Navy Faction

Long struggling with a reputation for being the ugly duckling of the Caldari ship repertoire, the Hookbill recently got a new lease on life, being upgraded from a routine patrol vessel into a fleet-standard frigate. With the advancements brought on by the upgrade, the time is nigh for this little slugger to prove itself on battlefields throughout Caldari space and beyond.

As YC117 came to a close, the Imperial Navy found itself facing the most significant series of crises in over seven years. The loss of Empress Jamyl Sarum to the hostile and enigmatic Drifter fleet followed by further Drifter incursions into the Empire left the Navy stretched thin and barely able to keep up with the demands of defending the throne worlds. In response to these challenges, the Empire has turned to their Capsuleer allies for support in their time of need. The Crucifier Navy Issue is the first Navy vessel to be designed for Capsuleer use first and traditional navy use second. It combines powerful laser systems with overwhelming weapon disruption at close ranges, designed to meet the realities of capsuleer combat in the contested low security regions where the Empire's borders are in most need of bolstering.

The Comet's design comes from one Arnerore Rylerave, an engineer and researcher of the Roden Shipyards corporation. Originally created as a standard-issue police patrol vessel, its tremendous maneuverability and great offensive capabilities catapulted it into the Navy's ranks, where it is now a widely-used skirmish vessel.

The Griffin Navy Issue represents a new experiment in close-range tactics from the Caldari Navy. Combining deadly hybrid weapon systems with electronic countermeasure drones has allowed the Griffin Navy Issue to surprise hostile forces with uncharacteristically aggressive tactics.

The basic Heron hull design has always served the Caldari well as a scout, survey and exploration ship but the Caldari Navy wished to optimize its upgraded Herons with enhanced missile systems and dedicated processing to support combat probing. The trade-off meant stripping out the specialized salvaging systems to make room for the Heron Navy Issue's combat upgrades. The security of the State requires that its scouting and exploration capabilities be accompanied by sufficient firepower to seize and hold any new discovery or destroy interlopers at the fringes of Caldari space.

The Imicus has had a long history as a semi-industrial platform used first as a convenient startup mining platform, and then as an explorer and salvager by enterprising Gallente pilots. The Federation Navy issued a requirement for a scouting and exploration vessel with enough combat capability to respond aggressively to any immediate threats. As something inevitably had to give in the quest for enhanced scouting and combat capabilities, the Federation Navy made no bones about specifying a requirement that removed special salvaging efficiency systems from the Imicus Navy Issue. CreoDron and Roden Shipyards put in a successful joint upgrade bid that promised significantly upgraded drone capabilities coupled with special processing systems to support a probe launcher alongside the new drone systems. The Imicus Navy Issue has handsomely delivered on that promise with its ability to pinpoint likely targets and fall upon them with its impressive array of weapons.

The Slicer is the Imperial Navy's pride and joy, and one of its biggest weapons in the continual fight against Matari insurgents. Boasting tremendous range and versatility in equipment fittings, a great deal of armor strength and a powerful capacitor, the skilled Slicer pilot is able to take out most frigates with ease.

The Magnate's history as a pet project of imperial engineers affected by the fashions and foibles of Amarr nobles has been brought under control by a rejuvenated Ministry of War and an Imperial Navy with very definite opinions as to the requirements for a naval scout and exploration frigate. To that end, dedicated processing capacity for scan probe launchers has been included together with improved energy weapon systems. The Imperial Navy has no interest in salvaging until it has swept the enemy from space and has happily sacrificed specialized salvaging systems.

The Maulus Navy Issue is the result of the Federation Navy's decision to pivot towards increased support for their Capsuleer allies in the contested low-security constellations across Black Rise and Placid. Borrowing innovative concepts from local pirate bands, Gallente engineers developed a ship capable of extremely powerful warp scrambling alongside respectable combat abilities.

The Comet's design comes from one Arnerore Rylerave, an engineer and researcher of the Roden Shipyards corporation. Originally created as a standard-issue police patrol vessel, its tremendous maneuverability and great offensive capabilities catapulted it into the Navy's ranks, where it is now a widely-used skirmish vessel.

To satisfy a growing need for brute-force intelligence retrieval, the Minmatar sought a ship which was capable of hit and run operations – one which was capable of striking hard and fast against exposed targets and outrunning their defenders before they had a chance to react. A solution was found in the commissioning of the Probe Fleet Issue: a ship which combined the delicate data extraction capabilities of the Probe, while abandoning superfluous salvager systems, with the firepower to make a ship as equally capable of cracking encryption codes as it is cracking open the hull of a diplomat's shuttle.

The Firetail is modeled off a fighter frigate known as the Shamrock, a design used by a small, now-extinct pirate faction known as Lazari Dromitus. The blueprint found its way into the hands of Matari military forces after a raid on Lazari Dromitus's headquarters succeeded in killing its leader, thus beheading the organization and scattering its remnants to the four winds. It has since been improved upon and upgraded, and the Firetail is now a mainstay in most Republic Fleet patrols.

The Vigil Fleet Issue is the latest development from the Republic Fleet's innovative R&D labs. Designed with the demands of Capsuleer loyalist corporations in mind, this aggressive ship is intended to support new offensive operations into the Empire's vulnerable constellations in The Bleak Lands and Devoid regions. Long range stasis webifiers and high speed allow the Vigil Fleet Issue to chase down and catch the most evasive prey and pull them into range of its deadly rocket launchers.