Thanks. Here's a shot of the First Expeditionary Strike Group, connected via their Airlock-Umbilical Connect Hub...which is somewhat or a rare occurrence.
It's a big pic. If you have a slow connection, go get something to eat.
From left to right, the UNV-Independence (Defiance Class), UNV-Sakha (Kirov Class), UNV-Abilene (Elco Class), UNV-Illustrious (Ark Royal Class), UNV-Shiloh (Defiance Class), UNV-Komi (Kirov Class), UNV-Ticonderoga (Essex Class), UNV-Swiftsure (Ark Royal Class).
The I ESG, constitutes the entirety of the UN's combat capable space forces as of 2164 December. This does not include logistical support ships (freighters/fuel tankers), and stations in orbit of Earth....or units lost or captured by the Alliance during the conflict. Additionally, a number of older Ark Royal class vessels remain in service as independently owned/operated cargo transports.
The Kirov and Ark Royal are new concepts. While all ships in the UN share similar components, the Ark Royal is considerably older then the rest of the ships in the Strike Group. With the Ark Royal, I'm trying to go for something that is far more realistic then the rest of the designs and it's still very much an early WIP at this point...though that could probably be said of all the designs here.
as i said on Deviant Art..... a damn good Strike Group
Thanks, though it's not quite finished yet. Here's more information than you need, explaining why. lol
There might be one more combat ship class, though I'm not sure...yet.
The way things work in my timeline, each ship class, except for the Essex and Elco which were built entirely by the UN, remain owned and operated by one of the Space Conglomerates on Earth. The idea being that space travel is still highly expensive, so a number of regional nations have joined forces to share the benefits of space travel as well as spread out the cost. Each Conglomerate then acts as the operating authority of each space asset (a ship in this case) and citizens from any contributing Conglomerate are eligible to serve aboard that asset. So most ships are incredibly multinational.
Officers and crew are often traded for various considerations to other Conglomerates, allowing a nation with no interest or ability to fully join a Conglomerate to still participate, however there remains a significant disadvantage towards nations that don't have as much to contribute but have people willing to serve. Because of this in part, the significance of the Conglomerates is fading as the UN gains more control over the coalition forces established to combat the Alliance. As part of a general standardization of all military forces, the UN is working to create a centralized officer corps and crew selection process (basically a single academy where people would go to join the UN military), so that anyone not properly represented by a conglomerate can have the chance of working in space.
So here's a break down of the ships and Conglomerates. I won't go into detail about every country that belongs to a each conglomerate, because frankly I don't know yet, aside from regional divides.
The Defiance class belongs to the United American Conglomerate, with America and Canada as the principal operators, however a number of south American nations also contribute.
The Ark Royal Class belongs to the European Union and operates as an extension of the existing EU, however they also take contributions from several African and middle East Nations.
The Kirov belongs to the Russian Conglomerate. Like the EU, the Russian Conglomerate takes contributions from many other nations, including African, Middle Eastern, and European.
There is also an Eastern Alliance Conglomerate and this is where the other possible ship might be from, but I don't have a design for it yet. This Conglomerate consists of the Democratic Republic of China, (the older Republic of China faction remains unaligned to any Conglomerate, there was an eventual civil war with part of the country breaking away from the rest and rather then continuing a long drawn out conflict, the nation was divided), Japan, Korea (united & democratic), various other south east Asian countries.
On top of this, there are smaller civilian space agencies, privately owned space services, as well as the Corporations that have remained loyal to Earth. There will eventually probably be something similar to a coast guard type force as well though, they're likely down the road some and won't enter service until after the war....that is assuming the UN wins. Which they might not. I haven't decided yet.
It was important that the human presence in space not be perfect, like some sort of Starfleet. They're working towards something more like that, but there's no where near it yet. It's one of the main themes I'm trying to convey with this is that everything about the New Haven Universe is in a state of change, new ways of doing things are being implemented, old tech is replaced with newer advancements, and people/characters involved in the story are transferred or killed during the war.
