Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/misc/supership.design

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From: [e-mail] (Matthew Weed)
Subject: super-ship design
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Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 14:38:03 GMT
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The following is copyright 1994, Matthew Weed,
and is in response to the article posted earlier from North Texas University.
This ship is the result of my continuing objections to the poor use of military
technology by the TNG writers.
Matt

Star Date 55000.0
design memo in support of final appropriation measure for  completion of
the Federation
Ticonderoga  class Super-heavy dreadnought.
Ship Designation, Ticonderoga, NX-4000.
ship purpose: strengthening of the Federation's military position versus
the imperial
powers in the quadrant.
Current appropriation for completion of weapons, engines, and sensory
systems. This
appropriation will also support the vessel's first shakedown cruise.
Estimated launch date, Stardate 56000.0.
Weapons and defenses:
The Ticonderoga class Super-heavy Dreadnought will carry enhanced
versions of the frequency-controlled phaser arrays,  installed aboard the
Mycenae class (heavy) battlecruiser, the Mycenae-II class dreadnought,
and Mycenae-III class defender).
Main arrays:
At completion, The vessel will be equipped with two "main" phaser arrays,
set up on an
extended ring around the forward hull.
Due to the risk of lifting the weapons ring away from the ship, it will
be connected to the
main hull by thirty struts, at spacing of 12 degrees between each strut.
Each of the phaser arrays will be capable of three times the destructive
potential of the Mycenae-III class Defender(18-20 times the combined
firepower of the Galaxy
class exploratory cruiser).

Due to its full-circumference design, the ring will be able to accelerate
phased energy much as super-conducting super-colliders do.
This will allow for increased frequency variability as well as particle
disruption effects.
Major risk:
If a weapon were to cut the ring, the damaged part would be lost, and the
ring will lose 50% of its raw firepower, and much of its upper-frequency
flexibility and capacity.

"secondary" phasers.
As the main phasers will be able to fire on most targets coming at the
vessel over a 360
degree arc centered at directly forward of the vessel,  (with some
decrease in flexibility over a direct-aft-centered arc of 90 degrees
caused by the location of the engineering complex) secondary weapons will
be necessary to support the main ring.
In the Ticonderoga-class vessels, the mode selection of the Mycenae-class
ships will be lost, and to replace this, fifty rapid-fire phaser
batteries will be located at the junctions of the ring and its support
struts.  These weapons will be paired so that there are two batteries
(one above, and one below ship's lateral plain).  The five aft-most
struts will not be set with these weapons as their firing arcs would be
limited by the engineering complex.  Each battery will have an
independent fusion-powered power supply, and should central targeting
systems be compromised, simple targeting sensors will also be included.
There will also be six other rapid-fire weapons set one on top of the
main hull, one at the bottom of the forced quantum core ball, and four on
the aft corners of the engineering hull.
Secondary collimators will be located directly on the four sides of the
main section of the engineering hull, each will have 1/5 of main ring
capacity, and 180-degree arcs of vertical/horizontal fire, and 170 degree
arcs of lateral arc, with the forward edge of this arc defined as a plain
passing through the forward-most sections of the main "gox" of the
engineering complex.  There will be some blind spots caused by the main
hull, weapons ring, and warp nacelles, for the upper, port, and starboard
collimators.
Contained-plasma and photon  torpedoes:
The ship will carry 150 of the new contained-plasma torpedoes.  each has
an explosive yield of 80 megatons at close range, with linear decrease in
yield to 40 megatons at maximum torpedo range which is defined as 3
million kilometers.  The loss in explosive capacity is due to the
dependence of the torpedo's warp sustainer coil on the energy stored in
the warhead's plasma.
The ship will also carry 450 of the standard Federation photon torpedoes
which can be fired through the same launchers as the contained-plasma
torpedoes.

Locations:
Two torpedo tubes will fire forward from the "main" hull, and one aft
from the main hull/engineering dorsal connector.
Shields:
The ship will be equipped with primary, secondary, and auxiliary
shielding systems.  Because of the added power offered by the ship's
multiple energizers, two layers of shielding can be used at the same time
that *all* ship's weapons are in operation.  Each shielding layer can
deflect 50% more energy than the old Galaxy-class shields, simply due to
advances in technology.
Cloaking:
The ship will be equipped with a phase-cloaking device.  This is in
direct violation of the treaty of Algeron, but due to the violations
perpetrated by both Klingon and Romulan Empires, the violations contained
in this vessel are viewed as necessary by the Federation and Star Fleet
Command.  Firing of weapons with the phase-cloak operational is not
possible, as the phase distorts weapons energy making them ineffective.


