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Ikazuchi Class Space Battle Cruiser (SBC)

Class History:

• 237 Total built
• 11 Destroyed 3^rd Robotech War 2039-2045
• 30 Destroyed Transient War 2057
• 10 Destroyed Varauta War 2064
• 175 Destroyed 4^th Robotech War 2063-2068
• 4 Scrapped
• 1 Missing
• 6 In service 2070

Ship's complement:

• Ships' crew (900 men)
• Space Naval air group (2000 men)
• Space Marine unit (5000 men)
• Life support limits are for a full combat complement and about 11,520 supernumeraries (12,000 men total).

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

Dimensions:

• Length: 702 meters overall
• Height: 177 meters overall
• Width: 154 meters overall
• Fuel Mass: 150,566 metric tons
• Operational mass (typical):  2,200,000 metric tons

Propulsion systems:

• Main power system: RRD Mk6 Anti-matter Reflex furnace. The powerplant of the Ikazuchi-class vessel can deliver up to 4.12 Petawatts of power, and can operate for ninety minutes at maximum power before overheat initiates autoshutdown.
• Maneuvering thrusters (12): Overtechnology MRT-03 fusion-plasma reaction thruster clusters with steerable nozzles.  Mounted on the bottom, top, and sides of the main hull, halfway to the bow and the stern.
• Reaction-mass thrusters (4): Rolls Royce MRE-8 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer.
• Emergency reaction thrusters (2): Turbo-Union ARE-3 Fusion-Plasma Reaction Thrusters with anti-matter energizer.
• Anti-gravity system (1): 36 Europa Drive Siren anti-gravity pods.
• Gravitic displacement drive (4): Europa Drive GDD-4 local, monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion drive.
• Space fold (1): RRD Mk14b spacefold, it is actually four Mk14 placed in tandem. 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 Mk14b was created by placing four Mk14 systems in tandem to increase the mass that could be folded.
• Planetary capabilities: The Ikazuchi-class has atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity system. The ships' structure has sufficient strength to let the ship land; however, any particle gun turrets under the hull would be crushed by the weight. Therefore, when landing its troops, ships are advised to generate a -99% of the local gravity counterforce with their anti-gravity systems. Note that the ground underneath should still be as firm as possible. The ship will float in an ocean, and this is the preferred landing method for extended planetary operations.

Endurance and mobility limits:

• The dry stores endurance is six months maximum. After that time, the Ikazuchi-class will have to restock its supplies. Water stores are recycled almost completely. The hydroponics installations on board will provide the crew with a reasonable amount of fresh food, but the ship, while far better equipped than the smaller Garfish, is not completely self sufficient.
• The mecha consumables supplies (mainly missiles) are reasonably extensive, and can sustain continuous combat operations for over ten days against the Invid. However, a battle against Zentraedi or other forces with a capital ship capability will swiftly drain the stores of anti-ship missiles, as these are not usually carried in very large numbers. The ship launched missile magazines should suffice for two large battles or three or more skirmishes.
• The reflex furnace can function for about 30 years at normal usage levels before an energizer rebuild is necessary.
• At full power, the main propulsion systems can produce up to 80 Giganewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as little as 1.56 Giganewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
• At full power, the Ikazuchi-class can achieve a maximum delta-v of 414 kps at the cruising acceleration of 0.1 gees, a maximum delta-v of 82.8 kps at the battle acceleration of 2.0 gees, and a delta-v of at most 22.4 kps at the flank acceleration of 5.1 gees. At lower power levels, these ranges are commensurately smaller.
• Sublight drive acceleration is 1000 g, but the vessel's maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor course corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .32 c.
• The fold systems are not navigationally guaranteed for any single jump beyond 1 kiloparsec. If longer voyages are required, the ships must conduct multiple fold jumps.
• The maximum sustained atmospheric speed is limited to subsonic values. During a re-entry, the ship will exceed this, but flight control is sluggish and the speed is always reduced to subsonic speeds as soon as possible. The maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems is limited only by maintenance requirements.

Weapon systems:

• RRD MRC-03 mini-reflex cannon(1): From the 15^th vessel onwards a MRC-03 Mini-Reflex Cannon was added to the bow of the vessel. This miniaturized, less powerful version of the heaviest of ship-borne weapons has an effective range of 100,000 km; at full power it has the effective yield of a 10 MT fusion weapon. The weapon is located in an aperture in the center forward body. If utilized against starships, only smaller vessels could be destroyed with the beam. A direct hit would vaporize the target vessel. The weapon could also be set to a wider dispersal. In this setting, it was capable of clearing a wide area of fighters and other mecha, although starships in this area would only be blinded.
• Europa HPC-15 heavy particle cannon turrets(14): These have a range of 175,000 km; designed to be used against spaceships, each turret is capable of delivering 8500 MJ of particle energy. These weapons are mounted on the upper main hull. The cannons fire once every three seconds at the maximum discharge rate.
• Bofors PL-5 point defense turrets(32): Mounted in the sides of hull behind movable panels, these standard RDF weapons can fire 48 MJ of particle energy twice times per second at a range of up to 20 km.
• Lockheed Mk 240 MLS missile systems(8): Each launcher has 10 individual launch silos. The silos each contain 6 ready missiles in a rotating mechanism, which can be reloaded while firing. The ready magazines store 300 missiles per launcher. These launchers typically fire Prophet. Typical warheads are anti-mecha cluster munitions, nuclear reaction anti-warship and nuclear reaction re-entry capable weapons. Four launchers are located near the aft engines, two others near the bridge, four on each side body, and the remaining four are located forward.

