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Sentinel-class Space Patrol Ship (SPT)
Stalker-class Stealth Space Attack Corvette (SSAC)

Class History:

Sentinel-class

• 12,022 Total built by Albion Terran Yard (2050-2070)
• 64 Destroyed Transient War 2057
• 3 Destroyed Varauta War 2064
• 10,221 Destroyed 4^th Robotech War 2063-2068
• 4 Missing
• 251 Scrapped
• 1,479 In service 2070

Stalker-class

• 378 Total built by Albion Terran Yard (2058-2070)
• 1 Destroyed Transient War 2057
• 2 Destroyed Varauta War 2064
• 269 Destroyed 4^th Robotech War 2063-2070
• 2 Scrapped
• 104 In service 2070

Ship's complement:

• Ships' crew (60 men)
• Space Naval air group (16 men)
• Space Marine security unit (50 men)
• Life support limits are for a full combat complement and about 288 supernumeraries (300 men total).

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

Dimensions:

• Length: 144 meters overall
• Height: 24.5 meters in cruiser mode
             53.3 meters in attack mode
• Width: 18.4 meters overall
             32.8 meters overall
• Fuel Mass: 5,600 metric tons
• Operational mass (typical): 65,000 metric tons

Propulsion systems:

• Main power system(1): RRD Mk 11 anti-matter Reflex furnace. The powerplant of the Sentinel-class vessel can deliver up to 250 terawatts of power, and can operate for two hours at maximum power before overheat initiates autoshutdown.
• Maneuvering thrusters (28): Overtechnology MRT-06 fusion-plasma reaction thrusters with steerable nozzles.  Mounted on the bow(4), sides (8 each), ventral hull (2), and dorsal hull (6).
• Reaction-mass thrusters (2): Shizuma Drive MRE-16 fusion-plasma reaction thrusters with anti-matter energizer in the rear of the main hull.
• Anti-gravity system (1): 2 Europa Drive Siren anti-gravity pods.
• Sublight drive (1): Shizuma Drive GDD-6 local monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion drive.
• Space fold (1): RRD Mk16 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 Sentinel-class has atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity system. The ships' lower body has several retractable landing struts that have sufficient strength to let the ship land on them, 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 two months maximum; after that, the Sentinel needs to restock. Water stores are recycled almost totally, and many crews add small hydroponic plants to unused spaces, providing the crew with a smattering of fresh fruits, but this is insufficient to provide for the crew indefinitely.
• The mecha consumables supplies (mainly missiles) are limited; the Sentinel is unable to sustain continuous combat operations for much more than six days.
  The missile magazines for the torpedo launchers are typically empty after one major space battle.
• At full power, the main propulsion systems can produce up to 12 Giganewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as little as 235 Meganewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
• At full power, the Sentinel-class can achieve a maximum delta-v of 922 kps at the cruising acceleration of 2.1G, a maximum delta-v of 184.4 kps at the battle acceleration of 4.0G, and a delta-v of at most 49.8 kps at the flank acceleration of 6.3G. At lower power levels, these ranges are commensurately smaller.
• Sublight drive acceleration is 1500 g, but the vessel's maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor course corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .44c.
• The Mk16 fold systems are not designed to be used for folds of distances greater than approximately 5 kiloparsec, for safety reasons. If longer voyages are required, the ships must conduct multiple fold jumps.
• The maximum atmospheric speed is Mach 3. The maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems is limited only by maintenance requirements.

Weapon systems:

(Sentinel-class)

• Europa TPC-03 tachyon pulse cannon (1): A large cannon, mounted on dorsal surface of the hull behind a projectile shield. The mount can fire once every fifteen seconds, and deliver 105.1 GJ of energy per salvo on a target up to 50,000 km distant.
• Vickers RIC-12 reaper ion cannon (3): The reaper cannon is a refined ion cannon which delivers 4.5 GJ of energy up to 75,000 km away 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. This cannon is a special triple barrel rotating cannon design. The cannon is concealed in cruise mode, but in attack mode it is located below the engines and can rotate over an arc of 180 horizontal degrees.
• Lockheed SLBM launchers (12): 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 1 missile per launcher. These launchers are mounted on the bow, six on each side.
• Lockheed Mk 267 surface to air missile launchers (2): 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. Each turret has a reload time of 6 seconds and a magazine with a 36 round capacity. These turrets are mounted behind armor plating and pop up when firing and are mounted on either side of the main hull (2).
• Bofors PL-7 point defense turrets (6): Mounted behind movable panels on the dorsal hull(1), ventral hull(1), and sides(2 each). These standard RDF weapons can fire 53 MJ of particle energy four times per second at a range of up to 20 km. 

