Designation: Quiltra Draenitzs class Tirolian multipurpose transport

Names and disposition:

These ships were built at the Tirolian Orbital Shipyards and the Cirtzsai Yards from 1662 through 1994. From the beginning of the production run until its end, no major upgrades were made to the Quiltra Draenitzs design save replacing obsolete equipment with more modern equivalents. The total number of Quiltra Draenitzs class transports constructed is 9,693.

Of this number, 625 were destroyed prior to 2010. Due to protoculture depletion and the mostly non-military nature of the class, only 98 remained in service in 2013, the others mostly placed in long term orbital storage in the systems they worked prior to the energy crisis. Of the operational vessels, 9 arrived with the Tirolian Fleet in Earthspace, the others having been abandoned in a deep-space depot with many other depleted ships. This depot has to this date not been found.

After the heavy fighting of the Second Robotech War, no operational Quiltra Draenitzs transports remained. Several captured vessels have been stored at Moon Base Luna, all heavily damaged. No funds have been authorized to restore them to a safe condition, and it is suspected the hulks will be scrapped soon.

Ship's Complement:

• Ships' crew (69),
• Life support limits are for a full complement and an emergency evacuation contingent of 14,000 supernumeraries, provided the holds were configured to accommodate them.

Dimensions:

• Length : 510 meters (over all).
• Height : 298 meters (over all).
• Width : 200 meters (over all).
• Mass : 1,220,000 metric tons (operational).
• Cargo : 390,000 metric tons (maximum).
• Fuel Mass: 325,000 metric tons (typical).

Propulsion Systems:

• Main power system: Zorrelev-Qualdir-76 protoculture-fueled Reflex furnace cluster. The powerplant of a Quiltra Draenitzs class vessel can nominally deliver up to 2.2 Petawatts of power, and can operate for ninety minutes at maximum power before overheat initiates auto-shutdown.
• Maneuvering thrusters (61) : Fusion-plasma reaction thruster clusters with steerable nozzles. These engines are mounted with six each to the bow, stern, dorsal, ventral, starboard and port hull, with an additional five thrusters each in the command tower and the four docking extensions.
• Reaction-mass thruster (1) : One Varrelev Ghnowait-11 fusion-plasma reaction thruster with protoculture energizer mounted in the rear of the ship.
• Secondary thrusters: None. However, the maneuvering thrusters are half again as powerful as is standard for a Tirolian ship of comparable size, allowing the Quiltra Draenitzs more mobility with this thruster system than usual.
• Anti-gravity system (1) : 55 Tsuaedrailar anti-gravity pods.
• Space fold (1) : Nolfantom-proldarc'lev F45 spacefold. This system generates a hull-conformal fold.
• Planetary capabilities: The Quiltra Draenitzs-class has atmospheric capabilities through its reaction thrusters and anti-gravity system. The hull has sufficient structural strength for the ship to make a cold landing on it. Note that the ground underneath should be as firm as possible.

Endurance and mobility limits:

• The dry stores endurance was limited to about 2 months with a standard crew complement and no use of cargo holds for additional supplies. Water stores are recycled almost totally.
• The Reflex furnace can function for about 35 years at normal usage levels before an energizer rebuild is necessary.
• At full power, the main propulsion systems can nominally produce up to 33.6 Giganewtons of thrust at a minimal reaction mass efficiency profile, or as little as 122 Meganewtons of thrust at a maximum efficiency setting. At lower power levels, these thrusts are commensurately smaller.
• At full power, the Quiltra Draenitzs-class can nominally achieve a maximum delta-v of 410 kps at the cruising acceleration of 0.1 gees, a maximum delta-v of 78 kps at the battle acceleration of 1.0 gees, and a delta-v of at most 23.8 kps at the flank acceleration of 2.8 gees. At lower power levels, these ranges are commensurately smaller.
• The fold systems were not navigationally guaranteed for any single jump beyond 3 kiloparsecs. If longer voyages were required, the ship had to conduct multiple fold jumps.
• The maximum sustained atmospheric speed was limited to Mach 2. A higher speed could be attained while accelerating to orbit, or in emergencies, but this stressed the engines to above their sustainable heat tolerances. The maximum hover time on the anti-gravity systems was limited only by the protoculture supplies and maintenance requirements.

