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AAM Orca Mk. I

(Reactors and weapons loaded for survival!


Shortly after receiving an intelligence report on the CEU's Vulture Guided Missile Boat, the Joint Provincial Admiralty convened an emergency closed session. The contents of the meeting were classified, but within a week, AAM had received a Request for Proposal from the Joint Provincial Fleet. The RFP laid out the specifications for a fast, agile ship capable of delivering heavy damage rapidly to lightly armored targets, such as fast attack craft. To industry insiders, the subtext was clear: the Confederation was worried about ships like the Vulture, and wanted a solution.

The Orca is that solution.

The U-Con's first ultra-fast attack craft, the Orca falls somewhere in size between a typical FAC and a corvette. Its interior is extremely spartan, consisting only of a forward cabin with sleeping tubes for the crew, and a first aid station immediately aft. A compact airlock allows access to the ship on the port side.

The interior is as cramped as it is because the bulk of the ship's internal volume is occupied by three tanks of fuel for the hydrogen-based propulsion system. These engines give the Orca the formidable acceleration it needs to intercept FAC-style craft before they can pose a threat to the capital ships of a formation. Some of the remaining space is taken up by a jump drive, allowing the Orca to escort craft on long-range missions.

Once the Orca enters weapons range of its target, it opens fire with four heavy gatling arrays. These clustered gatling guns strip light armor from another vessel very rapidly; the Orca only needs a few seconds to disable most fast attack craft. The Orca also features a pair of gatling turrets to deal with strike craft, and a pair of rocket launchers for hardened targets.

Because the Orca is a comparatively light craft, it is capable of operating within planetary gravity fields, though its flight time is limited due to its hydrogen engines. It is sometimes deployed to provide fire support for infantry; to allow it to better fulfill this role, the ventral surface features eight anti-personnel turrets.

Since the design's entry to the market, the Orca has proven to be particularly popular with customs enforcement, the craft's combination of speed, firepower, and low cost making it an appealing option.

Mass: 630,926 kg
Powerplant: 60 MW [4 small reactors, 2 batteries]
Gyroscopes: 6
Time to max velocity: 3.3 seconds
Acceleration: 30.3 m/sec^2
Maximum jump distance: 2,000 km
Armament: 2 rocket launchers, 2 gatling turrets, 8 anti-personnel turrets
Refinery Facilities: No
Assembler Facilities: Yes
Medical Facilities: Yes
Artificial Gravity: Yes
Small Craft Complement: NA
Length: 80 meters
Width: 52.5 meters
Height: 15 meters