Being a premier military superpower, the Pan-Sentient Union invested millions of megacredits into its’ military arms even before the fighting of the Armageddon War broke out and these monies paid off quite handsomely in regards to new warship construction. While the pre-PSU Terran Federations’ Navy was continually strapped for cash, the Pan-Sentient Union as a whole had far more money and scientific knowledge available to it than anyone possibly dreamed. Entire new classes of warships and, indeed, entire new sizes of warships became attainable by the PSU Navy within a few years after amalgamation. Even though it was Corporate World interests that keep the Terran Federation Navy on such tight purse strings, the corporate elites in the new PSU had far less power over military spending.
The joining of the Terran Federation and the Khanate of Orion produced widespread military integration problems, however, and stymied substantial warship production until the year before the Armageddon War broke out. The new PSU BuShips had prototyped several new heavy warship classes and were beginning production runs on several when the fighting began. Both Monitor and Superdreadnought designs were updated and this article focuses mainly on the Terran designs. While the unification process did slow overall production the result on the PSUs military forces was slight as newer vessels were far more capable of sustaining damage as well as inflicting it. Although there was a 90 year gap between ISW4 and the Armageddon War (not counting 2nd Arachnid War), Terran naval designers have always had their fingers on the pulse of reality and their designs have almost always proved efficient when conflicts had broken out in the past. However, no one, not any living race in existence, had ever faced the awesome brutality of a Hre’Daak Arbiter and its’ screen of lighter vessels.
Several new Monitors were discussed by both Orion and Terran naval planners and while the humans had their doubts about joint coordination of military production, the Orions let them off the hook. In early 2450 the Orion Admirals told the Terran half of the PSU Navy that they should pursue they own naval construction plans with regards to their own needs while also trying to integrate Orion operational needs into any new designs.
Naval engineers eagerly got to work at Garsten Yards, pumping out novel vessels like the Drake Belgrano-class Monitor, a long-range and extremely lethal class of warship mounting new generation bombardment missile launchers (Rh3). The old Horatio Spruance class monitors were scrapped or modified to the modern Hernando de Soto-class MT, swapping all beam weapons for a full load of advanced capital missile launchers (Wca). The old style Hannah Avram-class MTs were disposed of in favor of the fresh Irina Rubinova-class, which mounted a devastating array of second generation advanced missile launchers (Wa2) and advanced quantum armor laminates. Additionally, none of the old-style superdreadnoughts survived the long-lasting decades, being replaced by far more capable classes. The old Matternhorn SDs were scrapped and a completely new class was laid down: the Battle-class. Mounting a single Rh3 and substantial Wca batteries, the Battle-class proved effective in nearly every long-range missile duel they were ever in. The Chimborazo were decommissioned and a newer version of this class was built in large numbers, the Colorado-class, with an effective broadside of Wa2 defended by phased shields and second generation gunboats mounted on XO racks. The old Mekong were replaced by the Gladiator-class and the Mount Hood by the pod-packed Medusa-class. Various other warships were also constructed by the PSU during the Armageddon War and all heavy warship classes are listed below.
Assassin-class (Wca)
Continent-class (Pc3)
Drake Belgrano-class (Rh3)
Legacy-class (Wa2)
Renaldo Chavarra-class (Fvc)
Resolute-class (HET3)
Hernando de Soto-class (Rh3)
Howard Anderson©-class (Wca)
Irina Rubinova-class (Wa2)
Stout-class (HET3)
Battle-class (Rh3/Wca)
Colorado-class (Wa2)
Everest-class (Pc3)
Gladiator-class (Cbc)
Luna-class (Wca)
President (HET3)
Audacious-class (Fvc)
Budapest-class (Wa2)
Catapult-class (Wca)
City-class (HET3)
Punishment-class (Pc3)
Takahashi-class (Rh3)
Adamant-class CVL
Borsoi-class CV
Direwolf-class CV
Hellhound-class CV
Scylla-class CVA
Skokaku-class CVL
Thor-class CVA
Unicorn-class CVA
Ballista-class (HET3)
Broadsword©-class (Fvc)
Destitute-class (Rh3/Pg2)
Tower©-class (Wa3)
Volga-class (Wca)
The Terran half of the PSU maintained large numbers of battlecruisers, for they were the only “small” class of warship still capable of surviving on the combat-intensive battlefield of the future. While the Khanate half of the PSU saw battlecruisers as still valuable, they tended to concentrate on more heavy warships. The Gorm continued to build new designs of small capital ships, particularly the battlecruiser, but only because of their limited manning capabilities. A more comprehensive listing of Terran battlecruisers is listed below:
BALLISTA-Class Battlecruisers: Designed by BuShips and first constructed in 2452 (during the Second Arachnid War) the Ballista-class battlecruiser is a continuation of the much favored Dunkerque-class, but with a redesigned interior. The ships’ advanced capital missile launchers and focus beams were gutted during the war and a new long-range heavy bombardment missile launcher (Rh3) was installed, as was a substantial broadside of plasma guns. Although a Ballista could only mount one Rh3, it was more than enough firepower to conduct devastating long-range strikes against light enemy forces, long before they could bring their weapons to bear on a Ballista. Anything that survived the bombardment missile fire would almost assuredly be annihilated by the sizable second generation plasma gun array that the Ballista sported. A total of 245 of these vessels were procured by the Pan-Sentient Union before the Armageddon War and 12 were used (and destroyed) at the Battle of Red Rocks.
