Solarian League Navy

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Solarian League Navy in the fictional universe of Honorverse is the space navy of Solarian League and largest naval force in the known universe —being four times larger than the People's Navy at the peak of its power which would be some 2400 ships of the wall or more.

Solarian medium vessels (battlecruisers, heavy and light cruisers and destroyers) are usually state-of-the-art warships, as they are needed to police the League's vast space; conversely, Solarian ships of the wall are less advanced (almost obsolete fifty years behind as of War of Honor) when compared to Manticore and Havenite designs, since the League doesn't see the need to keep up with "lesser" naval powers. The Solarian Marines act as the rapid intervention force of the League, maintaining order throughout the League in concert with the Navy.

Besides the League's regular military, member worlds also have their own defensive military forces, known as the Defense Fleets. These forces are responsible for the immediate defense of their home systems, acting with and without the backup of the Solarian League Navy. They also nominally form the fleet reserve personnel and ships for the Navy. However, they can only be released with the consent of their home governments.

Other agencies, such as the Gendarmerie and the Office of Frontier Security, operate their own warships and have their own troops to maintain order and further the League's (and its corporations') interests in the frontier.

Solarian League Navy divided into two portions (unofficially, however): Battle Fleet and Frontier Fleet. Frontier Fleet deals with the systems in the Verge, while Battle Fleet is supposed to fight wars. Battle Fleet, however, has not had an engagement in several hundred years, and has become substantially weaker, in terms of tactical prowess, although its technlogical advantage remains present. The Battle Fleet has combat elements as small as a battlecruiser, while the Frontier Fleet have combat elements up to battlecruisers. System Defence Fleets typically have ships up to the size of a battleship, and frequently have frigates and LACs. (The "Battle Fleet" and "Frontier Fleet" divisions are also present in Weber's Starfire novels.)

The last major engagement of the League's navy was the battle at Farley's Crossing. Very few details are given on it except that it involved some 600 ships on each side, and it was an engagement by the Frontier Fleet, that involved mostly the lobbing of missiles by the Frontier Fleet at their opponents. It has since been turned into a recreational game, and is present on StateSec ships, in which each side was multi-player controlled; the engagement allows the possibility for both sides to win.

Notable vessel classes of the SLN include the:

  • Nevada class - the newest model of battlecruiser, replacing the Indefatigable class. (Featured in The Shadow of Saganami)
  • Indefatigable class - battlecruisers replaced by the Nevada class, but still powerful and advanced. (Featured in The Shadow of Saganami)