NationStates Jolt Archive


Ships of the Wall, and technology (Info thread, FT)

Veredia
12-12-2006, 06:33
I'm attempting to come up with a brand new fleet of ships for the Veredian Space Navy, and they will be posted here. Tech used is more or less homegrown, though I'm tempted to switch over to honorverse tech, but suddenly switching over wouldn't be a good idea, though new additions to my old tech will be inspired by it.

At present, it's a mixture of Babylon 5 inspired tech, Corpsac tech, and my own stuff.



Powerplants:

The Veredian Space Navy predominately uses two types of power systems for its fleet, Quantum Singularity Cores, and Fusion Reactors. QSCs, while far more powerful, are more expensive, so less combat-oriented ships will often use fusion reactors to reduce cost at the expense of firepower, shield strength, and engine power.

Propulsion:

For propulsion purposes, the VSN utilizes particle-accelarated Ion Engines. Multiple small-scale accelarators are used to boost power and provide greater accelaration.

Weaponry:

Close in Veredian weapon systems have grown increasingly powerful, and the primary energy weapons consist of Darion III Pulse Cannons and Directed-Fusion Cannons, which initiate a fusion reaction contained within a magentic field bottle to maintain cohesion and contain the reaction. The 'bottle' is then fired at an enemy vessel where the front of the bottle collapses upon contact with shield systems or a ships hull, in a similar style to a shaped-charge warhead. The fusion reaction inside the bottle builds up considerably, and as the range increases, so does the damage. However, even at point-blank, the reaction can engulf whole sections of a ship, which, while not having the same impact as the sudden release of a fusion reaction's energy in a single coherent blast, is nevertheless powerful.

Both the Darion III and the DFC come in a variety of grades, typically ranging from 'light', to 'medium', to 'heavy' to 'assault'. Light DFCs fire extremely small bottles, and are typically mounted only onto frigates as a primary weapon system. Darions fire highly focused coherent energy pulses, weaker than DFCs, but with far smaller and cheaper, and constitute the standard energy weapon of the VSN.

Missiles however, constitute the primary weapon system of the VSN. Originally an auxillary weapon, there usefulness and potential were demonstrated in numerous conflicts, and they have evolved as the primary weapon system of the VSN. Ships will typically avoid energy ranges, preferring to saturate an enemy's missile defences with massed salvos in which EW missiles and electronic penetration aids are used to scramble enemy sensors and point-defence, while shutting down their own EW systems. Missiles originally came in single drive contact form, but have since evolved.

The primary missiles, at least those mounted by destroyers and up, are multi-drive weapons, typically consisting of a single drive to accelarate it towards its target, and a second drive that kicks in to provide additional velocity and extreme maneuvering capability for evading enemy point-defence and hitting the enemy.

Warheads come in three varietys, shaped-charge fusion warheads, particle heads, and Hydra systems. Hydra missiles have long been the powerhouse weapons of the VSN, and their cost and power restrict the number of them carried. The latest ship to ship version is the Hydra-7, which only battlecruisers and up carry any number of and are reserved for special use. Hydra-5s and Hydra-8s are used in anti-orbital defence by land based silos, and defence fortifications, if they use any, will use Hydra-9s.

Shaped charge fusion bombs are a step up from classic nukes, switching over to far more powerful hydrogen bombs. The missiles and warheads are specially designed to direct that blast at the target, to minize wasted energy.

Particle heads are the newest addition, and are expected to outperform any weapon systems presently in service. These weapons have a standoff attack range of approximately 50,000 km. Rather than rely on contact with any enemy's hull or shields, they explode in a shower of bomb-pumped particle beams, like the older Particle Beam weapons that have been phased out of service, replaced by the DFC. A Mk.2 Particle head missile will unleash 25 particle beams, the Mk.4s carried by dreadnoughts unleash 50. These are potent weapons, and are capable of hitting multiple targets within a formation.

The fourth type of missile used is the Counter Missile, or CM. These are small, high speed cluster weapons that fire at inbound torpedos and missiles, exploding in close proximity into a series of smaller explosives in case the CM misses its target, in hopes the secondary explosions will kill it. They are fired from specialized launchers and are part of any ship's active missile defence system.

A further upgrade to Veredian missile systems is the introduction of the new Mk.5 Launchers which integrate a rail gun system into the launcher. The rails accelarate the missiles out of the launchers, providing a far higher base velocity than initially possible.

Other weapon types in service are the venerable mass drivers. Though no longer a main weapon, they serve as close in defence weapons for anti-fighter and anti-missile work. They are used in mass numbers, and can provide a veritable wall of fire to shoot down inbound ordnance or fighter craft. There are three types of rounds available, High-Explosive, Flak, and KE-Kill rounds.

Another Integral part of the missile defence net are the last dithc particle clusters. These clusters fire a series of weak particle beams, that while unable to cause much in the way of damage to a full fledged ship, can tear apart a missile or torpedo and are used as the last line of defence against incoming ordnance.

Shielding:

Veredia first attained shield technology when it received Arenumberg's dual shield technology, which projected a multilayer energy shield around a vessel's hull. Prior to that, defence consisted of the thick, heavy armour typical of Veredian designs.

The latest shield systems project five layers of shielding. Each layer is different, and they cannot all stop the same weapons. Certain layers are capable of defeating most plasma based weapons, others excel at stopping lasers, grasers, and similar weapons, others block out KE weapons, and the two remaining layers are general purpose, while weaker against specific weapons than the specialized layers, they can provide some protection against most weapon systems. Once a shield suffers failure, it will overload its projectors, so all ships' computers are programmed to automatically shut down the projectors just before a shield layer is overwhelmed.

Armour consists of a crystal-laced energy-absorbant layer that excels against energy weapons. A second layer is a liquid layer, consisting of thousands of small 'pockets' of a specialized fluid. When a KE object impacts it, shattering through the crystal layer, the fluid hardens, becoming an ultra-hard shell that excels at stopping KE fire. A third layer consists of generic, all-purpose Veredian Star-Shield armour plating.


updates will be continuous as time becomes available and I think up more items or more details.