Nodachi-class corvette

An excellent light warship design, the Nodachi-class has been deployed in large numbers throughout the Imperial Navy, and it is the Imperial Navy's primary patrol ship. In addition, the class is also capable of carrying out escort, anti-shipping, and fleet screening operations in equal measure. Heavily adaptable, the Nodachi-class has also been modified into the Yamabiko-class communications ship subclass.

Development
The Nodachi-class corvettes were first introduced in 194 to replace the pre-restoration era Nagamaki-class patrol ships, which had reached the end of their service life and were heavily depleted following the First Empire-Union War. The ships were designed by the Imperial Navy Tactical Warfare Development Centre as a new type of "standardised warship" with a long service life, low cost of procurement, and multi-mission capabilities.

Description
The ships of the Nodachi-class are multipurpose corvettes, capable of both in-system operations and long-range patrol missions. Each vessel is 64 meters long and is powered by a Mitsuhishi Nandarou-44 fusion reactor, with enough reaction mass for long independent patrols. Four docking ports on the underside of the vessel enable to class to dock with other spaceships, and even carry smaller craft such as fighters, enabling Nodachi-class ships to act as very light carriers to an extent.

Equipped for ship-to-ship combat with eight Type-90 anti-ship missiles and 2 twin-mount Type-32 90mm railguns, the Nodachi-class is capable of threatening ships several classes above itself. In addition to the main weapons, each vessel also has a secondary battery of a 32-cell Type-41 VLS for light anti-fighter defence, making the type excellent at fleet screening and escorting larger warships from enemy fighters and bombers. For close-defence, 6 strategically placed Kirino Dynamics Yamabushi-5 30mm CIWS systems provide all-round protection against incoming enemy ordnance and aerospacecraft.

For protection, the Nodachi-class is equipped with the typical Imperial nanocrystal titanium-3 external plating, with an under-layer of ceramic-carbon nanotube composite plating. Re-applicable anti-laser polymer coating is typically applied, providing about 4 seconds worth of protection from directed energy weapons.

Each Nodachi-class vessel is operated by a crew of 16, with 3 officers and 13 enlisted. The comfortable but spartan crew quarters include a suite for the captain, double-bunks for the officers, and quadruple-bunks for the enlisted, located in the space behind the bridge. A galley and small recreation lounge is also available. The Nodachi-class also has a spacious cargo hold, and the class is sometimes used as a light cargo transport or troop carrier for the Imperial military, though it is incapable of atmospheric flight.

Yamabiko-class
The Yamabiko-class communications corvette is a modified subclass of Nodachi-class corvette, equipped with long-range communications equipment and scanners. The class is capable of carrying out electronic warfare, long-range communications support, and providing Aerospace Early Warning and Control. It is also rumoured that the Imperial Security Service uses the Yamabiko-class for international and domestic espionage, such as monitoring Exonet data channels.

The main changes to the base Nodachi-class design include the addition of the large sensor dish and communications array on the dorsal spine of the vessel. The Gozanti-type ion thruster has also been removed to make space for internal systems re-configurations, and has been replaced by an additional two DOTAMA-32 ion arrays on the ends of the outboard "wings", giving the Yamabiko-class a thrust and speed advantage over the base Nodachi-class design. Within the vessel, the interior areas have been heavily redesigned, with the spacious Nodachi-class cargo hold converted into a command centre-type setup. Crew quarters have also been moved to where the magazine is located on a normal Nodachi-class vessel, while the original crew quarters have been replaced by server rooms.

Due to the load of the communications and sensor equipment, Yamabiko-class ships have had their weapons systems stripped out, with the exception of the CIWS units.