EARTH ALLIANCE BUREAU OF SHIPS
Hyperion Heavy Cruiser (Kappa Model)
With the Shadow War looming and a resurgent Centauri Republic warring upon
it's neighbours, EarthForce undertook a program to refit many of it's fleet of Hyperion
heavy cruisers to keep them in service and combat capable. Several modifications were
made, as detailed below.
1. Software and hardware upgrades to the avionics, resulting in an upgrade of the sensors
to 8 EW points.
2. Engine modifications and updates giving a boost in available thrust to 8.
3. The forward Pulse Cannon mount was replaced with a Heavy Pulse Cannon, although
unfortunately the side mounts lacked the structural strength to be upgraded.
4. Modification of the hangar bay to allow the ship to carry a full flight of 6
Thunderbolt fighters.
5. Replacement of the Mk 1 Interceptors with the Mk 2 version. These could not normally be
replaced, but the update to the avionics and the reactor upgrades required by items 2 and
3 made power and tracking capacity available.
Upgrades to the aft thrusters were considered, but rejected as too expensive and time
consuming. Only a very few Hyperions were updated before President Clark pulled the program's
resources for the Advanced Destroyer Project. After the Civil War, many of the surviving
Hyperions were refitted to this standard, especially those in the service of the
independent former colonies.
A design study was also undertaken when the Pulse Omega was produced, resulting in the Beta model of the Broadsword of the Mk 1 Interceptors with the Mk 2 version. These could not normally be
the update to the avionics and the reactor upgrades required by items 2 and
3 made power and tracking capacity available
Ship Control Sheet
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Broadsword Frigate
Alpha Model: Designed alongside the Omega, the Broadsword Frigate uses as many parts as
possible from its larger sister to speed production and simplify maintenance and supply.
Production was limited before Clark took office, as Earth was not being very aggressive
at that time and the ship was clearly optimised for fleet assault missions. Production was then cut back
as Clark was not
interested in small ships and wanted as many Omegas as possible, and finally
ceased altogether as resources were swung fully behind the Omega and Advanced Destroyer
projects when war with Sheridan's alien-backed forces became imminent. The Broadsword was
envisioned as an assault unit and as such it hardly ever patrols alone as the lack of
fighters and jump engine make it vulnerable. However, when used alongside Omega destroyers
in the assault mission, it can be highly effective.
Beta Model: When the Pulse Omega began to roll off the production line,
EarthForce commissioned a very few hulls of the Broadsword using the forward
section of the Pulse Omega. The crews assigned to it colloquially called
it the Shortsword due to it's shorter ranged weapons. It is a Rare
variant.
