SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Prodono Republic
TYPE: Picket-Ship/Patrol Cutter
MODEL: Raul-Zhem-Kai Type-RZK-20050
DATE INTRODUCED: 2.0050 GS (299,500 BC)
LENGTH: 500 feet
HEIGHT: 89 feet
WIDTH:300 feet
MATERIAL: Dense Material (Prodono 8th-Level Carbonium-Molecular Alloy)
POWER PLANT: Obuch-Ron Type-19051-55000 fusion reactor
OUTPUT: 55,000 megawatts
ARMOR TYPE: Prodono Meta-Organic Energy Resistant Armor: Laser, PHELAC, ion blaster, disruptor, EMPAC, and PAC damage is greatly reduced.
ARMOR THICKNESS: 1 inch
DISPLACEMENT: 15,000 tons
CREW:  117, + 120 in stasis for a total of 237 (40 Gunners, 15 Operators, 11 Officers, 15 Technicians, 15 Electricians, 15 Engineers,6 Medical, 120 Fighter Pilots)

PROPULSION

             PRIMARY (FASTER THAN LIGHT DRIVE):
             1x Z'Katan-Feul ZF-19050-1500 Hyperspace Fold Drive.
             SPEED: 10 light years per hour

             SECONDARY (SUBLIGHT):
             2x H'Taka-Feul HF-19907-15000 Photon Particle Drives
             SPEED:.10C each (10% the speed of light), .20C total (20% the speed of light)

             TIRTIARY (COMBAT-SPEED/EMERGENCY ENGINES):
             3x Gruel-Khan GK-19804-2250 Fusion Thrusters
             SPEED:114,000 mph each (342,000 mph total from all three thrusters)

WEAPONS:

             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             2x Xergin-Tah Type-XT-20251 triple ion blaster cannon turrets; Effective Range: 2000 miles; Power Required: 600 megawatts total (200 each cannon); Power Supply: nuclear battery with clutch; Payload: unlimited; ROF: fires three triple blasts per twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 9 triple blasts per minute.

             SECONDARY (OFFENSIVE):
             6x Kahzan-Kai-Nek-Tha’gurl (Medium Range Ship Torpedo Launcher) Type-KKNT-18790 guided space torpedo; Effective Range: 3061 miles; Missile Type: Type-KKNT-18790 space torpedo with a computer-guided thermal concussion warhead; 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.

             TIRTIARY (OFFENSIVE):
             6x Xerigin-Tah Type-XT-20269 heavy ion blaster cannons barbettes; Effective Range: 4000 miles; Power Required: 400 megawatts; Power Supply: nuclear battery with clutch; Payload: unlimited; ROF: 3 blasts every twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 9 blasts per minute.

ELECTRONICS:
              1x Super Luminal Velocity communications array with a 25 light years range.
              1x LADAR array with a range of 220,000 miles.
              1x Laser Radio Communications array with a 1000 AU range.
              1x Hyperspace Communications array with a range of 200 light years.
              1x Passive EMS array with a range of 500,000 miles.
              1x Active EMS array with a range of 500,000 miles.
              1x Hyperspace Navigation Sensor array with a range of 50 parsecs (163 light years).
              1x Gravitational Control Unit (Antigravity) which acts as a g-compensator.

HANGAR BAY:
             1x 8000-yd3: bay holds up to 60 battlesuits (15 tons each), and 60 spacefighters (15 tons each), plus up to 800 yd3 of ammunition and parts for the mecha.

SPECIAL SYSTEMS:
             120x Stasis Chambers; Range: NA; Effect: Each chamber allows one individual to remain in suspended animation for an indefinite period so long as the stasis chamber has electrical power provided to it.

             20x Escape Pods; Range: 72,960 miles; Effect: Each escape pod holds six individuals, can fly at a speed of Mach 2 for up to two days, has a food supply to provide six persons with one month of food.

