Ship Transport USN Ark
The Ark class Military Transport has become one of the most ubiquitous support vessels in the League fleet thanks to its tireless service record and surprising versatility. First introduced in in 941 AE to replace the aging Oddyseus class, the League Admiralty was hard pressed to modernize its non-combat vessels, which for decades had hamstrung its mobility. The Ark was envisioned strictly as a fast, unarmed munitions transport, reflecting the need to quickly mobilize and deploy peace-keeping forces within the League's vast area of control. Though production of the ship's first generation were ramped up to meet the retirement schedule of its predecessor, only 237 Arks were in service by late 944, barely a third of the quota and a full year-and-a-half behind schedule.
Much of the delay was unavoidable, Porter Systems, the manufacturer of a majority of the ship's energy and propulsion components, was aqcquired by Dewalt Avionics Incorporated. The merger formed a new company, Dewalt & Porter Conglomerated Engineering, which resulted in extended delays on all of its current production contracts. This shortfall came at a critical time, as the skirmishing with Solesian Hegemony highlighted the need to for fast-response transports to move much needed troops and supplies from the League's core to the threatened outer territories. However, even with such a limited production, the transports in service at the time accrued such reliable service records that the USN not only renewed its contract with Dewalt & Porter, but also lobbied suggestions from the ship's crew to improve performance. This close aprtnership continues to present day, with the latest generation of Ark transports.
Of critical importance are the Arks' 3 spacious cargo holds, approximately 85,000 cubic meters, which allows one ship to carry enough supplies to maintain a combat squadron for months. Optionally, the Ark can be converted into a troop carrier. In this configuration, roughly half of its internal volume is dedicated to crew-quarters for up to 180 League soldiers or Marines. An extra bay is added for the debarkation of dropships, of which the ship has the capacity to store up to 7. The honeycomb construction of the ship's internal compartments adds to the ship's survivability immensely.
However, because it trades protection for acceleration not often found in most transports, it is unwise to expose this ship to direct fire for very long.
The original design had no weapons, either for defense or offense. Experience has proven this to be folly. Most modern Ark transports have some modest point-defense coverage as well as the addition of four of the latest ion-array clusters (Gemini II). The Ark PVT-VI (ULA) swaps these for a single HPV Guided rocket battery for suppression of ground targets during low-altitude troop debarkation.
The Ark's main weaknesses are its poor armor protection and somewhat unreliable Stealth and ECCM systems. This usually necessitates atleast some sort of flotilla accompany these vessels, even under the most peaceful circumstances.
