Thunderchild-class 400 ton escort frigate, TL12
In 2280, the British began work on a small warship specifically intended to escort large merchant ships or groups of smaller cargo ships and defend them from pirates or a hypothetical enemy. As Britain was not at war and pirates are rare, development was slow. The first ship was not built until 2291 and was unusual un that all turret weapons were PDCs, used to defend the ship and any other ship in close proximity. It also carries a marine squad and a lightly armed lander, as the frigate is not capable of atmospheric operations.
The arrival of the kafer finally gave a need for such a ship and production has begun in earnest, although some merchant ships are being fitted with a control station and carrying a Goalkeeper drone in a cargo bay as an emergency measure. Currently there are only seven Thunderchilds.
The escort frigate uses an unstreamlined 400 ton hull. It has a stutterwarp drive K and MHD turbine M, which provides a cruising speed of 1.99 ly/day and tactical 4. Fuel good for 108 hours is carried for the powerplant. Standard radiators are fitted. A model 4 computer and a countermeasures suite is installed. The crew of 26 (15 bridge, 6 engineering, 2 stewards and 2 gunners) has a standard bridge, 25 staterooms, 2 autodocs, a briefing room and recreation facilities. Four turrets are armed with single Type 29 PDCs. Four UTES and two missile directors are installed. The missile bay holds 10 Ritage-1 missiles. A gig (50-ton lander with fixed laser and UTES) is carried in a standard hanger. The frigate has 2 points of synthetic armor. Cargo is 15 tons and cost is MLv 68.4.
In 2280, the British began work on a small warship specifically intended to escort large merchant ships or groups of smaller cargo ships and defend them from pirates or a hypothetical enemy. As Britain was not at war and pirates are rare, development was slow. The first ship was not built until 2291 and was unusual un that all turret weapons were PDCs, used to defend the ship and any other ship in close proximity. It also carries a marine squad and a lightly armed lander, as the frigate is not capable of atmospheric operations.
The arrival of the kafer finally gave a need for such a ship and production has begun in earnest, although some merchant ships are being fitted with a control station and carrying a Goalkeeper drone in a cargo bay as an emergency measure. Currently there are only seven Thunderchilds.
The escort frigate uses an unstreamlined 400 ton hull. It has a stutterwarp drive K and MHD turbine M, which provides a cruising speed of 1.99 ly/day and tactical 4. Fuel good for 108 hours is carried for the powerplant. Standard radiators are fitted. A model 4 computer and a countermeasures suite is installed. The crew of 26 (15 bridge, 6 engineering, 2 stewards and 2 gunners) has a standard bridge, 25 staterooms, 2 autodocs, a briefing room and recreation facilities. Four turrets are armed with single Type 29 PDCs. Four UTES and two missile directors are installed. The missile bay holds 10 Ritage-1 missiles. A gig (50-ton lander with fixed laser and UTES) is carried in a standard hanger. The frigate has 2 points of synthetic armor. Cargo is 15 tons and cost is MLv 68.4.
