Designed and manufactured by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, the Conestoga-Class Light Assault
Carrier was the primary troop deployment vessel of the United States Colonial Marine Corps,
and was purpose-built to carry all of the necessary equipment, troops and auxiliary
vehicles needed to establish a foothold on a distant world, or to co-ordinate marine
operations from high above a planet’s surface.
385 Meters in length with a dry weight of 78,000 Tons, the Conestoga’s frame is long
and narrow, with a large cylindrical housing at the ship’s aft, to which a pair of GF-240
propulsion rockets are fixed.
The vessel is capable of carrying 2000 troops in hypersleep capsules, and under emergency
circumstances, it’s hangers and cargo decks and be used to increase its passenger capacity
even further.
Though vessels of the class normally carry up to 90 crew, they are designed for fully
automated operation, and the ship’s carbon sixty computerised mainframe can support full
interstellar journeys without the need for active crew members.
Though designed as a troop transport, the Conestoga Class eventually fell into a secondary
role as a light attack ship, due in no small part to its extensive weapons complement.
Laid into its bow, the vessel carries a pair of 800-Megavolt Particle Beam Cannons, capable
of either melting a target’s hull at up to 250 Kilometres range, or disabling its
electronics and instrumentation with a lower-intensity beam.
Fixed to both its dorsal and ventral primary hull, the Conestoga sports twin-linked railgun
turrets for close quarters engagements, and loaded into several VLS Tubes, the ship carries
8 Long Lance ASAT Missiles, useful both for supporting the ship’s railguns in CQB, or
eliminating fleeing hostiles at medium range.
In a more defensive role, the ship also boasts a pair of infrared point defence lasers, capable
of vaporizing incoming railgun slugs or missiles, and within its ventral loading bay, the vessel
stores up to 60 orbital mines, enough to render a large portion of a planet’s gravity well
inaccessible to hostile ships.
As its primary means of troop deployment, the Conestoga carries several UD-4L Cheyenne
Dropships, each of these craft are able to carry up to sixty passengers, and are capable
combat vessels in their own right, sporting a 25mm Gatling cannon, as well as two retractable
missile pods compatible with a wide variety of warheads.
Cheyenne Dropships assigned to Conestoga Class Vessels were most often loaded with a single
M577 Armoured Personnel Carrier from the warships vehicle bay.
These APC’s carried a heavy arsenal of Gatling cannons, plasma accelerators and automatic
mortars, were able to load up to 13 Colonial Marines in full combat gear, and doubled and
an effective short-range command vehicle, using their extensive suites of sensor and
communication systems to provide support to marine fireteams.
Throughout its service history, 36 Conestoga Class Vessels were constructed, and the model
earned substantial renown for its dependability and sturdy frame, until eventually the craft
was superseded by the newer Bougainville Class Attack Transport, a vessel whose own design
was heavily influenced by that of the Conestoga.
Being famously reliable as a long-haul attack transport, and unusually effective as a combat
frigate, the Conestoga Class Light Assault Carrier was an unquestionably valuable spacecraft,
and the influence it’s success exerted over future warship designs, served only to strengthen
the United States Aerospace Defence Force.