The A-class is an older model of bul freighter. It was designed by the Nova-Drive Corporation, a small starship manufacturer located in the Mid-Rim which sells its products along the well-known Rimma Trade Route. INstead of designing their own models, the corporation usually purchases ready designs from other manufacturers and then sells improved versions of these ships. An example for this approach is the A-class Bulk Freighter. The ship is based on an old design by the Corellian Engineering Corporation which was intended to represent an Action-IV transport. However, the Corellian manufacturer rejected the concept soon as the ship was too large for their purposes, and the sold the licence to Nova-Drive.
The freighter itself isn't much more than a huge box equipped with engines. It features two large and solid hull plates on the left and the right side of the ship while the rest of the ship's hull is left open, and so resembles the construction of the Gallofree Medium Transport. The A-class requires a crew of a dozen crew members and can carry up to 240,000 metric tons of cargo. As most bulk freighters, it is unarmed and only lightly shielded.
Such a ship was once used by Grand Admiral Thrawn during the Batlle of Sluis Van. A battered A-class freighter was the centrepoint of his armada. The ship's unique construction allowed it to hide over one hundred TIE Fighters (presumably two entire wings) between the two hull plates using an imperial cloaking device.
| Source | |
|---|---|
| Stats: | Christopher Deck |
| Illustrations: | Fred Blanchard in Heir to the Empire, Dark Horse. |