10 - Starship Reference

Table of Contents:

• 10.1 Nova-class Mark II Tactical Overview
• 10.2 Warp Factor Chart
• 10.3 Hull Classifications
• 10.4 New Starships

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10.1 Nova-class Mark II Tactical Overview

Welcome to USS Galileo's tactical overview. The following sections will address the fundamentals and intricacies of starship-to-starship combat aboard a Nova-class starship. Successfully engaging another vessel in space requires an immense amount of skill and coordination between both the commander and their crew, and such engagements can quickly become overwhelming to the unprepared crew member. It is essential for all crew to become familiar with Galileo's systems as well as its strengths, weaknesses and performance capabilities.

The Nova-class Mark II starship -- one of the smallest and most specialized starships ever constructed by Starfleet -- was not designed as a combat-oriented vessel. Like all Starfleet vessels, it is capable of multi-role mission profiles and is adequately armed to be able to defend itself and engage hostile starships; but it was never designed or intended to serve as a ship-of-the-line. The Nova-class' strengths lie in its small size and specialization, and it is much more suited for recon, scout and support roles rather than direct-fire engagements. The ship class' strengths lie in its ability to support fellow friendly starships, not in its ability to stand head-to-head with and out-gun an enemy.

NOVA-CLASS PROFICIENCIES

The Nova-class (Mark I and II) is a small science vessel which is essentially a large self-sufficient laboratory. In fact, the Nova-class has many laboratories which allow the ship to conduct a plethora of simultaneous research at any given moment. The vessel is ideally suited for planetary science mission profiles, resulting in several advantages its systems and hull design offer.

• Advanced sensors. The Nova-class possesses the most advanced sensors in the fleet and sports not just one, but two forward-facing deflector arrays. The primary array is located at the bow of the secondary hull and houses the majority of Galileo's long-range navigational sensors. The primary deflector array -- like all primary arrays -- allows the ship to "see" what's in front of it as it travels at impulse and warp throughout the cosmos. Without this array, it would be impossible for the starship to effectively navigate through space without risking a fatal collision with a stellar body. The secondary array, located at the bow of the primary hull (saucer section), provides advanced short and long-range scanning capabilities. A Nova-class is able to detect starships and stellar phenomena at distances unmatched by any other Starfleet design, and is also able to conduct more detailed scans and acquire more pertinent information about these objects at a superior range. For these reasons, Nova-class vessels make excellent scout and reconnaissance platforms, as they are often able to detect enemy formations at great distance, often times even if they are cloaked.
• Electronic Warfare - ECM. Galileo's latest refit saw the installation of a new model of secondary deflector array designed specifically for the Nova-class, the SDA-23. This new array is much improved over the old SDA-20 array and includes several potent electronic warfare (EW) packages. The most notable of these packages is the new electronic countermeasure (ECM) system, the Mark-V Spaceborne Self-Protection Jammer (SSPJ) which operates on wide-band EM frequencies to confuse and jam enemy targeting sensors. The SSPJ operates by denying enemy sensors of their range-resolving capabilities. Hostile targeting sensors are able to "see" Galileo, but they are unable to determine a precise distance to or from the ship. Without knowing the exact range to their target, targeting sensors are unable to form an accurate firing solution, which allows Galileo to successfully evade a substantial amount of projectile and direct energy fire as long as the SSPJ is actively jamming. The SSPJ can also operate in a passive Receive mode which allows it to remain in Standby mode until it detects hostile targeting sensors painting the vessel, at which point it will turn itself on and jam the hostile sensors without the need for any operator input.
• Electronic Warfare - ECCM. While the SDA-23 uses its integrated ECM systems to provide Galileo with excellent defense, the Nova-class can also utilize EW as an offensive weapon. Located on either side of the primary hull next to the forward torpedo launchers are two dedicated science sensor suites. Each of these suites contains a large amount of specialized equipment for the purposes of achieving additional scanning range and accuracy. These sensor suites are able to cut through all types of stellar interference to prevent signal degradation and they allow Galileo a clear view of anything her sensors are attempting to scan. In combat situations, these same sensor suites prove invaluable as electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) systems. They allow the Nova-class to reduce and eliminate the effects of enemy jamming and they work with the rest of the vessel's sensor arrays to detect and reveal cloaked vessels with high accuracy.
• Size. The Nova-class is a very small vessel. It is only 180 meters in length which makes it roughly half the size of a Galaxy-class' warp nacelle and only half the size of an Intrepid-class. The only two smaller Starfleet ship classes are the Defiant-class and the retired Oberth-class. Small vessels are notoriously difficult to target and hit with weapons fire due to their diminished hull profiles, and Galileo is no different. The vessel's side, forward, and aft profiles are all very slim and streamlined, making it extremely challenging to land hits against the hull. The dorsal and ventral profiles are slightly larger and more boxed-shaped, meaning an ideal strafing run against a Nova-class would come from either above or below the vessel.
• Maneuverability. Small vessels are generally much more maneuverable than their larger counterparts and the Nova-class is no exception. It sports a single large T2-16 impulse engine capable of propelling the ship close to speeds of 0.25c (1/4 the speed of light), and the vessel is also equipped with four v3 RCS thruster quads. The oversized and powerful impulse engine gives Galileo an extremely high thrust-to-mass ratio (TMR) which allows the vessel superior acceleration over its counterparts. Its RCS thrusters provide excellent sub-light maneuverability, and when a competent Nova-class helmsman utilizes both systems effectively, there are only a handful of other starship classes in the galaxy that can out-maneuver a Nova-class.

