Jane's Fighting Starships - Independence War Edition

Excerpt from Jane's Fighting Starships - Independence War Edition

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Mirage-Class Combat Escort Vessel
(Modular Multi-mission Vessel Mark 1)

The most numerous variant of the Modular Multi-mission Vessel concept, the Mirage-Class of Combat Escort Vessels were initially designed as inexpensive ships that could be constructed fairly rapidly but can take on purpose-built warships in fleet actions.

The Mirage-class CEVs represented several firsts in astroengineering. It was the first ship to be mass-produced according to the Modular Multi-mission Vessel concept, which describes the use of an all-purpose chassis wherein various different kinds of mission modules can be bolted on easily. This would allow MMVs to serve as potentially any kind of function from freighters, to survey ships, to armed military vessels.

It was also the first human ship class to use the rediscovered Sumak-Wel Space-Time Breach Drive FTL technology, which was originally thought lost to history when almost all Sumak-Wel military scientists committed ritual suicide after their defeat in the Human-Sumak-Wel War (2616-2620). The Breach Drive was chosen due to simple expediency, since the Unified Terran Government still controlled the majority of Quandymium production used in Warp Drives at the time.

In addition, the Breach drive was far more mobile than available Warp Drive technology at the time, managing 5 Light years per day compared to the 0.7 Light years per day of the best Warp Drives at the time.

The System Defense Vessels fielded by the Second Cluster colonies soon proved inadequate to combat the warships of the Terran Navy upon the onset of the Independance War.

Taking advantage of the surge of volunteers for the Combined Colonial Fleets and their superior manufacturing industry, the newly-organized Colonial Ministry of Defense approved of the plan to use militarized Modular Multi-mission Vessel designs to serve as escort vessels and light cruisers.

The basic chassis of the MMV was modified for military use, with the shield cap strengthened and enlarged and a mass accelerator integrated into the MMV's spine.

The modular nature of all it's other components sharply reduced it's survivability in comparison to Dominion destroyers when taking concentrated fire, but it's modularity allowed it to be incredibly flexible.

A single Mirage CEV can be outfitted as a destroyer during one battle and then be converted into a patrol frigate after less than a week of dock time, and then be turned into a missile carrier the week after that, should the need arise. The CEV's designation depended on its attached modules and tasked mission.

Destroyers were used to escort capital ships and other vessels in a fleet, trading endurance for firepower and defense.
Frigates were used as patrol ships and can conduct extended patrols without returning to resupply.
Missile Boats were purely offensive vessels designed to swamp enemy point defenses with massive barrages of missiles and torpedoes.
And so on.

After the conclusion of the Independence War, the Mirage-class CEVs received numerous upgrades throughout their lifetime, such as improved fusion reactors and more powerful mass driver capacitors. Cooperation with the Sumak-Wel Commonwealth in the matters of science has also seen some of the Mirages retrofitted with brand new technology, such as artificial pseudo-gravity plates, quantum power taps, and singularity drives that allowed for acceleration speeds preciously thought impossible.

The Mirage-class CEVs were eventually phased out in favor of newer, purpose-built warships such as the Sirocco, Habagat, and Umikaze classes, before being replaced entirely by the Mistral-class in 2783.

The Mirage-class is still kept in service among different civilian and corporate operators, mothballed in reserve fleets, and within the Confederate SpaceGuard and the Confederate Merchant Astro.

In Service:
	2707 - 2708 (Various Colony Defense Fleets)
	2708 - 2783 (Confederate Space Fleet)
	2708 - 2742 (Sumak-Wel Defense Forces)
	2761 - Present (Various civilian operators)

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(Destroyer Configuration)

Mass (Metric tons):
	17,500 tons empty
	>50,000 tons full combat load

Dimensions (In meters):
	Length 186 meters (Prow shield cap to rear thruster)
	Width 44 meters (Portside turret to starboard turret)
	Height 44 meters (Ventral turret to dorsal turret)

Acceleration (in meters/second squared):
	(Limited by human tolerance of prolonged exposure to excessive g-forces)
	9.80665 m/s^2 standard cruising
	39.2266 m/s^2 in 60 minute bursts

FTL Drive:
	Sumak-Wel manufactured Space-Time Breach Drive capable of 5 Light Years per day.

