There are two major generations of ships used by the REF. The first generation is the ships that the REF used as they launched the Pioneer Mission in 2022. Primarily designed to combat the Zentraedi, the REF ships actually fought some small Zentraedi battle groups during the search for Tirol, but once the REF reached Tirol, those same ships proved almost useless against the tactics employed by the Invid. During the years that the REF fought in the Sentinels' War, the REF radically changed their ship designed, bringing about their second generation of ship development. Throughout the course of the Sentinels' War and until the end of the Third Robotech War, the REF continued to refine their ship designs and developed a new crop of ships that they hoped would disrupt the tactics employed by the Invid. While only partially successful, these later REF ships represented the height of Human technology at the time.
Author's Note: Please note that I have increased the M.D.C. of the Main Body of the Horizont Troop Shuttle and the Garfish Class Destroyer because I found them too low for their size and missions.
As the war against the Invid continued, the REF began to reevaluate their ship designs in a serious manner. They came to the conclusion that however good the Predator Drop Ship was, it did not fill the role that was needed. In response, the REF began construction on the Horizont Troop Shuttle, which was faster and more maneuverable and could drop its cargo pods within seconds of reaching its destination. This gave the shuttle an incredible turnaround time, although it came with significant problems. The Horizont shuttle was designed with no weapons and very little in the way of armor. Unfortunately, more of these shuttles were lost by being attacked by small groups of Invid then the designers believed would occur.
Designed to fill a role in the Pioneer Mission, the Predator was built to transport a significant landing party to the surface of a planet, in combat situations if necessary. Unlike most ship's designed by the Humans during this period, the Predator was surprisingly well designed. The ship possessed enough cargo space that could be used to carry troops, a small number of mecha, or normal cargo, and it had weapons that were sufficiently adequate at protecting the ship from attack until it landed and unloaded its cargo. Many of these ships were built prior to the launch of the Pioneer Mission and only a few were lost during actual combat missions against the Invid.
The Garfish was built as the replacement to the Battle destroyers that were launched with the original Pioneer Mission. Designed during the Sentinels' War, the ship saw action against the Invid during that conflict and were instrumental in the operations to search for any remaining Invid garrisons following the end of that war.
Only a slightly modified version of the Battle destroyers used by the Armies of the Southern Cross, the REF thought they would be using the Battle destroyers as fire support vessels against the Zentraedi defenders of Tirol, and the ship served its purpose fairly well during the search for Tirol, but it was next to useless against the Invid and during the Sentinels' War, these ships were mostly used to transport troops from one star system to another instead of actual combat operations.
The flagships of the Southern Cross fleets was also the backbone of the Pioneer Mission. Almost all Tristar cruisers built prior to the launch of the Pioneer Mission in 2022 belonged to the REF and left with Pioneer Mission. These ships were designed to fight Zentraedi battle groups and during the search Tirol, they had ample opportunities to do so, but once the REF had arrived at Tirol and the Sentinels' War had began, the Tirstar cruisers found themselves at the mercy of swarms of Invid mecha. Along with the Battle destroyers, the Tristars would eventually be relegated to troop transport roles instead of ship combat. Fortunately, as the Sentinels' War progressed, the Invid were less and less capable of engaging in space battles.
The landing capacity of the early REF fleet, as it was launched, revolved around three different ships. The first was the small Predator Drop Ships, which were considered orbital transports and could act as temporary and mobile command posts, the second was the massive Tokugawa Cruiser, which carried a huge number of troops between star systems, but was not designed to offload those troops quickly, and the final ship was the Ajax landing ship, which was designed to carry a significant number of troops and offload those troops quickly. Often landing near the frontlines or part of a massive landing operation, the Ajax landing ships often came in harms way, but, unlike most of the early REF ships, the ship performed admirably and only a few were lost during combat operations.
