SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Ceres Regency
TYPE: Interstellar Space Destoyer
MODELS: Richtoven class SDD-65/68
DATE INTRODUCED: 2065/68 AD
LENGTH: 584.3 feet
WIDTH: 73 feet
HEIGHT: 73 feet
MATERIAL: Composite-Alloy
POWER PLANT: Ceres Energy CEFR-45.6K
OUTPUT: 45,600 megawatts
ARMOR TYPE: Composite-Alloy
ARMOR THICKNESS: 3 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 8000 tons
CREW:  106 (40 Gunners, 8 Engineers, 8 Electricians, 8 Technicians, 8 Operators, 9 Officers, 5 Medical, 20 Flight)

PROPULSION

             FASTER THAN LIGHT DRIVE:
             1x Pallas Research PRID-T2-800 Type-2 intersection drive
             SPEED: .12 light years per hour

             SUBLIGHT:
             4x Io Factory #2 EMD-7200 electromagnetic drive
             SPEED: 76,000,000 mph each (30,400,000 mph/.045C total)

WEAPONS:

             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             4x Lithgear LG-PC-2002 dual 200-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):
              12x Io Factory #1 ITL-Mark II ion torpedo tubes; Missile Type: IDST-5000 ion drive space torpedo with computer-guided 5000-pound warhead;Effective Range: 844.4 miles; Payload: 10 space torpedoes each in an autoloading torpedo tube; ROF:  1 torpedo per two seconds with a cyclic rate of 30 torpedoes per minute per torpedo tube.

              TERTIARY (OFFENSIVE):
              2x Lithgear LG-EMPAC-500 500-megawatt electromagnetic particle accelerator cannon; Effective Range: 2500 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch system; ROF: 1 blast every ten seconds or six blasts per minute each cannon.

ELECTRONICS:

             1x Microwave Radio Communications array with a 80,000-mile range.
             1x Super Luminal Velocity communications array with a range of 1 light year.
             1x LADAR array with a range of 220,000 miles.
             1x Passive EMS sensor array with a range of 500,000 miles.
             1x Active EMS sensor array with a range of 50,000 miles.
             1x Super Luminal Velocity sensor array with a range of 5 parsecs (16.3 light years).
             1x Gravitational Control/Antigravity unit. Effect: Provides artificial lift, g-force compensation, and enhanced maneuverability.

DEFENSE SYSTEMS:
             4x Europa Research ER-DF-2000 2000-megawatt deflector field generators; Effect: has an output of 100 gigajoules and a regeneration rate of 10 gigajoules every ten seconds.

HANGAR BAY:
             1x 2400-yd3; Bay holds 4 PzWM-01 PanzerWeirMechs (50 tons each) and 16 JgWM-02 JägerWeirMechs (25 tons each).

Description/Overview:
         The Ceres SDD-65/68 Richtoven class destroyer started its developmental life in 2065 as a sublight warship intended to go head-to-head with the UNSC Project Ironclad fleet (Mark I) that the Regency conspirators knew the Solar Empire would be able to construct while using their shuttle forces to hold their revolutionary forces at bay.  They had no illusions of how difficult the Solar Empire would be to overcome and were not going to take any chances.  The conspirators knew the only way they could hide their activities and further the advancement and construction of their secret armada was to use small numbers of their new fleet as X-craft for testing new systems for the UNSC.
         Originally, the Richtoven class was fitted with one electromagnetic drive (EMD) as its main engine, and four ion engines as its secondary propulsion.  However, after the successful refinement of the UN intersection drive to the Type-2, the leaders of the conspiracy ordered the existing fleet of four hundred Richtoven class ships to be refit, and all subsequent ships to be fitted with the new FTL engines.
         One Pallas Research PRID-T2-800 800-megawatt second-generation intersection drive replaced the main EMD engine.  This engine used the “Dr. Xuric” style of full-hull length warp field generation, or FHLwg, that placed the main mega-yield graviton projectors in forward projection emitters near the front of the craft (just behind the nose projection/bridge section of the ship).  It was believed that this arrangement would create a more stabilized warp field around the ship and thus better protect the engine from mishap.  This configuration was later used on the UN SDDG-73 Triumph class frigate.
         The engineers removed the four ion engines of the early model and replaced them with four Io Factory #2 EMD-7200 7200-megawatt electromagnetic drives.  These EMDs were able to propel the ship at kiloMach 10 (7,600,000 mph) each, or kiloMach 40 (30,400,000 mph) total.  While these engines did consume large amounts of energy, the trade-off was that they did not need to use nuclear fuel, thus saving internal volume of the ship.
         The weaponry of the Richtoven class was nearly identical to that of the UN Mark II Project Ironclad Valkyrie class cruiser
         Four Lithgear LG-PC-2002 twin 200-megawatt PHELAC turrets gave the destroyer considerable firepower for a ship built in the 2060s.  These weapons were already under development for the PST-69 space train program, but the designers dropped them in favor of the Cydonia Research dual 50-megawatt PHELAC turrets because the heavier weapons were seen as unnecessary. 
         The SDD-63/68 used a pair of Lithgear LG-EMPAC-500 500-megawatt electromagnetic particle accelerator cannons, each mounted in an external barbette/weapon blister.  These cannons provided the ship with the proverbial “one-two punch” of PHELAC weapons followed up by an EMPAC barrage.
         The weapons that made the Richtoven class stand apart from other ships of the 1st Interplanetary War era in its class were its twelve Io Factory #1 ITL-Mark II ion space torpedo launchers.  These launchers fired the IDST-5000 ion drive space torpedo with 5000-pound warhead.  This torpedo usually mounted a HEAP warhead, which was more than adequate for nearly any mission.
         The defenses of the SDD-65/68 consisted of four Europa Research ER-DF-2000 2000-megawatt deflector field generators, which provided the destroyer with exceptional defense capability for a ship of its era even though it only mounted four of these generators.  Each of these generators could project their fields into other arcs of the ship allowing for coverage of unprotected areas when needed but not the entire craft.  Overall, these deflector field generators were adequate for the destroyer.
         The Richtoven class was built in large numbers (1500 craft) from its introduction in 2065 until the end of production on Hygiea in 2075.  Production of this type of warship began again in 2077 at the Ceres production factories under the Regency conspirators' direct control.