The 'Enforcer' Star Frigate

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Spartan
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The 'Enforcer' Star Frigate

Post by Spartan »

Everyone seems to focus of the Empires dreaded Star Destroyers and other larger warships. I'd like to open a dialogue on the smaller more numerous vessel of the Imperial Starfleet, as they are what the Rebels and NR would most likely engaged on a regular basis.

Lets start with the Enforcer class Star Frigate:

Quoting SW Technical Commentaries
Manufactured only within the region of influence of the Pentastar Alignment, under post-Endor warlord Grand Moff Ardus Kaine. These vessels were developed from by researchers of KDY and SFS who were left on Kaine's side of the border between the Alignment and the New Republic. It is based on the shell of the SFS Immobiliser-418 interdictor, but the gravity well generators have been removed, while propulsion systems and armaments have been much upgraded.

These cheap vessels were often employed for border patrol, traveling in groups of two, four or sometimes six. The choice of this small patrol ship as a principal component of Kaine's fleet reflects the stringent concerns of efficiency and manufacturing cost with the dwindling of the resource bases of all the rogue-Imperial warlords.

Power output:

At 600 meters long, these vessels are far larger than imperial light ships built before the fall. In fact they are the same length as dreadnaughts, and only slightly smaller than the Acclamator class by 152 meters. Now given the fact that an Interdictor must have an already high power output to accommodate it gravity well projectors.

Here my reasoning:

Since the reactor is internal we can only speculate on its volume. On the Interdictor the only place the reactor could be is between the four gravity generators, that area of the hull has a depth of only 55.5 meters. Assuming the reactor is a sphere with a diameter of 45 meters, its volume is 1,675.5 m^3. Using Dr. Saxton's ISD reactor power output of 1E25W and Darth Wongs ISD reactor diameter of 140 meters (20,525 m^ volume). Which gives an ISD a power/density of 5E20 W/m^3. Assuming the Enforcer has a similar power density (1,675 m^3)(5E20 W/m^3); we get a power output of 8.4E23W as our upper limit. I speculate that the power output should be comparable to a the Acclamator; if not more so due to its more modern design, and lack of empty spaces. So the lower limit of reactor output would be 2E23W.

Shield output:

Again this should be at least as strong as the Accumulators. Especially considering the advances made between the ISD1 and ISD2. IE more efficient design, larger more powerful power cells etc. So, 7E22W (16.6 TT) minimum, possibly as high as 2E23W (47.6 TT) by dividing the reactor output by four.

Sublight Acceleration:

The removal of the gravity well generators and there associated systems from the design, probably reduced the vessel's mass considerably. Which should improve sublight speed, even if more powerful engines were not mounted.

Hyperspace Speed:

This is a true unknown; Heir to the Empire attributes very slow hyperspace velocities to the common interdictor class. While the game Tie fighter credits with a class 2 hyperdrive. However, their is nothing barring more powerful hyperspace motivators from being mounted. The Pentastar Alignment needed to patrol a large volume of space with relatively few vessels, faster vessels would be most useful. Also the vessels would need to chase fast vessels. The ships should also have been built with the realization that they might have to face off against another Warlord's ISD's. So they would be designed to outrun anything they can kill. so, again I'll go with the Acclamators class 0.6 hyperdrive or at the very least a class 1.0.

Weapons:

Official materials credit the Interdictor class with 20 laser cannons, most likely to its support (ie non-combat) role. Just enough to endanger any fighters that penetrate the fleet cap patrols. The Enforcer variant must be much heavier armed given its combat role. Given it size, and without speculating on the actual number of guns. I would credit it with being far more heavily armed than the Acclamators, dreadnaught's, or strike cruisers. The heaviest guns mounted would be medium turbolasers, and at least twice the number of weapons mounted on the Acclamator class transport.

Troops:

The original interdictor is credited with carrying a crew of 2,807, between 24 gunners and 80-1,000 combat troops (depending on the source). It is unlikely that the Enforcer carries so many troops, I would credit them with at most a company sized element (perhaps 200-300 soldiers).

Fighters:

Again, the original interdictor is credited with carrying 2 fighter squadrons. Now given the increased internal volume, after the removal of the gravity well generator and there systems. It should be fairly easy to accommodate 2 or more squadrons with ease. The only problem would be if there were shortages in the number of tie fighters or pilots. The primary hangar bay is 55.5 meters long, while the secondary bay is a tiny 22 meters long by scaling. I'd say 1-2 squadrons are most likely.


Okay, please give me your thoughts, criticisms, wild speculation, etc. :D
"The enemy outnumbers us a paltry three to one. Good odds for any Greek...."

