Vessels of the Protectorate United Navies, part 13: The Black Birds
Second Generation Strike Craft Program
- The Cain-Wing has served the Protectorate well over several decades by now, yet its time in frontline service as the singular type of PUN strike craft must eventually come to an end, no matter how technologically advanced it may be compared to the fighters of the Protectorate's foes. The enemies of Liberty are persistent, bringing ever greater numbers to battle. Lord Cain's warriors require tools of war of higher quality if are to defeat the rising quantity of foes. At the Liberator's command, the Borgs have been working on three new atmosphere- and space-capable strike craft plus an equally advanced assault transport to further widen the gap and stack the odds, that the Liberation may triumph.
Since its debut the Cain Wing has been upgraded multiple times as the Borgs recover and research knowledge both ancient and new. Technologies mined from the depths of Emeli's Gift of both Human and Xenos origin have been reverse-engineered for many different purposes, yet for us it is the military application that is of interest.
Yet tech-mining of the great space hulk is not the only method of scientific advancement, insights can be gleaned from various sources. The Liberator's own personal transport and the generators underneath Slawkenberg are just two examples of high technology found across the ever expanding Protectorate that have been thoroughly investigated and researched by the Cainite disciples of the Machinegod, heralding a never ending march toward a brighter future.
By now the Cain Wing has been pushed to the limits of what the basic platform can support. Further upgrades would require time and resource intensive rebuilds of core components. For this reason the Borg Office of the Navy elected to draw up a set of requirements for a completely new platform and begin with design studies, aiming to get ahead of the PUN's eventual request for the Cain Wing's replacement. At this point there was only a plan for the New Multirole Striker, also called the Next Generation Cain Wing or Project CW2.
As fate would have it, these early designs made it into the hands of the Liberator himself, who, in his brilliance, did three things: He added in the requirements for the other three craft to the program: The New Multirole Twin-seat, New Tactical Bomber and New Assault Transport. He formally renamed the development program as the Black Birds Project and named each of the future craft: Black Sparrow, Black Falcon, Black Eagle and Black Hawk. And finally, he ordered that industrial capacity be already set aside and prepared to produce these new aircraft.
Black Sparrow - Sometimes unofficially referred to as the Cain Wing 2, the F2A Black Sparrow marks the final departure from the early years of the Protectorate. Like its predecessor it is a single seat, multirole, variable geometry fighter. In many ways, it is simply a straight upgrade compared to the Cain Wing; It is faster and more agile, its shields are stronger and the armor is tougher, the power plant is more powerful, the Las-Lances are more deadly, the electronic warfare systems more potent. Cockpit ergonomics and machine spirit training have also been improved. The Black Sparrow retains the signature engine noise of the Cain Wing.
One way to tell a Cain Wing from a Black Sparrow is to look at the fold-out wings, which are a good bit larger on the Sparrow. As on the Cain Wing, they contain part of the radiators for heat management, but they also include a new potent component of the fighter's EW suite.
Like its predecessor, the Black Sparrow is equipped with electronic warfare systems, which have been upgraded through the addition of the Kobolt Visual Interference Emitter, developed from Eldar Holo and Shadow Field technology. Once activated, the Kobolt creates holographic images of the fighter craft around it. In tandem with the other EW systems which produce different EM, IR, gravitic and other emissions, it can become virtually impossible to tell these copies apart from the actual fighter itself. A formation of Sparrows can also link their EW suites together via datalink, making the decoys' appearance and behavior even more realistic.
The Black Sparrow's integral armament marks another noteworthy upgrade. As with the Cain Wing, two rapid-fire Las-Lances are mounted under the chin. Running the whole length from the wing root to the tip, a pair of Graviton Beams give the Sparrow an incredibly potent set of weapons, able to slice through anything lesser than proper starship armor.
The venerable "Strikespear", by now in its 7th iteration with the No.101/G, is also being replaced in frontline service. Its successor, the No.102 "Javelin" still fulfills the same role as a short ranged(for space combat) multi purpose missile that can also be used effectively for in-atmosphere combat and precision ground strikes. The Javelin has a more potent warhead while slightly improving flight characteristics and targeting electronics. It also performs better against electronic countermeasures than the Strikespear.
The Black Sparrow can also mount the No.103 "Scorpion" medium interceptor missile, a weapon with a much longer reach, optimised for destroying enemy strike craft in space combat.
Next to the No.201/E "Heatwave", the Sparrow can also carry the much larger No.202 "Shockwave" guided bomb. Several times heavier, the Shockwave can bring utter destruction to whatever target manages to survive a Heatwave strike.
Black Falcon - A heavy two seat multirole fighter, the FH3B Black Falcon is meant to operate alongside the Sparrow, providing heavy long range firepower to the Protectorate's fighter formations. Initial plans simply called for an upscaled version of the Cain Wing, capable of carrying larger payloads. Yet instead a completely new design was chosen by the procurement committee. The crew consists of two people, one pilot and one weapon systems officer. In comparison, the Falcon has about the same topspeed and marginally worse agility than a Sparrow. It is much better armored and shielded to compensate for the increased size and comes equipped with the same suite of electronic warfare systems as the Sparrow.
