Dropping the extra tons is an idea. The plane can be slimmed down to as far as 86 tons, making it about 18% cheaper. Adding machine guns would give it a nice WWII bomber vibe, but it's better to avoid giving people ideas that this is a war plane... it's a strategic objective, not a battle asset. ECM is less offensive, but a Guardian suite would kick the plane up to overall tech rating from C to E, which may be a bit much... however, 7.5 tons is exactly the mass of the old Capellan EW Equipment, which is delightfully retro at tech level D. Another alternative is the famous 7 tons of Communications Equipment; it is also tech level D, but in advanced rules the crew could attempt to generate sensor ghosts to keep at least some of the shots from hitting.
Grand Owl Tanker Airplane(Comm):
Medium Support Vehicle
Total Mass: 100 t
Rating: D/E-E-D/D
Chassis: Fixed-wing (Propeller-Driven), TL C [12 tons, 22500 C-Bills]
Engine: Fission Engine, Speed 4/6, TL C [35 tons, 525000 C-Bills]
Fuel: Not Applicable (unlimited thrust points), TL C [0 kg, 0 C-Bills]
Seats: 14 crew [0 kg, 0 C-Bills]
Armor: 26 Front, 26 Sides, 26 Aft, BAR 6, TL C [5 tons, 26000 C-Bills]
Refrigerated Cargo: 30 tons [35 tons, 7000 C-Bills]
Refueling Drogue (x6): [6 tons, 150000 C-Bills]
Comm. Equipment (7 tons): [7 tons, 70000 C-Bills]
Total: 100 tons, 2401500 C-Bills
Notes: Has the Bad Reputation and Fast Reload design quirks; 7 crew, 36,5 tons of refrigerated cargo and can refuel up to six fighters at a time
Grand Owl Tanker Airplane(EW):
Medium Support Vehicle
Total Mass: 100 t
Rating: D/X-F-E/D
Chassis: Fixed-wing (Propeller-Driven), TL C [12 tons, 22500 C-Bills]
Engine: Fission Engine, Speed 4/6, TL C [35 tons, 525000 C-Bills]
Fuel: Not Applicable (unlimited thrust points), TL C [0 kg, 0 C-Bills]
Seats: 7 crew [0 kg, 0 C-Bills]
Armor: 26 Front, 26 Sides, 26 Aft, BAR 6, TL C [5 tons, 26000 C-Bills]
Refrigerated Cargo: 30 tons [34.5 tons, 6900 C-Bills]
Refueling Drogue (x6): [6 tons, 150000 C-Bills]
EW Equipment: [7.5 tons, 500000 C-Bills]
Total: 100 tons, 3691200 C-Bills
Notes: Has the Bad Reputation and Fast Reload design quirks; 7 crew, 36,5 tons of refrigerated cargo and can refuel up to six fighters at a time
Grand Owl Tanker Airplane(Lite):
Medium Support Vehicle
Total Mass: 86 t
Rating: C/E-E-D/D
Chassis: Fixed-wing (Propeller-Driven), TL C [10.5 tons, 19687.5 C-Bills]
Engine: Fission Engine, Speed 4/6, TL C [30.5 tons, 457500 C-Bills]
Fuel: Not Applicable (unlimited thrust points), TL C [0 kg, 0 C-Bills]
Seats: 6 crew [0 kg, 0 C-Bills]
Armor: 23 Front, 22 Sides, 23 Aft, BAR 6, TL C [4.5 tons, 22500 C-Bills]
Refrigerated Cargo: 30 tons [34.5 tons, 6900 C-Bills]
Refueling Drogue (x6): [6 tons, 150000 C-Bills]
Total: 86 tons, 1785918 C-Bills
Notes: Has the Bad Reputation and Fast Reload design quirks; 7 crew, 36,5 tons of refrigerated cargo and can refuel up to six fighters at a time
What do y'all think? I'm leaning towards a cheaper plane and overall TL of C, but would it be interesting to have EW capabilities in what is essentially a secondary target or maybe an escort mission objective?
EDIT: Forgot to post the mods, derp. :P