Aegis (WarShip class)

Aegis TRO2750.jpg
Aegis
Production information
Manufacturer Di Tron Heavy Industries[1]
Introduced 2372[2]
Production Year 2582 (refit)[2][3]
Use Heavy Cruiser
Tech Base Star League
Cost 19,978,799,000 C-bills[3]
Technical specifications
Mass 750,000 tons
Length 725 meters
Sail Diameter 1,308 meters
Fuel 1,000 tons
Burn Rate
Safe Thrust 1 g
Top Thrust 1.5 g
Sail Integrity 4
KF Drive Integrity 16
LF Battery Yes
Armament
Armor 627 tons Grumman K5 Ferro-Carbide
DropShip Capacity 4
Small craft/
Aerospace fighters 		10/18
Crew 275 (2750 SL)[2]
  • 49 Officers
  • 146 Enlisted
  • 80 Gunners

(Crew Types)[4]

  • 105 Pilots / Engineers
  • 45 Junior Officers / Other Crew (Non-Engineers)
  • 30 Secondary Engineers

Bay Personnel: 86

Grav Decks 2 x 90 meters diameter
Escape Pods/Life Boats 0/20
Heat Sinks 2,046 double
Structural Integrity 75
BV (1.0) 167,790[2]
BV (2.0) 153,005[3]

Description[edit]

The first Aegis-class heavy cruiser, the THS Aegis,[5] entered service in 2372, making the Aegis one of the oldest WarShip designs still in common use, serving with distinction with the Terran Hegemony, Star League, ComStar and Clan fleets well into the thirty-first century.[1][2][5]

Among the most sophisticated designs at the time of its creation,[1][2][5] incorporating many new features such as detachable jump sails that would go on to become standard, the Aegis boasted excellent firepower and maneuverability.[5] The Aegis went on to serve with the Hegemony Armed Forces until 2531, when a number of refits designed to keep pace with newer vessels failed, the decision was made to retire the aging class in favor of the Avatar-class.[1][2] However, Deborah Cameron, the cautious Director-General of the Terran Hegemony at the time, chose to send the 106[5] surviving ships to mothballs in orbit between Terra and Mars just in case. This was to prove a boon to the newly formed Star League who found a critical need for WarShips to serve in the Reunification War, with First Lord Ian Cameron ordering the return of the Aegis cruisers to active duty in 2582.

One-third of the cruisers—30[1][2] to 36[5][6] vessels in all—were turned over to the Council Lords to be added to their private fleets, with the rest entering Hegemony shipyards to be refitted for use in the Star League Navy.[1][2][5] The Great Houses would continue to operate at least some of the donated Aegis cruisers throughout the Star League era, despite the reduction in size of their active fleets during the general disarmament of the period; as late as 2765 the Capellan Confederation was operating six Aegis cruisers as a part of its black water navy, making the Aegis the second most common WarShip in the thirty-seven strong fleet,[7] while the Draconis Combine was operating five,[8] the Federated Suns six,[9] the Free Worlds League at least five[10] and the Lyran Commonwealth three during the same period.[11]

Di Tron spent the next ten years transforming the relics into some of the most advanced WarShips of their time. The newer equipment was mostly smaller than the old, and there was enough room to add a few amenities, such as a Zero-G pool. One of the most important innovations was the Lithium-Fusion Battery System, the Aegis being among the first designs to receive it across the class. The archaic and age-worn materials and construction techniques made the hull of the Aegis weaker than on later ships, also leaving the ship more easily detected by enemy sensors,[5] but a surprising number survived the fall of the Star League and departed the Inner Sphere during the Exodus. A number of these craft have been observed in Clan toumans, the design highly utilized by Clan Jade Falcon who used mostly Clan Snow Raven loaned vessels to perform escort and transport duties during Operation REVIVAL.[1][2][5]

Whereas the Star League upgraded vessels require only 275 crew members,[1] the original Aegis class had cabin space for a crew of 390. The Clan version's increased aerospace fighter complement adds to the steerage/bunk space used by the ships's bay personnel by four.[2] Still, this spare capacity makes the Aegis notably well-suited for rescue and evacuation operations.[12]

24 primary decks and approximately two dozen subdecks are numbered from the class's nose to the maneuvering drive. Decks 1-9 are the command section, with sensors and weapons decks, 10-18 surround the jump core and are in turn surrounded by the two grav decks, and 19-23 are the cargo and aerospace fighter decks. Deck 24 and its associated sub-decks contain the twin Century 5000 maneuvering drives.[13]

Armament[edit]

The main firepower of the Aegis is its eighteen Armstrong II 35-Series naval autocannons, two each in the nose and each forward angle with four on each broadside and mounted aft, and eight White Shark missile tubes, three on each fore angle with two directly aft. The secondary large-caliber armament is intended to defend the fighter launch bays and consists of three Randall-55 NL55s and a single Barracuda tube on each broadside, a further three NL55s, Barracuda tube and six Imperator-20 NAC/20s on each rear angle, with four Magna-45 NL45s directly aft.[2][5][1]

Cargo[edit]

2372 build standard[2]
Star League refit[2]
  • Bay 1: Aerospace Fighters (18), 4 doors
  • Bay 2: Small Craft (10), 2 doors
  • Bay 3: Cargo (85,835 tons), 1 door
Clan standard[2]
  • Bay 1: Aerospace Fighters (20), 4 doors
  • Bay 2: Small Craft (10), 2 doors
  • Bay 3: Cargo (62,914.5 tons), 1 door

Variants[edit]

  • Original 2372 
    In addition to single heatsinks, the unmodified version given to the member states fielded mainly downsized NAC/10s instead of the NAC/20s or NAC/35s of the Star League upgrades, but did maintain a greater number of the larger White Shark missile launchers instead of the later vessels' Barracudas. BV (2.0) = 84,526[2]
  • Clan 
    The Clan version refits begun in 2843 differs little from those used by the SLDF and ComStar, save a minor reduction in armor to 597.5 tons and the loss of general cargo space to boost the fighter complement to twenty, two Stars, in line with Clan military structure. BV (1.0) = 167,790[2]

Related WarShips[edit]

  • Star League prototype 
    A unique, one-of-a-kind ship, the SLS Manassas was modified to carry an experimental jump drive with a booster system that enabled the ship to jump up to 40 light-years per jump, 10 more than the usual 30 light-year upper limit on jump engines.[14]

See Also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • In German products, the unit's proper name is written with a ligature: Ægis.

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Technical Readout: 3057, pp. 144–145: "Aegis (Heavy Cruiser)"
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, pp. 142–143: "Aegis (Heavy Cruiser)"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 MUL entry for the Aegis (WarShip class)
  4. ↑ BattleSpace rulebook, p. 63
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Technical Readout: 2750, pp. 132–133: "Aegis"
  6. ↑ BattleSpace sourcebook, p. 55
  7. ↑ Field Report 2765: CCAF, p. 5: "Guarding the Vault of Heaven"
  8. ↑ Official Errata Thread
  9. ↑ Field Report 2765: AFFS, p. 6: "Naval Defense Doctrine"
  10. ↑ Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 20: "Free Worlds League Navy"
  11. ↑ Field Report 2765: LCAF, p. 5: "The Vacuum Fleet"
  12. ↑ Living Legends, p. 61: Decks 13–16
  13. ↑ Living Legends, pp. 53–54
  14. ↑ Living Legends

Bibliography[edit]

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