internal defenses,
force fields will be used to control intruders, and all decks will be
equipped with automatic
phaser-rifle type weapons which can be activated by the captain and first
officer.  After proper clearance is given, tactical control will devolve
to ship's security.
These weapons will mean that crew mobility will be decreased sharply when
unfriendly
boarding parties are on board, but it is hoped that they will prove
effective against landing
parties of borg (or other boarders), should they come aboard without
prior truce.
Engineering:
The vessel will use the new modified type 18 matter/anti-matter
reactors.  Enhanced versions of the standard third-generation warp drive
field systems of the galaxy-class vessel will have to be used for actual
propulsion.  The enhancement is required due to the extreme mass of the
vessel.   The nacelles have had to be lengthened in order to contain the
extra equipment necessary to overcome the ship's inertia. The
matter/anti-matter energizers  will provide the vessel with 80% more
power than the galaxy-class vessel.  The ship will direct the  added
power  to enhanced scanners, the
weapons, and the ship's shielding.  These systems will also benefit from
the added power
derived by the smaller energy needs of the ship's all-military crew.
The ship carries a back-up forced quantum singularity power core, which
can provide 50% of main power for four hours, or 250% of main energy for
fiteen minutes, which allows for all weapons and defensive systems to be
activated at once when combined with the main and secondary output.

The ship uses a modified version of the impulse thrusters found on
Earth-1, which allow it to overcome its inertia, which is three times
that of any other vessel currently in service.
It should be noted here, that should main and auxiliary power be lost,
the reactors that power the rapid-fire weapons can also power ship's
systems.  Their total output is approximately equal to the main reactor,
especially when combined with the ship's other secondary reactors.
   Maneuvering thrusters will be available, and can be used in concert
with the ship's
antigravity drive system when the ship is maneuver in atmosphere.(more on
this capability
later)
Command staff:
 at least one of whom must be on the bridge at all times.
Ship's Commander, rank: Captain(or admiral)
First officer, (functionn is somewhat nebulous, his/her final duties will
vary depending on the personality of the ship's commander).
weapons officer, also in charge of security
Operations officer, monitors ship's systems, handles ship's
communications
Science officer,
navigator

The chief engineeer will be in the command chain, but will likely not be
on the bridge in
times of battle, due to the risk of lift failure.
The ship's chief medical officer will have the standard duties of that
position, and any psychological services dispensed will be done through
the ship's medical department, not through a separate "counselor's office".

Total crew assigned, 400.
This will include full compliments in engineering, weapons, sciences, and
medical.  Suport
staff will be kept at a minimum.
Engineering will also support repairs, navigation/helm, and computer
operations.
Weapons will also support ship's security.
Sciences will support competent laboratories in all forms of physics,
biology, chemistry,
and astronomy, however, these will be analytical labs, not research
facilities.  Added computer power is being installed to compensate for
limited scientific crews.   Other
sciences (particularly the social sciences), will have no support due to
the
limitations of space and mission design perameters.
Due to the lengthy, and often bloody, missions which the vessel is likely
to carry out, the
medical facilities will be upp to the standards of fleet starbase trauma
facilities,
but long-term care, if necessary, will require setting patients in stasus
until fleet base facilities can be achieved.

Dimentions:
As mass had to be distributed widely to permit effective atmospheric
maneuver, the vessel
shows a larger lateral profile than a Galaxy-class vessel.  This vessel
is also much deeper due to the forced quantum ball.
Main hull, circular, diameter: 330 M. Depth: 40 M, save at the central
rapid-fire phaser battery which rises 15 meters above the top surface.
With hyper ring:
depth: unchanged,
The ring expands the diameter of the main hull to 500 M.  Aft sections of
the ring are
connected to the dorsal between the main and secondary hull, (on
which the ring "sits", and is supported by struts connecting to the
dorsal) which decreases over-all length, and increases structural
strength of the "neck" and of the ring.

