Tou Salaam Class Picket Cruiser

(Version 1.00 - Last Modified: 08/12/2005)

The Tou Salaam Class Picket Cruiser was one of the last ships developed by the Tirolian Mercantile Empire before its collapse. As a ship built for the semi-autonomous Border Fleets, the Tou Salaam cruiser carried a mixed crew of Tirolians and Zentraedi soldiers. In the Border Fleets, the Tou Salaam cruiser fulfilled the role of a picket ship, exploration support vessel, and quartermaster vessel. The Tou Salaam was designed to operate independently for very extended periods, though not as far beyond the Imperial borders as the other vessels of the Border Fleets. Rather than securing space superiority, the Tou Salaam class was designed to picket systems in strategic locations and of unusual interest for the Tirolians. Typically, these were systems with natural resources in accessible locations and systems filling a hole in the Hyperspace sensor nets.

For the first mission, the Zentraedi and Tirolian troops were deployed with an automated factory to a position in range of the required minerals. Then, while the Zentraedi provided the first ore to the factory and the Tirolian forces secured the area, the factory would begin making a larger version of itself, with automated ore collection systems. After the first phase, the factory complex would expand itself, roaming farther and farther for the minerals, while both the Tirolian and Zentraedi troops provided protection for the mining efforts and possible other exploration parties. After about six months, the planet would sport a defensive fortress and a production center capable of providing most of the Border Fleet consumables. Most of the Border Fleet resupply points were made up of such installations.

In the second case, the Tou Salaam would remain in orbit around the star, possibly deploying its troops and using its Hyperspace Mass Sensor to its fullest extent and scanning for enemies such as the Invid or the Disciples of Zor, who had based outside of the empire. Should any unexplained fold signals be detected, the ship would be followed and a battle group of the Border Fleet ships would investigate and, if possible, backtrack the enemy vessel or fleet to its base. In this manner, numerous Invid and DoZ bases were discovered and destroyed. The extremely well stocked holds of these ships made multi-year operations of this type possible, and often the troops and factory equipment was used in the meantime to create a permanent listening post in the system, freeing the cruiser to refit, restock and travel to another system to plant a monitoring station.

The Tou Salaam has a general layout based on the Thuverl Salan heavy cruiser. The hull has the same triangular shape when viewed from above, with an elongated nose flaring into two reaction engine clusters and a superstructure on the aft hull. The general look and feel of the hull structure is completely different though, with angular surface structures rather than the carapace-like armor plates of the older design. Seen by a Terran from the outside, the Tou Salaam is a slightly thinner Thuverl Salan with a distinct 'Macross' look to its outer surfaces.

The armament is mounted mostly forward, but in a departure from general Zentraedi and Border Fleet design practices the main battery is capable of spherical coverage, although the forward arcs retain the heaviest concentration of firepower. Internally, there are two distinctly different sections. The superstructure is sized for micronian operation only, and houses the Tirolian part of the crew. The Zentraedi quarters are located in the hull proper, which is equipped to handle them in their full sizes. The lowermost decks contain the Zentraedi mecha storage hangars and the air group launch bays. Tirolian mecha are launched from a medium-height half deck located between superstructure and the main hull. In all, the superstructure counts 20 decks, the main hull 5. There is an additional half deck between the two. A large command citadel sits atop the superstructure, and it is from here that the Tirolian officers command their forces. Numerous stake-like sensor antennae jut from the hull in all directions. Especially the nose, superstructure, citadel and aft engine pods are densely packed with the sensors.

These ships were built at numerous locations throughout the Robotech Mercantile Empire and entered service from 1865 through 2002. Only one version was ever produced. The exact number of constructed units cannot be given due to the loss of records in the Invid invasion of Tirol and the destruction of the final remnants of the Tirolian fleet over Earth. However, an estimated guess puts their number at 25,500 units.

As the Tirolian power supplies began to wane, so did the Border Fleets. Those vessels not destroyed by their power loss or direct enemy action gradually lost the ability to fold and then to power their life support systems. A rough estimate assumes that over 12,000 of these vessels are now lifeless hulks scattered on or near the former Imperial border.

