Feazanthia
13-10-2007, 00:57
While considered the epitome of space combat to many other nations, the usage of smaller strike craft on a large scale is fairly repulsive to the Intergalactic Feazanthian Navy. Tactics hammered into everyone from the highest-ranking phia'sa to the lowliest hadat dictate using craft smaller than frigates sparingly, if at all. This stems from tactics forged during the Collective war, where smaller vessels were easily disabled by enemy weapons and their pilots quickly added to the threat. When used, strike craft are seen as a necessary evil due to their ability to swoop in at high accelerations, disable or destroy critical systems without risking a more expensive vessel, or to defend against the enemy's own strike craft on their level.
Since the tail end of the Collective war, the primary extra-atmospheric superiority strike fighter of the IFN has been the LSF-18B "Acolyte" due to its high maneuverability and the ease at which it could adapt to situations, even while in-flight. However, the IFN quickly found that the Acolyte, while adequate as a light interceptor, was simply lagging behind its Milky Way equivalents. Though skilled pilots were still a match for their counterparts, the Acolyte needed to be deployed in numbers much larger than any commander was willing to commit to in order to adequately defend against enemy light craft.
As the "emergency refit" stage of the Milky Way campaign continued, bringing into the forefront such massively impressive vessels as the Majiirian Heavy Battleship and Arbiter Guided Weapons Fleet Cruiser, FleetCom increasingly found itself unwilling to commit these resource-intensive vessels to strike craft-intensive conflicts for fear of them being overwhelmed. However, FleetCom's R&D resources were already being stretched to the limit with projects deemed more "important" by the bean-counters (capital craft). Thus the decision was made to search out independent contracts for a space superiority fighter worth of ascending to the Acolyte's former throne.
Sponson Industries was a relatively small military contractor based on Concordia, with access to an independent shipyard in orbit. They were most famous for providing the IFN with the Bishop-class heavy transport/cargo vessel as well as providing the inspiration for the pulsed ion cannon, but had focused primarily on the commerce and private defense industries since these creations. FleetCom stumbled upon the Avenger project, already in the works for over a decade, almost accidentally. The Avenger prototype, never intended to be more than a light escort fighter, was woefully underarmed. However, its eight computer-linked ion acceleration thrusters gave it acceleration rivaling the Acolyte despite its overly-heavy frame and ancient armor scheme, and its rear pulsed ion cannon (powered by the smallest helix bundle accelerator ever developed) gave it 360 degrees of weapon coverage - a massive advantage for both dogfighting and strafing runs. The moment the first check arrived from FleetCom (along with a list of advancements and adjustments required for the grants to continue), the Avenger project took on new life.
The new Avenger, titled the HSF-25 (with the A designating its status as the second in the Avenger line), was nothing short of an offensive miracle. Its twin 120mm rotary rail-accelerated autocannons (RAC120) are outfitted for multi-ammunition capability, ranging from the standard high-explosive armor-penetrating (HEAP) rounds, to modified ferrous-core tungsten "flak" rounds, to heavy anti-ship kinetic energy penetrator (KEP) rounds (depleted uranium core surrounded by an outer shell of tungsten alloyed with iron and nickel). These autocannons, though requiring a carrier docking to switch out ammunition supplies, provide the HSF-25A with versatility unmatched by hulls nearly twice its tonnage. A 200mm fixed plasma cannon (PC200) is mounted in the "nose" of the craft, using the ship's own drive stream and accelerating the bottled high-energy plasma through the forward hull. This plasma package is effective at burning through ship plating and igniting ammunition stores and fuel supplies, both on enemy strike craft and light capital ships.