Range:
	At full crew complement; 15 mission days and 37.5 light years (Factoring chill cycles) on nonreplenishable supplies

Complement:
	140 (20 officers; 120 crew)

Living Quarters:
	500 cubic meter Rotating Habitat Ring with 0.3g gravity at outermost hub.

Machinery:
	3 Fusion Reactors;
	1 Primary Fusion Torch Thruster,
	2 Secondary retrograde Fusion Torch Thrusters,
	Reactor-fed Plasma Reaction Control Thruster System aft;
	Plasma Reaction Control Thruster System in bow shield cap

Guns:
	110 meter Spinal Mass Accelerator 1x
		- Capable of accelerating 10-50 ton projectiles to 0.0005c (149.89km/s) at full capacitor charge, though ships are also capable of firing at a much slower 0.0001c (30km/s) to increase rate of fire.
		- RoF:
			2 rd/min @ 0.0005c (149.89km/s)
			10 rds/min @ 0.0001c (30km/s)
		- Maximum effective range dependent on capability of targeting computer and target maneuverability

	8 meter Turret-mounted Railgun x4
		- Capable of accelerating 1000 kilogram projectiles to 9.81km/s.
		- RoF: 10 rds/min @ 9.81km/s
		- Maximum effective range dependent on capability of targeting computer and target maneuverability

	76mm High Velocity Point Defense Cannons x8
		- Anti-Missile Sandcaster Rounds
		- RoF: 60 rds/min
		- Effective Range: 300 km

Missiles:
	256x Type 62-PD Point Defense Missile (2x 32 cell missile pods / 4 missiles per cell)
		Range: 1000 km
		Warhead: "Sandcaster" Anti-Missile Shield Ordinance

	96x Type 34 "Scrapper" Short Combat-Range All-Purpose Missile Mk.3(3x 32 cell missile pods)
		Range: 5000 km
		Warhead: 1 kiloton High Explosive Dual Purpose

	32x Type 75 "Sunburst" Thermonuclear Missile (1x 32 cell missile pods)
		Range: 15000 km
		Warhead: 300 Kiloton Fusion

	8x Type 84-T "Deliverance" Heavy Anti-ship Torpedo (1x 8-cell torpedo pod)
		Range: 75000 km
		Warhead: 30 Megaton Fusion
		Countermeasures:
			Internal Heatsinks
			Non-reflective, EM-absorbent Coating
			Type 06 "Sparkle" ECM Suite
			12x Mimic Decoys

Physical countermeasures:
	32x Chaff Cloud dispersal Systems

Electronic countermeasures:
	- Type 01 "Ghost" ECM Suite

Sensors
	- Flank-mounted Full Spectrum Passive Electronic Scanning Array
	- Hardened Forward Full Spectrum Scanning Array
	- Active LIght Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) on retractible sensor masts
	- Hf-W Frequency Range Active Radar on retractible sensor masts

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(Frigate Configuration)

Mass (Metric tons):
	17,000 tons empty
	>40,000 tons full combat load

Dimensions (In meters):
	Length 186 meters (Prow shield cap to rear thruster)
	Width 38 meters (Shield cap diameter)
	Height 44 meters (Ventral turret to dorsal turret)

Range:
	At full crew complement; 60 mission days and 150 light years (Factoring chill cycles) on nonreplenishable supplies

Complement:
	100 (20 officers; 80 crew)

Guns:
	110 meter Spinal Mass Accelerator 1x
		- Capable of accelerating 10-50 ton projectiles to 0.0005c (149.89km/s) at full capacitor charge, though ships are also capable of firing at a much slower 0.0001c (30km/s) to increase rate of fire.
		- RoF:
			2 rd/min @ 0.0005c (149.89km/s)
			10 rds/min @ 0.0001c (30km/s)
		- Maximum effective range dependent on capability of targeting computer and target maneuverability

	8 meter Turret-mounted Railgun x2
		- Capable of accelerating 1000 kilogram projectiles to 9.81km/s.
		- RoF: 10 rds/min @ 9.81km/s
		- Maximum effective range dependent on capability of targeting computer and target maneuverability

	76mm High Velocity Point Defense Cannons x4
		- Anti-Missile Sandcaster Rounds
		- RoF: 60 rds/min
		- Effective Range: 300 km

