Editing Monolith

{{InfoBoxJumpShip
| image = Monolith JS TRO3057r.png
| Name = ''Monolith''-class JumpShip
| Manufacturer =
[[Challenge Systems]]<ref name=DS&JSp15>''DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary'', p. 15 </ref>
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[[Ioto Galactic Enterprises]]<ref name=DS&JSp15/>
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[[Rashpur-Owens Incorporated]]<ref name=DS&JSp15/>
----
[[Stellar Trek]]<ref name="HB:HKp162">''Handbook: House Kurita'', p. 162: "Pillar of Jade (Economics) - Direct Service (Military) Corporations - Stellar Trek Enterprises"</ref><ref name=OBDC8>''Objectives: Draconis Combine'', p. 8: "Produced Components on Chatham"</ref><ref name=OR68>''Objective Raids'', p. 68: "Stellar Trek Profile and Produced Components</ref>
| Use = Military
| Cost = 1,000,000,000 C-Bills
| Introduced = [[2776]]
| Tech Base = Standard
| Mass = 430,000 tons
| Length = 750 meters
| Sail Diameter = 1270 meters
| Fuel = 68 tons (170)
| Burn Rate = 39.52
| Top Thrust = 0.1 Gs
| LF Battery = None
| Sail Integrity = 5
| KF Drive Integrity = 8
| Armament = None
| Armor = 150 tons
| DropShip Capacity = 9
| Crew = 30<ref name=TRO3057R>''Technical Readout: 3057 Revised'', p. 106, "''Monolith'' JumpShip Profile"</ref><ref name="BSs53">''BattleSpace'' sourcebook, p. 53</ref>  
*5 Officers
*25 Enlisted
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(Crew Types)<ref name="BSr63">''BattleSpace'' rulebook, p. 63</ref><br/>
*3 Pilots <br />
*4 Engineers <br />
*9 Secondary Engineers
*4 Small Craft pilots<ref name=DS&JSp25>''DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary'', p. 25 </ref>
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Bay Personnel: 30<ref name=TRO3057R/>
| Grav Decks = 2 x 105 meters diameter
| Escape Pods/Life Boats = 5/0
| Heat Sinks = 137 (single)
| Structural Integrity = 1
| BV (1.0) = 1,041<ref>''AeroTech 2 Record Sheets'', p. 277</ref>
| BV (2.0) = ???
}}

==Description==
In terms of sheer tonnage, the ''Monolith'' is the largest class of civilian [[JumpShip]] ever built; at 750 meters from fore to aft it is also the longest. Other than its sheer size, another distinctive trait is a unique system of docking collars mounted on arms. These docking arms are arranged in three groups that form rings down the Monolith's spine. These arms enable the Monolith to accommodate even the largest dropships. Furthermore, with a total of nine docking collars it can accommodate more Dropships than any other civilian JumpShip.<ref name=TRO3057R/><ref name=DS&JSp24>''DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary'', p. 24</ref>

The ''Monolith'''s command center is equipped with the latest communication, analysis, and simulation equipment. As a result of this superb facility, many ''Monolith''s serve as flagships for invasion fleets and coordinate operations until command is passed to a DropShip in orbit around the target world. The ''Monolith'' is also more heavily armored than other JumpShips, but it is still utterly defenseless if engaged in combat. Finally, the ship is equipped with two large 105-meter [[grav deck]]s.<ref name=TRO3057R/><ref name=DS&JSp24>''DropShips and JumpShips: ComStar Intelligence Summary'', p. 24</ref>

==Armament==
The ''Monolith'' is completely unarmed, although two of the six [[Small Craft]] bays are sometimes used to accommodate fighters. In general, a ''Monolith'' relies upon its DropShips for protection, as well as the Inner Sphere custom of not attacking JumpShips.

==Cargo==
The standard ''Monolith'' has six [[Small Craft]] bays, and older publications described it as being able to carry 7000 tons of cargo. However, this capacity is incorrect under the current construction rules, which leaves the ''Monolith'' with only about 1,457.5 tons of dedicated cargo. 

The ''Monolith'' was also described as having extra tanks for fueling [[DropShip]]s or [[aerospace fighter]]s on extended campaigns. However, as equipped under the current ruleset, the ''Monolith'' only has a capacity for some 70 tons of fuel, which is barely enough for its own operation. That being said, it would presumably be straightforward to convert some of its cargo bay capacity into additional fuel storage.

In any event, these discrepancies may be viewed as legacy errors from earlier rulesets when JumpShip construction rules were not yet fully fleshed out, if at all.

==Variants and other apocryphal errors==
Although no major variants are known, there are significant differences among the various sources describing the ''Monolith'' owing to the inconsistent, contradictory, and often erroneous application of different rulesets at different times. 