Weapon Systems:

• Makral Taranoul 103 particle cannon (39): This cannon formed the standard close-in weapon system of the Tirolian fleets. The cannons are mounted on an elevated structure in batteries of three cannons each. The triple batteries are distributed around the ship, with each aspect having at least two unmasked at all times. The Taranoul system has an effective range of 45 km against small targets, a practically continuous rate of fire and a power output of near 3 MJ/s at full power.

Air Group and Mecha Complement:

(mining operations)

• 52 mining, prospector and tug vessels, repair and sensor drones.

  (troop transport)

• 360 Sestralian bioroids with skysleds,
• 33 attack drones,
• 6 Liewdrallon shuttlecraft.

Design Notes:

Designed as a general cargo vessel, the Quiltra Draenitzs is not a ship likely to gain a prize for elegance of design. Odd corners, projections and hull fixtures dot the entire surface, creating the (mistaken) impression of a ship created by slapping several unrelated hulls and parts of ship together into one craft. Spread out over the hull are the defensive cannon batteries.

The Quiltra Draenitzs has a main hull shaped like a tapering rectangular box, with the smallest side vertical and the longest side in the longitudinal direction of the ship. From amidships aft, a massive superstructure sits on the upper deck. The tall command tower points upwards from near the center of the weather deck, while to the sides and the aft a lower superstructure extends, flowing smoothly in the lower hull near the engine. Four large external docking arms project to the flanks from the forward part of the superstructure. These arms are built to connect to asteroids (or the extraction machinery on them) and allow the vessel to dock with even the most irregular formed rocks.

Seven distinctive Tirolian docking and embarkation ports can be seen on the hull, three almost directly aft of the bow (one forward and one for the dorsal and ventral each), with two more ports on each flank forward and under the command tower.

Internally, there are three sections distinguishable in the ship. The command tower houses the living and work spaces for the Tirolian crew, while the majority of the main hull consists of cargo holds and access bays. The holds can be reconfigured to serve as mecha bays, fuel tanks, or evacuation quarters. The third section is the aft engineering section, housing the generators and main engine.

History:

The Quiltra Draenitzs medium transport vessel is the Tirolian workhorse for all manner of transport tasks ranging from large-scale troop movements through fleet tender duties to ore carrier, much in the same way as the Quiltra Queleual served in the Zentraedi fleets. The Draenitsz was mainly designed to serve as ore carrier for the asteroid mining operations that served the Tirolian economy directly, but given the required characteristics, a multi-purpose capability was designed into the class so that they could serve as general supply vessels, mecha landers and tenders for the Tirolian fleet if needed. As such, a point-defense battery was included from the first design.

The Quiltra Draenitsz design was a success. The design coupled a large cargo capacity with a fast cruise acceleration (equal to that of Tirolian Navy vessels) and was easily adaptable to other tasks. The class started series production in the mid-17th century and remained in production for over three centuries, supplementing older designs at first, replacing them as time went by. The effectiveness of the Draenitsz was such that at the time of the downfall of the Tirolian Mercantile Empire, no successor was in sight or even under consideration.

In the Second Robotech War the Draenitsz played a minor role in the Tirolian naval attacks, as this war was fought mostly at short range. On some of the longer ranged raids made by the Tirolian light forces, Draenitsz vessels went with the combat forces in the role of tankers and tenders. Once, a clandestine landing operation was made with a Draenitsz vessel acting as a survey and recovery vessel. But over all, the Draenitsz class was of little importance in the war. After the war, several of the mothballed vessels in the former Mercantile Empire were re-energized and pressed into service with the new naval and merchant fleets, but no plans exist for renewed production. Admittedly, the number of stored hulls is high and retrofitting cheaper than new production; the new powers content with refurbished craft or new, indigenous designs.

See additional design notes.

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