"Spartans. Ready your breakfast and eat hearty--For tonight we dine in hell!" ~ King Leonidas of Sparta.
Jim Raynor
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Post by Jim Raynor »

Can anyone tell me what book Enforcers are in, and provide quotes describing them, as well as the Pentastar Alignment which employs them?? Also, are they only produced in that region? I'm asking this because the EGTVV states that the Interdictor is built on a standard heavy cruiser hull, without telling what exactly that heavy cruiser is. The Enforcer would probably be that ship. Being a standard design implies that they're fairly common, which contradicts the statement that they're only in the Pentastar Alignment. Being modern ships, Enforcers would also fill out the < 1 km "heavy cruiser" gap in the real Navy, a role that is attributed to the Dreadnaught by many EU sources, despite the fact that they also state that Dreadnaughts are extremely obsolete and reduced to patrol missions in the Outer Rim.
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Post by Patrick Ogaard »

Right off hand, my one contribution to this discussion would be the following conjecture:

The Star Wars galaxy seems to have two general categories of capital ships. That would be the reason why a Star Destroyer is so much bigger than various cruisers.

Fighters and small vessels are obviously dwarfed by ships like the Carrack and Dreadnaught cruisers. For most applications, those sorts of regular capital ships should be quite sufficient. But as soon as engineering capabilities advanced to the point where supercapital ships substantially bigger than the old vessels became practical for those able to afford them, a new classification scheme for those supercapital ships became necessary.

The answer was, of course, to simply place the word "star" before the standard capital ship designation of frigate, destroyer, cruiser (light, heavy, strike, battle), or battle ship and then assign the new names to the supercapital ships based on their sizes and tactical roles relative to each other. That way, the smaller designs can continue to serve alongside their enormous cousins without undue confusion.

I think it's an almost plausible idea.
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Spartan
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Post by Spartan »

Jim Raynor wrote:
Can anyone tell me what book Enforcers are in, and provide quotes describing them, as well as the Pentastar Alignment which employs them?? Also, are they only produced in that region? I'm asking this because the EGTVV states that the Interdictor is built on a standard heavy cruiser hull, without telling what exactly that heavy cruiser is. The Enforcer would probably be that ship. Being a standard design implies that they're fairly common, which contradicts the statement that they're only in the Pentastar Alignment. Being modern ships, Enforcers would also fill out the < 1 km "heavy cruiser" gap in the real Navy, a role that is attributed to the Dreadnaught by many EU sources, despite the fact that they also state that Dreadnaughts are extremely obsolete and reduced to patrol missions in the Outer Rim.
Good observation! the only reference to the enforcers and the Pentastar Alignment come from one of the TIE fighter games. But the information is now official because the Pentastar Alignment and the its game storyline are referenced in the Essential Chronology.
"The enemy outnumbers us a paltry three to one. Good odds for any Greek...."

"Spartans. Ready your breakfast and eat hearty--For tonight we dine in hell!" ~ King Leonidas of Sparta.
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Spartan
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Post by Spartan »

Patrick Ogaard wrote:
Fighters and small vessels are obviously dwarfed by ships like the Carrack and Dreadnaught cruisers. For most applications, those sorts of regular capital ships should be quite sufficient. But as soon as engineering capabilities advanced to the point where supercapital ships substantially bigger than the old vessels became practical for those able to afford them, a new classification scheme for those supercapital ships became necessary.

The answer was, of course, to simply place the word "star" before the standard capital ship designation of frigate, destroyer, cruiser (light, heavy, strike, battle), or battle ship and then assign the new names to the supercapital ships based on their sizes and tactical roles relative to each other. That way, the smaller designs can continue to serve alongside their enormous cousins without undue confusion.
Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me. Saxtons explanation is also quite plausible.

Say doesn't anyone else have a favorite small starship to discuss?
"The enemy outnumbers us a paltry three to one. Good odds for any Greek...."

"Spartans. Ready your breakfast and eat hearty--For tonight we dine in hell!" ~ King Leonidas of Sparta.
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Smalleyjedi
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Post by Smalleyjedi »

I REALLY like some fan designed small ships. They may not always be practical or made by someone with mike's knowledge, but many seem pretty good. Corona frigate I think is unofficial, Ive never seen it mentioned officially. It is designed by the Neb-b, and is 275 meters long. It has 10 turbolasers, 10 lasers, and four cap ship uion cannons. It has similar shields and hull, and reduces crew by nearly a hundred. A drawback is it is slower. An unrealistic point is three starfighter squads, id maybe give it 6 to 8 fightersand call it a well rounded escort for a bigger ship, carrier, or convoy.
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Post by Smalleyjedi »

forgot the pic
Image
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