At the time of the Malagrotta War, the Hegemony Navy numbered over seven hundred active WarShips and nearly fifteen hundred in ready reserve, and was considered to be capable of engaging in a naval war with all five of its neighbors simultaneously with a very good chance of success. In most respects, the Hegemony was rightly regarded as an unassailable enemy and the dominant power of the Inner Sphere.
But their were cracks in the façade. On the one hand, the core of the battlefleet, the battleship squadrons, were almost entirely over two hundred years old and approaching block obsolescence. On the other hand, the fleet's most modern ships had been especially ravaged by the Admiralty's massive endemic corruption, with entire classes being reasonably described as disappointing, lackluster, or functionally defective, despite being produced and pushed into service by the hundreds. This put the Hegemony in a difficult spot as naval production began ramping up all across known space and threatening the Hegemony's position as the dominant naval power.
While the obvious and sensible choice would be to acknowledge their problems, start streamlining the navy, clear out as much of the corruption as possible, and begin a fresh start with new, more capable designs, doing this would publicly acknowledge the Hegemony's weakness. Likewise, reactivating the massive reserve of older ships to keep up the numbers would be a blow to the Hegemony's prestige, likewise acknowledging that they had lost faith in their fleet of modern WarShips.
Thus, ultimately, the Admiralty's solution was to refuse to publicly acknowledge any problems with the fleet and ordering hundreds of additional ships, this time to an upgraded design that was meant to take into account lessons learned observing the Malagrotta War and (quietly) correct at least some of the problems seen on prior ships. Three classes were the focus of this initial "block II" program, the Baron, Congress, and Avatar.
Because the scope of the program prohibited major changes to the design, the Baron's primary problem, its slow acceleration, could not be rectified. Instead, in addition to up-armoring the ship and upgrading the cooling and power distribution system, engineers focused on upgunning the destroyer, swapping both the naval lasers and autocannons for more powerful models. Though still slow, prospective captains have acknowledged that the Baron may now at least be able to outfight the destroyers it was originally intended to replace, if they consent to give battle.
The Congress class upgrade is heavily inspired by House Davion's order for an improved Congress-D, and features identically upgraded armor protection and a uniform battery of naval cannons. Though these are smaller guns than those used on the new Davion variant, they are supplemented by additional missile tubes and an expanded fighter complement, along with the powerful sensor package of a typical Hegemony Congress. Significant changes to the outer hull have also given the upgraded Congress a much different appearance, possibly to conceal how closely it mirrors House Davion's upgrade and prevent yet another round of legal action over the designs.
The Avatar has both been changed the least and may have benefitted the most from its refit. A major overhaul of the cooling and power distribution system grants the upgrade the ability to engage a target with a full broadside, and even engage targets in multiple directions with at least some measure of success. Compared to this massive improvement in the ship's offensive capabilities, the effective near doubling of armor protection is almost a footnote. It is not known at this time if these upgrades have also managed to correct the persistent electrical problems experienced by the class.
Baron Destroyer (Block II)
Mass: 480,000 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 2579
Mass: 480,000
Battle Value: 43,607
Tech Rating/Availability: E/E-X-E-F
Cost: 5,653,721,000 C-bills
Fuel: 6,500 tons (16,250)
Safe Thrust: 2
Maximum Thrust: 3
Sail Integrity: 4
KF Drive Integrity: 11
Heat Sinks: 1100 (2200)
Structural Integrity: 30
Armor
Nose: 54
Fore Sides: 42/42
Aft Sides: 42/42
Aft: 26
Cargo
Bay 1: Fighter (6) 2 Doors
Bay 2: Small Craft (6) 1 Door
Bay 3: Cargo (128066.0 tons) 1 Door
Ammunition:
60 rounds of White Shark ammunition (2,400 tons),
320 rounds of NAC/20 ammunition (1.6 tons)
Dropship Capacity: 0
Grav Decks: 1 (65 m)
Escape Pods: 38
Life Boats: 13
Crew: 40 officers, 150 enlisted/non-rated, 43 gunners, 42 bay personnel, 30 passengers
Notes: Mounts 288 tons of ferro-carbide armor.
