Confederation Bengal class Strike Carrier (Wing Commander):

The Bengal class strike carrier was developed as a carrier which was far different than those which were in service at the time and was a break from the traditional carriers which made up the majority of the Confederation Navy carrier forces. It was a new type of fleet carrier with much heavier offensive weaponry compared to earlier designs including anti-ship torpedoes and heavy anti-fighter missiles. In addition, the ship carried heavier armor and were slightly faster than previous carriers.

Due to the heavier weaponry carried on the carriers, they were able to operate more independently than previous carriers due to having the ability to defend themselves. Their higher top speed also allowed them to attempt to break and run from engagements. This allowed a reduction of logistic support for the carrier compared to previous designs due to not requiring capital ship escort. Even so, most captains preferred operation with at least several destroyers as escort. As might be expected, these ships were designed as flagships and have extensive flag facilities.

Early ships of the class were named for Felines but as the Kilrathi War got fully underway, most later carriers were named after canines. Probably the most well known carrier class of the Confederation, the exploits of these carriers made them the most important carrier class during the first part of the Kilrathi War and fought on until the last carrier was destroyed. Famous ships of this class as the TCS Tiger's Claw which was the first Confederation ship known to have been destroyed by a Strakha-class stealth fighter. Another famous carrier was the TCS Wolfhound which was the flagship of Admiral Bainbridge and was destroyed during the Battle of the Earth. The Confederation discontinued construction after the destruction of the Tiger's Claw and the Wolfhound was the last operation Bengal class carrier. A single carrier, the TCS Kipling survives but was so badly mauled that it was retired although it was a testament to how much these ships can survive.

At the same time as the development of the Bengal class carriers, larger fighters were entering service and the carriers which were in service had problems operating the newer (and larger) fighters. As a result, handling facilities for fighters on the Bengal class were improved to deal with the larger fighters. This allowed the carrier to handle new fighters as they were put into service with only having to be modified to deal with the huge Broadsword bomber. The carriers carried virtually every fighter which was in service while the carriers were also in service. This includes the old Raptor, Scimitar, and Hornet fighters all the way to the Epee, Ferret, and Sabre fighters. Early compliment was forty-eight Hornet light fighters, thirty-six Scimitar medium fighters (Scimitars), and twenty-four Raptor heavy fighters. Later, one squadron of Hornets and one squadron of Scimitars were replaced by two squadrons of Rapiers. Compliment of the Wolfhound in the years before being destroyed was usually around thirty six light fighters, usually a mixture of Epees and Ferrets, twenty-four Rapier medium fighters, twenty-four Sabre heavy fighters, and twelve Broadsword heavy bombers. One weakness the carrier has and led to the loss of the carrier is that it only mounted a pair of hanger bays.

Notes of game conversion:

Because of the nature of the Video Game / Novel series “Wing Commander” and the needs to put the starship into game mechanics, the starship has several modification compared to the Video Game and Novels. The most important change it to change top speed to acceleration. Like fighters in Star Wars and original Battlestar Galactica, the fighters appear to act as if they are in the atmosphere even when they operating in space. This is incorrect. The Television series Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Galactic are good series to watch to get a clearer idea on how space vehicles would probably maneuver although still not a perfect perspective. The starship has been modified to uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor starships. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Model Type: Bengal class Carrier
Vehicle Type: Fleet (Strike) Carrier
Crew: 750 (40 Officers, 50 Chief Petty Officers, and 660 Enlisted)
Troops / Passengers: 160 fighter pilots. Has flag facilities for up to 120 additional personnel

Vehicles:
Fighter Compliment (Early):

	48	F-36 Hornet Light Fighters (Reduced to 36 when 24 F-44 Rapier Fighters Embarked)
	36	F-32 Scimitar Medium Fighters (Reduced to 24 when 24 F-44 Rapier Fighters Embarked)
	24	F/A-14 Raptor Heavy Fighters

Fighter Compliment (Late):

	24	F-54 Epee Light Fighters
	12	P-64 Ferret Patrol Fighters
	24	F-44 Rapier Medium Fighters
	24	F-57 Sabre Heavy Fighters
	12	A-17 Broadsword Heavy Bombers

Other vehicles:

General Purpose Shuttles

M.D.C. By Location:

	Heavy Laser Cannon Turrets (8):	300 each
	Light Point Defense Laser Cannon mounts (20):	100 each
	Long Range Missile Launcher (2):	500 each
	Cruise Missile Launchers (4):	500 each
	Hanger Bays (2):	2,200 each
	[1] Main Bridge:	8,000
	[1] Auxiliary Bridge:	8,000
	[2] Engineering section:	16,000
	Main Engines (2):	8,000 each
	[3] Main Body:	38,000
	[4] Variable Force Field:	6,000 per side (36,000 Total)

Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s armor. This ship also has an auxiliary bridge. Even if both bridges are destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion systems are destroyed and maximum sublight acceleration is reduced to ten percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the carrier out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,800 M.D.C.) per melee.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.33 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The fleet carrier cannot operate within an atmosphere. If the ship enters an atmosphere, it will crash.
Stardrive: The fleet carrier mounts a jump drive which is capable of jumping instantly from a fixed point in a system to another fixed point in a system. These points are weaknesses in the fabric of space and have been mapped in most cases. Fuel is hydrogen which the escort carrier scoops from space to fuel the jump engine.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. The carrier has about four years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 2,263.8 feet (690 meters)
Height: 580.7 feet (177.0 meters) for hull and 652.1 feet (198.7 meters) including antenna
Width: 1,128.07 feet (343.8 meters)
Weight: 88,200 Tons (80,000 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 8,000 tons of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: The Bengal class carrier costs around 35 billion credits to manufacture not including fighter compliment. Fighter compliment cost approximately 4.5 billion credits.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Eight (8) Heavy Point Defense Lasers in Dual Mounts: Eight total on top, bottom, port, and bottom side. All can fire forward and aft. Each Turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Individually more powerful than the lasers mounted on fighters and have a longer range. Compared to point defense weaponry carried on most starships within the Three Galaxies, the weapon mounts have a longer range.
Maximum Effective Range: 4,971 miles (8,000 km) in space and 24.85 miles (40 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega-Damage: 4D6x10 M.D.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Twenty (20) Light Point Defense Lasers in Single Mounts: Six total on top, bottom, port, and starboard side. All can fire forward and aft. Each Turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Weapon is equal to standard fighter laser mounts. Compared to most point defense weaponry carried on most starships within the Three Galaxies, the weapon mounts have a longer range.
Maximum Effective Range: 3,106.8 miles (5,000 km) in space and 15.5 miles (25 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega-Damage: 1D6x10 M.D.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Four (4) Cruise Missile Launchers: Missile has a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship). Since star ships will no longer engage at rock throwing distances, whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles.
Maximum Effective Range: Missile range is 8,000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376 km/ 21.5 light seconds) in space.
Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Anti-Matter does 4D6x100 M.D.C.).
Rate of Fire: One per launcher per melee attack
Payload: 96 cruise missiles total (24 each launcher)
Two (2) Long Range Missile Batteries: Missile has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship). Since star ships will no longer engage at rock throwing distances, whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Long range missiles do not have penalties to hit small targets unlike cruise missiles and are all considered smart missiles. Battery can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
Maximum Effective Range: Missile range is 3400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space.
Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)
Rate of Fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2 or 4 per launcher, per melee attack.
Payload: 120 total, 60 long range missiles per battery.

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CGI / Artwork of starship created by Howard Hill / Howie. Picture taken from Wing Commander CIC.

Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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