SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Earth Federal Space Marines/Jovian Defense Forces
TYPE: Light Assault Ship
MODELS: Nevada Class (LAS-001)
DATE INTRODUCED: 2174 AD
LENGTH: 770 feet (234.7 meters)
WIDTH: 312.5 feet (95.25 meters)
HEIGHT: 160 feet (48.8 meters)
MATERIAL: Composite-Alloy
POWER PLANT: 5x Macrotechnologies IPFF-5000 Ion Plasma Fusion Furnace
OUTPUT: 5000 megawatts each (25,000 megawatts total)
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 0.25 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 30,000 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-6000 ion plasma fusion engine
             SPEED: kiloMACH 5 (3,800,000 mph/.005C)

             SECONDARY (Main Engines):
             3x Warptron FT-900 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 (143.4 kiloton nuclear warhead); Effective Range: 7111 miles; Payload: 20 space torpedoes each in an auto-loading 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:
             6x Warptron DF-600 600-megawatt Deflector Field Generator; Effect: Can withstand up to 108 terajoules of force.  The Level-1 Gravitonic Deflector Generator is able to replenish the force field at a rate of 10.8 terajoules per 10 seconds.

CARGO BAY:
            1x 737.2 yd3 Bay holds 2.8 years of food and supplies for the crew (missions were rarely more than 1.5 years for this vessel).
 
HANGAR BAYS:
             1x 95,000-yd3 Bay that holds twenty space fighters up to 50 tons each, two 100-ton shuttles, and up to 11,000 yd3 of ordinance for the space fighters.

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 other assault ships planned by General Walsh's team after the Battle of Pallas. The Nevada class was loosely based on the hull frame of the Arctic class destroyer-escorts that were used up until the 1st Battle of Pallas in 2173 AD by the EFSM. 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 2170s. The second-phase version of these ships (the Yukatan class) made up the bulk of the Jupiter Defense Force’s 1st Space Navy after the creation of the Jupiter Federal Colonies as an independent state in the early 2180s.
         The most impressive system of the Nevada class was its Macrotechnologies IPFE-6000 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-6000 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 2180s and first years of the 2190s.
         The secondary engines of this class of warship were three Warptron FT-900 fusion thrusters. These fusion thrusters were based on the original engines of the old Arctic class ships, but scaled up for the much larger Nevada class. The Warptron FT-900s 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 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 space marine 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. 
         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 space navies 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 six Warptron DF-600 deflector field generator systems for defense.  These deflectors were not overly impressive and were replaced during the upgrade program of 2177-79 with the new I-Field generators of the Jovian Defense Forces.
         The main purpose of the Nevada was as an assault carrier. Naturally, the ship had an extensive hangar bay, flight deck elevators, and electromagnetic catapults to launch fighters and battle robots. 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 Mechanized 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 battle robots to exclusively Protean fighters and the newer  model space battle robot mecha. The typical squadron for a Nevada class after 2180 AD was twenty PS-01A Protean fighters or PA-03. The Earth Federal Space Marines built all of the original 1350 Nevada class ships during the 1st Interplanetary War between 2174 and 2179 AD. An additional 7000 were constructed by the Jovian Defense Forces and Planetary Alliance during the 2180s.