SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT:UN Socialist Solar Empire
TYPE: Interstellar Heavy Space Cruiser/Medium Gunship
MODEL: Harpy class HSCC-73 (Ironclad Mark-II)
DATE INTRODUCED: 2073 AD
LENGTH: 590 feet
WIDTH: 118 feet
HEIGHT: 78.7 feet
MATERIAL: Crystal Composite
POWER PLANT: Hensai Energy HEFR-601 fusion reactor
OUTPUT: 60,100 megawatts
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 2 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 10,000 tons
CREW: 181 (10 Operators, 76 Gunners, 16 Officers, 10 Engineers, 10 Technicians, 10 Electricians, 9 Medical, plus 40 pilots.)

PROPULSION

             FASTER THAN LIGHT DRIVE :
             1x Pallas Research PRID-T2-1000 Type-2 Intersection Drive unit
             SPEED: .12 light years per hour (195,523,200 miles per second, or 708,883,520,000 miles per hour)

             SUBLIGHT DRIVE:
             4x Eurospace HYIE-10000 high yield ion engines
             SPEED: 76,000 mph each (304,000 mph total)

WEAPONS:

             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             Main Turrets
             4x Lithgear LG-PC-2402 dual 240-megawatt PHELAC turrets; Effective Range: 1920 miles; Payload:  unlimited with nuclear battery clutch recharged from the vessel's main reactor; ROF: up to 9 dual blasts per minute in cycles of 1 twin blast per 6.7 seconds.

             Broadside Guns
             6x Lithgear LG-PC-300 300-megawatt PHELAC cannon barbettes in two banks of three; Effective Range: 2400 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch recharged from the vessel's main reactor; ROF: up to 9 dual blasts per minute in cycles of 1 twin blast per 6.7 seconds.

             PRIMARY (ASSAULT):
             8x Lithgear LG-CML-50002 cruise missile launcher; Missile Type: UN-SRT-5000 short-range 5000-pound computer-guided cruise missile/space torpedo; Effective Range: 35.1 miles; Payload: 4 cruise missiles each in a top facing internal missile silo; ROF: 1-2 torpedoes each.

             SECONDARY (OFFENSIVE):
             2x Lithgear LG-EMPAC-500 500-megawatt electromagnetic particle accelerator cannon turrets; Effective Range: 2500 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch recharged from the vessel's main reactor; ROF: up to 6 blasts per minute in cycles of 1 blast per 10 seconds. 

             PRIMARY (DEFENSIVE):
             6x Lithgear LG-RFL-502 dual 50-megawatt rapid-fire laser cannon turrets; Effective Range: 500 miles; Payload: unlimited with a 1000-megawatt nuclear battery clutch recharged from the vessel's main reactor; ROF: up to 60 blasts per minute in cycles of 10 blasts per 10 seconds.

ELECTRONICS:
              1x Microwave Radio Communications array with a 1000 AU range.
              1x Super Luminal Velocity Communications Suite with a range of 1 light year.
              1x LADAR array with a range of 220,000 miles.
              1x Passive EMS array with a range of 1,000,000 miles.
              1x Active EMS array with a range of 100,000 miles.
              1x Super Luminal Velocity Sensor Suite with a range of 1 parsec (3.26 light years).
              1x Gravitational/Antigravity Control Unit; Effect: Provides artificial lift, g-force compensation, and enhanced maneuverability.

DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS:
             6x Cydonia Research CR-DF-1000 omnidirectional deflector field generator; Range: 1000 feet from hull; Power Requirement: 1000 megawatts each; Output: 50 gigajoules with a regeneration of 5 gigajoules every ten seconds.

HANGAR BAYS:
             1x 12,000-yd3 spacefighter hangar that holds up to forty SF-01A or SF-02 spacefighters and ten 200 ton AS-01 or AS-02 assault shuttles.