Weapons: Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat) Heat SRV MRV LRV ERV Class
Nose (420 Heat)
6 Naval Laser 45 420 27(270) 27(270) 27(270) 27(270) Capital Laser
FRS/FLS (150 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (80 shots)
2 Capital Missile Launcher (White Shark) 30 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) Capital Missile
White Shark Ammo (20 shots)
RBS/LBS (700 Heat)
10 Naval Laser 45 700 45(450) 45(450) 45(450) 45(450) Capital Laser
ARS/ALS (120 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (80 shots)
Aft (240 Heat)
3 Naval Laser 45 210 14(135) 14(135) 14(135) 14(135) Capital Laser
2 Capital Missile Launcher (White Shark) 30 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) Capital Missile
White Shark Ammo (20 shots)
Congress Frigate (Block II)
Mass: 760,000 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 2580
Mass: 760,000
Battle Value: 90,744
Tech Rating/Availability: E/E-X-E-F
Cost: 9,240,920,000 C-bills
Fuel: 4,000 tons (10,000)
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Sail Integrity: 5
KF Drive Integrity: 16
Heat Sinks: 604 (1208)
Structural Integrity: 75
Armor
Nose: 160
Fore Sides: 160/160
Aft Sides: 160/160
Aft: 160
Cargo
Bay 1: Small Craft (4) 1 Door
Bay 2: Fighter (20) 4 Doors
Bay 3: Cargo (159189.0 tons) 1 Door
Ammunition:
30 rounds of Killer Whale ammunition (1,500 tons),
60 rounds of White Shark ammunition (2,400 tons),
510 rounds of NAC/20 ammunition (204 tons)
Dropship Capacity: 2
Grav Decks: 1 (90 m)
Escape Pods: 8
Life Boats: 8
Crew: 43 officers, 186 enlisted/non-rated, 27 gunners, 60 bay personnel
Notes: Equipped with
1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Large)
1,140 tons of ferro-carbide armor.
Weapons: Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat) Heat SRV MRV LRV ERV Class
Nose (40 Heat)
2 Capital Missile Launcher (Killer Whale) 40 8(80) 8(80) 8(80) 8(80) Capital Missile
Killer Whale Ammo (30 shots)
FRS/FLS (120 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (60 shots)
RBS/LBS (198 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (60 shots)
6 Large Laser 48 5(48) 5(48) 0(0) 0(0) Laser
2 Capital Missile Launcher (White Shark) 30 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) Capital Missile
White Shark Ammo (30 shots)
ARS/ALS (228 Heat)
3 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 180 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (90 shots)
6 Large Laser 48 5(48) 5(48) 0(0) 0(0) Laser
Aft (180 Heat)
3 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 180 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (90 shots)
Avatar Heavy Cruiser (Block II)
Mass: 830,000 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 2580
Mass: 830,000
Battle Value: 159,713
Tech Rating/Availability: E/E-X-E-F
Cost: 25,191,674,000 C-bills
Fuel: 4,500 tons (11,250)
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Sail Integrity: 5
KF Drive Integrity: 18
Heat Sinks: 2399 (4798)
Structural Integrity: 85
Armor
Nose: 237
Fore Sides: 175/175
Aft Sides: 175/175
Aft: 157
Cargo
Bay 1: Fighter (12) 4 Doors
Bay 2: Fighter (12) 4 Doors
Bay 3: Cargo (58660.0 tons) 1 Door
Ammunition:
300 rounds of Killer Whale ammunition (15,000 tons),
400 rounds of NAC/20 ammunition (160 tons),
120 rounds of NAC/30 ammunition (96 tons),
150 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition (25 tons)
Dropship Capacity: 6
Grav Decks: 2 (185 m, 145 m)
Escape Pods: 40
Life Boats: 60
Crew: 55 officers, 161 enlisted/non-rated, 91 gunners, 48 bay personnel, 25 marines
Notes: Equipped with
lithium-fusion battery system
1,300 tons of ferro-carbide armor.
Weapons: Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat) Heat SRV MRV LRV ERV Class
Nose (1,410 Heat)
6 Naval Laser 55 510 33(330) 33(330) 33(330) 33(330) Capital Laser
4 Naval PPC (Heavy) 900 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) Capital PPC
FRS/FLS (804 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (80 shots)
2 Naval PPC (Heavy) 450 30(300) 30(300) 30(300) 30(300) Capital PPC
3 Capital Missile Launcher (Killer Whale) 60 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) Capital Missile
Killer Whale Ammo (50 shots)
3 Naval Laser 35 156 11(105) 11(105) 11(105) 0(0) Capital Laser
3 LRM 20 18 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) 0(0) LRM
LRM 20 Ammo (30 shots)
RBS/LBS (1,472 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/30) 200 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/30 Ammo (60 shots)
4 Naval PPC (Heavy) 900 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) 60(600) Capital PPC
3 Capital Missile Launcher (Killer Whale) 60 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) Capital Missile
Killer Whale Ammo (50 shots)
6 Naval Laser 35 312 21(210) 21(210) 21(210) 0(0) Capital Laser
ARS/ALS (804 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (80 shots)
2 Naval PPC (Heavy) 450 30(300) 30(300) 30(300) 30(300) Capital PPC
3 Capital Missile Launcher (Killer Whale) 60 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) Capital Missile
Killer Whale Ammo (50 shots)
3 Naval Laser 35 156 11(105) 11(105) 11(105) 0(0) Capital Laser
3 LRM 20 18 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) 0(0) LRM
LRM 20 Ammo (30 shots)
Aft (450 Heat)
2 Naval Autocannon (NAC/20) 120 40(400) 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/20 Ammo (80 shots)
6 Naval Laser 35 312 21(210) 21(210) 21(210) 0(0) Capital Laser
3 LRM 20 18 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) 0(0) LRM
LRM 20 Ammo (30 shots)
