View source for Soldier class strike craft

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image=[[Image:FAC-14 Thompson 2012.png|300px]]
| Ship caption=Outboard profile of FAC-14 ''Thompson'', a strike craft in [[North Point]] service
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
| Builders=Sun Shipbuilding Corporation, MacMillan Heavy Industries, [[North Point]]
| Operators=See "[[Soldier class strike craft#Operators|Operators]]"
| Class before=
| Class after=
| Subclasses=
| Built range=
| In commission range=1967-present
| Total ships building=
| Total ships planned=
| Total ships completed=20
| Total ships cancelled=
| Total ships active=11
| Total ships laid up=3
| Total ships lost=4
| Total ships retired=
| Total ships scrapped=1
| Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header=
| Header caption=
| Ship type={{wp|Fast attack craft|Strike craft}} (FAC)
| Ship displacement=415 tons (standard)<br>480 tons (full load)
| Ship length={{convert|61.7|m|ft}}
| Ship beam={{convert|7.62|m|ft}}
| Ship draught={{convert|2.8|m|ft}}
| Ship draft=
| Ship propulsion=4 Fairley-McGovern diesels, 2 shafts, 2 screws
| Ship speed=17 knots (35 km/h) (cruise speed)<br>32 knots (63 km/h) (maximum)
| Ship range= 4,400 nautical miles (8,900 km) at 19 knots (35 km/h)<br>2,100 nautical miles (4,100 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h)
| Ship complement=6 officers, 35 enlisted
| Ship sensors=Thales NEPTUNE (air and surface search)<br>Orion (fire control)
| Ship EW=Chaff launchers and decoys
| Ship armament=''<small>Block II configuration (FAC-16):</small>''<br>8 x [[Sea Lance (missile)|RGM-94D Sea Lance]] anti-ship missiles<br>6 x [[Swordfish (missile)|RGM-64D Swordfish]] anti-ship missiles<br>2 x {{wp|Otobreda 76mm}} cannon<br>2 x {{wp|Oerlikon 20mm}} cannon<br>2 x {{wp|Browning M2}} .50-caliber machine gun<br>{{wp|Naval mine|Minelaying}} capabilities
| Ship armour=
| Ship armor= 
| Ship aircraft=
| Ship aircraft facilities=
| Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''Soldier class strike craft''' is a type of {{wp|fast attack craft}} designed and manufactured in [[North Point]].  Built to meet [[North Point Sea Command]] requirements for a fast, all-purpose, all-weather strike craft, they were the first missile boats to ship North Point's domestically-designed [[Swordfish (missile)|Swordfish]] anti-ship missile.  Though the first ships entered service in the late 1960s, the craft are still in use in North Point.  They are named for soldiers who distinguished themselves in North Point service.

In 1978, the design of the Soldier class was revisited.  An improved version, dubbed the '''Soldier class Block II''', was the result.  The first Block II units were brought into service in 1981, and incorporate various electronic warfare and weaponry upgrades as well as a redesigned mainmast with a lower {{wp|radar cross section}}.  Most importantly, provisions were made to ship the newly-designed [[Sea Lance (missile)|Sea Lance]] anti-ship missile, which entered service with the North Point Sea Command in 1980.

A total of twenty-five strike craft were built in North Point and the type has seen extensive combat service, most famously during the ill-fated [[Operation Flintlock]] where two North Point Sea Command strike craft were sunk while evacuating civilians from the docks at Allanstown, Questers.  The versatile craft have all received various upgrades throughout their service lives, with most units receiving the Phalanx close-in weapons system in the 1990s and later box launchers for the {{wp|rolling airframe missile}}.  

Twenty-two craft were ordered by the [[Commissariat Naval Contingent]], where they different Blocks are classified as the '''Type 041''' and '''Type 042''', respectively. The initial 5 craft were constructed in North Point, with a further 17 built domestically in the [[Structure]] from 1978. 3 were lost in action against [[Zegora|Zegoran]] forces. All surviving craft have been extensively upgraded.

== Development ==

Largely a derivative of the [[Quiberon|Quiberan]]-designed {{wp|La Combattante class fast attack craft|La Combattante}} class strike craft, the Soldier class was developed due to rising pressures within North Point to equip the North Point Sea Command with a viable all-purpose fast attack craft that could carry and launch the new anti-ship missiles becoming available in the 1960s.  While North Point had a sizable fleet of small patrol/torpedo boats (some equipped with experimental canister launchers for the [[Swordfish (missile)|RGM-64 Swordfish]] missile), there was no purpose-built missile boat in service.  Taking cues from the Quiberan missile boats, the Soldier class design was finalized and submitted to North Point's War Department in August of 1965. The first orders were placed in 1966, with the first of the class, NPS ''Rush'' (FAC-1), being commissioned in April of 1967. 

