The Valiant Class Galactic Dreadnought

The Valiant Class Galactic Dreadnought

First Commissioned: 2273

Length: 672 meters

Mass: 1.5 million metric tons

Crew Complement: 200

Maximum Number of Personnel Ship Can Support: 1200

Duration Before Resupply: 5 years

Jumps Possible Before Overhaul: 45

Atmosphere Capability: none

Landing Capability: only non-atmosphere planets, on surfaces up to .3 G

History:

The Valiant class galactic dreadnought was one of the great success stories for the Terran Navy.  Plans for it were drawn up in the 2240s, but it wasn't until the 2269 that construction began. The Navy had a plan for a new campaign in Delta Sector, directed at the Kmet. The first four Valiant class GDNs formed the bulk of the main line of battle ship line in the Sirius Reconquest With the support of several now obsolete light carriers, the Valiant and its sister ships annihilated all five of the Kmet's capital ships, while the rest of the fleet held off the Kmet support ships and fighters. The Kmet Navy was forced to abandon Sirius to the TTFN, and has not managed to retake it in the fifty years since the battle.

The Valiant is a dedicated missile platform, capable of launching 15 missiles at a time. Its missile bays hold enough ammunition to launch three full salvos.  It has four H.P.B.s and other beam weapons to discourage ships from closing. It is somewhat slow, and does not carry fighters like some GDNs do. It is not designed to operate alone, as it does not have enough point defense to defend itself against fighters and enemy missiles. The Valiant GDNs often fly in pairs with Ranger CAs or other missile ships together in a task force. It is not uncommon for one of these task forces to unload combined salvos of forty missiles at once.

In recent clashes with the Avarian United Worlds Navy the Valiant class has produced mixed results. They are very vulnerable to A varian fighters, but the Avarians are in turn very vulnerable to the missiles. Often the two forces will overwhelm each other for mutually assured destruction. When the TTFN. is able to muster enough fighters, the Valiants can wipe out the Avarians before they reach railgun range.


source:  Terran & Avarian Fleet Book