Private Sector Stopgap Measure (Design challenge)

[Cannonshop]

Please imagine....

Imagine you are magically in charge of the procurement office for a formerly major nation in the Inner Sphere, that foolishly complied with the arms reduction treaties signed with Devlin Stone, and now, you've lost half your territory to the Clans/Draconis Combine.

Imagine your budget is screaming bloody murder, and your spacelift capacity is grotesquely outclassed and outgunned by your neighbours, your ground forces are gutted (Davion) or just flatly outclassed to a ridiculous degree (Steiner), you've got two or three left-over, beat-to-hell and worn out warships, and your pocket-warship/assault dropship fleet is (again) outnumbered, outgunned and outclassed.

and your transport jumpships are kind of vital to keeping what is left of your nation from collapsing.

Welcome to 3145 folks.

Now here's the bright spot: You still have some industrial capacity that hasn't been de-militarized or overrun by your enemies (whom aren't suffering anything LIKE the privations you're facing, mostly because they've taken away most of what you used to rely on.)

By some ridiculous miracle, you have the ability to manufacture "Primitive" and Compact Cores, and you can still manufacture big, high thrust engines...but your compact core space is limited and you need ships NOW, not in ten years.

The Mission: rebuild your navy, and do it quickly.

Constraints: PWS and Assault droppers aren't doing the job-they're great as long as the enemy agrees to approach by the most easily controlled jump points, and as long as you don't have to reinforce anywhere or take offensive action, but that basically means you're losing slower.  You NEED strategic mobility, the ability to move forces from one system to another quickly in response to emergent threats, and you need the ability to mount counter-attacks of some sort against enemy shipping.

Tonnage constraint:

Compact Core tonnage constraint: 110,000 tons-this is the biggest core you can build with the facilities you still have remaining.

"Primitive": 51,000 to 99,000 ton displacement range is do-able assuming a 15LY standard range for jumps (Which isn't great, but in this version of the BTU, you can build a fractional-tonne capacitor to get a quick second jump off at half the tonnage and bulk of an LF battery...but it only works on so-called 'primitive' cores.)

Weapons constraints: You need at least one major 'capital' weapon mounting, preferably something with lots of punch that is easily maintained and serviced.  Ammunition isn't a problem, keeping the guns operational is.  You also have access to all 'sub-capital' weapons types.

Operational requirements:  This needs to fall somewhere between the power of a big Pocket Warship and a small proper Corvette, and it needs to be (aside from core prices, which the book inflates) relatively cheap to man, crew, train, and operate.

and you need to be able to build a lot of them quickly (common parts and off-the shelf tech are a must here.)

Chassis needs: needs enough smallcraft bay to evacuate 75% of the crew, also needs enough deck space to field at minimum six fighters along with two heavier (up to 200 tons) small craft.

note: does not need dropship capacity, as the mission requires interception/interdiction of space based assets PRIOR to landfall-the idea is not to let the enemy put boots on the ground when playing defense, and to not let them launch a defensive force of fighters (or prevent said force from being able to return to base) when on offense.

basically you're needing a gunboat capable of moving itself interstellar distances, outperforming enemy pocket warships, and capable of posing a lethal threat to proper, actual, mostly-star-league-era Warships.

(Yeah, you'll be needing something in that capital bay that can kill a warship. Nukes work...)

Projections of current losses on the front indicate you have four years before you don't have a nation anymore.

so let's see some bids and proposals.

[kindalas]

I tried to keep the craft Faction Agnostic because I can see it being built by a number of states that have lost territory to the DC and Clans.



The crash program that led to the Myeongnyang Light Corvette was one of desperation.

The Light Corvette was built to primarily engage the pocket warships found throughout the Inner Sphere.

The vessel was built as a knife fighter, its high thrust profile means that only a few pocket warships can out maneuver it. It is protected with a layer of 32 sub capital weapons arrayed in quad turrets to take advantage of bracketing fire techniques. In the nose of the vessel there are two advanced AR10 launchers with a deep supply of advanced physics packages. Supplementing the missile launchers is a lone NAC/30 which was chosen over a Heavy NPPC because maintenance was considerably simpler for the autocannon.

The supporting electronics for the vessel were extensive, two HPGs, Naval C3 and a Large ComScanner system were installed along with a lithium fusion battery system.

Critics of the design point to the dramatic increase in cost that these systems add to the vessel but the Admiralty decided that the strategic utility that the systems add more then make up for the cost.