Description/Overview:
         The Raul Zhem-Kai patrol cruiser/picket was an ancient Prodono 1st Republic warship design that was originally the main heavy cruiser of the newly formed galactic power sometime around 2.0050 GS (299,500 BC).  This vessel was an extremely successful design and was among the first Prodono designs to use a Hyperspace Fold Flight System.  The ship was considered the symbol of the 1st Republic for nearly 8,460 years before it was replaced in the lead role of main space cruiser by the V’lor Benai Type-VB20896 battlefrigate.
         The Raul Zhem-Kai was downgraded to a patrol cruiser in 2.08761 (290,139 BC) and served in this capacity for nearly ten thousand years until the introduction of the Quev-Leah class attackship/destroyer, which downgraded the Raul Zhem-Kai to a picketship within the Prodono Galactic Space Navy forces.  It remained in this capacity from then onwards according to Doctor Xiang’s notes.  Whether or not the Raul Zhem-Kai continued service into the Prodono Federation as a part of the main space fleet or was relegated to second-line and solar system defense is unknown.  What is known is that this ancient design was further proof of how a galactic-scale civilization had to continuously recycle its spacecraft in order to meet the demands of controlling vast areas of space.
         The Raul Zhem-Kai Type-RZK-20050 used one Z’Katan-Feul ZF-19050-1500 hyperspace fold drive as its FTL propulsion system.  This drive was capable of propelling the craft through hyperspace at a real space equivalent of 10 light-years per hour.  This gave the craft unprecedented range and exploration capability that no previous spacecraft of the Prodono possessed.
         The interplanetary sublight engines of the Type-RZK-20050 consisted of a pair of H’Taka-Feul HF-19907-15000 photon particle drives.  These 15,000-megawatt PPDs were each able to propel the ship at velocities of up to .10C (10% the speed of light) or .20C (20%) total for an indefinite period.  This gave the cruiser a nearly unlimited range within a solar system of average size and allowed the Raul Zhem-Kai to perform its patrol cruiser duties at a high level of efficiency and speed.
         The ship was equipped with a triumvirate of Gruel-Khan GK-19804-2250 fusion thrusters for use in combat in and around planetary spheres.  Each of these fusion thrusters was able to push the Raul Zhem-Kai at speeds of 114,000 mph or 342,000 mph for all three engines at once.
         The weapons of the Raul Zhem-Kai were considered capital ship scale for its day, but were downgraded to escort scale with the duties of the warship even though the weapon systems themselves were not replaced.
         The main weapons of the Type-RZK-20050 were a pair of triple Xergin-Tah Type-XT-20251 ion blaster cannon turrets.  These triple turrets were very effective against ships of the early 1st Prodono Republic period, but by the time of the introduction of the V’lor Benai battlefrigate, these triple blasters were relatively ineffective against capital ships of the mid-to-late Republic era.
         The Raul Zhem-Kai also boasted an array of six Xerigin-Tah Type-XT-20269 heavy ion blaster cannons.  These 400-megawatt blasters were mounted as individual barbettes in banks of three.  This allowed the cruiser to bring considerable firepower against a single target at greater range than the triple blaster turrets of the craft.  Unfortunately, like the blaster cannon turrets, the Type-XT-20269 blaster cannons were only moderately effective against capital ships of the mid-late Prodono Republic era and all but useless against mainline warships of the Federation period.
         The single most effective weapon system of the Raul Zhem-Kai was its six space torpedo launchers.  Initially considered a throwback to the barbaric days of the Prodono Consortium by military planners of the 1st Republic, the six Kahzan-Kai-Nek-Tha’gurl Type-KKNT-18790 medium-range ship torpedo launchers proved to be very effective against warships of nearly any size or scale throughout all of the 1st Prodono Republic era and into the Federation era.  While any type of warhead could be used on the Type-KKNT-18790 torpedo, the most common type was the thermal concussion (HEAP) warhead.  While the manufacture of capital ship-scale missile weapons had a flippant history within the 1st Prodono Republic era, it is known that the Prodono kept nearly endless stockpiles of Type-KKNT-18790 torpedoes.  Therefore, there were so many of the missiles that the Raul Zhem-Kai patrol cruisers of the Prodono Federation era could be kept fully supplied for a continuous war of 100,000 years (Earth Relative).
         The Raul Zhem-Kai was powered by a single Obuch-Ron Type-19051-55000 55,000-megawatt fusion reactor.  This reactor was a totally new design built specifically for the Raul Zhem-Kai class of heavycruisers at the start of the 1st Prodono Republic.  This reactor stored enough fuel for twenty-seven years of continuous use.  This feature was part of the appeal of the Type-RZK-20050.
         The Raul Zhem-Kai used only energy-resistant armor for protection from enemy warships.  This armor plating was cheap compared to energy defense systems in terms of both price tag and energy consumption.  Energy-resistant armor needed very little maintenance and was good for thousands of years before needing replacement due to deep space wear and tear (from folding, stellar radiation, and atmospheric reentry).
         Another pair of features found on the Type-RZK-20050 that was not standard on other craft was the stasis chambers and escape pods.  The stasis chambers were specifically for the mecha pilots who were, at the time of the 1st Prodono Republic, thought to be little more than cloned biowarmachines and were therefore second-class citizens compared to “natural-born” Prodono.  The Prodono military saw no problem with placing these disposable people in stasis for indefinite periods of time (some remained in stasis for thousands of years).  The cruelty of this practice against cloned Prodono shocked the normally stoic UNSC chief researcher Doctor Xiang when he uncovered this harsh reality of a supposedly advanced race of spacefaring humanoids.
         In contrast to the uncaring and cruel stasis chambers, the escape pod feature of the Raul Zhem-Kai showed how much the Prodono valued its “natural-born” crewmen and gave Xiang insight into why the Prodono spacecraft were so large compared to human craft that bore weaponry of comparable strength and power in a smaller craft. The Prodono warships were intended for maximum survivability at the lowest cost; a war doctrine that Xiang was convinced was superior to anything the UN Solar Empire had at the time these ships were discovered at Alpha Centauri and one of the prime reasons for Xiang’s alliance with Charles Dalltan.
         The influence of the Prodono Raul Zhem-Kai design was felt in the warships built by men of Earth during their fledgling years of interplanetary and interstellar travel.  The Union of Solar Republic-built omni-hull warships were all based on the Raul Zhem-Kai design as were the first picket ships built by the Neo-Hebrews of Saturn.  Other future designs also used the same basic hull design and similar weapon layout as that of this extremely successful design.