A Bothan Assault Cruiser during the Battle of Kashyyyk.
The starship was 850 meters in length with a crew of 1,240, an armed complement of 250, cargo capacity of 5,000 metric tons, and two years of consumables.
Designed to fill the role occupied by the aging Victory I-class Star Destroyer, the Bothan Assault Cruiser was armed with twenty-four heavy dual turbolaser cannons, twenty turbolaser cannons, ten ion cannons, twenty proton torpedo launchers with sixteen missile magazines, and four tractor beam projectors.
In addition to the array of weapon emplacements, the cruiser's two hangars carried four squadrons of starfighters. Dorsal and ventral hangars were located amidships and fitted with launch apertures that allowed for flexible deployment and rapid recovery. Cruisers also contained rear meditation cabins, equipped with transparisteel arches for viewing space.
Sublight engines gave the ship an equivalent speed of a Victory-class, while a Class 1 hyperdrive provided rapid hyperspace transit.
Defensively, the Bothan Assault Cruiser was a vast improvement to the Victory-class Star Destroyers it was intended to replace. Both armor and shields on the cruisers were 150 percent heavier than on the Victory-class.
Designed after peace was declared between the New Republic and Imperial Remnant, many questioned the motivation of the Bothans. Some declared it a wasteful program pushed by Borsk Fey'lya simply for the Bothans' benefit, while others feared it was a sign of impending Bothan aggression.
Another probable explanation was the inability of Bothawui defenses to protect the planet during the crisis surrounding the Caamas Document.
By 40 ABY Bothan Assault Cruisers were part of the fleet of the Confederation, after the Bothan government seceded from the Galactic Alliance in response to the assassination of several key Bothan politicians.
- Starships of the Galaxy
- The New Jedi Order Sourcebook
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia