Rear Admiral
- Intent: To create an escort frigate for the Eternal Fleet/Eternal Empire
- Image Source: Artstation Page - Ansel Hsiao - Headers by Kainan Wolfe
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions:
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Karavin Concern
- Affiliation: Eternal Empire
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Ashkelon-class Escort Frigate
- Production: Minor (Eternal Empire Only)
- Material: Durasteel, Tritanium, Glasteel, Ship Components
- Classification: Escort/fleet support frigate
- Length: 400 Meters
- Width: 140 Meters
- Height: 140 Meters
- Armament: High
- (8) Light Flak Cannons
- (4) Medium Flak Cannons
- (4) Light Turbolasers
- (2) Quad Turbolasers
- (2) Light Ion Cannons
- (20) KC-A301 Point Defense Batteries
- Defenses: Average
- Durasteel armor plating with Tritanium reinforcement along joints and key hardpoints
- Military Grade Shield Generator
- Military Grade EWAR Countermeasure Suite
- Light Sensor Jammers (Effective against starfighters and small corvette-class ships, less effective against equivalent frigates, completely ineffective against cruisers and above.)
- Hangar Space: Very High: - 4
- Hangar Allocations:
- Starfighters: 3 squadrons
- Support Craft: 1 squadrons
- Single Craft Hangar: N/A
- Maneuverability Rating: Low
- Speed Rating: Low
- Hyperdrive: Class 2.5 (Average)
Life Support
- Military Grade Medbay
- Military Grade Oxygen Supply System
- Bulkhead System
- Artificial Gravity
- EWAR Countermeasure Suite
- Military Grade Shield Generator
- Durasteel/Tritanium Armor
- Surge Protection (Protects Electronics against EMP attacks)
- Point Defense Batteries
- Flak Batteries
- Standard Military Grade Maneuvering Thruster Suite
- Standard Hyper Drive Unit
- Standard Subspace Thruster Array
- Quad Ion Engines
- Standard Bridge Computer Suite
- Standard Damage Assessment and Control Mainframe
- System Diagnostic Computer
- Unified Computer System
- Electronic Countermeasure Suite
- Military Grade Reactor
- Reactor Overload Stabilizers
- Ancillary Backup Reactor
- Light Sensor Jammers
- Picket Specialist The Ashkelon Class is a classic ‘picket frigate’ design, capable of decimating starfighter & small craft formations via its plethora of flak cannons effective at mid ranges, and in picking apart survivors with its myriad of point defenses. It’s light sensor jammers are specifically designed to also dampen the effectiveness of smaller craft, severely distorting effective target locks while within the ship’s proximity.
- Corvette Killer: While it’s primary role within a fleet would be to provide sorely needed countermeasures against fighter-craft, the Ashkelon is also very well suited to directly countering corvette and frigate class vessels with its turbolaser batteries in a defensive posture, remaining within formation of larger vessels to minimize its lack of manueverability.
- Stout: For a frigate, the Ashkelon is stout enough given its joints contain a tritanium alloy. While it cannot be considered more durable than ships outside of its class, for a frigate, it is quite dependable.
- Slow & Cumbersome: Compared to other frigate class vessels, the Ashkelon is a bit on the slow and sluggish side. It can still keep up with ships of larger ratings easily enough, but is easily outpaced by more assault-oriented frigates.
- Smaller Caliber: As stated previously, the Ashkelon is meant to serve the role of a support/escort frigate, not an assault frigate. While it’s weaponry is not necessarily useless in fighting larger craft, it cannot be expected to hold its own when combined with its comparative lack of manueverability. Even Though it can provide some level of fire support against cruisers or larger-class ships, its firepower pales in comparison to assault frigates designed for such roles.
The Ashkelon is a sorely-needed addition to the Eternal Fleet, as previously the Empire did not have a serviceable escort ship outside of the larger Mordekai-class Cruiser. Therefore, Karavin Concern’s R&D department received a special requisition order for a slightly smaller, more specialized ship to fill the gaps apparent within the Fleet’s active service vessels. After reaching out to fleet officers with field experience demonstrating the glaring weaknesses of the Imperial Fleet, the Ashkelon was born. Boasting an intimidating array of flak cannons, point defense batteries, and a specially fitted ‘light sensor jammer’ which severely handicaps the ability of such small craft to effectively acquire targeting solutions for guided missiles and torpedoes, this formidable frigate is feared amongst starfighter pilots belonging to the Empire’s enemies.
Given the relative ease of production, this frigate has been recently seen in abundance within fleet formations and within Eternal Empire space patrolling trade lanes in an effort to counter the fast moving raider-type craft used by pirates and insurgents alike. The beauty of this ship is the apparent simplicity in its design, and the utilitarianism required to fulfill the needs of the smaller Empire in the face of threats from larger opposing fleets. While it is relatively slow moving and cumbersome compared to other more assault-oriented frigates, the Ashkelon-class still has adequate ability to keep up with the larger vessels it is meant to support, and further makes up for this weakness with a very large hangar bay for its class.
All of this renders the Ashkelon as the perfect escort frigate for the Eternal Fleet, with its reliable reputation quickly establishing it as a must-have complement to larger, more cumbersome star destroyers.
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