Jeffrey Schwartz wrote:

<<snips Ian's post that inspired this new thread>>
>
> I've often wondered why it seemed the IN got ship upgrades every
> decade or three, but the IISS was using basically the same ship for
> the last thousand years.
>
> I've had this mental image now and then of a poker game amoung the
> 3I's Joint Chiefs, where the Admiral complains about having to detach
> escorts to carry mail at Jump-4 so they have any chance of catching up
> with the fleet, since the Type-S's are only Jump-2.
>
> The IISS Administrator replies,"Well , if the Navy didn't suck up all
> the credits, maybe we'd get an upgraded design..."
>
> The Admiral responds,"I know the commanders on scene hate losing the
> firepower of the escort in an anti-missile role, and it'd almost be
> worth it for the IN to fund a new 100 ton design..."
>
> The Marine General adds,"If it had some way to deploy commando troops,
> for behind the lines raids, we'd kick in on the funding"
>
> The Army General nods, "And the ability to carry the mail quicker for
> us would be a good thing..."
>
> The IISS Admin ponders it, and then says,"The sensible thing would be
> to accept that it's going to be _another_ thousand years before I hear
> something like this, and design something really cutting edge under
> the idea that in 250-500 years it'll be the common place technology. I
> mean, Jump-2 was cutting edge when the Type-S first was thought up."
>
> The others agree,and the research project begins...
>
> .... So, if you were doing a ground-up redesign, what would you do ?

Erik Grierson, one of AuricTech Shipyard's most talented consulting
designers, would like some clarifications on the Request for Proposals
(RFP) that ought to follow from this friendly discussion:

1. Is the 100-dton size of the legacy Type-S a hard-and-fast limit to
ship size?  If not, what is the largest ship that would be acceptable
for service in this multi-mission role?

2a. Will the Imperial Navy requirement include 6G acceleration, so as to
be capable of maintaining station with warships?

2b. Will the Imperial Navy require this courier design to exceed the
by-now standard J4 for front-line combat squadrons?

3. Will the IISS accept a design proposal that includes the expense of a
warship-caliber sensor/commo suite?  If not, how much will the IISS be
willing to spend on sensors and commo equipment?

4a. How many commando troops does the Imperial Marine general want a
single ship of this type to carry "behind the lines"?

4b. Do the Imperial Marines require the proposed ship to deliver said
commando troops directly from orbit?  Will they accept a proposed ship
that needs to land to deliver commandos (Mr. Grierson suspects that the
other services would *strongly* oppose using any of *their* allocation
of such ships as landing craft)?  If the proposed ship must be capable
of delivering commando troops directly from orbit, what means of
delivery are acceptable?

Fortunately, the Imperial Army's requirements boil down to carrying mail
more quickly.  As such, the Imperial Army appears to be upset with
neither the cargo capacity nor the data capacity of the Type-S.

 From the snippet of discussion posted above, the AuricTech management
team has guesstimated that a ship capable of 6G/J4 acceleration, able to
deliver a 4-person commando element, carrying a sensor array that would
be of value to both IISS and the Imperial Navy, with a mail capacity
that meets the Imperial Army's needs, will probably require a ship of
about 300-400 dtons (though we will endeavor to keep the ship well under
200 dtons).  We look forward to seeing how closely our assessment
matches the final RFP, how our feedback influences the final RFP, and
how we closely we can meet the final RFP.