Development Notebook

Scratch Pad

navy will perform air cavalry and troop transport role with gunships. I need to flesh out the marine recon role.

Increase the length of the prologue, to have more fleeing, near death experiences, etc.,
Here is a list of characters

Here is a list of warships

Here are the Races and Professions.

http://robertplewis.com/index.php/Category:Naval_Weapons

• need a page to promote artists.

http://robertplewis.com/index.php/System_Titles

Space Navy Ship Classes and Mission Sets

In this sci-fi setting, space navies employ a range of warship classes, each with specialized roles. Battleships are assumed to remain relevant and powerful due to advances in shielding, armor, weaponry, or other technologies.

Corvettes

Corvettes are the smallest and most agile warships, prioritizing speed, stealth, and low crew requirements. They excel at independent operations and screening duties.

• Patrol and Reconnaissance: Scouting enemy positions, monitoring hyperspace lanes, surveying uncharted systems for resources or threats
• Anti-Piracy and Interdiction: Intercepting smugglers, raiders, or small enemy vessels in border regions or trade routes
• Escort Duties: Protecting convoys of merchant ships or troop transports from fighter swarms or missile attacks
• Special Operations Support: Inserting/extracting commando teams on planetary surfaces or space stations, often using cloaking technology
• Mine Warfare: Deploying or clearing space mines, debris fields, or orbital hazards

Frigates

Frigates are versatile multi-role vessels that bridge corvettes and larger warships, with strong emphasis on electronic warfare and defensive systems.

• Fleet Screening: Defending capital ships from fighters, torpedoes, or drone swarms using point-defense and jamming arrays
• Anti-Subspace Warfare: Detecting and neutralizing cloaked ships, wormhole ambushes, or other stealth/subspace threats
• Planetary Bombardment Support: Providing precision orbital fire support for ground forces
• Electronic Warfare and Intelligence: Jamming enemy comms, network intrusion, signals intelligence gathering
• Rapid Response Missions: Hit-and-run strikes against outposts, supply depots, or isolated assets

Destroyers

Destroyers are fast, heavily armed offensive platforms — the workhorses of fleet combat at medium range.

• Torpedo and Missile Warfare: Launching large salvos of guided munitions to overwhelm shields or capital ships
• Anti-Fighter Defense: Engaging enemy fighter/drone swarms with rapid-fire weapons and interceptors
• Surface Strike: Leading raids on enemy fleets or installations
• Escort and Protection: Guarding carriers and battleships from flanking maneuvers
• Pursuit and Harassment: Chasing retreating enemies or disrupting supply lines

Cruisers

Cruisers are large, command-capable ships that form the backbone of task forces and can operate independently.

• Command and Control: Serving as flagships with advanced sensor fusion, fleet coordination, and communications
• Long-Range Strike: Delivering heavy railguns, energy lances, or other ordnance against distant targets
• Area Air/Space Defense: Creating protective zones with advanced anti-missile and anti-fighter systems
• Amphibious Support: Directing planetary invasions, troop landings, and providing covering fire
• Diplomatic / Show-of-Force: Patrolling contested zones to deter aggression or enforce treaties

Battleships

Battleships remain premier line-of-battle assets — massive, heavily armored and armed platforms designed to dominate decisive engagements.

• Capital Ship Duels: Direct combat against enemy battleships or dreadnoughts using spinal mounts and broadsides
• Orbital Siege: Heavy bombardment of fortified planets, stations, or asteroid bases
• Fleet Anchor: Forming the core of the battle line, absorbing damage while providing suppressive fire
• Strategic Deterrence: Stationing in key systems to prevent enemy advances through sheer presence
• Heavy Assault: Leading breakthroughs, using tractor beams, boarding parties, or overwhelming firepower

Carriers

Carriers are mobile fighter/drone bases focused on power projection rather than direct ship-to-ship combat.

