Weapons of the Colonization Era

MacArthur system control ship

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3D mockup of the MacArthur system control ship

Few objects are more a symbol of United States military might than the MacArthur system control ship - or, more popularly, the MacArthur battleship. Despite the fact that the USS MacArthur came out of spacedock years late and billions overbudget, she and her classmates all but defined a generation of warships and fought in every major and most minor engagements down the PACT arm and into the Rim, from the Eridanus campaign to the ZOCU war. Rugged and capable of supporting a full jump Battalion including landing craft they were the ideal warship for an expanding frontier. The spacious four-part retractable spin habitat only enhanced this.

With much of the sunk costs in a warship being the electronics and jump drive, the MacArthur was deliberately built larged and capable of multiple missions. While indisputably less efficient than single-role vessels this did mean that the MacArthur could take advantage of extreme efficiencies of scale and be easily used for less military missions such as disaster relief, exploration support, etc. Between 2118 and 2149, hundreds of MacArthurs or national variants were built for national fleets in over a dozen different variations. In addition to the four main 'flights' for the USASF, notable variants included the Japanese Mikasa and Kongo subtypes along with the UNASUR São Paulo model.

Many MacArthurs were deployed into the Rim during the 30s and 40s and formed the vanguard of the PACT push into deep Eridanus-Orion space. Some MacArthurs even made it as far as Garfield-1143, 250 light years from Sol. Forward deployed out of systems such as Erebus, Bolivar and Nibiru their railguns smashed feral drones and pushed the enigmatic, ancient machines out of the Human routes. Often replacing their marine landers with FS-5 Avengers for space superiority against drones, they uncannily presaged the ZOCU omnicruisers of decades later. Unfortunately the MacArthurs never had particularly propulsion in either sublight or FTL and while re-engining was an option, plans were drawn being drawn up for an entirely new design better suited for the large distances prevalent in the Expanse and Rim when the Breakdown struck down most FTL travel.

In 2151, approximately two-thirds of all MacArthurs were outside the Erlicher Stellar Catapult System and thus easy recovery. In the span of a week more capital ships were removed from the PACT's active fleet list than the entire ZOCU war - by a factor of five. Perhaps two dozen were sufficiently close that they could limp back to an inhabited system before their jump drives seized up completely. The remainder were far enough away - outside what would come to be known as the Firewall - that they maintained drive integrity. Roughly fifty were abandoned in place or attempted to return Solwards - less than half of these have been accounted for as of 2195. The remainder found new homes in the Rim, their crews inventing new missions to protect the scattered children of Earth - or, rarely, new missions based more on strength of arms than of character.

The actions of MacArthurs during the ZOCU war could (and have) filled books, but the by-then aging battlewagons gave solid performance under both PACT and ZOCU flags, where they clashed above Kanon, above Erebus and Choson and in Rapture. The USASF Block 86 upgrade brought many of their systems up to (near) modern standards, while ZOCU refits were all unique but showed that with mega particle weapons even the old warhorses could still fight and win.

Kynda missile cruiser

In the '30s the Russian offworld holdings were coming under threat not just from feral drones but from encroaching Chinese hegemony. The aging Gangut system battleships could provide adequate protection against the former and the fast new Borodinos were the match of anything flying but required Sol-system spaceyards and were limited in numbers anyhow. A ship specifically made to counter the Chinese superiority in numbers was required, one that could also be build with a minimal reliance upon homeworld factories. The resulting ship was the Kynda missile cruiser.

With a 'main battery' of long-range missiles, the Kynda was somewhat unusual in eschewing any substantial gun armament but as a consequence was (on paper) extremely effective in its designed role of unleashing a crippling alpha strike of ordnance. A newly developed scattering field bubble provided surprising resilience against return fire both before and after the Kynda launched its missiles, though the shield needed to be dropped in order to unleash its deadly payload.

These traits which made it such an effective threat in the '40s saw it sidelined during the 50s, once the Breakdown struck. A war against China became much less likely and defense against resurgent drones became a priority. Ill-suited for this role the Kyndas saw little service. The development and adoption of leapmissiles gave them a new lease on life, but unfortunately they lacked the powerful sensors required for precise targeting and consequently they were forced to be paired with a modern sensor craft. Nonetheless, these half-century old cruisers have once again returned to the center stage.

Borodino' battleship

The Borodino Class Battle Cruiser was designed as a replacement to the aging Gangut system battleships, taking advantage of two decades of technological progress. Faster and better-armed than the Ganguts, the Borodinos were also far more future-proofed, with excess power generation sufficing for the future installation of the shield systems under development at the time. Unlike the MacArthurs and Drakes that were its contemporaries however, the Borodinos had little in the way of support craft or facilities. With a relatively small number of worlds to manage Russia had little need for ubiquitous marine landing forces. The Borodinos were all about space control.

Despite their apparent advantages, the Borodinos proved troublesome in service. Their powerful fusion drives were seen as cranky and unlike their equivalent in European and Pacific service, they had no provision for spin gravity. However when they worked, they worked well. Their 28cm railcannons and missile batteries provided excellent firepower and the addition of a scattering field bubble in the '40s gave them defenses to match.

Unsurprisingly the Borodinos had mixed success during the Breakdown. They gave stellar performance during the Novy Rostina campaign against feral hybrids and in the Port Alexi suppression against the Black Banner exhuman front but at the same time they were the white elephants of the Russian fleet, unpopular with their crews for long deployments. Substantive refits in the 80s and 90s augmented their missile armament with the now-familiar cylindridal external bins. The Duma has not officially funded a replacement, though voices are getting louder that the entire Russian fleet needs a top-to-bottom refresh.