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Riviera-class Space Resort Vessel (SRV)

Names and Disposition:

(NNS = Newport News Shipyard)

Ships' Complement:

• Ships' crew (1000 men)
• Space Naval air group (80 men)
• Space Marine unit (3000 men)
• Civilians (70,000 men)
• Life support limits are for a full combat complement and about 480,000 supernumeraries (500,000 men total).

Note: The given numbers are approximations; the exact number of personnel varied somewhat due to operational realities and different ships.

Dimensions:

• Length: 3300 meters without Nile-class Carrier
              4800 meters with Nile-class Carrier
• Height: 1200 meters overall
• Width: 3000 meters overall
• Fuel Mass: 1,150,000,000 metric tons
• Operational mass (typical): 10,700,000,000 metric tons without Nile-class Carrier
                                           10,712,500,000 metric tons with Nile-class Carrier

Propulsion Systems:

• Main power system: RRD Mk 9 anti-matter-fueled Reflex furnace. The powerplant can deliver up to 20 Exawatts of power, and can operate for ten hours at maximum power before overheat initiates autoshutdown.
• Maneuvering thrusters (60): Overtechnology MRT-05 fusion-plasma reaction thruster clusters with steerable nozzles mounted across the hull of the ship.
• Reaction-mass thrusters (10): Rolls Royce MRE-12 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer. These engines are mounted in the engine blocks of the ship five per block.
• Secondary thrusters (20): Pratt&Whitney ARE-7 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer mounted on top and below the main engines, ten per block.
• Anti-gravity system: 300 Europa Drive Minotuar anti-gravity pods.
• Sublight drive (14): Shizuma Drive GDD-9 local, monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion drive.
• Space fold (1): RRD Mk19r spacefold. This system is conformal to the vessels surface. The problem with the vast majority of the previous generation of fold systems was that the fold bubble weakened the state of the structure to the extent that they needed a refit after only five years of service. As such the RDF mandated the use of conformal systems similar to the old Zentraedi systems which also allows for much higher speeds.  The Mk19r was created by placing sixteen Mk19 drives together to increase the fold mass.
• Planetary capabilities: The Riviera-class has atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity system. However, the ship cannot land on solid ground due to the design of the hull without serious damage. A water landing is possible, however very few oceans are deep enough.

Endurance and Mobility Limits:

• The dry stores endurance is limited to two years with a full crew complement. The extensive recycling installations ensured that only incidental biomass losses needed to be replenished. Water stores were recycled almost completely. The ship however needs to be constantly supplied foodstuffs and usually is by one of the many colony ships that accompany a colony fleet such as the Sunflower-class.
• The mecha consumables supplies (mainly missiles) are not very extensive, and can only sustain continuous combat operations for one week against an enemy. However, battles against the powers with capital ships will exhaust the anti-ship missile supplies at a faster rate, and these operations cannot be sustain for more than two days.
  The ship launched missile magazines should suffice for two large battles or about four smaller skirmishes.
• At full power, the main propulsion systems can produce up to 200 Teranewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as little as 3.9 Teranewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
• At full power, the Riviera-class can achieve a maximum delta-v of 246 kps at the cruising acceleration of 0.1 gees, a maximum delta-v of 49.2 kps at the battle acceleration of 0.7G, and a delta-v of at most 13.3 kps at the flank acceleration of 1.8G. At lower power levels, these ranges are commensurately smaller.
• Sublight drive acceleration is 500 g, but the vessel's maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor course corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .15 c.
• The fold systems are not navigationally guaranteed for any single jump beyond 5 kiloparsecs. If longer voyages are required, the ships must conduct multiple fold jumps.
• The maximum sustained atmospheric speed is limited to sub-sonic speeds. A higher speed could be attained while accelerating to orbit, or in emergencies, but this stressed the engines to above their sustainable heat tolerances. The maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems was limited only by maintenance requirements.

