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Description
Overview:
By 2250, Earthforce had, to any outsider, completely recovered from the harrowing losses inflicted on it during the Earth-Minbari War. The old Hyperions and Nova's that had won the Dilgar War only to be smashed in the crucible of the later conflict had been replaced with Swords and Davids. Those powers which had prowled around human space, hoping to pick over the carcass, had found themselves confronted with new Alph's and Springfield's, while the already formidable Aurora Starfuries were optimised for missile combat. Earthforce's Naval Division had sprung back with a vengeance, and those who faced them in battle knew it.

But by 2250, the REFORGE Programme, birthplace of all the new innovations that kept the Earth Alliance intact in the near decade immediately following the war's end, had finished. The Programme had given Earth its best, and whatever came after would be the responsibility of the far-reaching Project Fireborn. By 2253, the Project, though not completed on its task of creating humanity's first true anti-Sharlin warship, had given rise to new technologies. One of these was the new Raytheon-designed DELTA heavy particle cannon. Though Earth had originally dropped these weapons decades before in favour of the plasma weapons of the Hyperion and Nova, new advancements rendered the DELTA as a plausible cohort to the stalwart M152 PPC.

Miniaturisation had advanced as well, allowing researchers to shrink the Q-Spoiling Lasers of the David-class into the GAD-16-U, which with its shorter range and lower piercing power compared to its progenitor, still vastly outdid any other possible weapon for long-range combat. These new technologies ended up being used as pawns in the boardrooms of the Alliance Senate and Earthforce Headquarters. Part of this was due to the pre-war tendency of Earthforce to beg funds for the creation of experimental variants, something that pleased the military production complex no end. While most Admirals believed that the old habit was one best avoided, others argued that Earthforce couldn't carry on relying on old technology for another decade lest the Minbari War repeat itself.

In the end, the Cauldallers, (named for Admiral Eli Cauldall, one of the most public advocates for interim ships and a decorated war hero), won out. A contract was placed with Karmatech for the production of a single testbed vessel, and the ship was launched on the sixteenth of September, 2250. The design was a move away from what Earthforce, or rather the Cauldallers, saw as an institutional favouritism of the defence. As a result, the ship was more heavily armed than its Sword-class predecessor, mounting three brand new Raytheon particle cannons and a pair of spinal-mounted GenEle GAD-16-U lasers, derived from the main weapon of the David-class. The tradeoff in all this was the loss of four WRX 1028's, or a thirty-three percent decrease in Final Defensive Fire.

In the eyes of its designers however, this downsizing of active defences was more than satisfied with the increase in passive defences. One of the biggest changes was the full use of automation aboard ship. This allowed the already small crew compartments of the Sword to be further rendered down, allowing for an increase in bulkhead thickness. In addition, one of the most long-standing flaws of the Sword and its Hyperion ancestor, the exposed hydrogen fuel tanks, was covered up as the rearward engine compartment was extended in order to fit the machinery for the particle cannons in. In addition, the testbed was given a more refined version of the EWAR/ECM suite of the Flight-I David class in order to take advantage of the greater range of the weapons package. The result was a success, with orders placed for a production run that would see the design parcelled out in ones and twos to regular cruiser squadrons, and on the 9th of February 2251, EAS Alexander was activated as the first of the Alexander-class.

Class: Heavy Cruiser

In-Service Date: February 2251
Role: General-Purpose/Patrol/Escort
Length: 1025.39 metres
Crew: One-hundred, ninety-two (192x)
Endurance: Sixteen (16x) months cruising time. (Crew must be rotated off-ship every three months minimum to avoid Gravitational Imbalance Disorder)
Armament:
- Two (2x) General Electric GAD-16-U Terminator Q-spoiling Hard-Ray Heavy Lasers
- Three (3x) Raytheon DELTA heavy particle cannons
Defences:
- Eight (8x) Walther-Copeland WRX 1028 Light Pulse Cannons
- 0.7m-1m armoured hull (AEGIS Composite Armour)
- E-WEB Passive Protective System
Ships in service: Alexander, Julius Caesar, Agrippa, William Conqueror, Lionheart, Saladin, Wellington, Napoleon, Grant, Zhukov, Denisov, Sheridan

Now updated to match the style of my later work.

