All Tactical Destroyers

Your first duty is to purge yourself in the flames of your confession before God. You must become ash in God's hands, for only then may you rise anew to strike the adversary down. -Apostle-Martial Zhar Pashay's dawn address to the Paladins at the Battle of Rahdo, Amarr Prime AD 20538

The first Hecate-class destroyers have entered official service in the Federation Navy on July 7th, YC117 after successful completion of an accelerated proving period. The new ship design has received near-unanimous praise from military experts but a troubled development period has stirred controversy among opposition senators. President Roden's office has issued a press statement extolling the capabilities of this new vessel: "In these tumultuous times we rely on the brave men and women of the Navy to stand firm against the enemies of our Federation. This administration stands with our armed forces and remains committed to providing these heroes with the best equipment available anywhere in the cluster. The Hecate makes use of the most advanced technology to provide unrivaled flexibility and firepower. Those who would threaten our liberty will learn to fear the strength and resolve of the Federation." The press release does not address the recent demands from a group of prominent doves in the Senate that the Navy procurement process be subjected to a public inquiry. The administration has previously defended the choice to pour unprecedented amounts of Federal funds into the development of the Hecate through a sole source contract with Roden Shipyards as the only way to retain technological parity with the other empires after the Federation received relatively light support from Capsuleers in their recent research efforts. -Scope News special report, YC117

Despite widespread disappointment within the State that Caldari researchers fell behind their counterparts in the Empire and Republic during the second wave of sleeper-derived weapons development in late YC116 and early YC117, the quality of their end result cannot be denied. The Jackdaw is a versatile and powerful combat vessel, combining cutting edge advancements in missile and shield technology with the incredible breakthrough of the Self-Assembling Nanolattice to produce a ship that any Caldari pilot can be proud to fly.

Released in YC 117 as the result of the first Republic Fleet joint research project to include engineers from all seven Minmatar tribes, the Svipul is a powerful symbol of inter-tribal unity for many Republic citizens. Although the contributions of engineers from the Nefantar and Starkmanir tribes were fairly minor, a large delegation from the Vo-Lakat Thukker caravan and donations from Republic loyalist capsuleers across the cluster were invaluable to the development of this incredibly adaptable warship.