SDF Destroyers are a type of warship that appear in the Call of Duty:Infinite Warfare. They are simply identified by this moniker, their class name is unknown.
Overiew
SDF Destroyers are a spaceship type that appears in Infinite Warfare, under the command of the Settlement Defense Front. They are one of the most numerous vessels encountered in the the campaign and appear to be the backbone of the SDF's navy, being fought by the SWC-141 Retribution in numerous battles.
The naming convention of SDF Destroyers is the three letter prefix "SDS" followed by a name. These names are usually Martian geographic features such as mountains (SDS Nereidum), impact basins (SDS Utopia), moons (SDS Deimos) or other terrain features (SDS Iani Chaos). Some atypical names also exist however, such as the SDS Valiant.
Characteristics
As the primary warship of the SDF, the destroyers are equipped for a variety of different roles. The vessels themselves are designed for the vacuum of space, possessing relatively little aerodynamics and being quite angular in shape. The vessels are oblong, with a compression towards the rear of the ship on both sides, near the vessel's wheelhouse; this appears to house access for airlocks and shuttle bays. The vessels possess what appears to be a prominent, horizontal conning tower on their dorsal side, above and behind the bridge.
The frontal part of the dorsal side has a prominent, lengthy bulge, which contains launchers for the ships cruise missile systems. While the underside of the vessels appears to be a uniform section, some of the "bulges" are actually the doors for the ship's cargo bays, which can open up for ingress and egress. The ship's surface is covered in various features such as radars, access hatches, supply tanks and weapons systems.
Internally, the ship possess features similar to those of terrestrial warships, as well as those required for space combat. Areas such as combat information centres (CIC), ordnance bays, cargo holds, administrative sections, computer mainframes, conference rooms, cafeterias, crew accommodations, life support systems, armouries, medical bays and so on are all present within the ship. The ship has various bulkheads and pressurised doors that allow it to be compartmentalised in the event of a hull breach or depressurisation. The ship's CIC has windows but can cover these with armoured shutters to maximise protection during combat. The interiors are also fairly spartan, even by military standards, reflecting the SDF's focus on efficiency and functionality over luxury and comfort.
Like many spaceships in Infinite Warfare, SDF Destroyers are capable of generating their own artificial gravity. While the exact method by which this occurs is unknown, it would appear that the mechanism ensures that the gravitational field generated is perpendicular to the ships floor, ensuring that crew members are only pulled downwards towards the floor and not in different directions towards. This gravity can seemingly be disabled quite selectively, with gravity being deactivated in one room but left on in others.
The ship has a crew complement of both sailors and security personnel. This includes C6 androids, which are often found docked at various stations when not in use.
The ship is propelled by massive thrusters located at the rear of the vessel. Like other warships in the game, SDF Destroyers are also capable of faster-than-light (FTL) travel, which seems to occur via something known as a "drop engine". SDF Destroyers are capable of hovering within atmosphere, like UNSA vessels, via several sets of small ventral thrusters. For providing power, SDF Destroyers appear to utilise some kind of nuclear reactor.
Offensive and defensive systems
SDF destroyers are heavily armed, possessing numerous missile launchers and autocannons. They are quite capable of taking on their UNSA counterparts.
Point defence
For defence, the vessel uses 30mm Grunion autocannons, 20mm OST autocannons and MMT38 Whiplash missiles. These are often used to target anything small that might threaten the ship, such as Jackal fighters, but they can also be used in an offensive role against other warships if required. Grunions appear to be tri-barrelled rotary weapons. The autocannons are mounted in rotating turrets and distributed across the vessel's dorsal side to provide a large amount of coverage.
Whiplash missiles are located primarily in the ship's forward dorsal "bulge", behind a pressured door. Each Whiplash launcher is actually a square pod of four missiles that protrudes from the launch bay when in use.
R-28 Taskmasters
For both offence and defence, the ship seems to use R-28 Taskmasters, which are twin cannons mounted on the sides of the dorsal centre line. The R-28 seems to be a fairly high calibre-cannon with a low rate-of-fire that can inflict considerable damage upon warships, judging by what can be seen at the end of Operation Blood Storm when Nick Reyes is trying to hold on to a hijacked SDF Destroyer. Destroyers seem to be able to mount up to eight Taskmasters, distributed evenly across either side of the ship.