With the exception of the SDF-3 Pioneer, the Tokugawa cruisers were the largest ships in the REF fleet. Built in two versions, the Tokugawa held a large portion of the REF's forces and combat power. The first version of the class was combat-oriented ship that led the search for Tirol years before the Pioneer Mission was launched. As a combat ship, the Tokugawa had many flaws, the most important of which was that the ship lacked a powerful armament, although it did possess a large complement of fighters and mecha. Only one ship of this version remained at the time of the Pioneer Mission's launch and while it performed admirably during the search for Tirol, it was eventually destroyed after it returned to Earth during the Second Robotech War.
In the year before the Pioneer Mission was launched, the REF planners came to the conclusion that they needed to include more troops in order to accomplish all of their goals and satisfy all of the contingency plans. This caused a problem because the easiest solution would be to construct new transport ships, but that would take years and the SDF-3 was only a year away from being launched, so the designers came up with a compromise. They created a massive internal refit for the Tokugawa cruisers that would convert them from combat vessels into troop transports. The ships were recalled to Earth and all but one of the cruisers underwent the transformation and when the Pioneer Mission was launched, the Tokugawas held a significant portion of all of the troops in the Pioneer Mission and only at a small cost of their former combat capabilities.
Once the Sentinels' War began, the REF ship designers were required to design a completely new ship for the REF that would serve as the fleet's backbone following the poor performance of the Tristar cruisers. Originally it was believed that a refit of the Tokugawa cruiser would be sufficient, but since all of those ships were required in their present form and more advanced shipbuilding facilities were available to the REF, the Ikazuchi cruisers were designed in response. Powerful, capable of holding their own in a fight against the Invid, the Ikazuchi cruiser was an excellent addition to the REF fleet. The only flaw in the ship's design was its limited point defense weapons, which only became a problem when the ships were faced with massive overwhelming numbers, which is exactly what happened over Earth when the REF sent their fleets to liberate the planet during the Third Robotech War.
The SDF-3 Pioneer was built to lead the REF to the home world of the Robotech Masters, once there, the REF wanted to either enter into peace talks with the Robotech Masters is hopes of averting another war or to fight them on Tirol instead of on Earth. To accomplish its mission, the REF built a large fleet of ships, and the single largest ship in the fleet was the SDF-3 Pioneer, which housed all of the supplies and support staff that the REF believed they would need for any possible war against the Robotech masters.
With the resources of the Tirolian Orbital Shipyards and Space Station Liberty at their disposal, the leaders of the REF decided to begin construction on two new super dimensional fortresses, based on a design that had been developed on Tirol after the Sentinels' War began. The ships would compliment the firepower of the SDF-3 Pioneer by acting as the flagship for a large fleet and carrying a large number of troops and mecha. While not designed for the same type of long range missions that the SDF-3 Pioneer was built for, the Izumo class would still add a great deal of versatility and firepower to the REF. Two of these ships were finished by the Battle of Reflex Point and one remained in orbit of Tirol while the other returned to Earth and took control of the REF fleets located there after the SDF-3 failed to defold. Unfortunately, even the ship's impressive defense systems could not save it from the incredible release of energy that signified the departure of the Invid.
In 2013 CE, the RDF and their Zentraedi allies captured a working Robotech Factory Satellite using. This operation marked the first and only major combat operation between the Zentraedi and the RDF as two separate fleets working together. The captured station, designated G-01 Space Station Liberty by the RDF, was instrumental in constructing new ships for the RDF, the REF, and the Armies of the Southern Cross although it was only partially operational for the first several decades it was in Human hands. The station broke down often, delaying many construction projects, but its facilities were used to modify Zentraedi ships used to build Human colonies from 2015 to 2021 and to build the SDF-3 Pioneer, the flagship of the REF. During the Second Robotech War, Space Station Liberty was often attacked by the Robotech Masters, ensuring that it remained out of the conflict, but following the arrival of the Venus Defense Group in 2032 CE, Space Station Liberty traveled to Tirol to bolster the REF forces located there. Heavily damaged during the war against the Robotech Masters and then overused during the Sentinels' War, Space Station Liberty continued to operate far below its demonstrated capacity. It was not until after the end of the Third Robotech War would the REF shut the station down long enough to fully repair it that it was finally brought up to its maximum capability.