Tracker
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_TRO3057r.png){kind=tracking}
| |
| Tracker | |
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer | |
| Introduced | 2407 |
| Production Year | 2407[1] |
| Use | Surveillance |
| Tech Base | Star League |
| Cost | 3,071,572,000 C-bills[citation needed] |
| Technical specifications | |
| Mass | 120,000 tons |
| Length | 318 meters |
| Sail Diameter | 1150 meters |
| Fuel | 2,800 tons (14,000) |
| Burn Rate | 19.75 |
| Safe Thrust | 2 g |
| Top Thrust | 3 g |
| Sail Integrity | 3 |
| KF Drive Integrity | 4 |
| LF Battery | No |
| Armament | |
| Armor | 86 tons standard |
| DropShip Capacity | 2 |
| Crew | 79[2]
|
| Grav Decks | 1 x 75 meters diameter |
| Escape Pods/Life Boats | 15/10 |
| Heat Sinks | 285 single |
| Structural Integrity | 36 |
| BV (1.0) | 8,230[2] |
Description[edit]
The small Tracker-class surveillance vessel was a WarShip designed to ply trade routes and observe in-system communications. At the size of a Corvette, it was not designed to stand up to a determined assault, mounting only the most minimal of deterrents and being considered a WarShip solely by virtue of being designed with a Compact Kearny-Fuchida Drive.[2]
In order to accomplish its mission, the Tracker was designed to look innocuous, nearly indistinguishable from contemporary civilian JumpShips. Further, the Tracker was also designed to mount paneling on specialized hardpoints, allowing the ship to alter its appearance both by eye and by contemporary sensor suites. The altered ship signature, combined with an easily adjusted identification beacon, allowed a Tracker aliases with which it could hide among civilian vessels.[2]
Despite the Tracker's usefulness, the design became obsolete by the early 2500s due to better sensor suites and also exposure to Tracker tactics. The final missions for the Tracker involved anti-pirate "Q-Ship" Periphery operations during the Reunification War, especially on the Taurian front.[2] In April 2765, the navy of the Rim Worlds Republic was operating a single Tracker-class WarShip, suggesting that at least one ship of the class was either sold or gifted by the Terran Hegemony during the Star League era.[3]
Armament[edit]
The Tracker was very poorly armed. The Tracker's armament includes 2 Barracuda Missile Systems, a pair of PPCs, and a single NL45, allowing the vessel to deter both capital vessels and aerospace fighters. However, against any determined attack, the Tracker was severely undergunned. It was quick though, compared with many naval elements, so escape was probably the best course of action for a cornered Tracker.[2]
Cargo[edit]
Despite its small size, the Tracker was able to carry a relatively large amount of cargo in accordance with its disguise as a cargo ship. The class mounted 2 DropShip collars and two cargo bays — one capable of transporting 4 small craft, the other 23,810.5 tons of cargo. Twenty bay personnel for the small craft piloting and cargo maintenance along with two infantry platoons are housed in bay racks.[2]
It should be noted that the now-classic hardpoint/docking collar technology was only invented in 2458. Earlier JumpShips — implicitly those the Tracker sought to imitate — had no docking hardpoints, but carried so-called DropShuttles of up to 5,000 tons in internal shuttle bays. Thus it must be assumed that the original Tracker featured two such shuttle bays, and that a variant came into service at some point after 2458 that installed two docking hardpoints and turned the shuttle bays into cargo storage space otherwise.
See Also[edit]
Gallery[edit]
Original Tracker from TRO:3057 Revised