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SHARLIN CLASS WAR-CRUISER
The Sharlin class War Cruiser* is the largest and most powerful ship in the Minbari Navy, capable of laying waste to cities, infrastructure and the habitable surface of a planet in less than an hours time. Controlled by all of the three ruling casts in Minbari culture (Warrior, Religious, Worker)*, the Sharlin class War Cruiser can be sent into almost any tactical situation on a moments notice. Minbari War Cruisers measure between 1,500 and 1,700 meters in length* front to back and has a crew of some 190* duty personnel, ten of whom are command level officers. In addition to her standard crew, Sharlin's can carry an additional 60 combat personnel*, which includes security, gunnery officers, and pilots. Maximum troop capacity for a Minbari War Cruiser is estimated to be approximately 8,000 gropos. War Cruisers on deep patrol usually only cary a standard crew of some 190 personnel, and can maintain high combat readiness without suffering any detrimental effects due to a lack of personnel. This is due primarily to the Minbari's extremely advanced computer / AI systems aboard the War Cruisers type starship. All tactical systems aboard Minbari War Cruisers, are directed through the Command Chamber - a holographic environment which allows the ship's command officers to view all 360° of a given combat environment.** Through this Command Chamber, officers can direct all ship's resources as needed and participate fully in all combat situations. This command interface system increases Minbari response time and allows Minbari ships to react instantly in a combat situation. At present, War Cruisers are known to be armed with a wide assortment of weapons that include eighteen Gravimetric Neutron Cannons (also known as Slicer Beams), eighteen heavy Fusion Beam Cannons, 42 Electro-Pulse guns and 24 defensive EM Neutron Guns and Fusion Gun weapons, as well as one Anti-Matter Cannon.** Standard guns on the Minbari War Cruiser are are designed to deliver a massive amount of destructive energy to a target. Beam weapons can operate in both a piercing and raking mode, and output / targeting can be adjusted to combat capital scale warships or fighter craft. In addition to her standard beam weapons, the War Cruiser's Anti-Matter cannon** (a weapon designed specifically for attacking planetary bodies), and 2,000 metric tons of missile ordinance** capable of being launched from any of the Sharlin's four missile launchers, makes it a deadly planetary assault weapon. Projectile ordinance includes a wide assortment of weapons, including fusion and antimatter missiles / bombs, and it is believed that the Sharlin can even be outfitted with a device conducive to mass-driver orbital bombardment. Besides it's massive weapons payload, the Minbari War Cruiser also has a decisive advantage in speed, maneuverability, and an acceleration time that makes other ships look like they are standing still. This significant advantage is credited to the War Cruiser's Stalasha Gravimetric drive system** with an output in excess of 80 million Terajoules, arguablyone of the most powerful gravitic drive in the known galaxy. Standard acceleration speeds for a War Cruiser are estimated to be 60 km/s2*** with an obtainable long range attack speed of "80 BoPrills", 20% the speed of light.*** Main power for the Sharlin, is produced via an artificial Quantum Singularity reactor system with an estimated power output rated at 330 Exawatts*** which, along with several secondary fusion reactors, fulfills all of the Sharlin's energy requirements. This reactor system provides the Minbari War Cruiser with virtually unlimited power, when compared to similar class ships seen used by the younger races, allowing this class starship to remain deployed for long periods of time. With little worry for energy, the Minbari vessels do not suffer from the limitations many of the younger races must deal with, using nuclear based fusion reactors or antimatter. This also means that the recharge time on all Minbari weapons is virtually instantaneous and their Jump Engines can re-charge in only a fraction of the time required by Earthforce vessels. In addition, the Sharlin uses the waste from the Quantum Reactor, which is antimatter, as a secondary power source as well as a powerful weapon. Though researchers have collected extensive data on the Minbari War Cruiser, there are many tactical figures on this vessel which have only been verified conclusively in recent years. This is due primarily to the fact that few races have engaged a War Cruiser and lived to tell the tale and almost no one outside Minbari culture have ever set foot aboard these impressive starships. One aspect of the War Cruisers workings that was being debated until recently, was the question of how many fighters are onboard a War Cruiser. During the Earth/Minbari war, the most common fighter arrangement was two fighter squadrons per War Cruiser in any given situation. However, at the conclusion of the Shadow War, it is now known that the average fighter escort for a War Cruiser is only 15 fighter craft. This gives the Minbari three wings and one full squadron.*** The Minbari War Cruiser appears to be virtually unstoppable, with no major known weakness to speak of. The ships armor and deflector fields make conventional weapons almost useless against Sharlin class vessels in open combat conditions. Beyond this, advanced sensors warn Minbari crews of any impending attack, jamming systems make it easy for Minbari forces to attack without warning and there are few ships that can deliver as massive a weapons payload as a War Cruiser. Centauri sources, however, seem to indicate that the dreaded Sharlin class War Cruiser does have one weakness, that is nearly impossible to exploit. It would seem that the Minbari's gravimetric drive systems, which is often the key to their victories (as it is used to provide shielding and significantly enhance their weapons), is also their only true weakness. The large fins characteristic of Minbari and Centauri vessels alike are, in fact, the projection system for their gravimetric drive system. Should these fins be damage or blown off, the gravimetric field used for propulsion could collapse. Minbari capital ships use gravimetric drives exclusively and does not use any other known form of propulsion, such as ion or plasma engines. Thus, theoretically, if serious damage were to be inflicted upon any one of the Sharlin's four fins, the ship would be effectively disabled for several minutes. This was decisively proven in 2259 when the Minbari Cruiser Tragati had its rear gravimetric fin cut in half by another Minbari vessel.*** While this tactic would be effective in combat, and Earthforce fighters attempted to exploit this weakness via kamikaze attacks, it would take a large number of heavily armed vessels to provide enough firepower to penetrate Minbari deflector fields and armor, let alone inflict damage significant enough to disable a Sharlin class War Cruisers gravimetric drive system. In theory, the combined firepower of three Earthforce Omega class Destroyers would be sufficient to do the job. [*Sharlin
c lass name taken from AOG Game - War Cruiser term taken from
Babylon 5 canon.] Last Updated 02-28-03 Thanks
go out to Crystal Psi-Borg for... modivating me to update my
figures. |
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