SV-4F

At full charge, the onboard supercapacitor can provide energy sufficient for the fighter to make planetfall, fly for 32 hours in atmosphere, conduct a dogfight, then achieve orbit unaided to return to its mothership.

Without the necessity of atmospheric ascent, the fighter can fly for 288 hours at sublight acceleration. Combined with its secondary fuel cell system for auxiliary power, this is sufficient, in emergency situations, to effect transit over interplanetary distance.

The SV-4F Fighter uses low-energy kinetic and missile weapons, minimizing the effect of its tactical systems on energy draw.

It is equipped with two 27mm chain guns, capable of firing AP, HE, IF, or EM rounds. Each gun is continuously belt-fed with a reserve of 3,200 rounds and an adjustable firing rate up to 6,140 rounds per minute. The stopping power of these weapons is considerable; against unshielded targets of similar size, the guns can effect total destruction with the impact of less than 16 rounds.

It also has two missile launch rotators, with magazines of 7 light or 4 heavy missiles each. A typical general-purpose configuration is:

• 7 AA interceptors with EMP shield disruptors
• 4 heavy dumb-fire ship assault bombs

The interceptor missiles use full-spectrum EM tracking with advanced AI prediction algorithms. They are 100% self-guided, and use 100% photonic data transmission to prevent electronic compromise. Prior to impact, they create a powerful electromagnetic pulse to mitigate or disable the target's shielding systems, if any. They feature shaped charges, which first create a blast of hot, armor-piercing plasma, then a powerful, focused shockwave to cause grievous internal structure damage.

The dumb-fire ship assault bombs use an onboard timer for detonation, to prevent electronic compromise. They have no guidance systems, only a starter rocket. However, they do have powerful electromagnets to allow them to clamp onto the hull of a large ship, to better direct their destructive blast. The difference between a well-placed and a poorly-placed bomb is everything; with even a single bomb, an experienced bomber can inflict serious damage to a ship as large as EVA-001.

The SV-4F fighter has an unusual armor configuration. To keep the craft lightweight and energy-efficient, the skin is comprised of a single-piece, nanofiber-woven shell, which is pliable almost to the human touch. While it has little tensile strength, it has extreme resistance to shear and compression, as well as phenomenal thermal tolerance. The net effect is that kinetic projectiles literally bounce off if not placed accurately, and explosions are absorbed as a waveform, which aids in the dissipation of what little thermal energy the skin absorbs.

However, there are plenty of weapons capable of overpowering the SV-4F's innovative armor, so it is equipped with active countermeasures. Shields, armor hardeners, and repulsors require extreme amounts of energy, which is at a premium in the SV-4F design. Thus, these defenses are wired to secondary capacitors and are activated only in short bursts, with the aid of AI and the operator, to maximize effectiveness while minimizing energy drain.

Each of the 3 systems has a high energy drain even while on standby, so most are inactive during normal operation. The operator is expected to activate the systems using his or her awareness and judgment.

Armor hardeners are typically known for magnifying existing strengths of armor. Thus, the SV-4F's hardeners are best used against thermal weapons. The hardeners actually reduce the armor's effectiveness against kinetic projectiles, as they make the shell more brittle. However, against heat lasers, incendiary rounds, and plasma weapons, the armor hardeners are supreme.

The shield system is best employed against kinetic projectiles. While the armor excels at deflecting poorly-placed shots, the shields are even better at it. With shields up, the SV-4F has been known to evade armor-piercing rounds at less than 2 degrees to the normal, an outstanding deflection quality. The shields produce the highest energy drain, so they are usually directed toward a specific vector, utilizing approximately 1/3 of full power, and providing maximum effectiveness at the exact vector, diminishing as the angle of incidence increases.

The repulsors generate finely-focused compression waves of spacetime in a specific vector. These bursts decay in a matter of nanoseconds, but they travel at FTL speeds, which gives them an effective range of about 200 m. They are devastating to small objects, such as missiles; however, their effectiveness falls off sharply with the gravity well of the target--larger bombs and small craft are only lightly damaged, and capital ships ignore them completely. The repulsors require large spikes of energy, and are inefficient against anything larger than a missile.