Nice to see them all in one picture, though it appears the Independence and the Shiloh are missing parts on top... Intentional for image or mistake?
What are the roles of the different classes?
It's intentional, somewhat. The entire image is a work in progress, so there are parts missing from almost every ship.
The I ESG is somewhat lopsided towards missile cruisers and defense. Even though the UN knew a conflict with the Alliance was coming, they were still caught off guard when it happened. Several ships were lost early on in the conflict and the combat capable elements of their space force are pictured above. One ESG that rarely leaves orbit, is all that stands between Earth and the Alliance. And with the Alliance in control of Mars and Luna, they pretty much have no where to go.
The Essex Class is the Command & Control ship for the strike group. A flag officer (General) commands the ESG from the bridge and acts as the ships CO, while the ships XO (Colonel) oversees the combat capabilities of the ship itself from the Combat Direction Center. Basically, the CO fights the entire battle, while the XO fights other ships.
The Elco class operates as a forward observation vessel, directly in conjunction with the Essex. Originally, each Essex class ship would have been supported by two Elco class ships, however due to the nature of war, the Tico must make do with just the Abilene. The Elco is packed with sensors and offers little offensive capabilities.
The Defiance and Kirov Class ships are straight up guided missile cruisers. They were designed to carry the brunt of the ESG's effective offensive capabilities. While the Kirov is a pure missile cruiser, both Defiance class ships carry the twin prototypes for a type IX Magnetically Accelerated Cannon. Through the use of guided munitions, these large rail guns would effectively improve upon previous rail guns which fire dumb rounds and can be out maneuvered due to the extensive range of modern combat engagements. As non working prototypes, the MAC's have remained inoperable through much of the war however and don't look to offer any help any time soon. (More on this at the end)
The Ark Royal class has been pressed back into service to feel a number of roles, however only two front line ships are currently in service. The Swiftsure acts as a expeditionary landing ship, using its large number of launch bays and internal hangars to support UN ground forces, with rapid response UCAV's and deployable special forces units. AROS (advanced Reconnaissance Operations Service) Companies prefer to operate from ships in orbit. The 203rd AROS Battalion was stationed on the Swiftsure prior to their decimation during Operation Mountain Top and have sense been replaced by the 206th Battalion.
Although it's pictured above, the Swiftsure is not properly configured...Ark Royal ships are modular so they can accommodate many needs/customers. Both Arks are shown to be in the missile cruiser configuration, however only the Illustrious actually operates with that configuration.
Two other ship types were to have entered service as part of a standard ESG, providing troop transport and logistical support to operations off world, however nether ship began construction before the war began. New ship construction has been placed on indefinite hold as all current docks are relegated to maintaining current fleet readiness.
Combat in the New Haven Universe is slow and takes place at long range. With the UN in orbit of Earth and the Alliance in orbit of Luna, each side rarely comes within 250,000 kilometers of each other. Like anything else, this has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you have plenty of time to launch a defense against an incoming volley of missiles. But on the other hand, the enemy has plenty of time to counter any move you make, so there is almost no element of surprise.
Fighting at closer ranges proved devastating during the early days of the war. Ships were lost with almost all hands with only one or two well placed shots. Current armor on both sides proved relatively ineffective at stopping the x-ray lasers used by both sides and at short distances, ships could be engaged with short to mid range defensive missiles, rail guns, and lasers without ever having to fire long range missiles.
Ships commanders quickly learned to keep their distance, giving both sides ample time to prepare and counter their opponents move. Combat tactics were reduced to little more then swarm tactics, hoping that enough long range missiles could be delivered in a single volley to overwhelm a ships defensive capabilities, the likelihood of which decreased greatly the further two opponents were from each others.
The development of long range rail guns capable of firing guided munitions was scene as a logical next step, one that could ultimately decide the war. Both sides began development of this tech in earnest however neither side have been capable of developing working prototypes yet.
