The Kalahati Tuul is one of the most successful spaceship designs in the galaxy with hundreds being built over the last 100 years. Here we will concentrate on KTs in HCS service however.
When the Clones decided to build a space navy they had zero expertise in operating space ships apart from a handful of local system shuttles never mind building ships therefore they decided to buy their first ships. The Utrekian Kalahati Tuul was chosen as it was a powerful warship and cost effective, the Utrekians also offered a training, infrastructure and licence building programme to get the HCS Space Navy off to a start. After awhile the HCS began to build their own KTs and over the next few years built around 90 (70 of the improved specification Kalahati Tuul B) to add to the 6 purchased from the Utrekians. This jump start allowed the HCS to develop their own space ship development agency which designed an update to the KT, the Kalahati Tuul 2 in conjunction with the Remedians but that is beyond the scope of this article.
The KTs were the backbone of the HCS fleet for a long time however as the DDS developed their improved ships and weapons like the Z cannon (which memorably destroyed 2 KTs with one shot on combat debut) the KTs were relegated to second line duties. Now 48 remain in HCS service though none of the original specification KTs which have either been lost in combat or withdrawn (though the last survivor of the original Utrekian build KTs has been preserved and a few have been retained as static training bases).
Built in the early 2090s the KTs in HCS service only had a fatigue life of around 10 years and are now coming to the end of that. Technology marches onwards at greater speed and the ships were becoming very obsolete especially in terms of speed. A top speed of 420c meant that even DDS transports could outrun them.
A couple of years ago the HCS started the "Super Kalahati Tuul" programme for all surviving KTs. The rebuilds, more correctly known as Kalahati Tuul S, are a major refurbishment including a replacement of all load members and fatigued structure components to a higher standard giving around 20 years extra life. The ships are also re-engined rising top speed to over 500c (and with room for improvement, a boost to 600c is expected in the next decade when the fleet receives a update). Weapons and systems are also updated. Currently over half the KT fleet has been upgraded with the plan to complete the upgrade of all 48 surviving KTs by the end of the decade. The KT-S is still obsolete in first-line terms but is a perfectly acceptable second-line ship and will continue to serve the HCS until the late 2110s at least.