Ship Information:

• Ship Class: Cruiser
• Year Commissioned: 1865 CE
• Crew: 550 (200 Tirolians and 350 Zentraedi)
• Troops:
  • Air Group: 530 (80 Tirolians and 450 Zentraedi)
  • Troops: 1200 (500 Tirolians and 700 Zentraedi)
  • Total: 1730
• Total Crew and Troops: 2280

Vehicle Complement:

• Bioroid Complement:

450	Blue Combat Bioroid
20	Green Combat Bioroid
16	Red Combat Leader Bioroid
14	Bioroid Scout

• Combat Pod Complement:

340	Regult Combat Pod
25	Glaug Battle Pod
32	Light Artillery Pod
16	Heavy Artillery Pod
12	Recon Scout Pod

• Fight Pod Complement:

400	Raulonve Fighter Pod

• Power Armor Complement:

75	Nousjaedul-Ger Cavalry Power Armor
200	Queadlunn-Rau Tactical Power Armor

• Other Complement:

650	Bioroid Skysled
8	Roil Tiluvo Class Assault Corvette
8	Roil Tiluvosen Class Missile Corvette
25	Glaug Booster Unit
2	Quel Quallie Cyclops Reconnaissance Scout
4	Liewneuatzs Personnel Shuttle
20	Hover Platforms
4	Reflex Warheads (of each type)

M.D.C. by location:

• Retractable Particle Beam Cannons (12)- 150 each
• Retractable Laser Turrets (48)- 60 each
• Retractable Long Range Missile Turrets (36)- 100 each
• Retractable Heavy Missile Turrets (24)- 200 each
• Retractable Weapon Hatches (120)- 100 each
• Airlock Access Hatches - 100 each
• Command Tower - 8000 *
• Main Reaction Thrusters (12) - 4000 each **
• Maneuvering Thrusters (48) - 100 each **
• Hull Regions (10, Engine Section) - 500 each
• Hull Regions (120, Main Body) - 500 each
• Inner Hull Regions (10, Engine Section) - 300 each
• Inner Hull Regions (120, Main Body) - 200 each
• Main Body - 65,000 ***


M.D.C. Armor Rating - Hull Region: 10
M.D.C. Armor Rating - Inner Hull Region: 9
M.D.C. Armor Rating - Main Body: 18
Notes:

*	Destroying the command tower will destroy the command bridge, but the auxiliary command bridge will remain functional.
**	Destroying the main engines will severely impair the ship. If all the main thrusters are put out of commission, the ship will be floating dead in space or will crash if the damage occurs in atmosphere. If this happens all other systems, except the fold drive, will continue to work.
***	Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut down the entire ship, including life support, gravity control, communications, weapons, and engines. The command bridge will also be destroyed.

Speed:

• Fold Drive: Uses a Fold Drive with a maximum speed of 10 light-years per hour. The ship's navigational equipment cannot safely execute a fold jump of distances greater than 1 kiloparsec (3260 light-years) and it can only be activated once per hour.
• Sublight: Can travel at up to 20 percent of the speed of light (0.20c) and accelerate / decelerate at a rate of 0.15 percent of light (0.0015 c) per melee.
• Atmospheric Propulsion: Uses an anti-gravity drive that has a maximum cruise speed is 350 mph (563.3 km/h) and can enter and leave an atmosphere with Earth-like gravity.
• Maximum Range: Effectively unlimited by drive system, but onboard supplies for the crew and troops will last for 2 years before the ship needs to be restocked. Water stores were recycled almost completely.

Statistical Data:

• Height: 1069' (326 m)
• Width: 1673' (510 m)
• Length: 6959' or 1.3 miles (2121 m or 2.1 km)
• Weight: 51 million tons (46.3 million metric tons)
• Reactor System: Tirolian Protoculture Reactor with a life span of 45 years.
• Propulsion System: Anti-Gravity / Chemical Drive
• Gravity System: Internal
• Cargo: Limited

Weapon Systems:

