Ship Assault-Craft USN Hind
| Hind | |
|---|---|
 Hind | |
| Type | Assault-Craft |
| Combat role | Space-superiority drone |
| Place of origin | Cinnabar Republic |
| Service | |
| Used by | United Space Navy |
| Wars | Second Antarean War |
| Specifications | |
| Displacement | 14kt |
| Length | 62m |
The Hind is fast becoming the staple Assault-Ship of the USN armada. Designed by Novagare Electronics, a Cinnabaran contractor, it began its life as a light-privateer craft, specifically suited for ambushing mining transports in the various asteroid-belt mining operations that made the Republic so prosperous during the period following the [[Unification Wars]. Eventually, Novagare was coerced into producing a commercial version of the Hind, and it was quickly acquired by the Cinnabar Navy, which made various improvements (including the addition of advanced sensors and a revolutionary cross-feeding mechanism for the craft's missile tubes, ostensibly doubling its already hellish rate of fire). It is small, fast, well-armed, and capable of inflicting serious damage on far larger craft if it is allowed to close to short range, where its impressive missile-batteries can be used most effectively. Curiously, the Hind is armor-heavy but has no redundancy in its generators. This somewhat hinders its versatility and reduces its ability to survive internal damage.
Never known for innovations in the realm of propulsion, Novagare attempted to compensate for the craft's relatively slow cruising speed in every way imaginable. This goes a long way to explain the additional armor and destroyer-grade ECM equipment included among the craft's standard configurations. In this respect, despite its size, the Hind is surprisingly hardy.
Due to the restrictions of the ULP charter, the Cinnabar government was forced to decommission or sell-off many of its heavier chassis and was largely transformed into a self-defense force whose jurisdiction only extended to the extents of their home systems. The Republican Navy therefore decided to redirect much of the contract money which had previously been reserved for the manufacturers of its larger craft toward corporations and projects more in keeping with its new role. Novagare Electronics was one such small contractor which benefited greatly from this reallocation of funds. As a result, by 986AE, the active craft of the CRN included around 97 improved Hinds, a force that would be greatly expanded in the next decade. In 989, the USN ordered approximately 180 Hind [HN7b] to replace the aging assault ships in its 23rd and 24th Frontier Divisions. The Hind performed so well in its new capacity that soon afterward more orders were placed for the ship. By the time of the Crusader Rebellion, there was a general consensus among the USN admiralty that the Hind was a far superior craft to the latest iteration of Winman-Soltano "Warhawk" [WBD-AS91]. Unfortunately, Novagare has been slow to provide the USN's production division with up-to-date schematics for the craft, hamstringing full-scale production and distribution of the Hind to the rest of the League fleet.
Roughly shaped like an arrowhead, most of the craft is dominated by its massive Yorthrop-88c hybrid-plasma generator which supplies power for both propulsion, weapons, and life-support systems. The craft's already husky profile is further enhanced by the additional armor plating, which gives the ship an imposing presence despite its size. The Hind's offensive armament is centered around two solid Innertai Spitfire-X Rapid-Fire Missile Launchers, each capable of launching 8 missiles in under 1.2 seconds. This impressive launch capability is supplemented by a pair of light gatling-rail turrets for point-defense and a single forward facing heavy plasma-cannon. Despite its relatively low acceleration, the Hind is still capable of outrunning most opposing craft, and providing a serious threat to those it can't.
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