The Fralthra class heavy cruiser must be considered one of the most effective ship designs for its time. It replaced the old Fralthi class light cruiser which was much smaller although the light cruisers was a bit faster. The heavy cruiser is designed to combine heavy armor, heavy firepower, and the ability to carry half a wing of fighters. The previous Fralthi class light cruiser had no ability to carry fighters. The forty fighters normally carried by the Fralthra class heavy cruiser makes its virtually a light carrier in its own right. The normal breakdown is a squadron of twelve light fighters, the same number of medium and heavy fighters, and a total of four heavy bombers. Most common fighters when the ships were first introduced included the Sartha, Drakhri, Jalkehi, and Grikath fighters but in some cases, older fighters were embarked due to shortfalls in fighter production and high attrition.
With the extremely heavy armor, the Fralthra has the potential to be a dangerous opponent even for a Confederation class dreadnought. Often these heavy cruisers deploy in pairs and when carrier groups are not properly screened, pairs of these heavy cruisers can decimate Confederation carrier battle groups. There is a long and ugly history of the Fralthra class doing just this. This class has proved its worth many times against the Confederation navy. These ships were considered to be rendered obsolete with the introduction of the new Fralthi II class heavy cruiser but are still quite dangerous. Most of these old and venerable ships have been kept in commission but have been transferred to backwater Kilrathi sectors since the Battle of Earth. They are often used as pickets against Confederation escort carrier task forces. Often the fighters are replaced by newer and mor powerful fighters but the ships have been little refitted for this new role.
These heavy cruisers should be considered in most ways to be the equivalent of the Confederation Waterloo class heavy cruisers although they carry less powerful shields. Initially, the Confederation heavy cruisers did not carry the fighter compliment of the Kilrathi Fralthra class but were retrofitted to mach the Kilrathi ship. Weaponry is similar in the two classes with the main weaponry of the Kilrathi ship being four cruise missile launchers and three anti-matter cannon mounts. For point defense, the Fralthra class carries six heavy lasers and nine point defense rail gun mounts. These ships are designed to be able to operate independently or as flagships of task forces and outfitted with a small flag ship. These ships require a larger crew than their Confederation equivalent and have a total compliment of 460 compared to 350 for the Waterloo class.
Notes of game conversion:
Because of the nature of the Video Game / Novel series "Wing Commander" and the needs to put the starship into game mechanics, the starship has several modification compared to the Video Game and Novels. The most important change it to change top speed to acceleration. Like fighters in Star Wars and original Battlestar Galactica, the fighters appear to act as if they are in the atmosphere even when they operating in space. This is incorrect. The Television series Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Galactic are good series to watch to get a clearer idea on how space vehicles would probably maneuver although still not a perfect perspective. The starship has been modified to uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor starships. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: Fralthra Heavy Cruiser
Vehicle Type: Heavy Cruiser / Light Carrier
Crew: 460 (42 officers and 418 Enlisted)
Troops / Passengers: 72 fighter pilots. Has flag facilities
for up to 40 additional personnel
Vehicles:
Fighter Compliment:
| 12 | Light Starfighters (Sartha Light Fighters) | |
| 12 | Medium Starfighters (Drakhri Medium Fighters) | |
| 12 | Heavy Starfighters (Jalkehi Heavy Fighters) | |
| 4 | Heavy Bombers (Grikath Heavy Fighter / Bomber) |
| 6 | General Purpose Shuttles |
M.D.C. By Location:
| Anti-Matter Guns (3): | 2,000 each | |
| Heavy Laser Cannon Turrets (6): | 300 each | |
| Light Point Defense Mass Drivers (9): | 120 each | |
| Cruise Missile Launchers (4): | 500 each | |
| Hanger Bay (1): | 2,600 each | |
| [1] Bridge: | 4,500 | |
| [2] Engineering section: | 6,000 | |
| Main Engines (2): | 3,000 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 14,000 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 4,000 per side (24,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon
to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship does not have an auxiliary
bridge. Even if the bridges is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted
from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be
at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the
ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion
systems are destroyed and maximum sublight acceleration is reduced to ten
percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Cruiser out of
commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,200 MDC) per melee.
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship
to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 0.35 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The heavy cruiser carrier cannot operate
within an atmosphere. If the ship enters an atmosphere, it will crash.
Stardrive: The heavy cruiser mounts a jump drive which is capable
of jumping instantly from a fixed point in a system to another fixed point
in a system. These points are weaknesses in the fabric of space and have
been mapped in most cases. Fuel is hydrogen which the heavy cruiser scoops
from space to fuel the jump engine.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
The cruiser has about two years worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 2,007.87 feet (612 meters)
Height: 918.64 feet (280 meters) for hull and 984.25 feet (300
meters) including antenna
Width: 869.42 feet (265 meters)
Weight: 22,600 Tons (20,500 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally
only goes 5 years between refueling.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 2,500 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker
for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal
items. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor,
troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: The Fralthra class heavy cruiser costs around 9.2
billion credits to manufacture. Fighter compliment cost approximately 1.2
billion credits.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
[ Phase World TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned by Kevin
Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Wing Commander copyright © Origin Productions]
By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Rifts Conversion Copyright © 2005, Kitsune. All rights reserved.