Skiere-Class Light Carrier
| Name: | Skiere-Class |
|---|---|
| Type: | Medium Starfighter Platform |
| Builders: | Orvieto Naval Shipyards, Safe Haven Naval Yard, Other URN Shipyards |
| Operators: | Umbrian Republic Navy |
| Completed: | 137 |
| Lost: | 58 |
| Length: | 623 m |
| Width: | 300 m |
| Height: | 108 m |
| Power Supply: | 4 x SSE 7a Fusion Powerplants |
| Sub - Light Propulsion | 2 x OHI 64-Dt7 Ion Engines (Primary), 2 x OHI 38-Dt3 Ion Engines (Secondary), 2 x Fulmin Propulsion 4Rho Ion Engine Nacelles (Secondary), 4 x OHI 25-Da9 Ion Engines (Tertiary) |
| Supra-Light Propulsion: | 1 x SSE 26-b supra-luminal drive core |
| Endurance: | Fuel for 30 lightspeed jumps; 6 months of provisions for the crew |
| Crew: | 576 officers, 5,842 enlisted |
| Sensors: | 4 x Cianave Systems GXr Active Sensor Arrays, 2 x Cianave Systems 64r Passive Sensor Arrays |
| Armament: | 10 x 2 150 mm rail guns in four double turrets, 16 x 76mm dual-purpose rail guns in single turrets, 8 x 30 mm rotary point defense cannons in single barreled weapons stations, 108 x vertical launch cells with a configurable loadout of up to 600 missiles depending on mission requirements |
| Armor | 250 mm electric reactive armor |
| Spacecraft Facilities: | Capacity to support 3 squadrons of fighters and 6 shuttles (40 craft total) |
Initially developed in the 31130's, the Skiere-Class was amongst the oldest active warships still in service at the outbreak of the Ascomanni War. Its design and construction coincided with a sudden and unexpected threat to the Navy's primacy: the rise of the Frontier Reaction Force. While the two organizations' missions were different, the ambitious leadership of the RF was seen as a threat to the Navy's long term relevance, and this would lead to a rethink of the URN's requirements for new warships.
The Navy’s focus shifted to extended patrols and highly mobile battles. This 'New Model Fleet' would concentrate on medium sized warships serving as the primary combatants, each with their own role to play. Heavy warships like battleships and battlecruisers would only be deployed as required, while starfighters were seen primarily as fleet defense resources with limited offensive value.
The Skiere-class was envisioned as one of the central pillars of the modern Republic Navy. It would have a strong influence on future warship design, and many more modern warships were constructed with the Skieres in mind. When combined with heavy cruisers and destroyers, and augmented by a few heavier capital ships as needed, it was believed that the Umbrian formations would have the staying power required to face any potential adversary.
Exclusively built by URN shipyards, the Skiere were capable of hosting three squadrons of fighters, which would serve as a mobile defensive screen as the destroyers and heavy cruisers moved in to engage the enemy fleet. The carrier itself would stay at the rear of the formation, where its defensive armament was capable of fending off any smaller warships or fighter craft which succeeded in penetrating through the main line of battle.
The Skiere's relevance, and the URN's doctrine in general, would be irreparably shattered in a series of wargames conducted between 31139 and 31140.
Archus Alessia Bantia was given the role of playing an opposing force during regularly scheduled fleet exercises. Long a critic of the standard battle formation, Bantia was able to obtain two battleships to augment her force prior to the mock engagement. Through careful planning, she succeeded in slipping these vessels deep into the opposing formation, where they quickly annihilated the entire attacking force.
At the next year's exercises, she further demonstrated the offensive power of starfighters by massing her carriers and striking the poorly screened opposing formations before they could even enter weapons range, crippling the fleet’s ability to resist as her capital ships moved in to finish the engagement.
This development shocked the URN's leadership and the War Council more broadly: in the span of two years, the New Model Fleet concept had been proven to be a complete failure.This lead to a significant rethink of the types of warships the URN needed and their purpose, as well as tactics and strategies that would prove more responsive to future alien threats.
By the time the Ascomanni War began, the Skieres had been relegated to support functions and re-designated as light carriers. Production would slow to a crawl as resources were redirected to newer designs, However, while superseded by the Nascovo-class fleet carriers and the massive Doramine-class supercarriers, they still proved to be valuable resources to a Navy reeling in the face of a superior enemy.