SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Prodono Republic
TYPE: Landing Ship Transport
MODEL: J'hor Kiel class
DATE INTRODUCED: 1.7682 GS (323,180 BC)
LENGTH: 2802.8 feet  (854.29 meters)
HEIGHT: 561.7 feet  (171.2 meters)
WIDTH: 800 feet (243.84 meters)
MATERIAL: Dense Material (Prodono 8th-Level Carbonium-Molecular Alloy)
POWER PLANT: 17x Obuch-Ron Type-20958-265000 fusion reactor
OUTPUT: 265,000 megawatts each reactor (4505 gigawatts total)
ARMOR TYPE: Prodono Meta-Organic Energy Resistant Armor: Laser, PHELAC, ion blaster, disruptor, EMPAC, and PAC damage is greatly reduced.
ARMOR THICKNESS: .10 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 1,500,000 tons
CREW: 2297, + 2798 in stasis for a total of 5098 (368 Gunners, 150 Operators, 200 Officers, 150 Technicians, 150 Electricians, 150 Engineers, 109 Medical, 200 Security, 70 Fighter Pilots, 400 battlesuit pilots, 2928 Space Marines for Dropships)

PROPULSION
             PRIMARY (FASTER THAN LIGHT DRIVE):
             1x Z'Katan-Feul ZF-18988-150000 Hyperspace Fold Drive.
             SPEED: 9.64 light years per hour

             SECONDARY (SUBLIGHT):
             2x H'Taka-Feul HF-18022-1.5M Photon Particle Drives
             SPEED: .10C each (10% the speed of light), .20C total (20% the speed of light)

             TERTIARY (COMBAT-SPEED/EMERGENCY ENGINES):
             8x Gruel-Khan GK-18079-500000 Fusion Thrusters
             SPEED: 25,308 mph each (202,464 mph total from all thrusters combined)

WEAPONS:
             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             20x Xergin-Tah Type-XT-21070 quad ion blaster cannon turrets; Effective Range: 2500 miles; Power Required: 1000 megawatts total (250 each cannon); Power Supply: nuclear battery with clutch; Payload: unlimited; ROF: fires three quad blasts per twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 9 triple blasts per minute.

             SECONDARY (OFFENSIVE):
             32x Urgoh-Tah Type-UT-20691 disruptor cannons; Effective Range: 9000 miles; Power Required: 1000 megawatts; Power Supply: nuclear battery with clutch; Payload: unlimited; ROF: 1 blast every twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 6 blasts per minute.

             BALLISTIC (INTERPLANETARY):
             64x Mingheis Zor Type-MZ-19991 (Buster Missile); Effective Range: 837,000 miles (missile)/250,000 miles (beam); Missile Type: Type-MZ-19991 a computer-guided Buster Missile; Payload: 1 Buster Missile each in a missile silo; ROF:  1 missile per two seconds each silo when all missiles are armed and ready.

ELECTRONICS:
              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 1,000,000 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 3,037,056-yd3: bay holds up to 24 Kor Kai class dropships, fully loaded.
           
             1x 300,000-yd3: bay holds up to 400 Hai Richon battlesuits (15 tons each), and 70 space fighters (15 tons each).

SPECIAL SYSTEMS:
             2928x 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.

             340x 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.


DEFENSE SYSTEMS (Were not on the Prodono Ships found at Alpha Centauri in 2160s AD and believed to have been removed for some unknown reason):
             6x Yuku'Zernod Dektous "Q-class" Level-I Plasma-Screen type omnidirectional deflector field generator; Range: 3000 feet from hull; Power Requirement: 3000 megawatts each; Output: 1080 terajoules (estimated) with a regeneration of 108 terajoules every ten seconds.


