The Commando Corvette is a refit of the old Ranger Patrol Corvettes. The refit was sorely needed for the vessels, which had begun to frequently find themselves outgunned and outrun by the pirates they were designed to defend against. The new Commandos have swapped out the old ion turrets for more powerful railgun turrets, added two pairs of long-range laser cannons on the wingtips and swapped out the old nose laser with a powerful particle beam cannon. It still sports the two anti-ship missile launchers as well, which have just been moved further into the weapon wings. In addition to the heavier armaments, the ship has an improved powerplant, a new engine system and improved internal stores, giving it much greater range and speed. However, the upgrades come at a requirement of nearly double the crew needed to run it and it is nearly twice the price of the original Ranger. A testament to the new design is its popularity among mercenary companies. The shipyards at Einwold and Bifrost can barely keep up with demand. The Colonies of the Line have gone as far as to dedicate a Norfolk-Class shipyard to the refit and has licensed a team from Kugler-Vaughn, the Commando's manufacturers, to oversee the refit of its entire fleet of 200 Rangers. The shipyard has a dozen slips, each able to convert at Ranger in about one months time. Two more Norfolk-Class shipyards are scheduled to be dedicated to the effort once they have completed other projects in the next six months. Many smaller planets in the Free Colonies are unable to afford the refits and have to stay with the older Ranger classes for now, and the price has become a sore point between Kugler-Vaughn and some of the militia fleets who fear they will have to go into debt to keep their planetary defense forces up to date. But everyone knows that the colonies least able or willing to upgrade are most likely to be on the pirates' hit list.