Blue Planet ships data

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

This page references tech room entries and veteran comments for BP ships that do not have their own BP-specific page, typically retail ships.

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GTVA Terran ships

GTF Ulysses

A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

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The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the Gaian Effort's Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with Balor, Vulcan and Dart, and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped Scimitar, and escorting a GEC Ancamna gunship.

GTF Loki

The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

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The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.

GTF Hercules

The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

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GTF Myrmidon

The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

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Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.

GTF Perseus

The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

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In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).

GTF Hercules Mark II

The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

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In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in Forced Entry.

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role (Delenda Est), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.

GTF Erinyes

The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

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In My Brother, My Enemy, the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.

GTF Ares

The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient Trebuchet missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up Trebuchet strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

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The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.

GTF Pegasus

The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

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Note that the Pegasii used in Deals in Shadows are force-mounted with Maxim guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.

GTB Zeus

The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

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Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in A Time for Heroes, you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.

GTB Medusa

The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

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Not seen at all so far.

GTB Artemis

Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

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Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.

GTB Artemis D.H.

A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

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Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.

GTB Boanerges

A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

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In A Time for Heroes, you are given a choice to fly this ship in a Bearbaiting-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.

The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.

GTB Ursa

Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

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Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in Universal Truth, Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.

GTM Hippocrates

The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

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GTC Fenris

The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

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GTC Leviathan

Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

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You'll see these ships in Delenda Est, and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.

GTC Aeolus

Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

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Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as Collateral Damage and Post Meridian. It is only when you finally get access to the Uriel and Paveway missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.

GTA Charybdis

The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

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Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.

Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.

GTCv Deimos

The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new Bellerophon and Chimera corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

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Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of Sanctuses, and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four TerSlashes, on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a Karuna and a Sanctus, although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport Terran Turrets II or STerPulses.

GTD Orion

The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Raynor class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied GTD Carthage, now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

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The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified GTD Carthage.

GTD Hecate

The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

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The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal Crypt Hammer, EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as Post Meridian showed, a couple of well-prepared Karunae with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer Raynor and Titan.

GTVA Colossus

Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

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The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Raynor. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the Neo-Terran Front on its own.

GTSG Mjolnir

The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

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