SOVETSKII SOYUZ BLOCK II
OverviewDespite the highly successful production run of the
Sovetskii Soyuz-class Heavy Cruiser, the rank-and-file officers of the SLDF Naval Command were more than slight 'underwhelmed' by the performance of these vessels. Contrary to claims by Blue Nose Clipperships and certain high-ranking procurement officers, the
Sovetskii Soyuz did
not carry the armament of a battlecruiser . . . indeed, the design barely managed to exceed the firepower of an
Essex-class
Destroyer 210,000 tons lighter that was also able to generate more acceleration thrust!
The armor scheme was roughly on par with existing
Congress-class Frigates . . . 70,000 tons lighter and (once again) fleeter of foot in acceleration and maneuverability.
Shortly after Simon Cameron ascended to the office of First Lord in 2738, the entire sordid affair of the
Sovetskii Soyuz was brought to his attention. A through investigation by the Star League Oversight and Accountability Office soon revealed that the original procurement officials overseeing the design and development of the
Sovetskii Soyuz had received 'gifts' from several members of the board of Blue Nose Clipperships. These 'gifts' amounted to several million Star League dollars in total.
Armed with evidence of the money trail (and more than two dozen confessions written and signed by the SLDF officers implicated), Blue Nose Clipperships was offered a choice by the First Lord.
The company could either present the SLDF with a scheduled 'upgrade" to the
Sovetskii Soyuz which would meet or exceed the 'propaganda' written by BNCS officials, followed by the conversion of existing and planned construction to the new standard
at cost,
or the First Lord himself would see to it that the Board and senior Executives of BNCS were indicted, convicted, and imprisoned for the remainder of their natural lives.
It took the Board less than fifteen minutes to choose the first option.
Thus was born the
Sovetskii Soyuz Block II.
It took ten years for the Block II upgrade to be developed and the first production vessel (SLS
Ticonderoga, the 384th
Sovetskii Soyuz to enter service) to be laid down and construction started. By 2751,
Ticonderoga had entered the Fleet and successfully passed her initial trials. Reports from officers assigned to the new vessel were glowing in their praise.
Unfortunately, just three months later, Simon Cameron was killed in an accident at Star's End. His heir (Richard) was a minor and the High Council took the reigns of power . . . slashing SLDF budgets wherever possible. Just seventeen Block IIs were constructed before new construction was at first suspended and then halted. The SLDF was required to forgo the refit of existing
Sovetskii Soyuzs in order to fund the construction of the newer, larger, and more powerful
Luxor-class Heavy Cruisers.
Despite just seventeen Block IIs entering service, these ships made an impression on the SLDF Fleet. Praised for their protection and firepower, these ships served gallantly throughout the Periphery Uprising and the Liberation of the Hegemony. Fourteen were destroyed (eleven during the Battle for Terra) and two others too severely damaged to repair (and were subsequently scrapped for parts). The seventeenth vessel (SLS
Ticonderoga) departed the Inner Sphere on the Exodus.
Upon arriving in the Pentagon,
Ticonderoga was assigned to the active roster Flotilla of Admiral Stephen McKenna as one of the vessels that would explore and chart the Kerensky Cluster. In 2803, after the start of the Exodus Civil War,
Ticonderoga was assigned to patrol several uninhabitable systems located between the Pentagon and the Kerensky Cluster. The vessel and her crew subsequently vanished without a trace. Although the nascent Clan Fleet conducted an exhaustive search, no debris or crewman (alive or dead) was ever located.
Her fate remains a mystery to this day.
CapabilitiesUsing the existing 220,000 ton-plus cargo capacity of the
Sovetskii Soyuz, Blue Nose Clipperships managed to correct almost all of the deficits of the original design. The poor acceleration (roughly comparable to the ancient
Aegis-class Heavy Cruiser and the unlamented and problematic
Cameron-class Battlecruiser proved to be too difficult to correct with the Block II . . . at least while remaining at a reasonable cost to the SLDF.
However, fuel tankage was expanded from 1,400 tons to just over 14,000 tons . . . providing the design with far greater ability to maneuver and deploy. The existing Improved Ferro-Aluminum armor plating was removed
en mass and replaced with almost twice the tonnage of higher-grade Ferro-Carbide. This far thicker and more resilient hull finally gave the design the protection that a modern Cruiser should possess.
The parasite complement of four docking collars and eighteen Aerospace Fighters was retained, but the Small Craft complement was lowered by two (from eight to six). Accommodations and facilities were provided for a full-strength Marine Rifle Company to provide shipboard security and for boarding actions.
In order to keep costs low, the inclusion of a Lithium-Fusion Battery system was rejected. However, both existing (and relatively small) grav decks were replaced with two contra-rotating 105-meter diameter models.
Armament was massively increased. The nose arc retained the twin Thunderstrike Killer Whale Capital Missile Launchers (with magazine space increased to 60 total missiles), but two additional Long Lance White Shark Capital Missile Launchers (also with 60 missiles) were added. Eight Sorenstein-45A 45cm Naval Lasers (in two four-gun turrets) were also installed.
The fore-quarters quadrupled the number of Nike Barracuda Capital Missile Launchers (from one to four, each launcher with 30 missiles stored) and added five additional Sorenstein-45A Naval Lasers (divided, as with the forward arc, into two four-gun turrets).
The stern, previously unarmed, was given identical armament to the fore-quarters.
The broadsides and stern-quarters were rebuilt to identical configurations. Instead of a twin turret containing a pair of Ceres-N Medium Naval PPCs, each arc instead carried two [quad] turrets of the weapons. The existing triple mount turrets of Imperator 20 Naval Autocannons were replaced with two twin turrets outfitted with the heavier, harder-hitting Imperator 25 Naval Autocannons (and each turret given 100 bursts of ammunition stored in their magazines).
