Guide:Class G2

Class G2 / HSI(U)-2 'Greyhound'
Class Overview
Category	heavy warp shuttle
Operational	2215-2278
Constructed	276 total: Mk I: 142 Mk II: 22 Mk III: 63 Mk IV: 49
Dimensions
Length	13.6 m
Beam	7.7 m
Height	6.9 m (landing gear retracted) 7.3 m (landing gear deployed)
Mass	63.4 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	w 1
Max Speed	w 1.5
Endurance	2 weeks
Complement
Crew	2
Passengers	12
Tactical Systems
Shields	Navigational deflector (bow) Optional 1-layer globular forcefield
Canonicity
Design	FASA
Name	FASA
History	FASA, own

The three practical shortcomings of the pathfinding Comet warp shuttle were obvious to Starfleet from the very beginning. The solution readily presented itself as well: the cost, horizontal footprint and mass of the craft would be halved by omission of one warp nacelle. Whether such a craft would retain sufficient performance to work as a starship auxiliary was never truly in question. Yet whether one could be designed to conform to operational demands was debatable from the very beginning.

Conceptual studies by VXT confirmed what common sense already suggested: a centerline mounting would leave the craft without utilizable payload volume. Furthermore, installing the ion cascade powerplant ahead or astern of the warp coils would result in a vehicle of impractical length. As the warp propulsion aspect of the Comet design was deemed more important than the ability to operate from aboard starships, Starfleet soon agreed that it would be best to concentrate on creating a compact and affordable warp transport for surface and starbase applications, and to leave the revolution of warp-capable starship auxiliaries for the next generation of craft. The single-nacelled 'Greyhound' was thus adopted as the Class G2 warp shuttle in a form that was inherently incompatible with most starship hangar decks.

Mounting the warp coils above the hull solved the footprint problem, maximized payload volume, and trivialized the issue of ingress and egress. The Greyhound was configured with the DB-20 riding on a dorsal pylon that also housed the impulse propulsion system, and with the CID powerplant at the pylon stem. The control cabin was mounted ahead of the reactor, giving the single pilot an excellent view forward and down, and the single aft-facing engineer an equally direct access to the power systems. The payload of 10 tons of water-equivalent cargo or 12 passengers was carried in the wide lower part of the craft, entering through a forward door beneath the cockpit. The forward leg of the tripod landing gear doubled as the ingress ramp when deployed; a trio of lift engines was arranged in the reverse pattern, with two in front straddling the forward leg and one between the aft pair of legs.

The stack reached a total height of 7.7 meters, making operations from aboard even the largest starship hangars cumbersome. Also, the high mounting of the warp coils and the reactor presented some stability problems at landing. On the other hand, the horizontal footprint of 12.8 m times 7.3 meters was quite reasonable for a craft of such performance. Warp 1.5 could be achieved without field gradient hazards to the crew or the cargo, and impulse performance was found perfectly acceptable.

For some fifteen years, the G2 enjoyed primary warp liaison vessel status and also saw planetary assault service, evolving into four variants: the original Mk I received improved passenger interiors to become Mk II, lost these but gained armoring to become the Mk III assault type, and had the holds reconfigured for maximum cargo capacity in Mk IV. It was only in the 2230s that advancing technology provided the means for further compacting of ion power drives and allowed the production of boxy high volume craft such as the ones adopted as Class F2 and G3 utility shuttles. The former offered no propulsive advantages over the Greyhound but had vastly improved utility as a starship auxiliary, while the latter outperformed the single-naceller so significantly in every respect that it swiftly took over the starbase and surface assignments.

The Greyhounds persisted much like the Comets, serving in secondary roles till the late seventies. The complexity and cost of the pathfinding technology precluded long post-Starfleet careers, though. Only the Mk IV saw small goods delivery service in UPS colors until superseded by commercial dilithium-powered designs.

Gallery

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  Bow view

Notes

• The sidebar height was changed from 7.3 to 7.7 meters, to match the text.

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