• Fighter Operations: Launching, recovering, and directing squadrons for air superiority, strikes, or reconnaissance
• Power Projection: Striking deep into enemy territory without risking the main fleet
• Recon and Surveillance: Deploying scout drones/probes to map enemy movements or hyperspace features
• Support and Logistics: Mid-mission refueling, repair, and acting as mobile command hubs
• Defensive Screening: Using embarked craft to create layered defenses around the carrier group

Dropship Roles and Capabilities

In this setting, small agile fighter craft have been rendered obsolete by ubiquitous close-in weapon systems (CIWS/point-defense). Instead, the primary close air support and mobility platform is the multi-crewed, heavily armed and armored dropship (comparable to Starfleet runabouts vs. shuttlecraft or Peregrine fighters). These are Navy-piloted with Marine gunners and systems officers, offering superior survivability, endurance, payload, and versatility.

Dropships operate primarily in a high-altitude or near-orbit loiter profile, functioning as persistent sensor/communications nodes and precision fire support platforms (inspired by F-35 CAS doctrine but scaled up).

Primary Roles

Troop Insertion / Extraction

Hot drops of Marine squads/platoons (in power armor) into contested landing zones; rapid exfiltration under fire.

Rear/ventral ramps for fast egress; ventral-mounted energy cannons for suppressive covering fire during ingress/egress.

Often includes stealth coatings, ablative armor, or short-duration ECM bursts.

Close Air Support (CAS) / Gunship

Provides persistent, high-altitude overwatch and precision fire support to ground troops.

Loiters at altitude (20,000–50,000+ ft or near-orbit) to remain outside most ground-based CIWS envelopes.

Delivers devastating fire via energy cannons (plasma, particle beams, or high-energy lasers) on troop call-for-fire.

Precise, near-infinite "ammo" (power-limited) with minimal collateral compared to kinetics; surgical suppression to anti-armor/anti-structure strikes.

Secondary kinetic options (railguns, missiles) for hardened targets.

Reconnaissance / Cavalry Scout

Forward scouting, target designation, and overwatch for main force or orbital strikes.

Pairs with recon platoons for deep insertion, sensor placement, and real-time intel gathering.

Equipped with advanced sensor suites (phased-array radars, hyperspectral imagers, quantum-linked drones).

Light armament for self-defense; fast atmospheric/near-vacuum flight for rapid repositioning.

Sensor and Communications Platform

Acts as elevated battlespace manager and data relay.

Massive sensor fusion creates shared picture for ground units (recon platoons, rifle companies, command).

Feeds real-time video, targeting data, and threat tracks to Marine helmet HUDs or neural links.

Serves as comms gateway in jammed/degraded environments; includes EW/jamming capabilities.

Multi-Role / Utility

Modular mission pods allow rapid reconfiguration (troop bay ↔ sensor suite ↔ missile/torpedo launcher ↔ medevac).

Handles cargo transport, medical evacuation, electronic warfare, light boarding actions, or fleet screening.

Swappable loadouts enable one hull to fulfill multiple expeditionary needs.

Anti-Small Craft / Escort

Defends against enemy drones, residual fighters, or swarm threats.

Heavy point-defense grid (mini-CIWS) plus anti-fighter missiles.

Armored and redundant systems allow it to tank hits that would destroy smaller craft.

Key Capabilities Summary

• Survivability: Thick armor/shields, own CIWS/point-defense, redundant systems, multi-crew redundancy.
• Endurance: Long loiter via advanced propulsion (fusion/anti-grav/solar regen); hours to days on station.
• Firepower: Primary energy cannons for precision CAS; secondary kinetics; modular ordnance bays.
• Sensor/Intel: 360° distributed aperture, AESA-equivalent radar, drone swarms, hyperspectral/quantum sensors.
• Integration: Navy pilots handle flight/EW; Marine gunners/systems officers manage weapons/targeting/troop coordination.
• Versatility: Fewer, more capable platforms replace fighter wings; squadron of 8–12 supports a battalion.

These dropships serve as the linchpin of marine planetary assault operations—combining mobility, fire support, reconnaissance, and command functions into a single, tough platform.