Variants: Several different armament packages for the Myeongnyang were considered and eventually adopted. There is a missile boat model that replaces the Naval Autocannon with a larger number of AR10 launchers and a there is a model developed for bombardment that uses only sub-capital weapons in its nose bays.

Code: [Select]

Myeongnyang Light Corvette
Mass: 110,000 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Experimental)
Introduced: 3145
Mass: 110,000
Battle Value: 38,633
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-F
Cost: 11,626,494,000 C-bills

Fuel: 1,000 tons (5,000)
Safe Thrust: 5
Maximum Thrust: 8
Sail Integrity: 3
KF Drive Integrity: 4
Heat Sinks: 638 (1276)
Structural Integrity: 60

Armor
    Nose: 46
    Fore Sides: 40/40
    Aft Sides: 35/35
    Aft: 24

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Fighter (6)             3 Doors   
    Bay 2:  Small Craft (2)         1 Door   
    Bay 3:  BattleArmor (100)   1 Door   
    Bay 4:  Cargo (1653.0 tons)     1 Door   

Ammunition:
    160 rounds of Light SCC ammunition (4 tons),
    10 rounds of AR10 Barracuda ammunition (30 tons),
    10 rounds of AR10 Santa Anna ammunition (40 tons),
    10 rounds of AR10 Peacemaker ammunition (50 tons),
    20 rounds of NAC/30 ammunition (0.8 tons)

Dropship Capacity: 0
Grav Decks: 2 (65 m, 65 m)
Escape Pods: 0
Life Boats: 37
Crew:  21 officers, 66 enlisted/non-rated, 35 gunners, 172 bay personnel, 100 BA marines

Notes: Equipped with
    lithium-fusion battery system
    2 Mobile Hyperpulse Generators (Mobile HPG)
    1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Large)
    1 Naval C3
    132 tons of lamellor ferro-carbide armor.

Weapons:                                        Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                  Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV      ERV    Class       
Nose (210 Heat)
2 Capital Missile Launcher (AR10 Launcher)  40   4(40)   4(40)   4(40)    4(40)   AR10       
    AR10 Santa Anna Ammo (10 shots)
    AR10 Peacemaker Ammo (10 shots)
    AR10 Barracuda Ammo (10 shots)
10 Laser AMS                                70   3(30)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/30)                 100  30(300) 30(300) 30(300)   0(0)   Capital AC 
    NAC/30 Ammo (20 shots)
FRS/FLS (214 Heat)
4 Sub-Capital Laser (SCL/1)                 96   4(40)   4(40)   4(40)     0(0)   Sub-Capital Laser
4 Sub-Capital Cannon (Light)                48   8(80)   8(80)   8(80)     0(0)   Sub-Capital Cannon
    Light SCC Ammo (40 shots)
10 Laser AMS                                70   3(30)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
RBS/LBS (214 Heat)
4 Sub-Capital Laser (SCL/1)                 96   4(40)   4(40)   4(40)     0(0)   Sub-Capital Laser
4 Sub-Capital Cannon (Light)                48   8(80)   8(80)   8(80)     0(0)   Sub-Capital Cannon
    Light SCC Ammo (40 shots)
10 Laser AMS                                70   3(30)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
ARS/ALS (70 Heat)
10 Laser AMS                                70   3(30)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
Aft (70 Heat)
10 Laser AMS                                70   3(30)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         



[Daryk]

Is the 110,000 ton limit for ships or cores?  ???

NL/45s are going to be the go to Capital Weapons (the smallest with Extreme Range), second only to White Shark launchers (the smallest that can accommodate nukes).

[Cannonshop]

Is the 110,000 ton limit for ships or cores?  ???

NL/45s are going to be the go to Capital Weapons (the smallest with Extreme Range), second only to White Shark launchers (the smallest that can accommodate nukes).

ships.  since the core is a fixed percentage of ship mass.

[Red Pins]

New Tech?  I twisted some numbers and snapped together an AR-10-equivalent for sub-Capital missiles.  Looking to try them on something.

Also, I note the option of a capacitor for a second Jump - what are the specs?

Can a Primitive core do the Blakist Super-Jump option?  Because I don't think that should burn out the core.  Shave roughly half the potential distance of the Blakist version, yes, but the Primitive core should be robust enough to survive it without damage.  Short term, anyway.

