By Chris Condon

Concordiat Naval Vessel - Bolo Dreadnought: Ship-of-the-line 51-VGD Vanguard . Vanguard is a Concordiat Dreadnought, based in the same sci-fi universe as the Bolo series created by Keith Laumer. It is an unmanned Battlewagon. In terms of scale it is approximately 5 times the size of Star Trek:TNG Enterprise D Dreadnought (under command of Admiral Riker).

CNV-BD: 51-VGD Vanguard

The Concordiat Naval Vessel - Bolo Dreadnought, introduced in 3195, was the first genuinely autonomous naval vessel. It had no need for a crew, but still contained a life-support cabin for 25 personnel. The command and control system was a modified Bolo Mark XXIX (Victorious) Tank system, loaded with the entire naval history of the Concordiat. The Bolo Dreadnought personality center and id integration circuitry permitted truly independent, strategic self-direction. Ship-of-the-line 51-VGD "Vanguard" was one of 47 remaining sister ships of 100 commissioned between 3195 and 3209. The Concordiat Navy created the CNV-BD line to deal with the threat from the Melconian. For all their firepower and intelligence their vulnerability was the Quantum Singularity Engine, held in the Dwarf-Star Alloy containment cage. Any direct hit on this engine was an instant "Kill-Shot," to not only the ship but also anything within a 10th of a light-year. The QS Engine made it possible for faster than light travel, controlled only by a Bolo system; human/computer systems are too slow.

Vanguard mounted turreted twin 110cm "Super" Hellbore as main armament topside, turreted twin 55cm Hellbores underside, two banks (port and starboard) of ship-to-ship stellar torpedoes (S2SST), multiple ion- bolt infinite repeaters and two twin 95mm railguns. Battle screens, the same shielding that the Bolo tanks use, in distinctive port and starboard hulls. These hulls affectionately known as the "Bolo Pontoons" Hellbores fire slivers of steel-jacketed cryo-H, a few grams of hydrogen held as slush at near absolute zero temperatures. Magnetically accelerated to relativistic speeds by superconducting coils within the weapon's barrel, the cryo-H is compacted and heated until it reaches fusion temperatures. The devastating effect of the Hellbore is the natural outcome of shooting at a target with tiny pieces of burning star traveling at near- light velocities. Damage, measured at several megatons/second, is caused both by fusion effects and by the release of considerable kinetic energy at impact.

In addition to CNV-BD standard armament, the ships mounted two removable mission specific fire platforms. These platforms mounted port and starboard, used for: Mine laying, Planetary bombardment, Electronic Counter Measures, Observation and Intelligence gathering, Ship-to-Ship combat, or a mixture of all. Vanguard platforms, pictured, carry two turreted quad 190mm railguns, four short-range laser towers (defensive only), multiple ion-bolt infinite repeaters and a single-use planet killer torpedo.

Image: Another look at the stern

Image: Bow view

Image: Pictured along side the refit 1701-D from the STTNG episode "All Good Things..."