(RP) ATIS Standard Starship Armour composition and grading system.

Nothing I write is AI generated. that's why the sentence structure is so shit lol

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As starship construction became more and more advanced during the 30th century, the Old Federation developed a grading system that would allow standardisation of military starship hulls based on their construction, density and protection characteristics. This system is still in use by the current Aquarian superpower, ATIS. Since technology in alloy fabrication and Nanopolymers have matured and ultimately plateaued during the late 40th century, the standardisation remains the primary means by which starship hulls in Aquarius are graded for their strength and durability.

Overview

Almost all starship hulls in Aquarius are constructed of advanced synthetic materials broadly classified in one of two categories: Macropolymers and Nanopolymers.

Macropolymers.

Macropolymers are synthetically produced metal-plastic hybrid elements using atomically structured lattice templates designed to be easily mass-produced for essentially any usage scenario. Though Macropolymer construction was state of the art during the height of the Old Federation, it is largely considered to be outdated, as more bespoke, lower-level atomically engineered materials were developed. Regardless, these “jack of all trades” materials significantly exceed standard metal alloys or old-earth composite materials in tensile strength, weight and overall durability and are still widely used on non-front-ine warships or civilian craft throughout Aquarius.

Nanopolymers.

Nanopolymers are the technological evolution of Macropolymer synthesis. These materials are bespoke to specific criteria, engineered atom by atom by nano assemblers in Fabrication Engines to achieve the absolute maximum in durability characteristics and low mass achievable by known physics. They represent the absolute peak of human materials science. Nanopolymers are typically only used on military-grade starship hulls and advanced armour plating due to the cost of development and manufacturing.

Hull type standardisation

With regards to starship hull construction and armour, these materials are almost always embedded in modular tiles that can be fitted to starships. These modules utilise a specific type of composite construction known as Low Metallic Composite (LMC). LMCs utilise a low-metallic base level of Macro or Nanopolymer lattice, making modern starship hulls more chemically and atomically similar to plastic than metal, giving ships their distinctive matte base hull colours. When combined with the synthetic polymers, these packaged modules are known as either Macropolymer Low Metallic Composite Tiles (MPLMC-T) or Nanopolymer Low Metallic Tiles (NPLMC-T). LMCs are weight-optimised to provide maximum tensile strength, hardness and durability at the lowest possible mass permitted by materials science.

Grades.

Both MPLMC-T and NPLMC-T packages applied to a starship are given a Grade Rating for the overall protection of the package. Due to the nature of armour plating relative to hull layouts, the grading reflects the overall protection, not the specific average protection in a given area. For example, a Vengeance-II-class Heavy Cruiser has an average armour rating of NPLMC-T Grade 4 across its entire hull, the highest possible on a Cruiser, yet it has only Grade 3 average on the rear arc, a limitation of its design.

Grade 1

Grade 1 is the lowest permittable level of protection offered by LMC armour packaging in the Aquarian Navy. It is highly specialised for extremely low mass, high radiation resistance and tensile strength (flex) at the expense of hardness and impact resistance. It is the primary base-layer construction grading for the pressure hull on almost all warships, before the armour packaging is applied. Some light warships such as Gunships or Light Corvettes may have Grade 1 main belt arrays, in which case an additional layer of Grade 1 LMC is applied over the pressure hull, as per standard layered starship protection methodology. Grade 1 is primarily effective against high velocity space debris, such as asteroids or wreckage, rather than directed weapons fire. Grade 1 is not dynamic; it is statically produced and applied, meaning that its composition cannot adapt to external factors.

Grade 2

Grade 2 is the standard for light warships. It is primarily designed to provide a baseline protection for a front-line warships that are expected to be able to withstand hostile weapons fire. It is significantly heavier than Grade 2 as the LMC mesh lattice is much denser, giving it reduced flex but increased hardness. Grade 2 plating is still much lighter than the densest LMCs, allowing warships to have reasonable protection at a modest increase in mass. Most warships have at least one array of Grade 2 plating, if on larger warships, it is usually in blind spots or the rear of the vessel as a mass-optimisation method. Grade 2 is lined with Dynamic Armour Inserts that can change their molecular structure based on data feedback from the Ship’s AHC (Adaptive Harmonics System) or dynamically based on impactors; For example, if configured, a kinetic energy penetrator would result in a rapid increase in hardness in the Dynamic Layers, and an energy weapon such as a laser would result in an ablative property.

Grade 3

Grade 3 is also known as Tier 1 Impact Armour, uses the most advanced, ultra-dense LMC plating designed to resist direct weapons fire. Grade 3 is substantially heavier than Grade 2 and as such is only used on larger warships such as Frigates or Cruisers, or the secondary belts on capital ships. This level of protection is rated to be able to provide first-level survivability against kiloton-yield nuclear energy events in space. Grade 3 signficantly increases the number of Dynamic inserts in the lattice mesh.

Grade 4

Grade 4 is also known as Tier 2 Impact Armour, is the ultimate level of protection possible, at the expense of extreme weight. Grade 4 doesn’t actually use a different composition to Grade 3, as Tier 2 is essentially multiple layers of Tier 1 (Grade 3) stacked on top of each other with hydrodynamic kinetic shock absorbers between them. Capital ships such as the Imperial Navy’s Retribution-class Dreadnought utilise Grade 4 belts that can be up to a dozen LMC layers thick, providing absolute, total protection.