[Cannonshop]

New Tech?  I twisted some numbers and snapped together an AR-10-equivalent for sub-Capital missiles.  Looking to try them on something.

Also, I note the option of a capacitor for a second Jump - what are the specs?

Can a Primitive core do the Blakist Super-Jump option?  Because I don't think that should burn out the core.  Shave roughly half the potential distance of the Blakist version, yes, but the Primitive core should be robust enough to survive it without damage.  Short term, anyway.

Mass is ten percent of the tonnage of your core, for each 5 LY increment.  (so for a 15LY jump, you're looking at a capacitor bank equal to 15% of the core's mass).

[2ndAcr]

Patrol II Corvette (LF)
Mass: 100,000 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 3059
Mass: 100,000
Battle Value: 12,728
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-E-F
Cost: 7,145,600,000 C-bills

Fuel: 6,000 tons (60,000)
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Sail Integrity: 3
KF Drive Integrity: 4
Heat Sinks: 300 (600)
Structural Integrity: 40

Armor
    Nose: 18
    Fore Sides: 18/18
    Aft Sides: 18/18
    Aft: 14

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Small Craft (4)         2 Doors   
    Bay 2:  Fighter (6)             2 Doors   
    Bay 3:  Cargo (9842.0 tons)     1 Door   

Ammunition:
    2,304 rounds of Anti-Missile System [IS] ammunition (8 tons)

Dropship Capacity: 0
Grav Decks: 1 (100 m)
Escape Pods: 15
Life Boats: 15
Crew:  17 officers, 48 enlisted/non-rated, 32 gunners, 32 bay personnel, 56 marines     

Notes: Equipped with
    lithium-fusion battery system
    1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Large)
   80 tons of improved ferro-aluminum armor.

Weapons:                                        Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                  Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV      ERV    Class       
Nose (164 Heat)
2 Naval Laser 35                            104  7(70)   7(70)   7(70)     0(0)   Capital Laser
4 Large Pulse Laser                         40   4(36)   4(36)    0(0)     0(0)   Pulse Laser
4 Anti-Missile System                        4   1(12)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (3456 shots)
8 Small Pulse Laser                         16   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Point Defense
FRS/FLS (164 Heat)
2 Naval Laser 35                            104  7(70)   7(70)   7(70)     0(0)   Capital Laser
4 Large Pulse Laser                         40   4(36)   4(36)    0(0)     0(0)   Pulse Laser
4 Anti-Missile System                        4   1(12)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (3456 shots)
8 Small Pulse Laser                         16   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Point Defense
RBS/LBS (164 Heat)
2 Naval Laser 35                            104  7(70)   7(70)   7(70)     0(0)   Capital Laser
4 Large Pulse Laser                         40   4(36)   4(36)    0(0)     0(0)   Pulse Laser
4 Anti-Missile System                        4   1(12)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (3456 shots)
8 Small Pulse Laser                         16   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Point Defense
ARS/ALS (164 Heat)
2 Naval Laser 35                            104  7(70)   7(70)   7(70)     0(0)   Capital Laser
4 Large Pulse Laser                         40   4(36)   4(36)    0(0)     0(0)   Pulse Laser
4 Anti-Missile System                        4   1(12)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (3456 shots)
8 Small Pulse Laser                         16   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Point Defense
Aft (164 Heat)
2 Naval Laser 35                            104  7(70)   7(70)   7(70)     0(0)   Capital Laser
4 Large Pulse Laser                         40   4(36)   4(36)    0(0)     0(0)   Pulse Laser
4 Anti-Missile System                        4   1(12)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (3456 shots)
8 Small Pulse Laser                         16   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Point Defense

 Quick and fairly simple corvette. LF equipped for maximum rapid response. Though no Dropships.

[Red Pins]

Ok, second draft.


P-T (E) (Patrol-Transport (Experimental))

Overview
  The Federated Suns was in deep ****.  The Clans were pressing their only ally, the RotS, New Syrtis and the Capellan March had fallen, and New Avalon was overrun and the scene of a bitter guerrilla war leaving the ‘Golden Worlds’ and remaining worlds of the Crucis March the only remaining bastion of support available to the loyalists of Julian Davion.

  With the decimated remains of the AFFS unable to fight back effectively and manufacturing capacity limited, the only remaining options were come dangerously close to utilizing the ‘Special Weapons’ caches scattered across the realm.  Dipping into Classified crash re-armament files, a ‘Sloop’ with the bare minimum of required parts and equipment began taking form at hastily-assembled slips around nearly a dozen worlds, fed by factories on dozens more and as the Sloops began to near completion, Naval crews were pressed into service by the AFFS and began training.