The HSF-25A is also armed with internal rotary guided weapons bays, designed to carry both AGM-24 "Banshee" guided high-velocity missile and the AGSM-10 "Seraph" light guided anti-shipping missile. Each rotary launcher carries eight missiles, and can have their fire linked or staggered depending on the situation and gunner preference. These provide the Avenger with superior firepower against both strike craft and capital ships at ranges where plasma cannons and/or autocannons would be ineffective. Rounding out the Avenger's armament is the afore-mentioned eight-hundred megawatt pulsed ion cannon (PIC-M800) mounted between the engine pylons. Considered radical by most strike craft veterans, the ion cannon provides nearly unmatched rear protection against attackers seeking to take the upper hand against the Avenger's higher mass. Its high rate of fire combined with speed-of-light travel time make trying to approach the Avenger from the rear a potentially deadly mistake.
The Avenger, like all sub-capital ship in the Feazanthian navy, is incapable of faster-than-light transit and requires the use of a carrier for inter-system travel. Its sublight drives, consisting of eight Sponson Starscreamer-7 ion engines mounted on two engine pods, can accelerate the Avenger to extremely high speeds. Powering these engines is a fifth-generation toroidal tokomak "microreactor", providing a 42% increase in power generation over the LSF-18B's reactor without increasing the size. Due to its incapability of interstellar travel, the fighter has a relatively limited fuel supply capable of sustaining a "full burn" for only forty-eight hours. This was deemed acceptable by FleetCom. Plasma from the reactor, aside from fueling the engines, electronics, and nose-mounted cannon, also provide thrust to the multitude of maneuvering thrusters mounted across the Avenger's hull. In the hands of a skilled pilot, the Avenger can literally fly circles around the now-ancient LSF-10 "Bulwark II" and can compete with the LSF-18B (though the Acolyte still can beat the Avenger in terms of raw maneuvering capability by a small margin) due to the advanced reactor systems not present on the older fighters.
Defensive systems on the HSF-25A, while a good deal more advanced than its predecessors, still offer relatively little protection in heated firefights. Armor consists of an outer ceramic shell supported by two centimeters of titanium-A battleplate and a layer of fibersteel mesh. This armor system adequately protects the Avenger from small-arms fire, atmospheric disturbances, and small debris. While the Acolyte was limited to a single deflector array, which could only be aligned in a certain direction leaving the rest of the ship vulnerable to attack; the Avenger possesses a full deflector array providing an entire sphere of protection by means of a thin layer of supercharged plasma held in place by an intense magnetic field. The plasma is enough to vaporize incoming projectiles beneath a certain mass and to deflect incoming energy and particle-based weapons for a limited time before overload. An advanced ECM suite coils around the plasma accelerator in the craft's nose, giving the Avenger at least some defense against guided weaponry. All in all, however, the Avenger's survivability is based on the philosophy of "the best defense is a good offense", relying on speed and pilot skill to evade weapon fire long enough for its heavy weapons to destroy the enemy.
The Avenger's tandem seats are designed for two people - a pilot and weapons' officer (WO). The pilot (generally the higher ranking officer) will handle acceleration, maneuvering, and primary weapons. The WO is responsible for guided weapons target acquisition and launching, PIC targeting and firing, and navigation. Pilots and WOs are generally introduced early on in their training and are evaluated on their relationship with each other. It has been found that pairs with a good relationship, both professional and civilian, operate much more effectively than those without. The pilot and WO sit in padded chairs designed to abosrb G-forces. These chairs are also equipped with rocket-based boosters for quick ejection. The armored canopy, providing a full 360 degrees of visual scanning, is designed to jettison up and to the left of the fighter during an ejection, minimizing chances for deadly accidents. Crew are required to wear standard-issue pressurized environment suits. These are identical to those used throughout the strike craft corps, save for the neural attachments in the helmet being optimized for use with the Avenger.
The Avenger has already performed beyond Sponson and FleetCom's expectations in both training exercises and limited active duty against pirate militias. It is expected to begin full deployment with all numbered fleets and task forces in both the Cetra and Milky Way theaters very shortly.
