UED Solaris

The following information has not been confirmed by Volition and is therefore not canon for the FreeSpace universe.

The be-all and end-all of the UEF, the UED Solaris is the sole destroyer and carrier class of the UEF in Blue Planet, as well as the largest and most powerful ship class in the entire Federation. The UEF has three of these behemoths in service, and each of them serve as mobile fortresses and a base of operations for the Federation's three fleets and their commanding officers.

The firepower that the Solaris wields is immense: of its 67 turrets, twelve of them fire anti-warship torpedoes that can easily annihilate even the GTVA's most powerful warships in a matter of seconds. Its anti-warship and anti-fighter armament is spread out evenly across the entire vessel, virtually eliminating any and all weak spots on the ship's frame.

The fact that the Federation—and to some extent, the Ubuntu Council of Elders—only has three active Solaris destroyers, however, means that Solaris-class destroyers are rarely seen on the front lines of battle despite their offensive and defensive capabilities. Instead, standard UEF doctrine has it that each Solaris destroyer deploys its complement of spacecraft for virtually all operations, while the destroyer in question is kept in a holding position around the planet or installation it is stationed at. The deployment of a Solaris destroyer in battle is often only used as a last resort, when it has no additional spacecraft to assist, or if the deployment of a smaller space-faring warship such as a Narayana-class frigate is infeasible or impossible. In addition, because each Solaris destroyer holds nearly an entire fleet of spacecraft, the destruction of any of these vessels will deal a crippling blow to the military strength and morale of the UEF and, in turn, the Council.

Description:

The UED Solaris

Blue Planet: War in Heaven Tech Description

Prior to the outbreak of the UEF-GTVA war, the Solaris class Destroyers were the most controversial pieces of military hardware in use by the Federation. They represented a massive investment of resources and manpower that, according to critics, was fundamentally unnecessary. Designed by an ad-hoc committee of the Federation's best engineering and tactical thinkers and built at Mars' Bradbury Fleet Yards, these enormous warships seemed like answers to a nonexistent problem.

There are currently 3 ships of this class in service: the Solaris under Admiral Byrne, the Eris under Admiral Netreba, and the Toutatis under Admiral Calder. They each serve as both flagships and primary strategic deterrents for their respective fleets. The Solaris class' primary firepower is delivered via 12 Hwacha Mk 2 missile launchers, each capable of firing up to 4 missiles before a reload cycle. Secondary armament is comprised of fast-firing mass drivers designed to kill enemy turrets, supplemented by a comprehensive suite of point defense and flak guns.

They also carry a sizable fighter complement, befitting their role as carriers. While the Solaris destroyers themselves have barely seen combat in the war, their impact on the strategic situation is enormous, and the actions of their fighter wings are critical in the Federation's defensive efforts. Each Solaris serves as a single-handed 'fleet in being', deterring a crushing GTVA assault.

Developer Notes

This ship is derived from Esarai's Arashi concept, which was in turn inspired by the UEFg Karuna and FD Vexor. However, there are several differences between it and the first concept. The original Arashi design was flipped to provide a stronger, more grounded appearance, the turret layout was built to custom order, and the ship's maps and animations were produced by a collaborative effort between Esarai, The E, Herra Tohtori, and Darius. This model is also somewhat infamous for breaking FSO at a few points, as its original iteration was too detailed for the pof model file format.

Credits

• Concept based on UEFg Karuna and FD Vexor, both by Steve-O
• Original concept and model by Esarai
• Ship textures and animation by Esarai, Herra Tohtori, The E and Darius

Name Origin

Named for the classic science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem, which was notable for portraying truly unknowable aliens.

Performance:

Statistics

Type	Destroyer
Manufacturer	Bradbury Fleet Yards
Maneuverability	N/A
Yaw, Pitch, Roll	15 s
Max Velocity	N/A ms-1
Max Afterburner Velocity	N/A ms-1
Armor	180 000
Hitpoints	N/A
Shields	3496
Length	m

Width	861 m
Height	810 m
Fighter Complement	16 squadrons (192 spacecraft)

Armaments

• Turrets

BP: WiH
Turret Type	Amount
Apocalypse	12
Arashi Turret	16
Burst Flak	16
Point Defense Turret	20

Veteran Comments

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This ship is the most badass ship in War in Heaven. It's designed to be better than an old (GTA-era) Orion in every aspect, and it pulls it off with a bang. Its main armament is in its missile launchers, which routinely fire Apocalypse torpedoes, and they are designed and placed in such a way that, no matter where an enemy ship is in relation to the Solaris, it will always be in the line of fire of at least 6, most often 9 and regularly all 12 launchers.

For much of War in Heaven Part 1's development cycle, the FD Vexor was used as the Solaris. It was only near the final stages of development that the decision was made to pull the Vexor out of the campaign on technical grounds and replace it with this new model.