Missiles:
	128x Type 62-PD Point Defense Missile (1x 32 cell missile pods / 4 missiles per cell)
		Range: 1000 km
		Warhead: "Sandcaster" Anti-Missile Shield Ordinance

	64x Type 34 "Scrapper" Short Combat-Range All-Purpose Missile Mk.3(2x 32 cell missile pods)
		Range: 5000 km
		Warhead: 1 kiloton High Explosive Dual Purpose

	32x Type 75 "Sunburst" Thermonuclear Missile (1x 32 cell missile pods)
		Range: 15000 km
		Warhead: 300 Kiloton Fusion

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(Missile Carrier Configuration)

Mass (Metric tons):
	18,500 tons empty
	>60,000 tons full combat load

Dimensions (In meters):
	Length 186 meters (Prow shield cap to rear thruster)
	Width 38 meters (Shield cap diameter)
	Height 38 meters (Shield cap diameter)

Range:
	At full crew complement; 15 mission days and 37.5 light years (Factoring chill cycles) on nonreplenishable supplies

Complement:
	120 (20 officers; 100 crew)

Guns:
	110 meter Spinal Mass Accelerator 1x
		- Capable of accelerating 10-50 ton projectiles to 0.0005c (149.89km/s) at full capacitor charge, though ships are also capable of firing at a much slower 0.0001c (30km/s) to increase rate of fire.
		- RoF:
			2 rd/min @ 0.0005c (149.89km/s)
			10 rds/min @ 0.0001c (30km/s)
		- Maximum effective range dependent on capability of targeting computer and target maneuverability

	76mm High Velocity Point Defense Cannons x4
		- Anti-Missile Sandcaster Rounds
		- RoF: 60 rds/min
		- Effective Range: 300 km

Missiles:
	256x Type 62-PD Point Defense Missile (2x 32 cell missile pods / 4 missiles per cell)
		Range: 1000 km
		Warhead: "Sandcaster" Anti-Missile Shield Ordinance

	256x Type 34 "Scrapper" Short Combat-Range All-Purpose Missile Mk.3 (8x 32 cell missile pods)
		Range: 5000 km
		Warhead: 1 kiloton High Explosive Dual Purpose

	128x Type 75 "Sunburst" Thermonuclear Missile (4x 32 cell missile pods)
		Range: 15000 km
		Warhead: 300 Kiloton Fusion

	64x Type 84-T "Deliverance" Heavy Anti-ship Torpedo (8x 8-cell torpedo pod)
		Range: 75000 km
		Warhead: 30 Megaton Fusion
		Countermeasures:
			Internal Heatsinks
			Non-reflective, EM-absorbent Coating
			Type 06 "Sparkle" ECM Suite
			12x Mimic Decoys

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Structure:
	- The shield cap is a mushroom shaped slab of armor enclosing bulkheads carrying hundreds of thousands of liters of water for use as radiation shielding during travel at relativistic speeds as well as reaction mass for the forward plasma maneuvering thrusters.
	- Extruding from the shield cap is the ship's spine which extends the rest of the way down its 186 meters of length.
	- Behind the shield cap is the armored collar which houses the ship's Command Information Center as well as Life-Support control and the Primary Engineering station which controls most of the ship's functions.
	- Towards the center is where the ship's habitat rings are emplaced as well as the mission and cargo modules.
	- Rising above that and peeking just outside the shield cap's rim are the four armored turret barbettes that house the railgun turrets.
	- Behind the turret barbettes are the spinal mass driver capacitor banks.
	- At the aft-most portion of the ship is the bulging engine compartment that houses that fusion reactors and the fusion torch thrusters.

Operational:
	- None are currently commissioned within the Confederacy Space Fleet, having been completely phased out in favor of the Mistral-Class of destroyers in 2783.
	- The Confederate Space Guard currently employs this class of ship as their primary patrol vessel.
	- A vast number of these ships are mothballed in various reserve yards throughout the Confederacy.
	- Several hundred have been decommissioned and sold to corporate and civilian operators, usually in the role of converted freighters owing to the modular nature of this vessel's basic chassis.

See Also:
Sedna-Class Light Cruisers
 - Capital fleet combatants built from a larger MMV chassis
Sirocco-Class Destroyer
 - Purpose-built warship and first successor class to the Mirage
Ermey-Class Destroyer
 - Contemporary destroyer in service with the Terran Navy at the start of the Independence War.

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