A note: only the Azdgari Hyperdrive has been refitted on all Azdgari ships to date. Level 4 shielding hasn't been refitted, nor will hypercubes include actually refitting anything. These two projects don't include refits either.
Yes, refits will come later, most likely all together.
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Graviton Impulse Drive (Model I-1)
8 days.
The first version of a revolutionary new system of propulsion which works by generating gravitational singularities within the shield network. This research project is a pioneering one and the end product is a very incomplete version of what will eventually be a far more powerful propulsion system and likely have other applications in the future.
Speaking relative to the Azdgari's highly advanced ion drives that they used before, the most advanced drives in the known galaxy, the Impulse-1 drive allows maximum velocities ~30% higher than previous. Acceleration is ~50% faster, but due to the nature of the Impulse drive, it is expected that later versions will render acceleration virtually instantaneous. Turning becomes almost no concern at all, as the beauty of the Impulse drive is that the same singularity that drives the ship can be used to turn it - rather than using tiny lateral thrusters.
As a result of the Impulse-1, the Azdara expands the gap between its speed and manoeuvrability and every other ship in the galaxy. Azdaras will now be harder to hit, particularly with rockets, and few guided weapons can keep up with their maximum speed.
The Azdgari Arada suffers a modest boost which allows it to enter the region most other factions consider that of the fighter. While not as fast as the Zidagar fighter, the Azdgari Arada will not be far slower and in some areas will have better manoeuvrability. While not capable of dodging attacks with the same skill as the Azdara, the Azdgari Arada is certainly far faster than the Igadzra Arada now, leaving only one ship in the Strands that can outpace the slowest ship used by the new Azdgari navy - the Zidagar fighter. (The Azdgari warship being queued for decommissioning.)
Phase Stealth Field
_9 days.
(Yes, as you probably noticed, ALL the major Azdgari projects are coming straight away - I won't keep this up. After this only one slot will be doing anything major for a while, with shipyards and the much needed refits coming after.)_
The phase stealth field is a design being worked on a wide range of Azdgari engineers and scientists. It relies somewhat on existing technologies that were never properly implemented, and involves manipulating how hyperspace sensors actually work. It is a major project (hence why it hits the normal maximum of 9 days Ipvicus outlined, only passed by my Hypercube Project.)
Phase stealth fields are actually quite small devices overall, fitted on to the hyperdrives of ships as they use several similar components. They scramble the ship's identifiable signatures, causing an uncertainty as to their exact location. The further away hostile ship B is from ship A with a phase stealth field, the larger the volume of the uncertainty - meaning that as far as ship B is aware, ship A does exist, but could be anywhere in that region.
There is also one other factor to the stealth coefficient of a ship using the phase stealth field - its velocity, relative to the nearest point considered not to be moving (the nearest star - a realspace-hyperspace nexus of sorts.)
Therefore, the further any Azdgari ship using this field is from a hostile ship, and the slower it is moving, the harder it is to pinpoint its location. The phase stealth field never cloaks a ship - its presence in the system is always known.
At significant distances, i.e. far out of combat range, it is impossible to detect even so much as the general direction of the ship. At reasonably long distances, a ship's location is too uncertain to launch an attack, although a game of "hot of cold" can of course be played. Guided weaponry can therefore manage over a range of 3-4 times primary weapons range, as it starts off somewhat off track and guides back as it gets closer.
In terms of close-range fighting, the phase stealth field has almost no implications whatsoever. Certainly, as the Azdgari will concentrate almost entirely on close range weapons, opponents need not worry about the stealth field at that range. Azdaras in retreat provide an exception to this, as the farther they travel from enemy ships, the greater the uncertainty of their location.
Basically, these applications may be seen:-
1. Hiding in absolute uncertainty -- far enough away that not even direction is known. This is quite a distance and far out of combat range. Even in this case though, the existence of the ships is still known to anyone passing through the systems - just not their actual location.
2. Increasing distance between an enemy ship and using the phase stealth field to make escape increasingly more possible. i.e. if an Azdara starts moving away from an Igazra, the further it gets the less the Igazra knows where it is. At 2-3 times phase range and still moving, there's little chance of even Halcyon torpedoes getting close enough to decrease uncertainty to the point they can hit the right target.
3. Various other sneaky stuff, all of which can be determined from what has already been said.
Note: this only effects sensors that make use of hyperspace, which at the moment includes all sensors. Ordinary slower-than-light sensors work fine, but that's not much help - stl sensors are far too slow to catch anything anyway except at such a close range that the phase stealth field wouldn't be doing anything significant anyway. Due to Vakhys' research into other layers of existence, modifying the phase stealth field later (not yet - probably prerequisite at least half way into the next Subdimensional Research stage) won't take too long. However, sensors using subspace before any such modification will get through the stealth field.
Main application anyone will notice in firefights: fast Azdgari ships fleeing when under heavy fire, and being able to shake off attack due to the stealth field. Goes hand-in-hand with the Impulse-1 drive in that respect.
Edit I forgot to mention, about the phase stealth field. Different ships will have stealth fields of different powers... an Arada's will be slightly better than an Azdara, and some later ships may have far better stealth.
This post has been edited by SilverDragon : 22 February 2005 - 02:35 PM
