Canberra-class combat orbitor

"Even if they didn't [follow the Space Armaments Regulations], their constant issues should never have allowed them to be commissioned. The country should have scrapped them before they launched and just adopted an existing American or Chinese design instead."

- Historian Leiv Orlov

The Canberra-class combat orbitor (: DDG) is an ancient model line of four constructed in the Simpson desert for the Royal Australian Navy. Released during a time when space technology was in its infancy, the Canberra-class was built as an Orbitor in the strictest sense of the word, providing high-orbital defence, protection against ballistic missiles, and escorting and checking merchant freighters entering Earth's airspace. Considered to be well-armed at the time of their launch, these ships would form the backbone of Australia's fledging navy for the important formative years of humanity's early spacefaring history.

Originally intended to be paired with the first practical, the Canberra-class was an important part of the Australian Space Defence Program (ASDP). While the program emphasised the mass-deployment of submarine-inspired, the Canberra-class starships were intended to apply actual fighting capabilities for the purposes of force-projection and deterring.