The MAC mounted on the Defiance class fires a round roughly 4 meters in diameter, about the same width of the Viper missile...the primary long range missile used by the UN. It's comprised of an outer shell containing the guidance package, fuel, and sensors, while the inner core is a solid tungsten penetrator. Once fired, which is easily observable by everyone within a million kilometers, the round becomes somewhat difficult to detect, depending on the amount of fuel expended in combat maneuvers.
So even if/when you see it coming, you won't be able to move out of the way of it, which is a common Alliance tactic. Shooting down missiles costs money after all, so better to just side step them whenever possible. The guided MAC round however is difficult to shoot down, even after it's guidance systems are discarded or destroyed, and it can follow you to some extent.
It'd be a great weapon, if it worked.
Basically, the idea is that you get the effect of a rail gun, without having to get so close to your opponent that he can easily shoot you down, while allowing you to maintain a safe distance. It's a long range weapon with the effectiveness of forcing your opponent to act as though you were much closer.
All that being said, I like the Ark Royal quite a bit. I'm half tempted to scrap the entire design style and to go for something more realistic like the Ark, which came about after looking at some pics of the Venture Star from Avatar. That ship and the Valkyrie shuttle were two of the highlights of the film for me and it started me thinking, how unique it would be to see ships like that engage in some form of space combat. To my knowledge, we've never seen it before, at least probably not outside of a novel. No doubt someone will prove me wrong. lol
I'm still on the fence though. I like the Essex Class and particularly the new Kirov because it takes elements of the Essex ans streamlines them without being completely derivative I think. The others I could take them or leave them without much consideration, so I don't know. I'm going to continue work on the Ark, see how it progresses, and hopefully as it develops I'll get a better idea of which direction to go in.
I'll certainly entertain ideas one way or another if you all have them.
You should keep the others too. While efficient at their goals, the other classes are essentially designed for one purpose alone. It would be hard (and highly expensive) to reconfigure them for other purposes. The Ark Royal Class is designed for reconfiguration, and is thus more versatile.
Having meddled with even an old version of the Essex, we know just how much work you put into it. Throwing it away on what is essentially a whim of the moment is a bad idea.
Thanks. I'm pleased with how it's turned out so far. It needs a bit more work in the way of detailing and coloring, but I think the design is pretty much set....which usually means I'll probably end up making drastic changes to it tomorrow. lol
And one last piece of info. For those interested, two new short stories set in the New Haven universe have been posted online here: http://jonmichaelmay.wordpress.com/
XRaiderV1.7226I have absolutely no ideaPosts: 1,074Member
I'm thinking about building a tripod to set it on and I've done some other larger turrets in the past, but I don't think any of them have turned out this well. I might take another shot at them though.
And what do you mean by stealthier exactly? It's a machine gun. No matter how you design it, as soon as it fires it's going to give away its position.
XRaiderV1.7226I have absolutely no ideaPosts: 1,074Member
I came up with a couple different designs, though based on the ship you posted I think the one based on the larger guns fits in better. It's just a matter of what type of gun you actually want to use.
The ball turret was a neat idea, but I don't think it fits with your ship. The turret to the right is the style I mentioned before, in this case using computer targeted twin m242 bushmasters, or some other similar caliber weapon.
The other alternative is to use something like a Vulcan cannon that just spits as much lead into the air as possible. I used the same style of turret here, but included the familiar R2D2 radar dome from the Phalanx CIWS.
Additionally, the doors for the gun would recess into the turret itself, (think garage doors) rather then hinge open.
Additionally I would also include a few SeaRam missile launchers to help round out the ships defensive capabilities.
XRaiderV1.7226I have absolutely no ideaPosts: 1,074Member
Maybe, but it's likely to be so small that you won't be able to make it out.
ETA: Yeah, that's what I thought. When I scaled it down, you can barely see it. In the pic I attached, I included two of the turrets. See if you can spot them.
I'm also uploading part one of The New Haven Chronicles Timeline: The Decline of Man; and there are a couple short stories posted on my blog, linked in my signature. I should have Part Two of the timeline next Friday.
