Groupe Nouveau Paradigme

Groupe Nouveau Paradigme (GNP) is a Human spacecraft component manufacturer that sells sensors, engines, and software. An unusually structured company, GNP was founded through an alliance between the governments of the Helios, Odin, Charon, and Baker systems in order to use facilities abandoned by the defunct FarSeer corporation. As a public company, GNP redirects all of its profits into further development and builds out facilities in the four aligned systems. It produces the Tonnerre line of freighter power plants and the V601-11 RADAR used by the military for the current-generation Hornet spacecraft.

History

The basis for GNP's corporate structure was the Tangaroa (Helios II) based FarSeer Corporation. FarSeer was incorporated in 2908 and developed high-end sensor suites for almost thirty years. Despite the acknowledged quality of its goods, FarSeer could not navigate the aerospace recession of the late twenties, and the company's assets were turned over to the Helosian government for dispersal. Rather than sell off FarSeer to the lowest bidder, officials maintained the corporation using tax dollars as they developed their cross-colonial alliance plan. The former FarSeer's corporate infrastructure was soon joined by government-repossessed engine labs in the Odin System, a series of refineries and factories in Charon, and a large influx of UEC from Baker's spoils system.

The company avoids the most profitable segment of starship research and development, direct-application weapons. Where companies such as Behring and MaxOx sell consumer-grade lasers and missiles, GNP's charter forbids putting armament in the hands of civilians, and the company likewise does not develop such tools for governments. Instead, its output is focused on essential high-grade equipment that most users do not consider when outfitting spacecraft: sensors, engines, navigation markers, piping, control surfaces, and software.

Sensors

GNP's first success was the adoption of its V601-11 RADAR by the UEE Navy. The V601-11, a high-resolution multisync radar system capable of independently tracking dozens of items and interfacing with hundreds of ship subsystems, forms the basis of the Navy's signature F7A Hornet fighters. The Hornet contract, which most expected to go to AllTell or Skanix, changed the company's prospects.

After the contract, other manufacturers began licensing or cloning the V601. GNP funneled all of its profits back into development and manufacturing. While other companies have released similar grades of radar in recent years, the modularity and customizability of the V601 has left it with most of the sensor suite integration coverage.

There is no difference between the civilian and the milspec version of the V601-11; the same technology and software used to fly the F7A Hornet is available, as standard or as an upgrade, on a variety of civilian ships, most notably the MISC Freelancer line, which adopted the system before it became a navy-supported industry standard.

The V601-11 system is more than physical scanners; it is a complete spacecraft solution that includes both physical modules and the heads-up display (HUD). Developed by a software team that included experienced interface designers, the V601-11's HUD integrates directly with a pilot's helmet display, and subdued colors provide a large amount of flight information without distraction. The HUD layout is reactive, with the computational power to predict and arrange information as needed; it may display targeting data one moment and navcom range-finding data the next. The standard GNP HUD is familiar to many non-pilots, as it was used in Original Systems' Arena Commander game. To prevent the HUD from entering the public domain, GNP required that Original Systems license the design rather than reproduce it, for a licensing fee of a single UEC.

Engines

If the V601-11 established GNP, then the Tonnerre line of engines secured its position as a diversified, broad-spectrum aerospace corporation. Tested on Odin under extreme deep-space conditions and produced on Charon, the Tonnerre addresses the starship engine market differently from its competitors. Where other companies focused on fast ships, GNP found little competition or quality directed toward larger transport ships. While other companies competed for the ORIGIN 350R or the Anvil Super Hornet slot, GNP targeted larger vessels.

Design teams set out to create a range of high-durability fission engines powered by liquid fluoride thorium reactors, focusing only on this larger-ship technology rather than something that could be adapted for starfighters and snubs. The resulting engines were designed to be easy to repair and maintain, with a common core of parts that can be changed easily, in many cases during flight. The complete Tonnerre line, produced in nine separate models, was designed from the outset to replace the aging engines on MISC's Freelancer and Starfarer chassis lines. MISC adopted the GNP Tonnerre-00 for its Freelancer model and the GNP Typhon-00 for the Starfarer.

There are three lines of GNP Tonnerre engines, each with three different sizes. The smallest, designed for the Freelancer, is the Tonnerre (Tonnerre-00, -55, and -77). The second range, Super Tonnerre, has not yet been adopted by a manufacturer, although corporate rumors suggest Aegis is in talks for a new advanced civilian model of the Retaliator. The Typhons, designed for the Starfarer tankers and larger transport ships, complete the range. MISC's response to the line suggests that the largest of these engines, the Typhon-77, may be mounted on the Hull C. Because liquid fluoride thorium reactors can theoretically increase in size without limit, GNP may unveil larger engines for capital ships.

Trivia

• GNP's equipment typically has a French name (Prevenir) or an alphanumeric designation (V801-11).

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