Air group and mecha complement:

(circa 2055)

(Space Naval Air group)

• 415 VF-11 Thunderbolt Veritech fighter
• 140 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 2 EC-12 Eagle Airborne early warning and control aircraft
• 10 SC-45 Hawk Personnel and cargo shuttle
• 6 VC-25 Samson Heavy VSTOL cargo transport
• 15 VC-27 Hercules Light VSTOL cargo transport

(Space Marine Unit)

• 15 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 60 MBR-25 Atma Heavy battle destroid
• 90 SDR-14 Tiger Missile destroid
• 90 ADR-14 Razor AAA destroid
• 1100 VR-066 Hurricane Veritech cyclone
• 800 VR-073 Typhoon Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-089 Tornado Veritech cyclone
• 100 VR-099 Tsunami Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-071 Protector Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-077 Firefly Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-074 Gorilla Veritech cyclone

(circa 2063)

(Space Naval Air group)

• 415 VF-19 Excalibur Veritech fighter
• 140 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 5 EC-15 Lynx Airborne early warning and control aircraft
• 10 SC-52 Vulture Personnel and cargo shuttles
• 6 VC-37 Perseus Heavy VSTOL cargo transport
• 15 VC-39 Ajax Light VSTOL cargo transport

(Space Marine Unit)

• 15 VF-17 Nightmare Veritech fighter
• 15 VA-14 Falcon Veritech bomber
• 60 MBR-25 Atma Heavy battle destroid
• 90 SDR-14 Tiger Missile destroid
• 90 ADR-14 Razor AAA destroid
• 1100 VR-066 Hurricane Veritech cyclone
• 800 VR-073 Typhoon Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-089 Tornado Veritech cyclone
• 100 VR-099 Tsunami Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-071 Protector Veritech cyclone
• 400 VR-077 Firefly Veritech cyclone
• 400 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.

Electronics:

• RRD DSO-4 omnidirectional barrier defense system(1): An advanced forcefield system which covers the full four pi steradians around the ship with a yellow-greenish forcefield (or if desired, only part of the ship). This field will stop all solids and directed energy weapons (except lasers through a narrow band). However, excess energy which cannot be shunted from the field will be stored in the virtual structure of the field itself. The storage wattage is high but not infinite, and when the barrier overloads the field will discharge the stored energy particles. This discharge will have the force of a high-yield (>45 MT) fusion bomb. However, as the discharged energetic particles' vectors will be away from the field and its generating vessel, the vessel will survive, though it will suffer severe damage to its internal electronics and power systems, and will not be battleworthy until repairs are made.
• Hughes DSP-3 pinpoint barrier defense system(1): Uses four movable disks of force field, conformal to the ship's surface, to repel light torpedo attacks, or particle beam fire.

Design notes:

The Ikazuchi-class was developed from the Nergal-class cruisers, which they resemble to a large degree. However, the Ikazuchi class is larger and more capable overall, as well as more suited to receiving upgrades without undue removal of other systems.

The Ikazuchi series of large cruisers are vaguely rectangular in shape, with a gravity-well attitude that might remind one of a brick flying on its side. The hull narrows considerably in the center, effectively making for an hourglass-silhouette when viewed from the bow or the stern. The four main thrusters are located astern, one on each of the corner-points. The two auxiliary engines are located in sponsons that run along the port and starboard hull, beginning amidships and running along aft until the end of the ship. There is also a command citadel on the upper port side of the vessel, with an observation deck on top of it. Six Alpha launch bays are located on the sides of the ship, capable of launching up to 144 Alphas in battloid mode. The main hangars and their movable blast shield doors are located in the lower amidship levels. The doors cover the exits of three hangar decks and roll toward the stern of the ship when craft are being launched or retrieved. There are also four more secondary hangars with air locks located in the lower nose of the vessel, but these are not capable of rapid launch and are commonly used for shuttles and other non-time critical launch mecha. This gives the Ikazuchi a total of sixteen different hangar bays, which in itself contributes to the ruggedness of the design.

The command citadel houses two command decks, the main hull 12 main decks, though deck 12 is just a small outcropping on the underside of the vessel, usually used as a Horizont shuttle hangar and staging area. The main decks serve the following purposes: deck one is mainly crew and officers' quarters, and this deck houses the navigation computer and the Astrogator and his mates. Deck two contains crew facilities and the port and starboard launch bays. Deck three consists of the senior officers' quarters and the engineering block, which includes the hyperspatial communications array, life support, auxiliary gravity control, and quarters for the engineers' mates. Decks four and seven include much of the quarters and facilities for the crew, as well as the ship's stores. Decks five and eight are mainly used for the Planetary Forces troops, though there are also cargo holds and crew and officers' quarters as well. Decks six and nine contain the auxiliary systems, as well as quarters for the Veritech pilots. Decks ten, eleven, and twelve are mainly hangar facilities for the ship's mecha.

