Dr Forbidden, who has been unusually lucid these last few days, has given some details on the forthcoming Arsenal class ammunition transport. These will be more than just permanently assigned Providers as previously thought. The Arsenals will be able to teleport (within range) transphasic missiles directly to compatible ships (Panther to start with put probably more later) automatically as the combat ships run low on TPMs. Important especially considering a Panther can fire 8 missiles per second (and chew through the expected 250 missile load in half a minute!) Arsenals will be able to carry up to 5000 TPMs which should last a force of Panthers at least a couple of minutes.
Arsenals will also have maintenance facilities for weapons like Z cannons and missile launchers. The DDS are also considering the possibility of a small production line for TPMs. Dr Forbidden said the Arsenal class would have improved cloaks and shields. Its possible they would have uprated engines for improved speed though the Provider had a design limit of around 550c so any speed boosts would be small. Finally Dr F said the class would number more than the 2 currently on order but did not specify how many.
