Conestoga

The Conestoga-class of starships were originally designed as troop and logistical transports, with little offensive capability. However, as time passed, the ships were upgraded to the point of being considered light assault ships with limited area control and orbital bombardment abilities.

These ships mass at 78,000 metric tonnes and are 385 meters in length. Their hulls are divided into three sections; The main hull at the front of the craft carries nearly all of the ship's cargo, sensors, and weapons. The midsections houses the Fusion Torus, with the aft section containing the ship's entire drive system. More than half of the main hull, betraying the Conestoga's transport heritage, is dedicated to cargo capacity. These ships may handle an impressive number of shuttles and dropships at a given time.

The Conestogas utilize a plasma-based reaction rocket for STL movement, and a Romberg-Rockwell Cygnus 5 Hyperdrive Tachyon Shunt drive for FTL travel. Due to reverse-time dilation effects of hyperspace, the crew of the ship reside in hypersleep chambers for all interplanetary flight.

Conestogas are fully automated ships, necessitated by the needs of space travel. Their crews are generally passengers, although any decision made by the onboard computer systems may be overruled at any time. The ship can support a standard crew of 90 indefinitely, although they may transport as many as 2,000 troops for very limited periods of time. These additional passengers are housed in hypersleep chambers that may be installed in the ship's extensive cargo bays.

The main armament of the Conestogas are eight XIM-28 Long Lance missiles. These are kinetic kill fragmentation smart missiles, and are the standard antiship weapon of the USCMC. The ships also carries two Neutral Particle Beam turrets, two Free-Electron Laser turrets and two Rail Gun turrets, used for antiship, antifighter, and point defense. The ship also carries orbital mines and decoys for defense. Hardened circuitry and advanced stealth technologies round out the arsenal.

At least thirteen of these ships were constructed, including the ship sent to investigate LV-426.

Sources: Aliens (Film) and Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual

Record 662 - vehicle/ship class - Last update 28 Mar 2007, 23:05:18

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