Relatively common astral combatants of the Imperial Fleet, the Flight I Radostnyy (Joyful)-class destroyers resemble, doctrinally, moreso a cross between the late-Soviet SSGN classes like the Oscar than that of a conventional destroyer. While still capable of, and often used for, performing fleet screen duties, with their advanced passive sensors, the Radostnyy-class are more suited to hunting capital ships in single units or packs, utilizing their specialized heat-shunting systems and convenient space debris to stay (mostly) concealed from prying eyes. Their stealth is paid for by a relatively underpowered reactor configuration and limited active sensor suite which both limits the simultaneous engagement and air-defense capabilities of the class and leads to the ships being unable to reach full acceleration without shutting off key systems. Due to the demands of the war in Shiberia, and later over Fox country, in which many were lost,the ships underwent a major upgrade and overhaul starting from the 15th hull.

The first of what probably will be a small series of ship designs for my Second Russian Civil War universe which I will be releasing together with snippets from the literary parts of the project. The drawing here is actually a remake of a much older first rendition of this class, and I had a lot of fun doing the redesign, with the whole process from start to finish only taking a couple of days.

Drawn in GIMP 3.0 in late April of 2025