Centuari Republic Oriovax Class Supercarrier CRS Oriovax as seen in 2259 CRS Oriovax, on maneuvers with unknown Centauri Octurian Class Battleship and Internus Class Dreadnought Oriovax Class History The Centauri have never been a figther heavy race. They preferred packs of medium and heavy combat vessels for quick strike and fleet engagements to building effective carriers and figthers. There were experiments with carriers, however. The Balvarin and its variants proved marginally successful, however they could only carry three squadrons of fighters. The Centauri, in their quest to have their old glory back any way they could get it, desired an even larger carrier. Their experience with the Orieni had them believing that manned fighters were a thing of the past, or for more under-developed nations, and this ship would just be a show-horse. The galaxy, however, had a different opinion. A design was recommended to the Centaurum Arms Commitee for production. It was based on the Octurian class battleship, but with many changes. The first ship was laid down in 2222, and was complete in late 2225. It was far from successful. For the first three decades of the class's existance, the CRS Oriovax was a unique ship. Happenings around the galaxy convinced the Centauri to take another look at the class. The Oriovax class was similar to the older, non-artificial gravity equipped classes of Centauri carriers, but was twice as big. The Earth-Minbari War had a tremendous impact on the Centauri fighter corps. EarthForce, while being relatively new on the galactic scene, found its niche in the galaxy by having heavily armed and armored, unmaneuverable sticks of warships. They were also the most figther happy fighter-happy race, surpassing the Cascor not in variety, but sheer quantity. Earth built scores of figthers, and threw them at the Minbari. In the final analysis, the Minbari weren't really affected by the Earth fighters, but other races took note of the sheer volume of figthers Earth had, and their reappearance after the war. Earth's strategy when it comes to figthers would be to throw so many of them into battle, it would drown the enemy in Starfuries. This doctrine was reinforced by the introduction of the Poseidon class supercarrier, and the ability by most EarthForce vessels to carry fighters. The other factor in the rethinking of the Centauri supercarrier was the War of Retribution the Republic fought against the Narn Regime. More than once in the war, Narn fighters fought and won small victories against Vorchan/Demos squadrons when they had little or no fighter protection of their own. There was even one occasion when a Secundus fell victim to EarthForce Starfury squadrons stationed at Babylon 5. The war, coupled with the frightening effectiveness of the Earth Alliance's standard fighters, let alone the Thunderbolts entering service, created a renewed interest in Centauri fighter doctrine. A few new figthers were designed, as well as fixing the problems on the Oriovax and producing more of the class. The class saw new construction begin in 2259, with the second ship of the class, the Refarus being completed in 2262. The Oriovax class ships were armed with purely defensive weaponary (12 TA's and 4 GA's). They had five hangars aboard, carrying an astonishing nine squadrons of fighters. The forward hangars were only large enough to handle Ligth fighters, while the port and starboard "wing" hangars could handle up to medium figthers. Only the large, primary hangar could handle the Rutarian or Polarian type of larger figthers. Currently, production is at one ship every year and a half. Oriovax class SCS