Designation: Mercury-class guided missile battleship (BBG)

I. Names and Disposition:

Mercury:

These ships were recovered incomplete on the building ways at the L5 lunar shipyard and completed.

Mercury B flight:

Constructed at the L5 shipyards.

II. Ship's complement:

• Full crew of 1,046 men
• Naval air group of 825 men
• Army regiment of 3,000 men

NOTE: life support capabilities are far in excess of the intended regular complement due to an evacuation capacity requirement of up to 6,400 humans.

III. Dimensions:

Length:	m
Width:	m
Height:	m
Dry Mass:	1,264,000 metric tons, operational
Fuel Mass:	136,000 metric tons total

IV. Propulsion Systems:

• Main power system: RRG Mk. 16D Reflex furnace array. The power plant of the Mercury can deliver up to 5.82 petawatts of power, and can operate at maximum power for up to 70 minutes before overheating and automatic shutdown.
• Maneuvering thrusters (8): Westinghouse LSP-37 fusion-plasma reaction thruster clusters mounted on the bottom, top, and sides of the main hull, halfway to the bow and the stern.
• Reaction-mass thrusters (6): Westinghouse RT-82 fusion-plasma reaction thrusters with protoculture energizer. Four of these engines are mounted in a diamond configuration in the rear of the main hull; and one in each side sponson.
• Secondary reaction thrusters (4): Westinghouse RT-80Z fusion-plasma reaction thrusters with protoculture energizer in the rear of the main hull.
• Anti-gravity system (1): 24 RRG Titan anti-gravity pods.
• Spacefold drive (1): RRG Mk9 spacefold. drive This system generates a spherical fold bubble and can transport 30 to 40 subluminal ships in its fold radius.
• Planetary Capabilities: The Mercury-class has atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity system. The ships' structure has sufficient strength to let the ship land; however, any particle gun turrets under the hull would be crushed by the weight and, without previous preparation on the ground, damage to the hangars will occur. Therefore, when landing its troops, the ships are advised to generate a -99% of the local gravity counterforce with their anti-gravity systems. Note that the ground underneath should still be as firm as possible. The ship will float in an ocean, and this is the preferred landing method for extended planetary operations. Unfortunately, the main hangars access doors will be submerged.

V. Endurance and mobility limits:

• The dry stores endurance is limited to about 2 years; the on-board recycling installations are very extensive, and only incidental biomass losses need to be replenished. Water stores are recycled almost completely. The hydroponics installations on board will provide the crew with a steady, albeit not self-sufficient, supply of fresh foods.
• The Navy mecha consumables supplies (mainly missiles) are very extensive, and can sustain continuous combat operations for over twenty days.
• The Army division consumables supplies are extensive, and can sustain continuous planetary combat operations for up to twenty days.
• Ship-launched missile magazines will likely last for one or two major engagement or five small skirmishes.
• The Reflex furnace can function for about 30 years at normal usage levels before an energizer rebuild is necessary.
• At full power, the main propulsion systems can produce up to 34.5 Giganewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as little as 1.34 Giganewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
• At full power, the Mercury-class can achieve a maximum Δ-v of 204 kps at the cruising acceleration of 0.1 gees, a maximum Δ-v of 40.8 kps at the battle acceleration of 1.0 gees, and a Δ-v of at most 11.4 kps at the flank acceleration of 2.5 gees. At lower power levels, these ranges are commensurately smaller.
• The fold systems are not navigationally guaranteed for any single jump beyond 10 kiloparsecs. If longer voyages are required, the ships must conduct multiple fold jumps.
• The maximum sustained atmospheric speed is limited to subsonic values. During a re-entry, the ship will exceed this, but flight control is sluggish and the speed is always reduced to subsonic speeds as soon as possible. The maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems is limited only by the protoculture supplies and maintenance requirements.

VI. Weapon sytems:

Offensive:

• PB-135 particle beam system. This is a twin-barreled particle beam cannon mounting two emitter housings with rectangular barrels on a pillar-style main housing. It otherwise resembles an enlarged PB-45. It can deliver 13,500 MJ of particle energy every 5 seconds at maximum output, with synchronized barrels. Fire rate can be increased by staggering barrel sequence; however, total energy per salvo is divided by the total number of barrels. Maximum effective range is 300,000 km.
• PB-75 particle beam system. This is a quad-barreled particle beam cannon in a large cubic housing. It resembles an enlarged PB-25. It can deliver 7,500 MJ of particle energy every 4 seconds at maximum output, with synchronized barrels. Fire rate can be increased by staggering barrel sequence; however, total energy per salvo is divided by the total number of barrels. Maximum effective range is 300,000 km.
• RL36 particle beam system. This is a tri-barrel particle beam cannon with three barrels protruding from a low lying round turret. It can deliver 6,000 MJ of particle energy every three seconds. Fire rate can be increased by staggering barrel sequence; however, total energy per salvo is divided by the total number of barrels. Maximum effective range is 300,000 km.
• 4 x LT-41 laser turret. This is a large caliber laser cannon mounting a protruding barrel in a low-lying round turret. It can deliver 4,000 MJ of laser energy every 2.5 seconds. Maximum effective range is 300,000 km.
• 4 x PB-25 particle beam system. This is a quad-barreled particle beam cannon in a large cubic housing, mounting four tapering barrels on each of the four quadrants of the forward face. It can deliver 2,500 MJ of particle energy every second at maximum output, with synchronized barrels. Fire rate can be increased by staggering barrel sequence; however, total energy per salvo is divided by the total number of barrels. Maximum effective range is 300,000 km.
• 4 x LT-15 laser turret. This is a twin-barreled laser cannon mounting two protruding barrels in a low-lying round turret. It can deliver 1,500 MJ of particle energy every two seconds at maximum output, with synchronized barrels. Fire rate can be increased by staggering barrel sequence; however, total energy per salvo is divided by the total number of barrels. Maximum effective range is 300,000 km.
• 4 x SRS-3 missile launch system. This is a launch system for the Skylord and Starlord missiles consisting of three launch ramps and a 15-missile magazine.
• 4 x SMS-12 vertical missile launch system. This is a set of two rows of six missile tubes set into the ship's hull, firing the Spacelord or Sunlord SLBMs.

Point defenses:

• 16 x Oerlikon PD-4 point defense turret. The PD-4 is a quad barreled laser cannon, with an on-mount multi-spectral sensor. Designed for point defense against mecha, missiles and small vessels, the PD-4 delivers 40 MJ of laser energy eight times per second.
• 4 x SPS-12 missile launch racks. This is a �pepperbox� missile launch system for use with the Warhawk and Wareagle missiles consisting of two rows of six launch tubes. This launcher must be manually reloaded; however, the mount can be retracted inside the hull of a ship and reloaded from a storage magazine.
• 8 x SPS-18 missile launch racks. This is a �pepperbox� missile launch system for use with the Warhawk and Wareagle missiles consisting of three rows of six launch tubes. This launcher must be manually reloaded; however, the mount can be retracted inside the hull of a ship and reloaded from a storage magazine.

VII. Air group and mecha complement:

VIII. Major systems:

• Westinghouse AN/OPY-200 passive electronically scanned radar system.
• Tele-Lite AN/OXC-200 encrypted television communication transmitter and receiver.
• RRG DS-1 Pinpoint Barrier Defense System: Uses four movable disks of force field, conformal to the ship's surface, to repel light torpedo attacks, or particle beam fire.

IX. Notes:

X. History:

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