OBT Forum

Decided to add a bit of AMS capability to the old Reforger program. With gunboat warfare so prevalent it seemed like a bad oversight not to have included some enhanced survival kit against nuclear shipkillers.

The ReForger program.

The ReForger program came about as a result of the declining ability of the Terran Republic to continue it's impressive warship programs. By the last years of the 29'th century shortages of critical materials, funds and the drain of fighting a savage two front war made it almost impossible to build new warships. The declining government orders caused operational yards, the rarest asset in the Inner Sphere, to shut down new construction of military vessels and be reduced to repair and maintenance work.

However the TRN had many old Star League designs optimized for a very different environment than that which the Republic found itself in at ground zero of the Succession war. The idle yards came up with an idea to remain operating by refitting some of the older designs, improving them with some of the lessons learned at such great cost during the war as well as downgrading them to use more easily available materials, which would not reduce the designs effectiveness noticeably while allowing the advanced equipment, replaced in the refit, to be used for other purposes where it could make a difference.

In the early weeks of the new century Admiral Beserick received the proposal from the yards on how to improve some of the old Star League classes. The yards suggested pulling in four different classes which were still available in some numbers in the TRN to give each ship a swift standardized refit. The classes were:
  Vincent class ( 8 of 52 surviving )
  Essex class ( 5 of 30 surviving )
  Lola III class ( 7 of 47 surviving )
  Sovetskii Soyuz class ( 3 of 23 surviving )
The classes were selected on the basis of how simple the modification would be, number of ships in service and an estimate on whether or not the ships could be spared from front-line service.


The Vincents were of little value in front line duties and had suffered badly in the war. Designed mainly as a long range patrol ship it was supremely unsuited to face the relentless carnage of the Succession war and could be pulled offline with little loss to the fighting strength of the fleet so it was proposed to refit the Vincents first. The modular design of the Vincents made the refit of them a fairly simple and straightforward operation that could be prepared in advance and carried out swiftly.

The Sovetskii Soyuz class was another of the Star Leagues long range patrol and escort designs and also ill suited to the nature of the current conflict and the fleet should be able to do without it's three ships for the duration of the refit, particularly as the first improved Vincents would be returning to duty by the time the Sovetskii Soyuz class was scheduled for it's refit.

The two destroyer classes, the Essex and Lola, included in the Reforger program were hardly something the front-line Admirals would want to part with. The yards argued that the refitted Vincents and Soyuz classes would be available to fill the holes in the OoB left by the destroyers by the time those classes were due to be withdrawn for their refit. Combined with a much smaller, and thus faster refit of the destroyers, the fleet should not lose much, if any fighting power.

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ReForger refit of the Vincent:

The refit of the Vincent class was intended be a general upgrade of it's fighting abilities as well as making the ship a bit easier to maintain.
The fuel tanks were enlarged by 2000 tons and new pumps installed to reduce the ships dependance on intact supply lines. (add 2000 tons of fuel)
The 104 tons of ferro-carbide armor was replaced with 336 tons of the easier to make standard armor for a significant improvement in protection. (23,28,28,23)
Also to improve survivability against missile armed gunboats eight hexagonal anti-missile clusters were installed, one in each firing arc for a full defensive coverage. (+6 sL in each arc)
The hangar deck was expanded to house a second fighter squadron by annexing a cargo-hold. (+6 ASF in ASF bay)
The inadequate weaponry on the Vincents was massively upgraded in the Reforger refit. Originally the Reforger program intended to put heavier NACs on the ship but a structural analysis showed that the hull was unlikely to support the increased weight and recoil without serious strengthening. The best compromise possible was to add a second gun to the existing NAC installations and fire them one after the other. (add 4 NAC10s, 1 to each NAC bay, optional - must use bracket fire at all times or suffer 1 SI damage/salvo) In addition four White Shark missile tubes with 10 missiles each were installed improving the anti-shipping capability of the missile armament. (4 WS tubes, 1 each in FL,FR,AL,AR & 40 missiles)
Rounding out the weapons upgrade four twin turrets of AAS lasers were to be installed to cover the entire ship with AAS capability. (add 8 LL, 2 each in Nose, AL,AR,Aft)
Quarters for some 20+ additional crewmen and two escape-pods were also added to the ship making the refit mass a total of 13532 tons and leaving some 83751 tons cargo still available.



