Miliek Salusa
Shipbuilder
PDC-40 Aurora-class Light Destroyer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a nimble vessel capable of quickly striking at an enemy formation or guarding a friendly fleet.
- Image Source: Expanse Wiki - Unidentified MCRN Heavy Frigate
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: PhoenixDrive Shipwright Corporation
- Affiliation:
- PhoenixDrive Shipwright Corporation (Manufacturer)
- Galactic Alliance Defense Force
- Select PhoenixDrive Clientele
- Market Status: Closed Market (See Affiliation for Groups who can use this sub Without Permission)
- Model: PDC-40 Aurora-class Light Destroyer
- Production: Minor
- Material:
- Durasteel Hull Plating
- Duralloy and Impervium Armor Plating
- Gun Turrets and Missile Emplacements Lined With Dallorian Alloy
- Transparisteel Viewports
- Various Shipboard Components (Power Distribution Grid, Heat and Electrical Insulation, etc.)
- Classification: Frigate (Anaxes War College designation), Light Destroyer (PhoenixDrive designation)
- Role: Fast-Attack Vessel / Escort Ship / Missile Platform / Scout Ship
- Length: 210m
- Width: 47m
- Height: 54m
- Crew Complement (Minimal):
- ~14 Officers and Enlisted Personnel
- Central AI Administration Program
- Integrated Droid Brains
- Crew Complement (PhoenixDrive Recommendation / Optimal):
- ~36 Officers and Enlisted Personnel
- Central AI Administration Program
- Integrated Droid Brains
- Armament: Low
- Bow:
- [2] Forward-Fixed Mass Driver Cannons. Anti-Capital Ship Battery
- ~40 Round Capacity
- [2] Forward-Fixed Proton Torpedo Launch Tubes. Anti-Capital Ship Battery
- ~30 Warhead Capacity
- [2] Forward-Fixed Mass Driver Cannons. Anti-Capital Ship Battery
- Port and Starboard:
- [4] Ph-30 Point Defense Autocannons. Anti-Starfighter Battery. Anti-Ordnance Battery. 2 Port, 2 Starboard
- [4] Single-Tube Variable Missile Launchers. Anti-Capital Ship Battery. 2 Port, 2 Starboard. Mounted Toward Aft
- ~128 Warhead Capacity
- Dorsal:
- [1] Ph-30 Point Defense Autocannon. Anti-Starfighter Battery. Anti-Ordnance Battery. Mounted Toward Aft
- Ventral:
- [2] Ph-30 Point Defense Autocannon. Anti-Starfighter Battery. Anti-Ordnance Battery. Mounted Toward Aft
- [1] Dual Medium Turbolaser Turrets. Anti-Capital Ship Battery
- [1] Tractor Beam Emitter. Mounted Beside Material Collection Bay
- Bow:
- Defenses: Average
- Ph-30 Point Defense Autocannons
- Durasteel Hull Plating with Light Duralloy and Impervium Armor Plating
- Light Military-Grade Frigate-class Deflector Shielding
- Limited ECM Suite (Missile Deactivation Transmitters)
- Hangar Space: Low - 0 Squadrons
- Hangar Allocations:
- Starfighters: 0 squadrons
- Support Craft: 0 squadrons
- Single Craft Hangar: No
- Maneuverability Rating: Very High
- High-Grade RCS Thrusters
- Speed Rating: High
- [1] High-Grade Sublight Ion Drive
- Hyperdrive:
- Primary: Class 2.0
- Secondary: Class 12.0
- Internal Systems (Software)
- Standard Avionics Packages (Communications, Helm Control, Navigation, Etc.)
