Gungnir class

Inscription on commissioning plaque:
"To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."

-- GEORGE WASHINGTON

Armaments: Seven pentawatt-class photon cannon (3 in two dorsal and one ventral turret); twenty-four phaser cannon coupled to multifunction array (output may be directed through photon cannon emitters, if desired); eight quantum torpedo launchers (6 fwd, 2 aft); 50 SARPEVs (2 squadrons).

Type: Battleship, Fire support

Status: Two Gungnir class vessels are currently operational, and four additional vessels are under construction. More will be produced if Starfleet perceives a need for them.

About Ship: The Gungnir class is the design settled upon by Starfleet Engineers, utilizing data gathered from field-testing the Longbow class prototypes.

In testing the longbow, the photon cannon armaments had adequate range and accuracy, but down-range power and rate of fire were judged inadequate. Since targeting accuracy was not a problem, the quickest means to increase down-range power was the simple expidient of increasing the power-handling capability of the cannon themselves, from 1 terawatt to over one pentawatt, a thousand-fold increase. As this improvement would adversely affect rate-of-fire, power generation capability of the vessel was upgraded as well (see below).

The Gungnir has quite large photon cannon, with an aperature 15 meters in diameter. Rate-of-fire was addressed partly by increasing the amount of available power and increasing the number of cannon which could be brought to bear at one time. While one cannon is firing, another may be charging up to fire, and another may recover from firing (a process that takes several seconds, despite extensive cooling in the new cannon design). A total of five cannon may be brought to bear in the forward firing arcs, two on the sides, and four in the aft. When using the Photon cannon, at least two SARPEVs are deployed with remote target aquisition system (RTAS) payloads to provide adequate fire control against targets farther than 2 astronomical Units (AU) distance. Alternately, the Gungnir may receive targeting data from a Strategic Mapping, Astrometric, Reconnaissance and Tactical Sensing (SMARTS) array, for even more precise targeting at extreme distances.

The Gungnir class is very heavily armed, with twenty-four phaser cannon and eight quantum torpedo launchers, in addition to the seven photon cannon. The phaser cannon output is coupled to the multifunction phased array, but, in an emergency, may be coupled to the photon cannon emitters. This does not increase the range or power of the phaser cannon, but allows targeting with a precision unavailable to the phased array emitters. Another advantage to this arrangement is that the output of all 24 photon cannon may be combined into a very powerful rapid-fire pulse for close-in work.

The hull is heavily armored with both conventional and ablative material. The outermost layer includes the latest version of the multifunction phased array. The configuration of this vessel does not lend itself to cloak-like stealth performance, but it is provided with a PIMESS system to enhance survivability.

The Gungnir is powered by four quad-core M/ARA coupled to a battery of quantum flywheels. Sub-light propulsion is provided by a standard fusion-type impulse engine augmented by gravitic slope modulators.