Vigiles-class Patrol Cruiser

Class Overview
Name:	Vigiles-class
Builders:	???
Operators:	Terran Alliance Navy
Cost:	???
Built:	2019-Present
In Commission:	2020-Present
Planned:	???
Completed:	???
Active:	???
Retired:	???
Lost:	2
General Characteristics
Type:	Cruiser
Mass:	{{{mass}}}
Length:	{{{length}}}
Beam:	{{{beam}}}
Draft:	{{{draft}}}
Propulsion:	4x Rostech Heavy Aerospace Model 27 SKK Drives TBD Higgs Drive
Speed [Atmospheric]:	{{{speedAtmo}}}
Speed [Sublight]:	0.5c peak velocity (86% time dilation)
Speed [FTL]:	Class 2 (Primary) Class 8 (Backup)
Operational Duration:	{{{activeTime}}}
Complement:	7 Senior Officers, 11 Junior Officers, 179 Enlisted Crew
Sensors and Processing Systems:	{{{sensors}}}
Electronic Warfare & Decoys:	{{{ewar}}}
Armament:	{{{armament}}}
Armor:	1m composite plating
Auxiliary Craft	{{{auxCraft}}}

Designed during the early days of the Alliance, the Vigiles class was a derivative of a design fielded by the Russian Federation during World War III and the Resource Wars before it. Designed for interplanetary travel to secure lucrative trade routes with Mars and the early forays in asteroid mining, the Russian vessel proved easy to adapt to the proposed design requirements of the Higgs Drive, much like the Iwo Jima design proved easy to adapt. Built around a quartet aft-mounted Rostech Heavy Aerospace Stover-Kwan-Konstantinov Higgs Field-Assisted Fusion-Torch Particle Impulse Engines, the Vigiles class can cross the Sol system in about 28 hours when at maximum speed, however this sort of speed is only ever utilized in emergency circumstances since when traveling at that velocity the ship’s internal time passes at 86% of that outside the ship.

Role

The Vigiles-class serves primarily as a patrol and interdiction vessel for the Terran Alliance. The majority of them function as patrol vessels on important trade routes inside the Sol system, with the extrasolar trade routes usually being protected by dedicated battle groups. When on patrol duty the ship operates with three crews which rotate out every fourth months. Vigiles vessels assigned to interdiction duty operate like patrol vessels, however they maintain one crew and tend to roam around the Sol system tracking down smugglers, inspection-dodgers, and criminals at the request of the Terran Alliance Judicial Bureau. Furthermore, interdiction-type Vigiles crews are classified as peacekeeping forces while remaining under the jurisdiction of the Terran Alliance Armed Forces, allowing them to participate in Terran Alliance and United Nations peacekeeping operations as needed.

Design

Power

Primary power comes from a pair of Exalink Technology GmbH 500MW Aneutronic Fusion Reactors, while secondary power comes from four TYT Technology 50MW Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.

Armament

Primary offensive armament is a spinally-mounted Turov-Barker Corporation 64-Megajoule Triangulanum-type railgun. Supplemental anti-ship capability is provided by two Boeing Space Systems 80-centimeter missile launch systems and two Boeing Space Systems 40-centimeter missile launch systems. For dealing with small craft, making precision strikes on targets, and deploying small sensor probes the cruiser is also outfitted with an extensive array of standard 15-centimeter launch systems as well, totaling 2,000 tubes scattered over the hull to provide all-around coverage.

Defense

Defense is provided by 1-meter thick plating of a variety of materials, with active defense provided by several systems. Two discrete Pandyne Integration 1-megawatt pulse laser systems controlled by Class VI AI combined with four TAAF standard gatling turret arrays provide interception capabilities, while WMT Development Class III magnetic shielding protects the crew against solar flares and other radiation sources.

Auxiliary Craft

As a peacekeeping vessel that is too large to land outside of specialized cradles found only in areas with low gravity, the Vigiles class maintains a relatively high array of secondary craft for its size. Standard embarked auxiliary craft include a four TAAF Standard Attack Craft plus a TAAF Standard Bomber chassis which can be converted to passenger transport if needed. Further transport capability is available with a Striker-class Marine Assault Craft which can transport the majority of the ship’s embarked Marine Platoon, plus a standard medivac for medical support. Extra hangar space is built in by design, to be filled as needed. Additional ground vehicles, orbital deployment pods for marines, and light air vehicles can also be carried however these are considered cargo and vary heavily from ship to ship.

