| Centauri "Firebird" program |
After the dramatic liberation of the Centauri Republic from the
influence of the Drakhs, and the assumption of the power by the
Emperor (Former Ambassador) Vir Cotto, the Centauri Republic
rejoined the ISA, and was the first alien power to understand and
accept the reality and the gravity of the menace represented by
the Thirdspace Aliens ( see ESSENTIAL
CHRONOLOGY, Years 2277 and later
for further details).
The Centauri Military and governement, besides the other ISA
members, were informed of the initial conclusions of the
"Damocles Report", and an immediate action of upgrading
of the Fleet of the Republic took place, in a way similar to the
Earthforce's Brightwarrior project.
The Centauri Navy has a structure different from the E.A. Navy,
with less types of ships. The most important of them are the
Vorchan attack cruiser, the Primus heavy Cruiser, and the
Octurion heavy Destroyer. The real numbers of the Centauri fleet
are not declared, but can be guessed a force of at
least 9000 Vorchans, about 400-500
Primus (an half of them in service and upgraded, the others
mothballed), and 800-1000 Octurion Heavy Destroyer (*).
The Centauri warships are very well armed, fast and maneuverable, with an high technologychal level in terms of reactors, propulsion and sensors, and an high operational flexibility. The limits of the Centauri designs are a relatively light protection (Except for the Octurion Destroyers), and the overall obsolescence of the Primus cruisers. The effort to upgrade a so large number of ships is enormous, but the industrial and economichal power of the Centauri republic is so great that a similiar activity, even if it seems close to the impossible, can be managed. The real difficulties are of the same type experienced by the Earth Alliance: the suspect of the other members of the ISA, particularly Narns, Minbari, and Drazi. Must be remarked that the two powers that reacted to the new potential menace with the greatest energy, the Centauri and the Earth Alliance, are the two peoples that most than all suffered the long term consequences of the Shadow/Drakh actions.
The Centauri Ministery of Defence
launched the "Firebird" program, in a way similar to
the E.A. "Brightwarrior" project. In this page we
present some of the most intersting upgrades and some of the new
units outcome of this activity.
(*)We utilize the same conventions of the actual E.A. Navy, that attributes the definition "Destroyer" to a polyvalent heavy unit Larger than a Cruiser.
Actually, the mainstay of the Centauri Navy, in terms of
operative capability, versatility, and number. This fast,
maneuverable attack craft (classified as attack cruiser, but in
fact a frigate) has is force in the powerful and flexible weapon
system (Ion cannons, Ion pulse projector, torpedoes, missiles)
and in the speed and maneuverability. It's one of the few known
ship that is able to match the acceleration of the Whitestars.
The greatest weakness of this ship is the light armor, and the
overall design, unable to survive hard punishments. This is in
part related to the conceptual design of the Vorchan: in fact,
this ship can be described as an extremely powerful gravitic/Ion
engine, (with proportionally powerful reactors), with attached
the smallest hull able to hold the weapons and the sensors.
The Centauri, having suffered the Shadow infiltration, were able
to take, as a collateral heritage, the same one of the Earth
Alliance: the design principles of the Shadow Nanotechnologychal
armor.
The Centauri Scientists were able to develop their own variant of
this advanced defence system, and to apply it as an upgrade to
their existing crafts and to their new projects.
In this section are present either the original and the upgraded designs of the Vorchan ("Eagle")
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Class: Vorchan
Type: Attack Cruiser
Length: 608 meters
Mass: 3.8 million metric tons
Acceleration: (estimated) 10-12 g.
Power/Propulsion:
2*CRBN Gravitic Enhanced Fusion Reactors.
2*Doradi V12 gravitic enhanced plasma engines.
1*Doradi/Tavari "Lightwing" gravitic engine.
2*Bichera K115-V2 Jump engines.
Weapons:
2*House Tavari Armament Co. VOXX Twin Ion cannons
1*House Tromo Weapons VTAK Heavy Ion projector (Spinal).
1*House Tavari Armament Co. "Camlas" torpedo launcher,
with 36 gravitic propulsion torpedoes.
16*Doradi "Rotala" Missiles.
Defense:
2.75 meter armored hull (Polycristalline armour), additiona layer
of nanotechnologychal armor
Gravimetric grid projector, 4* tractor beam projectors.
VORCHAN "Firebird" Attack Cruiser - upgraded armor and sensors
VORCHAN Attack Cruiser (original model)
A new warship designed to overcome the limits of the Vorchan, and
to be his succesor and heir, the Morado ("Challengher")
shows some new concepts and devices. This new, compact warship is
impressive in his capabilities, being as fast and maneuverable as
the Vorchan, but with great improvements in all the other fields.
The propulsion is based on a new gravitic engine integrated with two powerful ion engines, and gives to the Morado acceleration and maneuverability on par of the Whitestars. The weapon system is based on an articulated artillery suite: six VOXX twin ion turrets, equal to the ones of the Vorchan, but arranged to obtain overall fire covering, without the "blind spots" of the older ship.This ensures the point defence against the attacks of the "3 Alpha" fighters. The main attack weapon is an impressive spinal antimatter pulse projector, with an high bolt speed and a devastating terminal effect. In the bow of the ship are installed two pulse lasers, conceptually similar to the Q-spoiling lasers of the Earth Alliance, and chosen for their immunity from the gravitic shields and their piercing power. Its reassuring for the Earthforce that the Centauri, so experinced in the field of the gravitic technology and in the space warfare, utilize a weapon with solutions analogues to the ones used by our Navy.
The weapon system is integrated by a single torpedo launcher, and by four quadruple launching bays, for a total of 16 missiles.
The hull is protected by a spaced composite/polycrystalline armor, with an external nanotechnologychal layer, and is designed with an enhanced structural resistance and a good compartimentation, enabling this ship to survive punishment far heavyer than yhe originial Vorchans.
Given the combination of speed, weapons and defence, the operational capabilities of this warship are roughly comparable with the Whitestars.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Class: Morado
Type: Attack Cruiser
Length: 898 meters
Mass: 8.9 million metric tons
Acceleration: (estimated) 10-14 g.
Power/Propulsion:
2*CRVV Gravitic Enhanced Fusion Reactors.
2*Doradi VAX 7 gravitic enhanced plasma engines.
1*Doradi/Tavari "Silverfire" gravitic engine.
2*Bichera K115-V7 Jump engines.
Weapons:
6*House Tavari Armament Co. VOXX Twin Ion cannons
1*House Tromo Weapons ARAD Heavy Antimatter projector
(Spinal).
2*House Tavari Armament Co. "Radena 4" hard ray pulse
laser.
1*House Tavari Armament Co. "Camlas" torpedo launcher,
with 48 gravitic propulsion torpedoes.
16*Doradi "Rotala" Missiles.
Defense:
5.5 meter armored hull (Polycristalline/composite spaced armour),
layer of nanotechnologychal armor
Gravimetric grid projector, 4* tractor beam projectors.
Morado Attack Cruiser
