Starship Technology

Magnetic Drive
The Magnetic Drive is a method of traveling faster than the speed of light which does not involve the use of mass relays or Element Zero. The basic principle involved from long to short ranged jump within the space surrounding the spacecraft. Aside from the widely used Mass Effect Drive in Citadel space, the Magnetic Drive is the preferred method of FTL travel of many races including the Skinnies, Terrans, and Pseudo-Arachnids.

Magnetic Drive relies on a form of magnetic phase shift that protects a vessel and insulates it from the mass-increasing effects of relativistic speeds in physical space. A ship in this state cannot be harmed by debris unless it comes across something with significantly more solid mass then the ship, as gravity is the only thing that can affect a ship in this state.

This also causes another problem, as the Magnetic Drive is most effective in the galactic "sweet zone", the galactic core's gravity affects the drive and how fast the ship can go, the further from it they go the faster they can move, and the closer the slower. While this is only measured in percentiles, this can mean the difference between a 5 day journey or a 6 day journey.

Magnetic Drive starship requires hydrogen fuel as its main source of energy generation. While this is stored in large tanks that run along the armored underside of most vessels, a starship's primary means of fueling itself for any transit is the atomic scoop mounted to all ships that are expected to make voyages between stars (as opposed to intersystem ships that never leave the orbital rings of a given star). This induction device takes in stray elements in the form of gas, and fractures the atoms into hydrogen atoms, taking the energy from the fracking and the burning of the atoms. In this way, starships in motion generate some of their own required fuel, but this is not always possible. Dark matter is commonly collected, and is the most common fuel source.

Mass Effect Drive
The Mass Effect Drive worked by exposing element zero to electric currents, creating mass effect fields. It reduces the mass of the starship, to a point where velocities faster than the speed of light are possible. With a mass effect drive, roughly a dozen light-years can be traversed in the course of a day's cruise without bending space-time and causing time dilation.

The precise maximum speed and the time this acceleration can be maintained varies depending on the exact type of FTL drive being used. In general, the larger the drive, the longer the ship can run at FTL.

The amount of eezo and power required for a drive increases exponentially to the mass being moved and the degree it is being lightened. Very massive ships or very high speeds are prohibitively expensive.

If the field collapses while the ship is moving at faster-than-light speed, the effects are catastrophic. The ship is snapped back to sublight velocity, the enormous excess energy shed in the form of lethal Cherenkov radiation.

Thermonuclear Turbine
A combination of Cherenkov fusion thermonuclear reaction with conventional jet engine design. Instead of burning fossil fuels or fissile materials to heat intake air and provide thrust, the fusion turbine engines use the immense heat generated by the ionized thermonuclear reaction in the core of the engine.

This technology enables the fighters to circumvent the need for large fuel tanks and the thrust limitations of air-breathing turbines allowing smaller engines to produce far more thrust using considerably less fuel.

The practical benefits of thermonuclear fusion turbine engines are very important. A few hundred gallons of hydrogen fuel are sufficient enough to enable starfighters to continuously generate hundreds of megawatts of power for their on-board systems, to have a near infinite range for atmospheric flight, to go several days before needing field maintenance if necessary, to achieve superior performance than conventionally-powered jets, and enabled the fighter to maneuver in space and even operate slightly underwater.

Federation Ion-based turbines electrically accelerates charged particles as a reaction mass. They are extremely efficient, but produce negligible thrust. They are mainly used in a combination with fusion rocket thrusters to create a thermonuclear turbine, though their usage in space is very fuel-consuming and severely reduces their range, often required external fuel tanks and booster rockets. In particular space combat requires many "Maneuvering nozzles" so that the ship can dogfight in space efficiently.

Fusion Torchs
Eezo-based starships often use "fusion torch", a type of rocket engine which vents the plasma of a ship's power plant. Fusion torches offer powerful acceleration at the cost of difficult heat management. Torch fuel is fairly cheap: helium-3 skimmed from gas giants and deuterium extracted from seawater or cometary bodies. Propellant is hydrogen, likewise skimmed from gas giants.

In combat, military vessels require accelerations beyond the capability of fusion torches. Warship thrusters inject antiprotons into a reaction chamber filled with hydrogen. The matter-antimatter annihilation provides unmatched motive power. The drawback is fuel production; antiprotons must be manufactured one particle at a time. Most antimatter production is done at massive solar arrays orbiting energetic stars, making them high-value targets in wartime.

The exhaust of fusion and antiproton drives is measured in millions of degrees Celsius. Any vessel caught behind them will melt like wax in a blowtorch.