1. Retractable Particle Beam Cannons (12)
   Scattered across the hull of the ship are powerful anti-ship particle beam cannons, the cannons stand ready to pop out from under their sliding hatches to attack. Each turret is capable of 360 degrees of rotation with an arc of fire of 180 degrees. Three cannons are located on the top of the ship, two cannons are located on each side of the ship, two cannons are located on the bottom of the ship, and three cannons are located on the front of the ship.
   • Range: 100 miles (160.9 km) underwater, 200 miles (321.9 km) through an atmosphere, and 200,000 miles (321,869 km) in space.
   • Damage: 2D4x100 M.D. per single blast.
   • M.D.C. Weapon Rating: 24
   • Rate of Fire: Each cannon can fire twice per melee.
   • Payload: Effectively unlimited
2. Retractable Laser Turrets (48)
   The Lasers Turrets are located in batteries along the all sides of ships and are used as anti-mecha and small anti-ship weapons. They are not very powerful, but if fired in large numbers they can be devastating. Eight turrets are located on the top of the ship, ten turrets are located on each side of the ship, six turrets are located on the bottom of the ship, and fourteen turrets are on the front of the ship.
   • Range: 1584' (956.6 m) underwater, 3168' (956.6 m) through an atmosphere, and 60 miles (96.6 km) in space.
   • Damage: 2D6x10 M.D. per single blast.
   • M.D.C. Weapon Rating: 23
   • Rate of Fire: Each cannon can fire four times per melee, but they must fire in a volley of at least three cannons.
   • Payload: Effectively unlimited
3. Retractable Long Range Missile Turrets (36)
   These are very similar to the Retractable Laser Turrets, except they fire missiles instead of laser beams. They can use several different types of warheads according to the mission at hand, but they are usually configured to be anti-spaceship missiles with the heaviest warheads available. Eight turrets are located on the top of the ship, ten turrets are located on the each side of the ship, and eight turrets are located on the bottom of the ship.
   • Missile Design: SAA-1 Granite (Gliquoun Touwhaug) Long Range Missile
   • Missile Type: Any available type
   • Missile Guidance Systems: Select any three available guidance systems.
   • Missile Warhead: Any available type
   • Range: 400 miles (643.7 km) in an atmosphere and 1,169,406 miles (1,881,978 km / 6.25 light seconds) in space.
   • Speed: 2500 mph (4023 km/h) in an atmosphere and an acceleration of 4% of light (0.04c) per melee in space, with a maximum duration in space of 16 melees and a maximum safe speed in space of 55% of light (0.55c).
   • Damage and Blast Radius: Varies with type of missile warhead.
   • Rate of Fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 missiles. Each launched can fire once per melee.
   • Payload: 100 missiles per launcher, for a total of 3600 long range missiles.
4. Retractable Heavy Missile Turrets (24)
   These are similar to the Retractable Long Range Missile Turrets, except they fire cruise missiles. They can use several different types of warheads according to the mission at hand, but they are usually configured with the heaviest warheads available. Four turrets are located on the top of the ship, eight turrets are located on the each side of the ship, and four turrets are located on the bottom of the ship.
   • Missile Design: SSA-1 Sniper (Lojredbeth Deuawhaug) or SSA-2 Scrapper (Letkes Deuawhaug) Cruise Missiles
   • Missile Type: Anti-Spaceship
   • Missile Guidance Systems: Select any two available guidance systems.
   • Missile Warhead: Armor Piercing, Fragmentation, High Explosive, Plasma / Napalm, Kinetic Energy, and Reflex only.
   • Range: 1600 miles (2575 km) in an atmosphere and 3,019,777 miles (4,859,860 km / 16.2 light seconds) in space.
   • Speed: 3000 mph (4828 km/h) in an atmosphere and an acceleration of 6% of light (0.06c) per melee in space, with a maximum duration in space of 32 melees and a maximum safe speed in space of 60% of light (0.60c).
   • Damage and Blast Radius: Varies with type of missile warhead.
   • Rate of Fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 missiles. Each launched can fire once per melee.
   • Payload: 40 missiles per launcher, for a total of 960 cruise missiles.
   • Modifiers: Automatically hits a stationary target in space, has more advanced targeting equipment that gives a bonus of +6 to strike a moving target, but has a penalty of -10 to strike any target under 500 tons (453.6 metric tons).

