CAF Aegis Class Area Defense Missile Ship:
Although the Archer Class Battlecruiser gave the CAF a potent weapon against the Kreeghors new Defiler and Eradicator cruisers, in one way it was not a very efficient weapon: It was too powerful, and did not carry the right weapons mix and was rather too expensive to use as a escort for other ships.
To fulfill the need for a ship which could provide missile support for a carrier group, the CAF design bureau took the basic hull design of the Archer, and redesigned its weapon compliment to be centered around Long Range Missile Launchers. Incidentally the fitting of LRM launchers in Cruise Missile launcher fittings meant that space was left over, meaning that maintenance of the LRM launchers is much easier. The large parts commonality between the Archer and the Aegis classes also aids in lowering costs and improves logistics.
The Aegis looks like almost exactly like a Archer Battlecruiser (upon which it was based), with most of the exterior of the ship looking exactly the same. Just like with the Archer the most prominent feature of the Aegis class is the large amount of missile bay covering hatches on the ships hull, and since the hatches covering the missile bays were NOT redesigned, some of the long range missile launchers lie behind the huge hatches designed for cruise missile launchers. The only way to distinguish a Aegis from a Archer is to look at the ships beam weaponry, for here the two ships have very different emplacements. Not visible is the fact that both armor and shields are slightly inferior to those on the Archer Battlecruiser.
Just as with the Archer class much of the ships interior has been given over to cavernous missile bays and magazines, but more room was left for fighters, powered armors and especially freight. A item which is similar is the lack of extensive recreational areas in the ship, despite the complaints that this got from the evaluation and regular crews of the Archer class battlecruiser. This may actually signal the return to totally combat orientated ships, and a leaner, more streamlined CAF. Especially compared to some of the HAFN and early Wolfen designs, the CAF warships had become more and more luxurious (for warships that is....) in the last centuries.
The ships engines are copies of the ones fitted into the new Champion class cruiser, as these have been found to perform well, and are very size efficient. The difference is that six of them had to be fitted to give the ship enough power and acceleration. A plus to this is that because so much of the ships weaponry is missile based, relatively more power is available for the engines.
The ship is quite large, but as has been remarked, most of that size is to fit the huge load of missiles. The ships main battery consists of two heavy Graser cannons which have good power and range, enabling the ship to fight frigates and corvettes, as only one or two hits will destroy such small craft. Even cruisers will think twice before getting caught by these weapons. Its secondary weaponry are eight graser cannons, which give the ship the ability to fight corvettes and frigates at lower ranges too. Lastly it has four heavy mass drivers, enabling the ship to hold its own against targets that are impervious to energy as well.
The real armament are the missile launchers, and here the ship excels: It has only two cruise missile launchers, these weapons are for ship to ship combat, and give the heavy escort a reasonable long range punch. The real armament is a series of no less than twelve long range missile batteries. In addition to being capable of being used for ship to ship combat, these missiles give the Aegis the ability to provide anti fighter and anti cruise missile fire for a entire carrier group, and this is their main purpose. To this end, half of all LRM`s carried are fitted as Multi Warhead missiles, allowing the engagement of enormous amounts of fighters and missile volleys. All of these weapons are normally covered by large hatches that swing open to allow them to fire.
For its own defense the ship carries eight medium range missile launchers, and for point defense it carries sixteen GR-1000 railguns, sixteen particle beam cannons, and surprisingly, six tachyon scatter guns. This configuration of its point defense is the second test by CAF engineers to see if this array, previously only found on ships build or designed by the New Coventry shipyards (and on the Archer), is truly more effective than the usual mix of railguns, particle beams and mini-missile launchers that CAF ships carry. A added bonus is that this array has much longer range than the standard CAF Point Defense array, and this assists the ship in its role as escort and protector for other ships.
For its size the ship carries surprisingly few fighters, but this should not be much of a hindrance, as it is expected to be operated close to carriers most of the time. Three squadrons of light and two squadrons of medium fighters, coupled with six heavy fighters make up the ships entire compliment. Much of the room for the extra fighters came from the fact that two of the cruise missile mounts from the Archer are empty, with no corresponding LRM launcher to fill their place. The room that was freed was used for the enlargement of the hangar and the cargo space. Its marine and power armor compliment are also rather small, with only 220 marines and 24 Silverhawks, and this too is simply because so much of the ship is magazines and launchers. There simply is not as much interior to defend as one would expect! No Battlerams are carried, as these would be useless at most of the ships combat ranges and missions.
The last, but certainly not the least part of the ships arsenal is the Battlelink Main Control System with which all ships in the class will be equipped. Since the Aegis class are meant to work in concert with other large ships, at relatively low ranges, it was decided that the Main Battlelink computers would be a standard addition to the class.
This starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details
Model Type: ADS-1
Vehicle Type: Area Defense Missile Ship
Crew: 515 (45 Officers, 470 enlisted)
Troops: 220 Marines (Typically 80 stay on board for ship defense),
108 fighter pilots, 24 silverhawk pilots, and can carry up to 500 passengers
in addition.
Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:
Power Armors:
| 24 | SH-CCW100 Silverhawk Attack ExoSkeleton |
| 18 | SF-69 CAF Scorpion Star Interceptor | |
| 12 | BIF-67 Katana Starfighters or SF-101 Black Eagle Starfighters | |
| 6 | CAF LRF-25 Proctor Heavy Fighters |
M.D.C. By Location:
| 25 cm heavy Graser cannons (2): | 1,500 each | |
| 15 cm Support Graser cannons (8): | 1,200 each | |
| Heavy Mass Drivers (4, 2 forward and 1 on each side): | 1,200 each | |
| GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun Turrets (16): | 200 each | |
| Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (16): | 150 each | |
| Tachyon Scatterguns (6): | 200 each | |
| Cruise Missile Batteries (2): | 1,000 each | |
| Long Range Missile Batteries (12): | 600 each | |
| Medium Range Missile Launchers (8): | 500 each | |
| Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 200 | |
| Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 125 | |
| [1] Bridge: | 20,000 | |
| [1] Auxiliary Bridge: | 20,000 | |
| Hanger Bay: | 20,000 | |
| [2] Main Engines (6): | 15,000 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 115,000 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 9,000 a side (54,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon
to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship also has an auxiliary
bridge. Even if both bridges are taken out, the ship can still be piloted
from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be
at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the
ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the main engines means that ship FTL systems are destroyed
and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the cruiser out of
commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (2,700 MDC) per melee round
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship
to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 1.1 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 450 mph (724 kph),
can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric
flight
Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship
to reach a maximum of 6 lightyears per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
Carries about one years worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 2750 feet (825 meters)
Height: 620 feet (186 meters)
Width: 513 feet (154 meters)
Weight: 5.2 million Tons (4.7 million metric Tons)
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 50 year life span
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 60,000 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition.
Market Cost: A Aegis will cost approximately 11 billion credits
to build. No ships are available on the black market, and the CAF will
not sell them to member states of the CCW.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
Other Systems:
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By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa)
Minor revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune
).
Copyright © 1999, Mischa. All rights reserved.