Any long-duration interstellar flight consists of two phases: acceleration and deceleration. Starships accelerate to the half-way point of their journey, then flip 180 degrees and apply thrust on the opposite vector, decelerating as they finish the trip. The engines are always operating, and peak speed is attained at the middle of the flight.

APLC (Anti-Plasma and Laser Composite) Coating
Federation ships have armor designed to take a hit from a plasma bug using a steel alloy frame with 2 inch panels, above that there is a 4 inch panel of Ceramic armor running the length of the ship, layered on top of that is a coating designed to dispel or absorb the heat from plasma and laser based attacks. While sufficient against micrometeoroid and small meteors, large scale kinetic attacks, like ramming, have proven... Disastrous.

Kinetic Barriers
Kinetic barriers, colloquially called "shields", provide protection against most mass accelerator weapons. Whether on a starship or a soldier's suit of armor, the basic principle remains the same.

Kinetic barriers are repulsive mass effect fields projected from tiny emitters. These shields safely deflect small objects traveling at rapid velocities. This affords protection from bullets and other dangerous projectiles, but still allows the user to sit down without knocking away their chair.

Despite these good attributes, shielding afforded by kinetic barriers fare extremely poor against extremes of temperature, toxins, or radiation, and most importantly energy-based weapons, which could easily bypass these shields. Lasers in particular can be used to snipe these emitters, disrupting the barrier and opening up defenses for attackers to exploit, it has become common practice therefore to randomize the positions of these emitters as much as possible ship by ship.

Ablative Coating
A warship's kinetic barriers reduce the damage from solid objects, but can do nothing to block GARDIAN lasers, particle beams, and other forms of Directed Energy Weapon (DEW). The inner layer of warship protection consists of ablative armor plate designed to vaporize when heated. The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual. This method however was apparently less effective against Federation and Skinnie High-output laser cannons and Pseudo-Arachnids Plasma-based weapons as most of these weapons have higher intensity ratings compared to the Point Defense GARDIAN lasers, designed to brute force their way through much thicker specialized plating.

A scaffold was built around the interior pressure hull, with sheets of ablative armor hung from the structure. Ships typically have multiple layers of armor separated by empty baffles, spaces often used for cargo storage. Cruisers, which lack the internal space to fit dedicated fighter hangars, store the shipboard fighter complement in the baffles. It is not unknown for enlisted crew to build illicit alcohol distilleries in some obscure corner of the baffles, safe from prying eyes.

Silaris Anti-laser Coating
Asari-made Silaris coating can resist Federation Lasers and Pseudo-Arachnids Plasma weapons to a limited degree. Its one of the best starship protection available but its high procurement cost prevented the wide-usage on larger warships.

The armor is nearly unsurpassed in strength because its central material, carbon nanotube sheets woven with diamond Chemical Vapor Deposition, are crushed by mass effect fields into super-dense layers able to withstand extreme temperatures. That process also compensates for diamond's brittleness.

Diamond armor itself has two limiting disadvantages. First, while nanotubes and CVD-diamond construction have become cheaper in recent years, it remains prohibitively expensive to coat starships or aircraft larger than fighters in Silaris material. Second, the armor must be attached to the ship's superstructure, so shock waves from massive firepower such as nuclear weaponry or mass drivers can still destroy the superstructure beneath the armor itself.

A popular misconception holds that the diamond composition of Silaris armor gives it a sparkle. In fact, atmospheric nitrogen impurities during the super-hot forging process give the armor a metallic gray or yellow sheen.

Laser Beam Cannons
The Terran Federation's Navy uses energy weapons on most ships, including Fast Attack Ships and John A.Warden Class Dreadnoughts, as well as on most defense installations. These directed energy laser cannons are amongst the most powerful naval weapons of the era, rivaling the Citadel's Mass Accelerator cannons.

They come in two classes, High and Low density, called as such for the density of focusing lenses, the higher density has further reach but lacks stopping power, while low density weapons scatter more, diffusing the beam but inflicting greater plasma damage against ships.

As of the Third Bug War, laser cannons are still the primary shipboard artillery on most Federation warships. Their combat proven effectiveness against well armored Bug ships and capabilities to bypass kinetic barriers have been among the few reasons why they're still in service and constantly upgraded.

The Petolemaic Hegemony, also known as "Skinnies" also extensively uses energy weapons on their warships, the Skinnies in general have a better understanding of shipboard laser weapon technology, but due to their war-torn conditions and fragmented society, their naval weapon developments are inconsistent and often found in maligned conditions due to lack of maintenance and training.

