(Cruiser) Farlease-class Light Cruiser

||Callsign: 'Farlease' / CCL
||Class: Light Cruiser (CCL)
||Role: Sector Patrol / Escort
||Mass (approx): 224,850 T
||Length: 680 M
||Crew: up to 300
||Max Speed (Impulse Cruise): 1645 m/s
||Max Speed (Hyper Cruise): 1,380 Km/s
||Max Range (JDA): < 0.75 Parsec (S1), < 1.27 Parsec (S2)

||Number Built: 714
||Operators: UTN Federal Navy (pre-4040 A.D), Terran Loyalist Navy (4042 A.D - 4299), United Aquarian Systems Navy (4299 - 4402 A.D), United Aquarian Systems Federal Security Forces (4402 - Present), Various hulls in Tigershark usage.
||Date: -- A.D / 557 F.D.S
||Origin: Eris Tier Orbital Naval Yard, Eridonia System
||Variants: S1, S2

||Primary Armour Plating: Tritanium / Composite Lightweight Construction
||Primary Armour Thickness: =< 3.1M (Main), =< 1.60M (Secondary) =< 0.35M (Tertiary & Pressure)
||Spinal Armament: Dual-Linked "A+" Type MA-FIMD SMRG 875mm Artillery Cannons

||Primary Armament:
S1: 3x Dual-Linked "B" Type MK1/F FIMD 395mm Cannon Turrets
S2: 3x Dual "B" 345mm (13.5") MKIV-B MA-FIMD Autocannon Turrets

||Secondary Armament:
S1: 6x Single "C" Type MKI/F FIMD 325mm Cannon Turrets
S2: 4x Single "C" Type MKI/F FIMD 325mm Cannon Turrets, 2x Dual "C" Type MKI/F FIMD 325mm Cannon Turrets

||Tertiary Armament: 1x 8-vertical launch Hornet S/M/L system, 2x single forward-launch Hornet S/M/L (Torpedo) tubes
||Shielding: 2x MOD4.1e CTM Shield Generators (S1), 2x MOD5 CTM Shield Generators (S2)
||Sensors: Mast-tower mounted BSA/FCS with AHS Integration. Single-dish, Mast-mounted MLADAR array (S1, S2), Bow-Forward mounted BSA Auxiliary Antenna Array (S2)
||Propulsion: Main Triple-row Helium-Fusion Plasma Impulse Drives. 4x 4-stack satellite HFP Auxiliary / Cruise stabilisation drives
||Powerplant: 2x Rockal-Jasper MK13 900MW High Temperature Fusion Reactors (S1) 2x Rockal-Jasper MK13E 975MW HTFRs (S2)

||DESCRIPTION:
The Series 1 Farlease-class Fast Cruiser is one of the fastest ships in the Fleet. With lower mass and powerful engines compared to previous designs, these warships can be on scene in any system at a moment's notice, ready to protect the interests of the UTN. The class represents the bulk of all Fast or Light Cruiser class starships constructed, and the design hasn't changed dramatically in over 1000 cycles.

The Farlease-class was one of the most widely built and successful starship designs used by the Federal Navy. Drafted in 557 F.D.S to fill the role of a fast sector-patrol ship but with independent jump-capability. Prior to the introduction of dedicated Fast Cruisers, Sector patrol was typically filled by the Destroyer type warships; but with UTN space expanding rapidly, a more adaptable solution was needed. As a result, Farlease-class Fast Cruisers were the smallest warship in the fleet to carry their own Jump Drive. While still being fairly long at 680 Meters, they were considerably lighter than the larger Vengeance-class Heavy Cruisers, and as a result produce significantly less inertia in combat manoeuvres.

Moving into the fourth Millennium, the Farlease-class design had been adapted into more than half a dozen new classes based on the highly successful hull. During the Radacri Wars, Farlease-class cruisers were used extensively on the home front to keep the peace and deploy Federal Marines to strategically important objectives.

||Variants
||S2
The S2 designation of the Farlease-class Light Cruiser was designed as a mid-cycle update to the platform to address shortcomings with the original design, such as limited facilities for long-range sensors deemed important for sector patrol operations. The inclusion of a pair of forward-facing antenna array for an updated Broad Spectrum Array with enhanced Space Density Distortion (SDD) tracking was fitted, along with a modest improvement to the powerplant using newer, more efficient reactor designs from Rockal-Jasper. The primary and secondary batteries were also upgraded, with the original non-assisted Fusion Impulse Mass Drivers on the Series 1 replaced with the faster-firing Magnetically Assisted MKIV-B Autocannon turrets. The secondary battery's bow-most and stern-most hardpoints were upgraded with dual versions of the existing 325mm FIMD cannons for additional firepower against frigates and corvettes.

The S2 was only marginally more expensive, but was produced alongside the original S1 for some time in the middle of the 3rd millennium, until S1s were no longer manufactured after 3600 A.D. There was no major retrofit program for existing S1 vessels, so the Series continued to operate in service with the Federal Navy until the Fall in 4040 A.D, however, most Series 1 vessels were relegated to home defence or sector patrol, while the Navy's forward operating elements requested only Series 2 models due to their superior sensor capabilities.

||Legacy
The Farlease-class cruiser design has operated with a long and valiant service history for over a thousand Eridonian years. However, it is almost entirely phased out of use by the Imperial Era by 4402 A.D, being replaced by the much larger, faster and better armed and protected RV-class Fleet Cruiser. However, Farlease-class cruisers are still a widely deployed member of the civilian UAS Security Forces, and can often be seen patrolling the Aquarian Core Systems in law-enforcement capacities, where they function in a role similar to 'mobile police stations'.