- Standard Targeting Package
- Shipboard Command and Coordination Interface
- Integrated Droid Brains
- Internal Systems (Hardware)
- Class 2.0 and 12.0 Hyperdrives
- Hypermatter Annihilation Reactor
- Shipboard Security Cameras
- Emergency Force Field Emitters
- Collapsible Blast Doors
- Flight Data Recorder
- Escape Pod Launch Chutes
- Proton Torpedo Launch Tubes
- Tractor Beam Emitter
- External Systems
- Shield Generator Bulb. Dorsally Mounted
- Communications and Sensor Clusters at Bow
- Targeting Laser Emitters
- Variable Ordnance Launchers
- Ventral Docking Hatch
- 1 Ion Sublight Drive
- RCS Thrusters
- Shipboard Facilities
- Concealed Command Deck
- Engineering Bay
- Sickbay
- Primary Cargo Bay
- Secured Munitions Bay
- Crew Quarters
- Brig Facilities
- Miniature Material Collection Bay
- Rapid-Reloading Mechanisms for Missile and Torpedo Batteries
- Central AI Administration for Increased Automation
- Manufacturing Bays to Produce New Mass Driver Shells and Pd-30 Ammunition
- Dart: The Aurora-class possesses an incredibly favorable thrust-to-mass ratio, allowing it to accelerate and maneuver at incredible speeds.
- Difficult Target: Combined with its immense speed, the Aurora’s thin hull shape makes it a difficult vessel to get a lock on with most conventional weaponry. The destroyer’s missile deactivation transmitters further allow it to evade most guided munitions sent to intercept it.
- Point Defense: The Aurora’s point defense autocannons are placed such that they can cover the destroyer from a wide variety of points, guaranteeing that the vessel’s defense grid has no major blind spots.
- Replenishing Munitions: The Aurora’s manufacturing bays allow it to produce new mass driver ammunition from onboard alloys or metals collected from a battlefield. If supplied with tungsten, the destroyer can further replenish its Pd-30s’ ammunition.
- Forward Fixed Weaponry: The Aurora’s mass drivers and torpedo launchers are all forward-fixed, requiring the destroyer to constantly reorient itself to target a hostile vessel.
- Durability: The Aurora relies heavily on its sheer speed to withstand hostile bombardment, with its shielding being relatively light when compared to most, and its armor being similarly less than spectacular.
- Finite Munitions: The Aurora is highly dependent on its supply of missiles, mass driver shells, and torpedoes to inflict damage on targets. Naturally, these munitions will run out over time.
- Long Replenishment Times: While most of the destroyer’s munitions can be replenished via its manufacturing bays, this entails a long and delicate process and cannot function effectively during combat.
Contacted by the Galactic Alliance during the galaxy’s worsening conflict with the Brotherhood of the Maw, PhoenixDrive quickly found its shipyards occupied with requests to produce and supply vessels for the former’s increasingly desperate naval forces. Among the many concepts proposed by the GADF’s admiralty was a vessel suited to combatting the Maw’s reliance on overwhelming firepower– a nimble vessel that could dart in, fire off a rapid volley of munitions, and break off to draw the fire of the Brotherhood’s heavy warships.
Thus, the Aurora was born. 210 meters from stem to stern and designated a light destroyer by PhoenixDrive’s design team, the vessel was built overwhelmingly around executing sudden and powerful strikes on hostile vessels. A combination of forward-fixed weaponry, a turreted dual cannon, and volleys of missiles were to converge on a single point on a ship’s shields or hull, making up for a limited supply of weapons with sheer concentrated power. Shortly after one strike, the destroyer would be able to begin immediately evasive maneuvers, all the while reloading its weaponry in preparation for another strike. During evasive maneuvers, the Aurora would make extensive use of PhoenixDrive’s recently developed Ph-30 Point Defense Autocannons to intercept inbound missiles and fighters.
For its relatively robust defense grid, the Aurora could also be seen in the rear guard of a formation, with squadrons of the vessels often tasked with guarding larger capital ships from the swarms of starfighters the Brotherhood was known to employ.
Though miniscule in comparison to the warships they were often tasked with striking, Aurora-class vessels were far from meaningless in the grand scheme of engagements– a notion destroyer captains would be adamant to keep alive.