One major disadvantage of Ship-mounted lasers is that the beam could become vulnerable to strong magnetic fields, which could easily disperse the beam and eventually cause a loss in coherence.

Mass Accelerators
A mass accelerator propels a solid metal slug using precisely-controlled electromagnetic attraction and repulsion. The slug is designed to squash or shatter on impact, increasing the energy it transfers to the target. If this were not the case, it would simply punch a hole right through, doing minimal damage.

Accelerator design was revolutionized by element zero. A slug lightened by a mass effect field can be accelerated to greater speeds, permitting projectile velocities that were previously unattainable. If accelerated to a high enough velocity, a simple paint chip can impact with the same destructive force as a nuclear weapon. However, mass accelerators produce recoil equal to their impact energy. This is mitigated somewhat by the mass effect fields that rounds are suspended within, but weapon recoil is still the prime limiting factor on slug velocity. A popular saying in Terran lexicon goes, "Can neva' 'ave enuff dakka."

Plasma cannons
Bug plasma is a form of super concentrated super heated acid that is ignited upon firing. Used for both anti orbital fire, and artillery on Mobile Infantry positions, plasma bugs are rightly feared for their mobility and numbers. In addition, the Scorpion Bug fires direct-energy blast of plasma against troopers and obstacles. However the Scorpion's plasma is many times weaker than that of the Plasma bug's.

It is known that Bug Living Ships also have some form of up-scaled Plasma-based weaponry, how these weapons work is still a mystery for Federation researchers.

Exactly how the Bugs are able to contain and fire plasma is unknown, because usually the plasma is so hot that electromagnets are required to hold it and plasma particles tend to quickly disperse in an atmosphere due to friction from air. It is theorized the fuel is produced in the bug, which uses mucus similar to many mammal's lungs and stomachs.

GARDIAN Close-in laser defense system
A ships' General ARea Defense Integration Anti-spacecraft Network (GARDIAN) consists of anti-missile/anti-fighter laser turrets on the exterior hull. Because these are under computer control, the gunnery control officer needs to do little beyond turn the system on and designate targets as hostile.

Since lasers move at light speed, they cannot be dodged by anything moving at non-relativistic speeds. Unless the beam is aimed poorly, it will always hit its target. In the early stages of a battle, the GARDIAN fire is 100% accurate. It is not 100% lethal, but it doesn't have to be. Damaged fighters must break off for repairs.

Lasers are limited by diffraction. The beams "spread out", decreasing the energy density (watts per m^2) the weapon can place on a target. With the exception of Federation lasers, any high-powered laser is a short-ranged weapon.

GARDIAN networks have another limitation: heat. Weapons-grade lasers require "cool-down" time, during which heat is transferred to sinks or radiators. As lasers fire, heat builds within them, reducing damage, range, and accuracy.

Fighters attack in swarms. The first few WILL be hit by GARDIAN, but as the battle continues, the effects of laser overheat allow the attacks to press ever closer to the ship. Constant use will burn out the laser.

GARDIAN lasers typically operate in infrared frequencies. Shorter frequencies would offer superior stopping power and range, but degradation of focal arrays and mirrors would make them expensive to maintain, and most prefer mechanical reliability over bleeding-edge performance where lives are concerned. Salarians, however, use near-ultraviolet frequency lasers with six times the range, believing that having additional time to shoot down incoming missiles is more important.

Lasers are not blocked by the kinetic barriers of capital ships. However, the range of point defense lasers limits their use to rare "knife fight"-range ship-to-ship combat. Exceptions to this include Federation high output laser cannons, Petolemaiac shipboard lasers and Salarian ultraviolet lasers which possess similar range and firepower comparable to Eezo based mass accelerators.

Micro Missiles
A small type of guided ordinances used on Federation warships and starfighters, these missiles are smaller than their 21st Century counterparts but pack much more powerful High-Explosive Warheads. The advancements in technology have enabled smaller missiles with less than 25cm diameter which in turn, enabled fighters to carry more missiles for their internal ordnance bay. These missiles use a large variety of payloads, from nuclear weapons to dummy rockets.

Planet Cracking Bomb
Also known as the NOVA Bomb, this quantum accelerated fusion bomb is one of the many WMDs utilized by the Federation as the last resort and deterrent weapon against the Arachnids. Unlike conventional Nuclear ordnance, the ship-board NOVA bomb was designed to be dropped from Orbital level to attain hyper-sonic speed before penetrating deep beneath the planet crust and detonating the core, which in turn causes an internal explosion which can cause the entire planet to blow apart and shatter.