Heavy Strike Fighter (HSF)-25A "Avenger" Space Superiority Fighter
Developer: Sponson Industries
Length: 27.8 meters
Crew: 2 (pilot, weapons officer)
In use by: Intergalactic Feazanthian Navy (IFN), Dominion Defense Forces (DDF)
Primary Armament:
2x 120mm rotary autocannons (RAC120) in forward semi-gimble mounts
1x 200mm plasma cannon (PC200) in fixed forward mount
Secondary Armament:
2x internal rotary missile launchers (eight missiles per launcher)
1x 800mw pulsed ion cannon (PIC-M800) in rear mount (aft firing arc)
Armor:
Ceramic Shell
Titanium-A Battleplate (two centimeters)
Fibersteel Mesh Underlayer
Shield:
Plasma-based deflector "bubble"
Countermeasures:
Sponson Standard ECM suite
Propulsion: 8x Sponson Starscreamer-7 ion engines in two mounts, plasma-fed maneuvering thrusters
Slipstream Capable: No
Atmospheric Capable: Yes
Civilian Variant: No
Wing Size: 4
Squadron Size: 20
IMAGES
HSF-25A (dorsal view) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerDorsal.jpg?t=1192287412)
HSF-25A (ventral view) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengerventral.jpg)
HSF-25A (aft detail) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengeraftdetail.jpg)
A pair of Avengers firing their rotary cannons on dummy Collective Harvesters (not shown). (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengerrotaries.jpg)
"Pitbull" squadron firing several plasma cannon bursts as well as their 110mm rotary cannons into an oncoming squadron of pirate interceptors. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerPlasmaVolley.jpg)
"Pitbull" squadron launching AGM-24 "Banshee" missiles against pirate interceptor squadron. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengermissilevolley.jpg)
Hadat'ne Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson (weapons officer) pinpointing a pirate interceptor with fire from her Avenger's 800 megawatt pulsed ion cannon. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerPulsarFire.jpg)
"Pitbull" squadron engaging pirate interceptors in high orbit over Concordia. No IFN forces were lost in the engagement. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerDogfight.jpg)
Avenger launching AGM-24 "Banshee" missile. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerAGM24.jpg)
---
HSF-25A "Avenger" Space Superiority Fighter is based on the HSF-II Avenger by Kenny "Tel'Quessir" Koh and the Homeworld: Point Defense Systems staff, used with their kind permission. Check them out here (http://pds.hwaccess.net/news.php) and help support the introduction of Newtonian Physics and real-life naval doctrine into the Homeworld universe.
Since the tail end of the Collective war, the primary extra-atmospheric superiority strike fighter of the IFN has been the LSF-18B "Acolyte" due to its high maneuverability and the ease at which it could adapt to situations, even while in-flight. However, the IFN quickly found that the Acolyte, while adequate as a light interceptor, was simply lagging behind its Milky Way equivalents. Though skilled pilots were still a match for their counterparts, the Acolyte needed to be deployed in numbers much larger than any commander was willing to commit to in order to adequately defend against enemy light craft.
As the "emergency refit" stage of the Milky Way campaign continued, bringing into the forefront such massively impressive vessels as the Majiirian Heavy Battleship and Arbiter Guided Weapons Fleet Cruiser, FleetCom increasingly found itself unwilling to commit these resource-intensive vessels to strike craft-intensive conflicts for fear of them being overwhelmed. However, FleetCom's R&D resources were already being stretched to the limit with projects deemed more "important" by the bean-counters (capital craft). Thus the decision was made to search out independent contracts for a space superiority fighter worth of ascending to the Acolyte's former throne.
Sponson Industries was a relatively small military contractor based on Concordia, with access to an independent shipyard in orbit. They were most famous for providing the IFN with the Bishop-class heavy transport/cargo vessel as well as providing the inspiration for the pulsed ion cannon, but had focused primarily on the commerce and private defense industries since these creations. FleetCom stumbled upon the Avenger project, already in the works for over a decade, almost accidentally. The Avenger prototype, never intended to be more than a light escort fighter, was woefully underarmed. However, its eight computer-linked ion acceleration thrusters gave it acceleration rivaling the Acolyte despite its overly-heavy frame and ancient armor scheme, and its rear pulsed ion cannon (powered by the smallest helix bundle accelerator ever developed) gave it 360 degrees of weapon coverage - a massive advantage for both dogfighting and strafing runs. The moment the first check arrived from FleetCom (along with a list of advancements and adjustments required for the grants to continue), the Avenger project took on new life.
