LOCUST CLASS CARRIER:

CLASSIFICATION: Carrier
LENGTH: 150 metres
TONNAGE: 1 million tonnes
MANOEUVERABILITY: Class A+
CREW: 50
TROOPS: 0
FIGHTER(s): 8 Cobra Bays - 3 Robotic In-Space Refuelling/Rearming Units - 1 Fighter/Transport Repair Hanger
POWER SOURCE: 1 Tokamak Corp. Ultima 3000 Gravimetric Fusion Reactors - 150,000 Terawatts
DURATION: 12 hours before refuelling
WEAPONS: 4 Graser enhanced Particle Cannons - 32 Pulse Cannons on Universal Weapons Banks
DEFENCES: 5 to 7 metre Advanced Daemon Re-Enforced Armour - EM/Gravimetric Field Defence Grid - FLAK Anti-starfighter Grid

The Locust was designed as a backup for the Ulysses class Super Carrier. If it cannot deliver enough fighters to a battle, the Locusts can release their fighters. They can also gather the fighters from a Ulysses when an Operation Phoenix fleet is fleeing a battle quickly.

Becuase the Locust is designed primarily to deliver/collect fighters from a battle sittuation, none of its internal sections are dedicated to crew quarters. Like the Centurion class Gunboat it uses the Praefectus class Carrier to house its crew and to provide jump points for interdimentional travel.

As their name suggest, the Locusts jump out en masse into battle situations. This allows Operation Phoenix battle fleets to dedicate less fire power to anti-fighter purposes. It also allows most Operation Phoenix ships to dedicate much less space to fighters, necessary fuel and parts.

The Locust has very thick armour for a ship of its size. It also has a fairly powerful weapons grid for a ship of its size. This system is specialised for defensive purposes, not for attack. It also has a specialized trough in its belly for repairing minor damage to fighters, like the Centurion.

The SA-128ES Spectre Fighters and SA-128S Phantom Fighters must collapse their wings to fit into the Locust's docking bays. While launching, the Locust's docking doors open, the docking arm extends and then the fighters are given a push off by gas jets.

Pictured is the EAS Blight, the first Locust put into service.