User:CrimsonTacit/Sandbox/Vor'cha Class

Vor'cha Class
Information
Affiliation	Klingon Empire
Status	Active, In Production
Type	Battlecruiser
Role	Assault Vessel
Lineage
Preceding Class	K't'inga-class
Service
Operator	Klingon Defense Force
Entered Service	2367
Endurance
Expected Design Life	80 years
Expected Refit Cycle	10 years
Expected Resupply Cycle	2 years
Crew Capacity
Standard Complement	900
Emergency Capacity	5,000
Dimensions
Length	481.32 meters
Width	341.76 meters
Height	108.87 meters
Decks	26
Propulsion
Cruise Speed	Warp 8.5
Maximum Speed	Warp 9.5
Emergency Speed	Warp 9.85
Armaments
Energy Weapons	1x forward mounted heavy disrupter cannon 18x disruptor cannons
Torpedo Launchers	2 forward 2 aft
Torpedo Payload	250 Klingon torpedoes
Shields	Standard deflector shields
Small Craft
Shuttlebays	2
Shuttles	10
Template:Specification

The Vor'Cha-class battlecruiser is a large, powerful warship that has formed the core of the Klingon Defense Force Fleet since the middle of the 24th century. A natural evolution of the indefatigable K't'inga-class battlecruiser, this class entered service in the late 2360s and has been built in steadily increasing numbers in the intervening decades. These stalwart vessels are more than a match one-on-one for both Federation and Romulan medium-sized vessels, and they are used to support ground invasions, perform space superiority missions, and find new worlds for exploitation.

Science and Exploration

Vor'cha-class vessels are fully capable of performing detailed planetary surveys, but their labs and sensors are optimized for either identifying a planet's natural resources that would be useful for the Klingon economy or pinpointing the weaknesses in a society's military and defensive apparatus. Vessels like this aren't sent on "exploration" missions, per se, but they are a good size for "target identification" and "resource exploitation" patrols. In an unusual design choice for a Klingon starship, the Vor'cha sacrifices a modicum of armor along its neck section to house two lateral sensor arrays on either side of the ship, using a similar modular design to those found on Federation vessels to allow the ship to more easily deploy mission-specific equipment.

Diplomacy

First deployed as the Klingon Chancellor's flagship, Vor'cha-class vessels are as capable as any other large Klingon vessels of hosting dignitaries and providing spaces for ceremonial and diplomatic talks. In the Klingon context, this means that their armaments and aggressive design features are a massive bonus to their diplomatic capabilities, as the Klingon diplomatic philosophy is to always negotiate from a position of strength. These ships have several guest suites, a VIP suite for generals and other officials, and a dedicated ceremonial space that can be used as a throne room or banquet hall. Non-Klingons would find the accommodations on these ships spartan at best, though.

Engineering

While they appear extremely similar in overall arrangement to the standard battlecruiser arrangement that has become a signature of the Klingon military over centuries of use, the Vor'cha is an innovative design that relies much more on modular components than any other prior class. Some of the shipbuilding techniques used to design this class were created with limited partnerships with the Federation (and limited industrial espionage) to allow for reliable and durable connections between the primary spaceframe and two interchangeable modules: the forward section containing the ship's primary weapons systems and the aft module containing the ship's torpedo armaments. This functionality allows the Vor'cha to be kept up-to-date efficiently by simply swapping out its two most important sections for new ones without needing to take the rest of the ship offline to add more powerful weapons systems. Similar technology is in use on Federation Nebula-class exploratory cruisers.

The rest of the Vor'cha spaceframe is robust, with heavy structural reinforcements in the neck section to remove it as a tactical vulnerability. The warp engines were built with reliability and combat survivability over peak performance. Though they have continued to be updated over the decades, they remain slower than their Federation counterparts like the Inquiry-class exploratory cruiser. The ship's impulse engines are also powerful and reliable, providing the Vor'cha with the speed and agility necessary to keep up with the smaller B'Rel that it is so often paired with.