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Hurricane-class Light Space Cruiser (SCL)

Names and disposition:

• 1,132 Total built by Kawasaki Naval Yard (2051-2070)
• 29 Destroyed Transient War 2057
• 1 Destroyed Varauta War 2064
• 983 Destroyed 4^th Robotech War 2063-2068
• 13 Scrapped
• 106 In service 2070

Ships' Complement:

• Ships' crew (890 men)
• Space Naval air group (900 men)
• Space Marine unit (5000 men)
• Life support limits are for a full combat complement and about 11,520 supernumeraries (12,000 men total).

Note: The given numbers are approximations; the exact number of personnel varied somewhat due to operational realities and different ships.

Dimensions:

• Length: 780 meters overall
• Height: 220 meters overall
• Width: 150 meters overall
• Fuel Mass: 200,000 metric tons
• Operational mass (typical):  2,200,000 metric tons

Propulsion Systems:

• Main power system: RRD Mk15 anti-matter-fueled Reflex furnace. The powerplant of the Hurricane-class vessel can deliver up to 6.2 Petawatts of power, and can operate for two hours minutes at maximum power before overheat initiates autoshutdown.
• Maneuvering thrusters (30): Overtechnology MRT-06 Fusion-plasma reaction thruster clusters with steerable nozzles.  Mounted on the sides(8 per), the bow (4), dorsal hull (5), and ventral hull (5).
• Reaction-mass thrusters (2): Rolls Royce MRE-17 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer. These engines are mounted in the directly aft of the ship's centerline side by side.
• Emergency reaction thrusters (8): Pratt&Whitney ARE-8 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer. Six of these engines are mounted in a bank of eight below the center main engine
• Anti-gravity system (1): 16 Europa Drive Hercules anti-gravity pods.
• Sublight drive (3): Shizuma Drive GDD-12 local, monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion drive.
• Space fold (1): RRD Mk20 spacefold. This system is conformal to the vessels surface. The problem with the vast majority of the previous generation of fold systems was that the fold bubble weakened the state of the structure to the extent that they needed a refit after only five years of service. As such the RDF mandated the use of conformal systems similar to the old Zentraedi systems which also allows for much higher speeds. 
• Planetary capabilities: The Hurricane-class has atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity system. The ships' lower body has sufficient strength to let the ship land on it, although the landing ground should be as firm as possible (granite is recommended). The ship would float in an ocean, and this is the preferred method of landing.

Endurance and mobility limits:

• The dry stores endurance is limited to about two months, as the on board recycling installations are very extensive, and only incidental biomass losses need to be replenished. Water stores are recycled almost completely. The hydroponics installations on board will provide the crew with a steady supply of fresh foods, and some can even be 'exported' to smaller ships in the fleet.
• The mecha consumables supplies (mainly missiles) are fairly extensive; the Hurricane is able to sustain continuous combat operations for over fifteen days.
  The missile magazines for the torpedo launchers are typically empty after six major space battles.
• At full power, the main propulsion systems can produce up to 200 Giganewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as little as 3.9 Giganewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
• At full power, the Hurricane-class can achieve a maximum delta-v of 534 kps at the cruising acceleration of 0.1 gees, a maximum delta-v of 106.8 kps at the battle acceleration of 2.24 gees, and a delta-v of at most 28.9 kps at the flank acceleration of 5.6G. At lower power levels, these ranges are commensurately smaller.
• Sublight drive acceleration is 1200 g, but the vessel's maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor course corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .35 c.
• The fold systems are not navigationally guaranteed for any single jump beyond 5 kiloparsecs. If longer voyages are required, the ships must conduct multiple fold jumps.
• The maximum sustained atmospheric speed is limited to less than Mach 1. A higher speed could be attained while accelerating to orbit, or in emergencies, but this stressed the engines to above their sustainable heat tolerances. The maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems was limited only by maintenance requirements.

Weapon systems:

• Krupp PC-12 plasma cannon turrets (2): The plasma cannon is a new cannon designed to replace the aging particle cannon and works by firing electrically charged hydrogen molecules that upon impact give off radiation and a tremendous amount of heat causing a large explosion. To give the weapon a great advantage, this the cannon has a range of 150,000 kilometers. However the cannon does sacrifice some power in pursuit of this long range and can only discharge 10.2 GJ per salvo. The refire rate on the cannon is once every five seconds giving it a rather mediocre rate of firing but the long range makes up for it as most ships cannot begin to attack until they close range. Each turret contains three cannons and can rotate a 360 degrees in the horizontal axis and from -10 to 75 degrees in the vertical axis. The two cannons are mounted forward of the bridge citadel.
• Bofors RIC-12 reaper ion cannon turrets (16): The reaper cannon delivers 4.5 GJ of energy with a range of around 75,000 km, but at a faster rate of fire of around once every three seconds. The cannon delivers charged atomic particles that impact a target and release radiation and large amounts of heat melting the armor. This cannon is also very effective against shields because the radiation interferes with the harmonics of the shield by delivering EM pulses with the radiation. These cannons are mounted in twin barrel turrets on the top of the hull(8), and on the sides (4 per).
• Bofors PL-7 point defense turrets (45): Mounted behind movable panels in the main hull (20), sides (6 per), the engines(8), and in front of the bridge(5). These standard RDF weapons can fire 53 MJ of particle energy four times per second at a range of up to 10 km.
• Lockheed SLBM launchers (10): The missiles are specialized Lockheed SLBM-11 Archer (Space Launched Ballistic Missiles) with nuclear warheads in the 5 MT range. The delta-v capacity of the missiles is 351.6 kps, and the magazine can store 6 missiles per launcher. These launchers are mounted on the sides with five per side.
• Raytheon Mk.270 missile launchers (40): Each launcher has 10 individual launch silos. The silos each contain 6 ready missiles in a rotating mechanism, which can be reloaded while firing. The ready magazines store 180 missiles per launcher. These launchers typically fire Avatar and Savior missiles. Typical warheads are anti-mecha cluster munitions, nuclear reaction anti-warship and nuclear reaction re-entry capable weapons. These launchers are mounted mostly on the bow section of the ship (20), on the bottom of the hull(16), with four more around the bridge.
• Raytheon Mk 267 surface to air missile launchers (30): A missile launcher mounted in a twelve tube pop-up turret, firing anti-mecha/missile missiles, though the projectiles can guide on point-blank enemy ships. When the missiles are released they are already on their intercept vectors, or very close to them.  The launcher is designed to fire the SA-12 Arrow medium range surface-to-air missile. Each turret has a reload time of 6 seconds and a magazine with a 180 round capacity.  These turrets are mounted behind armor plating and pop up when firing and are mounted on the main hull(18), sides (6 per), and in front of the bridge (4).

Air group and mecha complement:

(circa 2055)

(Space Naval Air Group)

• 150 VF-11 Thunderbolt Veritech fighter
• 30 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 2 EC-12 Eagle Airborne early warning and control aircraft
• 2 SC-45 Hawk Personnel and Cargo Shuttle
• 2 VC-25 Samson Heavy VSTOL cargo transport
• 5 VC-27 Hercules Light VSTOL cargo transport

(Space Marine Unit)

• 60 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 75 MBR-25 Atma Heavy battle destroid
• 90 SDR-14 Tiger Missile destroid
• 90 ADR-14 Razor AAA destroid
• 5 RGM-78 Gundam Mobile suit
• 70 RGM-79 GM Mobile suit
• 4 HWR-04 Godzilla Heavy artillery destroid
• 1,000 VR-071 Protector Veritech cyclone
• 1,000 VR-077 Firefly Veritech cyclone
• 1,000 VR-074 Gorilla Veritech cyclone

(circa 2063)

(Space Naval Air group)

• 120 VF-19 Excalibur Veritech fighter
• 30 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 60 VA-14 Falcon Veritech bomber
• 2 EC-15 Lynx Airborne early warning and control aircraft
• 2 SC-52 Vulture personnel and cargo shuttles
• 2 VC-37 Perseus Heavy VSTOL cargo transport
• 5 VC-39 Ajax Light VSTOL cargo transport

(Space Marine Unit)

• 15 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 30 VA-14 Falcon Veritech bomber
• 120 MBR-25 Atma Heavy battle Destroid
• 180 SDR-14 Tiger Missile destroid
• 180 ADR-14 Razor AAA destroid
• 5 RGM-90 Double Zeta Gundam Mobile Suit
• 30 RGM-91 ReGZ Refined Gundam Zeta Mobile Suit
• 40 RGM-89 Jegan Mobile suit
• 4 HWR-04 Godzilla Heavy artillery destroid
• 1,000 VR-071 Protector Veritech cyclone
• 1,000 VR-077 Firefly Veritech cyclone
• 1,000 VR-074 Gorilla Veritech cyclone

Note: The given numbers are approximations; the exact number and type of mecha varied somewhat due to operational realities and different ships.

Electronics:

• Hughes DSP-5 pinpoint barrier defense system(1): Uses four movable disks of force field, conformal to the ship's surface, to repel light torpedo attacks, or particle beam fire.

Design Notes:

The Hurricane-class Light Space Cruiser is among the smaller warships in the RDF Space Navy today, however its combat record is no less distinguished.  Originally conceived in 2047 to replace the aging Tristar-class and act as a flagship for small battlegroups and patrol formations, it was not until 2050 that the go ahead was given for production on the first batch of 200 to be build at the Kawasaki Naval Yard.  Most of this delay was due to the rush to get larger and more powerful capital ships into service.  It wasn't until 2050 when resources could be spared from both the reconstruction and military build up to begin production.