Secondary (Engineering) hull:
(main), Length, 550 M, (with quantum ball, 680 M,
Width/Depth, 58 M.  With much tapering to  the thin connecting cyllinder
to the forced quantum ball.
The main section  is a rectangular hull, not dissimilar in shape to the
box in which twentieth-century toothpaste tubes were sold.
The warp nacelles, are projected above and away (laterally), from the
engineering hhull, but not above the level of the  top surface of the
main hull.
Dimentions, see Startrek: TNG technical manual for width and depth,
lenght: 450 M.
Quantum ball,
radius, 50 M, making width/depth, 100 m.  The ball is
connected to both the main and engineering hulls by cyllindrical struts
that allow for physical access from either hull.  The ball lies below the
aft sections of the main hull, meaning that it does not ad to over-all
length.

over-all dimentions:
length: 995 M.
depth: 190 M.
breadth: 500 M.
Comments:
The vessel is meant as a weapon of defense, with sufficient power to
overcome small
taskgroups of the vessels currently serving in all known fleets.   It is
hoped that the ship's built-in hardiness will allow it to defeat a Borg
cube, given beneficial circumstances.

The ship, despite having more weapons than any other vessel currently in
service, has been
made as small as possible in order to increase maneuverability, and, more
importantly, to
decrease the volume of the target presented to enemy weapons.
The ship carries much equipment, and its internal compartments have had
to be made smaller to allow for sufficient room for the numerous weapons
systems, massive structural members,multiple computers and other systems
characteristic of this class of vessel.
Other than the ship's new heavy phaser arrays, and new contained-plasma
torpedoes,  othercapabilities seemed necessary to the designers.
The ship has a special heavily armored section that runs through the
heart of the main hull.  Proceeding from top to bottom, this section,
whose armor is no less than two meters thick in any place holds the main
computer core, bridge, primnary auxiliary control, and auxiliary computer
core.  Each level of this section is separated from those above and below
it by two-meter thick plates of solid duranium/tritanium alloy.  All main
systems and many functions are tripply redundant, including command
center, communications, power transfer, computers, weapons, shielding,
power production,  and many other systems or structures.  This redundancy
is highly expensive, both monetarily, and structurally, and we expect
that few of these ships will be built, due to their fiscal cost, and
their comparative lack of comfort.
Special functions:
We  have allowed for an antigravity system powerful enough to permit the
ship
to maneuver successfully in atmosphere.  The multiple auxiliary energy
systems in this design will allow for full weapons and shielding, while
in atmospheric maneuvers.   This should allow the ships greater ability
to defend against Borg ships by striking from "hiding" while positioned
in planetary atmospheres.  Also,  the tactical and psychological effects
of having a super-starship  *under* the standard romulan or Farengi
vessel are well known.  The ship's structure has been built to permit
"landing" in oceans or large lakes, assuming a depth of at least 150
meters is established.  This function may be necessary for ship repairs,
or for hiding from a borg (or other "very advanced") vessel which (it is
hoped), will not be able to scan the ship successfully when "down".
All weapons will be fully controllable by the computers, (primary,
auxiliary, and distributed independent weapons control systems) and the
manufacturers of both
computers and weapons systems suggest that they may be most effective
against borg (or
other advanced cultures), in limited-distributed mode.  Therefore,
auxiliary and secondary computer cores are available which can perform
all of the functions of the main core.
Distributed systems can also take over the rapid-fire weapons and the
torpedoes, but the main ring requires central control due to its massive
draw on ship's power.
    Further, all computers will have the ability to control the vessel
via "optical" or "wired" links in order to attempt to avoid information
leakage due to sub-space probing.  Though response time  will decrease to
20% of standard, the function seemed a good idea to the
manufacturers' design team.  Due to the military nature of the vessel,
and the likelihood of
unfriendly probe, Star Fleet command has agreed to the installation of
the back-up optical
communications net.
The uses of and apparent need for, the phase-cloaking device have
allready been discussed, but due to the lack of phase-cloaking technology
on other starships, it seemed appropriate to note here.  It should also
be noted that this ship will have full shielding, and weapons capacity,
while in standard-cloaking mode, due to its over-abundance of
energy-production systems.
It is well understood that this vessel breaks from "current" starfleet
thinking in both design and purpose.  However, Defense Fleet Command
feels that new, and more powerful, ships are needed to deal with the
growing piracy and terrorist threats of the last few years, as well as
the recent breaches of treaty by the Romulans.  It is also clear that the
vessels currently serving in the fleet are not capable of handling
all-out confrontation with the Borg.  This vessel, it is believed, may be
able to be successful in actions against a single Borg cube.  As
Federation technology allows for the construction of these heavier ships,
it was decided that a very few of these vessels might prove useful for
both defense and diplomatic posturing against non-borg as well as Borg
threats.








--
"It may not be true, as Lincoln Supposed, that you can't fool all of the
people all of the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large
country."  Will and Ariel Durant: _The Lessons of History_ 1969.
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