Complement

Crew on a Vigiles consists of 7 senior officers, including a unique position, the Chief of Enforcement. Unique to the Vigiles-class, the Chief of Enforcement is actually a member of the Terran Alliance Judicial Bureau assigned to the ship, they are responsible for law enforcement actions undertaken by the vessel and have the final say on anything law enforcement related. 11 Junior Officers round out the officer crew, though it is not uncommon for these positions to be filled by Warrant Officers. Enlisted crew consists of 179 personnel of various ranks and duties - it is not uncommon for there to be low-ranking officers still in their in-the-field portion of their training in this category as well, and the ship has berths for two more squads of marines or comparable troops.

• Senior Officers (7)
  • Commanding Officer [Navy] -
  • Executive Officer [Navy] -
  • Chief of Armaments [Navy] (also oversees oversees the gatling systems) -
  • Chief Engineer [Navy] -
  • Quartermaster [Army] -
  • Battalion Commander [Marines] -
  • Chief of Enforcement [Terran Alliance Judicial Bureau] -
• Junior/Warrant Officers (11)
  • Platoon Captain - Platoon Captain [Marines]
  • Platoon Captain - Platoon Captain [Marines]
  • Chief of Maneuvering (oversees drives) - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Lead Wirehead - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Chief of Power - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Chief of Missiles - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Chief of Railguns - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Chief of Pulse Lasers - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Fighter Wing Leader - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Chief of Medical - Lieutenant [Navy]
  • Chief of Auxiliary (craft) - Lieutenant [Navy]
• Enlisted Crew - 179 (usually includes some O-1 through O-3 personnel early in their careers as well)
  • Secondary Wireheads - 2
  • Squad Captains - 4
  • “Standard Marines” - 20
  • Irregular Squad Captain -
  • Irregular Squad - Varies
  • Schmutzsturmkommando Squad Captain -
  • Schmutzsturmkommando Squad - 5
  • Himmelsturmkommando Squad Captain -
  • Himmelsturmkommando Squad - 5
  • 15 Sensors and Intelligence Personnel
  • 15 Gatling Systems Crew
  • 12 Railgun Systems Crew
  • 20 Missile Systems Crew
  • 20 Pulse Laser Systems Crew
  • 26 Engineers
  • 10 Support Staff
  • 5 Auxiliary Craft Maintenance Crew
  • 8 Attack Craft Flightcrew
  • 2 Bomber Flightcrew
  • 6 Striker Flightcrew
  • 2 Medivac Crew
  • 4 Medivac Medical Personnel

Additional Details

To aide in its law enforcement duties the Vigiles-class comes with a dedicated brig with 5 cells. Additionally it has five 5-person standard bunkrooms which are normally used for specialist squads, the traditional 'troubleshooter squad' that most Vigiles-class vessels employ, SDA personnel, and other passengers. Each of these bunkrooms can additionally be converted to more brig space should the need arise. 2,500 tons of cargo capacity also gives the Vigiles-class extensive space to store seized illegal goods, humanitarian supplies, and even function as a light cargo freighter or vehicle transport to assist with TAAF logistics. Furthermore, interdiction vessels are equipped with a launcher system capable of deploying munitions which can compromise and disable a vessel’s propulsion systems through brute-force hacking attempts, override codes, and outright electronic overloads.

The 'Troubleshooter Squad'

Vigilies-class vessels have traditionally employed a 'troubleshooter squad' of sorts. These consist of staff which operate outside of the vessel's embarked Marine platoon's command structure, answering directly to the ship's captain. Typically this is a group of personnel that the captain has assembled to deal with situations that would be better off handled in a decidedly non-military manner.

Ships in class

Name	Hull no.	Registry no.	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Status
Vigiles	VPC00	NVY-092	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	In active service, Sol System patrol duty
Interdiction-type
Venice	VPC19	NVY-204	TBD	TBD	18 March 2020	6 November 2020	In Service	Current Assignment: Sol System interdiction duty. Temp Assignment: Intervention in Spanish Civil War