This part of the timeline chronicles the further worsening of current economic, political, and environmental conditions around the world. It also highlights the development of several important technologies such as paper thin computer surfaces, highspeed railways across North America, and the the first stages of our steps towards fusion based technologies. This part of the timeline also Chronicles what becomes a global showdown in the middle-east region over the consumption of petroleum, resulting in the eventual exchange of nuclear weapons.
This is the Comet Transport. If you read part two of the time line tomorrow, you'll understand the importance of this vehicle. Needless to say, it helped transform the Pax and Velos into the powerful corporations they eventually became.
The influences for this one was the X-33 space plane and some similarly designed concepts, all of which feature the same basic layout and wide lifting body design.
Posts
It's a big pic. If you have a slow connection, go get something to eat.
From left to right, the UNV-Independence (Defiance Class), UNV-Sakha (Kirov Class), UNV-Abilene (Elco Class), UNV-Illustrious (Ark Royal Class), UNV-Shiloh (Defiance Class), UNV-Komi (Kirov Class), UNV-Ticonderoga (Essex Class), UNV-Swiftsure (Ark Royal Class).
The I ESG, constitutes the entirety of the UN's combat capable space forces as of 2164 December. This does not include logistical support ships (freighters/fuel tankers), and stations in orbit of Earth....or units lost or captured by the Alliance during the conflict. Additionally, a number of older Ark Royal class vessels remain in service as independently owned/operated cargo transports.
The Kirov and Ark Royal are new concepts. While all ships in the UN share similar components, the Ark Royal is considerably older then the rest of the ships in the Strike Group. With the Ark Royal, I'm trying to go for something that is far more realistic then the rest of the designs and it's still very much an early WIP at this point...though that could probably be said of all the designs here.
What are the roles of the different classes?
Thanks, though it's not quite finished yet. Here's more information than you need, explaining why. lol
There might be one more combat ship class, though I'm not sure...yet.
The way things work in my timeline, each ship class, except for the Essex and Elco which were built entirely by the UN, remain owned and operated by one of the Space Conglomerates on Earth. The idea being that space travel is still highly expensive, so a number of regional nations have joined forces to share the benefits of space travel as well as spread out the cost. Each Conglomerate then acts as the operating authority of each space asset (a ship in this case) and citizens from any contributing Conglomerate are eligible to serve aboard that asset. So most ships are incredibly multinational.
Officers and crew are often traded for various considerations to other Conglomerates, allowing a nation with no interest or ability to fully join a Conglomerate to still participate, however there remains a significant disadvantage towards nations that don't have as much to contribute but have people willing to serve. Because of this in part, the significance of the Conglomerates is fading as the UN gains more control over the coalition forces established to combat the Alliance. As part of a general standardization of all military forces, the UN is working to create a centralized officer corps and crew selection process (basically a single academy where people would go to join the UN military), so that anyone not properly represented by a conglomerate can have the chance of working in space.
So here's a break down of the ships and Conglomerates. I won't go into detail about every country that belongs to a each conglomerate, because frankly I don't know yet, aside from regional divides.
The Defiance class belongs to the United American Conglomerate, with America and Canada as the principal operators, however a number of south American nations also contribute.
The Ark Royal Class belongs to the European Union and operates as an extension of the existing EU, however they also take contributions from several African and middle East Nations.
The Kirov belongs to the Russian Conglomerate. Like the EU, the Russian Conglomerate takes contributions from many other nations, including African, Middle Eastern, and European.
There is also an Eastern Alliance Conglomerate and this is where the other possible ship might be from, but I don't have a design for it yet. This Conglomerate consists of the Democratic Republic of China, (the older Republic of China faction remains unaligned to any Conglomerate, there was an eventual civil war with part of the country breaking away from the rest and rather then continuing a long drawn out conflict, the nation was divided), Japan, Korea (united & democratic), various other south east Asian countries.
On top of this, there are smaller civilian space agencies, privately owned space services, as well as the Corporations that have remained loyal to Earth. There will eventually probably be something similar to a coast guard type force as well though, they're likely down the road some and won't enter service until after the war....that is assuming the UN wins. Which they might not. I haven't decided yet.