Class/Model/Name:  Vincent Mk 39-R (Corvette)
Tech:              Inner Sphere / 2802
Mass:              420,000 tons
K-F Drive System:  (Unknown)
Length:            402 meters
Sail Diameter:     1005 meters
Power Plant:       Standard
Armament:         
    8 NAC10 (400 rnds)
    2 Barracuda (20 miss)
    4 White Shark (40 miss)
   16 Large Laser
   64 small Laser
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Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 4
      Maximum Thrust: 6
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive:  Compact (Integrity = 10)               
Jump Sail (Detachable):     (Integrity = 4)                                 
Structural Integrity:       40                                           
Total Heat Sinks:           493 Single                             
Fuel:                       4000 tons (10000)                   
Armor Type:  Standard  (158 total armor pts)         
                           Capital Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Fore:                                 23
   Fore-Left/Right:                   28/28
   Aft-Left/Right:                    28/28
   Aft:                                  23
                           
Cargo:                     
   Bay 1:  Fighters (12) with 2 doors             
   Bay 2:  Small Craft (4) with 1 door
   Bay 3:  Cargo (83751 tons) with 1 door             
                           
Grav Decks #1 :             (60-meter diameter)         
Escape Pods:                10 (7 tons each)                   

Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV
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2 Barracuda                Nose         4      4      4      4
2 Large Laser              Nose     2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              Nose     2(18)*    --     --     --
1 White Shark              FL/R         3      3      3      3
2 NAC10                    FL/R        20     20     20     --
2 Large Laser              FL/R     2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              FL/R     2(18)*    --     --     --
2 NAC10                    LBS/RBS     20     20     20     --
2 Large Laser              LBS/RBS  2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              LBS/RBS  2(18)*    --     --     --
1 White Shark              AL/R         3      3      3      3
2 Large Laser              AL/R     2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              AL/R     2(18)*    --     --     --
2 Large Laser              Aft      2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              Aft      2(18)*    --     --     --
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ReForger refit of the Sovetskii Soyuz:

The refit of the surviving Sovetskii Soyuz class intended to take advantage of an alteration made in the final phase of the design process. The original design specification called for the Sovetskii Soyuz to carry 18 more naval lasers than was actually installed. Problems in manufacturing these weapons as well as intense pressure from both the naval and the ground arm of the SLDF led to a considerable downgrade of the planned laser battery from 24 to 6. The Reforger refit proposed to reverse this by installing the missing lasers which the ships were originally designed and intended to carry.
Unfortunately while the ships had been designed to mount those guns alterations during their long service, repairs and field modifications meant that what had been planned to be a simple straightforward operation turned into a time consuming engineering nightmare where the work crews had to come up with a unique solution for practically half the guns installed. (add 1 NL45 each to the FL,FR NL-bays, add 4 NL45 each to LBS,RBS,AL,AR arcs  optional - Difficult to maintain quirk)
In addition to the new heavy laser batteries the ships were also given some anti-aerospace lasers as well as anti-missile laser clusters. Experiences during the war had shown how dangerous aerospace fighters could be to warships so improving the AAS capability was a centerpiece idea of the Reforger refits. Six remote controlled twin turrets were mounted giving the ship a 360 anti-aerospace defense. (add 2 LL to each nose,FL,FR,AL,AR,Aft arc)
The ever present danger of nuclear armed gunboats to capital ships was somewhat reduced by the installment of an extensive anti-missile defense system consisting of eight hexagonal laser clusters around the ship. (add 6 sL to each arc)
The vast increase of the energy weapons loadout required a substantial change in the cooling systems of the ships. It had been decided to replace double heatsinks with single sinks during the Reforger refit since most warships could easily carry the extra mass needed by the simpler model without degrading their fighting ability much. The removed double sinks could then be used in mechs or fighters were they would greatly enhance those units fighting abilities. As with the weapons installation itself the complexity of the task had been badly underestimated. While the engineers and work crews finally did manage to cram in over three times as many heatsinks to replace the original double heatsinks, and boost the heat dispersion ability of the ships, the ships ended up having hot coolant pipes and live power cables running through corridors all over the interior and much effort had to be spent on re-sealing the ships airtight compartments. (change to single heatsinks and add 2246 more of them  optional - Poor cooling jacket quirk & any heatsink critical hits destroys 3 times the number of sinks they would normally take out)
The Sovetskii Soyuz's fuel tanks were enlarged by some 1600 tons, in line with the general boost of fuel capacity. (add 1600 tons of fuel)
The armoring had been one of trouble spots leading to the original decision to cut back on the laser armament. The 743 tons of bulky ferro-aluminium armor was replaced with 1328 tons of the more compact and easier to replace standard armor plating, marginally improving the ships unsatisfactory protection while permitting installation of the new weaponry. (armor 82,104,104,76)
Finally quarters for the 20 extra gunners needed and four new escape-pods were added. The refit came in at 20827 tons and left the ships with 199189 tons of cargo space.