The Soldier class design was later revisited with the development of the [[Sea Lance (missile)|Sea Lance]] missile in North Point, and Block II (and subordinate configurations) replaced the remaining orders (FAC 14 through 20).  As {{wp|close-in weapons systems}} began to be developed in the 1980s, the strike craft slowly started to receive the {{wp|Phalanx CIWS|Phalanx}} system as ships went into the yards for repair and refit periods.  The last four ships, all of which had been built in the 1980s, were deemed the most suitable for receiving the {{wp|rolling airframe missile|RIM-116}} rolling airframe missile which came into service in the late 1990s; ''Warrington'', ''Hanner'', and ''Powers'' received a single RAM launcher on the stern during modernizations in the early 2000s.  ''Holder'' was used to test the Praetonian {{wp|Goalkeeper CIWS|Goalkeeper}} system, which had been offered as a rival to the domestically-developed Phalanx.  FAC-19 kept the Goalkeeper installation even after the North Point Sea Command opted to fit the Phalanx (and its later mods) to all ships.  A lawsuit was underway to have the installation dismounted and returned to [[Wentworth (company)|Wentworth]] in Praetonia (who had leased it free of charge during the trials); this was revoked by Wentworth, however, when ''Holder'''s Goalkeeper successfully shot down two Exocet missiles while the boat was covering the landing of Praetonian troops during the Questarian Rebellion.

== Operational history ==
=== North Point Service ===
==== [[Diamond Atoll Confrontation]] ====

The strike craft were first employed for fisheries protection during disputes with neighboring [[Valmiero]] in 1975.  These tensions eventually boiled over, resulting in the [[Diamond Atoll Confrontation]] during April and May of 1985.  During the conflict, NPS ''Rhodes'' (FAC-4) was sunk by Valmiran Navy destroyers during a night action on 4 April and sank with all hands.  Swordfish and Sea Lance missiles launched by other strike craft in the formation later hit and sank the Valmiran destroyer ''Veinticico de Abril'' (D15) and badly damaged the light carrier ''Valdelacasa'' (C3).  Additionally, NPS ''McKean'' (FAC-10) scored the only ship-to-air kill of the war when it downed a Valmiran Naval Aviation {{wp|A-4 Skyhawk|IAe ''Skyhawk''}} on 10 May.  Both sides claimed different losses and kills, a dispute that still stands to this day.

==== Questarian Rebellion ====

North Point strike craft were later employed for shore bombardment, anti-ship strike, special forces insertion, and maritime patrol during the Questarian Rebellion.  The strike craft NPS ''Rogers'' (FAC-6) and NPS ''Mason'' (FAC-15) were lost during [[Operation Flintlock]] while covering civilian evacuations from [[Allanstown]], [[Questers]].  Both ships had come into the port at Allanstown and had begun loading escaping civilians and Questarian military personnel.  As they exited the harbor, each were hit in quick succession by Exocet missiles fired from shore batteries.  ''Rogers'' exploded almost immediately, with 101 casualties.  ''Mason'' suffered a hit astern which knocked out its Phalanx turret, blew its RHIB overboard, and disabled its steering.  Unable to maneuver, the boat was taken under tow by the nearby NPS ''McCard'' (FAC-16), but the slow speed of both made the pair an easy target for Syndicalist attack aircraft.  ''McCard'' was hit by a {{wp|Mark 82 bomb}} dropped by a {{wp|A-4 Skyhawk|Skyhawk}} jet, which disabled one shaft and cut the tow line to ''Mason''.  The stricken ''Mason'' then took a direct hit from a {{wp|CBU-100 Cluster Bomb|Rockeye}} cluster bomb and caught on fire.  ''McCard'', despite being damaged, was credited with downing one of the attacking Skyhawks with its 76mm gun.

''Mason'' burned into the night before sinking with 97 dead.  ''McCard'' escaped to be repaired in a [[Varnia]]n shipyard before returning to the combat zone.  The North Point Sea Command was later criticized for allowing civilians to board the ships, knowing that they would be targeted with prejudice by Syndicalist aircraft and missiles.  Observers on both sides remarked that, had both craft not been loaded down with civilians, the Phalanx close-in weapons systems on each boat could likely have shot down the incoming missiles.  

Another strike craft, the NPS ''Meredith'' (FAC-8), later hit a mine off Baringham, Questers, while supporting the Praetonian and Tairendian landing operations.  Despite valiant efforts at damage control by her crew, the amount of water taken aboard was too great and the boat later sank.  Three men were killed in the initial explosion, but the rest escaped in life rafts to be rescued by the Praetonian Navy.

