Griffen SDB

BARD PAPER: SARA0004

Griffen System Defense Boat

Designer's Notes

I never thought that the SDB as presented in the TNE rulebook was any good, so I decided to make up my own version. I used SSDS, with FFS additions. It used Heplar to allow TNE fans to use it, and it also keeps the cost down. Thruster plates would have added another 100 MCr to the price. The Griffen uses the 15 ton rule of thumb in FFS. If a ship weighs less than 15 tons per displacment ton, it can use the 10tons of thrust per displacment ton rule. I had to sacrifice some armor and weaponry to keep this legal. The write up will assume a Reformation Coaltion campaign, but if change the names to Sylea or something else, you can use the ship in a Milieu 0 campaign.

The price from SSDS is 376.184 MCr, while the FFS price is 417.9822. (SSDS gets a 10% price discount.)

The Griffen has significant more firepower than the TNE SDB. It is also over three times the price. The main cost comes from the improved sensors. If you assume that SDBs will only be found inside of Gas Giants or planetary oceans, linked into a huge sensor net, the poor sensors of the TNE SDB can be justified. I thought the Griffen should be capable of performing a wider range of missions. The other increased cost is the extra MFDs to control the large number of missiles. There are some tradeoffs in the design. The Griffen has less armor than the TNE SDB, it also has less fuel available for the Heplar.

Write up
The Griffen SDB was developed by Standard Astronics as a replacment for the Dragon class of SDBs. It was thought that the Dragons were unable to fully protect the system against maruders. The Griffen is upgunned, it has additional, more powerful laser turrets and an additional missile barbette. It also has an improved sensor suite. The Dragon was designed for coordinated operation with a planetary sensor net. The Griffen was built for this, but also for independent operation. It also has room for 10 marines, without forcing the rest of the crew to hot bunk.

The Griffen was built as a interceptor. If hostile forces appeared in system, but didn't assualt the gas giant, then most of the stationary defenses would be useless. The Griffen is capable of taking up station in deep space and waiting for an enemy to appear. It often does this near system jump in spots. Merchants are told to jump into a certain volume of space. The SDBs can patrol this volume easier than if merchants come in where ever they want. Of course Pirates know where the Merchants will jump into also, but that is what the SDBs are for.

The inside of the ship is bright and clean. There is a fair bit of room for the crew to operate. There are extra staterooms, either for ship's troops or to give the crew more room. The Aubani navy places a premium on the morale of its sailors. To help with this, the ship has an excellent mess. The ship is too small to carry a full time steward, but the gunners are used as cooking staff. The other enlisted crew on the ship are required to peform kp duty several times a week. This is the only way a small ship, can still have freshly cooked meals. The other option would be to have several tons of frozen diners in the cargo bay. Faced with this option the crew cheerfully pitches in.

There are also several state of the art entertainment centers for the crew to relax with. There is an extensive library of holovids for the crew to watch. The crew is also offered incentives to take self paced computer taught courses. These courses can be any subject which intrests the sailor. Many sailors use these courses to get a start on a college degree, for a life after the service. To remind the sailors of home, there is a large (9m³) terrarium in the main crew lounge. This makes the ship a little less sterile, and also helps out the life support systems by producing some fresh oxygen.

Griffen System Defense Boat

General Data

Displacement: 400 tons	Hull Armor: 80
Length: 55.0 meters	Volume: 5600 m³
Price: 442.27 MCr	Target Size: S
Configuration:SL Wedge	Tech Level: 12
Mass (Loaded/Unloaded): 6000/5339

Engineering Data

Power Plant: 1100MW Fusion Power Plant. 1 year of fuel, 165 m³

Jump Performance: Nil

Jump Fuel: Nil

G-Rating: 4G HEPlaR 1-G Contra Grav

G-Turns: 90.6. 2266.5m of fuel. (162 tons) 25m³ per G-Turn.

Maint: 197

Electronics

Computer: 2x TL 12 Fib Computers

Commo: 2x300,000 km EMS,2x1000AU Maser, 300,00km laser com

Avionics: TL 10+

Sensors: 2x300,000km EMS, 120,000km PEMS

ECM/ECCM: 300,000km EMS Jammer

Controls: Bridge with 16 WS, and 12 other. Low Automation

Armament

Offensive:
50 Ton Missile Bay, 5 Launchers each with 10 missiles.
2 Laser Barbettes
10:1/13 40-33-17-8 ROF=100 (Diff -2)

Defensive: None

Master Fire Directors: 5 Missle MFDS, 2 Beam MFDS.

Accommodations

Life Support: Extended

Grav Compensation: 3 G

Crew: 30: 9 Engineers, 10 Gunners, 2 Maintenance, 3 Electronics, 2 Manuever and 4 Command staff. There are enough staterooms for Ship's Troops to be carried.

Crew Accommodations: 20 Small Staterooms. The normal arrangment is the 10 senior staff get singles, the rest of the crew doubles up. Troops or passengers can be carried, which will force more crew members to double up.

Passenger Accomadation: See Crew Accomodatioins.

Other Facilities: 9 m^3 terrarium in crew lounge. Fuel Purifier capable of 280 m³ per hour. Fuel Scoops cover 25% of the ship allowing it to fill its tanks in 27 minutes.

Cargo: 401 m³, 2 Large Hatches. 40 Missiles are usually stored in the cargo bay, taking up 280 m³ of cargo space.

Small Craft and Launch Facilities: None.

Air Locks: 4