The absence of an extensive point defense capability was the most serious flaw of the pre-refit version of this design. This is even more odd when one considers the rather extensive AAA installations on the SDF-1 and 2, and on the Armor series orbital platforms. This lack of attention to anti-mecha operations in the original design would prove to be very costly. The refitted version added no less than 24 additional defensive cannon emplacements, in a brute-force approach to increase the defenses against Invid ramming tactics.

After the Invid fled Earth in 2045 the RDF Navy wanted to continue the production of the successful Ikazuchi-class Cruiser. Thanks to several new weapon designs, the new cruiser was twice as powerful as the older one as well as carrying many more mecha and the installation of elevating foxholes for the ADR-series Destroids on the outer hull of the vessels, similar to those on the SDF-1, and a multiplication of the already present point defense capability. The first new Ikazuchi-class was launched in 2048.

History:

The Ikazuchi-class became the mainstay of the REF after it had send almost all of its older vessels to the Earth, first to combat the Robotech Masters, then to liberate the planet from the Invid. In 2032 then the REF found themselves depleted both in vessels and in manpower, though they did possess, in the Robotech Satellites, the means to rebuilt the fleet. Since the demographic make-up of the REF delayed significant reinforcements for almost ten years, the REF design bureau decided not to proceed with emergency construction of the existing Nergal class cruiser, but to design a new cruiser, incorporating new advances in warship engineering.

The resulting Ikazuchi-class vessels were powerful, well-armed and remarkably nimble for their size, and boasted a formidable complement of Veritech fighters. These ships were well-suited for fighting a war against an enemy like the Zentraedi or the Robotech Masters, and were thought to be effective against the Invid as well. Early battles against Invid outposts discovered closer to the REF operations area than Earth appeared to support this. However, these small-scale battles were not a true test for the Ikazuchi's defenses, as they were not put up against the numerical superiority the REF would find over Earth. In their defense though it must be remarked that the true Invid numbers on Earth were an unpleasant surprise for all the REF, as they had been continuously estimated far lower.

The vulnerability of the Ikazuchi class was worsened by production problems with the MP-18 particle gun turrets. Although the design was successful, production ran short of its goals. It suffered both from teething troubles and from lower priority for some of the materials, which were diverted into the Izumo and Garfish production lines; this last under the assumption that the Ikazuchi had at least partial armament, but that the Garfish class could not afford to be completed without its single turret. The Izumo class, as the next-generation battlefortresses, received the highest priority, despite their gargantuan size and complexity. As a result, the earlier ships were fitted with only 8 of their 14 designed turrets, and it was not until 2045 that production of the turrets caught up with demands and the vessels at least could receive their full designed armaments.

The weaknesses of the design should have become apparent at the Battle of Kappa Pontis 4, where the UES Valiant stumbled upon a huge Invid outpost, and was unprepared for the sheer numbers of Invid Iigaa she would face. The gun turrets mounted on the dorsal hull were sufficient to destroy the Shell Door-class Invid troop carriers for a while; but new ones arrived at such a rate that enough Iigaa were brought in the battle to pin down the defending fighters, and the dearth of effective point defenses allowed the Invid to break through and cause serious damage to the command bridge and upper decks, which had to be evacuated in the middle of battle. Finally the fighters rallied and saved the battle, but inexplicably no lessons were drawn of this experience.

The result were heavy losses for the Ikazuchi class in the various attempts to retake the Earth from the Invid in 2042-2044. The surviving ships all received refits which massively increased their point defense capabilities, and later large cruiser designs, the New York- and the Hurricane-classes, corrected this fault in the post-Invid RDF forces, but despite the losses, the Ikazuchi-class ships have rightfully earned their place in military history.

The next generation of Ikazuchi served their builders well as they received an upgrade to both offensive and defensive firepower as well as mecha complement. The new generation were designed to be a primary mecha carrier particularly, ground assault vehicles. The Ikazuchis' served many different purposes including Colony Escort, Fleet Escort, Strike, Flagship, Patrol and many others, only the destroyers saw a more varied service life. Most were destroyed in the Fourth Robotech War with several others being destroyed by Transients or Varauta Forces. As of 2070 there are 20 left serving mostly as training vessels. All of these vessels are destined for the wrecking yards by 2075. However, the Ikazuchi-class ships have rightfully earned their place in military history by serving in four wars and serving spectacularly in every force they faced.

Robotech (R) is the property of Harmony Gold. This document is in no way intended to infringe upon their rights.

Layout adapted from Robotech Reference Guide

Original content by Pieter Thomassen and Peter Walker

Content by Jeffrey R. Spillner
Copyright © 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 Jeffrey R. Spillner

Page Last Updated on April 1, 2001 @ 14:00 GMT