Warships

Warships are ship-sized space going vessels, either specifically designed or modified to withstand the rigors of combat, and carry weapons of their own.

Hull Types and Capabilities

Military ships (as opposed to smaller craft such as fighters, bombers and shuttles) tend to fall into 6 major categories, sometimes with several subtypes within them. These categories exist outside of the standard civilian classification systems used by SolGov. The most typical designations are as follows:

Dreadnoughts

The heaviest ships in most major fleets. The incredible logistical requirements involved in not only building the ship itself, but also in the construction of large enough orbital shipyards to manufacture these behemoths at all, and the ongoing requirements of maintaining enough trained personnel to crew them, have meant that only the fleets of the Hegemony, Sol and the skrell have been able to field them to date.

These vessels are noted for being technological marvels of both weapon and material sciences. It is not unheard of for these giants to approach a kilometre in length, as seen in the awe inspiring Moghes Hegemony Redeemer-class, which is notable for being equipped with twin rail guns, spanning nearly the entire length of their keels. Such complicated systems have also steadily required fewer and fewer personnel to staff them, due to advances in AI fire control systems. Compared to the previous Reclaimer-class, which required a crew of over five thousand, the larger Reedemer-class needs only three thousand to man all stations, and are assisted by three individually lawed AI units.

Dreadnoughts are the most heavily armed and armoured of all fleet vessels, with weapons designed specifically for the destruction of fleet and orbital assets. Most compliments consist of a mixture of energy weapons, railguns, and AI-guided smart torpedoes, some of which rival shuttlecraft in size. Despite their incredibly thick hides of durasteel and energy shielding, all dreadnoughts share one common flaw, in that their massive bulk prevents them from rapidly responding to the changing conditions of battle, and they must rely on smaller support craft to provide flexible coverage and reliable point defense capabilities.

Battle Cruisers

Often serving as the flagships of smaller fleets, this weight class of ship tends to make up the vast majority of a major modern fleet's heavy firepower. Typically three to four hundred metres in length, these vessels serve one of two major roles.

Through the use of primarily rail guns, most battle cruisers serve as more maneuverable heavy fire support assets, particularly in unathi and skrellian fleets. With less armour, smaller keels housing shorter railguns, and significantly less mass as a result, these ships are more able to effectively transition between roles in battle scenarios.

Also sometimes seen at this mass, albeit far less frequently than their conventional cousins, are carrier-cruisers. While technically cruisers in classification, carriers often match the size of battle cruisers. They are usually lightly armed, but carry bellies full of strike craft such as fighters and bombers, and significant armour plating around the highly vulnerable hangar decks.

Cruisers

Most often coming in at one to two hundred metres in length, cruisers make up an overwhelming majority of major fleets. They are also the largest vessels that most states are able to build, and field. Usually specialised into a specific role, such as long range artillery, or skirmishers, there are a staggering amount of cruiser classes currently in service, a fact compounded by their frequent on-selling of obsolete designs from large, modern fleets to smaller ones.

Destroyers

At eighty to a hundred metres in length, destroyers are the largest of screening vessels employed by major fleets. Often doubling as powerful anti-piracy vessels during peace time, these ships are typically armed with an array of specialized payloads for destroying for disabling frigate and CSV sized warships, along with long range smart torpedoes.

Frigates

The workhorse of almost every fleet, frigates usually have keels no longer than sixty metres. Armed almost exclusively with one of two loadout schemes, frigates either fall into the camp of screening vessels to prove against strike craft, or with a series of high powered, but short ranged weapons intended to pick apart larger vessels while working as part of a swarm. Outside of rare near-peer combat scenarios, frigates tend to be the backbone of anti-piracy fleets, boasting enough firepower to enforce their orders, while maintaining a high degree of manoeuvrability and range needed to act on long-range policing operations.

Combat Support Vessels

Comparatively tiny ships, often only double the length of a strike craft with mere thirty metre keels, CSVs tend to act as utility craft, and are sometimes not armed at all. Most typically seen in the hangar bays or close escort of larger ships, in a fight a CSV will use its meager armament to fend off strike vessels, while aiming to deliver payloads of marines to hostile ships or installations.

In peacetime, they tend to act as police vessels, ensuring that unarmed, or lightly armed civilian ships are brought to heel where necessary, without wasting a whole frigate on such trivial tasks.

Combat Support Vessels are very rarely equipped with interstellar bluespace drives, unless filling specific fast-transport roles.

SCG Fleet Strength

In the years since the Skathari Incursion, and the tachyon drought of the last decade, the priorities in the construction of Solarian fleets have changed. While initially conforming to the standard architecture of most fleets of the era, consisting primarily of heavy flagships, supported by a vast array of drastically smaller vessels, the massive logistical requirements for constructing such fleets have been severely hampered by the vast reduction in Bluespace capabilities.

In the last five years, humanity's capital has decided instead to focus on cheaper, easier to produce cruisers and supporting destroyers. Most recently, NGOs have been attempting to once again draw Sol back on to the path of constructing heavier vessels, in particular emphasizing the need to strengthen the battle cruiser and dreadnought backbone in case of near-peer conflict.

As of 2575, the SCG specific and member states total fleet counts are as follows.

Ship Type	Total SCG Fleet Count	SCG Fleet Specific
Dreadnought	3	3
Battle Cruisers	34	16
Cruisers	144	68
Destroyers	252	122
Frigates	632	220

The SCG Fleet also encompasses a large number of non-combat vessels in logistical and diplomatic roles that fly under Fleet command and are often accompanied by, but are not considered themselves to be warships.

Sif Defense Force relation to Sol Fleet

In recent years, the Vir Governmental Authority has been reigning in its contributions to the Confederation Fleet. Anomalous activity around Sif's active zone has put the admiralty on a cautious footing, as they fear another Incursion, resulting in providing only a few of her handful of cruisers, and almost none of its smaller anti-piracy fleet.

SDF Fleet Makeup

Ship Type	Total	On loan to SCG Fleet
Cruisers	5	3
Destroyers	14	4
Frigates	36	8

While these are the hard numbers that belong specifically to the SDF, treaties and agreements with fellow systems of the Golden Crescent Alliance Bloc have allowed the fleets of member states to in practice bolster their size in times of conflict or elevated crime.

Corporate Fleet Strength

Most TSCs have a small fleet of armed ships to provide escorts for cargo hauling operations. While typically not as well armed or armoured as government vessels, in a pinch they are still capable of putting up a fight. At present, no human TSCs operate vessels larger than destroyers, though Hephaestus Industries and Wulf Aeronautics are heavily involved in government shipbuilding and supply contracts.

At most times, there are between 2 and 8 corporate frigates in Vir, with convoys rarely assigning more than two ships of the class as escorts.