NOVA-CLASS DEFICIENCIES

The Nova-class has several key advantages in combat as described above, but it also has several weaknesses which all crew members must be aware of. Because the Nova-class was developed as a science platform, it lacks many of the combat advantages afforded to larger and more heavily armed starships.

• Power consumption. The Nova-class is, by design, slightly underpowered. Its primary reactor is the Ceries Industries F-Type standard matter/antimatter drive which was designed for use aboard smaller sized Federation vessels. It is a perfect fit for the Nova-class' small hull frame but the reactor's small design size means its power output is not as high as the larger B-Class or RamJet cores. This economic warp core is quite capable of powering Galileo and sustaining all of its systems, but power consumption becomes problematic during prolonged combat situations which large amounts of sustained power must be generated to operate weapons systems, shields, sensors, and auxiliary systems at maximum capacity. Additional power for the combat systems is generated by the impulse reactor, but even when the two are operating at maximum output, power levels tend to become unstable after a period of time.
• Shields. Nova-class starships have a standard deflector shield system composed of 11 individual shield grids spread across the hull. These deflectors are quite effective at protecting the vessel from incoming fire and they're able to provide a total shield output of ~1,670 MW. They're also able to protect the vessel against 42% of the EM spectrum as opposed to the Galaxy-class' shields which only cover 23% of the EM spectrum. In addition, the Nova-class is equipped with a metaphasic shielding system which protects the vessel from extreme and dangerous environments such as high temperature (star coronas) and radiation-rich environments. Unfortunately, the Nova-class lacks the advanced combat shielding found on many other Starfleet ship designs. It does not have an auto-modulating shield system which can adapt to the weapons frequencies of incoming fire, and it does not have a regenerative shielding system which allows distribution of weapons fire across the entire deflector grid as well as backup shield generators to prevent select grids from going offline. A Nova-class has extreme difficulty withstanding concentrated fire against a single shield facing, and when a grid goes offline, it does not have a backup to protect the hull. Combined with the inherent power issues a Nova-class experiences in combat, this often means it cannot stay in the fight for long or handle sustained incoming weapons fire.
• Hull. Galileo's hull is constructed from a thick multilayer duranium-tritanium composite which provides -- under normal circumstances -- excellent protection against the elements of space. This composite is structurally engineered to reinforce the entire starship's frame, a concept commonly known as structural integrity. Several of the Nova-class' internal systems help generate its structural integrity field (SIF) which reinforces the vessel's primary bulkheads and supports, and this field also helps protect the ship's internals in the event of a hull breach. However, a ship's structural integrity is only as strong as its architecture allows, meaning smaller vessels have much lower structural integrity than larger ones. Larger hulls are inherently stronger and more durable than smaller ones, and any breaches or damage to larger hulls are often not as critical as the same damage would be to a smaller hull. This means Galileo and her fellow Nova-classes are vulnerable to severe structural damage from weapons fire if a direct hit impacts the hull, and in the event of a hull breach, it can often cripple the ship. Because the Nova-class was designed as a science platform, it also lacks advanced hull plating such as ablative armor which is able to disperse incoming fire and reduce damage to the hull.
• Speed (Warp). It is no secret the Nova-class is a slow ship. It performs well at sub-light speeds but struggles at warp with a top speed of only about Warp 8.75 and a modest cruise velocity of Warp 6. The Nova-class was never designed to be a fast vessel primarily because its primary mission profiles (survey and reconnaissance) do not require high warp factors across long distances. As such, the combat implications of this speed limitation mean the Nova-class is often unable to escape from potential threats. As warp technology evolves and vessels from various governments have become faster, the Nova-class finds itself unable to outrun a faster opponent and therefore must resort to other methods of self-protection such as concealment and subterfuge. Similarly, Galileo is also poorly suited as both an intercept and diplomatic platform because its slow speed makes it problematic to rendezvous with faster vessels.
• Crew Defense. Like her older sister the Oberth-class, the Nova-class carries a small crew of less than 80 personnel. There are also many civilian specialists serving aboard Galileo at any given time, and the majority of the vessel's crew compliment is dedicated to supporting its science operations. Nova-class starships have a very small Security department of usually six to eight personnel, and this means the ship is poorly suited to repel boarding parties or engage in close quarter battle with hostile forces. Many of Galileo's personnel from various departments are proficient in personal defense techniques, but it is still difficult to overcome enemy intruders due to a lack of trained Security personnel.

