Imperial Strike Craft
Fury Interceptor
Length: 75 metres
Wing span: 40 metres (main), 20 metres (secondary)
Crew: 4 (1 Pilot, 1 Gunnery Officer, an Engineseer or tech servitor and a Navigator).
Sub-light engine: 1 Mars-pattern 'Ascender' plasma-thrust engine
Power supply: 1 Mars-pattern Plasma Fusion Generator.
Standard Armament: 12 Mars-pattern Mk-22F 'Fury' Lascannons, 2 Mars-pattern 'Hellstrom' Missile launchers (with 9 independently targetable plasma or cluster munition warheads each. Fury stores ammunition and loading mechanism for 3 full reloads per launcher.)
Machine spirit: M31 Signus-minoris class (the same kind used for the Warhound scout-titans)
Warp capable: yes
Lore: The Fury Interceptor was designed and built in the closing years of the Great Crusade, M31, as a proposed replacement for the notoriously unreliable and hard to handle Wrath Class Starfighter by Fabricator Kane of Mars. The Fury was initially only intended as a stop-gap while the Imperium looked to produce an even more deadly fighter, this fighter design (unfinished and rejected due to the Horus Heresy) would later become the Swift Death fighter of Chaos.
Since the initial creation of the Fury, the design has been expanded upon and improved. The interceptor now carriers 12 weapon hard points and multi-role missile launchers with a large stock-pile of missiles on-board; the original having 8 weapon hard points and no missiles. The modern variants of the Fury also being warp-capable allowing for independent raiding, pursuit and resonance missions the craft not requiring a carrier to be present in a system in order to perform its duties (at least for a relatively short duration, it will need to rearm missiles and refuel/repair at a carrier or on a planet after a few hours of fighting).
The Interceptor is not as mobile or numerous as its Chaos competitor, but is faster in a straight line, more versatile due to its ability to warp independently and fire missiles as well as packing significantly more firepower than the much smaller Chaos dog-fighter. The Fury also possess heavy armour plating, capable of withstanding a handful of hits from a lascannon before succumbing to damage sustained if nothing critical is hit.
While the Fury was superior to the Swift Death in several departments, squadrons of Furies would find themselves outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and surrounded by swarms of Chaos fighters during the Gothic War. But the superior firepower and durability of the Fury often meant pilots could shoot their way out of sticky situations and use the craft's high speed to zoom away; turning in to decimate many more enemy craft in a new attack run.
Star Hawk Bomber
Length: 120 metres
Wing Span: 75 metres (main), 50 metres (secondary)
Crew: 10 (4 gunners, 1 pilot, 1 co-pilot, 2 engineer, 1 targeteers, 1 navigator
Sub-light engine: 1 Mars-pattern 'Implacable' plasma-thrust engine.
Power supply: 1 Mars-pattern Plasma Fusion Generator.
Standard Armament: 2 twin-linked lascannon turrets (one chin mounted, 1 tail mounted), 1 twin-linked multilaser turret (dorsal mounted), 2 twin-linked Heavy Bolter turrets (main-wing mounted, remotely controlled), bomb-bay capacity for up to 50 plasma or cluster missiles, 20 plasma bombs or 2 plasma, vortex or melta torpedoes.
Machine spirit: M33 Signus class (same kind used in the Thunder Hawk gunship and Reaver class battle titan)
Warp capable: yes
Lore: The Star Hawk is one of the heaviest craft of its type in the galaxy. There are very few bombers that can match the Star Hawk for sheer brute power: Star Hawks being more than capable of cracking even the toughest hulls and equipped with enough PD to deter all but the most determined enemies. The craft was first built in M33 for the Imperial navy by Fabricator-General Kane, shortly after Kelbore-Hal's fall to power, the newly formed Imperial navy being in desperate need for a dedicated bomber attack-craft. The monstrous beast of a ship that is the Star Hawk being the result of that request.
The nearest competitor, the natively-developed Chaos Doom Fire bomber, is a pathetic attack craft when compared against the Star Hawk. The Chaos craft having barely a third of the total firepower and a lacking PD suite when compared directly to the Imperial monster. Where the Star Hawk falls is in the numbers and the speed/mobility of the bomber.
The Doom Fire can generally keep up with most fighters in a straight line, and deploy in large groups. The lumbering Star Hawk has no hope of keeping up with it's fighter escort, and despite the impressive array of bombs and thick armour/excellent PD of each bomber; they appear only in very small groups on Imperial carriers. The fact they are warp capable does provide them some level of flexibility that no Doom Fire could ever fill.
The Starhawks massive size and heavy armour/armament making it suitable for civilian enforcement when the deployment of warships is either unnecessary or are required elsewhere. Some minor human empires and rebellions even considering the StarHawk a full warship as opposed to a strike craft.
Shark Assault Boat
Length: 55 metres
Wing Span: 30 metres (main), 15 metres (secondary)
Crew: 3 (1 pilot, 1 gunners, 1 Navigator)
Sub-light engine: 1 Mars-pattern 'Avast' plasma-thrust engine.
Standard Armament: 2 Mars-Pattern Mk21G 'Hammer' Lascannons (forward mounted, double as las-breaches and anti-ordnance weapons), multilaser turrets (dorsally mounted), 4 Magna-Melta blast charges (1 required for a standard hull breach)
Machine spirit: M33 Signus class
Troop capacity: 80 Naval Arms-men or ratings plus their equipment
Warp capable: yes
Lore: Large and simple is the best waythe Shark assault boat. Designed by Kane to replace the thunder hawk as an assault transport in the Imperial navy. The shark was fast, able to match the Fury for acceleration in a straight line, and possessed a small but effective suite of weapons that allowed it to defend itself in an attack. The assault boat also boasting a very high troop capacity, and could generally ensure they were deployed to the target without difficulty.
The Shark could also be reused, while Dread Class assault pods that were previously used by the Imperial Army, and are still used by the Chaos war fleets, can only be used once and had no defences or significant armour protection for their own. Completely dependent on fight protection, and ultimately much shorter ranged than the Sharks. The Sharks ability to make Warp jumps also making it an excellent raiding and transport vessel if the need for one arises.
Regardless of the Shark's general quality, assault actions are still rare and unpopular with the Imperial Navy. No carrier vessel smaller than a battleship carries a significant number of these, the Imperial Navy rarely boarding an enemy vessel unless they have a clear need to do so or have crippled and immobilised the target first.