Gryphon Class

Gryphon Class Inter-Planetary Troop Transport, Commonly known as a 'Sod Hopper' Description: The Hopper is the ugliest, squattest vessel to serve in any tactical fleet. She is disk-like, with the bridge departing from usual design in being on deck two, amidships, for protection in heavy bombardment. She has 20 CM of ablative armor covering the dorsal area and bottom two decks, for protection against ground strafing fire. She has two mobile turrets on deck 1, fore and aft, with  three type X phaser cannons for close in, high power artillery support. Primary Duty: Inner System Troop transport, short range (2 days cruising, max) Additional Variants: Heavy Command Center - instead of space for transporting troops, the Command Center variant has that space for a War-room and Intel centers . Equipped with the same amount of weaponry, and 20 CM of Ablative armor around the entire vessel for protection and guarantee of Command Structure in heavy combat situations. Medical Mobile Hospital - This version has been stripped of most gear, in order to make room for surgical areas and bio beds. Deck 1 is low priority, deck 2 medium, deck 3 (closest to the airlock) is Critical and Emergency first aid. There is a turbolift by the airlock so non-medical personnel do not walk through Critical Care on a normal basis. It has a central heavy-duty personnel transporter with individual subsections branching out in a wheel pattern from there (Post Op, Triage, Recovery, etc depending on the deck). The Medical variant is equipped with 30 CM of Ablative armor around the entire ship, to protect patients under heavy bombardment. The Variants are both used for large scale battles with Starfleet Marines. The Mobile Command center is a on-site center with full capabilities for running any Battle. The Mobile hospital is a close support emergency medical center for troops. Details: Length - 400 ft (121.92 Meters) Width - 500 ft (152.4 Meters) Height - 95 ft (28.95 Meters) Decks - 3 Planetary thrusters and anti-grav units for Planet-fall. Tractor beam - One aft emitter 2 computers, 1 primary and 1 backup 1 transporter (10 man, high frequency repeater) crew/pass/evac 10/300/500 Engines and Power Warp: 1 mini warp core, and 5 backup fusion generators Type IX warp drive,    Cruising Speed - Warp 5    Max Warp 7    Emergency 8.2 (engine shutdown in 4 hours) Impulse: Deuterium H.I.P.S (Hyper Impulse positioning system), multi vector drives. Propulsion notes - The Impulse drives are located in armored wells that protect from ground fire. They all have solid shudders that can be closed for intense fire when the drives are not being used. The impulse drives can not be used when the armored shudders are closed. The Warp nacelles fold up and in, when in Planet fall , to protect against enemy fire as well as the stress of atmospheric flight. Specially designed armored covers extend out as the nacelle is folding up, effectively covering the warp nacelles from enemy fire. This is also how the Gryphon class minimizes its size to travel in a shuttle bay. The Warp nacelles fold up and in, when in Planet fall , to protect against enemy fire as well as the stress of atmospheric flight. Specially designed armored covers extend out as the nacelle is folding up, effectively covering the warp nacelles from enemy fire. This is also how the Gryphon class minimizes its size to travel in a shuttle bay.   'Piggyback Notes':  The ship is short range, with a max top speed of only warp 7 for a short time. Therefore, she has to be carried long distances when speed is of the essence, and is designed to make this easy. She is just small enough to fit into a modified (and empty) Shuttle Bay of any vessel equal to or larger then a Nebula class (With the exception of the Sovereign and Roger Young Classes, she can fit into their Primary Shuttle Bays without modifications being made. Modifications would still be needed for both classes' Secondary Bays, however.). She also has docking clamps and magnetic grapples to secure herself to the side of any other starship, for piggyback maneuvers over long distance. When in Piggyback, the Gryphon's inertial dampening, grav systems are configured along with a minimal warp field to allow it to be effectively mass-less and drag-less if carried externally. Save for the characteristic lag involved in extreme maneuvers, the Gryphon would have little affect on the mother ships maneuverability.   Tactical and Defensive Systems: 2x Type X Phaser cannons, fore and aft positioning in 360 degree/180 degree vertical arc turrets. 1x Type X Phaser strip on the amidships dorsal section for ground strafing and clearing before landing. Multi-phasic regenerative shields Standard navigational shields. 20 CM of ablative armor covering the dorsal section of the ship, up to the middle of deck 2   Primary Design, Jeremy Trout: April 2002