  Despite the difficulty, the new ships carried advanced technology in the form of Naval C3 and a Small Naval-Comm Scanner Suite, to allow the Sloops to detect enemy vessels at long-range to facilitate evasion and allow long-range massed fire.  The most alarming facet of the new ships are the emphasis on nuclear-armed, Tele-operated Killer Whale missiles supported several NL/35s and over two Wings of ASF.

  In defense of the P-T Screen Launchers in each arc reduce the risk of enemy fire while closing or retreating under enemy fire, while PD bays of Medium lasers and AMS defend it from enemy ASF and the ship-killer missiles unable to be avoided due to the low speed of the Sloop’s transit drive, adapted from the Behemoth DropShip.  Between 6-8 Small Craft armed exclusively with PD systems can add their weight of fire to the defense of their carrier if required and provide SAR vessels to assist after the battle in an effort to reduce losses among trained personnel.  The final defense from enemy fire, the design specifies seventy tons of Improved Ferro-aluminum.  Faced with a shortage of trained personnel and low morale among crews expected to perform short, sharp cruises focused on the attack of Combine or Snow Raven ground- and space facilities, troops, and ships, the design carries enough escape pods to allow the entire crew to escape, given enough time.

  With the degree of industrial effort put into such a quick rearmament effort, its unlikely the Intelligence agencies of the Inner Sphere are unaware of this effort, but draconian threats and punishments under the martial law surrounding the effort and the general patriotism of Crucis March worlds for small mistakes in security lips and an attitude of desperation seem to have concealed most of the operation for now.

Deployment
  Despite the numbers of these Sloops beginning to come out of their construction slips to commence shake-down cruises designed to minimize – not eliminate – issues in their weapons and K-F drives, only a few of the blunt, squared-off Sloops have been dispatched to the Periphery as a means of defending civilian shipping and the worlds facing an increase in pirate activity.  The operation is expected to deter further Snow Raven interference in the defense of the Draconis March, as reports of brutal attacks against known pirate bands and worlds filter into the shocked Periphery nations bordering the Federated Suns.
  Foreswearing metered responses and ground operations in favor of overwhelming force and a willingness to preserve FSN personnel and citizens of the Federated Suns, the P-T boats are using nuclear ordinance with a free hand to destroy their opponents with only a single call to abandon ship or surrender before committing atrocities such as detonating Tele-operated Killer Whale missiles short of enemy ASF to blind and irradiate enemy pilots.  Pirates, seen as more dangerous to the operation due to their ability to reveal these tactics and willingness to abandon their comrades, have been all but wiped out along the borders of the Federated Suns, the radioactive craters of their facilities and the ASF Wings left to watch for returning bands of raiders with supplies of their own nuclear ordinance are the only sign of this successful operation.

Notable vessels
  P-T (E) 109 (Vengence, Inc.) and Commodore Austin Thatcher
     Given responsibility for a Squadron of P-Ts and sent to patrol the borders of the Federated Suns and Calderon Protectorate, Commodore Thatcher defended several worlds of both nations against a series of pirate attacks, destroying the irreplaceable JumpShips with his supporting vessels while delivering a series of blistering air- and ground attacks including the use of Ortillery from his Naval Lasers.
     Despite admitting his strategy allowed several groups to escape, Commodore Thatcher was able to prove the surviving pirates had no confirmed information to pass on to other groups beyond the general efficiency and lethality of the operation, allowing him to capture several unwary bases, JumpShips, and Dropships based on interrogations without significant ammunition expenditures, personnel, or equipment losses, with the willing silence extracted from the grateful CP government for the assistance in destroying pirate operations infringing on their worlds.



