Though not really a "Clanbuster" in the normal sense, as it was not built to fight the clans at Tukayyid (or ultimately at all) the first G variant of the Hammerhead is often lumped into the same group. This advanced version of the venerable fighter was originally developed as part of Comstar's naval construction program following the Clan invasion, and was intended to serve as the primary fighter for the planned Yorktown class carrier.
The Hammerhead was chosen as the basis for this new variant due to both its centuries of reliable service and its already well known mobility, being one of the only heavy fighters able match the handling of the Clans' famous Visigoth, even without the use of an extralight engine. Mating this proven airframe with an extralight plant promised to have positively magical results, better than doubling the fighter's potential warload. After much debate, the original autocannon was removed entirely and replaced with a Gauss rifle (in a similar fashion to the old Star League's royal model) as a compromise between granting much needed ranged ability while retaining most of the raw penetrating power of the old gun. Additional large weapons would have required further redesigns of the airframe that would have slowed development, and as such the engineers instead mounted eight medium pulse lasers as secondary weapons, with two covering the fighter's traditionally exposed rear. The total close range firepower these weapons provided in addition to the gauss rifle were expected to ensure that no pilots regretted the loss of their autocannon, and allow the Hammerhead G to hopefully compete against clan fighters like the Sabutai and Jagatai on roughly equal footing.
Unfortunately, it would never be known just how successful the Hammerhead G would have been. The fall of Terra to the Word of Blake ended Comstar's efforts to expand their fleet, and the Hammerhead-G faded into obscurity along with the carrier that was meant to carry it into harms way. Because the design process relied so heavily on simulation, no actual Hammerhead was ever built to these specifications, and its believed that all computer data about the design was lost during the Blakist invasion. The Hammerhead G's designation code was eventually re-assigned to a different Hammerhead variant developed during the Jihad era.
Hammerhead HMR-HG (Clanbuster)
IS TW non-box set
75 tons
BV: 1,929
Cost: 12,931,531 C-bills
Movement: 7/11
Engine: 375 XL
Heat Sinks: 13 [26]
Structural Integrity: 7
Armor: 206 (Ferro-Aluminum)
Armor
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Nose 76
Left Wing 50
Right Wing 50
Aft 30
Weapon Loc Heat
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Medium Pulse Laser RWG 4
Medium Pulse Laser RWG 4
Medium Pulse Laser LWG 4
Medium Pulse Laser LWG 4
Medium Pulse Laser AFT 4
Medium Pulse Laser AFT 4
Medium Pulse Laser RWG 4
Medium Pulse Laser LWG 4
Gauss Rifle NOS 1
Ammo Loc Shots
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Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] NOS 8
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] NOS 8