===Structure Service===

2 sunk by [[Zegora]]
1 sunk by mine, Zegora suspect

== List of variants ==

== List of ships ==

{|class="wikitable"
!Hull number
!Name
!Commissioned
!Fate
!Disposal date
!Configuration
|-
! colspan="6" | {{flagicon|North Point}}[[North Point Sea Command]]
|-
|FAC-1||''Rush''||1967||scrapped||January 2013||Block I
|-
|FAC-2||''Southerland''||1967||in reserve, reactivating||N/A||Block I
|-
|FAC-3||''Tucker''||1968||in reserve, reactivating||N/A||Block I
|-
|FAC-4||''Rhodes''||1968||sunk by gunfire during the [[Diamond Atoll Confrontation]]||April 1985||Block I
|-
|FAC-5||''Perkins''||1968||in reserve, reactivating||N/A||Block I
|-
|FAC-6||''Rogers''||1969||sunk by Exocets during [[Operation Flintlock]], Questers||August 2012||Block IA
|-
|FAC-7||''Craig''||1970||active||N/A||Block IB
|-
|FAC-8||''Meredith''||1973||mined off Baringham, Questers||January 2013||Block IA
|-
|FAC-9||''O'Hare''||1973||active||N/A||Block IA
|-
|FAC-10||''McKean''||1974||active||N/A||Block IA
|-
|FAC-11||''Eversole''||1975||lost during the [[Eversole Incident]]||October 1979||Block I ''<small>(experimental RGM-94 canisters and {{wp|Phalanx CIWS}} fitted before loss)</small>''
|-
|FAC-12||''Goodrich''||1977||active||N/A||Block IA
|-
|FAC-13||''Craig''||1970||active||N/A||Block IA
|-
|FAC-14||''Thompson''||1981||active||N/A||Block II
|-
|FAC-15||''Mason''||1982||sunk by Exocets during [[Operation Flintlock]], Questers||N/A||Block IIA
|-
|FAC-16||''McCard''||1983||active||N/A||Block II
|-
|FAC-17||''Warrington''||1984||active||N/A||Block IIB
|-
|FAC-18||''Hanner''||1984||active||N/A||Block IIB
|-
|FAC-19||''Holder''||1985||active||N/A||Block IIX ''<small>({{wp|Goalkeeper CIWS}} trial mount fitted)</small>''
|-
|FAC-20||''Powers''||1986||active||N/A||Block IIB
|-
! colspan="6" | {{flagicon|Structure}}[[Commissariat Naval Contingent]]
|-
|FSC-1||''Strike-1''||1972||active||N/A||Block I, upgraded to S-IC
|-
|FSC-2||''Strike-2''||1974||active||N/A||Block I, upgraded to S-IC
|-
|FSC-3||''Strike-3''||1974||sunk||August 1980||Block I
|-
|FSC-4||''Strike-4''||1975||active||N/A||Block I, upgraded to S-IC
|-
|FSC-5||''Strike-5''||1976||sunk||August 1980||Block IA
|-
|FSC-6||''Strike-6''||1978||active||N/A||Block IA, upgraded to S-IC
|-
|FSC-7||''Strike-7''||1978||struck mine and sunk||February 1989||Block IB
|-
|FSC-8||''Strike-8''||1979||active||N/A||Block IB, upgraded to S-IC
|-
|FSC-9||''Strike-9''||1990||active||N/A||Block S-II, upgraded to S-IIA
|-
|FSC-10||''Strike-10''||1991||active||N/A||Block S-II, upgraded to S-IIA
|-
|FSC-11||''Strike-11''||1991||active||N/A||Block S-II, upgraded to S-IIB
|-
|FSC-12||''Strike-12''||1992||active||N/A||Block S-II, upgraded to S-IIB
|-
|FSC-13||''Strike-13''||1992||active||N/A||Block S-II, upgraded to S-IIC
|-
|FSC-14||''Strike-14''||1994||active||N/A||Block S-II, upgraded to S-IIC
|-
|FSC-15||''Strike-15''||1995||active||N/A||Block S-IIA
|-
|FSC-16||''Strike-16''||1995||active||N/A||Block S-IIA
|-
|FSC-17||''Strike-17''||1996||active||N/A||Block S-IIB
|-
|FSC-18||''Strike-18''||1997||active||N/A||Block S-IIB
|-
|FSC-19||''Strike-19''||1998||active||N/A||Block S-IIB 
|-
|FSC-20||''Strike-20''||1998||active||N/A||Block S-IIC
|-
|FSC-21||''Strike-21''||1998||active||N/A||Block S-IIC
|-
|FSC-22||''Strike-21''||1999||active||N/A||Block S-IIC
|-
|}

== Operators ==

[[Image:Type 042.png|thumb|right|300px|''Strike-10'' on patrol]]

* {{flag|North Point}}
** [[North Point Sea Command]]
*** Block I - 3
*** Block IA - 4
*** Block IB - 1
*** Block II - 2
*** Block IIA - 2
*** Block IIB - 3
*** Block IIX - 1
* {{flag|Structure}}
** [[Commissariat Naval Contingent]]
*** Block S-IC - 5
*** Block S-IIA - 4
*** Block S-IIB - 5
*** Block S-IIC - 5

[[Category:Naval ships of North Point]]