Sacheen-class Light Escort Mark II

General Description
The Sacheen-class Light Escort Mark II is a further derivation of the Sacheen-class Light Escort developed jointly by REC and the New Republic Defense Fleet. Like its predecessor, the Mark II version is designed primarily escort ships in supply convoys and screen larger warships from smaller threats like corvettes and starfighters. However, because of its speed and varied armament, it is also used to hunt down criminal elements and harass enemy shipping. However, because of its somewhat weak skin and shielding, it is sometimes belittled as being more of law enforcement vessel than a true warship designed to slug it out on the battlefield. However, many Republic captains consider the Sacheen Mark II to be the capital ship equivalent of the A-wing.

Differences between the Mark I and Mark II
There are two major differences between the Mark I and Mark II versions of the Sacheen. Perhaps the most notable is the addition of an expanded hangar bay on the bottom of the warship. This change was prompted by captains saying that the older frigates which the Sacheen replaced carried many more fighters, often two or three times as many. With the addition of the new hangar compartment, the starship can now carry a full three squadrons of starfighters and four light transports, making it equal in terms of carrying capacity to the Corona-class frigates it has been replacing. The new hangar features several improvements over many of its contemporaries. It was manufactured as a standalone product, and is fully capable of operating without any power or life support from its parent ship, and also features heavier armor than the bulk of the starship along with reinforced and self-sealing bulkheads. Secondly, the hangar has a small machine shop which allows the warship to manufacturer replacement parts for the starships on a need by need basis, and given enough time and material, can eventually make completely new starships. But by the far the most obvious change in the hangar is the inclusion of eighteen launch tubes for the starfighters. There are six launch tubes on the starboard and portside of the ship, and another six facing towards the bow. Each launch tube uses a magnetic catapult to fling a starfighter out of the hangar at full speed in mere seconds. This allows the Sacheen to fully launch and recover its starfighter complement in a matter of seconds compared to minutes without having the defensive liability of having a large hangar bay. The main downside to the launch tubes is the difficulty in recovering starships through them. When not in use, the launch tubes are closed off from space by heavily armored doors. The original hangar of the Sacheen has been converted to house the ship's back-up shield generators, which are identical to its normal shield generators.

The second major difference in the Mark II is its heavy use of parts already circulating throughout the Republic Fleet to keep logistics even simpler. Such parts include the H9 turbolaser cannons used on Corellian Corvettes, the ArMek SW-7 Ion cannons used by Mon Calamari star cruisers, the Gyrhil autoblasters used by B-wings, and so forth. This has mostly left performance unchanged, by the weaker shield generators did allow for more weapons, most of which were used to fix the original Sacheen's weak point defenses. Other notable drawbacks include slower atmospheric and hyperdrive speeds, and a necessary increase in the amount of crew needed to man the ship. This necessitated a decrease in cargo space for more crew quarters, and the removal of even more cargo space for a larger complement of marines and other passengers.

Deployment and Field History
Few Sacheen-class Light Escort Mark IIs are yet in service as of 18 ABY, but they are slowly be phased into the fleets based on their commander's discretion. Most of the starships are not assigned to large battle fleets but rather to small task forces assigned to escort duty or pirate hunting. Several have been known to operate independently as basic patrol ships.