CONCLUSION

The Nova-class was never designed with a major focus on combat. Its strengths lie in its small size, maneuverability, superior sensors, and EW capabilities, and it takes a skilled commander to successfully deploy these advantages against an opponent possessing greater firepower. Galileo is not often able to engage in prolonged firefights due to her weaker hull strength and non-reinforced shield systems, and she also has difficulty managing her power output and outrunning an enemy. If she is ever boarded by hostile raiding parties, her crew is not ideally equipped to handle a skilled invasion force.

Nevertheless, Galileo can be a formidable opponent in any skirmish. For the vessel to be successful and emerge victorious, her commander must play to the Nova-class' strengths while strategically offsetting its weaknesses, and must also be aware of the opponent's ship's strengths and weaknesses. More often than not, the quality and training of the crew and the captain is the biggest determining factor in any engagement.

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10.2 Warp Factor Chart

Figure 10.2.1 - Master warp factor table (Click to enlarge)

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10.3 Hull Classifications

Starships come in many different sizes, shapes, colors and configurations. Different governments have radically different starship design theories which results in a wide variety of different vessels Galileo and her crew might encounter. Although most of these vessels appear to be drastically different from others (especially when compared cross-government), most starships can be identified according to their hull classification.

These hull classifications are universal and pertain to all known vessels in the galaxy. Identifying a vessel's hull classification reveals a great deal of information about the starship. Hull classification is generally a combined measurement of a starship's size (dimensions) and displacement (mass), which in turn dictates its combat capabilities and functions. Let us now examine the primary hull classifications we will encounter during our journeys, from smallest to largest:

ESCORT (EC)

Barely larger than a large fighter or runabout and often crewed by only a handful of personnel, escorts are the smallest and most maneuverable class of starship. They are most often specifically designed for combat roles to support larger ships of the line. Escorts are extremely specialized vessels and usually capable of performing only one or two mission profiles, making them the least diverse of all hull classes. Their tiny size and limited internal space make them best suited for offensive roles at the sacrifice of survivability. Escorts rely on their superior speed and maneuverability for their defense, and often lack sufficient shielding and hull integrity to survive direct hits.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Defiant-class, Maquis Raider, B'Rel-class

FRIGATE (FF)

The frigate is a small, fast (sublight) and maneuverable ship class and one of the most likely to be encountered in the Milky Way. Frigates tend to be under 200 meters in length with small crews ranging from 40 to 150 personnel. These vessels are often the easiest, cheapest, and quickest to manufacture, and a large portion of a government's fleet is usually composed of frigates. Frigates are very versatile platforms and are highly customizable. One version of a frigate might be designed as a scout vessel, while another version might be designed as a search-and-rescue platform. Galileo is a Nova-class frigate which is a dedicated science platform.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Nova-class, Oberth-class, Saber-class

DESTROYER (DD)

Destroyers are a frigate's bigger brother. They are less commonly sighted in the galaxy but have many of the size advantages of frigates including good speed and maneuverability. They are slightly larger than frigates which gives them improved hull integrity, but they are not quite as durable as cruisers. Destroyers are also very customizable platforms which can take on a variety of specialized mission profiles according to the design.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Centaur-class