Class/Model/Name:  Sovetskii Soyuz -R (Heavy Cruiser)
Tech:              Inner Sphere / 2807
Mass:              830,000 tons
K-F Drive System:  (Unknown)
Length:            803 meters
Sail Diameter:     1250 meters
Power Plant:       Standard
Armament:         
   12 NAC20 (1200 rnds)
    8 MNPPC
   24 NL45
    4 Barracuda (40 miss)
    2 Killer Whale (20 miss)
   12 Large Laser
   64 small Laser
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Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 2
      Maximum Thrust: 3
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive:  Compact (Integrity = 17)               
Jump Sail:                  (Integrity = 5)                                 
Structural Integrity:       80                                           
Total Heat Sinks:           3225 Single                             
Fuel:                       3000 tons (7500)                   
Armor Type:                 Standard  (574 total armor pts)         

                            Capital Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Fore:                                    82
   Fore-Left/Right:                    104/104
   Aft-Left/Right:                     104/104
   Aft:                                     76
                           
Cargo:                     
   Bay 1:  Fighters (18) with 4 doors             
   Bay 2:  Small Craft ( with 2 door
   Bay 3:  Cargo (199189 tons) with 1 door             
                           
Dropship Capacity:          4
Grav Decks #1-2 :           (55 and 90-meters diameter)         
Escape Pods:                24 (7 tons each)                   

Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV
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2 Killer Whale             Nose         8      8      8      8
2 Large Laser              Nose     2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              Nose     2(18)*    --     --     --
1 Barracuda                FL/R         2      2      2      2
4 NL45                     FL/R        18     18     18     18
2 Large Laser              FL/R     2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              FL/R     2(18)*    --     --     --
4 NL45                     LBS/RBS     18     18     18     18
3 NAC20                    LBS/RBS     60     60     60     --
2 MNPPC                    LBS/RBS     18     18     18     18
6 small Laser              LBS/RBS  2(18)*    --     --     --
1 Barracuda                AL/R         2      2      2      2
4 NL45                     AL/R        18     18     18     18
3 NAC20                    AL/R        60     60     60     --
2 MNPPC                    AL/R        18     18     18     18
2 Large Laser              AL/R     2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              AL/R     2(18)*    --     --     --
2 Large Laser              Aft      2(16)  2(16)     --     --
6 small Laser              Aft      2(18)*    --     --     --
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ps: Yes I admit to wanting the coolest looking ship in TRO3057 to be something more than an armed freighter (which it still is essentially). In the TRO2750 the Sovetskii Soyuz is listed as having 24 NL45 but only 6 made it into the spec so I thought I would restore the Sovetskii Soyuz to what it might have been... If you think it is a to Frankensteinian a refit then simply adding a few extra NPPC to the existing bays is a simpler option.
I figured ~9 months of yard time for a Vincent class and they should all go through the cycle about 2801-2804. The SovSoy would have been planned for less than two years but probably ended up taking over three so they would be through the cycle about 2804-2808. After the SovSoy debacle there is no way the Essex and Lolas would be pulled off the line for a refit in more than singles even if the planned refit is much smaller than either the Vin or SovSoy. So I figure about 1 each / year (the worst damaged) in 2807~2812 depending on how many survives to be refitted.
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ReForger refit of the Essex and Lola III:

