SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT:
Earth Federal Space Marines/Jovian Defense Forces
TYPE: Light Assault Ship
MODELS: Nevada Class (LAS-001)
DATE INTRODUCED: 2074 AD
LENGTH: 325 feet
WIDTH: 136.7 feet
HEIGHT: 65 feet
MATERIAL: Composite-Alloy
POWER PLANT: Macrotechnologies IPFF-5000 Ion Plasma Fusion Furnace
OUTPUT: 5000 megawatts
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 2 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 3000 tons
CREW: 69 (18 Gunners, 3 Engineers, 3 Electricians, 3 Technicians, 3 Operators, 6 Officers, 3 Medical,20 Flight, 10 Security)

PROPULSION

             PRIMARY (Main Engine):
             1x Macrotechnologies IPFE-600 ion plasma fusion engine
             SPEED: kiloMACH 5 (3,800,000 mph/.005C)

             SECONDARY (Main Engines):
             3x Warptron FT-90 Fusion thrusters
             SPEED: 7600 mph each (22,800 mph total)

WEAPONS:

             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             2x Lunar Dynamics LD-PC-180 180-megawatt PHELAC turrets; Effective Range: 1600 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch system; ROF: 3 blasts every twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 9 blasts per minute.

              SECONDARY (OFFENSIVE):
              6x Republic Arms RA-STL-02A space torpedo tubes; Missile Type: MST-1M 1000-pound Active EMS-guided space torpedo; Effective Range: 7111 miles; Payload: 20 space torpedoes each in an autoloading torpedo tube; ROF: 1 torpedo per two seconds with a cyclic rate of 30 torpedoes per minute.  

ELECTRONICS:

             1x Microwave Communications array with a 1000 AU range.
             1x Laser Communications array with a 1000 AU range.
             1x LADAR Sensor array with a range of 220,000 miles.
             1x Passive EMS Sensor array with a range of 1,000,000 miles.
             1x Active EMS Sensor array with a range of 100,000 miles.
             1x Gravitational Control/Antigravity unit. Effect: Provides artificial lift, g-force compensation, and enhanced maneuverability.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS:

             4x Warptron IF-150 150-megawatt ion field dampeners; Effect: Absorbs up to 30 gigajoules of energy weapon damage, including reaction and nuclear missile weapons.

HANGAR BAYS:
             1x 7829.3-yd3 Bay that holds twenty 50-ton spacefighters, two 100-ton shuttles, and up to 3029.3 yd3 of ordinance for the spacefighters.