LIGHT CRUISER (CL)

The most commonly seen hull class throughout the Federation, the light cruiser is the backbone of Starfleet. They come in many different variations and are a tried and true design, and their larger size allows for excellent multirole capabilities. Light cruisers are mid-sized vessels about twice as large as frigates, and they possess much larger crews to support their mission profiles. They are able to stay deployed for much longer without resupplying and have good survivability in combat situations. They are not quite as fast and maneuverable as frigates and destroyers due to their larger mass and resulting inertia. Starfleet produces more light cruisers than any other hull class and the majority of Starfleet personnel have served on at least one during their careers. They tend to be 250-400 meters in length with up to 300 crew.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Miranda-class, Intrepid-class, Steamrunner-class, Prometheus-class, K'Tinga-class, K'Vort-class

HEAVY CRUISER (CA)

Heavy cruisers are commonly referred to as capital ships. They are typically the largest and best-armed vessels in the fleet, and they are often the lead ships during fleet engagements. Anywhere from 450-800 meters in length, these large ships have excellent structural integrity and reinforced hulls. Their crew compliments are often large, sometimes in excess of 1,000 personnel, and they are often times the flagships of various fleets. Heavy cruisers have reduced impulse acceleration and maneuverability but compensate with enhanced shielding and armor as well as a multitude of weaponry.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Galaxy-class, Nebula-class, Akira-class, Sovereign-class, Ambassador-class, Vor'cha-class, Valdore-class, Galor-class

COMMAND CRUISER (CC)

Command cruisers are a special type of hull classification. This class is not always identified according hull size and mass like the others, but rather the specific functions of the vessel's structural architecture allow it to excel at command and control functions. Typically command cruisers tend to be a bit smaller and more maneuverable than their heavy cruiser counterparts, but this is not always the case. Command cruisers sometimes have less weaponry than heavy cruisers in favor of more command and control capabilities.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Excelsior-class, Keldon-class

DREADNOUGHT (BB)

Dreadnoughts (traditionally known as battleships) are a rarity in the Milky Way. They are the largest and most deadly class of starship and are also the least maneuverable and slowest. Their structural integrity is superb due to their massive hull architecture and they are able to withstand severe punishment before being forced to withdraw. Their weaponry is often advanced and numerous, and most dreadnoughts are capable of out-gunning an entire task group by themselves. These massive vessels can be in excess of 1,000 meters in length with crews ranging in the 800-2,000+ range. However, despite the combat appeal of these mammoths, very few governments find it economical to produce these vessels in large quantities, if at all. As interstellar empires have grown and expanded over the centuries, it has become less and less practical to commit large engineering, logistical and personnel resources into a single starship. Nevertheless, these vessels do exist in limited numbers and they are formidable opponents.

Impulse Acceleration:
Maneuverability:
Structural Integrity:
Notable Classes:	Negh'Var-class, Scimitar-class, D'deridex-class

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10.4 New Starships

Various political governments occasionally commission new starship design projects to fill existing gaps within their fleets or to replace aging starship designs. It takes many years for a new starship design to be conceptualized, drafted, prototyped then deployed into active service. Despite popular perception within beta canon Star Trek, new ship designs are rare and are the culmination of decades-long research and development. Commissioning a new class of starship involves establishing new production lines and careful forethought for the future of a government's fleet. Below is a list of new starship classes commissioned since 2379 (Star Trek: Nemesis).

Klingon D8-class Battlecruiser

Figure 10.4.1 - The D8 battlecruiser IKS Praxis

DESIGN HISTORY

The Klingon D6-class battlecruiser saw its first realisation in the year 2233 as the successor to the ageing D5. Built to be a larger space frame yet maintaining the same level of sublight manoeuvrability, the D6 had the distinction of being the first vessel in the Empire's fleet to be fitted with a warp core capable of propelling the ship to Warp 8. Unfortunately, due to technical issues in Klingon warp coil design, the class was never able to exceed warp 7.3.

Mounted on the class were five separate disruptor cannons; two either side of the bridge at the "nose" of the vessel, two further on the wingtips, and the final cannon mounted on the ventral side to allow an excellent firing arc. Like the later D7-class, she also carried a photon torpedo launcher mounted at the front of the primary hull.