The new Avenger, titled the HSF-25 (with the A designating its status as the second in the Avenger line), was nothing short of an offensive miracle. Its twin 120mm rotary rail-accelerated autocannons (RAC120) are outfitted for multi-ammunition capability, ranging from the standard high-explosive armor-penetrating (HEAP) rounds, to modified ferrous-core tungsten "flak" rounds, to heavy anti-ship kinetic energy penetrator (KEP) rounds (depleted uranium core surrounded by an outer shell of tungsten alloyed with iron and nickel). These autocannons, though requiring a carrier docking to switch out ammunition supplies, provide the HSF-25A with versatility unmatched by hulls nearly twice its tonnage. A 200mm fixed plasma cannon (PC200) is mounted in the "nose" of the craft, using the ship's own drive stream and accelerating the bottled high-energy plasma through the forward hull. This plasma package is effective at burning through ship plating and igniting ammunition stores and fuel supplies, both on enemy strike craft and light capital ships.
The HSF-25A is also armed with internal rotary guided weapons bays, designed to carry both AGM-24 "Banshee" guided high-velocity missile and the AGSM-10 "Seraph" light guided anti-shipping missile. Each rotary launcher carries eight missiles, and can have their fire linked or staggered depending on the situation and gunner preference. These provide the Avenger with superior firepower against both strike craft and capital ships at ranges where plasma cannons and/or autocannons would be ineffective. Rounding out the Avenger's armament is the afore-mentioned eight-hundred megawatt pulsed ion cannon (PIC-M800) mounted between the engine pylons. Considered radical by most strike craft veterans, the ion cannon provides nearly unmatched rear protection against attackers seeking to take the upper hand against the Avenger's higher mass. Its high rate of fire combined with speed-of-light travel time make trying to approach the Avenger from the rear a potentially deadly mistake.
The Avenger, like all sub-capital ship in the Feazanthian navy, is incapable of faster-than-light transit and requires the use of a carrier for inter-system travel. Its sublight drives, consisting of eight Sponson Starscreamer-7 ion engines mounted on two engine pods, can accelerate the Avenger to extremely high speeds. Powering these engines is a fifth-generation toroidal tokomak "microreactor", providing a 42% increase in power generation over the LSF-18B's reactor without increasing the size. Due to its incapability of interstellar travel, the fighter has a relatively limited fuel supply capable of sustaining a "full burn" for only forty-eight hours. This was deemed acceptable by FleetCom. Plasma from the reactor, aside from fueling the engines, electronics, and nose-mounted cannon, also provide thrust to the multitude of maneuvering thrusters mounted across the Avenger's hull. In the hands of a skilled pilot, the Avenger can literally fly circles around the now-ancient LSF-10 "Bulwark II" and can compete with the LSF-18B (though the Acolyte still can beat the Avenger in terms of raw maneuvering capability by a small margin) due to the advanced reactor systems not present on the older fighters.
Defensive systems on the HSF-25A, while a good deal more advanced than its predecessors, still offer relatively little protection in heated firefights. Armor consists of an outer ceramic shell supported by two centimeters of titanium-A battleplate and a layer of fibersteel mesh. This armor system adequately protects the Avenger from small-arms fire, atmospheric disturbances, and small debris. While the Acolyte was limited to a single deflector array, which could only be aligned in a certain direction leaving the rest of the ship vulnerable to attack; the Avenger possesses a full deflector array providing an entire sphere of protection by means of a thin layer of supercharged plasma held in place by an intense magnetic field. The plasma is enough to vaporize incoming projectiles beneath a certain mass and to deflect incoming energy and particle-based weapons for a limited time before overload. An advanced ECM suite coils around the plasma accelerator in the craft's nose, giving the Avenger at least some defense against guided weaponry. All in all, however, the Avenger's survivability is based on the philosophy of "the best defense is a good offense", relying on speed and pilot skill to evade weapon fire long enough for its heavy weapons to destroy the enemy.
