Battlestar Pacifica (D18)

The first twelve battlestars were laid down in the early days of the Cylon War and hurriedly completed to take up the fighter against the rebelling robots. Each of these twelve battlestars represented one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Pacifica, referring to the concept of peace, represents the Colony of Picon.

The Battlestar Pacifica is a space-going leviathan of more than 4700 feet (1400 meters) in length; housing at least 4 squadrons of 20 Viper space superiority fighters apiece though its wing composition is dictated by mission profile. The fully-armed battlestar is capable of a wide range of offensive actions, while her defensive armaments ensure she is fully capable of both protecting herself from attack and engaging an enemy at close quarters.

This comprises the bulk of a battlestar and can itself be divided into three sections: the "alligator head" contains notably water storage tanks, cargo areas, medical areas and the CIC; the midship area contains the pod retraction mechanisms and crossways linking the hangar decks for the transfer of equipment and personnel, crew accomodation. The stern section contains sublight engines, FTL drives and reactors; four of the sublight engines are in engine pods, and two more are nestled in between the pods.

The flight pods are mounted on either side of the hull and contain a battlestar's Vipers and Raptors. During normal operations, they are extended away from the main hull. During FTL jumps, the pods are retracted against the hull, concealing their open ends and making launches and landings impossible, not including Viper launching; however, this would prevent the return of those Vipers. Landing approaches are made from the stern. The preferred approach is a slow run into the landing bay, prior to making a vertical landing on a defined landing area. However, in emergencies, combat landings can be made, in which a craft approaches and lands at high speed on its landing skids. The hangar deck is used for maintenance, repair, refueling, rearming, and launch operations and runs the length of the flight pod underneath the landing bay.

Crew
Pacifica carries an enlarged Air Group that includes some two extra Viper squadrons. While its crew is noticeably bigger the Battlestar is able to accomodate the extra bodies. Pilots are noted by callsign:
 * Commander - Admiral Frank Domra
 * Executive Officer -
 * Tactical Officer -
 * Medical Officer -
 * Commander Air Group -
 * Squadron Leader -
 * Viper Pilot -
 * Raptor Pilot - "Speak Up"
 * Raptor Pilot -
 * ECO -

Systems
24 Large Antiship Gun Turrets (mounting 2 guns apiece): These are mounted on the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the main hull and the ventral surface of the bow. The two guns on each turret fire in tandem. They have proven to be quite effective against basestars. These large guns are able to use both flak ammunition and high-explosive anti-capital ship shells. Additionally, the guns are able to engage in coordinated barrage strategies, such as salvo and volleyed fire.

514 Point-defense Turrets (mounting 2 guns apiece): These are mounted on the flight pods and other surfaces. Each barrel fires explosive rounds in bursts.

Multiple nuclear warheads: Deployed from 12 launch tubes mounted in the main hull.

Hardened Circuitry and Electromagnetic Shielding: All electronics and computers on the Battlestar are constructed with hardened circuitry and the ship itself is built with shielding to prevent EMP and jamming from damaging circuitry. The effect is that jamming and EMP will not damage any internal system.

Command and Control Facilities: The Battlestar carries extra communications equipment and command facilities, to enable the ship to operate as the flagship for a Battle Group.

Jamming System: This system scrambles all electronic signals for a long range over the battle area in space and will also penetrate an atmosphere for a distance. The system can also confuse missiles.

DRADIS: This system can detect jamming systems at one quarter of the systems normal range allowing the system to work well against targets that are jamming. The system has a range of 120,000 miles (193,000 km) in space and can penetrate the atmosphere up to 1,200 miles (1,930 km).

Pacifica Air Wing
The Air Wing of the Battlestar has recently been reorganized and doesn't include any of the previous serving Squadrons. Given the long-range mission the Pacifica is sent on; there are some 120 active Vipers kept aboard in six squadrons with one Raptor Squadron and Shuttle flight. Current strength stands at: 120 Vipers (active and reserve), 20 Raptors (active and reserve), 10 Shuttles (active).
 * Fighter Squadron 1 City of Blausted
 * Fighter Squadron 2
 * Fighter Squadron 3
 * Fighter Squadron 4
 * Fighter Squadron 5
 * Fighter Squadron 6 Sirens
 * Raptor Squadron