighter (super) carrier was originally dispersed configuration, probably not a radical direction shift.

5. The Kestrel is a dumb idea, the torpedo strike boat rationale might be a large pool of available commercial smallcraft, and the light carrier concept as a whole needs a serious rethink.

6. Battle monitor is probably correct at a hundred kilotonnes, but needs more cowbell.

7. The core of the Confederation Navy remains at technological level fourteen, and if the previous suite of starwarships, on the heavier side, worked out, might as well have continued their design and construction.

8. The fleet destroyer concept requires a few tweaks: you need a five kilotonne hull for a number of benefits, basically sensors, crew reduction, and presumably damage mitigation, as well as stuff I can't think of right now.

9. If for the mid sized starwarships you can keep procurement and operating costs at a minimum, why not acquire them to make up the numbers?

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

G. Traveller design rules allow the continuation of ship components, potentially centuries after construction, as long as they are properly maintained.

H. Random quirks could potentially inhibit performance.

I. If modularization and podularization were incorporated into prewar Confederation Navy starwarships, it might be quite easy to switch them from ailing hulls to newly constructed ones, repaired ones, or refurbished ones.

J. Post war, this may have been done quite extensively without drawing attention to the practice, in a case of creative accounting.

K. We'll assume that the recycled components undergo stringent testing, before recertification.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

L. Fitted for, but not with.

M. Cruiser hulls could be constructed and commissioned, but a lot of components might not be fitted.

N. With podularization and modularization, it would be easy to leave them empty, or place empty ones.

O. Or, just cheap substitutes.

P. In theory, very few would know the difference, and if they did suspect, might ne caught by surprise when the intended components are onboard.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Found a couple of useful quotes:

Many of the vessels used for exploration by the Solomani Confederation are repurposed naval vessels, especially
in the regions close to the Confederation or one of its forward bases. For longer-range operations, specialist
vessels are preferred. By preference these are built to TL14 standards for starships but such vessels can only
be constructed in a few yards. TL12 or TL13 vessels are common, especially among those intended for use far
beyond the frontiers where spares will be difficult to obtain.
The exception is jump drives. These are constructed off-site and added to a vessel on a modular basis. Even at
the far forward bases, there are stockpiles of complete drives in standard sizes and large stocks of components
to maintain them. Maintaining these stocks is a laborious process but one considered absolutely necessary to
conducting a proper exploration capability or even just sustaining the Solomani presence so far from home.

Warship design is slightly
different, too. Solomani designs are normally geared to
one of three broad roles – patrol, strike and fleet. Patrol
vessels tend to be inexpensive and of generally low
overall capability for their size but are optimised for
long independent patrols. Strike vessels are generally
heavily armed but lightly protected. Their designation
refers to an ability to get maximum firepower on target
rather than being an indicator of strategic mobility.
Fleet platforms are intended mainly for warfighting
operations or support of them.

Where the Imperium requires jump-4 capability from all
its major warships, the Solomani Confederation typically
accepts a lower standard. Its vessels have smaller
distances to cover so can devote more space to weaponry
and combat systems rather than fuel. Patrol ships require
jump-2, fleet mobility is specified as jump-3 and vessels
intended for rapid-reaction or long-range raiding missions
typically have jump-4 or higher mobility.

Note that in Solomani Front there is no mention of a cruiser gap and if you do a search for cruiser they are mentioned rather a lot.

 

[Condottiere]

Many of the vessels used for exploration by the Solomani Confederation are repurposed naval vessels, especially in the regions close to the Confederation or one of its forward bases. For longer-range operations, specialist vessels are preferred. By preference these are built to TL14 standards for starships but such vessels can only be constructed in a few yards. TL12 or TL13 vessels are common, especially among those intended for use far beyond the frontiers where spares will be difficult to obtain.

1. Would have done that, as well.

2. At this point, the Confederation Navy is constructing technological level fourteen starwarships, or has upgraded the surviving ones built at technological level twelve or thirteen, at least in items easily refitted, like electronics and secondary and tertiary weapon systems.

3. Part of this are assumptions, that lower technological levels are easier and cheaper to repair and maintain, which I'm quite happy to go along with.

4. You get the impression that Solomani Confederation deep space exploration resembles more South Pole expeditions.


The exception is jump drives. These are constructed off-site and added to a vessel on a modular basis. Even at the far forward bases, there are stockpiles of complete drives in standard sizes and large stocks of components to maintain them. Maintaining these stocks is a laborious process but one considered absolutely necessary to conducting a proper exploration capability or even just sustaining the Solomani presence so far from home.