Special Systems:

1. Missile Storage
   The ship has storage for a large number of missiles used by all Border Fleet ships. Fully loaded, the ship holds 40,000 SAA-1 Granite (Gliquoun Touwhaug) Long Range Missiles, 2000 SSA-1 Sniper (Lojredbeth Deuawhaug) Cruise Missiles, and 2000 SSA-2 Scrapper (Letkes Deuawhaug) Cruise Missiles. These can be transferred to other Zentraedi ships to reload their missile supplies or they can be used to reload the ship's own missile launchers. Transferring missiles to another ship takes about ten minutes for every 50 missiles transferred. Reloading the ship's missile racks takes about 1 melee round to completely reload one missile launcher and up to 6 launchers can be reloaded simultaneously.
2. Weapon Production Facilities
   The ship contains basic weapon construction facilities. There is a single factory aboard the ship and it is dedicated to producing armor and infantry weapons. At normal production, the factory can produce 20 suits of armor of any type and 50 infantry weapons of any type per week. Double rate of production if the factory is at maximum production, but for every month the factory is at maximum production there is a cumulative 5% chance that the factory will fail and must be repaired at a shipyard.

Standard Systems:

1. Life Support System
   The ship has a fully operational life support system that provides fresh atmosphere throughout the ship. The life support system can sustain a maximum of 3000 people indefinitely or 10,000 people for a short period of time in case of an emergency.
2. Communication Systems
   The ship is equipped with four communication systems. The first is a long range laser system with a maximum range of 100,000 miles (160,934 km), the transmissions travel at the speed of light, but they rely on line of sight, so it cannot communicate with a ship that is on the other side of a solid object. The second system is a long range radio system with a maximum range of 50,000 miles (80,467 km), the transmissions travel at the speed of light, but they are easy to intercept and jam. The third system is a satellite relay system that allows the ship to boost the range of the other communication systems indefinitely by using satellites or other ships to relay the transmission. The forth system is a Hyperspace Communications Relay, which travels at a rate of one light-year every 5 seconds. Hyperspace communications can travel through planets and other obstructions unhindered, are extremely difficult to intercept, and impossible to jam. The ship's communication array can contact with up to 800 ships simultaneously.
3. Sensor Systems
   The ship is equipped with four sensor systems. The first is the Electromagnetic Detection Equipment that detects other sensor systems at twice the maximum range of their transmitter. The second is a powerful array that uses standard radar waves, which are fairly easy to jam, but it is obvious when the radar array is being jammed. The sensor can track tiny targets at a range of up to 450,000 miles (724,205 km), small rargets at a range of up to 4.5 million miles (7.2 million km), medium targets at a range of up to 9 million miles (14.5 million km), and large targets at a range of up to 13.5 million miles (21.7 million miles). The third is a Subspace Mass Sensor that uses gravity-based technology to detect target's at real time speed. The sensor can track tiny targets at a range of up to 500,000 miles (804,672 km), small targets at a range of up to 5 million miles (8 million km), medium targets at a range of up to 10 million miles (16.1 million km), and large targets at a range of up to 15 million miles (24.1 million miles). The forth is a Hyperspace Mass Sensor that can detect and track ships that are using a Fold Drive. The sensor can track tiny targets at a range of up to 2 parsecs (6.52 light-years), small targets at a range of up to 10 parsecs (32.6 light-years), medium targets at a range of up to 20 parsecs (65.2 light-years), and large targets at a range of up to 30 parsecs (97.8 light-years). See Tirolian Ship Systems for more details on sensor systems.
4. Targeting Computer System
   Connecting the ship's sensor systems with the weapon systems is the Targeting Computer System. The system is designed to control all of the weapons currently equipped on the ship. This system can track up to 150 targets simultaneously, providing detailed information about the targets from the ships data files. All direct fire weapons receive a bonus of +3 to strike and missiles using non-autonomous guidance systems receive a bonus of +2 to strike. These bonuses are in addition to any previously stated bonuses or penalties.

Combat Summary:

• Combat Actions: 5
• Strike: +3 to strike for all direct fire weapons and +2 to strike for all missiles using non-autonomous guidance systems.
• Targeting System: Can track up to 150 targets simultaneously.