Battlestar Ares | ||
---|---|---|
Type | Military | |
FTL | Yes (50 SU range) | |
Propulsion | Sub-light engines, numerous maneuvering thrusters | |
Crew | 2446 (2136 human and 310 cylon), when launched. | |
Commanding Officer | Commander James L. Ryan III | |
Executive Officer | Colonel Stacie Percival | |
Role | Carrier/Battleship Hybrid | |
Weapons | NAC 5 Primary Kinetic Energy Weapons Dual mount turrets. Point-defense, conventional missiles, nuclear warheads. | |
Status | Active in Copernicus Defence Fleet | |
Length | 4,157 feet (1267 meters) | |
Width | 1,599 feet (487 meters) | |
Height | 581 ft (177 meters) | |
The original Battlestar, Ares, is the oldest ship in the Colonial remnant fleet.
History[]
Ares class Battlestars were designed to be used as fleet command and control ships while also serving as a one stop assault vehicle, capable of taking on one or two other capital class ships, or assaulting a major ground target, by itself. They are controlled mainly manually yet do have a networked computer system.
The Ares was just coming to the end of a year long patrol when the Cylons aboard learned of the impending Cylon war. Realising that the war would be devastating, and that neither side was likely to win, and after consulting with the ship's commander, they decided to collect the families of the crew and leave Colonial space. Eventually the human crew was wiped out by an illness contracted during a supply gathering operation. The Ares was found again by the Battlestar Prometheus, only to be separated from it during a battle with the Terran Alliance. After this its new human commander, the then Colonel Ryan, ordered the ship to return to the Colonies were it was reunited with the Battlestar Prometheus and other survivors of the Cylon holocaust.
Unlike newer ships, the Ares class is completely depended on external support in regards to fighter replacement. They do however have the facilities needed to repair and maintain their fighter complement and other small craft. They also have advanced food and water reclamation machinery in addition to food production facilities making it able to be self sufficient for seven years before needing to resupply and recharge their systems.
Equipment and Technology[]
As a pre-war ship the Ares is remarkably sophisticated in many way, despite it's age. The ship features potentiarly the most advanced networked computers of any Colonial ship, rivaling even those of the Nova class. These computer systems also have the unique ability to connect to the Cylon network.
The Ares is feature equipment unseen amongst the other Colonial ships in the form of extensive facilities for supporting the Cylon crew. This includes everything from recharge points all the way to Raider launch tubes.
While the computer systems of the Ares are in many ways superior to those seen on most modern Colonial ships, the Ares is less advanced in many other areas. For example, the FTL system is less advanced then modern ships as the flight pods still need to retract. However, the Ares does have a jump range comparable to the Mercury class.
Airwing[]
The size of the Ares airwing is unknown. However, the number of Raiders could be as high as 35 (at-least when launched), as indicated in episode 3-6, when R3X is in command of "Colonial Cylon Raider 35".
The Ares was launched with 60 Cylon Viper pilots. Whether this means that there were 60 Vipers is unknow, as there could have been any number of Human pilots.