Sputnik Class Frigate

The Sputnik Class is a modern warship of the Russian Federation and prominently serves as the primary patrol- and security vessel of the Last Commonwealth of Terra. It is also one of the most frequently exported designs among the nations of the Tashkent Pact and beyond, making it a likely assignment for recruits for off-world military forces.

Characteristics
The Sputnik's design is indicative of the CSTO defensive fleet doctrine. Relatively heavy for its type and role, it fields a versatile arsenal of considerable firepower, without making use of any adopted extraterrestrial nor experimental systems. While the Sputnik is equipped for long patrol assignments, its multitude of different systems and weapons makes frequent maintenance and overhauls necessary.

Undergoing constant updates, however, the Sputnik has managed to remain relevant in modern CSTO fleet operations despite being one of the earliest modern designs to be introduced with the last reform of the Cosmo Forces.

Role and Operations
Sputnik Class vessels often take on the role of patrolling and policing the most frequented territories of their respective sector command. They are typically attached rapid-response forces and security details, serving only rarely as part of larger combat formations. Well suited to independent operations, they sometimes are deployed for deep space patrols and surveying missions, often after undergoing mission-specific modifications.

History
The Sputnik Class was one of humanity's first military ships fully equipped with inertial dampening and artificial gravity systems developed and constructed entirely on Earth. This marked an important step in becoming independent from the resources and components that could be gathered from extraterrestrial sources.

Unified component designs and hardpoints for weapons and utility systems made mass production of the design viable, allowing for a much greater build-up of new forces that were necessary for the Terran Mandate to defend its territories and colonies gained during the Second Uprising.

The standardization of components also allowed for the design to be easily exported and replicated in colonial shipyards throughout Sol and in systems beyond.

The longevity of the Sputnik Class design is indicative of its success, but also of the difficulties in improving Terran designs. While incremental advances in firepower, engine output, and durability were introduced in various overhauls of the design, the CSTO Cosmo Forces have yet to make a breakthrough fundamental enough to warrant an entirely new design. Such a breakthrough, however, would be necessary if vessels of the Terran Mandate are ever to rival Confluence ships of similar sizes.