Challenger Class Troop Carrier
Overview:
Once the Terran Republic switched from a defensive stance to an offensive stance during the Succession War two major problems soon became apparent. The first was the enemy gunboats operating in the systems targeted for liberation. The second was the Republic’s reliance on larger transports such as the Citadel and the Yeomen. While the larger ships allowed for a more efficient use of the Terran Republic’s limited space lift capacity they were also very tempting targets for the enemy.
During the latter stages of the Succession War various versions of the Cheetah class ships were altered to better deal with the harsh realities of the Succession War. Despite the Cheetahs being used extensively in some of the hardest fought campaigns and most heavily contested landings it still had a lower casualty rate than most other troop transports. Its high thrust to mass ratio and heavy armor protection contributed greatly to its battlefield success and survival. The Cheetah’s capabilities were particularly further refined in the late war variants which were optimized to survive attacks by hostile gunboats.
These combined experiences are the foundations for the Challenger program. The purpose of the program was to develop a heavy troop transport with similar survivability requirements as those of first line gunboats. The Challenger program ground to a halt as the war cooled down and the need for the Challenger class ships diminished. That changed however with the Terran Civil War which caused extensive destruction or defections of the Terran spacelift capacity. With the need for extensive repairs to the yards and a general rebuilding the Terran military it was decided to retool some yards to put the Challenger into production.
Capabilities:
The Challenger is the first military transport deliberately designed to operate in space infested by hostile gunboats flinging shipkiller nukes around. Not only is the Challenger a bit faster than the average transport it is also very heavily armored and equipped with an extensive anti missile laser array, all in a effort to enhance its survivability and the security of the troops it is carrying.
Although the problem with large transports being priority targets was well known the shortage of spacelift capacity more or less forced the Terran Republic down this path despite the known issues. Carrying a full battalion of mechs and a squadron of fighters the Challenger delivers the same payload to the battlefield as the classic Overlord but it does so far more securely. The transport capacity might be a bit smaller than that of some of the other ships currently in use by the Terran Republic but the drastically improved survivability, while still able to lift large units on a few ships, compensates for this.
The weapon loadout have been criticized for being too uniform, it consists of a solid array of 36 Large Lasers deployed evenly around the ship in hexagonal turrets and they are backed up with six nose and six aft mounted long range missile systems. While perhaps not the optimal weapons mix to deal with fighter strikes, in fact more similar to what you might expect on a gunboat strike ship than a mech carrier, the Challenger still outputs a respective amount of firepower.
Variants:
There are several official variants of the Challenger either in service or planned as well as a few unique modifications despite the still relatively limited number in service.
Challenger – V: Vehicle transport for one battalion of heavy vehicles and one of light vehicles. The ASF bay is usually removed to provide quarters for the increased size of the personnel contingent associated to conventional forces.
Challenger – C: Carrier variant designed to carry two fighter wings into battle. The three fighter bays are grouped into three equal sized fighter bays with two launch and recovery doors each. Intended to replace the many carrier designs currently in use with a more rugged and resilient ship. The carrier version currently have a very low priority and only a few ships have been built for specialized fighter units.
Challenger – T: Transport version, with or without the fighter deck, intended to bring supplies to hot landing zones or carrying high value cargo in general. This variant was not originally planned but emerged as a consequence of the rather cramped cargo capacity of the regular military troop transport variants not being able to support the large formations they transported in high intensity operations.
Challenger – Q: Q-ship version of the Challenger, replaces the mech bays and front LRM-20 racks with six heavy missile tubes. Intended to provide a heavy concealed escort to invasion and transport groups just in case an enemy breaks through the escorts. Unlike the Mule, which is limited in that is has to imitate a civilian freighter; the Challenger version of a Q-ship is based on a heavily armed and armored military transport and thus is a much more potent fighting ship. Needless to say the Terran navy want to use it as a fleet gunboat to help boost its depleted numbers but unlike the Gepard, which caused endless friction between the army and the navy while it was in production, the production schedule and operations of the Challenger – Q have been left entirely in the hands of the army.
Deployment:
With production starting up only after the Succession War and the Civil War the deployment of the Challenger is still rather limited and mainly concentrated to units deployed along the more active Combine front as well as among the mobile rapid reaction formations usually stationed in the core of the Republic.
 
Challenger CLASS Troop Transport
Type: Military Spheroid
Tech: Standard
Mass: 16,000 tons
Dimensions
Length: 96.00 meters
Width: 96.00 meters
Height: 170.00 meters
Fuel: 200.00 tons (6,000)
Tons/Burn-day: 1.84 tons
Safe Thrust: 4
Max Thrust: 6
Heatsinks:(168 free) 384 single
Structural Integrity: 50
Armor: 180 tons standard
Nose: 1220 (120)
R/L Sides: 500 (50)
Aft: 600 (60)
Weapons:
Arc (Heat) Type Short Medium Long Xtreme
Nose(84 Heat)
6 LRM20 (180 rounds) 7(72) 7(72) 7(72) -
6 Large Laser 5(48) 5(48) - -
LF/RF(108 Heat)
6 Large Laser 5(48) 5(48) - -
6 small Laser 2*(18*) - - -
AL/AR(108 Heat)
6 Large Laser 5(48) 5(48) - -
6 small Laser 2*(18*) - - -
Aft(84 Heat)
6 LRM20 (180 rounds) 7(72) 7(72) 7(72) -
6 Large Laser 5(48) 5(48) - -
Cargo: 1396 tons
Bay 1: Fighter (3), Small Craft (1) 1 Door
Bay 2: Fighter (3), Small Craft (1) 1 Door
Bay 3: Mech (36), Cargo 4 Doors
Escape Pods: 20
Life Boats: 20
Crew: 156, 12 Officers, 16 Gunners, 100 Bay, 12 Marines
Ammunition:
360 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition (60 tons)
Note:
Equipped with 180 tons of standard armor.
Cost:
653 million C-bills.