The Avenger's tandem seats are designed for two people - a pilot and weapons' officer (WO). The pilot (generally the higher ranking officer) will handle acceleration, maneuvering, and primary weapons. The WO is responsible for guided weapons target acquisition and launching, PIC targeting and firing, and navigation. Pilots and WOs are generally introduced early on in their training and are evaluated on their relationship with each other. It has been found that pairs with a good relationship, both professional and civilian, operate much more effectively than those without. The pilot and WO sit in padded chairs designed to abosrb G-forces. These chairs are also equipped with rocket-based boosters for quick ejection. The armored canopy, providing a full 360 degrees of visual scanning, is designed to jettison up and to the left of the fighter during an ejection, minimizing chances for deadly accidents. Crew are required to wear standard-issue pressurized environment suits. These are identical to those used throughout the strike craft corps, save for the neural attachments in the helmet being optimized for use with the Avenger.
The Avenger has already performed beyond Sponson and FleetCom's expectations in both training exercises and limited active duty against pirate militias. It is expected to begin full deployment with all numbered fleets and task forces in both the Cetra and Milky Way theaters very shortly.
Heavy Strike Fighter (HSF)-25A "Avenger" Space Superiority Fighter
Developer: Sponson Industries
Length: 27.8 meters
Crew: 2 (pilot, weapons officer)
In use by: Intergalactic Feazanthian Navy (IFN), Dominion Defense Forces (DDF)
Primary Armament:
2x 120mm rotary autocannons (RAC120) in forward semi-gimble mounts
1x 200mm plasma cannon (PC200) in fixed forward mount
Secondary Armament:
2x internal rotary missile launchers (eight missiles per launcher)
1x 800mw pulsed ion cannon (PIC-M800) in rear mount (aft firing arc)
Armor:
Ceramic Shell
Titanium-A Battleplate (two centimeters)
Fibersteel Mesh Underlayer
Shield:
Plasma-based deflector "bubble"
Countermeasures:
Sponson Standard ECM suite
Propulsion: 8x Sponson Starscreamer-7 ion engines in two mounts, plasma-fed maneuvering thrusters
Slipstream Capable: No
Atmospheric Capable: Yes
Civilian Variant: No
Wing Size: 4
Squadron Size: 20
IMAGES
HSF-25A (dorsal view) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerDorsal.jpg?t=1192287412)
HSF-25A (ventral view) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengerventral.jpg)
HSF-25A (aft detail) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengeraftdetail.jpg)
A pair of Avengers firing their rotary cannons on dummy Collective Harvesters (not shown). (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengerrotaries.jpg)
"Pitbull" squadron firing several plasma cannon bursts as well as their 110mm rotary cannons into an oncoming squadron of pirate interceptors. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerPlasmaVolley.jpg)
"Pitbull" squadron launching AGM-24 "Banshee" missiles against pirate interceptor squadron. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/Avengermissilevolley.jpg)
Hadat'ne Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson (weapons officer) pinpointing a pirate interceptor with fire from her Avenger's 800 megawatt pulsed ion cannon. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerPulsarFire.jpg)
"Pitbull" squadron engaging pirate interceptors in high orbit over Concordia. No IFN forces were lost in the engagement. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerDogfight.jpg)
Avenger launching AGM-24 "Banshee" missile. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Future%20Tech/AvengerAGM24.jpg)
---
HSF-25A "Avenger" Space Superiority Fighter is based on the HSF-II Avenger by Kenny "Tel'Quessir" Koh and the Homeworld: Point Defense Systems staff, used with their kind permission. Check them out here (http://pds.hwaccess.net/news.php) and help support the introduction of Newtonian Physics and real-life naval doctrine into the Homeworld universe.