It was important that the human presence in space not be perfect, like some sort of Starfleet. They're working towards something more like that, but there's no where near it yet. It's one of the main themes I'm trying to convey with this is that everything about the New Haven Universe is in a state of change, new ways of doing things are being implemented, old tech is replaced with newer advancements, and people/characters involved in the story are transferred or killed during the war.
It's intentional, somewhat. The entire image is a work in progress, so there are parts missing from almost every ship.
The I ESG is somewhat lopsided towards missile cruisers and defense. Even though the UN knew a conflict with the Alliance was coming, they were still caught off guard when it happened. Several ships were lost early on in the conflict and the combat capable elements of their space force are pictured above. One ESG that rarely leaves orbit, is all that stands between Earth and the Alliance. And with the Alliance in control of Mars and Luna, they pretty much have no where to go.
The Essex Class is the Command & Control ship for the strike group. A flag officer (General) commands the ESG from the bridge and acts as the ships CO, while the ships XO (Colonel) oversees the combat capabilities of the ship itself from the Combat Direction Center. Basically, the CO fights the entire battle, while the XO fights other ships.
The Elco class operates as a forward observation vessel, directly in conjunction with the Essex. Originally, each Essex class ship would have been supported by two Elco class ships, however due to the nature of war, the Tico must make do with just the Abilene. The Elco is packed with sensors and offers little offensive capabilities.
The Defiance and Kirov Class ships are straight up guided missile cruisers. They were designed to carry the brunt of the ESG's effective offensive capabilities. While the Kirov is a pure missile cruiser, both Defiance class ships carry the twin prototypes for a type IX Magnetically Accelerated Cannon. Through the use of guided munitions, these large rail guns would effectively improve upon previous rail guns which fire dumb rounds and can be out maneuvered due to the extensive range of modern combat engagements. As non working prototypes, the MAC's have remained inoperable through much of the war however and don't look to offer any help any time soon. (More on this at the end)
The Ark Royal class has been pressed back into service to feel a number of roles, however only two front line ships are currently in service. The Swiftsure acts as a expeditionary landing ship, using its large number of launch bays and internal hangars to support UN ground forces, with rapid response UCAV's and deployable special forces units. AROS (advanced Reconnaissance Operations Service) Companies prefer to operate from ships in orbit. The 203rd AROS Battalion was stationed on the Swiftsure prior to their decimation during Operation Mountain Top and have sense been replaced by the 206th Battalion.
Although it's pictured above, the Swiftsure is not properly configured...Ark Royal ships are modular so they can accommodate many needs/customers. Both Arks are shown to be in the missile cruiser configuration, however only the Illustrious actually operates with that configuration.
Two other ship types were to have entered service as part of a standard ESG, providing troop transport and logistical support to operations off world, however nether ship began construction before the war began. New ship construction has been placed on indefinite hold as all current docks are relegated to maintaining current fleet readiness.
Combat in the New Haven Universe is slow and takes place at long range. With the UN in orbit of Earth and the Alliance in orbit of Luna, each side rarely comes within 250,000 kilometers of each other. Like anything else, this has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you have plenty of time to launch a defense against an incoming volley of missiles. But on the other hand, the enemy has plenty of time to counter any move you make, so there is almost no element of surprise.
Fighting at closer ranges proved devastating during the early days of the war. Ships were lost with almost all hands with only one or two well placed shots. Current armor on both sides proved relatively ineffective at stopping the x-ray lasers used by both sides and at short distances, ships could be engaged with short to mid range defensive missiles, rail guns, and lasers without ever having to fire long range missiles.
Ships commanders quickly learned to keep their distance, giving both sides ample time to prepare and counter their opponents move. Combat tactics were reduced to little more then swarm tactics, hoping that enough long range missiles could be delivered in a single volley to overwhelm a ships defensive capabilities, the likelihood of which decreased greatly the further two opponents were from each others.
