spacecraft:chelti:kalahan

Kalahan-class Voidship

The Kalahan voidship is a relatively old design compared to much of the current chelti fleet, kept in service due to its ease of production, and its ability to be extensively modified for nefarious purpose.

  • Cheap, adaptable, and easy to repair.
  • Wide variety of specialized variants in production.
  • Generally high speed and evasion, but low armor protection
Mass 2500 tonnes
Beam 120m
Height 40m
Width 50m

Appearance

The Kalahan is a not a good looking boat, with a bizarre mix of hard angles broken by elongated blisters of components covered in armor, such as the ships weapons, life rafts, and other external equipment. The ship is roughly divided into two sections, the fore and after, being different dimensions in size, the aft being larger than the bow.

In a general shape, the hull is squarely angled from the flat bow to the full length of the sides, creating a steep slope in the outer hull to the flat tops and bottoms. This once simple but inelegant design has been augmented with upgrades, variants, and refits over the years until it appears as though the ship were covered in ugly misshapen blisters breaking its clean lines.

The Kalahan was originally specced as a general purpose frigate and testbed in the first phase of chelti expansion, interestingly the design remains mostly consistent between the Native and Nomad origins, most of the difference being related to internal components. Its roughhouse design made it easy to upgrade and modify, keeping it in production even as its status declined.

Modern usage sees it deployed as a patrol and attack frigate using its speed and evasion to tackle enemies in support of larger ships, often employing some method of electronic warfare of mobility denier.

The Kalahan was originally built at first as testbed, but then as an emergency measure as chelti entered their first interstellar wars. The early models, outmatched and produced as fast as possible, were not fitted with radiation shielding even around the reactor. The ships were just not expected to last that long.

This extremely attritional attitude was what kept the Kalahan in production in one form or another, it's simple engineering being able to be made easily, already in mass production, and able to be upgraded easily, it has stayed relevant through sheer availability at least.

In modern times the ship is regarded as a disposable but effective vessel for various purposes, modified and adapted to plethora of roles.

Propulsion

Travel Type Capability Notes
High Impulse Yes Light and fast
Evasive Action Yes Primary defense method
System Cruise Yes Can fly between planets easily
Interstellar FTL No? Requires Jumpship

Ships Complement

5 Officers, 30 Crew.

Armament

4x2 Navy "400" Hybrid Guns

Considered a secondary armament, the Navy 400 is often used on frigate sized ships and below. Acting as a second weapon system against more agile targets.

Active Protection

Laser Ring PD

Equipped with a moderately extensive Laser Ring system, the Kalahan is equipped to intercept enemy munitions heading for itself or other ships nearby.

Passive Protection

Light Armor

Designed for speed, the Kalahan's armor plating is efficiently placed but not of great depth, providing protection from light weapons and collisions.

Damage Control Network

Through a system of skilled engineers, technology, and guts, Kalahans are surprisingly durable in a fight. Often able to remain combat effective after only short repair times in theatre. Field repairs in the midst of battle have allowed these ships to remain combat effective until complete destruction.

A fast attack ship, but can't land troops. Might not be the best plotship. - Jimmy

Inspirations

  • Eve Online frigates (Specifically the Crow)
  • spacecraft/chelti/kalahan.txt
  • Last modified: 2018/06/23 00:26
  • by jimmy