Weapon Systems:

Circa 2063

• Bofors PL-7 point defense turrets (40): Mounted behind movable panels in the main hull. These standard RDF weapons can fire 53 MJ of particle energy three times per second at a range of 20 km.
• Lockheed SLBM launchers (8): The missiles are specialized Lockheed SLBM-11 Archer (Space Launched Ballistic Missiles) with nuclear warheads in the 5 MT range. The delta-v capacity of the missiles is 351.6 kps, and the magazine can store 12 missiles per launcher. 
• Lockheed Mk 267 surface to air missile launchers (20): A missile launcher mounted in a twelve tube pop-up turret, firing anti-mecha/missile missiles, though the projectiles can guide on point-blank enemy ships. When the missiles are released they are already on their intercept vectors, or very close to them.  The launcher is designed to fire the SA-12 Arrow medium range surface-to-air missile. Each turret has a reload time of 6 seconds and a magazine with a 1200 round capacity.  These turrets are mounted behind armor plating and pop up when firing and are mounted on the main hull.

Electronics Systems:

• Hughes DSP-6 pinpoint barrier defense system(4): Uses four movable disks of force field, conformal to the ship's surface, to repel light torpedo attacks, or particle beam fire.

Air group and mecha complement:

(circa 2055)

(Space Naval Air Group)

• 15 VF-11 Thunderbolt Veritech fighter
• 1 SC-45 Hawk Personnel and cargo shuttle
• 2 VC-25 Samson Heavy VSTOL cargo transport
• 2 VC-27 Hercules Light VSTOL cargo transport

(Marine Security Unit)

• 1000 VR-071 Protector Veritech cyclone
• 1000 VR-077 Firefly Veritech cyclone
• 1000 VR-074 Gorilla Veritech cyclone

(circa 2063)

(Space Naval Air Group)

• 15 VF-19 Thunderbolt Veritech fighter
• 1 SC-52 Vulture Personnel and cargo shuttle
• 2 VC-37 Perseus Heavy VSTOL cargo transport
• 2 VC-39 Ajax Light VSTOL cargo transport

(Marine Security Unit)

• 1000 VR-071 Protector Veritech cyclone
• 1000 VR-077 Firefly Veritech cyclone
• 1000 VR-074 Gorilla Veritech cyclone

Note: The given numbers are approximations; the exact number and type of mecha varied somewhat due to operational realities and different ships.

Design Notes:

The Riviera vessels also provide additional services for the colony fleet other than entertainment. Kelp and seaweed are grown and farmed along the bottom of the ocean, while many different kinds of fish are bred and raised to provide the colony with additional food supplies. While not capable of producing foodstuffs on the same magnitude as Sunflower agriculture vessels, the Riviera farms produce seafoods and other delicacies that are highly sought after by the colonists. The crew of the Riviera also engages in ocean research, constantly working to discover new ways to use the sea to produce more for the colonists. In the event that a colony fleet encountered a habitable water world, the Riviera would work closely with Einstein research vessels to determine if the world is suitable for supporting a long-term colonization effort.

Because of the strict environmental requirements of the simulated ocean and the sea life contained within it, Riviera vessels have extremely advanced and fault-tolerant life support systems. The vessels are highly compartmentalized, and in the event of a hull breach or other damage large sections of the ship can be completely sealed off to prevent loss of environmental control in the intact areas. Riviera vessels are linked to Nile-class light space carrier to form one larger ship. The Riviera vessels are controlled from the bridge of the docked carrier, and the carrier's VF squadrons provide protection for the colony vessel in case of attack. The carrier can disconnect from the Riviera if necessary, and the vessel is equipped with an emergency bridge to control the ship when the carrier is detached. The staff and crew of the Riviera vessels are well trained in crowd control and can quickly evacuate guests to shelters or escape pods in the event of a serious emergency.

History:

Riviera vessels were developed around the same time as the other colony vessels were released, and since 2050, one Riviera has accompanied every colony mission. The vessel's entertainment and farming facilities have helped greatly in maintaining colony morale. Two Riviera ships have been lost so far; UES Malibu Beach was captured by the Varauta shortly after landing on the planet Rax and was later destroyed after the captured civilians had been transferred in the Protodeviln's spiritia farms and UES Aspen was jumped by a large Marduk Fleet in 2066. The UES Paradise was also captured by the Protodeviln but was rescued during an all-out counterstrike by the Colony Fleet 7's  military forces. The ship was later repaired and returned to service.

Layout adapted from Robotech Reference Guide

Content by Jeffrey R. Spillner
Copyright © 1998-2002 Jeffrey R. Spillner

Page Last Updated on January 21, 2002 @ 14:00 GMT