The Ralatha-class destroyer was developed as a replacement of the old Ralari class destroyer. It is similar in design to the Confederation Gilgamesh class destroyer and is extremely powerful. It is developed on the Kilrathi design philosophy of heavy offensive and the aphorism "the best defense is a good offense" is almost perfectly epitomized by the Ralatha. The destroyer's heavy guns, superior acceleration, and incredibly powerful phase shields give the destroyer an extremely high survival rate. The ship mounts anti-matter guns and eight anti-ship torpedo launcher for anti-ship roles and four heavy lasers and six mass driver mounts for anti-fighter defense. As a result of the heavy point defense mounts, it is extremely dangerous to make torpedo runs against the destroyer. The weaponry is similar to the Confederation Gilgamesh class although the Confederation class carries more torpedo launchers and is better armored and protected by shields than the Kilrathi Destroyer. The Kilrathi destroyer is also slightly larger than the Confederation destroyer.
Unlike most Confederation destroyers and previous Ralari-class destroyer, the Ralatha carries a small number of fighters and the ability to carry fighters is one of the reason why the Kilrathi destroyer is slightly larger than its Confederation equivalent. A total of twelve fighters are carried with normally four Sartha light fighters, six Drakhri medium fighters, and two Jalkehi heavy fighters embarked onboard. These fighters are normally used as protection for the destroyer or ships it is escorting not for direct strike missions. The Kilrathi destroyer also embarks two shuttles compared to a single shuttle on the Confederation Gilgamesh class. Some of these destroyers have been fitted with a larger hanger and can carry double the number of fighters. The Kilrathi ship does not have facilities to act as a flagship and does not have space for embarking marines.
In its heyday, the Ralatha-class destroyer was considered the most dangerous Kilrathi ship design but since then, the Frawquig and Takh'lath class of destroyers have entered service and the Ralatha class destroyer has been rendered obsolete in front line service. Since then, the ship has been transferred to less important sectors, especially those behind the front lines, where its high acceleration makes it extremely effective at chasing down raiders. It is actually superior in acceleration compared to the more powerful destroyer classes which replaced it.
Notes of game conversion:
Because of the nature of the Video Game / Novel series "Wing Commander" and the needs to put the starship into game mechanics, the starship has several modification compared to the Video Game and Novels. The most important change it to change top speed to acceleration. Like fighters in Star Wars and original Battlestar Galactica, the fighters appear to act as if they are in the atmosphere even when they operating in space. This is incorrect. The Television series Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Galactic are good series to watch to get a clearer idea on how space vehicles would probably maneuver although still not a perfect perspective. The starship has been modified to uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor starships. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: Ralatha Destroyer
Vehicle Type: Escort
Crew: 335 (28 officers and 307 Enlisted)
Troops / Passengers: 16 fighter pilots. Can embark up to 20
additional personnel (40 with extreme overcrowding)
Vehicles:
Fighter Compliment (Early):
| 4 | Sartha Light Fighters | |
| 6 | Drakhri Medium Fighters | |
| 2 | Jalkehi Heavy Fighters |
| 8 | Sartha Light Fighters | |
| 12 | Drakhri Medium Fighters | |
| 4 | Jalkehi Heavy Fighters |
| 2 | General Purpose Shuttles |
M.D.C. By Location:
| Anti-Matter Guns (2): | 2,000 each | |
| Heavy Laser Cannon Turrets (4): | 300 each | |
| Light Point Defense Mass Drivers (6): | 120 each | |
| Cruise Missile Launchers (8): | 500 each | |
| Hanger Bay (1): | 2,400 each | |
| [1] Bridge: | 3,500 | |
| [2] Engineering section: | 3,200 | |
| Main Engines (2): | 1,600 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 8,000 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 2,000 per side (12,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon
to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship does not have an auxiliary
bridge. Even if the bridges is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted
from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be
at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the
ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion
systems are destroyed and maximum sublight acceleration is reduced to ten
percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Destroyer out of
commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (600 MDC) per melee.
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship
to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 0.45 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The destroyer cannot operate within
an atmosphere. If the ship enters an atmosphere, it will crash.
Stardrive: The destroyer mounts a jump drive which is capable
of jumping instantly from a fixed point in a system to another fixed point
in a system. These points are weaknesses in the fabric of space and have
been mapped in most cases. Fuel is hydrogen which the destroyer scoops
from space to fuel the jump engine.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
The destroyer has about one year worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 1,292.65 feet (394 meters)
Height: 510.17 feet (155.5 meters)
Width: 543.96 feet (165.8 meters)
Weight: 12,125.4 Tons (11,000 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally
only goes 5 years between refueling.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 500 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker
for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal
items. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor,
troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: The Ralatha class destroyer costs around 3.6 billion
credits to manufacture. Fighter compliment cost approximately 300 million
credits.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
[ Phase World TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned by Kevin
Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Wing Commander copyright © Origin Productions]
By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Rifts Conversion Copyright © 2004 & 2006, Kitsune. All rights reserved.