To deal with the increased heat production and power requirements, two additional fusion plants were added to the engineering spaces and nearly three thousands tons of double-strength heat sinks were added.
Although some SLDF officers did question the decision to split the NL-45 batteries into two (relatively) small damage bays, engineers at Blue Nose Clipperships had included the new software which allowed the vessel to use both 'bracket-mode' and 'anti-aerospace-mode' with the Naval Lasers. This ability gave the Block II a fearsome ability to handle hostile ASF and Small Craft (especially when combined with the heavy Capital Missile batteries).
Crew capacity expanded, with a total of 96 gunners, 54 officers, 66 bay personnel, and 57 crewmen required (vs. 32 gunners, 42 officers 76 bay personnel, and 169 crewmen of the original design). Space was provided for up to 143 passengers (35 in 1st-class accommodations), along with the 84 officers and men of the embarked Marine Rifle Company. One hundred escape pods allows for the entire ships complement (at full load) to evacuate in an emergency.
Cargo capacity suffered a tremendous hit thanks to these improvements, but the
Sovetskii Soyuz Block II still retains a full 100,000 tons of dedicated cargo space, exclusive of fuel tankage and stocks of life support, provisions, and water for the ship's complement. This equates to just over 12% of the vessel's total mass consumed by dedicated cargo and spare parts stowage.
And for all of this, the overall cost of the Block II rose by only 533,505,824 Star League dollars . . . or just over 10.2% of the cost of the original design.
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: Sovetskii Soyuz (Block II)
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2751
Vessel Type: WarShip
Rules: Level 2, Custom design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 830,000 tons
Hull: 40X Templar
K-F Drive System: KF King LX
Length: 803 meters
Sail Diameter: 1,250 meters
Power Plant: Harlan B8-160 Standard
Safe Thrust: 2
Maximum Thrust: 3
Armor Type: Bowman JP7 Ferro-carbide
Armament:
2 Thunderstrike Killer Whale
2 Long Lance White Shark
32 Sorenstein-45A NL45
12 Nike Barracuda
32 Ceres-N Medium NPPC
16 Imperator 25 NAC/25
Manufacturer: Blue Nose Clipperships
Location: Mars
Communications System: KAT 701
Targeting & Tracking System: ASTROC 4-b
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Class/Model/Name: Sovetskii Soyuz (Block II)
Mass: 830,000 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 99,600.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 2
Maximum Thrust: 3
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive: Compact (Integrity = 17) 375,575.00
Jump Sail (Detachable): (Integrity = 5) 72.00
Structural Integrity: 80 66,400.00
Total Heat Sinks: 4,055 Double 3,564.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 14,513.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 2,075.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (360 days supply) 1,080.00
Armor Type: Ferro-carbide (1,106 total armor pts) 1,322.00
Capital Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 188
Fore-Left/Right: 188/188
Aft-Left/Right: 188/188
Aft: 166
Cargo:
Bay 1: Fighters (18) with 4 doors 2,700.00
Bay 2: Small Craft (6) with 2 doors 1,200.00
Bay 3: Cargo (1) with 2 doors 100,000.00
DropShip Capacity: 4 Docking Hardpoints 4,000.00
Grav Decks #1 - 2: (105-meter diameter) 200.00
Escape Pods: 100 (7 tons each) 700.00
Crew and Passengers:
54 Officers (54 minimum) 540.00
157 Crew (157 minimum) 1,099.00
96 Gunners (96 minimum) 672.00
35 1st Class Passengers 350.00
108 2nd Class Passengers 756.00
84 Marines 420.00
66 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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2 Killer Whale(60 msls) Nose 8 8 8 8 40 3,300.00
2 White Shark(60 msls) Nose 6 6 6 6 30 2,640.00
4 NL45 Nose 18 18 18 18 280 3,600.00
4 NL45 Nose 18 18 18 18 280 3,600.00
2 Barracuda(60 msls) FL/R 4 4 4 4 40 3,960.00
2 Barracuda(60 msls) FL/R 4 4 4 4 40 3,960.00
4 NL45 FL/R 18 18 18 18 560 7,200.00
4 NL45 FL/R 18 18 18 18 560 7,200.00
4 Medium NPPC L/RBS 36 36 36 36 1080 14,400.00
4 Medium NPPC L/RBS 36 36 36 36 1080 14,400.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) L/RBS 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) L/RBS 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
4 Medium NPPC AL/R 36 36 36 36 1080 14,400.00
4 Medium NPPC AL/R 36 36 36 36 1080 14,400.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) AL/R 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
2 NAC/25(100 rounds) AL/R 50 50 50 -- 340 12,120.00
2 Barracuda(60 msls) Aft 4 4 4 4 20 1,980.00
2 Barracuda(60 msls) Aft 4 4 4 4 20 1,980.00
4 NL45 Aft 18 18 18 18 280 3,600.00
4 NL45 Aft 18 18 18 18 280 3,600.00
66 Bay Personnel Quarters 462.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 8,110 830,000.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 5,746,333,024 C-Bills
Battle Value: 177,298
Cost per BV: 32,410.59
Weapon Value: 83,172 (Ratio = .47)
Damage Factors: SRV = 7,995; MRV = 7,995; LRV = 6,330; ERV = 2,534
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 516,755
(77,817 Structure, 167,158 Life Support, 271,780 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 682,425 (132% of MPV)
BattleForce2: Not applicable