The development of long range rail guns capable of firing guided munitions was scene as a logical next step, one that could ultimately decide the war. Both sides began development of this tech in earnest however neither side have been capable of developing working prototypes yet.
The MAC mounted on the Defiance class fires a round roughly 4 meters in diameter, about the same width of the Viper missile...the primary long range missile used by the UN. It's comprised of an outer shell containing the guidance package, fuel, and sensors, while the inner core is a solid tungsten penetrator. Once fired, which is easily observable by everyone within a million kilometers, the round becomes somewhat difficult to detect, depending on the amount of fuel expended in combat maneuvers.
So even if/when you see it coming, you won't be able to move out of the way of it, which is a common Alliance tactic. Shooting down missiles costs money after all, so better to just side step them whenever possible. The guided MAC round however is difficult to shoot down, even after it's guidance systems are discarded or destroyed, and it can follow you to some extent.
It'd be a great weapon, if it worked.
Basically, the idea is that you get the effect of a rail gun, without having to get so close to your opponent that he can easily shoot you down, while allowing you to maintain a safe distance. It's a long range weapon with the effectiveness of forcing your opponent to act as though you were much closer.
I'm still on the fence though. I like the Essex Class and particularly the new Kirov because it takes elements of the Essex ans streamlines them without being completely derivative I think. The others I could take them or leave them without much consideration, so I don't know. I'm going to continue work on the Ark, see how it progresses, and hopefully as it develops I'll get a better idea of which direction to go in.
I'll certainly entertain ideas one way or another if you all have them.
Having meddled with even an old version of the Essex, we know just how much work you put into it. Throwing it away on what is essentially a whim of the moment is a bad idea.
Also, this turret.
And one last piece of info. For those interested, two new short stories set in the New Haven universe have been posted online here: http://jonmichaelmay.wordpress.com/
can you do one a little bigger, and stealthier?
And what do you mean by stealthier exactly? It's a machine gun. No matter how you design it, as soon as it fires it's going to give away its position.
was hoping you'd let me use something on her.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/8801/usniowaiiclasswip2.png
The ball turret was a neat idea, but I don't think it fits with your ship. The turret to the right is the style I mentioned before, in this case using computer targeted twin m242 bushmasters, or some other similar caliber weapon.
The other alternative is to use something like a Vulcan cannon that just spits as much lead into the air as possible. I used the same style of turret here, but included the familiar R2D2 radar dome from the Phalanx CIWS.
Additionally, the doors for the gun would recess into the turret itself, (think garage doors) rather then hinge open.
Additionally I would also include a few SeaRam missile launchers to help round out the ships defensive capabilities.
can you scale the drawing to the ship by chance?
ETA: Yeah, that's what I thought. When I scaled it down, you can barely see it. In the pic I attached, I included two of the turrets. See if you can spot them.
I'm also uploading part one of The New Haven Chronicles Timeline: The Decline of Man; and there are a couple short stories posted on my blog, linked in my signature. I should have Part Two of the timeline next Friday.
This part of the timeline chronicles the further worsening of current economic, political, and environmental conditions around the world. It also highlights the development of several important technologies such as paper thin computer surfaces, highspeed railways across North America, and the the first stages of our steps towards fusion based technologies. This part of the timeline also Chronicles what becomes a global showdown in the middle-east region over the consumption of petroleum, resulting in the eventual exchange of nuclear weapons.
You can also read it here: http://jonmichaelmay.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/the-new-haven-chronicles-timeline-part-one.pdf
or here:
http://jonmichaelmay.wordpress.com/temp/part-one-the-decline-of-man/
Again, this is the first public draft and as always, feel free to comment and ask questions.
This is the Comet Transport. If you read part two of the time line tomorrow, you'll understand the importance of this vehicle. Needless to say, it helped transform the Pax and Velos into the powerful corporations they eventually became.
The influences for this one was the X-33 space plane and some similarly designed concepts, all of which feature the same basic layout and wide lifting body design.