5. I'm pretty sure that those South Pole expeditions has engendered a need not to get stranded.

6. One reason I standardized engineering components for military vessels, available to commercial shipping, with the exception of stealth and high factored jump drives.

 

[Condottiere]

Warship design is slightly different, too. Solomani designs are normally geared to one of three broad roles – patrol, strike and fleet. Patrol vessels tend to be inexpensive and of generally low overall capability for their size but are optimised for long independent patrols. Strike vessels are generally heavily armed but lightly protected. Their designation refers to an ability to get maximum firepower on target rather than being an indicator of strategic mobility. Fleet platforms are intended mainly for warfighting operations or support of them.

1. Patrol can be anything, though in this case, it's figuring out a cheap solution with adequate performance for mostly internal security.

2. And since you already have an innocuous platform, adapting them to more specialized missions.

3. I would have tagged them as general purpose frigates, but after looking over the design rules, I'd cap the primary hull at a kilotonne, and the likely term would be corvette.

4. At this point, I'd jump to five kilotonne, which would be the minimum size for a super destroyer, though obviously not categorized as such.

5. Destroyers are by their nature in the strike category.

6. Optimized strike platforms would be medium fighters and battle riders.

7. Also, having a large line of battle also ensures a great deal of sustained destructive power.

8. There are four, more or less, squadron types that are combat orientated, Fleet, Strike, Carrier, and Patrol.

9. I added Communications and Logistics.

 

[Condottiere]

Where the Imperium requires jump-4 capability from all its major warships, the Solomani Confederation typically accepts a lower standard. Its vessels have smaller distances to cover so can devote more space to weaponry and combat systems rather than fuel. Patrol ships require jump-2, fleet mobility is specified as jump-3 and vessels intended for rapid-reaction or long-range raiding missions typically have jump-4 or higher mobility.

1. That's a dumb idea, since the Imperium Navy has numbers, and interior lines of communications work if you tend to stay within your bailiwick, not have plans to overrun that of the enemy's.

2. The reason they retain the Beijing class of (deep) strike cruisers, and why I think they'll continue that with six parsec range Shanghai class successor (one of which is probably already in the hands of Solomani Security).

3. I don't see them having two parsec starwarships, unless it's for local defence (star cluster), which naval Home Guard units are supposed to supply.

4. Prewar, the Confederation Navy was already building their major and capital starwarships with jump factor four drives.

5. Jump factor four is just for keeping up with the Imperials.

6. Jump factor three could be for units where lagging behind could be mitigated, such as that of naval tenders with their large cargoes.

Note that in Solomani Front there is no mention of a cruiser gap and if you do a search for cruiser they are mentioned rather a lot.

7. There are lots of cruisers listed prewar, and they probably did most of the heavy lifting by the end of it.

8. However, I do believe that the strategy is accumulating capital starwarships before the next conflict.

9. My contribution is that the impression that the Confederation has the correct ratio of intermediate and large combatants to the battle line, through the application of Maskirovka.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

Q. It depends on what the Imperium Navy believes is a reasonable number of cruisers per sector.

R. Sector Fleet would indicate about forty eight to sixty four deployed, with half light, and half heavyish.

S. Old Expanses sector appears to have nineteen light cruisers, and thirty three heavyish cruisers.

T. For six sector fleets, you could allocate funds to build and commission six heavyish cruisers per annum, as well as three light cruisers.

U. Though in regard to the emphasis on capital ship construction, that could reasonably expected to be lowered.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

V. It should be realized that this policy would leave almost no reserve force of cruisers, except, possibly, in the form of empty, depodularized hulls.

W. Construction and storage of (heavyish) cruisers and their components would be at the most secure sector fleet facilities, to prevent espionage, alongside the Prometheii.

X. Ratio of heavyish cruisers could be equally split between the Beijings, Normandys, and the (upgraded) technological level thirteen Minsk and Yamamotos.

Y. New Beijings and Normandys could have an actual production rate of one per annum, each.

Z. Presumably, mid life extension would be fifty years, unless the quirk seriously effects performance.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Cruiser Gap

1. It can also be geographical.

2. Let's go with the lower range of what would be acceptable Imperium Navy's cruiser deployment, forty eight per sector.

3. Surviving Victory class battlecruisers are downrated to grand cruisers.

4. Six of each are assigned to each sector bordering the Aslan frontier.

5. Accompanied by six each of the technological level thirteen Minsk and Yamamoto classes.

6. The contingency contingent of six Beijings, in case things get out of hand, for that Tiananmen moment.

7. Which would cover the requisite twenty four heavyish cruisers.

8. The Fleet Squadrons would be deployed noticeably closer to the Imperium border.

9. Except for the one Fleet Squadron under direct control of each quadrant Vice Admiral.