Description/Overview:
         The 1st Prodono Republic Space Navy had many planetary assault ships and landing ship types prior to the J'hor Kiel Type-17682.  However, none were able to deploy dropships from space in such a protected manner as the J'hor Kiel Type-17682.  Previous designs required the use of magnetic flight decks to secure older style dropships (considerably smaller than the Kor Kai class), even older designs were themselves dropships (similar in concept to the Ogre type troopship) which had to survive the fight down to a planet to deploy its small compliment of early Nymar type walkers or anti-gravity tanks.   The J'hor Kiel was a major improvement, but it was also a very large target for enemy ships and required escort ships (usually Vlor Benai type battlefrigates).  The Prodono engineers who designed the ship apparently meant for this class to approach a planet whose defenses had been weakened sufficiently enough for even this heavily armed ship to approach.  Clearly the J'hor Kiel was intended to engage in ship-to-ship combat, but its extremely thin armor suggests that its weapons were intended to allow the ship to blast its way through the orbital defenses of an enemy planet and deploy its compliment of Kor Kai type dropships onto the planet.  Scores of these landing ship transports were constructed during the Prodono Consortium and were the main planetary assault ships used during the Unification Wars that preceded the foundation of the 1st Prodono Republic.  According to Doctor Xiang’s findings, this class of warship was manned by the dregs of the Prodono Consortium and were filled with thugs, criminals, and political prisoners who were given the opportunity to work off their crimes in the service of the Consortium.   The main reason for this policy of using only the most vile of individuals on these ships was that the survival rate of a J'hor Kiel during the Unification Wars was between three to five weeks in Terran time keeping scale.  Once the wars were concluded the policy of manning them with criminals was ended by the Prodono Republic.
         The J'hor Kiel used seventeen Obuch-Ron Type-20958-265000 fusion reactors to provide the enormous power this LST required.  Thousands of years of battle experience proved that multiple reactors, located in strategic locations on the warship, were more practical and safe than one huge power plant in the center of the craft.  The three forward reactors powered all of the systems except for the engines.  The five port reactors powered the port photon particle drive while the five starboard reactors powered the starboard photon particle drive.  The four aft reactors powered the fusion thrusters and the fold system.  Power from any of these reactors could be rerouted instantly to divert power to other systems should one or more of the fusion power plants become disabled or destroyed.
         One Z’Katan-Feul ZF-18988-150000 Hyperspace Fold Flight System as its faster-than-light drive.  This drive was typical of such FTL engines built during the late Prodono Consortium and early 1st Prodono Republic era.  It provided a time dilation real space equivalent speed of 9.64 light-years per hour, which was standard during the entire lifespan of the Newel Xergis class of warship.
         The main sublight engines were two H’Taka-Feul HF-18022-1.5M photon particle drives.  Both of these drives were mounted directly aft on the top main superstructure of the vessel in a side-by-side configuration.  Like nearly all PPDs, this pair of engines consumed an enormous amount of power to achieve nearly forty percent the speed of light (.20C) using both engines.  However, .20C was considered the optimum speed for a planetary assault ship of the Prodono space forces and thus the power-hungry engines were considered a necessity for proper combat operations.
         The secondary sublight engines were eight Gruel-Khan GK-18079-50000 fusion thrusters. Four of these thrusters were mounted on the port-bottom secondary hull superstructure and four were mounted on the starboard-bottom secondary superstructure.  Each of these engines was able to push the vessel at speeds of up to 25,308 mph and combined they could propel the ship at 202,464 mph total.
         The J'hor Kiel was armed with a variety of weaponry that had been upgraded from the Consortium years to that of the Republic.  Like the Newel Xergis class before it, the J'hor Kiel was originally armed with lasers turrets, PHELAC batteries, and space torpedo tubes with nuclear armed warheads.
         The ship’s main laser weapons were replaced during the 2.0000 GS (300,000 BC Earth Relative) warship upgrade program.  The main turrets of the 1st Republic version of the J'hor Kiel consisted of twenty Xergin-Tah Type-XT-21070 quad ion blaster cannons.  These twenty quad-blasters were placed in strategic locations all over the surface of the Landing Ship Transport to ensure the maximum amount of coverage in each arc of the warship.  These cannons were able to inflict massive damage against other targets when used in volleys of four or more turrets. Individually, the cannons were capable of inflicting severe damage to escort vessels and small craft.
         The PHELAC array of armaments in the arsenal of the J'hor Kiel was replaced with sixteen Urgoh-Tah Type-UT-20691 disruptor cannons.  These cannons were mounted in two batteries of eight cannons each and comprised the broadside weapons of the planetary assault ship.  These disruptors were not as long-ranged as the PHELACs that preceded them, but they had considerably more punch.  The broadside batteries were used almost exclusively for anti-capital ship bombardment.
         The 64 large anti-space station space torpedo launchers of the J'hor Kiel originally used nuclear-tipped cruise missiles that were very effective during their active service life.  However, the speed and radiation effect of these nuclear-tipped torpedoes was considered a liability that was no longer necessary in the wake of the new Buster Missile technology.  Therefore, the old nukes were removed and a suitable Buster Missile replacement was added.  The 64 Mingheis Zor Type-MZ-19991 Buster Missile silos were mounted on the J'hor Kiel during the Unification Wars just prior to the formation of the 1st Prodono Republic and were very effective weapons against the other alien powers in the warring states.  This missile weapon was the first mounted on any Prodono warship and provided the Landing Ship Transport with the means to devastate other capital starships and mobile battlestations.  The destructive power of these cruise missiles was unprecedented by any other missile type.  Its range and use of an energy beam rather than a nuclear explosion eliminated the problems associated with the nuclear torpedoes of the older ships of the J'hor Kiel class.
         As a planetary assault ship, the J'hor Kiel carried a large complement of mobile weapons including twenty-four fully loaded and crewed dropships that allowed for large-scale planetary assault operations.  All of the 2928 space marine crew for the twenty-four dropships were carried on the LST in stasis (like the other older Prodono warships) and were only “thawed” out when needed.  This allowed the ship to operate for greater duration than with the marines not in stasis.  It also allowed for the maximum usage of internal volume.  Doctor Xiang had speculated that the UNSC might be forced to adopt similar tactics should they encounter any post-Prodono races using this same combat doctrine.
         The battlesuit and space fighter pilots of the J'hor Kiel were not carried in stasis and were normally active on board at all times in order to meet any combat operations conditions or perceived hostile situations of the day.  This policy was not as effective as the stasis policy for the space marines, as a warship required more internal space for food, quarters, and other crew needs for the pilots of these mecha.  Despite the shortcomings of the policy, the practice of keeping the battlesuit and space fighter pilots as part of the normal crew became the primary policy on all later Prodono warship designs according to the information found on the Alpha Centauri mobile battlefactory.