Battleship
EDF Battleship (Independence Class)
Cost: 4000
Armor: Ship
Speed: Slow
Weapon:3x 16inch (406mm) cannons
Range: Very Long
The EDF Battleship is quite possibly the deadliest ship to sail the seas. In the early 1900s, the concept of the Dreadnought took world navies by storm- nothing would be the same again. When the First Red War approached, the Allies attempted to avert it by impressive shows of force, using Battleships and Heavy Cruisers in gruesomely accurate bombardments of dummy tank formations. As history shows, it did not work, but the Allies nevertheless lived up to their threats, primarily using Heavy Cruisers to lay waste to entire Soviet outposts far outside the retaliation range of anything the Soviets possessed.
After the proliferation of the Aircraft Carrier following the First Red War, it was thought the Battleship was finished. It was only until after the Second Red War during the 1980s that the United States proved these beliefs wrong, with the advent of the 'Independence' Class Battleship. With a battery of Mk VII 16 inch (406mm) guns, over 12 inches of composite armor plating and an advanced FCS, the Independence Class is completely unmatched by any other ship class in the world. A single Independence class Battleship costs enough bankrupt several third-world countries and has the firepower of an entire Aircraft Carrier flight wing.
Although never used in combat yet, in 2003, there was a famous incident involving BB-63, in which a terrorist group detonated several speed-boats loaded to the sinking point with explosives on the side of the hull. The attack caused not even minor damage to the ship, caused minor injuries to the crew and killed all the terrorists. It was for these very qualities- that is, firepower and armor, that the Independence Class was chosen to serve in the EDF's Naval Branch as a heavy duty fire support ship.
This power comes at a price: the Independence class Battleships have no effective means of close range, anti-sub or anti-air defense. Despite this EDF admirals often use Battleships as their flagships and depend upon the support of Arleigh-Burke Missile Destroyers.
