The one-of-a-kind dreadnought, "Destiny Ascension", flagship of the Citadel Fleet (of asari design)
Dreadnoughts are kilometer-long capital ships mounting heavy, long-range firepower. They are only deployed for the most vital missions. A dreadnought's power lies in the length of its main gun. Dreadnoughts range from 800 meters to one kilometer long, with a main gun of commensurate length.
Citadel Space[]
The Citadel nations are limited in the amount of Dreadnoughts they might build by the Treaty of Farixen, with the turian peacekeeping fleet being allowed the most. As of 2185, the dreadnought count was 39 turian, 20 asari, 16 salarian, and 8 human. By 2186, humans had constructed a ninth dreadnought, and the volus had built a single dreadnought of their own. Following the Reaper War, the volus had two: the Maliyya was built in a manner similar to the Vol Protectorate’s existing dreadnought the Kwunu, with no expense spared and creating significant economic stimulus. The Maliyya is largely regarded as solely a stimulus project, although it is, at least in theory, a capable war vessel, even if this has never been tested. The Kwunu, by contrast, saw action in the war and was hailed a great success.
The Illuminated Primacy has a very few dreadnoughts.
Other[]
The geth, unbound by the Treaty of Farixen, possess almost as many dreadnoughts as the turians.
In preparation for the retaking of their homeworld, the quarians fitted their Liveships with dreadnought cannons, effectively making them dreadnought-class vessels.
The batarians possess dreadnoughts (or did prior to the Reapers), but the exact number is unknown. After the Reapers, the only remaining dreadnought was the Karak'an. Nine antimatter warheads purchased from Noveria were fitted onto the ship by the new Batarian Confederacy, to the unease of several Citadel member governments.
Features[]
Dreadnoughts are so large that it is impossible to safely land them on a planet, and they must discharge their drive cores into the magnetic field of a planet while in orbit. The decks of large vessels are arranged perpendicular to the ship's axis of thrust, so that the "top" decks are towards the front of the ship and the "bottom" decks are towards the rear of the ship.
Dreadnoughts across species[]
Asari: Galea.
Batarian: Svyatyagor. (See: Khar'Shan class dreadnought).
Krogan (pre-Rebellions): Lhog, meaning "worthy".
Salarian: Qasr.
Turian: Audacer.
Threads[]
Alliance Spending Issues: The article is about medicine, but most of the discussion is about the Alliance's dreadnought program. (The Systems Alliance Transitional Administration on Earth can't help but be controversial).