The standard gunboat of the Hood System Defense Forces, the Bristlecone(H) is a minor variant of the Type 51 Bristlecone built by the Galar Boatyards of Gulf Breeze. Going up against competitors such as the Ngo Industries Sampan III and Ioto Galactics' T70, the Galar offering was ultimately selected due to its lower cost and (it is believed) no small amount of lobbying from corporate and political interests both on and off world. The selection of the Bristlecone(H) has caused some complaint among the HSDF, who consider the ship generally inferior to the Sampan III and T70, due to their greater flexibility.
The Bristlecone(H) has only minor differences from the stock Bristlecone built by the Galar Boatyards. The ship carries a larger number of missile tubes, in this case using the slightly smaller but longer ranged Piranha. The larger number of missile tubes gives the vessel a greater rate of fire and potential destructive capability, but with the same number of missiles in the ready magazines, endurance has arguably been reduced. To avoid over-stressing the ship's fire control system, the arrays of medium pulse lasers have also been removed, somewhat reducing the ship's close range anti-fighter defense. Finally, for the sake of crew health and comfort, a small gravity deck has been added, though its diameter is so small that new crewmen report that the experience of using it is often disorienting.
Hood IV procured twelve Bristlecone(H) class ships for use by the HSDF in meeting their commitments to patrolling the quarantine zone. However, citing the current crisis, the Commonwealth has drafted six of these ships and their crews into service with the greater LCAF, assigning them to support the defense forces around Donegal. As of 3146, two additional ships have been temporarily withdrawn from service for badly needed repair and refits due to hard use.
Type 51 Bristlecone(H) class Gunboat
Mass: 50,000 tons
Transit Drive: 9,000 tons
Thrust Capacity: 3/5
Fuel: 500 tons (5000 points, 9.77 tons per burn day)
Pumps: 10 tons
Structure: 5000 tons
Structural Integrity: 100
Jump Drive (primitive, 15 light years): 25,000 tons
Drive Integrity: 3
Jump Sail: 33 tons
Sail Integrity: 3
Control System: 125 tons
Crew: 14 officers, 39 crew, 24 gunners, 591 tons
Heatsinks: 339, 200 tons
Armor: 100 tons Ferro Carbide armor: 30 per location
Equipment:
6 Aerospace Fighter Bays, 900 tons
2 Small Craft Bays, 400 tons
8 Escape Pods, 56 tons
28 Marines, 140 tons
Lithium Fusion Battery, 500 tons
60 Meter Grav Deck, 50 tons
1451 tons of Cargo
Weapons:
Fwd:
6 Medium Subcapital Cannons, 100 shots, 3100 tons
12 Improved Heavy Gauss Rifles, 160 shots, 280 tons
FL/FR:
3 Piranha Missile Launchers, 30 missiles, 1200 tons
6 Large Pulse Lasers, 84 tons
6 AMS, 96 shots, 22 tons
AL/AR:
3 Piranha Missile Launchers, 30 missiles, 1200 tons
6 Large Pulse Lasers, 84 tons
6 AMS, 96 shots, 22 tons