P-T (E) Jumpship
Mass: 100,000 tons
Technology Base: Mixed (Experimental)
Introduced: 3145
Mass: 100,000
Battle Value: 24,772
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-X
Cost: 4,150,298,000 C-bills

Fuel: 2,000 tons (20,000)
Safe Thrust: 2
Maximum Thrust: 3
Sail Integrity: 3
KF Drive Integrity: 4
Jump Range: 15
Heat Sinks: 650
Structural Integrity: 35

Armor
    Nose: 18
    Fore Sides: 16/16
    Aft Sides: 13/13
    Aft: 9

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Small Craft (10)        2 Doors   
    Bay 2:  Cargo (750.0 tons)      0 Doors   
    Bay 3:  Fighter (50)            5 Doors   
    Bay 4:  Cargo (3800.0 tons)     1 Door   

Ammunition:
    360 rounds of Anti-Missile System [IS] ammunition (30 tons),
    180 rounds of Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) ammunition (7,550 tons),
    40 rounds of Screen Launcher ammunition (400 tons)

Dropship Capacity: 0
Grav Decks: 0
Escape Pods: 35
Life Boats: 0
Crew:  17 officers, 48 enlisted/non-rated, 74 gunners, 150 bay personnel      

Notes: Equipped with
    1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Small)
    1 Naval C3
   70 tons of improved ferro-aluminum armor.

Weapons:                                          Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                    Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV      ERV    Class       

Nose (182 Heat)
1 Screen Launcher                             10   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Screen Launcher
    Screen Launcher Ammo (10 shots)
5 Tele-operated Missile (Killer Whale-T)      100  20(200) 20(200) 20(200) 20(200)
Tele-Operated Capital Missile
    Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) Ammo (50 shots)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
1 Naval Laser 35                              52   4(35)   4(35)   4(35)     0(0)   Capital Laser

FRS/FLS (172 Heat)
5 Tele-operated Missile (Killer Whale-T)      100  20(200) 20(200) 20(200) 20(200)
Tele-Operated Capital Missile
    Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) Ammo (50 shots)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
1 Naval Laser 35                              52   4(35)   4(35)   4(35)     0(0)   Capital Laser

RBS/LBS (10 Heat)
1 Screen Launcher                             10   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Screen Launcher
    Screen Launcher Ammo (10 shots)
ARS/ALS (20 Heat)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       

Aft (142 Heat)
1 Screen Launcher                             10   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Screen Launcher
    Screen Launcher Ammo (10 shots)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
1 Naval Laser 35                              52   4(35)   4(35)   4(35)     0(0)   Capital Laser
3 Tele-operated Missile (Killer Whale-T)      60   12(120) 12(120) 12(120) 12(120)
Tele-Operated Capital Missile
    Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) Ammo (30 shots)

[Cannonshop]

Ok, got a first draft.  A couple notes;

-No capacitor on this draft.  I note that the L-F is 1,000 tons compared to the 7,500 tons needed for a capacitor. (I used the K-F drive value of 50,000 in MML.  Hope that's right.)

-Two drop collars on the unit; my first thought was to use the Blakist DTAC to control them, but passed.  Maybe next draft, if I can figure out a way to lie convincingly enough.

-No 'Whirlwind' (or 'Whirlpool', for the sub-Cap missile launching system) launchers; they're too heavy, and this is a stamped, mass-produced weapon, not a masterpiece of the naval architect's art.

-All the missiles are Killer Whale-T.  And all are nukes.  No exceptions.

-Seems there's a HS bug - it has 650 single HS, added into the text.  Might be over-sinked, but its late.

-Noticed after I did the fluff that the combo NC#/S-CSS was priced at $150,000,000.  That's just WAY too high, I might have to cut them, and some of the T-WS Launchers, AND the DS collars.

Maybe I'll be able to fix it in the next draft.  Goodnight!



P-T (E) (Patrol-Transport (Experimental))

Overview
  The Federated Suns was in deep ****.  The Clans were pressing their only ally, the RotS, New Syrtis and the Capellan March had fallen, and New Avalon was overrun and the scene of a bitter guerrilla war leaving the ‘Golden Worlds’ and remaining worlds of the Crucis March the only remaining bastion of support available to the loyalists of Julian Davion.

  With the decimated remains of the AFFS unable to fight back effectively and manufacturing capacity limited, the only remaining options were come dangerously close to utilizing the ‘Special Weapons’ caches scattered across the realm.  Dipping into Classified crash re-armament files, a ‘Sloop’ with the bare minimum of required parts and equipment began taking form at hastily-assembled slips around nearly a dozen worlds, fed by factories on dozens more and as the Sloops began to near completion, Naval crews were pressed into service by the AFFS and began training.

