Frigate

Starship Types

A Frigate is a class of ships smaller than a Cruiser and with even lighter armament. Frigates are smaller than 10,000 tons, with most in the 1,000 to 2,000 ton range. Frigates mount only turret weapons, no spinal or bay mounted weapons. Frigates also lack the drive (acceleration and jump) capabilities of true warships.

A Frigate's primary mission is a defensive role. Providing extra security for merchant ships against pirates and light raiders. The frigate generally mounts enough firepower to defeat most armed merchants, but not enough to threaten a Cruiser or similar warship. Unlike an Escort, which is expected to be able to at least assist in combat with larger warships, most frigates are not.

The lack of firepower, drive capability, and generally armor, makes the frigates less expensive to build and maintain than warships, so they can be built and maintained in large numbers. Their ubiquity lends them to being applied to other missions, including piracy suppression, raiding, and ground support missions.

Many empires outside of the Imperium use Frigates for internal security missions, feeling that full warships are not needed for policing duties. The Imperial Navy uses Escorts for many of these duties.

A Frigate in the Royal Caledonian Navy is the equivalent of a "Cruiser" in Imperial parlance, and fills the Cruiser role.

Examples

Tech Level	Class	Tonnage	Jump
15	Ghent Class Medical Frigate	4,000	J-
13	K'Kree Rr'xighik'ker Class Frigate	5,000	J-1
13	Zhodani Shivva Class Patrol Frigate Alt 1	600	J-3
12	Caledonian Sunderland Class Heavy Frigate	40,000	J-3
12	Caledonian Dunfermline Class Light Frigate	22,000	J-3
12	Caledonian Edinburgh Class Light Frigate	20,000	J-2
12	Caledonian Kilbride Class Light Frigate	20,000
	Caledonian Antrim Class Heavy Frigate	42,000	J-3
	Caledonian Forfar Class Heavy Frigate	40,000	J-3
	Caledonian Montrose Class Light Frigate	20,000

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