Escorts are the unsung heroes of the EDF. They are small ships, often with light armor and little in the way of comfort. Their primary task is acting as escorts for the larger capital ships of the EDF fleet.

The Lightning class space torpedo destroyer was the counterpart to the Mogami class cruiser and the primary Earth Destroyer prior to the implementation of Wave Motion propulsion to EDF ship design. It served with distinction during the Earth-Gamilon war. These were small ships that were mass-produced in a time of great crisis for the planet Earth. Despite they technological superiority of the Gamilon fleet the Lightning was remarkably successful in combat. Part of these success could be attributed to the tactical employment of the EDF commanders and the general ineptitude of the local Gamilon leaders, however it can not be denied that the lightning was a major contributing factor to the Earth's survival in the years preceding the quest to Iscandar.

The Lightning carries two laser turrets, one dorsal and one ventral and a powerful torpedo system. It carried a crew of 20 people.

The Gearing was one of a series of starships designed after the Argo's departure to Iscandar. The Gearing was multi purpose ship designed to act as escort or independent attacker. The ship was packed with weapons however her primary punch consisted of 16 torpedo launchers built into the forward hull of the ship. These ships were so over gunned that it almost equaled the larger Patrol Cruiser in firepower. The downside to such a design made these ships very vulnerable to damage. ( A problem with almost all escort sized ships in all the Star Navies) One or two hits from the larger batteries of capital ships would often be enough to destroy these sized ships outright. These ships served during the Comet Empire war until their retirement shortly after the Bolar Federation conflict.

Airone Class Space Frigate

A counterpart and contemporary to the Gearing class destroyer. The Airone was a smaller ship intended more as a fleet escort then an independent assault ship. These ships provided valuable defensive cover for the larger EDF capital ships during such conflicts as the Battle of Saturn. One key not about this class, the Spinal mounted shock cannon is not a Wave Motion type weapon. Like the Gearing this ship served the EDF fleet well into the Bolar wars only to be retired when the "New" series of EDF ships was introduced.

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The Experimental Destroyer was part of an alternate design that competed with the Unmanned series of ships for production following the Comet Empire war. Little is known of this ship type, it is believed only to exist in the design stage and it is doubtful if there was ever a ship actually built. These ship was to probably be larger then the Gearing class with improved weapons and survivability.

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The Smallest of the Unmanned series of Warships designed after the Comet Empire war. Almost equal to a Gearing class destroyer the main advantage would have been the cost savings of not having to put a trained crew on a very expendable fleet asset. When the Unmanned fleet was wiped out in the opening stages of the Dark Nebula war the unmanned concept was abandoned and the Gearing/Airone class ships were reinstated as the frontline escorts for the EDF fleet.

The New Destroyer was the smallest of the New series of ships however it was still very large for an escort. Comparable in size to the earlier EDF Patrol Cruiser. It represents a major departure from the design philosophy of the previous EDF escort ships like the Gearing and Airone. It carried only a few very powerful weapons instead of massive number of smaller caliber guns on previous ships. It is thought that part of the reason the main EDF fleet was so easily defeated by the Attacking Denguil forces was missing presence of the new destroyers in the EDF fleet. This theory is borne out in the fact that at the later battle of Pluto (Denguil war) escorting New destroyers were able to protect the Argo from Denguil Hyper-Radiation missiles, allowing the Argo to successfully counterattack and destroy the invading Denguil fleet.

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