Description/Overview:
             The Harpy class of heavy cruiser was developed under the direction of Supreme Commander VonStalin’s military acquisition board that he himself handpicked after the failure of the Battle of Vesta.  The order of the military acquisition board to the UN warship construction yards was for an improved Valkyrie class cruiser.  The decision of the board to keep the basic Valkyrie class configuration was due to the impressive defense capability of the Valkyrie class of cruisers.  The Solar Empire shipwrights did more than just build and improve the Valkyrie class, they succeeded in the creation of an entirely new cruiser type.  This new type could supplement the already large number of Valkyrie class ships in service and act as a cruiser-leader for three-ship squadrons intended to defend UN capital warships.
             The Harpy class used a Hensai Energy HEFR-601 sixty-thousand one-hundred megawatt fusion reactor as its main power source. This reactor provided all the energy the Heavy Cruiser required. The only drawback of the reactor was its low fuel storage unit which only provided two years of continuous use.
             The Faster-Than-Light drive of the Harpy class consisted of one Pallas Research PRID-T2-1000 type-2 Intersection Drive unit. This FTL drive used a hybrid “Zdhanov-Kommuna” Improved Warp-Field Generation (IWFG) configuration to allow for a more uniform warp-field generation that reduced stress on the engine considerably and allowed for more accuracy in “breaking-out” of warpspace at the intended destination.
             The four sublight drives of the Harpy class were Eurospace HYIE-10,000 ten-thousand megawatt high yield ion engines. Each of these engines could propel the vessel at speeds of 76,000 mph individually or up to 304,000 mph combined. This gave the ship an admirable sublight speed for use in and around planets, planetoids and the Inner Sphere worlds of a Sol-type solar system.
             The main weapons of the Heavy Cruiser were four Lithgear LG-PC-2402 dual 240 megawatt PHELAC turrets. These beam cannons were an experimental model designed to replace the dual 200 megawatt cannons that were standard heavy turrets of the day. These new LG-PC2402s had longer range and packed more of punch and were considered adequate by VonStalin for the mission the heavy cruiser was envisioned to perform.
             The second primary weapon systems of the Harpy class were a pair of Lithgear LG-EMPAC-500 five-hundred megawatt electromagnetic particle accelerator cannons. These cannons were identical to the ones used on the Valkyrie class cruiser. These heavy turrets were useful against large targets like Capital Ships and spacestations. However, these cannons were relatively uneffective against the energy resistant armor of the alien warships.
             The primary anti-warship weapons were six Lithgear LG-PC-300 three-hundred megawatt PHELAC barbettes mounted in two batteries of three. This broadside weapon configuration was inspired by the Ironclad warships of the nineteenth century whose primary weapons were normally mounted along the long axis of the ship on either its port or starboard sides. In space combat this configuration of weapons may seem obsolete in theory but in actual practice it was found that multiple ships with broadside weapons in a staggered cluster (meaning ships above, below, to the forward and rear of an imaginary center point in space) could inflict enormous amounts of damage to an enemy fleet. Since the forward and rear arcs of a ship were typically cluttered with sensors, the command deck, and/or engines and hangars, the sides of a space-vessel were an optimal choise for batteries of gun emplacements.
             Eight Lightgear LG-CMS-50002 cruise missile launchers comprised the ballistic arsenal of the Heavy Cruiser. These eight launchers were able to fire one or two UN-SRT-5000A cruise missiles in a single volley. This missile was capable of being fitted with a variety of warheads including nuclear and the typical combat payload of the Harpy class was one Fusion Bolt (HEAP) armed cruise missile and one Heavy Fusion (nuclear) armed missile. After the Solar Empire Spacenavy first encountered the alien ships at Vesta, this payload became nothing but Heavy Fusion warhead armed missiles as their nuclear/reactive effects were not hampered by the energy resistant armor of the alien ships.
             The Harpy class was armed with six Lithgear LG-RFL-502 dual 50 megawatt rapid fire laser cannon ball turrets for use against enemy spacefighters and battlerobots. These cannons provided ample coverage of all the firing arcs of the warship and were quite effective as anti-mecha weapons.
             As with nearly all of the Ironclad ships of the Solar Empire Spacenavy, the Harpy class used the standard 1000 megawatt Cydonia Research CR-DF-1000 deflector field generators. By the time the Harpy class had been put into production these deflector generators were nearing the end of their usefulness as a defense system. The warships of the EFSM and 2nd generation EFSN had main armaments that could easy overcome the CR-DF-1000. However, so many factories within the Socialist Solar Empire produced this type of deflector field generator that it was not cost effective to retool their existing factories due to the scale of refit required for a mass produced vessel like the Harpy class.
             The Harpy class was a coveted warship after the 1st Interplanetary War ended.  The large complement of mecha these vessels were able to carry and their impressive firepower made them very desirable to the newly formed colonial governments of Mars and Venus as well as the outer sphere planetary nations of Jupiter, Saturn and the other Jovian planets.
             While many of the Terran colonies produced these vessels in large numbers, no power could match the reproduction of this vessel by the Neo-Hebrews.  The Neo-Hebrews used this vessel type as the main defense ship for both the Kiev class battleships and Chimera class Spacecraft Carrier Vessels they reproduced for their galactic colonization efforts during the 2080s.  It is estimated that between 2080 and 2092, as many as 4000 of these ships were built for the colony fleets that were sent off into the local group of stars and beyond.