The R-28 can be used either for attacking enemy vessels or for defending the vessel in point defence roles.
Tactical cruise missiles
For offence, the ship uses tactical cruise missiles. The missiles are launched from fixed launch bays. It seems there are at least three cruise missile variants, judging by what can be seen in the ship's armoury, each differentiated by their colour. The missiles seem to have their warhead type written on them, followed by a alphanumeric designation:
- Black - Fuse Class F6
- Red - Impact Class O2
- White - NCLR N15
The missiles are loaded onto mobile racks in the ordnance room, where they can presumably be supplied to different parts of the ship. Destroyer ordnance rooms seem to have different racks and control systems for different missiles, with the controlling consoles having the missile type clearly marked on the floor underneath them, though different missiles have been seen on the same rack.
The missile's name seems to indicate what kind of weapon they are, with O2's detonating on impact and F6's having a delayed fuses. The N15 missiles are actually equipped with nuclear warheads, as writing on the floor in front of consoles controlling their racks clearly states "NUCLEAR", which is presumably also what the "NCLR" written on the missiles stands for. They also seem to possess yellow warning hazard labels on them which the O2 and F6 missiles lack. While the yield of the N15 is unknown, destroyers are shown to carry numerous N15 missiles, potentially granting each destroyer a devastating amount of firepower.
Modularity and additional weapons
It would appear that the ship's weapons suite is somewhat modular as some destroyers, such as the SDS Galaxius, have large turrets mounted on top of their forward missile launch section, which house twin cannons which seem to be of a substantial calibre; Galaxius had two of these weapons.
In addition, the exact distribution of the other armaments can vary - for example, it seems some destroyers have two OSTs between their rear engines, whereas others use two Grunions instead. Similarly, the missile bulge may be defended by OSTs or Grunions.
Protection
SDF Destroyers are reasonably well armoured and can withstand a fair degree of punishment before being destroyed (this may also be due to their size and mass). Jackal fighters do not seem to be able to do significant damage by simply attacking the ship's hull directly but instead often destroy them by taking out many of their weapons systems, which likely causes enough internal damage to kick off a chain reaction that destroys the ship in a massive explosion.
Destroyers also seem to be equipped with a system reminiscent of chaff/flare launchers like the SRBOC, consisting of five tubes, mounted across the dorsal surface of the hull.
Role
Like their terrestrial counterparts, SDF Destroyers are capable of engaging in multiple different roles, operating either on solo raids or group missions. It is not unusual for destroyers to operate by themselves, possibly due to the relatively low number of warships in Infinite Warfare relative to the sheer size of the solar system.
SDF Destroyers may also fly within the atmosphere of a planet to attack ground targets, acting as a sort of hovering artillery, often in support of ground elements.
It is quite common for destroyers to be accompanied by R-7 Skelter fighters.
History
While their origins are unknown, it is known that SDF Destroyers were available prior to the UNSA-SDF War.
Named Ships
Below is a non-exhaustive list of all named SDF Destroyers and their current status.
- SDS Galaxius (active)
- SDS Icarius (active)
- SDS Nerio (active)
- SDS Pavonis Mons (active)
- SDS Iani Chaos (destroyed)
- SDS Solis (abandoned)
- SDS Crivitz (destroyed)
- SDS Argas (destroyed)
- SDS Deimos (destroyed)
- SDS NB Quirinis (destroyed)
- SDS Nemesis (destroyed)
- SDS Tharsis (destroyed)
- SDS Phobos (destroyed)
- SDS Valiant (destroyed)
- SDS Nereidum (destroyed)
- SDS Ascraeus (destroyed)
- SDS Elysium (destroyed)
- SDS Arsia (destroyed)
- SDS Argyre (destroyed)
- SDS Utopia (destroyed)
- SDS Anseris (destroyed)
- SDS Isidis (destroyed)
- SDS Daedalia (destroyed)
- SDS Peraea (destroyed)
- SDS Cydonia (under construction)
Gallery
Concept Art
Trivia
- A Grunion is a species of fish.