The Hurricane-class is a rather small warship by today's standards measuring only 780 meters in length.  It has much more in common with the Raptor-class than any other ship in the RDF fleet.  It has two-dimensional paneling to reduce its radar cross-section significantly giving it a great edge in space combat.  It has the traditional bridge citadel mounted toward the rear of the ship.  This citadel however is much smaller than most and only has the command bridge and communications array with the CIC carried else where in the hull.  The ship actually looks much like a scaled up Raptor-class except for the small difference in engine design.  While the Raptor's engines are recessed into the hull reducing heat emissions, the Hurricane has a much more exposed engine section.  This was necessitated by the large number of engines to be carried in a small area.  Designers felt this was acceptable as it would increase the Hurricane's speed, which is true as the Hurricane among the fastest of ships in the RDF Space Navy.  It is also quite maneuverable with thirty thrusters.  

For mecha, the Hurricane carries a good balance of both ground mecha and veritech fighters.  The veritech fighters are all kept in the bottom two decks of the ship.  The bottom deck is the actual launch and recovery bay allowing both the occur at once, a feature many smaller ships lack.  The deck above houses the repair and upkeep facilities along with storage areas for spare parts and weapons.  The ground mecha are carried in several small bays across the ship with elevators to the surface of the vessel where they can lend support to the anti-mecha and anti-missile defenses.

For offensive weaponry the Hurricane carries mostly missile based weapons which, while limiting its battlefield endurance, make it deadly in ground assault missions and also in close range combat and also a valuable asset in intense mecha fights.  The primary energy based anti-ship weapons are a pair of plasma cannon turrets mounted side by side in front of the bridge citadel which have the unique ability to be recessed behind movable panels so as not to interfere with the stealth construction of the Hurricane's hull.  These weapons, while powerful, make the design somewhat lacking as a command ship not being able to disable or destroy many of it's contemporary designs in the local group.  It also carries many reaper cannon turrets across the hull for support fire for both anti-starship and anti-surface operations.  The main sting of the Hurricane however is found in its twenty SLBM launchers which are mounted on the either side of the vessel giving it a powerful broadside ability.  This weapons, while not as effective as energy weapons at long range, are quite capable at the shorter ranges at which the Hurricane usually conducts combat at.

The defensive capabilities are intensive and perhaps even a bit overkill.  The small vessel mounts forty point defense across the hull which can usually bring six or seven turrets to bear on a single target(!).  This is a tremendous amount of firepower to cover a small area especially when combined with surface to air missile turrets.  34 turrets await any attacker and these can usually repel all but the most determine and numerous opponent.  The defensive firepower is often used in fleet operations to support larger and more valuable ships in combat operations.

History:

The Hurricane-class was first launched in 2051 from the Kawasaki Naval Yard.  By the end of 2051 over 100 more examples had been built.  Much of this ease of building can be attributed to its very modular design making it easy to mass produce and at the peak of production in 2065, one Hurricane slipped from the yards every seventy-two hours.

The early Hurricane-class vessels saw extensive use in leading small battlegroups of Raptor-class destroyers and smaller ships in search of the Anti-UTG  forces and defending planets and outlying outposts from attack by rebellious forces and rogue Zentraedi and performed its tasks successfully losing only two Hurricane-class vessels prior to 2057.  

During the Transient War the Hurricane-class received a new role, that of picket ship.  Placed far in front of the fleet, the Hurricane-class would use its powerful sensors to detect and track incoming targets and use its missile batteries and small mecha complement to intercept and destroy attacking forces.  Most of these ships succeeded in the picket role due to their powerful ECM systems as well as their stealth construction making them difficult to detect in the darkness of space.  The Hurricane-class only lost 29 in the Transient War, mostly due to inadequate long range firepower when facing Zentraedi forces with large capital ships.  

The 4th Robotech War saw the most extensive use of the Hurricane with it being asked to fill every role imaginable from courier ship to deep strike, this vessel served on all fronts and did its best, but even its great defensive firepower was often overrun by the sheer number of craft fielded by the Marduk in most battles.  These ships did fight valiantly and achieved great success in interdicting supplies when operating in an all stealth fleet with her sister ships such as the Raptor-class, Blue Jay-class, and Sentinel-class.  Together, these ship accounted for over 12 billion tons of shipping destroyed bringing Marduk supply lines to a halt by 2066 allowing for the Terran counteroffensive to achieve great success.  However, the price for this was very high, almost 800 vessels were destroyed by the Marduk.  

Thanks to its great record, the Hurricane-class will probably see service until towards the end of the 21st century and soon it will be supplemented by a new light cruiser taking shape on the drawing board.

Layout adapted from Robotech Reference Guide

Content by Jeffrey R. Spillner
Copyright © 1998-2002 Jeffrey R. Spillner

Page Last Updated on January 21, 2002 @ 14:00 GMT