The Falcon was designed around its main weapon system, a pair of large magnetic accelerators which are capable of launching a variety of munitions.
For the direct strike role, solid high-power slugs give the weapon heavy armor piercing capabilities. Few ground based vehicles can resist a direct hit. Starships might not be as vulnerable, yet the bridge of a ship, its weapons, engines, sensors and such are prime targets if the enemy defenses turrets are crippled to allow for an attack run. The other unguided munition are shrapnel shells for use against both enemy strike craft and ground targets.
For the Falcon's primary role as a long range missile slinger, the magnetic accelerators function as launchers for the No.104 "Ballista", boosting the missile's capabilities as it does not need to spend its own fuel during the initial acceleration. The Ballista gives the Falcon the reach to destroy enemy craft far beyond the range of any other strike craft weapon and to do so with deadly precision.
The rest of the armament consists of 6 forward facing Las-lances in 3 twin sets, two Las-Lances in retractable ball turrets and a weapons bay for bombs and missiles.
Black Hawk - Boarding and counter boarding of both hostile and friendly ships are an important part of PUN doctrine, despite what the focus on long range firepower and maneuvers would suggest. The elite soldiers of the Protectorate Naval Grenadier Corps are well trained and equipped, which includes the transport craft that stand ready to carry them to their target, be it an allied ship in need or a disabled foe, waiting to be captured.
The PUN has fielded a plethora of different space- and air-craft for the role of assault transport in boarding actions before the fleet standardised the usage of the Mk10 Assault Transport Shuttle. The Mk10 is a well protected and nimble craft that can reliably ferry a platoon of Protectorate Naval Grenadiers to their destination, but it is a relatively expedient design, by Borg standards, that just about meets the demanding design specifications while being as cheap and quick to produce as possible.
With that necessity long since satisfied, the C4C Black Hawk is as expensive and capable as the PNGC deserves it to be. It is very heavily protected by layers of Archeotech composite armor and powerful void shields, with redundant power and life support systems. While slower and less agile than a Cain Wing, the Black Hawk is a very nimble craft by Imperial standards. Like the other Black Birds, it comes equipped with an extensive EW suite. The crew is made up of a pilot, copilot and two sensor/weapons officers. Armaments are mainly meant for self defense, consisting of 8 Las-lances in two quadruple turrets and two missile magazines loaded with Javelins. Like the Mk10, the Black Hawk can safely carry a platoon of Naval Grenadiers through an active battlespace and drop them off at their destination.
Black Eagle - Engaging a starship with a bomb-carrying fighter craft is an incredibly dangerous task for any pilot, regardless of their skill. As the countless void battles fought by the PUN have proven, if fighter-bombers have to enter the defensive umbrella of one or more enemy ships then inevitably Cain Wings will be destroyed and pilots will die. Of course in a Cain Wing it is not as dangerous as in a Fury or Starhawk, but statistically speaking, some pilots will still not return home. Even with all the training, tactics, technological edge and numbers advantage that the PUN has access to, the death toll can only be reduced.
Once more the Liberator proved through his actions how much he cares for his people. A stand-off weapon was needed to attack enemy starships from beyond the range of their defense turrets, yet such a weapon would be large, far larger than anything a Cain Wing could carry. The answer to the problem then is a dedicated bomber craft to carry the new weapon.
Based on the Black Hawk, the B5S Black Eagle replaces the troop transport bay of the Hawk with a large weapons bay. The crew configuration remains the same, with the two sensor/weapons officers also filling the role of bombardiers. While the bomber can be loaded up with dozens of guided bombs for ground strike operations, its primary weapon for void combat are No.12 "Bodkin" homing torpedoes. Mounting a warhead equivalent to that of a Shockwave bomb, the Bodkin can deal heavy damage to its chosen target. Its eponymous armored tip, tandem melta charge and high terminal speed allow it to pierce the target's armor and detonate deeper inside the target to increase its lethality and chance of damaging or destroying critical systems.
The Black Eagle can also carry the No.30 "Airlock" breaching torpedo to assist the Naval Grenadiers in boarding operations. Using a combination of high power drills and melta weapons, the torpedo's front half digs itself into the target, using the liquified material to harden the tunnel it digs. The rear detaches from the front, turns into the outer side of the airlock and floods the airlock tunnel with liquid nitrogen to quickly bring down the temperature. The front drill bit stops once it has dug itself through the outer hull and reaches an internal compartment, then it turns itself into the inner side of the airlock. Grenadiers can then use the newly created access point to enter the ship.
If you want to see what the three new types of strike craft look like:
Black Hawk and Black Eagle = SWTOR Fury Interceptor; the personal starship for both Sith characters
Black Falcon = Tie Mangler; a SW fan design by Fractal Sponge