Armaments
Though frequently modernized, the statesmen is an older starship design, and lacks the large radiators to operate extremely heat-intensive weapons like large anti-ship lasers. Instead, numerous high-capacity physical weapons are setup around the ship to provide a high amount of redundancy, coverage, and long range bombardment capabilities. In turn this makes the statesmen well suited for the majority of operations conducted by the AU such as close orbit policing and long-range power projection.
UG-301 2.5mm 'Sandblaster' Point Defense Coilguns
The Primary weapon system for dealing with threats close to the ship is the
UG-301 coilgun. The circular bank of coil guns near the front of the ship fire unguided, relatively fast, metal slugs with a high rate of fire.The small projectiles are well suited for destroying targets such as missiles and can chew through even heavy starship armor at close range very quickly. Due to the unguided nature of the weapons they are not very suitable for attacking targets on long range.
For more see:
UG-301
UG-311 100mm Anti-Ship Railguns
Intended to cover the mid-range and extreme range bombardment, the ship’s multitude of 100mm railguns fire a variety of rounds at high speed. These range from unguided metal slugs to guided missiles and a variety of proximity fused explosives. Though they have a much slower rate of fire than the ship’s smaller coilguns, they fire rounds at a much higher velocity. This allows the ship to be a threat to other capital ships at range.
The guided rounds allow for a small amount of course-correction in flight. While this is not enough to chase down a maneuvering starship at range, it is sufficient to deal with any targeting error over inter-planetary ranges. This makes the statesmen well suited for bombardment of targets throughout a star-systems. Precise strikes from these cannons are well publicized throughout the Union as an example of the speed, decisiveness, and overwhelming freedom that they can bring to a conflict.
For more see:
UG-311
Multi-Purpose Launch Cells
Deep missile magazines are a hallmark of Union ships from long before their ships became space-fairing.
By 2310 Union ships were using a launch cell derived from the Magnetic Assembly’s
containerized component modules. Each cell can hold 2 9m long missiles, which can be equipped with a conventional or nuclear warhead. Typically they only use conventional warheads so as not to break the nuclear taboo.
The Union’s standard missile is padded heavily with a laser-resistant carbon material to make it reasonably protected against laser strikes. It is also equipped for remote guidance as well as a radar-based seeker for tracking a target on its own. These missiles are middle-sized when compared to the spectrum of anti-ship missiles, and have a decent combination of numbers, armor, and speed.
The Statesman class houses 256 launch cells around its exterior, and can store additional reloads inside of its cargo bays.
See:
ULA Anti-Ship Missile
Mk 23 Naval Bastille Frequency Generator
The Mk 23 Naval Bastille Frequency Generator is an Electronic Warfare Support system originally designed for naval ships that operated in and around civilian shipping lanes on Earth. It was hardened for use in space after the loss of the AUS Lord Palmerson in 2320 to Cyber-Attack so that Statesmen class ships could be refit with new Electronic Warfare systems as fast as possible.
The system itself was originally designed for short range electronic attack, primarily to jam short range communication systems such as civilian wifi, cellular, and other data networks. The original intended use was for frigates near the coast to be able to safely overtake commercial shipping. While this makes the system somewhat useless in the extreme range combat of space, it does make the system suitable for suppressing communications on starships that are about to be boarded. More importantly, it allows a ship to suppress and control the civilian grade equipment that might be brought onboard by the ship’s own crew. This helps maintain electronic security inside of the ship during operations.
The various sensor panels and wide-band emitters are installed near the ship's CIC tower.
Small-Aperture Laser Optics
Laser Weaponry has normally not been a major focus for the Statesmen class starship. While large laser weapons can dominate a battlefield, they tend to be large, easy to damage, need massive radiator systems, and need to remain far enough away from their targets to avoid return fire. This conflicts with the interdiction and protection role of the Statesmen class starship, so its primary anti-starship weapons are more physical.
There is still a role for smaller laser weapons, and the Statesmen mounts 2 pairs of 4 meter laser optics on either side. These heat-ray style lasers are suitable for damaging optics and destroying small, fast, targets at range. Typically this means shooting down missiles, or destroying vulnerable equipment on enemy ships like optics, communication masts, and other sensors.