Tiger Class Faststar (D5)

The Tiger-class Faststar is a fast attack craft deployed by the Colonial Fleet prior to 'The Fall' of the Twelve Colonies.

Wartime
The Faststars emerged during the Cylon War and were a direct development of the pre-war fast attack craft that were operated by Colonial Defence Forces. The primary role of the Faststar was to perform hit-and-run attacks against Cylon forces using their speed and agility to avoid getting caught up in a firefight with the more heavily armed Cylon Basestars. These hit-and-run attacks often preceeded direct assaults by Battlestars and other capitol ships.

Peacetime
The peacetime role of the Colonial Faststars is that of policing and patrol. Although small craft they are quick and agile and therefore ideal for pursuing illegal vessels that would otherwise give much larger vessels the slip.

Design
The Tiger-class follows a traditional linear design and is approximately the same size as a Colonial Heavy Liner. The interior is quite cramped in some areas for its twenty-six man crew due to much of the space being needed for equipment and armament. A typical endurance for a Faststar is one month but this can be extended with underway replenishment being achieved through the use of a single docking port.

Weapons
The Tiger-class features six forward facing heavy-duty railguns of the same design as those fitted to a Mercury-class Battlestar. This eases supply issues on prolonged deployments since weapons can be interchanged between ships when necessary. Complementing the rail guns are six missile tubes loacted in the 'wings' of the vessel. These can be fitted with either conventional or nuclear weapons.

Engines
The Tiger-class has a true FTL-capability allowing it to keep up with the main fleet when on deployment. There are four powerful sublight engines mounted in the engineering hull and these offer excellent manouverability compared to other vessels.

Operators
As well as regular Colonial Fleet units operating the vessel the Tiger-class has found its way into the hands of Colonial Defence Forces such as the Scorpian Guard. At least one example was operated by the Ministry of Intelligence (MoI) although this was in direct violation of the Articles of Colonization which prohibits the organization from operating warships. Just over a month after 'The Fall' the Battlestar Hermes encounters this illegal vessel under the command of Major Galit Malka.