MC80 (Mon Cal Cruiser)

The MC80 was the staple capital ship of the Mon Calamari and their Alliance allies during the later pre-Endor period. The Alliance previously relied on very small capital ships - Corellian corvettes, Nebulon-B cruisers, and so forth - but the Mon Calamari finally provided them with a proper heavy-combat element. Ironically, however, these vessels were actually exploration and colonization ships refitted for warfare.

The MC80 is a vessel of considerable size, at 1200 meters in length (compare: Imperial 1-class Star Destroyers, at 1600 meters). While less heavily armed than Imperial vessels of similar size, the MC80 - like Mon Cal ships in general - has a redundant shield network which allows it to take roughly double the punishment that a comparable Imperial vessel could sustain. This put the MC80 on approximately even footing with the Imperial 1-class, although open combat was not the preferred tactic of Rebel commanders.

Like other Mon Calamari ships, the MC80 is covered with 'blisters' containing the vessel's weapons, sensors, and shield generators. Some blisters are actually disguised anti-fighter bombs, designed to wipe out masses of TIE fighters should they venture too close to the warship. Also like other Mon Cal vessels, the MC80 originally had control interfaces geared toward Mon Calamari physiology, preventing non-Mon Cals from controlling the vessels. Later variants had more generic interfaces for the ease-of-use of non-Mon Cal personnel.

After the Battle of Endor, new variants of the MC80 were produced, although in the long term the class was originally scheduled to be replaced by the MC90, a purpose-built warship with more firepower and more efficient combat systems overall.

Record 1519 - vehicle/ship class - Last update 17 Nov 2007, 04:32:01

Entry written by: Torvus

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