Description
Overview:
By 2250, Earthforce had, to any outsider, completely recovered from the harrowing losses inflicted on it during the Earth-Minbari War. The old Hyperions and Nova's that had won the Dilgar War only to be smashed in the crucible of the later conflict had been replaced with Swords and Davids. Those powers which had prowled around human space, hoping to pick over the carcass, had found themselves confronted with new Alph's and Springfield's, while the already formidable Aurora Starfuries were optimised for missile combat. Earthforce's Naval Division had sprung back with a vengeance, and those who faced them in battle knew it.

But by 2250, the REFORGE Programme, birthplace of all the new innovations that kept the Earth Alliance intact in the near decade immediately following the war's end, had finished. The Programme had given Earth its best, and whatever came after would be the responsibility of the far-reaching Project Fireborn. By 2253, the Project, though not completed on its task of creating humanity's first true anti-Sharlin warship, had given rise to new technologies. One of these was the new Raytheon-designed DELTA heavy particle cannon. Though Earth had originally dropped these weapons decades before in favour of the plasma weapons of the Hyperion and Nova, new advancements rendered the DELTA as a plausible cohort to the stalwart M152 PPC.

Miniaturisation had advanced as well, allowing researchers to shrink the Q-Spoiling Lasers of the David-class into the GAD-16-U, which with its shorter range and lower piercing power compared to its progenitor, still vastly outdid any other possible weapon for long-range combat. These new technologies ended up being used as pawns in the boardrooms of the Alliance Senate and Earthforce Headquarters. Part of this was due to the pre-war tendency of Earthforce to beg funds for the creation of experimental variants, something that pleased the military production complex no end. While most Admirals believed that the old habit was one best avoided, others argued that Earthforce couldn't carry on relying on old technology for another decade lest the Minbari War repeat itself.

In the end, the Cauldallers, (named for Admiral Eli Cauldall, one of the most public advocates for interim ships and a decorated war hero), won out. A contract was placed with Karmatech for the production of a single testbed vessel, and the ship was launched on the sixteenth of September, 2250. The design was a move away from what Earthforce, or rather the Cauldallers, saw as an institutional favouritism of the defence. As a result, the ship was more heavily armed than its Sword-class predecessor, mounting three brand new Raytheon particle cannons and a pair of spinal-mounted GenEle GAD-16-U lasers, derived from the main weapon of the David-class. The tradeoff in all this was the loss of four WRX 1028's, or a thirty-three percent decrease in Final Defensive Fire.

In the eyes of its designers however, this downsizing of active defences was more than satisfied with the increase in passive defences. One of the biggest changes was the full use of automation aboard ship. This allowed the already small crew compartments of the Sword to be further rendered down, allowing for an increase in bulkhead thickness. In addition, one of the most long-standing flaws of the Sword and its Hyperion ancestor, the exposed hydrogen fuel tanks, was covered up as the rearward engine compartment was extended in order to fit the machinery for the particle cannons in. In addition, the testbed was given a more refined version of the EWAR/ECM suite of the Flight-I David class in order to take advantage of the greater range of the weapons package. The result was a success, with orders placed for a production run that would see the design parcelled out in ones and twos to regular cruiser squadrons, and on the 9th of February 2251, EAS Alexander was activated as the first of the Alexander-class.

Class: Heavy Cruiser

In-Service Date: February 2251
Role: General-Purpose/Patrol/Escort
Length: 1025.39 metres
Crew: One-hundred, ninety-two (192x)
Endurance: Sixteen (16x) months cruising time. (Crew must be rotated off-ship every three months minimum to avoid Gravitational Imbalance Disorder)
Armament:
- Two (2x) General Electric GAD-16-U Terminator Q-spoiling Hard-Ray Heavy Lasers
- Three (3x) Raytheon DELTA heavy particle cannons
Defences:
- Eight (8x) Walther-Copeland WRX 1028 Light Pulse Cannons
- 0.7m-1m armoured hull (AEGIS Composite Armour)
- E-WEB Passive Protective System
Ships in service: Alexander, Julius Caesar, Agrippa, William Conqueror, Lionheart, Saladin, Wellington, Napoleon, Grant, Zhukov, Denisov, Sheridan

Now updated to match the style of my later work.