BROADSWORD-C Class Battlecruisers: An updated version of the old-style Broadsword-class, the new
Broadsword battlecruisers were updated with an extensive defensive suite, including phased shields and quantum armor. Designed for close-in combat, the Broadsword’ original armament was gutted and updated dual-capable primary/forcebeam (Fvc) projectors were installed. An enhanced ECM section was also added once the CIC was removed, with modern RD and anti-fighter bays affix within the vessel. Initially built at Kawaski Heavy Industries, production was jointly shared by Kawasaki and Galloway’s World, of which over 250 were built. Actual construction on the first vessel, the Glaive, began in 2453 and production ran until 2459.
DESTITUTE Class Battlecruisers: First built at the Hecate Naval Base, the Destitute-class battlecruiser was a follow-on design from the Longbow-class. The initial unit (PNS Replete) was constructed in 2454 with a total of 324 vessels built by the PSU Navy. Even before the Replete was laid down the Terran Admiralty foresaw a significant need for longer-ranged escort battlecruisers in new conflicts and the result was the Destitute-class. The initial design phase took over two years as bureaucratic infighting and parts shortages halted significant progress, but the Terran Federations’ infamous troubleshooter Commodore William Wainwright was brought in by BuShips to restore the program and ensure the Repletes’ construction. Also initially included in the design were highly sensitive and untested sensors (including a phased array radar) which were installed aboard the Replete but they failed design tests and were scrapped for a more conventional set-up later that year. Over 88 of these vessels were lost in the Armageddon War but the Terran Admiralty Board has stuck by the design. Although several prominent leaders in the PSU government howled at their continued production the Admiralty pointed out that even though they were vastly outclassed by the hyper tech of the Hre’Daak, they performed exactly as thought.
TOWER-C Class Battlecruisers: An updated version of the old Tower-class battlecruiser, the Tower-C was equipped with twelve upgraded Wa3 systems. It had no CIC version but cloaking ECM was added at the last minute as well as the new advanced black hole point defense system. Since the loss of a significant number of Terran Shipyards after the “Insurrection”, the human half of the PSU shifted significant production of its’ warships to the newly built Garsten Shipyards, a massive facility located in the recently colonized “Frontier” region of the PSU. The Wa3 is a system of very rapid-fire gun/ missile launchers, capable of delivering a devastating broadside of close and medium range missiles packed with antimatter or anti-small craft ordinance as well as close-in assault missiles.
VOLGA Class Battlecruisers: A design promoted by Admiral Alexei Voronov, the first of the Volga-class (PNS Columbia River) was rolled off the production line at the Garsten Shipyards in 2457, just two years before the Olympus Affair broke. The initial vessels were built in orbit of Raider’s World in the Frontier region of the Pan-Sentient Union and proved to be an excellent design. Volga-class battlecruisers were primary constructed to escort PSU dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts through hostile warp points and conduct close-in fighting, as well as provide anti-gunboat protection for their larger cousins. Their third generation hetlaser array was developed at the Nuevo Laredo Energy Center and proved devastating in combat. Over 300 were built, of which 212 were lost during the fighting of the Armageddon War but overall they were considered a successful design by BuShips and their onboard personnel. Again PSU politicians disagreed with the military over the continued production of the Volga-class but again they were forced to concede that the class performed exactly as required.