  Despite the difficulty, the new ships carried advanced technology in the form of Naval C3 and a Small Naval-Comm Scanner Suite, to allow the Sloops to detect enemy vessels at long-range to facilitate evasion and allow long-range massed fire.  The most alarming facet of the new ships are the emphasis on nuclear-armed, Tele-operated Killer Whale missiles supported by over two Wings of ASF and the twin Collars mounted on the underside of the P-T.  These are normally combinations of Unions and Gazelles (‘Mechs providing security for Heavy tracked vehicles using standard- or nuclear-tipped artillery missiles, depending on the situation) with rare sightings of a Conquistador/Claymore combination (intended to penetrate light aerospace defenses to deliver ground forces with those same forces, or provide Assault DropShip support to the Sloop’s ASF Wings).

  In defense of the P-T PD bays of Medium lasers and AMS to defend from enemy ASF and the ship-killer missiles unable to be avoided due to the low speed of the Sloop’s transit drive, adapted from the Behemoth DropShip, while between 6-8 Small Craft armed exclusively with PD systems defend their carrier and provide SAR vessels, further augmented with the addition of Screen Launchers to reduce the risk of closing or retreating under enemy fire.

A final defense from enemy fire, the design specifies seventy tons of Improved Ferro-aluminum.  Faced with a shortage of trained personnel and low morale among crews expected to perform short, sharp cruises focused on the attack of Combine or Snow Raven ground- or space facilities, troops, and ships, the design carries enough escape pods to allow the entire crew to escape, given enough time.

  With the degree of industrial effort put into such a quick rearmament effort, its unlikely the Intelligence agencies of the Inner Sphere are unaware of this effort, but draconian threats and punishments under the martial law surrounding the effort and the general patriotism of Crucis March worlds for small mistakes in security lips and an attitude of desperation seem to have concealed most of the operation for now.

Deployment
  Despite the numbers of these Sloops beginning to come out of their construction slips to commence shake-down cruises designed to minimize – not eliminate – issues in their weapons and K-F drives, only a few of the blunt, squared-off Sloops have been dispatched to the Periphery as a means of defending civilian shipping and the worlds facing an increase in pirate activity.  The operation is expected to deter further Snow Raven interference in the defense of the Draconis March, as reports of brutal attacks against known pirate bands and worlds filter into the shocked Periphery nations bordering the Federated Suns.
  Foreswearing metered responses and ground operations in favor of overwhelming force and a willingness to preserve FSN personnel and citizens of the Federated Suns, the P-T boats are using nuclear ordinance with a free hand to destroy their opponents with only a single call to abandon ship or surrender before committing atrocities such as detonating Tele-operated Killer Whale missiles short of enemy ASF to blind and irradiate enemy pilots.  Pirates, seen as more dangerous to the operation due to their ability to reveal these tactics and willingness to abandon their comrades, have been all but wiped out along the borders of the Federated Suns, the radioactive craters of their facilities and the ASF Wings left to watch for returning bands of raiders with supplies of their own nuclear ordinance are the only sign of this successful operation.

Notable vessels
  P-T (E) 109 (Vengence, Inc.) and Commodore Austin Thatcher
     Given responsibility for a Squadron of P-Ts and sent to patrol the borders of the Federated Suns and Calderon Protectorate, Commodore Thatcher defended several worlds of both nations against a series of pirate attacks, destroying the irreplaceable JumpShips with his supporting vessels while delivering a series of blistering air- and ground attacks including the use of Ortillery from his Naval Lasers.
     Despite admitting his strategy allowed several groups to escape, Commodore Thatcher was able to prove the surviving pirates had no confirmed information to pass on to other groups beyond the general efficiency and lethality of the operation, allowing him to capture several unwary bases, JumpShips, and Dropships based on interrogations without significant ammunition expenditures, personnel, or equipment losses, with the willing silence extracted from the grateful CP government for the assistance in destroying pirate operations infringing on their worlds.



P-T (E) Jumpship
Mass: 100,000 tons
Technology Base: Mixed (Experimental)
Introduced: 3145
Mass: 100,000
Battle Value: 22,784
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-X
Cost: 5,747,132,000 C-bills

Fuel: 1,000 tons (10,000)
Safe Thrust: 1
Maximum Thrust: 2
Sail Integrity: 3
KF Drive Integrity: 6
Jump Range: 15
Heat Sinks: 650
Structural Integrity: 35

