Boron-class

"The Boron Class is a design that is for the mission of general patrol duties around the Lagrange Five area. These tiny ships are only really a trip-wire and not expected to face off against enemy fleets entirely."

- - Taken from an Unknown Source



General and Technical Data

 * Class: Boron Class
 * Ships of the line: Boron, Argon, Scandium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Cobalt, Gallium, Arsenic, Selenium, Krypton, Bromine, Rubidium, Strontium, Yttrium, Palladium, Cadmium, Antonym, Iodine, Tellurium, Xenon, Barium, Cerium, Promethium, Samarium, Tungsten, Rhenium, Iridium, Thallium, Bismuth, Polonium, Radon, Radium, Astatine
 * Unit type: Patrol Ship
 * Classification: PCS
 * Manufacturer: PLANT – Martius Shipyards
 * Operator(s): ZAFT – Home Defense Forces
 * First deployment: March, CE70
 * Dimensions: 32.25 Meters Long
 * Wingspan: 12.15 Meters
 * Weight: unknown
 * Propulsion: 3 x Main Propulsion Engines
 * Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown; 1 x Multi-Use Launcher, able to fire anti-beam depth charges, flares, or anti-missile chaff charges; 3 x Manipulator Arms
 * Fixed armaments: 1 x 90mm Single-Barrel Light Railgun
 * Mobile weapons: 2
 * Launch catapults: None

Technical and Historical Notes
The Boron Class Patrol Ships where introduced by ZAFT to give its forces the ability to better support their various mobile suit patrols around L5. However these ships were rush-jobs that had been converted from aging Bulldog Class Colony Work Shuttles. The three cargo containers of the Bulldog Class were removed and a pair of mobile suit sized handle-bars where added in their place. This allowed the newly named Boron Class Patrol Craft to be able to provide a pair of mobile suits the ability to increase their patrol range. Even then they are not very popular with their crews, due several reasons not including the very poor mobile suit docking set-up. Not to mention being very lightly armed, often relying more on its attendant mobile suits then its own single weapon.

For all of its problems the Baron Class ships were a great way to support ZAFT’s Home Defense Mobile Suit Patrols. It allowed two mobile suits to stay on patrol far longer increasing their effective range due to the mobile suits relying on the reactor on the Boron Class ships able to recharge their battery powerplants. These mobile suits and their Boron Class carriers would be part of the small Patrol Command section of the larger ZAFT Home Defense Forces, which are organized into three squadrons patrolling L5 as well as PLANT interests located at the Sun-Earth L2 Point.

However due to its many downfalls ZAFT keeps trying to replace these ships, and they would finally do when they introduce the small Luna Class Destroyer Escort to its Fleet, much to the relief of their crews and the pilots who where attached to the patrol forces. The Boron Class ships where either sold off to other interests or converted back into their original format as Bulldog Class Work Shuttles. However it should noted that a handful would remain with the Augustus PLANT Defense Forces for a long while. These small ships while effective in their mission would be not be very well remembered even after their decommissioning.

Notable Ships and Crew
ZPS Cobalt (Lieutenant Logan Gasper)

The Cobalt is one of Patrol Ships assigned to the Augustus PLANTs located at the Sun-Earth L2 PLANTs and would be in service for over four years before finally being retired. It would have the longest career of any of the other Boron Class ships.

Miscellaneous Information

 * Variants: None
 * Notes: Based on the Sinope Class from Victory Gundam just made it a small patrol vessel for ZAFT since we since a handful of GINNs patrolling around the PLANTs figured they might have some sort of vessel to support their patrols.