Many Excalibur class fusion artillery frigates are modified Scorcher-class plasma artillery cannon frigates. However, there are some brand new ships carrying the newest electronics and computers, and unfortunately, the newest crews.

Frigate chassis

The fusion artillery frigate uses the mass produced frigate chassis. It shares many features with the Aegis-class missile frigate.

Fusion cannon systems

The fusion cannons are the one type of weapons that turned the tide against The Hunter. The League has had many excuses to disarm the fusion cannon program, yet the real reason is its power. The fusion cannons are capable of destroying most capital ships with a single shot, and it cannot be intercepted.

The fusion cannon fires a double layered beam. The beam is composed of a thick Helium-3 coat surrounding a thin anti-Helium-3 core.

When the beam strikes a surface, the antimatter comes into contact with it’s compliment, and the resulting elimination reaction triggers a secondary fusion reaction that ignite the entire beam. The fusion cannon fires so much material that most successful fusion cannon strikes result in a large cloud of superheated plasma instead of any debris or wreckage.

The fusion cannon use so much energy that it requires three separate reactors to operate. Even so it could only fire every five minutes. Two reactors generate the necessary particles for the beam while a third reactor generate and maintain two different electric gradients that accelerate the plasma down the duct. Most fusion cannons are employed on super capital ships. Due to the amount of antimatter stored near the weapon assembly, the weapon is as dangerous to the ship that is carrying it as the ship it’s targeting.

Recent advancement in reactor miniaturization allows weapon manufacturers to design smaller caliber fusion cannon that can fit on frigates. This technology dramatically reduced the number of capital ship lost due to malfunctioning fusion cannons. Many old Scorcher-class plasma artillery frigates are now getting a facelift and are sent into service carrying the powerful, but very dangerous weapon.