The class was eventually superceded by the aforementioned D7-class as the limitations of the frame became apparent and more advanced warp capabilities were required to support the military might of an expanding empire. Interestingly, the D6 was never removed from active service upon the launch of the D7 and instead continued to be manufactured to fill the destroyer and escort roles required by every fleet.

The D7 truly took to the stars in the mid 2240's, both as a vessel under the Klingon Empire, but also under the Romulan Star Empire as part of the short-lived alliance between them. A slightly longer starship at 228m with a crew of 480, the D7 featured warp engines capable of reaching Warp 9, and with her newly-designed cloaking device, gave the Klingon-Romulan alliance access to a starship capable of both rapid response to threats, and the ability to project military might against their largest adversary of the time - the Federation's ambitious Starfleet. In fact, the D7 at peak efficiency was capable of challenging even the legendary Constitution-class in combat, exploiting the cloaking device for deadly hit-and-run attacks, followed by a swift withdrawal.

By the 2270's the D7, whilst still a capable vessel for light escort and patrol duties, was no longer capable of matching the requirements of modern stellar warfare. As such, the new K'Tinga-class warship entered service as the new frontline combat vessel for the Empire.

Interestingly, the K'Tinga-class vessels, whilst retaining the cloaking technology of its predecessors and carrying an even greater weapons complement, was inferior in terms of warp capabilities, limited to around Warp 5 in its standard configuration. The thought behind the design change was that this class of starship would be assigned to key facilities and frontline locations at all times, and as such would rarely be required to withdraw deeper into Klingon territory where other classes of starships could hold the line.

For nearly a century, the K'Tinga was the workhorse of the Klingon battle fleet, seeing combat in the second Klingon-Federation War and the Dominion War in the 2370's.

The 2390s heralded a new aim for the Klingon Empire: envisioned in the newly-launched D8-class battlecruiser. Holding true to the traditional design ethos in terms of its spaceframe, the D8 is a vessel meant to strike fear into the hearts of the Empire's enemies. The limitations of the K'Tinga, whilst a solid design, were becoming painfully apparent as the Klingons sought to rebuild what had been lost during the Dominion War. The D8 spaceframe was highly expensive to manufacture, taking almost twice as long as the older D7. The warp engines were limited in capability meaning that for many years, Birds of Prey had been used where speed was valued over survivability or ruggedness, meaning that in many engagements, the K'Tinga had been relegated to sideline activity.

The weapons systems were also in need of an overhaul. Whilst newer versions of disruptors and torpedo launchers had been slowly refitted into the existing battle fleet, these addons were never as truly effective as might have been hoped, simply because the power requirements of the greater firepower limited the vessel's performance in long term combat.

In 2389, the first D8 prototypes were launched and underwent operational trials for several years. Minor design flaws were identified then corrected, and in 2391, the D8 entered active service within the Klingon Empire. Many Klingon combat veterans and politicians refer to it as "the finest battlecruiser in the galaxy", and with good reason.

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

Funding for D8 Project Provided by:

• Klingon Defense Force
• Imperial High Council

Development Project Started: 2379

Production Start Date: 2389

Production End Date: In Production

Current Status: In Service

Construction Locations:

• Qo'nos Fleet Yards, Qo'nos
• JuO'ku'eH Fleet Yards, Boreth

Classification: Battlecruiser (CA)

Expected Duration: 100 years

Time Between Resupply: 6 months

Time Between Refit: 10 years

Accommodations:

• Officers: 45
• Enlisted Crew: 345
• Emergency Capacity: 630

Performance:

• Cruise Impulse: .20c
• Full Impulse: .26c
• Cruising Velocity: Warp 7.1
• Maximum Velocity: Warp 8.9
• Burst Velocity: Warp 9.63 (30 minutes)
• Emergency Velocity: Warp 9.41 (12 hours)

Spaceframe:

• Length: 401 meters
• Beam: 318 meters
• Draft: 102 meters
• Displacement: 10.2 x 10^5 tons
• Decks: 14

Armament:

• Disruptors
  • Type IX Disruptor Cannons (4 fore)
  • Type VIII Disruptor Cannons (4 fore)
  • Type VIII Disruptor Arrays (2 aft)
• Defensive Systems
  • Battle Cloaking Device
  • Adaptive Shielding System
  • Reinforced Duranium Hull Plating
• Torpedos
  • Class 6 Torpedo Launcher: 2 (1 fore, 1 aft)
    • Photon Torpedoes: 350
    • Tricobalt Devices: 20