The refit of the Star League destroyer classes were relatively minor compared to the more serious work done on the Vincent and Sovetskii Soyuz classes. The Reforger refit included the normal shift to large amounts of standard armor rather than the more advanced armor types. For the Essex this meant a significant improvment of protection as it's 306 tons of ferro-aluminium armor was replaced by far more than twice the amount of standard armor. For the Lola, using the more advanced ferro-carbide armor, the refit barely broke even, even though the new armor weighed more than twice as much as that it replaced. (standard armor Essex: 56,56,56,53  Lola: 51,50,50,51)
A short coming of the Lola exposed in the war was the relatively low fuel capacity which frequently hindered operations and often prevented the ship from using it's superior thrust to it's full extent in tactical situations. The Lola's fuel tank capacity was boosted by 150% in the refit in an effort to solve that issue. (Lola: add 1800 tons fuel)
One thing which made both the Lola and Essex good candidates for Reforger refits were the large cargo holds adjacent to the existing hangar bays. This feature made it a relatively simple operation to increase the fighter carrying capacity of each class to triple it's pre-war capabilities allowing each ship to carry a full wing of fighters into combat. (both: add 6 ASF to the fighter bay and 6 more to the SC bay)
The only upgrade of the weaponry was the addition of six remote controlled twin laser turrets to give the ships some AAS capability that was lacking in the original design and the addition of eight hexagonal anti-missile laser clusters to improve survivability against gunboat attacks. Neither ship class was considered expendable enough to remain in the yards for a more serious reworking of the weapons layout as was done with the other Reforger refits. (both: add 2 LL each to Nose,FL,FR,AL,AR,Aft arcs and add 6 sL to each arc)
The double heatsinks, in short supply at the time of these refits, were replaced by double the amount of single heatsinks. Having learned from the SovSoy refit no attempt was made to cram in standard sinks at a rate of three to one and this new approach worked much better.
The addition of quarters for the extra crew and four extra escape-pods rounded out the refit. The refit massed 3286 tons for the Essex and 5038 tons for the Lola leaving 129348 and 112140 tons respectively of cargo available for other uses.


ps: The Clan variants have 10(+4) ASF and 10(+6) SC so it should not be to big a deal to add 12 fighters to these classes.
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The improvements to the classes.

Vincent:
Armor     108 -> 158
ASF         6 -> 12
Xtreme    4,0 -> 16,0
Long     44,0 -> 96,0
Med      44,8 -> 96,16
Short    44,8 -> 96,16
AAS        12 -> 32
AMS         0 -> 16

Essex:
Armor     220 -> 330
ASF         6 -> 18
Xtreme   78,0 -> 78,0
Long    426,0 -> 426,0
Med     426,0 -> 426,12
Short   426,0 -> 426,12
AAS         6 -> 18
AMS         0 -> 16

Lola III:
Armor     288 -> 302
ASF         6 -> 18
Xtreme  103,0 -> 103,0
Long    263,0 -> 263,0
Med     263,0 -> 263,12
Short   263,0 -> 263,12
AAS        16 -> 28
AMS         0 -> 16

Sovetskii Soyuz:
Armor     494 -> 574
ASF        18 -> 18
Xtreme  116,0 -> 196,0
Long    356,0 -> 436,0
Med     356,0 -> 436,12
Short   356,0 -> 436,12
AAS        16 -> 28
AMS         0 -> 16

Enough refit to paste over the most obvious defects but not a total reconstruction.
Vincent can actually intimidate something other than a Buccaneer...
Essex might survive more than one hit and get to shoot back a few more times...
Lola get a bit of leg and AAS capability making it much better at raiding or independent operations...
SovSoy is a much better ship with bracket fire and anti-ASF mode lasers in reasonable numbers, it is still and armed freighter but it is a bit less obvious...