(Stalker-class)

• Vickers TPC-05 tachyon pulse cannon (1): A large cannon, mounted on dorsal surface of the hull behind a projectile shield. The mount can fire every fifteen seconds, and deliver 168.1 GJ of energy per salvo on a target up to 65,000 km distant.
• Europa RIC-15 reaper ion cannon (3): The reaper cannon is a refined ion cannon which delivers 7.6 GJ of energy up to 75,000 km away 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. This cannon is a special triple barrel rotating cannon design. The cannon is concealed in cruise mode, but in attack mode it is located on the bow and can rotate over an arc of 180 horizontal degrees.
• Lockheed SLBM launchers (12): The missiles are specialized Lockheed Lockheed SLBM-20 Warhammer (Space Launched Ballistic Missiles) with anti-matter warheads in the 20 MT range. The delta-v capacity of the missiles is 633.1 kps, and the magazine can store 1 missiles per launcher. These launchers are mounted on the bow, six on each side.
• Lockheed Mk 267 surface to air missile launchers (2): 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. Each turret has a reload time of 6 seconds and a magazine with a 60 round capacity. These turrets are mounted behind armor plating and pop up when firing and are mounted on the main hull(2).
• Bofors PL-12 point defense turrets (6): Mounted behind movable panels on the dorsal hull (1), ventral hull (1), and sides (2 each). These standard RDF weapons can fire 60 MJ of particle energy four times per second at a range of up to 20 km.

Electronics Systems:

• Hughes DSP-6 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.

(Stalker-class only)

• Northrop-Grumman ASM-04 Active Stealth System: The Stalker-class is equipped with a revolutionary stealth system that when activated renders the craft almost invisible to standard sensors such as radar. Unlike passive stealth systems like those used by the VF-17 Nightmare or the old USAF F-117, the Stalker-class stealth system is an active stealth that actually bends radar waves around the mecha rather than reflecting them rendering then Stalker-class almost undetectable to all radar systems.

Air group and mecha complement:

(Sentinel-class)

• 6 VF-11 Thunderbolt Veritech fighter
• 50 VR-066 Hurricane Veritech cyclone

(Circa 2063)

• 6 VF-19 Excalibur Veritech fighter
• 50 VR-066 Hurricane Veritech cyclone

(Stalker-class)

• 6 VF-22 Sturmvogel Veritech fighter
• 50 VR-102 Viper Veritech cyclone

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

Design notes:

As Terran space continued to expand at a rapid rate both through colonization and mass cloning efforts the need became apparent to have a cheap easy to produce vessel to perform the role of border patrol and serve as the main patrol craft  for the RDF Space Navy.  As such several companies submitted designs, the Albion Terran Yard submitted the winning design.  The craft was designated the Sentinel-class Space Patrol Vessel and first entered service in March of 2050. 

In early testing in simulated combat conditions the vessel showed excellent combat ability mainly due to its high agility and small size.  Also, the Sentinel proved an excellent proving ground for the capabilities of stealth construction.  This proved to be an excellent addition to the agility of the Sentinel which allowed to sneak up on many illegal vessels.  The lessons learned from the Sentinel-class were later applied to the Raptor-class built by Albion Terran Yards as well.  

The Sentinel-class carries a modest amount of armament which, while small when compared to larger, heavier vessels, it carries a large amount of firepower for such a small ship.  The main weapon is a tachyon cannon which is contained on top of the armored hull which opens during combat.  Also assisting with additional anti-ship firepower is a bottom mounted tri-barrel reaper cannon.  The main weapons however are the twelve SLBM missile launchers mounted on the bow of the vessel.  These missiles provide the medium range heavy assault and anti-starship capabilities.  For defense, the vessel mounts a modest six point defense lasers as well as a pair of surface to air missile launchers.  Defense for the most part is left up to the single veritech fighter squadron (VF-11 or VF-19 usually).  This veritech squadron is launched from six separate release bays  in the bottom of the hull.

Inside the ship there are 5 separate decks along with the flight bay.  The first deck, the only deck to extend the length of the ship, contains the bridge, and crew and officers quarters.  This deck is home to the entire complement of the ship as well as the CIC.  While the bridge is small and modest, it is highly automated and most functions are handled by the onboard computers.  While many may resent this, the onboard computer systems perform very well.  Though all systems are available on manual backup.  

Moving on down is deck 2.  This deck is home to several areas that are used by the crew on a daily basis.  The most forward is the mess hall which is used by officers and enlisted personnel alike.  It is also home to the ship's recreation room and Laundromat and small PX store.  The second deck only spans about the last third of the ship however as the area in the forward section is used by the flight deck.  

History:

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