Frigates are the smallest vessels rated for deep space military operations. They’re typically deployed for patrol, scouting, and commerce escort missions when heavier vessels aren’t available. When dragged into fleet actions, they’re usually used in small squadrons as screening units, or if unlucky, for flanking maneuvers.

The Drum Fleet’s Missile Frigates are primarily fleet support units carrying a large number of multirole kinetic kill missiles, housed in a large rotary magazine, and feeding two magnetic rail launchers. The missiles are guided, but unlike the Ellipse Fleet’s seeking torpedoes, they do not chase their targets. They rather vector directly towards a target’s predicted position at accelerations unthinkable by a crewed vehicle. Despite the differences between the Fleets’ projectiles, the two vessels are remarkably similar in their deployments.