4.3 Kzinti Patrol Cruiser

SPACESHIPS KZINTI PATROL CRUISER THE EARTH-KZIN WARS (2049-2065)

The Kzinti patrol cruiser was the most commonly encountered type of Kzinti vesse l during the four Earth Kzin Wars. It was extremely agile desp ite its size due to its polarized graviton drive system. In contrast to Terr an “brute force” sublight engines, this worked by manipulating the local gravity fields around the ship. Kzinti ships could maintain cruising speeds of 0.70c and emergency sublight bursts of up to 0.90c. They were also capable of planetary landings, something that few Terran “heavies” at the time could do. The one flaw in a Kzinti patrol ship, though, was the same thing that made it such a slippery opponent. There was no form of protection for its graviton drive’s main cooling vent and the ship’s weapon arcs were not designed to cover it. The Kzinti never bothered to address this issue, choosing to produce more ships instead and hoping that sheer numbers would win out over Terran doggedness. It didn’t.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Length: …………………………………….. 248 m Diameter: …..…………….………………… 185 m Mass: ……………………………..….. 15,000 DWT Crew …………………………………………… 65 Range: ……………………………. 10 years at L.Y.V.? Maximum safe speed: ………………………… 0.90c Armament: ………………….……… 2 forward lasers at least 200 fusion-style missiles Innovations: • First Kzinti starship design ever encountered

SCHEMATIC:

KZINTI PATROL CRUISER BY PAUL LLOYD AS REDRAWN BY RICHARD MANDE L KZINTI DESTROYER THE EARTH-KZIN WARS (2049-2065)

These were the largest vessels ever fielded by the Kzinti during the war. This was the one Kzinti capital ship class that could literally make mincemeat out of any UESF ship that crossed its path – provided it had time to charge and fire its graviton gun. A graviton gun was used to hull the L-5 space colony Brynner City during the Second Earth-Kzin War, killing almost its entire population in the process. This formidable weapon would also eventually prove to be its downfall, though. It took almost 1½ minutes to prime the weapon for firing, though, during which time the ship was incapable of using its jump drive or firing its other beam weapons. Human particle beam cannon, while having neither the range nor firepower, could recharge in a matter of seconds and were almost as effective in close combat. UESF starships could easily close to combat range and open fire with their particle cannon while a Kzinti destroyer was still waiting to charge up its graviton gun. The Kzinti eventually figured out a way for destroyers to fire their graviton guns on a half-charge; however, by then the humans had gained the upper hand in both technology and tactics. All surviving Kzinti destroyers were scrapped per the terms of the Treaty of Sirius in 2066.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Length: …………………………………….. 329 m Diameter: …..…………….………………… 162 m Mass: ……………………….…….….. 73,850 DWT Crew ………………………… 40 (plus @100 troops) Range: …………………………... 10 years at L.Y.V. Maximum safe speed: ………………………… 0.95c Armament: ………………….……… 8 turreted lasers graviton gun at least 400 fusion-style missiles

SCHEMATIC:

DESIGN CONCEPT BY ATOLM

- 14 -