Description/Overview:
         The Nevada class ushered in an entirely new era of space travel for the Earth Federal Space Marine forces during the 1st Interplanetary War. This new class was the first true interplanetary warship built intentionally as a planetary assault ship. The EFSM designated the craft “LAS” or Light Assault Ship due mostly to its small size compared to the cruisers and destroyers of the day. The Nevada class was literally built off of the hull frame of the Arctic class destroyer-escorts that were badly damaged after the 1st Battle of Pallas in 2073 AD. These craft were initially conceived of as Protean fighter carriers, but the commander-in-chief of the EFF at the time, General Walsh, decided against the mass production and deployment of the PF-01 due to secrecy and security concerns.
         The Nevada class was pivotal in the battles of Venus and Mars and during the EFSM’s war of independence from the EFR during the 1st Interplanetary War. This class served as the principle light escort carrier for the EFSM fleets of the 2070s. These ships also made up the bulk of the Jupiter Defense Force’s 1st SpaceNavy after the creation of the Jupiter Federal Colonies as an independent state in the early 2080s.
         The most impressive system of the Nevada class was its Macrotechnologies IPFE-600 ion plasma fusion engine. This engine is what gave the ship its interplanetary speed and a considerable advantage over other craft of its era. The IPFE-600 was capable of propelling the Nevada type ships at speeds of 930 miles per second or kiloMach 5. With the ability to travel at nearly 3,800,000 miles per hour, the Nevada class ships could travel throughout the inner planets of the Sol star-system with impunity. This speed gave General Walsh’s EFSM forces the ability to outrun the EFSN fleet that pursued them after the Battle of Mars. It also provided the Jupiter Defense Forces with the speed needed to assist the fledgling Colonial Confederacy in its struggle to remain independent from the Earth Federal Republic during the last years of the 2080s and first years of the 2090s.
         The secondary engines of this class of warship were three Warptron FT-90 fusion thrusters. These fusion thrusters were based on the original engines of the old Arctic class ships. The Warptron FT-90s provided a combined speed of 22,800 mph total. This was perfect for ship-to-ship combat and for travel within a planetary system/sphere. These engines were otherwise unremarkable and served this class well during the fifty-year service lifespan of this class of warship. However, when combined with the Nevada class’ new omni-gyroscopic thruster control systems that consisted of a series of hidden thrusters over the surface of the vessel, the fusion engines provided exceptional maneuverability for a warship of this type.
         The Nevada was not intended to engage in prolonged attacks against enemy capital ships as the vessel was originally designed as a planetary assault platform capable of delivering support to troopships within a fleet. However, the spacemarine design team under General Walsh was keenly aware of the political power struggle within the EFR at the time and thus understood that the Nevada might actually be used against other escorts, destroyers, and cruisers of their brethren in the Earth Federal Space Navy. Therefore, the Nevada was fitted with a pair of Lunar Dynamics LD-PC-180 single-barrel PHELAC beam turrets for defense against enemy mecha and escorts. Six Republic Arms RA-STL-02A1 space torpedo launchers were also added to give the vessel anti-capital ship capability. This balance of light and heavy weaponry made the Nevada class a formidable warship for its size even up to and during the Ceres Conflict of the 2080s. However, by the time of the 2nd Interplanetary war of the late 2090s and early 22nd century, the Nevada class was obsolescent.
         The Nevada class was the first warship to use an ion plasma fusion furnace as its main reactor. This new system was designed around the basic concept of the IPFE engine technology garnered from the alien data that the UNSC had been working on at their base on the planetoid Pallas. This type of reactor became the standard one used by the Jupiter Federal Colonies and Neo-Hebrews of Saturn after the formation of their SpaceNavies from the remnants of General Walsh’s EFSM space fleet. It was far more efficient than conventional fusion reactors used by both the EFR and UNSC and subsequent Earth-borne and alien powers.
         Besides its speed and armor, the Nevada class used a new type of system for defense. This new system was a development of both Varna Electro-Element Force Fields and the EFR nuclear dampener technology. This new defense system was the Ion Field Dampener or I-Field. This new system was designed to disperse energy beams (photons, electrons, neutrons, and radiation particles) that entered its area of effect away from the generator and thus the ship the system protected. The Warptron IF-150 I-Fields were able to absorb most energy weapon and missile damage from escort-scale and smaller craft though capital ship weapons could easily overwhelm the dampeners.
         The main purpose of the Nevada was as an escort carrier. Naturally, the ship had an extensive hangar bay, flight deck elevators, and electromagnetic catapults to launch fighters and battlerobots. The hangar bay of the Nevada was a T-shaped structure that occupied much of the space of the forward half of the ship. Over half of the total volume of ships in this class was dedicated to hangar space. This was to accommodate up to twenty HSF-01s, SBR-01s (any model), or Protean fighters (any type up to fifty tons) and two 100-ton shuttles.
         The original complement of the Nevada class actually consisted of 20 SBR-01A1s, though the Nevada herself had twenty Protean fighters for use by the 7th SFMU Sledgehammer Special Forces military unit. After the 1st Interplanetary War ended, the Nevada class ships of the newly formed Jupiter Defense Forces changed out the old SBR-01A1 complement of space battlerobots to exclusively Protean fighters and the new HSF-02 type mecha. The typical squadron for a Nevada class after 2080 AD was twenty PF-01A Protean fighters or HSF-02 fighters. The Earth Federal Space Marines built all of the original 1350 Nevada class ships during the 1st Interplanetary War between 2074 and 2079 AD. An additional 7000 were constructed by the Jupiter Federal Colonies both for their own fleets and by the Colonial Confederacy. These ships remained the primary escort type ships of the outer sphere powers of the Sol System up until 2135 AD.