Yielding at 50 million gigatons, this weapon remains one of the most destructive WMDs in existence. The Federation however have no qualms in using these weapons against the Arachnids, which was demonstrated in their first official use on Klendathu in the Second Bug War to clear off the Arachnid Infestation in the system. They admit to maintain a stockpile of the weapons, however the total remains unknown.

Javelin Anti-ship Missile Launcher
The Javelin is an experimental close-assault weapon fitted on a handful of Alliance warships. It consists of a "rack" of two or more disposable disruptor torpedo tubes bolted or magnetically "slung" on to a ship’s exterior armored hull. The torpedoes are fired on converging trajectories, and detonate in a precisely timed sequence that allows the dark energy emitted by their warheads to resonate. This magnifies the resulting space-time warp effects.

Javelin mounts are most often fitted on swift frigates, which expect to enter "knife fight" torpedo ranges as a matter of course. Javelins may also be fitted on heavier ships during short range engagements, such as trans-relay assaults. They are particularly useful in this role for dreadnoughts, which are unable to lay their main guns on targets at close range.

Passive Sensors
"Light lag" prevents sensing in real time at great distances. A ship firing its thrusters at the Charon Relay can be easily detected from Earth, 5.75 light-hours (six billion kilometers) away, but Earth will only see the event five hours and 45 minutes after it occurs. Due to the light-speed limit, defenders can't see enemies coming until they have already arrived. Because there is FTL travel and communications but no FTL sensors, frigates are crucial for scouting and picket duties.

Passive sensors are used for long-range detection, while active sensors obtain short-range, high quality targeting data.

Passive sensors include visual, thermographic, and radio detectors that watch and listen for objects in space. A powered ship emits a great deal of energy; the heat of the life support systems; the radiation given off by power plants and electrical equipment; the exhaust of the thrusters. Starships stand out plainly against the near-absolute zero background of space. Passive sensors can be used during FTL travel, but incoming data is significantly distorted by the effect of the mass effect envelope and Doppler shift.

Active sensors are radars and high resolution ladars (LAser Detection And Ranging) that emit a "ping" of energy and "listen" for return signals. Ladars have a narrower field of view than radar, but ladar resolution allows images of detected objects to be assembled. Active sensors are useless when a ship is moving at FTL speeds.

Heat Management
Dispersal of heat generated by onboard systems is a critical issue for a ship. If it cannot deal with heat, the crew may be cooked within the hull.

Radiation is the only way to shed heat in a vacuum for most Citadel ships. Civilian vessels utilize large, fragile radiator panels that are impossible to armor. Warships use Diffuse Radiator Arrays (DRA), ceramic strips along the exterior of the armored hull. These make the ship appear striped to thermographic sensors. Since the arrangement of the strips depends on the internal configuration of the ship, the patterns for each vessel are unique and striking. On older ships, the DRA strips could become red- or white-hot. Dubbed "tiger stripes" or "war paint" by humans, the glowing DRA can have a psychological impact on pirates and irregular forces, who are typically undisciplined enough to allow high quality camera footage of their opponents be visible.

Strip radiators are not as efficient as panels, but if damaged by enemy fire, the ship only loses a small portion of its total radiation capacity. In most cases, a vessel's DRA alone allows it to cruise with no difficulties. Operations deep within solar systems can cause problems.

A ship engaged in combat can produce titanic amounts of heat from maneuvering burns and weapons fire. When fighting in a high heat environment, warships employ high-efficiency "droplet" heat sinks.

In a droplet system, tanks of liquid sodium or lithium absorb heat within the ship. The liquid is vented from spray nozzles near the bow as a thin sheet of millions of micrometer-scale droplets. The droplets are caught at the stern and recycled into the system. A droplet system can sink 10-100 times as much heat as DRA strips.

Droplet sheets resemble a surface ship's wake through water. The wake peels out in sharp turns, spreading a fan of droplets as the ship changes vectors and leaves the coolant behind.

Federation ships are noted to produce significantly less heat then Citadel based designs, this is primarily because of their usage of laser weaponry, and "Ballast" tanks for maneuvering in emergencies. This is not to say these ships are superior, but previous Terran Design for ships were literally so fragile that such heat build up could not be tolerated as the heat expansion of the materials would have the possibility of forming stress fractures and then tearing the ship apart.

Federation ships make use of extensive pipe systems that move through the entire ship, containing large amounts of coolants that is constantly pumped through the ship, many Terran designs have unusual thin fins and scaffolding that bear host to a variety of practical equipment uses, but are primarily there to radiate the coolant in open space away from the ship. The system, while primitive, is effective enough for Federation designs.