Sythali-class corvette

The Sylathi-class was the second of a line of capital ship designs, beginning with the Scylania-class, intended to expand the capabilities of small naval units that often lacked the quantity of close support once available to the GACIAF administration in Ivesceel. With GACIAF's navy often depleted following Shadow Fleet attacks, and what was still functional needed to manage increasing tensions between TAUFOG states and aid the affected sections of TAUFOG occupied space, GACIAF adjusted its navy composition to put small-unit capability and tactics above the classic fleet as its focus, and included those intentions in its upcoming NACSD Program. In the year 48,862 ACT with the official design selection phase of the Next-gen Class-VI Small Combat Ships (NSCS-VI) section of NACSD, the GACIAF Office of Advanced Naval Procurement laid out the necessary capabilities for the ships that would take the place of the aging Tadoc and Onnasi'tal-class corvettes; the former being the navy's frontline combat corvette, and the latter being a multi-function support ship. The NACSD Program called for five new corvette classes, including splitting the electronic support functions of past corvettes into a separate electronic warfare ship for close-to-medium range EWAR and an electronic support ship to enhance sensors, communications, and tracking in small naval units. Syvatii Unlimited would place bids on all five classes, based on its ASP-S120.1 test platform that the Astenh division of GACIAF was using to develop new technologies. The Sylathi-class was selected by the navy to fulfil the electronic warfare ship contract, and would be designed alongside the Scylania-class and Iscythia-class. The design was handled by Syvatii's Kedha Ossat division with assistance by the Tuan Cuoa Shipyard via its Hiloa Corridor line, until five years in when GOIS and CEOSET mandated the team move to Peth and the Cadiq-20 cluster to avoid public attention. Initial production of test models was done at the Cadiq-2 shipyard, with final assembly, integration, and testing done at Etad Moric on the Stration orbital shipyard complex alongside the Scylania production model. The first production units of the Sythali-class entered service in 48,902 ACT, and shortly after began mass production.

The Sythali-class is not intended to engage in direct combat against opposing capital ships to any significant extent. Although it has decent shields and standard navy hull plating, it is not able to stand up to continuous weapons fire or multiple anti-ship missile hits. The Sythali is instead designed to use a combination of speed and its electronic equipment to evade contact while supporting allied ships. To that end, the Sythali is equipped with a multitude of systems to hide itself and confuse opponents. Four SU-DLLS1050/tn 'Phalset' DEPSA/OVADS sensor and four SU-DIDLA2001-4s 'Actes' communication jammers give the Sythali the ability to hide from any TAUFOG close or medium distance scan, so long as it can keep the ships in the cones of effect. Two SU/T-CETS 60155/t1 jammers let the Sythali shift EEADS trace locks out of alignment, giving it additional information denial capability. The Sythali comes with dozens of other smaller systems to assist with confusing sensor equipment. In addition, a sizeable Photol HSPI-d245 DE weapon is mounted at the bow. Able to continuously emit a high-yield focused particle beam with good cohesion at long distances, the Photol can deal significant damage to antennae and any exposed equipment on the hull of a ship/station, diminishing combat effectiveness by both taking systems offline and making an opponent keep shields up above equipment which cannot function optimally with those conditions. Combined, the Sythali's systems give it the ability to operate close to hostile fleet elements and away from allied units with minimal close support. This is necessary for its typical missions, which include providing EWAR cover to strikes by light capital ships or strike craft and suppressing hostile frontline sensor assets. The Sythali does have six Ederra T2240i-nm laser cannons and eight Lezekka CorT6/SU150.02 light laser cannons, about half that of the Scylania-class, which is itself much smaller than the Sythali. These can help engage light assets such as gunboats and patrol cruisers, but do not stand up to anything intended to be a frontline combat asset. Against ships of similar or larger size, the Sythali carries 20 Syvatii GAEDN/c T200i and 60 T156 anti-ship missiles, along with 220 T105 light anti-craft missiles to shoot down any strike craft facing the corvette. The Sythali also carries a loadout of 52 GIASS-T5 Ackal configurable support missiles. These can be equipped with a range of non-destructive payloads, including screening jammers, decoy launchers, advanced active decoy systems, and supplemental logic units. Defensively, 16 beam turrets and 42 point defense laser cannons give 360 coverage against missiles and strike craft, and the Sythali's EWAR equipment also can be used defensively if needed.