2300AD starships were written from the illustration. The author got the artwork and made a starship to fit. Liberties were often taken. For example, where the hell are the weapons, target array and sensors on the Wespe? If anything that ship looks like an assault lander, not a starfighter. Same for the Udet (which, oddly for a German starfighter has a French tricolor and has the unfortunate design feature of choosing whether to power the weapons or the engines). This is the picture in SotFA:
Now, we have two sets of surface features we can size the design on. (1) The turrets are 6m in diameter (as all turrets are) and (2) the missile banks are 6m x 4m (Ritage-1 bays are 1x2m each). The overall size of the sphere can be calculated at 24m. Internal volume is ~ 7,238 m3 or in traveller terms 517 dtons (round to 500 dtons). This clearly is not a drawing of a starfighter, but it is in fact a much larger vessel.
What else can we tell about the vessel? In order:
1. It has 4 turrets, each apparently a double turret.
2. It has UTES (no visible TTAs).
3. It does appear to have 24 missiles in something like a space VLS.
4. I would suggest this is the aft of the ship and the major sensor clusters are in the two remaining forward "sections.
The technology level of the ship is way above the level the design date implies. In 2213 the 1st Rio Plata War has just finished and whilst missiles have been introduced they're frankly useless. The Brazilian AAS-2 and the Argentine EM-1 are examples of this early generation of missiles and both are true "unmanned fighters" with a power plant supplying a single laser. The earliest nuke mentioned (with a small 2x2 warhead) is the AAS-4 of the 2230's. The drive is OM. The engine is apparently a NM MHD. The sensors are current generation, making this a 2270's era ship at the earliest.
On another note, the tactical systems (and navigation sensor) take up ~368 m2, with pylons and other bits you physically can't fit the fit onto a hull less than ~ 12 m in diameter (about 65 dtons), which seems to be about the size of the design in SotFA. The profile seems to have had the RCS multiplier used on it, and the surface fixtures.
We're now faced with a series of options when redoing the Donovan, and the most serious is does the picture or the write-up have priority? I'm going to assume the write-up does and write this up as a fighter, because it's the more interesting option.
The next question is what about the 24 missiles? These are such a core feature of the design that I think we have to keep them. However the two man crew is silly, as they can't operate the vast numbers of weapons systems incorporated into the ship. Since the original had cargo space (!) the crew will expand to keep up with the guns etc. As part of this more missile directors will be installed.
Stats
British Donovan Class "Fighter"
The Donovan-class fighter was originally built to police the inner portion of the solar system. Fighters of this type were maintained at stations orbiting Earth and other inner planets; they have no planetary takeoff or landing capabilities. From these orbiting stations, Donovan-class fighters could be scrambled quickly to deal with acts of piracy or smuggling, and they packed enough of a punch to be of use in wartime as well. As the years passed and new types of fighter were built, many of the Donovan-class ships were scrapped. A good number were shipped to British colonies along the French Arm, however, where they served in security forces.
A few unusual features about this fighter are worth noting. First, each carries 24 missiles, in two groups of 12. Rather than provide each group of missiles with one exit port—the standard configuration for missile-carrying fighters—each missile on a Donovan-class fighter has its own, separate bay. This means that any number of the missiles, from one to 24, may be fired at once. Historically, when fighting in the company of larger ships, Donovan-class fighters would rush in close to an enemy, fire off their entire load of missiles, and retreat behind their larger allies.
A second unusual feature is the manoeuvring thrusters on the ends of extensible arms. With the increased leverage provided by the length of these arms, Donovan-class fighters are able to make very precise manoeuvres while travelling at very high speeds. For quicker, less accurate, manoeuvres, thrusters are also built into the main hull.
Another unusual feature is the 14 man crew. Most starfighters have 2 or 3 men, but each man can only do one task at any one time, so in a 2-place fighter like a Martel one officer pilots the ship and the other can either attempt a sensor lock with one of the two installed sensors, or maintain a weapons lock on one target. The decision with the Donovan to have a full crew means no compromise is necessary. In fact the crew of a Donovan can even abandon their combat stations for damage control if necessary (typically 2 teams are available with the usual tactical usage).
Currently the remaining Donovan's are deployed to several British orbital forts and as carrier based heavy strike fighters. Using nuclear conversions of the French Ritage-1 (called Chevaline, with a 7x2 warhead and no sensors - the French equivalent uses a smaller warhead but retained the sensors) they are an exceptionally potent strike arm. British planners major worry is that these ships carry so much heavy ordnance that the loss of one with before weapons launch (and typically all weapons are launched simultaneously with four controlled by the crew, other by other Donovans and the main fleet) is a major loss of combat power. The future of this type of ship in RSN service is either replacement with a better protected vessel for deep penetration into the enemies rear area (the Tactical Strike and Reconnaissance programme - TSR) or complete retirement.
Streamlining: None
Original Design Date: 5th June, 2273
First Example Laid Down: 6th August, 2275
First Example Completed: 29th February, 2276 (a leap year)
Fleets in Service: Britain
Number in Service: Unknown
Performance
Warp efficiency: 3.26 full engines with missiles, 2.43 all tactical systems powered up with missiles, 3.76 full engines after launching all missiles
Power Plant: 10 MW MHD Turbine Fuel: 14 tons (15 hours)
Range: N/A Mass: 575 tons fuelled, exclusive of 265.68 tons of ordnance commonly carried
Cargo Capacity: none Crew: 14 (Pilot, Commander/Navigator, Communicator,Computer, Active Operator, Passive Operator, 4 Fire Control and 4 Remote Pilots); Passengers: none
Comfort: 0
Emergency Power: -
Total Life Support: N/A
Cost: MLv19.9 without ordnance (4 TCs etc.)
Ship Status Sheet
Move: 5-8
Screens: 0
Radiated Signature: 3
Radial Reflected: 4
Lateral Reflected: 4
Target Computer: +1
Radial Profile: -1
Lateral Profile: -1
Armour: 4
Hull hits: 24/12/6 (standard rules)
Power Plant Hits: 20/4
Active: 10
Passive: 10
Other: Agility 7
Weapons
4x1+1 lasers in masked turrets with UTES (1238, 1278, 4567, 3456)
Ordnance Load
24 Ritage-1 type missiles (launch all in single turn)
Sensors and Electronics
Active-10, Passive-10, Navigation Radar
Crew Hits: Pilot, Commander/Navigator, Communicator,Computer, Active Operator, Passive Operator, 4 Fire Control and 4 Remote Pilots
Damage Control: See below
Interesting, more interesting yet is the comment about the Donovan's tech level/age. Have you considered how often Donovans may have been updated, had midlife refits and changed purpose over their 80 plus years of service?
ReplyDeleteJust consider the lifespan of so many aircraft and other weapon systems today. Britain was using WW2 tech at the sharp end right up to the 90s and even then kept much of it in reserve for many years after.
Love the TSR reference too.
To get the hull mass down into the right region it has to be advanced composite, which is so advanced that even the 2270's is questionable. This, combined with apparently a NM MHD (and OM stutterwarp) means it's unlikely to have been updated, especially with the weapons fit of Ritages (which could replace 1 or 2 2210's type fighter drones I suppose).
ReplyDeleteTSR is a double reference, both to the D&D makers and to what is probably the greatest plane never made: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAC_TSR-2
TSR? Lovely, Bryn!
ReplyDeleteYou do know that the replacement will never arrive, do you? The replacement will be 20 years late and will be called the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft, AKA Tornado.
I like your train of thought, though. Good write-up.