Monolith

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Monolith Class JumpShip
Production information
Manufacturer Stellar Trek, Ioto Galactic Enterprises, Challenge Systems, Rashpur-Owens Incorporated
Use Military
Tech Base Standard
Cost 1,000,000,000 C-Bills
Introduced 2776
Technical specifications
Mass 430,000 tons
Length 750 meters
Sail Diameter 1270 meters
Fuel 68 tons (170)
Burn Rate 39.58
Top Thrust 0.1 Gs
Sail Integrity 5
KF Drive Integrity 8
LF Battery None
Armament None
Armor 150 tons
DropShip Capacity 9
Crew 30 crew
Grav Decks 2 x 105 meters diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats 5 Escape Pods
Heat Sinks 0 + 137
Structural Integrity
BV (1.0) 1,041[1]
BV (2.0) ???


Description

The Monolith class is said to be the largest civilian JumpShip class ever built, though it is unclear if that notion refers to overall mass, overall length (with or without jump sail), number of hardpoints, or other factors or combinations thereof.

Monolith class ships often serve as invasion flagships and coordinate operations due to their extensive command center which is equipped with advanced communication, analysis and simulation equipment.

Prohibitive manufacturing and maintenance costs have kept the number of operating ships down, but their sturdiness and an abundant supply of spare parts ensures that they remain in service. There is a notable discrepancy, however, in reports about how many Monolith class vessels exist: As of ca. 3025 and also 3057, the armies of the Successor States between them supposedly operate less than 50 Monoliths, half of which serve with the DCMS. Yet the implication that the class is exclusive to Inner Sphere armies is demonstrably wrong, as mercenary units as well as mercantile corporations are also known to operate Monoliths. The stated number of "a few dozen" or "less than fifty" vessels is also at odds with the known production numbers and the stated sturdiness and longevity of the vessels.[2] There is evidence that ComStar operated a large fleet of JumpShips, and a fan theory suggests that the greater part of all existing Monoliths in the Inner Sphere may actually have been ComStar vessels, and were thus omitted from the ComStar reports.

The Clans also operate the Monolith class, and have upgraded it with their own advanced technologies. It is not known how many Clan Monoliths exist, but it should be noted that the design was only introduced eight years prior to Aleksandr Kerensky's Operation EXODUS, suggesting only relatively few vessels such would have joined the Exodus fleet. There is insufficient information on production capacities in the Clan homeworlds to estimate how many, if any, were built there since.

Armament

None, although two of the six Small Craft bays on a Monolith are typically used for fighters.

Cargo

The standard Monolith has six Small Craft bays and can carry 7000 tons of cargo. It also mounts extra fuel tanks to fuel DropShips or aerospace fighters on extendend campaigns, making it an ideal base of operations.

Variants

No variants of the Monolith are mentioned. However, its stated mass was retconned from originally 380,000 tons to 430,000 tons because of a construction rule that was introduced after the specifications of the Monolith, which limits docking hardpoints to one per 50,000 tons of mass, rounded up; under that rule, a 380,000 ton vessel would only be allowed to mount a maximum of 8 hardpoints. Technical Readout: 3057 Revised officially altered the Monolith's mass, and the Master Unit List similarly lists it at 430,000 tons.
It is thus doubtful whether a 380,000 ton version canonically existed in the BattleTech universe; but given the many and long-standing reports, there might conceivably exist a downgraded variant which would, however, only be able to mount 8 docking hardpoints.

The Technical Readout 3057 mentions the 7000 ton cargo capacity but states a mere 37 tons in the ship's stats table, presumably in error. It also gives the number of heat sinks as 140 as opposed to 137 as per BattleSpace rulebook.

See Also

Monolith Ship Gallery

References

  1. AeroTech 2 Record Sheets, p. 277
  2. See Essay:JumpShip distribution

Bibliography