Design

The Jv-176 Arrowhead is a Jovian 'space monitor', designed around its powerful 'megabolt' railgun. Its unique weapon- at least, unique at the time of its construction- is designed around firing a plutonium sphere at high velocity (5,000 m/s). By impacting at hypervelocity, the sphere will usually undergo a criticality reaction, resulting in essentially a nuclear 'shaped charge' effect, though rather than being due to the shape of the sphere it results only from the residual kinetic energy of the sphere.

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Such a design was far less expensive than a typical nuclear weapon; requiring the same amount of plutonium, but not requiring any manufacturing beyond shaping the plutonium into a sphere. However, it also broke several international weapon treaties, and so the experimental Arrowhead prototype was developed in utmost secrecy.

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Such political considerations were quietly swept under the rug when the Ephidia Crisis struck, and the Arrowhead was one of the only modern warships then in development. While its speed and armor could not keep up with Ascendancy designs, its firepower was more than a match for lighter Ascendancy destroyers, and the unique 'megabolt' railgun was highly effective at penetrating the thermal shields of ascendancy ships, and then causing enough damage upon penetration to breach their armor.

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As a result, the Arrowhead was pressed into service in large numbers.

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Other than the main weapon, the Arrowhead was also equipped with various defensive systems, including missile interceptors, point-defense CIWS systems, and two light railguns. These were necessary to defend the craft against smaller threats, as the powerful railgun was a spinal weapon, only capable of fire in the forward direction. Also unusually, it possessed some armor in addition to its energy shielding; the cermet alloy the same as used in the equally experimental Jovian Battlesuit Initiative.

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To power its weapon the Arrowhead possessed a high-pressure fusion plasma reactor, itself also outlawed under Directorate law due to the possibility of catastrophic plasma eruption under high strain, as well as the release of large quantities of radiation. In order to dissipate heat generated by the reactor, the Arrowhead possessed several radiator fins at its tail end.