Armor
    Nose: 18
    Fore Sides: 16/16
    Aft Sides: 13/13
    Aft: 9

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Fighter (50)            5 Doors   
    Bay 2:  Small Craft (10)        2 Doors   
    Bay 3:  Cargo (5000.0 tons)     1 Door   
    Bay 4:  Cargo (2842.0 tons)     1 Door   
    Bay 5:  Cargo (545.0 tons)      0 Doors   

Ammunition:
    360 rounds of Anti-Missile System [IS] ammunition (6 tons),
    200 rounds of Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) ammunition (200 tons),
    40 rounds of Screen Launcher ammunition (40 tons)

Dropship Capacity: 2
Grav Decks: 0
Escape Pods: 35
Life Boats: 0
Crew:  17 officers, 48 enlisted/non-rated, 74 gunners, 150 bay personnel      

Notes: Equipped with
    1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Small)
    1 Naval C3
   70 tons of improved ferro-aluminum armor.

Weapons:                                          Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                    Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV      ERV    Class       

Nose (182 Heat)
1 Screen Launcher                             10   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Screen Launcher
    Screen Launcher Ammo (10 shots)
5 Tele-operated Missile (Killer Whale-T)      100  20(200) 20(200) 20(200) 20(200)  Tele-Operated Capital Missile
    Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) Ammo (50 shots)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
1 Naval Laser 35                              52   4(35)   4(35)   4(35)     0(0)   Capital Laser

FRS/FLS (172 Heat)
5 Tele-operated Missile (Killer Whale-T)      100  20(200) 20(200) 20(200) 20(200)  Tele-Operated Capital Missile
    Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) Ammo (50 shots)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
1 Naval Laser 35                              52   4(35)   4(35)   4(35)     0(0)   Capital Laser

RBS/LBS (10 Heat)
1 Screen Launcher                             10   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Screen Launcher
    Screen Launcher Ammo (10 shots)

ARS/ALS (20 Heat)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       

Aft (182 Heat)
1 Screen Launcher                             10   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Screen Launcher
    Screen Launcher Ammo (10 shots)
5 Tele-operated Missile (Killer Whale-T)      100  20(200) 20(200) 20(200) 20(200)  Tele-Operated Capital Missile
    Killer Whale (Tele-Operated) Ammo (50 shots)
5 Anti-Missile System                          5   2(15)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   AMS         
    Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (720 shots)
5 Medium Laser                                15   3(25)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
1 Naval Laser 35                              52   4(35)   4(35)   4(35)     0(0)   Capital Laser

Looks like I need to reduce the mass requirement on the Capacitors to make them something at least worth considering on lower-tonnage builds.

[epi]

For a 1/2 trust you can use a modified Mammoth drive, using the Behemoth drive gives you a 2/3 trust.

[kindalas]

Looks like I need to reduce the mass requirement on the Capacitors to make them something at least worth considering on lower-tonnage builds.

1% of ship mass seems reasonable to me.  :D xp

Unless you want several capacitors then maybe: t*0.0005(LY)*(n)^2

So for an extra 15 LY jump that can be used once it works out to 0.75% of vessel mass.

But for two extra 5 LY jumps you get 1% vessel mass.

[Cannonshop]

1% of ship mass seems reasonable to me.  :D xp

Unless you want several capacitors then maybe: t*0.0005(LY)*(n)^2

So for an extra 15 LY jump that can be used once it works out to 0.75% of vessel mass.

But for two extra 5 LY jumps you get 1% vessel mass.

Let's try that method.

[Red Pins]

Ok, 2nd draft is put up in the original reply.

Several things have changed; the engine is now 2/3 (got confused with the .5g/thrust thing, sorry) with another 1,000 tons of fuel.
2 T-KW launchers and ammo are gone from the Aft.
Dropcollars are gone (I wanted a Bay for a Drost, or something, but it didn't work out).
A Jump Capacitor was added; 750 tons is a heck of a capacitor given RL capacity, but seems ok.
I'm sure there's more, but can't remember.

I'd like to add a Black Box, but can't find a tonnage for it.  Given this is a Primitive, and a throw-away unit, I really want to give them a chance to call for help when it breaks.  I put something into the ask the Writers thread, but who knows when that will get answered.

*edit - Finally did a search before asking, and it seems to be brief-case sized and weight, from what I read.  So, as far as I'm concerned, it has one.  Even if only flagships have one.

[2ndAcr]

 Black box are noted as being the size of a suitcase. So figure about 40lbs. Not enough to calculate.

[Red Pins]

Yeah, took a while, but found it.  Thanks anyway.