Its stated mass was [[retconned]] from originally 380,000 tons to 430,000 tons because of a construction rule that was introduced after the specifications of the ''Monolith'', which limits [[docking hardpoints]] to one per 50,000 tons of mass, rounded up; under that rule, a 380,000-ton vessel would only be allowed to mount a maximum of 8 hardpoints. ''[[Technical Readout: 3057 Revised]]'' officially altered the ''Monolith'''s mass, and the [[Master Unit List]] similarly lists it at 430,000 tons. It is thus doubtful whether a 380,000-ton version [[canonical]]ly existed in the [[BattleTech]] universe. (The JumpShip ''[[Rubicon]]'', for example, is both expressly described as a ''Monolith'' class vessel and as massing 380,000 tons in canon.)

''[[Technical Readout 3057]]'' mentions the 7000-ton cargo capacity but states a mere 37 tons in the ship's stats table, presumably in error. It also gives the number of heat sinks as 140 as opposed to 137 as per the [[BattleSpace]] rulebook.

==Number in service==
Prohibitive manufacturing and maintenance costs have kept the number of operating ships down, but their sturdiness and an abundant supply of spare parts ensure that they remain in service. 

There are notable discrepancies, however, in reports about how many ''Monolith'' class vessels actually exist. As of [[3025]] and also [[3057]], the armies of the [[Successor States]] between them supposedly operated less than 50 ''Monoliths'', half of which served with the [[DCMS]]. Despite assertions to the contrary, it is demonstrably untrue that only the militaries of the Great Houses employed the design in these eras, as both [[mercenary units]] and various mercantile corporations are also known to operate ''Monolith''s.<ref>According to the ''Wolf's Dragoons'' sourcebook, p. 6, Wolf's Dragoons had at least two ''Monolith''s when they first appeared in the Inner Sphere in 3005. As of 3025, the [[Synguard Corporation]], a medium-sized mercantile corporation, was mentioned to operate three ''Monoliths'' in ''MechWarrior'' (1st Edition), p. 109. The ''Mercenary Handbook'', p. 74, lists three ''Monolith''s with the mercenary [[Eridani Light Horse]] as of 3025. Finally, at least two named ''Monolith''s, the ''[[Edinborough Express]]'' and the ''[[Spirit of Edinburgh]]'', served with the [[Northwind Highlanders]] as of 3067 and have implicitly been with them for a long time.{{cn}}</ref>

The stated number of "a few dozen"<ref name=DS&JSp24/> or "less than fifty" vessels is also at odds with the known production numbers and the stated sturdiness and longevity of the vessels.<ref>See [[Essay:JumpShip distribution]]</ref> Furthermore, this estimate seems to disregard the number that may or may not have been in service with [[ComStar]] (an omission which was probably intentional on ComStar's part).

The [[Federated Suns]] was reportedly constructing two vessels every three years, presumably via Challenge Systems on [[Panpour]],<ref name=HBHD165>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 165, "Challenge Systems Profile"</ref><ref>''Objectives: Federated Suns'', p. 28, "Industrial Systems"</ref> while the [[Free Worlds League]] historically produced one every two years. The FWLM had potentially lost this capability, with no known facilities in [[3025]]. The [[Draconis Combine]] was also reported as unable to produce the class in 3025, even though it maintained almost half of the "known" ''Monoliths'';<ref name=DS&JSp24/> by the time of the [[Clan War]] the [[Stellar Trek]] shipyards at [[Chatham]] would eventually take up new ''Monolith'' production.<ref name="HB:HKp162"/><ref name=OBDC8/>

The Clans also operate the ''Monolith'' class and have upgraded it with their own advanced technologies. It is not known how many Clan ''Monolith''s exist, but it should be noted that the design was only introduced eight years prior to [[Aleksandr Kerensky]]'s [[Operation EXODUS]]. Only a dozen ''Monoliths'' had been produced by that time, suggesting that a very small number of these vessels would have joined the Exodus fleet, and most are reported to have been constructed in the [[Pentagon worlds]] or [[Kerensky Cluster]].<ref name=TRO3057R/> There is insufficient information on production capacities in the Clan homeworlds to estimate how many, if any, have been built there since.

For all the reasons stated above it seems almost certain that the "50 ship" figure is a significant underestimate.

==See Also==
* [[:Category:Individual Monolith-class JumpShips]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Monolith.png|Original ''Monolith'' from ''[[DropShips and JumpShips]]''
Image:Monolith JS TRO3057r.png|''Monolith'' from ''[[Technical Readout: 3057|TRO:3057]]''
Monolith.jpg|A ''Monolith'' in combat from ''[[Jihad: Final Reckoning]]''
</gallery>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
*''[[AeroTech 2 Record Sheets]]''
*''[[BattleSpace]]''
*''[[DropShips and JumpShips]]''
*''[[Handbook: House Davion]]''
*''[[Handbook: House Kurita]]''
*''[[MechWarrior: The BattleTech Role Playing Game]]''
*''[[Mercenary's Handbook]]''
*''[[Objective Raids]]''
*''[[Objectives: Draconis Combine]]''
*''[[ Objectives: Federated Suns]]''
*''[[Technical Readout 3057]]''
*''[[Technical Readout: 3057 Revised]]''
*''[[Wolf's Dragoons (sourcebook)|Wolf's Dragoons]]''


[[Category:JumpShip classes|Monolith]]