Brychon Class Combatstar (D26)

The Brychon Class Combatstars were built and commissioned during the later half of the First Cylon War.

Concieved as a 'cheaper' alternative to a full Battlestar, Combatstars entered service in order to increase the number of overall combat assets available to meet Cylon attacks. Over time, and most especially following the Armistice, their roled evolved as they became employed as a complementary escort to the larger vessels and as a dedicated patrol vessel along the rim of Colonial territory opposite of Cylon space.

As a smaller vessel in the Colonial TO&E, a Combatstar is typically commanded by a senior Major, or more often a Colonel in the Colonial military.

Brychon Class Combatstars were armed with a respectable armament of 12 Single-Barrel Heavy Kinetic Energy Weapon Batteries for engagement of capital ships and orbital bombardment, a secondary array of 194 Dual-Barrel Close-In-Weapon Batteries for anti-aerospace craft defense and 4 variable-yield nuclear missiles in silos along the dorsal section of the hull.

With a nominal wartime crew of 4017, including 148 Marines, the vessels typically deployed with a maximum nominal load of 120 Vipers divided into 6 squadrons of 20 each.

By the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, all three Brychon Class Combatstars had been decommissioned in favor of growing numbers ot Triton Class Battlestars. With the first two hulls scrapped, only the Proteus remained as the sole surviving example of the class when the Cylon attack began.